Back in the olden days of yore (2005), I was pretty convinced that moderately-priced healthy food didn’t exist and couldn’t be made, at least by me. My weight had yo-yoed a few times at that point, and it always seemed like Skinny Kris coincided very strongly with Broke Kris.
See, Skinny Kris liked sushi and roasted eggplant spread. She preferred full-price pork tenderloin over on-sale pork chops, and a nice slab of jamillion-dollar fresh tuna over both. Skinny Kris thought nothing of blowing $5.09 on a 16-oz light smoothie from Jamba Juice when there was a perfectly good $0.35 cent banana over at the fruit cart. Financially, Skinny Kris sucked it.
When Skinny Kris started running out of money, she became Heavier Kris, who hoovered up bargain fries and plowed through cheapo lo mein like the world would run out tomorrow. To her ass’ great detriment, Heavier Kris’ most nefarious weakness was $0.69 Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, a craving that could not be sated until the whole box was gone. Heavier Kris was saving precious dough, but at the expense of her cholesterol levels and now-gigantic bosom.
Being broke and skinny was not fun. Being large and in economic charge wasn’t either. So, in the beginning of last year, I made two resolutions: A) I had to stop referring to myself in third person, and B) these dueling sides needed to reach détente.
A few cooking lessons and serious amounts of foodie blog research (some would call it “lazy perusing”) helped. Reading Suze Orman’s “Young, Fabulous and Broke” and “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey helped. Understanding that half-price Cheetos and bulk-packaged candy were The Man’s Tools of Oppression™ helped, too. But what helped most of all was being honest-to-god ready for change.
As it turns out, peaches go on sale at the supermarket for $0.69. Rice is insanely inexpensive, even moreso at the local ethnic grocers. And that roasted eggplant spread? I can make it myself for two bucks, rather than buy it at the deli for six. Realizing and taking advantage of all this was a huge step, but there are tons more to go.
In the end, that’s what this blog is about: change. Yes, it focuses largely on making delicious eats at a reasonable cost, but mostly it’s a journey - to break old habits, discover new ones, and *barf* be a better person.
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