The other day I did what we do most days: I looked in the refrigerator and the pantry to see what we had. Hmm, a container of sliced zucchini and yellow squash, Roma tomatoes, a carton of macaroni noodles. While boiling the noodles, I chopped a tomato and heated the zucchini and squash in the microwave. Once the noodles were done, I drained them and used that pan to heat a smidge of olive oil and garlic salt (because I didn’t feel like getting out the real garlic), then tossed in the tomatoes and after a minute, the zucchini and squash. When the pan grew noisy, I threw in the noodles and stirred. Topped with a little Parmesan cheese, this felt like a gourmet meal, and it was delicious, and I didn’t have to waste any vegetables that might have soon gone bad.
I think most of us can throw together a good meal if we have just an ounce of cooking experience. And if not, it’s not difficult to look at what you have and go to the cookbooks for inspiration.
How do you save money on food? Do you cook straight from a recipe or invent new ones?
