It Helped ME Make a Great Meal!

My family and I are addicted to fast food and take out. Seriously addicted. Up until two weeks ago, it was not uncommon for us to eat fast food every day for lunch and grab take out for dinner every night. It was absurd. Stupid. Asinine. It was destroying our health and not to mention our bank account. But it was just so easy, and I didn't have to clean up or do dishes, and the food was good and.... I had a million excuses/reasons as to why I thought it was okay to feed my family expensive junk every day. But two weeks ago, that all changed.
My problem is that I watch a ton of Food Network and read way too many cooking magazines. Somehow, along the way, I got the idea in my head that mealtime at home meant I had to bust my ass in the kitchen for a couple of hours and create fabulous feats of homemade cuisine that wowed my family and friends. Truth is, I don't have that kind of energy most days. I also noticed that I was spending about as much at the grocery store buying all the ingredients I needed for one meal as I was on take-out, which was defeating the purpose of cooking at home. That's when I finally realized.... not every meal has to be photo and blog-worthy. Not every meal has to be something I spend hours preparing. The point is to cook at home and eat at the table as a family and be more responsible with money. That's when I met my friend, Mr. Hamburger Helper. One pound of meat and couple cups of hot water and you've got yourself a meal, people! It's SO EASY and guess what? It's actually really good. It's not haute cuisine, but it's dinner. And it's cheap. And I'm okay with that. We have almost instantly noticed a difference in our bank account, too. So, dinner at home.... it's one of those baby steps I was talking about in my previous post. But it's working....
Oh, and hey, you see that package of Bisquick Complete Cheese-Garlic Biscuits in the photo at the top? That package of mix was 24 cents! 24 CENTS PEOPLE!!! And all you do is add some water! OY!!


I'll post other recipes I find that are quick and cheap, too. I've also got some great money saving tips for house cleaning coming your way. It's all about sharing the money-saving love, y'all....