Burrito bowls for a family of 4 costs $50? Might as well just order Chipotle next time, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TIL that people buy Whole Foods “guac.”

Right? And then wonder why their “bowls” don’t taste great and are expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TIL that people buy Whole Foods “guac.”

If you do your weekly grocery shopping at WF, why wouldn’t you buy their fresh made guacamole? It’s maybe a couple bucks more than mid-range grocers charge for a large container. It’s not shipped in, the employees told me they don’t carry it at times because it’s so labor intensive in the back. They make it fresh.

Because it is extremely easy to make at home more cheaply and exactly how I like it? Guacamole is literally one of the lowest effort-highest rewards dishes to make at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean you could but you're making choices about what youi're buying. Starting with guac, I make it. Not where near WF pre-prepared prices. Also do you need two meats? And what is "good salsa"? Again, I make pico and you can make hotter blender salsas (green, red, etc..).

Here's what I do:

Chicken: $10 for 1 lb organic tenders
Beans: $1 can
Rice: let's say $1 but likely pennies
Avocado: $4 for 2-3 depending on the week which is fine for a family of 4
Cilantro: $2
Onion: $1
Tomato: $2
Lettuce: $4
Jalapeno, bell peppers: $3
Lime: $2
Corn (frozen): $2
Sour cream: $4
Cheese: $4
Hot sauce: $4
Can of chipotle in adobo: $2
Spices and oils etc...: come on, you have these

This is $46 BUT except for the chicken and beans and avocados easily makes 2-3 meals or components (leftover veggies, rice, cheese, etc...). So really more like $20 a meal because I'm making salads, rice dishes, other things with the ingredients.

You will have ample leftovers.

10 bucks a pound for chicken is insane.

Organic chicken tenders! Lol.

[Anonymous]

Cooking at home is only meaningful cheaper when you kind of specialize in a type of food and have a lot of the ingredients in stock. I find that Italian cooking, for example, is not that cheap. Often I have to buy a bottle of wine (not a drinker here). And then I need to buy some kind of diary that goes bad, like cream or half and half, or sour cream. That stuff adds up.

Chinese cooking, in contrast, I find to be much more economical. A lot of the ingredients are shelf stable or can keep for a long time (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the ingredients list for the restaurant food. The stuff you made is a lot healthier.

Salt wise or seed oil wise?

I doubt it's that different, since the guac and the salsa were store-bought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean you could but you're making choices about what youi're buying. Starting with guac, I make it. Not where near WF pre-prepared prices. Also do you need two meats? And what is "good salsa"? Again, I make pico and you can make hotter blender salsas (green, red, etc..).

Here's what I do:

Chicken: $10 for 1 lb organic tenders
Beans: $1 can
Rice: let's say $1 but likely pennies
Avocado: $4 for 2-3 depending on the week which is fine for a family of 4
Cilantro: $2
Onion: $1
Tomato: $2
Lettuce: $4
Jalapeno, bell peppers: $3
Lime: $2
Corn (frozen): $2
Sour cream: $4
Cheese: $4
Hot sauce: $4
Can of chipotle in adobo: $2
Spices and oils etc...: come on, you have these

This is $46 BUT except for the chicken and beans and avocados easily makes 2-3 meals or components (leftover veggies, rice, cheese, etc...). So really more like $20 a meal because I'm making salads, rice dishes, other things with the ingredients.

You will have ample leftovers.

+1 we make homemade chipotle bowls too. Sometimes we use chicken or sometimes we steak. We have enough leftovers for three days plus lunches. It makes a lot of food. Easily 12 meals.
I calculate based on four people in my family.

46/12=3.833 per meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is only meaningful cheaper when you kind of specialize in a type of food and have a lot of the ingredients in stock. I find that Italian cooking, for example, is not that cheap. Often I have to buy a bottle of wine (not a drinker here). And then I need to buy some kind of diary that goes bad, like cream or half and half, or sour cream. That stuff adds up.

Chinese cooking, in contrast, I find to be much more economical. A lot of the ingredients are shelf stable or can keep for a long time (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic etc).

When I buy wine for cooking, I buy cheap wine. Maybe if I'm making something fancy I will upgrade, but if I just need something to cook down into a sauce, I will happily buy a $6 wine. Whole Foods has a "Three Wishes" brand wine that is super cheap and I often grab if I need a wine reduction for just a weeknight sauce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is only meaningful cheaper when you kind of specialize in a type of food and have a lot of the ingredients in stock. I find that Italian cooking, for example, is not that cheap. Often I have to buy a bottle of wine (not a drinker here). And then I need to buy some kind of diary that goes bad, like cream or half and half, or sour cream. That stuff adds up.

Chinese cooking, in contrast, I find to be much more economical. A lot of the ingredients are shelf stable or can keep for a long time (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic etc).

?? cooking at home is MUCH cheaper - you just have to know what to cook. I never use red wine or weird dairy for italian. I just made a delicious dinner of meatballs and marinara for four people last night for around $20 (not counting the garlic, herbs & spices I already had at home). Honestly the most expensive thing was canned Cento tomatoes at around $7! That did shock me, but they are noticeably better than other brands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is only meaningful cheaper when you kind of specialize in a type of food and have a lot of the ingredients in stock. I find that Italian cooking, for example, is not that cheap. Often I have to buy a bottle of wine (not a drinker here). And then I need to buy some kind of diary that goes bad, like cream or half and half, or sour cream. That stuff adds up.

Chinese cooking, in contrast, I find to be much more economical. A lot of the ingredients are shelf stable or can keep for a long time (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic etc).

When I buy wine for cooking, I buy cheap wine. Maybe if I'm making something fancy I will upgrade, but if I just need something to cook down into a sauce, I will happily buy a $6 wine. Whole Foods has a "Three Wishes" brand wine that is super cheap and I often grab if I need a wine reduction for just a weeknight sauce.

Vermouth or dry sherry are also great - keep forever in the fridge and perfect for deglazing.

[Anonymous]

Costco box wine stays fresh forever and makes it very easy to put half a cup in your recipe. Got the tip from a professional chef friend!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is only meaningful cheaper when you kind of specialize in a type of food and have a lot of the ingredients in stock. I find that Italian cooking, for example, is not that cheap. Often I have to buy a bottle of wine (not a drinker here). And then I need to buy some kind of diary that goes bad, like cream or half and half, or sour cream. That stuff adds up.

Chinese cooking, in contrast, I find to be much more economical. A lot of the ingredients are shelf stable or can keep for a long time (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic etc).

?? cooking at home is MUCH cheaper - you just have to know what to cook. I never use red wine or weird dairy for italian. I just made a delicious dinner of meatballs and marinara for four people last night for around $20 (not counting the garlic, herbs & spices I already had at home). Honestly the most expensive thing was canned Cento tomatoes at around $7! That did shock me, but they are noticeably better than other brands.

I always have heavy cream, half-and-half, sour cream in the fridge, and my ideal fridge would also always have creme fraiche and mascarpone. The last 2 are only occasionally on-hand now that I'm poorer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Costco box wine stays fresh forever and makes it very easy to put half a cup in your recipe. Got the tip from a professional chef friend!

Costco sells box wine??! I didn’t know but will pick some up next time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is only meaningful cheaper when you kind of specialize in a type of food and have a lot of the ingredients in stock. I find that Italian cooking, for example, is not that cheap. Often I have to buy a bottle of wine (not a drinker here). And then I need to buy some kind of diary that goes bad, like cream or half and half, or sour cream. That stuff adds up.

Chinese cooking, in contrast, I find to be much more economical. A lot of the ingredients are shelf stable or can keep for a long time (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic etc).

When I buy wine for cooking, I buy cheap wine. Maybe if I'm making something fancy I will upgrade, but if I just need something to cook down into a sauce, I will happily buy a $6 wine. Whole Foods has a "Three Wishes" brand wine that is super cheap and I often grab if I need a wine reduction for just a weeknight sauce.

I buy the cheapest wine too but it is often around 8 bucks, which I think is still expensive to use each time I cook a meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is only meaningful cheaper when you kind of specialize in a type of food and have a lot of the ingredients in stock. I find that Italian cooking, for example, is not that cheap. Often I have to buy a bottle of wine (not a drinker here). And then I need to buy some kind of diary that goes bad, like cream or half and half, or sour cream. That stuff adds up.

Chinese cooking, in contrast, I find to be much more economical. A lot of the ingredients are shelf stable or can keep for a long time (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic etc).

?? cooking at home is MUCH cheaper - you just have to know what to cook. I never use red wine or weird dairy for italian. I just made a delicious dinner of meatballs and marinara for four people last night for around $20 (not counting the garlic, herbs & spices I already had at home). Honestly the most expensive thing was canned Cento tomatoes at around $7! That did shock me, but they are noticeably better than other brands.

I always have heavy cream, half-and-half, sour cream in the fridge, and my ideal fridge would also always have creme fraiche and mascarpone. The last 2 are only occasionally on-hand now that I'm poorer.

Right … sour cream lasts forever or you can sub in yogurt. buttermilk also lasts a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooking at home is only meaningful cheaper when you kind of specialize in a type of food and have a lot of the ingredients in stock. I find that Italian cooking, for example, is not that cheap. Often I have to buy a bottle of wine (not a drinker here). And then I need to buy some kind of diary that goes bad, like cream or half and half, or sour cream. That stuff adds up.

Chinese cooking, in contrast, I find to be much more economical. A lot of the ingredients are shelf stable or can keep for a long time (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic etc).

When I buy wine for cooking, I buy cheap wine. Maybe if I'm making something fancy I will upgrade, but if I just need something to cook down into a sauce, I will happily buy a $6 wine. Whole Foods has a "Three Wishes" brand wine that is super cheap and I often grab if I need a wine reduction for just a weeknight sauce.

I buy the cheapest wine too but it is often around 8 bucks, which I think is still expensive to use each time I cook a meal.

But it lasts forever in the fridge. I just reseal it and use the same bottle for months. So it’s really only adding $1-2 to the cost of the meal