Food, Food, Food

I have a love affair with food. That's one of many reasons I'm overweight and have high cholesterol. That's also why our food bill each month exceeds $700. $700!!!!!!!??????? Holy crap! That's almost our house payment. The cost of food is high. The cost of healthy food is even higher. Well, fruits and veggies are great, but my kids and husband love a box of mac' and cheese. (ICK!!)

Well, I decided that I need to make more of the stuff I usually buy pre-made or out of a box from scratch. The stuff I LOVE to eat at restaurants, I need to learn how to make from scratch so I don't feel so deprived. I know it takes a long time, but for me, it's worth it. It's healthier, tastes about the same and I feel like I'm a chef as I talk through the recipe as though I'm hosting a Food Network show. Yeah, I know, lame.

I love to cook and make things from scratch, but this is taking it to a whole new level. I'm going to make my own refried beans, my own pizza crust, my own mac' and cheese without the crappy powdered cheese, and anything else that I can figure out. Heck, I can even make my own pasta.

So, when we got out tax refund in, Matt (my husband) and I went out to eat! I love to eat out. Like, seriously LOVE to eat out. I love fast food, slow food, any food as long as it's out. Well, we went to this new pizza place in the big city of Little Rock, Mellow Mushroom. It's a chain with a few places scattered throughout the country. We ordered the "Holy Shitake" pizza and the first thing that came out of my mouth after taking that first sweet bite of pizza bliss was "holy shit-ake". I had never tasted such a wonderful pizza in my entire life. It was loaded with 3 different kinds of mushrooms, a wonderful garlic aioli drizzled over the cheese and then sprinkled with fresh scallions. The crust was soft and chewy with a nice crunch and sprinkled with parm. cheese. OMG!!!! Just talking about it makes my mouth water. Well, that meal set us back $50. I know for some of you that's no biggie, but fifty bucks for 2 people to eat is nuts-o for us unless it's an anniversary or something. Well, I was so in love with this pizza that I kept thinking about it days after we ate there. I couldn't get it off my mind and I knew that we couldn't eat out anymore. I had to find a way to make this luscious, mushroomy deliciousness. To the interwebs I went!!!!

Thank God for the internet. I keep thinking "what if the world ends and I can't find recipes anymore? I must print these off and keep them in a safe". Anyway, I looked and looked for a "holy shitake" copy cat recipe and I finally found one. Now, I had never heard of a garlic aioli before and I just knew that it would be mediocre at best because I wasn't eating out. Well, I was in such a hurry that I bought a premade crust and the mushrooms. Long story short, it was a success. I thought I was the most awesome wife in the world for recreating this masterpiece of a pizza. Yeah, the crust alone cost $5. Ugh. I knew I had to bring the cost of this meal down, so I decided to make my own crust.

My kitchen looks like 25 lbs. of flour just blew up in it. Is this really worth it? YEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!! I have made something healthier, yummier and way cheaper than a premade version. I made 3 large pizza crusts for only $2. I put one ball of dough in the freezer for another day, but seriously, y'all, that's awesome.

I know saving only $3 isn't that big of a deal for most of you, but I got one more crust out of it and it's better for my family. $3 here and $3 there really adds up.

I really hope I can keep this up. Living this way is turning out to be more time consuming, but I want to get back to basics and spend more time at home with my family. On to my next adventure...refried beans.

Xandra