Lately, when I manage not to give into the always looming desire to say screw it all and grab some takeout, I've been relying on what I like to call "emergency meals." Basically, they're all made possible by keeping a handful of cost-effective, long-lasting, and versatile ingredients in my kitchen at all times.
By minimizing the number of ingredients I'm buying during each grocery run and focusing on foods that won't go totally rotten a few days after you buy them, I've been enjoying cooking a whole lot more - and it's saved me some pretty serious money, too.
To me, a proper emergency meal needs to meet three very important criteria. First, it must be easy enough to make on a chaotic weeknight. Second, it's got to be cost-effective - duh. Third (since an emergency meal relies almost entirely on staple foods), if it does require new ingredients, they have to be easily accessible and useful for future meals.
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