When it comes to menu planning I usually make a sincere effort to pay attention to the following four areas while I shop or pour over my recipe books. I seek out meal ideas that are affordable, tasty, healthy and easy to prepare. If there are too many fancy or gourmet ingredients….. I’ll usually pass unless it is a very special occasion. I watch for the sales and purchase the store specials which often include ground turkey or chicken. We rarely eat red meat which I enjoy, or fish which my husband loves. Grilled Salmon would please him so, and I would love to have a roast for Sunday supper but there is no way we will spend so much money on one meal. We eat a lot of chicken, beans, brown rice and pasta. Sometimes we have breakfast for dinner…maybe scrambled eggs or pancakes and sausage. I’m not complaining….not at all. We are not hungry as some folks are. We are blessed. We don’t need gourmet food and I don’t believe it is a disgrace when a family has oatmeal or Ramen noodles once in a while for dinner. What’s wrong with peanut butter and jelly or egg salad for lunch? Do we have to have goat cheese and arugula in order to be healthy? The elitists in Hollywood and Washington are beginning to tell us that our regular American fare is not good enough and that they need to teach us how to eat and also provide more welfare programs for us.
