People have to have their mac and cheese and chocolate

It seems that there are certain food items that are recession proof. According to an article on Cabin.com sales of Spam, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and Hershey's chocolate have gone up in the last three months.

I am truly not surprised. People know how to cut food costs and these old favorites have always been a reasonably priced option to the homemade alternative. Consider making macaroni and cheese yourself. You need to buy cheese, which will most likely cost you around $3 and then the milk and the noodles. The cheese alone costs more than the $1 or a little over $1 box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. When I was living in Oregon, my roommate and I even tried to make baked Kraft Mac and Cheese with bread crumbs on top. It wasn't quite the mom version we were hoping for, but it was pretty close and it made us happy. This is why these products never really have a bad day. They are a tasty, cheaper alternative to a homemade meal.

You all know my feelings about Hershey's chocolate, nothing makes me happier than a bar of it. I think the up in chocolate sales, 20% in the last 3 months, is probably because of Easter and the fact that, when you don't have the money to go out to the cheesecake factory for dessert, a bar of chocolate will make you feel like you aren't really missing out on anything.

There are of course less processed options that can cut food costs, during these tight times. Fruit salads, like the one in the picture above, can be a healthy and reasonable option for an afternoon snack, dessert, or a piece of a picnic lunch. For this fruit salad I purchases a cantaloupe, two kiwis, and strawberries and spent a little over $4. I scooped out the cantaloupe with a melon-baller, which put it in nice bite-sized pieces. I peeled and slices the kiwi. To get them to turn up into a bowl-like creation I sliced from the outside of one end to the end of the center and turned the pieces up. I sliced off the tips of some of the strawberries to put in the middle of the kiwi to add some color. With the rest of the strawberries I sliced them relatively thin. I mixed the strawberries and cantaloupe in the bowl I was going to use and then I gently placed the kiwi on top kind of nestled into the cantaloupe and strawberries. As a finishing touch I fanned a few strawberries by setting the strawberry leaf side on the table and slicing 4-5 slices into the berry, without actually cutting through the berry. Basically you want there to be pretty slices that you can fan out without the strawberry falling apart.

The true key to eating smart during the recession is thinking before you go out shopping. Where do you shop? If you are shopping at the cleanest, newest grocery store in town you might be paying more than someone who is shopping at a discount or not-as-flashy grocery store. What fruit and vegetables are in season? Fruit that is in season is normally more reasonably priced. Does the name brand really taste that much different? I have learned that sometimes it does, but there are some foods that can be bought cheaper if you buy the store brand. Food is a neccassary expense, which is why grocery stores are normally a recession proof industry, but that doesn't mean that you need to exsist off of Ramen Noodles and Spam. Think smart and buy smart. Spend some extra time grocery shopping; it will probably pay you big in the long run.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily