10 Budget Foods That Taste Like Pure Decadence

When I woke up on Thursday, my first thought was my daughter was coming home today! She's been away for the last 10 days, and then prior to that for 2 weeks, and then prior to that 4 weeks. Actually both daughters have been gone a lot this summer. So, to celebrate everyone being home for a while I made a batch of scratch part wheat/part white cinnamon rolls.

As I was stirring together the ingredients for the dough I thought how something so budget-friendly feels like such an indulgence. How surprisingly simple it is to take some basic pantry ingredients and through preparation technique they become special, elevating the everyday snacking or meal experience.

You know, my core philosophy of frugal living is to create abundance from nothing or next to nothing. As I was kneading, I began to wonder what else I make that provides that same sense of decadence for very little cost. Here's what came to mind first:

1. Scratch cinnamon rolls warm from the oven or really any scratch bread product -- so yummy! Scratch cinnamon rolls are my family's alternative to donut shop treats. Short of scratch cinnamon rolls, a thick slice of homemade bread, buttered and doused with cinnamon and sugar, followed up with a drizzle of scratch powdered sugar glaze makes a phenomenal brunch add-on.
2. Slow-cooked steel cut oats topped with brown sugar and fresh peach chunks: Surely you agree that the dense, chewy texture and nutty flavor of steel-cut oats is a luxury breakfast experience. Once topped with fresh fruit, cream, and a little brown sugar, this is oatmeal that tops all other cooked cereals. it makes me wonder how I could have ever eaten those instant packets of sweetened oatmeal.
3. Oven fries baked in beef fat, or actually any potato dish pan-fried or oven-fried in saved beef fat is so tasty. The flavor of the beef fat with potatoes is reminiscent of old-time French fries. Also wonderful are oven-fried sweet potatoes with a generous sprinkling of salt afterward. 
4. Homegrown or small farm produced produce in season, particularly salad greens, vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh-picked that day cabbage, fresh basil, or corn on the cob simply tastes like summer to me and puts supermarket produce to shame.
5. "Oven-fried" chicken strips, using boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips, rolled in bread crumbs and baked in their own fat are a healthy and tempting treat. Chicken thighs stay naturally juicier and offer a richer flavor than chicken breast meat. The darker meat withstands higher oven temperatures needed to develop a good crisp crumb coating. My favorite dipping sauce for these is a hot honey mustard.
6. Artisanal-Style Scratch pizza, using a scratch herb-infused 50 white/50 wheat French bread crust, a scratch sauce made from tomato paste, garlic, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes and water, some cheese, a few slices of pepperoni, and thin strips of garden green pepper. $5 to make, tastes like a $20 pizza.
7. Scratch brownies, made from flour, butter, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla, sugar, and salt, have been a huge hit with my family for over 30 years. The chocolate-y taste beats brownie mix brownies, and the texture is way better too. I use a recipe that came with my microwave as a wedding gift 39 years ago. While the microwave version is quite good, my family likes these baked in a traditional oven. Instructions for oven baking at the bottom of that post.
8. Homemade plain yogurt swirled with a spoonful of homemade jam -- I served some plain yogurt with a spoonful of rhubarb jam stirred in to my husband and myself for dessert the other night. If you want a more "adult" taste in flavored yogurt, try some plain yogurt with just a little jam added. The tartness of the yogurt still comes through, with a hint of sweetness. If you prefer to control sugar, additives, and colorings, making your own flavored yogurt starting with plain and sweetening with homemade jam is an easy and healthy way to go.
9. Roasted garlic spread on a thin slice of toast: Roasting a head of garlic transforms its sharp, pungent cloves into a spreadable paste with a rich, nutty, and caramelized sweetness. When spread over thin, crisp toast, it creates a luxurious buttery texture with all of the savory depth of traditional garlic bread, but without the bite associated with garlic and no additional butter or oil is needed. flavor This makes a great reduced-fat alternative to garlic toast, if you're watching your fat intake or simply running low on butter.
10. Oven-roasted whole chicken with sage-citrus glaze, then a gravy made from the drippings tastes high-end. I have a whole chicken in the freezer just waiting for a cool week to roast like this. I promise you, the gravy from the drippings of this chicken tastes like a nice restaurant sauce or glaze for meat. Whole chickens continue to be the least expensive or second to least expensive form of chicken in my area. The only other cut that competes with the price of whole are chicken leg quarters. The recipe I follow for this chicken glaze is an adaptation of a Southern Living recipe from the early 2000s.

When my daughter walked through the door this afternoon, after a quick hug, she noticed the cinnamon rolls. Her face lit up, and my heart was happy -- happy to see her again, and happy to have made her smile.

Mastering budget gourmet is all about trading a little patience for spectacular flavor. You don't need expensive ingredients when you have techniques that elevate the everyday. Taking the time to roll out your own scratch cinnamon rolls proves that the most luxurious, comforting treats aren't bought at a premium—they are crafted right in your own kitchen.

What is one inexpensive food or recipe you make that tastes high-end? Do any of my 10 resonate with you? Let me know in the comments!

Building a Life on Purpose

Image: Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

This morning I had yet one more dental visit. This was the last filling that needed replacing. It lasted a very, very long time, and I'm grateful for that. At the beginning of the appointment my dentist and I had a couple of minutes to chat. In different life circumstances, I think we'd be friends. She and I share the same faith background, we both garden, we're both mothers, and she's down to earth (as I like to think of myself). Her mother was a stay-at-home mother like my own. I think there were some similarities in our upbringings.

But she chose a different path in life. She's about 10 years younger than I am, and maybe that has something to do with it. She chose, by all accounts, a stressful career. There is a lot of burnout in dentistry. And it's no wonder, with patients like me who deal with anxiety, I'd soon lose my enthusiasm for the field. But she is so good at what she does, I'm glad she chose this path.

Her "rewards" for pursuing a career include intellectual identity, financial autonomy and security, demonstrating how to balance career and family for her daughter, and of course, the physical things and luxuries that this second income affords. Also, she appears to have a good relationship with her children and husband. So I don't think her career compromised her personal relationships. 

For myself, growing up I never wanted a career. My sister did. But I wanted to be with and serve my children and husband. That sounds so old fashioned. I get it. But I see serving as an honor and not a duty. I wanted to imprint my husband's and my values onto our children. I wanted to experience all of the milestones first hand. I actually felt bad that my husband had to hear after the fact about all of the "firsts." I wanted to be the one who sat on the floor playing cars with my young son. I wanted to teach my children to read, and listen to them as they tried reading themselves for the first time. I wanted to play Barbies, build forts, chase butterflies, and experience the joy I could see in my children's eyes as they met each challenge. I wanted to take care of home details so my husband could put his focus on his career. I wanted to be fresh when my husband came home at the end of his day. I wanted to take care of a family. 

As our children grew up, I still wanted to focus my energy on caring for our family. My kids and husband still need my care, but in different ways.

I knowingly traded a higher family income and intellectual identity to have all of what I have had. 

A couple of weeks ago, when I discussed needing to work in small ways well into retirement years in order to afford travel or have a greater financial cushion, I didn't view our situation as a failure. I hope you understand that. This was something we'd known we would have in later years, and we accepted that as the trade-off to have me work at home. 

I invested in the people in my life. The return can't be tracked in a bank account. I don't dread needing to do a few things to supplement our income. I see my husband's and my situation as a life timeline that is simply unfolding on a different, deeply meaningful track than a two-career household. No regrets. I am a satisfied customer of life choices.

My husband and I have made sacrifices along the way. We have lived a simple life often dictated by our bank account. We haven't traveled much, we have far fewer toys, we cut our own hair, shop for our clothes second-hand, and don't pay for expensive experiences. I don't say that as a moral victory. I fully know that we make these choices so that we can have the life of our choosing. But I do try to reframe how we view our simpler life. When a flower in the yard blooms, it's an event in our family. "Did you see the tulips?" "Did you see the roses?" "Did you see the begonias?" It isn't just me who urges the family to see what we do have. All of us here do this.

I don't ask others to pay for my choices. And I think this is important. If I were choosing to stay at home but asking someone else to provide food or heat for me, in my mind that would be wrong.

Do I ever complain about our hardships? Of course I do. Career women complain about their difficulties, too.

Today I wanted to write about my life choice because I feel it isn't always well-represented. There is an audience of women actively searching for the perspective and validation my experience offers. Whether young women at a career vs. family crossroads, homemakers facing "empty nest" or aging anxiety, or  those also entering "soft retirement," there is value in presenting a realistic picture of this life choice. It validates the experiences of women who made similar choices. It offers balance when making that big decision. And it presents a reframe of the need for work after retirement as a second act.

That's all. 

I had these thoughts this afternoon and wanted to share them with you all. And to think, this morning when I was getting dressed I was actually working out the details of a post on favorite kitchen tools. But you got my thoughts instead.