A person's gotta eat right?

Pre-pared is always more expensive and often worse for you than home cooked. That said cooking at home can be time consuming if you're only cooking one meal for one or two people.

At our place, we often cook and put in the fridge. The risk there is that it goes bad. I threw out some cooked cauliflower (after eating some of it; how else could I tell it was done for) last night.

We have been most successful buying large amounts of non-perishables (grains; rice, quinoa, millet), medium amounts of meat or items one can freeze and then a few days worth of fruit and vegetables.

Where can you go as far as the staples, specifically grains and meats, since we recommend the farmers' market for your fruits and vegetables.

We highly recommend two places. And I bet there are places like them wherever you are.

Western Beef is one. Follow the link to see what's on sale this week if you live in the NY area.

And think about going in with friends. Often there are specials available if you spend a certain amount of money. We purchased a 20lb bag of rice for $5, stipulation being we spent $50 in addition. But even if that sale isn't on, they sell a 20lb bag for $8.99 regularly. I literally took months to finish off that sack. At about 2 1/2 cups of uncooked rice per pound, that's 50 cups of uncooked rice. That is a lot of rice. And like many grains, it can be served savoury or sweet. But I digress. Deals-a-poppin' at Western Beef. They give rain checks and ours is open 7A-10P (6:30AM from Friday-Sunday) so you can pick up before or after work.

TRADER JOE'S

The other is Trader Joe's. With locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, Trader Joe's is one of our favorites for extremely reasonable prices on good and, if you want, organic products. Large jars of pasta sauce and peanut butter (my favorite! ingredient list: peanuts) are less than $2. There are always food samples (hot or cold depending on the time of day) and coffee samples. And they're the originator of 2 buck Chuck, a wine by Charles Shaw made famous by it's price. It's pretty good. My wife and I had a white not too long ago. You can cross the threshold of this particular merchant from 9A-10P daily.

So shop at places like these, and cook at home. It still overwhelms me sometimes but, oh, the money we save.

Call your mother.