Yahoo Lifestyle "My Jaw Actually Dropped": 22 People Share The Sacrifices They've Made In The Kitchen As Grocery Prices Skyrocket
This is the Tasty Potluck, where we ask members of the Tasty community for their cooking tips, solutions, and opinions — and share them with all of you. If you have something to add to this conversation, use the comments to speak your mind!
When it comes to budgeting for groceries, I'm really starting to identify with Sisyphus and that whole "rolling a rock uphill" over and over again. These days, food prices can make even basic meals like a stir-fry feel out of reach. It is so frustrating. We want to make so many things, but the cost puts them just beyond our grasp.
Still, when life gives us lemons — even at $1.50 apiece — people are finding ways to make lemonade. To understand how people are dealing with these rising costs, we asked the Tasty community to share the meals they miss making and how their cooking habits have changed recently. Their responses are incredibly relatable and a little heartbreaking:
1."I miss trying new recipes. I can’t justify spending money on ingredients that I don’t already have just to make one dish."
—Reid S., Instagram
2."I have two toddlers (3- and 1-year-olds), and breakfast-for-dinner was always a weekly staple: eggs, bacon, hash browns, and sweets like pancakes, waffles, or scones. Egg prices are so high we’re down to having breakfast-for-dinner once a month to conserve the eggs for other recipes."
"My oldest is autistic and has few safe foods, scrambled eggs being one of them. I'm scrambling to find a new protein that she will eat (pun intended).
As a stay-at-home mom, baking with my kids was always a fun sensory activity that we all enjoyed. That, too, has fallen to the wayside as I feel like I can't justify just making things for fun with my kids anymore. I purchase all the food for an intended recipe with tiny leftovers before the next grocery run.
Keeping our grocery bill the same as a year ago is stressful. Finding affordable foods my picky toddlers will eat, and not waste, is stressful. Finding new activities to replace the time we used to play 'bakery" is stressful. Watching our pantry slowly empty as I can no longer afford to buy extra on hand is stressful. We are super lucky, and I do not worry my kids will go hungry, but that's the only thing I'm not currently stressed about…yet."
—Melanie, Colorado, 37
3."I'm not a vegetarian, but I've been eating a lot less meat as it gets increasingly expensive. I try to stretch the meat I do buy as far as I can, by combining it with some sort of vegetable and carb (like a chicken and broccoli Alfredo) rather than just eating a cut of meat and a side dish."
"I'm experimenting more with lentils and other meat substitutes like mushrooms and tofu. I like to swap half a pound of ground beef for lentils when I cook taco meat. Does it taste as good? Not quite. But it's MUCH cheaper.
I found a local meat packing store where I can get a chicken leg (thigh and drumstick) for $1.20, and I can stretch that meat out all week if I'm careful (since I'm just cooking for me)."
4."Well, I'm gonna miss dying the eggs for Easter....we're about to dye potatoes or something."
—Kristen H., Instagram
5."We make our own bone broth and use it to make soup for dinner, which is nutritionally dense and filling. We also are eating about a third less food. We won't starve anytime soon, but I've never had to skip meals. This is so stressful."
6."Professional chef here. Can't do anything about catering gigs, but I found we are slowly going more vegetarian at home. If you know how to work with veggies, you can make kickass meals and not miss the meat aspect. My black bean smash burgers are among the most popular requests for parties and catering meals. Falafel and a cucumber yogurt sauce... Granted, we still do beef and chicken at least once weekly, but we've slashed our grocery budget by half without feeling it on the plate."
7."My whole family loves steak, including my kids. We haven't had that meal in months. Anything involving eggs has been seriously cut back in order to make sure we have enough eggs for breakfast. I've also been rationing the lunch meat. One less slice of lunch meat on a sandwich means we get a couple more lunches out of a package."
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8."Actually going out to restaurants frequently is what I miss. It has to be a special treat to do that these days."
—Mindy M., Instagram
9."I have been going vegetarian more and more... chicken occasionally. I often make my own pasta, bread, hummus, cheese, etc. My family member has a chicken farm, so we get free eggs, too. We grow veggies in the summer. I definitely default a lot more in general than in the past to making my food more than buying."
10."We seek organic eggs from our neighbors. We no longer have leftovers. This one is huge. Before, we would have plenty of leftovers, but now we buy the smallest packs of meat. If we do have leftovers I bring them to my elderly in-laws."
—Megan R. D., Alabama
11."I'm a 'Jamerican' (Jamaican American) who was raised on oxtail, curry goat, and curry shrimp. I left Brooklyn and moved to a new state that doesn't have good Jamaican restaurants. So mastering these recipes came in handy when I felt homesick. But the price for the meats is just so ridiculously high that I just can't do it."
—Anonymous
12."Y'all. Why has chocolate, like real good chocolate, gotten so expensive recently? I'm talking chocolate chips and cocoa bars. I can't get any of these things for under six dollars. And they are gone so quickly. It's not like chocolate is rare, so why does everything have to rise in price?"
—Linus, 26, Missouri
13."We gave up cooking stir fry meats like Kung Pao chicken or Mongolian beef on weeknights; I switched to eating simple salad. We switched to buying cheaper cuts of meat and on the weekends, we don’t cook ribeye steaks anymore, just simple hot dogs or hamburgers."
—Anonymous
14."I went into my store yesterday. My jaw actually dropped. Eggs went up a couple of dollars from last week! The price for a dozen eggs was insane."
—Margaret R., Instagram
15."Lemon curd! My lemon tree is bursting and I always make loads of pints for everyone I know this time of year."
—Jill F., Instagram
16."We stopped buying beef. When stew meat, which is the leftover cutoff piece of meat, sells at $8.99 a pound, it’s time to quit. Short ribs? $11.99 a pound when 3/4 of it is fat. Pork is cheap and versatile. Same with chicken. Beef packing companies are in cahoots to set high prices and think we’ll just pay it. Nope."
17."I only eat meat on the super rare meal out. I have been a vegetarian for several years, so I don't notice it much. Lots of rice, beans, and whatever vegetables I can find in the discount bin. A lot of burrito bowls, curries, pasta, and homemade bread. Making bread loaves and bagels has shaved a nice bit off the grocery bill!"
18."I hate that homemade isn’t always the cheaper option, like it used to be growing up."
—Tara, Instagram
19."I miss having cereal and milk as the inexpensive choice instead of a treat."
—Cat O., Instagram
20."Fresh produce has gotten so expensive. A couple of tomatoes could be like five dollars, and that is getting a little pricey."
—Haley, New York
21."Lamb shanks. My mom made them my whole life because they were so cheap. They're my favorite. Now they're too expensive to even buy one of them. Breaks my heart because I miss how good they are."
—Juliet W., Instagram
22."Free-range, organic chicken meat — it's so expensive in Scandinavia. Firstly, it's actually hard to find in the stores, and second, it's really expensive. I wouldn't mind paying extra for better animal welfare, but it should also actually BE better, not just on the surface."
—Lea Marie., Instagram
Which ingredients do you wish didn't have an outrageous price sticker? Share your thoughts in the comments or anonymously via this form.
