By Amie Knowles
“There’s no way,” my friend said. “Someone told me they saw your cooking show. I said there has to be another ‘Amie’ working at Dogwood because the one I know absolutely doesn’t cook.”
I know, it’s wild. For those who know me outside of this little newsletter bubble—and if you’ve been here a while, then also in this little newsletter bubble—I haven’t been a great chef in the past. I was much more of a drive-thru dinner gal until a burger, fries, and drink started costing more dollars than I have fingers.
To save money last year, I did something I dreaded. I *gulp* turned the stove on a temperature other than “high,” silenced the smoke alarm, and started making about 80% of our meals at home. It was an adjustment to the lifestyle we’d lived for a few years at that point, but it did give us some financial wiggle room.
We found that a $10 steak dinner could be super flavorful, a charcoal grill and some aluminum foil worked magic for chicken, and ramen noodles deserved praise long after our college years. I know lots of folks in our beautiful state are living paycheck to paycheck; I’m hoping that by sharing some of our favorite home cooked budget meals, it’ll help y’all find a few bucks to put back in your pockets, too.
