spices

it’s worth investing in spices. they really “SPICE UP” a dish!

okay sorry for that. but really – it’s worth it.

rosemary, chili powder, oregano and basil are a good place to start. curry powders are very useful as well.

for sweet things vanilla (not a spice , i know) and cinnamon are the best. by the way, if you’re buying vanilla please don’t buy the artificial kind. real vanilla is so much better, even the cheap mccormick kind.

buying spices can be very pricy, but it doesn’t have to be – and they add a lot of flavor and variety to otherwise boring or repetitive dishes. Scout out local Asian and Hispanic markets, as they usually have cheaper brands. Badia is a particularly good brand. Most grocery stores have “ethnic” sections – these are a great place to find cheap spices (and rice). They’re, like, $2 cheaper there.

buying off-brand food

sometimes it’s worth it – for example, the store brand milk or bread are perfectly fine.

sometimes its better to shell out for the real thing –

Target popcorn – it doesn’t pop very well and tastes a little stale

offbrand nutella – not nearly as good. doesn’t spread well, tastes funny.

generic dairy products – aside from milk, which holds up pretty well, dairy items such as cream cheese and block cheeses are risky. The quality is all over the place – Publix (SW/Florida) has pretty good cheese, but Target cream cheeses are iffy.

Generally it’s bad to buy something that like Nutella or Cheezits that have a very specific taste. Off-brand bbq chips, not so much.

4/21 –  I don’t know whether it’s bad because it’s fat free or if it’s the brand, but target-brand yogurt isn’t very good, definitely not worth the few cents you save by buying it