How This All Got Started

Hello, I am Jacque Heaton, and this is my new blog “Gourmet Cooking On A Budget”.

I am an artist, business owner, church secretary and work from home, penny pinching, mom. My husband and I homeschool our 2 boys and normally send them off to my in-law's house for our weekly Monday date night. Monday's are great because there are so many specials running to draw that crowd in on the slowest night of the week. For us this means less crowding, waiting and being able to save money with the Monday deals. With the restaurants closed and by 2 boys (with black holes in their stomachs) not going to my in-law's (due to social distancing), I found myself still craving the date night foods and had 2 more to have to account for.

When Covid-19 hit the US there was the crazy panic buying and the grocery store shelves were stripped bare, and for the first time in my life I was grateful I grew up poor. I have learned to be extremely frugal and learned how to accumulate a stockpile of food on a ridiculously small budget. When I saw green beans go on sale for 20 cents a can, I bought 30 cans and only paid $6.00 for what would normally be $24 to $45 depending on the store and the brand. That is a huge savings and gets your pantry filled up and overflowing in no time. So, all that being said, not only were we good during that time, we were also able to help other people out that were in need.

Another great benefit to my childhood was my mom's and my grandma's (my dad's mom) love of making foods from scratch and pulling us kids into the kitchen to help roll out dough or stir a pot or measure out and add in ingredients. When a beautiful birthday cake can cost up to $50 or more, but a 10 lbs. bag of flour is $10, a 10 bag of sugar is $13, a flat of 48 eggs is $12 and a pound of baking powder is $3 that is $48 with the potential for many, many cakes. Not to mention the fact that you know what is going into that cake.

So back to how this blog came to be. My husband and my favorite foods to go eat are Asian, Italian, Mexican and seafood, mainly because they are expensive ingredients, time consuming or simply better when someone else makes it for you. However, when cravings hit and last for weeks, your determination kicks in and you find a way to satisfy them. Slowly I began to learn 2 to 3 new dishes a week, then 3 to 4, then 4 to 8, and then more I learned the braver I became to make more difficult dishes. The first dish I learned was authentic miso ramen and the most difficult was Easter Dinner with Cornish game hens, deviled eggs, flower shaped potatoes au gratin, honey and thyme carrots, croissant wrapped asparagus, broccoli salad, and leek soup.

All these recipes I will be sharing with you.

I started posting my food on Facebook on my wall and in food groups that I had joined to learn how to cook and was floored by the response that I got from people. One recurring response has been to start a blog of how I am able to make meals that would cost you a lot in a nice restaurant. Especially since I have always taken pride in my penny-pinching ways and awesome deals and sales.

I am looking forward to sharing my shopping and cooking tips and tricks and receiving your feedback so that I can hone in my own cooking skills.

Signing off,

Jacque