Frugality and You: Own a Wok

If you're trying to save money, you should to avoid eating out.  Preparing food at home saves you a lot of money: even if the actual food items you purchase cost the same (unlikely, though possible) you save money by avoiding sales tax and tip, and you can't be tempted by expensive unnecessaries like restaurant beverages or desserts.  But you still want good food, right?  You just may have to work a little harder to prepare that good food (and you can spend a little more at the grocery store on quality food, knowing you're avoiding eating out).

If you like Asian food, there's an incredibly easy way to make very tasty food at home.  Get a wok, and make stir fry.  Do you think there's some sort of challenge to stir fry?  Look at the name--the steps are pretty simple.

--Put a wok on the stove.

--Throw a bunch of stuff in it.*

--Stir.

*this may require additional work like cutting vegetables--easy but time-consuming.

That's pretty much it--you don't have to be any sort of chef at all to make stir fry, yet you can make a delicious and affordable meal.  We usually toss in green bell peppers, red bell peppers, broccoli, onions, shredded carrots, and tofu (flavoring it with just a bit of teriyaki or sweet and sour sauce), though it is flexible.  We then put that over brown rice.  Do you think I'm any cooking expert?  I'm not.  But I can cut freakin' vegetables and tofu, and I can use a wooden spoon to stir it.

A wok and you: an affordable way to eat well.