It's not about the money

I was at  at my sis' place while she was a cooking simple dinner.  She made omelette with minced pork and french beans with sliced fish cake. Dinner served in about an hour.  Nothing fancy but food was good enough and satisfying.  She calculated the cost...probably under RM10.  Similar kind of dishes will probably cost at least RM8 each in a shop.

When I was 'working', lunch by default will be a 'full meal' e.g. a whole plate of chicken rice with drumstick, wan tan mee with chicken drumstick or fatty char siew,  etc.  Each meal will probably cost at least RM5-6 without drinks.  Most of the time I'd end up feeling overfed.

Nowadays, I keep to simple lunch at home.  Mainly because I ain't no home maker like our super moms and there are limited cooking ingredients in the fridge.  I have a "chinese stomach", I need warm and cooked meals and starch.  I won't be satisfied with sandwiches and salads. And I can't possibly have instant noodles so often.

So I've been somewhat ...creative.  Getting better by day I must say ^^.  This week, I've had ...

...fried rice with bacon and 'wallet egg"

... sliced pork and mushroom with angel hair pasta..simply cooked with garlic, butter, olive oil and cheese

... fried rice (again) with some bacon and egg and black dace (leftover from dinner)

Simple dishes..but enough to fill me up and quite satisfying too.  Portion is kept small....around half of my usual portion in the shops.  Cost definitely much lower.  Bought the bacons some weeks ago for RM9.50..still using till today.  Pasta..bought much much longer ago..can't even remember the price.  

In a restaurant, I'd spent RM20+ for a plate of pasta..well they have better ingredients..and more "professionally cooked" and portion is bigger. But, I believe it'a matter of time..one day I will be able to cook proper pasta dishes..with condiments and all.

It's not entirely about the money... these few days while cooking and washing up..I can't help but wondered if I've been over feeding myself.  I didn't have to insist on that drumstick.  I didn't have to ask ask for those extra ingredients in my soup noodles.  Hmm..

By the way..preparation wasn't difficult.  Almost same time like our usual 1hr + lunch hour. I'd normally start preparing around 1 and done eating and washing up by 1.45pm 

And my dear friends..do not worry, I am and will always still be a foodie.  I still come out for meals on certain week nights, Friday nights especially.  

If you are wondering,,what was today's lunch? I got tired of angel hair. I got tired of bacon.  I got tired of olive oil.  I got tired of fried rice.

So..ta daaa...here's my proud creation =D

Instant Mee Goreng with minced pork egg omelete and mushrooms  

Instant noodles will never be the same ^o^