The Hillbilly Experiment: What I Liked

(The picture S took of the chocolate cupcakes I put together from spare pantry ingredients, recipe later)






(the picture I took of the cupcakes. Turns out I had the "night mode" on or something, but I'll tell you I was really surprised when I downloaded my photos)




Even though I made several changes to HbHw's menu, there are lots of things I like about it.

1) It's cheap. Really, really cheap. A lot of "save money on groceries" articles I read propose things like "save money by cutting out the caviar." Ok, maybe not that extreme, but telling me to skip the Starbuck's bottled lattes isn't really helping. If you really are in an emergency, or if you just want to learn how to pare your grocery bill some, this is a great resource.

2) Nearly everything is made from scratch. Even though I home-cook a lot of food, our normal shopping list usually includes processed snack foods, breads, and drinks. My mother always told me to "eat a variety of foods, in as close to their natural state as possible." I might not always have the time to make my own bread, but I think it's better for us than the processed version.

3) It's nutritious. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a diet menu (although the site does have one), but it does an excellent job of providing the necessary nutrients, especially if you use whole grains, like I did. On a small budget, it's even harder than normal to resist filling up on empty calories, but there are a lot of lean proteins here, as well as fiber, greens, and other good things.

Of course sometimes a woman's just gotta say "Screw nutritious; I have flour, butter, cocoa, sugar, milk, eggs, and baking powder, and I'm MAKING CUPCAKES." They weren't really part of the plan, but they were a delicious detour.