Training the Frugal Palateby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 25 May 2008 08:43 AM
When we last left off, I was talking about how much I was looking forward to eating a food that was a favorite a year and a half earlier. If you missed the first article, click here: The Frugal Palate Phenomena Let's continue... You know what? I couldn't stomach it. As much as I hate wasting food, I wound up eating less than half of it before tossing it out. What happened? This was the pot pie we so enjoyed. This time around, I found the crusty very heavy and greasy. It had a slimy mouth feel. The sauce was tasty, but it had too much salt. And the vegetables had gone missing. That is, there was probably about a quarter of the number of vegetables I usually put in to a pot pie. The chicken was chewy. The problem was, I realized, was not that Pepperidge Farm had changed their formula, but that my pallet had greatly changed in the last year. My taste buds were expecting something more: a flaky crust, a well-seasoned sauce, and a burst of harmonizing vegetables that they usually get when I make a pot pie from scratch, using mostly left over and frugal ingredients. I had essentially trained my palate to accept the home made over the store bought. It didn't want to go back. I am by no means an expert pot pie maker. The crust still gives me some trouble, for example, and I experiment with different recipes. But the point is that you can train your palate to expect home cooked food. And that food is generally much less expensive. I offer this advice to anyone who has a family that only eats fast food or frozen meals. One friend of mine says her husband will only eat a certain brand of white bread. This is a shame, considering the benefits of home made grain bread both to the body and the budget. She also can't even buy this bread in bulk or on sale and freeze it for later, because he might notice the difference (if you thaw commercial bread properly, there doesn't seem to be a difference to me). His pallet has come to expect overpriced and expensive bread that contains a loaf full of preservatives. Anything else just doesn't taste right to him. Check back later today when I offer some tips on adapting your family's palate toward less expensive food. Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Make Your Breadmaker Work for You How Much Does It Cost to Eat at Home? Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 25 May 2008 10:12 AMEven my husband is noticing a change in his palate. We bought some store-cooked ribs and I ended up eating most of them (didn't want to waste them) because the ones he slow-cooks himself are sooooo much better. Of course, the ingredient list on both is a mile long, but the ones he makes are slightly cheaper and may get a lot cheaper once we make some changes to the formula. He's also trying to use less sugar each time he makes sweet tea. It's still waaaaay sweeter than I can stand, but I hope that eventually I won't have to water mine down.  Mary Ann Romans (26886) 26 May 2008 03:58 AMThat is great progress! When I bake, I cut the sugar by 25 percent for most recipes. My biggest issue is using too much butter! AuntJamelle (125) 08 Apr 2009 10:50 AMThis article is SOOO true! I have been OFF fast food for so long now that it just doesn't taste good to me anymore. Not really. Personally I would much rather have something homemade than from a store/fast food place. I got off the processed food/fast food bandwagon for reasons of trying to lose weight - but there are many other benefits too! Lately fast food prices have jumped - making it just not worth it to me anymore. Hmmm...it's overpriced, really bad for my waistline and doesn't taste so great (typically). It will still be an occasional thing for us, I am sure, but our pallet's are definitely retrained now! Community Tags budget, Food, food prices, frugal, palate Discuss this article
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