Quick post tonight, following up on this Facebook post that has garnered so much attention.

Since moving to Austin, I have been cooking for one, obviously. I was fearing that eating out too often would cost too much. But now that I think about it, when there’s only one person to worry about, cooking for one is almost more expensive than going out.

Take for instance this weekend. I had grown tired of eating the same old stuff over and over, so I researched some new recipes–Thai curry with tilapia, and butter chicken, a heavy succulent Indian dish. The list of ingredients were very very long and it required trips to two different grocery stores where I spent over $65 total.

Twice this week I slaved over the hot stove, wiping sweat from my brow. And twice I created meals that a starving beagle would have half-heartedly sniffed at before turning away. I followed the highly-regarded recipes pretty closely… how could I have screwed up so bad?

I guess I over-seasoned everything. The butter chicken was grainy and way too thick. The Thai curry was soupy and tasted like nothing more than salt. Both were simply disgusting.

Until Lauren arrives, I will either cook one of my three standby meals–chicken fajitas, some sort of pasta with chicken, or hamburgers–or eat out for under $10. It’s actually more cost-efficient, and in all likelihood will delay my trip to my grave.

Note: I have actually made some pretty good meals before. I used to make a good curry that I even fed to Lauren’s parents once. It’s just so much different when there’s no one else to cook for. I feel a bit more experimentational and inevitably go too far. (i.e., the time I tried marinating steak in Cherry 7Up.)