Looking for a value menu that doesn’t consist of the fast food drive thru? You’re in luck! Citysearch just released a new Website called Three Buck Bites where you can find all sorts of cheap (but quality) eats sorted by city or restaurant. Every delicacy featured on this site cost $3.99 or less.  And Chew on That is a part of it! We’ll  be submitting our own Three Buck Bites from the city and suburbs of Chicago. You can see our photo on their Dictators Page as well as the Three Buck Bites Dictator badge in our lefthand sidebar.

See our first “bite” after the jump!

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Times are tough these days. It seems that everyone has been affected by the current economic recession in some way. Of course, one of the biggest day-to-day expenses comes from our own kitchens and food consumption. We could all stand to save a little money, especially in the kitchen, so this month we looked to some of our favorite food bloggers for help. We asked: “With the current global recession, are you cutting costs in the kitchen? Please share your budget cooking tips!”

Our foodie friends came up with tons of tips to help us all save a little money in the kitchen without sacrificing quality ingredients! And here they are…

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[We asked Nicole of For The Love of Food for money saving kitchen tips for this month's Monthly Mouthful. She didn't just give us one answer...she gave us 10! We loved her advice so much we decided to make a guest post out of it. Please give Nicole a warm welcome and enjoy these money saving tips.]

1. Buy your meats from a butcher, preferably local, and NOT from a store that only sells prepackaged containers of meat. This often leads to people having to buy more than they need and the quality is not always the best.  When I was younger my mother used to drive out to a farm twice a year and buy our chicken, which was organic, and freeze it in small portions.  This meant that she got a much better price per pound than in the grocery store even though she was buying organic.  Many farms in the US even deliver to your home - check out <a href=”http://www.localharvest.org”>Local Harvest</a> to find a farm near you in the US.

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Let’s face it: the economy is not in good shape. With the financial crisis on Wall Street, rising food costs and fluctuating gas prices, we’re not in the midst of the most lucrative times. Making ends meet can be very stressful but we can all get through this with a little help and a little organization. First and foremost, we have to cut back on our spending and one of the best places to start is in the kitchen.

Money-Saving Tips and Recipes after the jump!

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I did a quick poll amongst my Twitter foodie friends asking them how much they spend on food each week. I’m doing some re-budgeting lately and wanted to see how much money other people budget for food. At first the answers were shocking to read, but I quickly realized just how fast food prices can add up (Keep in mind the euro is valued at approximately $1.50 and the pound is valued at approximately $2).

But now it’s your turn. Tell me readers, how much do you spend on food each week, be it on restaurant meals, trips to the grocery store or even farmer’s markets. And please, specify how many people you feed. Can’t wait for your answers!

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Recently I read a lovely entry over at Dessert Comes First about a very classy, very yummy, and very pricey steakhouse in Makati City, Philippines. Sounds like an amazing place, really, but it comes with a steep bill: P2,200 for a steak, which rounds out to about $50 USD. Most of my dinners don’t cost that much. But judging from the experience, the cost is worth it; and you know there are more expensive places out there.

Almost immediately the blogger got this comment:

hmmm… in a country where most people are languishing in poverty, is it even moral to splurge and spend so much? …on a single meal for just one person?

Facepalm.

Look, I’m not insensitive to the needs of the poor and downtrodden. My parents taught me to be as generous and kind as I could. I can’t walk past a panhandler without forking over a couple bucks, I’ve worked at soup kitchens, I constantly track the poverty situation in my country and others looking for ways to help. But do I feel guilty if after walking past that panhandler I head into a luxurious restaurant and stuff myself with a $50 dinner? In a word, no. In the same way that I’m concerned with the ethics of agriculture but will never stop eating meat, while I feel for those who can’t afford what I can I’m not going to feel guilty over my ability to eat good food. I work hard for my money; I temper my indulgences with a healthy sense of social responsibility, but plenty of that money is still unquestionably mine to spend on me.

Not so long ago, just enjoying a good meal was considered ostentatious, snobby, wrong in this country. We should do everything we can to minimize the deleterious effects of a nation full of foodies–reducing carbon footprints, using organic ingredients and humanely-raised meat, etc–and spend plenty of time and money helping alleviate the poverty situations here and abroad. But we can’t feel like terrible people any time we take a bite of black truffle or a sip of champagne. Have perspective about your situation? Yes. Loathe yourself for it? No.

Do no harm, help when you can, and treat yourself once in a while; provided you’re not Mr. Burns or that guy who checked out before we could punish him, you should be in the clear.

-Jim reminds everyone that his opinions are not necessarily representative of Recipe4Living

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