I love all of these things also. Unfortunately, I am one of those people for whom pasta and carbs are a nightmare. It doesn't fill me up and when I do quit, I am hungry 30 minutes later. I wish I wasn't like that. I adore pasta and potato and macaroni salad. But my figure doesn't.
My husband is a diabetic and very carb/sugar sensitive. I grew up in a "financially sensitive" environment and pastas and potatoes were main courses. Having to constantly cook around meats and vegs has put a dent in our budget but, it's still a lot cheaper to cook them at home than to go out. Case in point: yesterday we went car shopping (another story, another nightmare) and by dinner we were starving. Dinner out at non fancy steak house ended up costing $60 with tax and tip. Now this morning I'm suffering from a serious money hangover and very little cash to get me through the end of the week.
