Reply #14: You can do all kinds of things with simple ingredients [View All]

[Amerigo Vespucci]

...and if someone's on a budget too tight to allow for the purchase of a cook book, go to Barnes & Noble or Borders or whatever the local store is and thumb through one and write down one or two recipes per visit.

I've done it. I'm also fortunate in the fact that at a very early age, I decided that I was going to learn how to cook. I can take $5 worth of stuff and turn it into a feast.

The problem with the CNN clip is that the reporter seemed like he wanted to stay as close to his "fully prepared Whole Foods meal" as possible.

It was a one-month thing for him. If he had to do it out of survival, he would have deepened his education.