Sure glad we had the financial pundits let us in on THAT headline.
So, how can we respond? We've given all of this a great deal of thought lately.
Well, we're down to using one car. And it sits in the driveway much of the time.
We've been combining errands for fewer trips into town for months now. It's habit now.
We're wearing sweaters and warm socks more, and heating the house almost exclusively with wood and propane now.
This is a great time of year to cut back on 'eating out' to just once a month (unless we're traveling, of course). There aren't too, too many restaurants open on the island during the winter anyway (there are plenty, but not nearly as many as at the height of the summer tourism time.)
And we've decided to be much more frugal with our dinner meals when we eat at home (not that we've been big spenders in groceries, but every little bit helps). We're going to try the following on each week's menu:
One night a week, an egg-based meal, e.g., omelets, scrambled eggs, souffle, strata, waffles;
One night a week, a SOUP and bread meal (we LOVE home-made soups, often make popovers from scratch, and just pulled out our old bread machine);
One night a week, a stir-fry meal (we unearthed our wok, too!);
One night a week, a main-course salad with grilled chicken or shrimp;
One night a week, a pasta or grain based meal (whole wheat pasta, quinoa, etc.);
One night a week of chicken or fish; and
One night a week of beans and rice (Please! Send your favorite recipe).
We can certainly live simply, more frugally, and still eat well. VERY well. I'm poring over the vegetarian and soup cookbooks we have -- I'm a sucker for those color pictures and want to try everything!
When do we eat?
3 comments:
This sounds real good Kathe and makes a whole lot of sense as well.
We may have to take up some of your practices. I like the variety too.
Thanks for sharing.
Love, Lee
red beans and rice with homemade bbq sauce = AWESOME. throw a jar of salsa (or just some onions/tomatoes/etc) in with the rice for extra flavour and veggies.
how about a loaded baked potato meal? maybe with a poached egg topping?
now's also the time to check out that braised cabbage recipe i emailed you about.
i'll be interested to see if you can keep up the weekly main course salads...i just can NOT eat that much salad during the winter. it's just not right. :)
beans/grain suggestions: make up LARGE batches of grains and beans (from dried bulk purchases) and then freeze in single/double-portion sizes for quick reheating. highly,highly recommend dried beans over canned. you can also make up a large batch of risotto base (just basic w/ onions and veg/chicken stock until the grains are about half-cooked) and freeze that off in portions to heat and finish cooking with extra flavorings. also, try thick polenta as a great tomato sauce base. we also make up large batches of tomato sauce with turkey sausage and freeze that off for quick dinners.
the tomato chicken curry i grew up on freezes very well. so do enchiladas.
nom nom nom!
now you have to start posting links to recipes!
i'm glad you're diving back into your cookbooks and finding some NEW recipes and flavor combinations!! if you don't already have it, go order yourself a copy of "a beautiful bowl of soup"... i think you got it for me several years ago. it is one of my absolute favourites. i've loaned it to SO many people, and they always thank me. great recipes.
Now THAT is ALL smart! They serve alot of things like that here at The Manor. We have to live on city funds and that ain't easy...we have to watch every penny! You proved it CAN be done! GOOD GOING!! Now if everyone could live like that!!;o)
LOTS O'LOVE, Anne
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