cheap, nutritious foods

During one of my impoverished times, and there really have been quite a few of these, I went to a seminar to see how to feed a family when you don't have much money. A real juggling act. But, we can always find ways to eat cheaper yet nutritiously.

A wonderful woman who suddenly had found herself a solo mum of three children, was taking the workshop, and it was based on her experience of being in a really difficult situation with a drastically reduced income. Interestingly, a decade or so later, I met her again, and we became friends.

The first things that she said were:

• she put down a vegetable garden. Nowadays, not everyone has any land around their home or flat, to do this. But even a tiny raised bed or growing plants in pots can make a difference. I'm planning on growing greens like silverbeet, parsley, watercress. (still in the to-be-done pile)
• she realised that she could not afford to buy meat, so she found ways to do vegetarian food 
• for breakfast, she recommended:

porridge

What a food saviour! Eggs do not agree with me (understatement), so porridge takes their place.

• sometimes I just use a store brand of oat bran. Cheap as chips and very filling. Other times I might do half rolled oats, half oat bran.
• for one cup of uncooked rolled oats, you can add one quarter of a cup of wheat germ to up the protein and B vitamins. Eat it hot in winter.
• soak it overnight in cooler weather and maybe add bits and bobs like coconut, wheat germ, nuts, seeds, dried fruit
• I add dried cardamon powder to my porridge. Because I love it. To chai it all up, I have used cardamon, cinnamon, ginger powders, just a dash each with a wee splash of vanilla sometimes 

the humble lentil

Red lentils are amazingly cheap and versatile. You can also buy "green" which I used to call "brown", lentils in the supermarket. They do take a little bit longer to soften than red lentils.

• add a handful when you are cooking vegetable soup, for extra protein
• mix it in with your mince to make your "meat" dish go further
• add it to a homemade tomato sauce dish to go onto pizzas, over pasta
• make dhal with red lentils
• curried brown lentils taste scrumptious. I had a meal at a friend's once which was cooked green lentils with vegetables and herbs, served with a poached egg on top

During my most impoverished time (hopefully never to be repeated), I lived on porridge, red lentil dhal, homemade roti (yes, I can make those) and a scattering of greens. I also used a bunch of curry leaf twigs from an Asian supermarket as extra greens, as they are so cheap. 

I do think that it was Nanna who inadvertently taught me, just by the way that she ran her household, how to cope with not much money, which of course included food, and yet, still have an affluent life. 

beans

• baked beans and jacket potatoes
• beans on toast
• toss cooked kidney beans into a tomato based sauce, add some hot stuff, and go Mexican
• bean "stew" or casserole 
• learn how to sprout mung beans for extra protein, vitamins and minerals. Toss them in your meals
• you can buy cans of beans and brown lentils. Sweat some onions, garlic and ginger if you have either, toss in a can of tomatoes, a drained can of beans and some chopped vegetables. Simmer till vegetables are cooked. Hey presto! A cheap nutritious meal
• My favourite bean meal: I like to saute some onion, garlic and ginger, then some vegetables, add some beans and a bit of water. When the vegetables are done, I stir some miso through before serving. Miso needs to be added just before serving, to preserve it's nutrition

Any legumes (beans) and pulses (lentils) cook faster if you add a teaspoon of turmeric. This year's superfood. Never, ever underestimate the effect of spices in our foods. Whilst they are cooking, the aroma makes us salivate, and starts the digestion process.  

time to clean up my food habits. yet again

The thing is, I feel that often we have forgotten that simple food can make us quite healthy. I do this, too. When I decide to "only" eat "chicly" or mega healthy with superfoods (whatever the latest are), it all can become  very expensive, and for me, stressful.

I recently opened my pantry and found that I had no vegetables nor protein to eat, but I did have a cupboard fill of spices. And the fridge was empty too. Of course. How? Well, I had been eating out here and there, just really busy and disorganised. And sooner or later, this leads to eating more junk food.

 And yet, I should be a priority for me. Why do I keep forgetting this? So this is my next area of decluttering. Tidying up my habits around food. Something that I often have to revisit. I just look at everything that I need to do, and focus on that. But, my needs are part of all of my life, too. I have been training myself to remember this.

summer lentils

A friend gave me this recipe:

• one can of brown lentils
• one can of beetroot

drain both and chop beetroot

• sprinkle feta through

Sometimes I've done toasted pumpkin seeds instead of the feta, for a vegan dish. Other times, with this, I've added chopped red onion, chopped herbs like parsley, corn, celery, whatever I have. You can also add a splosh of The Paul Newman's (salad dressing) like the balsamic one.

Does anyone else like vegetarian food?