I completely rock the frugal lifestyle.
Mar. 15th, 2010 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hmpfAt least when it comes to food. :D
I'm trying always to cook for two to three days now, because it's just cheaper (as well as less annoying, because you don't have to cook every day, do the dishes every day, etc.). In the last ten or so days I've had:
- Big Pot o' Vegetarian Chili:
total cost: ca. 2,50 euros
yield: three full meals (well, supplemented with a bit of bread)
- Big Pot o' Red Lentil Dhal:
total cost: ca. 1,50 euros
yield: three full meals
- Big Pot o' Tomato Sauce & Spaghetti
total cost: ca. 1 euro (or less, if I hadn't decided to put some expensive black olives in it)
yield: three full meals (spaghetti cooked fresh every day, sauce reheated)
Add about fifty cents for bread, fifty cents for stuff-to-put-on-bread, and maybe another fifty cents for fruit and vegetables per day, tops. And a few cents for tea.
With a lifestyle like that, I feel I can actually almost afford a ridiculously decadent cup of hot chocolate made from organic milk and organic dark chocolate, per day, despite being Officially Poor(tm). (Cost of said treat: ca. 80 cents.)
***
Yeah, I *do* know that there are a lot of people who have to live on less than the maybe 3 euros per day that I'm living on at the moment. And, obviously, I'm only looking at the food part of the equation here. So, there'll always be someone compared to whom my situation will look like luxury. Still, allow me some pride in my ability to manage on relatively little money... It feels like an accomplishment. ;-)
I'm trying always to cook for two to three days now, because it's just cheaper (as well as less annoying, because you don't have to cook every day, do the dishes every day, etc.). In the last ten or so days I've had:
- Big Pot o' Vegetarian Chili:
total cost: ca. 2,50 euros
yield: three full meals (well, supplemented with a bit of bread)
- Big Pot o' Red Lentil Dhal:
total cost: ca. 1,50 euros
yield: three full meals
- Big Pot o' Tomato Sauce & Spaghetti
total cost: ca. 1 euro (or less, if I hadn't decided to put some expensive black olives in it)
yield: three full meals (spaghetti cooked fresh every day, sauce reheated)
Add about fifty cents for bread, fifty cents for stuff-to-put-on-bread, and maybe another fifty cents for fruit and vegetables per day, tops. And a few cents for tea.
With a lifestyle like that, I feel I can actually almost afford a ridiculously decadent cup of hot chocolate made from organic milk and organic dark chocolate, per day, despite being Officially Poor(tm). (Cost of said treat: ca. 80 cents.)
***
Yeah, I *do* know that there are a lot of people who have to live on less than the maybe 3 euros per day that I'm living on at the moment. And, obviously, I'm only looking at the food part of the equation here. So, there'll always be someone compared to whom my situation will look like luxury. Still, allow me some pride in my ability to manage on relatively little money... It feels like an accomplishment. ;-)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-15 08:47 pm (UTC)I tend to make bean soups and then add lots of rice to make them seem more like a "meal". Like you I prefer making large batches I can moooch off of all week.
\o/ frugality!
So...
Date: 2010-03-16 09:24 pm (UTC)Except the recipe for my chili is sort of... in flux.
Until recently, it went somewhat like this (it's a vegetarian chili because I'm mostly vegetarian):
- one medium-sized onion, sliced or diced, depending on how lazy you feel
- one clove of garlic (or more - depends a bit on the size of the clove), diced or... smushed(?) through one of those garlic smushers
- one big pepper (bell pepper)
- one package (ca. 400-500 g) of pureed tomatoes
- one can of chili beans (also ca. 400 g, I think)
- a bit of chili sauce/chili ketchup
- some cumin powder
- some chili powder; if you like it hot, feel free to add actual, fresh hot peppers, too
- some salt
- some sugar
- a couple handfuls of rice (not pre-cooked, just added to the pot of chili early on so it has enough time to cook) - the rice is in there to thicken the chili a bit, making up for the lack of meat. I tend to use basmati rice, because that tends to be the rice I always have, apart from risotto rice.)
The recipe (which has always been vague and subject to change) is about to change a bit, though, as I'm trying to stop using canned beans. So I'm experimenting with dried beans now. They're cheaper, and I like not having to throw away a can every time I make a chili. I'm still working out the amount of beans needed, though - I think I'll end up using more beans than I used to, because I've always found my chili lacking in beans a bit (but didn't feel like opening another whole can of them to fix that problem).
Sorry if this recipe wasn't very helpful... You should try the beetroot soup recipe (http://hmpf.livejournal.com/315786.html?thread=1338762#t1338762) I posted recently, though!