Slack-ish

I seem to be quite slack at updating this thing regularly. I do cook and I do take pictures, but by the time I've had dinner I don't really feel like sitting down and writing about it. So instead, you get the content in batches of when the inspiration strikes. On the upside, you get several recipes at once, so if you're a "once a week" reader, then it's perfect really :)

This month I've been trying to be extra frugal and not spend any money that isn't planned. I was whittling away hundreds of dollars on the incidental "I'll just pop into the supermarket on the way to the train station" purchases. Literally, hundreds! So this month, I said to myself, "No more spending unless it's from a list". The first four days were really really hard! I wanted that takeaway coffee or to go out for lunch or there's a sale on at that store. It's amazing how much time you spend thinking about buying things when you don't have any money!

A few days later it settled down. I realised that I have a ton of food at home and I should make do with what I have instead of constantly buying more. I borrowed a book called The $21 dollar challenge that focuses exactly on that - cooking with what you have instead of buying things you don't use.

On the second weekend of the month, I ventured out to the markets to buy some supplies. Only bought the things that I needed for a couple of recipes: potato bake (already had potato but needed bacon), chicken casserole (The Mad Butcher had thighs for $4.99 a kilo!!), and apple crumble (a friend at work gave me a whole bunch of apples from her father's orchard). Also bought a few household supplies, such as coat hangers and toilet cleaner. I haven't yet ventured out into the world of baking soda for cleaning, but I'm sure the time will come!

Today I noticed that Whitcoulls has a massive sale on books (they're in administration), so bought Yates Garden Fresh Cookbook. It has recipes but also a lot of information on how to grow your own vegies. It's good because it talks about having a continuous vegetable garden, not just about how to grow one thing and be done with it. Might get inspired!

So yes, I have been spending far less money. Unfortunately that means I am not cooking things that all that fancy and they are kind of making me fat. The cheaper food choices are also paired with my current medication that specifically states "watch out as it may lead you to overeat", so I have to be extra-vigilant. But that ice cream just seems so good! Have to be strong.

I also went to a cooking class the other night. I've never been to one before, and I bought this for me and a friend as a birthday/Christmas gift for her. We got all the ingredients and recipe provided and the instruction, and we cooked it right there, and then ate it and shared a bottle of wine. It was really quite nice for $40 each. They do classes several times a week.

Yet another food blog

In the inspiring steps of Julie & Julia and a thousand and one TV chefs out there, I feel compelled to add yet another pollutant to the world of blogosphere.

I am not going to cook every single dish in a book. Mostly because I never like every single recipe in a cooking book. I do have many cooking books. In fact, there is an entire book shelf in my kitchen, filled with recipes. I never considered myself a cook -- I resent the idea of "having something on the table after a day of work" or "It's dinner time, let's eat". For me, food is more than just the fuel that powers my body. It must be delicious and there must be something good on TV to watch or some pleasant company to interact with before I even consider eating. I would never "just grab something" or eat in the kitchen. For me, it is an experience, a joy in and of itself. Besides, food tastes faaaar better when you're hungry :)

I must define my constraints:

• A couple of years ago I felt very overweight and I joined WeightWatchers. I was very successful and lost nearly 20 kilos to date. I went from size 14 to size 8 (New Zealand sizes). The non-gimmicky calories in/calories out science-based concepts of WW really connected with me. I used to have "Cheesecake days" to test the programme, and it still worked. So I am conscious of not eating too much, but I would never restrict myself to "healthy" recipes that in reality mean "rabbit food". After all, it's the portion sizes that really matter.
• I recently had a change in personal circumstances and no longer have as high an income at my disposal. And most of the income that I do have will need to be ring-fenced towards my mortgage. While I am aware and very anxious of it, I still do spend ungodly amounts of money on food. But it also means I am not going to cook 70 dishes in one week just to show to the world what I can do. I like doing this because I like blogging and I like the process of cooking, but at the end it's still my meal. I often cook things that serve 4-6 people and then subdivide it into portions in plastic containers and freeze them. I have a stand alone upright freezer that has drawers (as opposed to those ridiculous "dump everything into this skip bin" freezers that you can never find anything in). It took me a while to find it, and it's amazing -- food doesn't go off and I always have something to eat when I don't feel like cooking. Plus, lunches!
• My laziness comes and goes and I get bored easily. At the moment I enjoy the process of cooking itself. I find Chef Academy more fun to watch than, say, MasterChef or Iron Chef, because it's more about the process than the creation of recipes. I don't really come up with new things, I like following instructions and basking in the glory when I get it right.
• I like interaction with people. It's very likely that I might find this blogging business largely dissatisfying and forget to update it. Oops.

With all that preamble out of the way, Onwards!