Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Budget Cooking

Sometimes being on a budget seems to limit your creativitey a bit.  I find we tend to fall back on the same meals quite often because that's what we can afford.  I suppose I even get into a bit of a rut of cooking the same thing each fortnight because it makes shopping easier and preparing meals becomes a no brainer.  However, there is only so much bolognaise one can take and sometimes that means looking for inspiration. 

I have many recipe books (the King would deem it a bit of an obsession, but in truth I don't buy them, but I do request them for birthday and Christmas presents - especially Nigella).  So if I'm feeling a bit uninspired I will often browse through those for ideas, sometimes a dish I haven't made in months (or years even) might pop up at me and make it onto the rotation for a while, giving something else a rest.  I also browse a few different sites on the net for ideas.  I especially spend time on Taste (recipes and forums) and more recently on my new favourite - The $120 Food Challenge .  Sandra is amazing - she has $120 a fortnight to spend on food (less than us even!!) and she blogs about her fortnightly dinners, desserts and baking treats.  Each recipe has a costing provided as well so it's great for budget savvy people like us.  I find it great for providing inspiration, or a twist on an old favourite and I know that she's in the same boat as we are so that it will probably be something we can afford.  Have a look and I'm sure you will find something there to inspire you.

I do have my own recipes that are great budget savers and over time I'll share them with you in this blog.  Making things in larger batches and freezing half is really handy for those "can't be bothered" nights and means you don't fall for the temptation of take aways. I also love to bake which helps us a lot as I don't buy prepared cakes, biscuits, etc. for lunchboxes and snacks. I'm always after new recipes too, so if you have a favourite I'd love for you to share it! In fact, I'll try to post up a recipe and photos of said recipe sometime in the next week. Now there's a plan, and there's nothing like having a plan!

3 comments:

  1. This is fantastic! Thank you for sharing your favourite sites with us. I love the $120 Food Challenge one! Brilliant! There are some amazing recipes on there! I'm looking forward to seeing a few of your own on here too! And yes, it would be nice to take the old Bolognaise out of rotation for a while. Haha!

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  2. Eating seasonally helps, doesn't it? We're about to say goodbye to nectarines, but hello pears!

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  3. Thanks Kirst :)

    And most definitely Claire! I'm sure that will be a topic one of these days ;)

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