MoneySaver

Eat Cheap...Stay Alive
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Many of us in this good and bountiful nation, myself included, are a little too…. how to put this….well fed. I have even seen a few homeless people hanging around my supermarket who could use a few hours on the treadmill!

However, during this period of breathless, panicky reports of an economic downturn, many of us will find food and other necessities for life become less affordable. (Who knows? A recession might help solve the obesity crisis!) However, there’s no call for anyone to starve, and if you still want to eat for the next year or three, here are some tips to help you do it on a budget:

Rose’s Tips For Eating/Staying Alive During A Recession:

1. Apparently the best day to shop at the larger supermarkets is a Friday. That’s the day they put up their weekend specials.

2. Having said that, the ‘staple’ foods are often marked down on a Monday. Who knows why, but I tested this out and there seemed to be a whole lot of little ‘special’ tags hanging off the tinned food and pasta aisles on a Monday.

3. Be aware of what you spend on junk food. It is very expensive, and our mindset for budgeting completely changes when there’s chocolate to be had. (I know this from personal experience). I know people who say they will never buy mangoes because they are $3 each, but will happily visit the chocolate machine at work every day and chuck 2 bucks in it for a piece of junk food that will make them fat/give them a thyroid headache. If you stick to low-sugar food, even the expensive health foods, your budget will be healthier and you will not have to delude yourself that your scales must be broken. Again, still trying to take my own advice on this one.

4. A controversial one that may contradict the previous point: replace expensive restaurant outings with take-away/home delivery. Not all of it is unhealthy (and anyway, it’s just plain boring to be healthy all the time) and at least you won’t keep ‘adding’ to your order the way you do in a restaurant, for example: Order wine, drink it, order more wine, feel like dessert, order it, eat it, want coffee with your dessert, order it….it all adds up pretty quickly and by the time the bill comes you’re probably too drunk to notice that they’ve slapped on a few extra pots of green tea and you’ll sign just about anything. (This happened to me once – but I noticed and got the waiter to correct it, because even though I was sloshed I knew I would NEVER drink green tea)

5. Find five easy, delicious recipes that contain cheap but healthy ingredients. If you discover you can make a meal that you love quickly and cheaply, and then refridgerate/freeze leftovers to eat later on in the week, you’ll be laughing.

A few meal suggestions:

- Shepherd’s pie (with *on special* mince – make sure it doesn’t contain dog or rat though, it might ruin the flavour) - Lentil and pumpkin soup - Bean hot pot - Chicken pasta with avocado pesto (a little pricier – make sure the avocadoes are in season and see if you can find the chicken on special) - Vegetable lasagne

I will put all these recipes up and more at some point, but for now see below for my unbeatable bean hot pot recipe.

Bean hot pot recipe:

Prices are approximate and taken from Coles Online.

2x 400g tin chopped tomates (810g tin for $2.45)

1x tin chick peas ($1.47)

1x tin kidney beans ($1.47)

1x tin cannellini beans ($1.47)

1x brown onion (approx $0.30)

2x garlic cloves (approx $0.30 for a whole garlic)

2 medium carrots (approx $0.60)

1 red or green capsicum (approx $1.14)

1/2 cup red wine (or “goon”, if you’d prefer - cheapest is Cleanskin Sea Shiraz Cabernet (002) 750ml for $4.35)

2 cups vegetable stock ($3.08 for a 168g tin of powdered stock)

Herbs, spices, chilli to taste (try an Italian herb mix for $2.25)

It’s very simple to make this hot pot....

1. Chop all the vegetables

2. Fry the onion and garlic in a large pot with some olive oil

3. Add the wine and stock

4. Add the beans, chick peas, tomatoes and remaining vegetables

5. Stir in the herbs and spices and let it simmer on low heat for 45 minutes to an hour.

Total: $18.88

This meal will feed at least four hungry people and can be frozen. You can play around with the ingredients and quantities of liquid as much as you like and it will probably still taste good. Goes very nicely with toasted English muffins. Remember, ingredients such as the stock and herbs will keep for a long time, and the rest of the wine for a day or two.

Be warned however: if you are used to eating stodgy/unfibrous meals, consume these beans in small portions to begin with! Otherwise your digestive system will rebel and you will be hated at work/miss out on promotions/be forever relegated to the stinky corner. (I had to leave my last job because of this very problem.)