In a jam, pickled, frozen, well preserved and other culinary triumphs

@Appleblossom, my joke is that "we can live off the smell of an oily rag- as long as the oil is a reasonably decent olive oil". 😄

We've had times of being voluntarily on a very low income, for assorted reasons. An interesting thing happens there. When it's a situation where you feel as if you had a choice, you also feel more able to make the necessary adjustments, and find the solutions that don't need the extra $$$.

Love your joke @Smc

I insisted on olive oil from 10 years ago, and buy the big tins, but before that I was even more budget conscious.

I once joked I could live on the smell of an oily rag ... cos I spent time on side of the road smelling motor oil ...

Last month I researched all the different oils ... edible ....machine grade ... the internet can be fun.

I agree with you about living economically. My mum was a widow and it comes naturally for me ... I wish more people realised the advantages ... for the planet.

"For the planet" is also a big motivator for us. My groceries must look an odd mixure going through the registers... half price "use up quickly" fruit, vegs, meat etc., along with organic coffee, organic butter, fair trade chocolate, co-op milk so the farmers get a decent return per litre, recyled loo paper, and "could you please add on a donation to the foodbank". 😛 The thing is, bargain shopping wherever possible gives enough leeway in the budget to make the people/planet conscious choices.

We buy Aussie organic olive oil, and I also keep macadamia oil in the pantry for dairy free baked goods (my sister is dairy intolerant, and I don't like her missing out at family get togethers). I've got the last bit of a bottle of truffle infused oil that was a Christmas pressie from a friend who knows I like to cook, but am not too sure I'm eager to stretch our everyday grocery budget far enough to replace it when it runs out! Otherwise, I keep a tub of dripping saved from any meat we cook in the fridge. Since I usually cook the meat in a very flavoursome herbed and/or spiced stock, the dripping takes on those flavours, and is actually a bit special... 😄 It gets used mostly on veg dishes that have no fat in them otherwise. As a rule, I add little or no extra fat to meat dishes.

Thanks for the tips @Appleblossom @Smc @outlander will be taking them on board, some I can start doing immediately.

@Former-Member

Dont worry too much. Ease Mr D into reality re budget, but keep some aspect of cooking creative in your own special way.

Hug the fruit and vegie aisles. Only go down the others if you really need a staple.

@Smc you are so much more of a foodie than I. I would not want to missout on your family get togethers either.

Its a lovely odd combination of frugal and mindful shopping.

Our household is going keto atm. So I am learning more about nutrition and cooking. I have always adapted to others and still do. The net is great and helps being able to research and get fresh ideas rather than being raised like a mushroom .... lol

I used to be afraid of broccoli leaves and not know what was poisonous etc ...

@Appleblossom, yeah that's me- a "Frugal Foodie". 😛

I had a friend once tell me I'd be an "outlier" in any character/behavioural survey... he was probably spot on there. As well as the "mindful" shopping, I guess I'm running the dual attitudes of trying not to be over-indulgent, but also knowing that the difference between good food and "meh" food is often smaller than you'd think. I don't do big fancy meals as much as I'd like because the prep and cleanup get stressful, but sometimes all it really needs to be is knowing which herbs you can toss into an everyday dish to give it a lift. Or knowing which jelly or pickle will turn an ordinary roast into something extra.

I've got a shelf full of gourmet cooking magazines bought at op shops. I've found that if you ignore the bits that tell you how to cook a venison backstrap garnished with shaved truffles, they're also great for articles that feature a dozen different recipes for pears and apples, most of which only need what I've got in the pantry already.

I hear you @Smc

You made me laugh out loud with your mention of over the top recipes.

My ex husband bought me op shop recipe books as hints and I tried to take stuff from them, but it really is amazing how unecessarily complicated and time consuming a lot of the recipes were. We started off very frugal, whereas now I feel I lash out in most meals ... they are at the level of my nanna's big family get together meals ...

I never identified as a foodie when I was young, but worked in hospitality from silver service to coffee shops ...so I got most of my ideas from what I saw on the plates I handed out.

The only meat I had was left overs from the shop. I did not go into a butcher very often before my husband expected meat. We did not argue about it as he liked my save the planet approach and the money saved went into the house. He had eaten in restaurants for 15 years before I knew him ...

Its kind of healing to realise that I can have a good relationship with food after some of the weird stuff I went through ( and meals I produced .. lol ). I did struggle with it as I always was learning when kids were little.

Thanks for chatting.

First budget recipe tried tonight - Nasi Goreng - Mr D liked it more than me. Only cooked two eggs and plan on freezing the rice we have not eaten.

https://www.australianeggs.org.au/recipes-and-cooking/nasi-goreng/

When grocery shopping today noticed in the deli, chicken breasts were $1.50 kg cheaper than prepackaged in meat dept and drumsticks were half the price of breasts. I already have some chook leg recipes I can cook in bulk and freeze into meal portions so plan on doing that.