fbpx

Browsing tag: food

  • December 7, 2011

    Mmm, melons

    I’m not real big on fruit, but one of the things I love most about summer is the abundance of fresh melons. Granted, even in season they’re still expensive – $5-6 at least for a big ball that’s mostly water – but damn, they’re delicious.

    I was recently introduced to the concept of melon salad and it’s official: I’m smitten.

    Here are a few I want to try…

    Cucumber melon salad – Not Eating Out in New York

    Refreshing melon salad – Quick Easy Cheap Healthy

    Asparagus and melon salad, via Giada

    Melon, feta and pine nut salad – Epicurious

    In other foodie news, last weekend I went to my first all-you-can-eat buffet for the first time in as long as I can remember. Fortuna was a disappointment indeed. Good desserts, though.

    Are buffets by very nature destined to disappoint? Food in bulk is never going to be made with love and care. The Genghis Khan buffets are pretty rad, but you get to choose your raw ingredients and chefs cook them up on a huge hotplate in front of you. OTOH, their desserts are nothing to write home about – ice cream and sauce, if I remember rightly.

  • October 10, 2011

    Groceries, glorious groceries…

    So… it’s been a little while since I last posted a grocery haul. Keeping grocery spending in check is something I’m really trying to tamp down on, and we’ve been doing really well on that front. This month we’ve stayed under budget every week! Behold, last week’s buys:

    $13.00 – Eight litres of milk
    $3.99 – A block of butter
    $5.99 – A tub of Collective Dairy yoghurt (our splurge)
    $4.59 – Three fresh “Bush Tomato” sausages
    $5.65 – 160g of fresh mozzarella
    $6.57 – 120g of St Paulin cheese
    $17.99- Whole cornfed chicken
    $7.52 – Half a kilo of rump steak
    $6.59 – 250g of pork schnitzel
    $3.20 – 1.2kg bananas
    $5.00 – Two bunches asparagus
    $1.76 – Five onions
    $7.00 – Two punnets of mushrooms
    $2.20 – One head garlic
    $1.99 – One red capcisum

    (From Nosh, no less.)

    And that all comes down to how our shopping and eating habits have changed. We rarely ever buy readymade and frozen items. We’re eating more vegetables, less meat, and I’m making food stretch further and cooking more from scratch. We still have dessert almost every day, but more often than not it’s something that I’ve baked. (Yeah, I spend a lot of time thinking about, making and consuming food, but that’s totally, more than, okay with me.)

    So even though we have to buy expensive lightbulbs due to the fittings in our house, and even though we’re buying more quality foods – think better cheeses in small quantities, and cooking with olive oil – T commented that we don’t seem to be purchasing all that much anymore, or blowing out our budget.

    In fact, we’re even shopping at Nosh more often – once a month or so. Nosh weeks mean buying only the best. Their produce is great and affordable thanks to great sales – we’ve been lucky timing-wise so far. The meat is pricey (though not much more than at, say, Countdown) but organic and of outstanding quality, so we buy small amounts and do more with it. Ditto with the cheese – and the staff actually know their stuff and can recommend types. And the Ponsonby store, at least, seems to do 4 litres of milk for $6.50 regularly, so as long as we have a good stock of staples at home, we can get everything we need there. Bonus: no huge aisle of sweet treats or ice cream freezer to tempt us.

    It’s safe to say I won’t be giving any business to supermarkets like Countdown or New World unless I absolutely have to (eg, picking up emergency supplies on the way home). I might as well go to Nosh and get everything else at Pak n’ Save for rock bottom prices. Oh, how I love being central to everything…

  • August 26, 2011

    Change is good (the edible edition)

    I achieved a culinary first this month.

    Want to guess?

    .

    ..

    …

    ….

    …..

    ……

    …….

    ……..

    ………

    ……….

    ………..

    Hoki with baked Tomatoes

    Image by wiccked via Flickr

    Oh, go on. I bought and cooked fresh fish!

    Why let T have all the fishy fun? Besides, I like fish way more than he does; this was way overdue.

    While whole fish are pretty affordable, neither of us has the desire (or in my case, skill) to prepare them. And I’m sure as hell not going to pay upward of $20 a kilo for fillets.

    So when I saw hoki fillets for an insanely cheap $10/kg recently, I figured it was time to expand my repertoire.  It was goooooood. The first time we baked them with butter and herbs, the second time with soy and grated ginger. So easy, so healthy, minimal mess. And while I love seafood, I don’t generally find it very filling – but this hit the spot. Only now am I regretting not snapping a photo! I’ll never make a food blogger…

    It also got me thinking about how our shopping habits have changed in the past couple of years. I would never have imagined myself buying any of the following items, but lo and behold:

    • carrots
    • lentils
    • beans
    • chickpeas
    • oats

    And on the other hand, for a long time now we’ve basically stopped purchasing:

    • pizza
    • pies
    • instant noodles
    • frozen dinners
    • biscuits
    • ready-made sauces
    • frozen stirfry veggie packs (they always have at least one vegetable I hate)

    That’s not to say we’re paragons of health. I bake every week and eat something sweet every single day. We buy ice cream and cereal almost every week (so tasty but NOT frugal) and we love the odd ready-made cake mix, block of chocolate, hash brown and bag of chips.  But eating more natural foods makes me feel virtuous (mental benefit) and physically healthier.

  • August 7, 2011

    Link love (Powered by curves of learning)

    And thus begins our month of frugality Luckily,we already had lots of stuff at home – some veggies, some meat, and especially supermarket items like oils, rice, pasta, oats…so not only did we come in at budget, but got enough meat for the fortnight as well! Meat is from the Mad Butcher, groceries from Pak n Save and produce from a little grocer outside the supermarket.

    $55 got us two meals worth of diced beef and chicken each, a bunch of franks and bread rolls, a puny half-chicken, and a $25 variety meat pack.

    $40 at the supermarket for a 575g tomato sauce refill, canned beans and tomatoes (score at a for $2), Mountain Dew, 10 eggs, a pack of sea salt, rice wine vinegar, a packet of Chana Masala, hot and spicy noodles, basmati/jasmine mix rice, a jar of peanut butter, 500g of brown sugar, six litres of milk and a container of sour cream and cream cheese each ($2 and $3 on special. Makes my wallet ache).

    And for $12 we got a cauliflower, a small bag of mushrooms, a bunch of potatoes, a bunch of silverbeet, and some kiwifruit.

    Overall, pretty pleased.

    Anyway. Onto a short and sweet linkfest:

    At Salon, the tale of a reluctant loafer. I think I’ve come to accept that this probably describes my nature.

    One great productivity tip from ZenHabits.

    How to bitchslap performance anxiety.

    Matt at Life Without Pants thanks the boss who never bothered to learn his name.

    Food for thought at Get Rich Slowly: When is your financial situation beyond your control?

    Case studies/advertorial can be a cash cow. Via Make a Living Writing.

    Lacey muses on the nature of friendships.

    Great stuff – Kyla talks image sourcing for bloggers.

    And lastly, Suburban Sweetheart perfectly sums up all the reasons massages are weird.

  • June 2, 2011

    Mission: Making life easier for myself

    Oats, barley, and some food products made from...

    Image via Wikipedia

    I used to be the kinda girl who could wear the same outfit over and over (heck, I still am) and the girl who could eat the same thing over and over). But not anymore. I’ve lost my food mojo. I’m feeling so uninspired, and super picky. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Seven days a week. Two people. It all seems too overwhelming!

    While we’ve been really good this month, last month we ate out more often than I’d like. I know this sounds spoiled, but so often I’m hungry but it’s the end of the week, the pantry’s thin on options and I just don’t want to eat anything that is in the house. Or quite simply, I manage to forget to make/bring lunch on my “Friday” (aka, Sunday).

    It may be time to return to a semblance of meal planning. Much as I strive to streamline and simplify, quite often I make things difficult for myself and end up doing things the hardest way possible. (Not on purpose. That’s just how it works out.) I spend far too much time cooking. Lunches, especially. Lunches for me. Lunches for him. Several different kinds of lunches over the week.

    I’m not good with super anal shopping lists – I like to get creative on the day of cooking, I like to make things up as I go along. Also, you never know what will be on special, let alone what will actually be fresh (our location is awesome for everything except grocery shopping – that’s just so-so). My basic technique basically involves making a shortlist of staples that need replenishing (flour, oils, rice etc), and buying meat and produce according to price and choice on the day – now the trick is sticking to it.

    What’s your recipe for grocery success?

  • May 10, 2011

    Best eats in Auckland


    If like me, you’re all about the bursting flavours of various ethnic cuisines, and budget conscious, you should try:

    New Flavour, 541 Dominion Rd

    I am reluctant to divulge what I consider one of Balmoral’s better kept secrets, but I suppose the word is slowly creeping out. You like dumplings? Me too. A  full plate will set you back just $8 here, and they do plenty of other greasy Chinese dishes at a similar price. Forget Burger King, come here for a late night chow – they’re open from 5pm to 3am. Nope, not a typo. Also down on the next block is a similar Chinese place (I forget the name) which also does excellent food, and the menu is almost identical.

    Angie’s Kitchen, 17 Mount St, CBD

    This hidden Malaysian gem is authentically awesome, friendly and gentle on the wallet – we’re talking $10-20, which is as good as, if not better than, food court prices. That said, I’ve been here three times recently and did find their fish curry variable in quality, unfortunately.

    Satya, K Rd, Great North Rd and Sandringham Rd

    South Indian food is one of my favourite cuisines, even if the spices do sometimes play havoc with my insides. Suffice it to say that I want to try everything on their menu. They also do takeaways, although you may have better luck dining in at peak times from what I’ve seen and heard with my own eyes – it’s insane.

    Jai Jalaram Khaman, 570 Sandringham Rd

    JJK serves up vegetarian Gujarati fare (even my caveman, bloody-steak-devouring partner loves it) at more than reasonable prices. Their mixed thali dishes are great fun to tuck into – almost like yum cha. The proprietor is charismatic and welcoming, and will happily take you under his wing with recommendations and promises to give “the best deal”. Try one of their special packages. Don’t even worry that you don’t know what 99% of it is – just go with it.

    Angus Steakhouse, 8 Fort Lane, CBD

    But when you are in the mood for a huge, juicy hunka beef, you can’t go past the Angus Steakhouse. They are of truly enormous proportions, to be selected by you and cooked there in front of you. And of course, there’s all-you-can-eat salad.

  • March 21, 2011

    Go-to dinners

    The pantry served guests and the family.

    Image via Wikipedia

    You might recall that sometime ago I wrote a post on my favourite frugal lunches.

    It only made sense that I follow up with a list of my go-to dinners, inspired mainly after we spent a good half hour wandering around the supermarket in Wellington on our last night wondering what to cook. Who knew I’d be so lost without my pantry staples?

    Here are some of my favourites. I tend to make it up as I go along, obviously, sometimes using recipes as a starting point. I’m especially fond of one-pot or one-pan style meals.

    Soy/ginger noodle soup: Noodles, veggies/meat of your choice, stock (could be chicken or vegetarian), some grated ginger, and soy sauce. Easy! (Slow cooker version here; I just do it on the stove.)
    Laksa / Thai curry: Curry paste, coconut milk, veggies/meat of your choice. Prawns if feeling extravagant. If Thai, eat with rice or noodles. (Laksa authenticity bonus: Boiled egg, tofu/fish balls, two kinds of noodles – vermicelli and egg).
    Lemon chicken: I like this recipe.
    Sweet and sour (insert meat of choice): Vinegar+ketchup+sugar+soy = flavour explosion.
    Chili: You probably have your own favourite chili recipe. Whee! Crockpots make chili 25x better.
    Nachos: Either vegetarian or meat versions. (We tend to stay away from tortillas/burritos as much as possible as they’re insanely expensive. I may try making my own one day.)
    Pastas: Either white or red. Sometimes you just need a hearty spag bol and an early night.
    Stirfries: I really only have two versions: a sweet chili, or a soy/teriyaki. Some onion, garlic, and maybe ginger, with whatever vegetables and meat we have on hand. A bit of rice wine vinegar in with the soy, and cornflour if it’s too runny. Rice is cheaper, but noodles make it a little more special, IMO.
    Shepherd’s pie: The ultimate comfort food! Mashed potatoes atop savoury mince. And it’s easy to mix in veggies.
    Classic meat and two veg: So. Many. Variations! Whether it’s sausages, steak or a roast, or whether the vegetables are steamed, boiled, roasted, mashed, or in a salad. If T is left to his own devices, we also get some kind of improvised but wholly delicious gravy to mop up, usually with mushrooms and onions.
    BBQ pulled pork: Easiest thing in the world with a crockpot. Here’s a starting point.
    Beef stroganoff: I have not made this in forever! Tomatoes and sour cream, plus tender beef strips…here’s some inspiration.

    Finally, we’re both big fans of Indian but I have yet to make my own curry that is superior to sauce from a jar.

    But baby, we’ve come a long way. Less than two years ago I couldn’t cook anything to save my life and I hadn’t even made my first batch of cookies. Our shopping trolley consisted largely of:

    • frozen dinners and pies, for work lunches
    • for dinners, pastas, sausages, readymade jarred sauces, chips, wedges and frozen mashed potato, as we were too lazy and timepoor to make our own (it’s actually incredibly tasty, not the dried stuff, but the freezer stuff)

    What are some of your staple dinner recipes? Share away in the comments.

  • November 18, 2010

    Dining snobbery

    Cuisine of Mongolia

    Image via Wikipedia

    Him: “Vietnamese? But…but  all the times we’ve gone out to eat recently have been Asian!”

    Me: “Well, what do you want me to do about it?”

    We can go to a steakhouse. We can go to a pub (but we can easily make that stuff ourselves, or buy takeaway versions for much cheaper). Or we can go to a proper fine-dining restaurant, except that’s way out of our price range. We can do Chinese/Thai/Indian/Vietnamese etc for $20-30 for the two of us; that wouldn’t even get you one meal at a European restaurant. (Or as we, the ever PC interracial couple like to refer to it, “white-people food”.) Also, I’d rather eat ethnic than Euro on any given day, no contest. But I understand not everyone feels the same.

    Well Heeled once blogged about the ‘restaurant hierarchy‘ and how ‘ethnic’ cuisines are generally placed at lower price points. The same rings true here; Spanish, Mediterranean, French, or haute cuisine – I’ve never eaten out at such places, and probably won’t be doing so anytime soon. While there are certainly pricier Chinese establishments, for example, they aren’t afforded the same prestige as, say, SPQR.

    (Oh, and we ended up going to Hansan Vietnamese anyway. And we both loved the food. The $10 meals were just the seasoning over the soup.)

    What’s your favourite/go-to cuisine when eating out? Do you get much choice in the area where you live?

  • October 16, 2010

    Link love (Powered by feta cheese and handpainted tees)

    I’ve had some amazing meals lately, not to mention discovered the “cuisine” shooting mode on my little camera, so if you want to see food pictures…then by all means keep scrolling!

     

    Chicken donburi with salad at Haru No Yume.

     

     

    Coconut cream and lemongrass mussels at De Post.

     

     

    Chicken satay at KK Malaysian

     

     

    The spicy KK chicken special. Simply beyond.

     

     

    Aged Angus sirloin at Eden Cloakroom (weird sauce, good steak)

     

     

    And my Akaroa salmon with herb gnocchi

     

    MONEY

    Got a smartphone? Check out these free apps to help you manage your money via Young and Thrifty.

    Shopaholly recently handed in her notice, and here she explains how she can afford to quit her job.

    Aloysa ponders the meaning of frugality and how it may differ across cultures.

    Girl with the Red Balloon asks how much you invest in clothing.

    Financial Samurai explains how higher taxes ended up saving him boatloads of money.

    Funny About Money on why she doesn’t think ‘money talk’ is intrinsically rude.

    WORK/CAREER

    Marian takes us through a day in the life of a social media consultant.

    Carlee Mallard explains how her (own) blog got her sister a job.

    One of the Working Girls shares some great, practical tips for networking.

    At Stratejoy, Lindsey takes the plunge and commits to an open-ended stint working on a boat.

    Jargon Writer blogs about setting pricing tiers as a freelancer.

    Guerilla Freelancing shares some marketing tactics for freelancers.

    At Dollars and Deadlines, 10 good reasons the editor rejected your pitch.

    Nicole and Maggie blogged about that classic dilemma: whether to follow your dreams or to take a more practical approach.

    FOOD

    Amy from Just a Titch on finding the balance between eating healthy and indulging.

    FruGal shares her favourite frugal superfoods.

    Perks of Being a Jap tries out two great recipes, including a Smashed Potato Soup. Win!

    I’ve never made risotto from scratch but this post by Iowa Girl Eats makes me want to change that.

    Does the sound of apple upside down cake appeal? And you don’t even need a cake tin for this one! I think Not Eating Out in NY could be my new fave blog.

    Mashed potatoes. Cheese. Onions. Kevin at Closet Cooking combines some of my favourite foods in this recipe.

    LIFE

    Hannah Katy from As Simple as That on what it means to become a New Yorker.

    World as a Muse offers insights into life with bipolar disorder.

    Finding Serenity wonders if she is just another ‘ignorant American’.

    Funny About Money on grad school options for someone with a liberal arts degree.

    And at Stratejoy, Renee writes about losing her fun and committing to rediscovering it.

  • October 12, 2010

    The foods you love to eat (but hate to cook)

    I am an unabashed lover of food. It’s why I agonise for so long over my choices when we go out to eat. I want to enjoy my meal; I want to fill my belly with amazing flavours; and I don’t want to be disappointed on taste or value for money.

    There are some dishes I could happily eat every day for the rest of my life – I think – but I am utterly incapable of making them. Most baked things, for example. Things in pastries. Things that involve big hunks of meat, as opposed to nice, diced, bite-sized pieces.

    And then there are recipes that technically are within my realm, but they’re just too much damn work. I mean, they taste amazing, but I’m just not sure they’re worth the time and trouble.

    eggplant moussaka

    Image by h-bomb via Flickr

    Moussaka. Eggs. Cheese. Meat. Eggplant. Onions. What more could you want in a dish? But oh, the preparation, to say nothing of the oven time. Sigh.

    A photo of lasagne

    Image via Wikipedia

    Lasagne. Love the thin pasta sheets, love the whole idea. But again, the baking time? We usually opt for shepherd’s pie instead, and when I say shepherd’s pie, we usually take it a step further, even, and basically serve up mashed potatoes with mince and sauce on the side.

    Left to right: Chenjeh Kebab, Kebab Koobideh, ...

    Image via Wikipedia

    Kebabs. You spend all that time cutting up ingredients, painstakingly threading them all on, cooking them, and then just taking ’em off to eat again. Seriously?

    • Previous
    Next