Pumpkin Madness

Butternut pumpkins were on special last week (99 cents a kilo) so I bought 12 kg.

I have made 10 kg into a base for pumpkin soup - frozen in individual portions. The remainder I am currently roasting so I can have a base for .... you guessed it, roasted pumpkin soup.

Gotta love a bargain :-)

Wants and Needs

I have found a product I want, and I mean I really want it. I have a perfectly functional version of the product at home and my budget certainly doesn't stretch to the hundreds of dollars needs for this want.

For the past few days I continue to sit myself down and explain the difference between a 'want' and a 'need'. I explain that I am a Lentil Clubber. I explain that I am not materialistic and this item would make no real difference to the quality of my life. I explain that this item is really not part of my life philosophy anyway.

All are very good arguments but I still find myself wanting it. I research the net to check if there is a cheaper way to acquire one - there isn't. I search out products with similar criteria but a lower price - it doesn't matter I want that one.

This is a really new experience for me. I would like to blame this on the tv but this isn't a product that is advertised on tv, or at least not that I have seen. I kinda feel like the kid in the toy store just before they throw the "I WANT" tantrum (although I am hoping it doesn't get that far).

And I can't even explain why I really want it, I just do.

Image: "Think A Desire" by Mechtaniya

Tuna and Rice Cake

I made this last weekend. I have included the recipe below but can I suggest that it only be a guide - replace the rice with pasta, change the vegetables to anything you want or have on hand, replace the tuna with chicken or leftover taco mince or extra vegetables, change the spices to whatever suits you. I am thinking it would be great with pasta and roast vegetables, served with a balsamic dressing lol. Serve it hot or cold - or even as a picnic food. Make it in a square plan and include slices in kid's lunchboxes. And it definitely suits the someone on a Lentil Club budget.

425 g tuna, drained
3 C cooked rice
1 C peas
1 C corn
2 T chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs, gently whisked
2 T cream
1 C shredded cheese

Combine the first six ingredients in bowl. Turn into a greased springform pan and press down gently. Combine the eggs and cream and pour over the rice mix. Top with cheese. Bake at 180 C for about 50 minutes or until firm. Cut into wedges and serve with salad leaves.

Lentil Club Luncheon

It was over a week ago that I invited myself and Dad to Kylie's for the day - and once she agreed obviously the invitation to Abz went out too. And so we gathered on the veranda and chatted and talked and played. Dad and I brought lunch. I can't find the recipe for the top one but essentially it is a spinach and ricotta plait with the variation that grated lemon rind has been included in the mix in addition to the usual nutmeg etc. Dad made that one. I brought the salad with was pretty simple with some roasted beetroot, funky lettuce (mesclun), sprouts, tomato and boiled egg.

Many thanks to Josh for the photos :-)

Chicken Magic

This week I used one medium roasted chicken to create:

1 meal of roast chicken with vegetables

6 serves of chicken and vegetable soup (now in the freezer)

3 serves of chicken and mushroom risotto

1 litre of chicken stock

And it was a $5 chicken! Who says life is tough on a fixed income? Lol

Capturing a Moment

Miss Weasley often comments that whilst I take photos. they aren't photos of me. In fact if you could find six photos of me (apart from when I am with her) I would be surprised.

This came up in conversation last time I visited Abz and was admiring her scrapbooking. I realized then that a photo isn't just a representation of what I was wearing or what style my hair was, it is capturing a moment in my life. Who cares if someone's eyes are closed or about to eat a spoonful of food. It is the moment that is remembered.

I also realise that I need to record the memories as I take photos as I don't have kids or nephews/nieces to indoctrinate with the stories as the grow. And should Miss Weasley's children, or Abz, or anyone else want to look at my photos after I am gone (I am looking at this from a historical perspective, not a morbid plan to die soon).

And so I shall take photos of me,l I shall start recording my history in ways that aren't limited to plates of food, or close-ups of something obscure - starting on Friday when The Lentil Club is getting together again.

Photo: "Just cosmos" by CasheeFoo

Tomatoes

I found some tomatoes for $2 kg so I have bought enough for a big pot of soup.

I started making it today. And no, this isn't done for an "Italian-momma" reason (unlike making your lasagna one day but not eating it until the next), I am just working around my logistics. I have cooked the tomatoes up with onion, garlic and seasonings. Tomorrow I will add the sugar, blend and season. I have some baby basil I can throw in towards the end.

There will be enough for about 4 - 5 meals so much of it will end up in the freezer (without the basil) for consumption at a later point.

Easy :-)

PS: Yes this is a photo of the little beauties lol.

Pumpkin Risotto Soup

I made this for the last time The Lentil Club got together for a craft day (read a good excuse to catch up and drink coffee and chat for many hours). Actually I started it and then delegated to the wonderful Gabby and Robbie who did most of the work so I can't actually say that I made it lol.

It is based on a recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly's "The Essential Soup Cookbook".

To serve 8

2 kg pumpkin, chopped and roasted
1/4 C olive oil
large knob butter
2 onions, finely diced
4 t minced garlic
2 C arborio rice
1 C dry white wine
3 litres vegetable stock
2 litres water
1 C cream
1 C shredded cheese

Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent. Add rice and cook for about 2 minutes, making sure that each grain is shiny and becoming translucent. Add stock and water and bring to the boil. Simmer, uncovered for about 20 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Cool, then stir in pumpkin.

Blend half of the soup until smooth. Combine all of the soup in the saucepan again. Add cream and cheese. Stir until hot.

Serve with crusty bread (we used a garlic sourdough).

Another Food Bargain

I don't eat a lot of meat - and I think I bought about 6 months worth of steak this morning but it was a bargain too good to pass up - rump steak at $7.99 a kilogram. And yes it is local (from about 5 km away, and yes it is good quality - probably designed to be a loss leader from an advertising perspective).

If I cooked each generous piece as a steak I get 20 large/huge serves at about $1 each. If I use them as a casserole, curry or whatever (ie bulk them out with other ingredients) that will change to 30 - 40 serves. And that could be just 5o cents a serve.

And who said that being in the Lentil Club was going to be doing it tough lol!

Lentil Club Update

My first week of official membership has been a triumph (well so I say anyway). At this stage I am working on a weekly grocery shopping budget (including all food as well as cleaning products, tissues and the like) of $50.

I made meatballs using 500g mince ($4) with onion, breadcrumbs, herbs and seasoning and got 20 golf-ball sized meatballs. I cooked them in a baking dish topped with a jar of spaghetti sauce. I had 4 for my dinner (served a cob of corn that I got for 50c and mashed potato) ... well 3 plus one left for a midnight snack. So that works out to be 4 serves of meatballs left over for another time - and all at less than $1 a serve!

I have made four serves of Cauliflower and Blue Cheese Soup - all are in the freezer. I just boiled the cauliflower ($1.69), pureed it, added the cheese ($3) and homemade chicken stock and seasoned to taste. Just over $1 each serve (plus I will need some crusty bread when it comes to eating time).

The chicken stock was easy - a couple of roast chicken carcasses that I was saving for just such an occasion with an onion, a couple of bay leaves and herbs from the garden. I probably used 1 litre for the soup but I have managed to freeze about another 3 litres. And I am saving vegetable off-cuts to do a vegetable version. Total cost - negligible ...

And I am rediscovering the joy of oatmeal (porridge) for breakfast - warm, filling, healthy and less than 10c a bowl!

I also managed to jag myself a microwave from freecycle. On the way back from collecting it I dropped in to see Miss Abbey. 5 cups of coffee and about 5 hours later I was on my way back home. A big day out - I left home at 8 and got home at 5, which also included stopping in Coffs to run errands on the way up to get the microwave, came to about $15 worth of petrol (it was about an hour either way).

Apart from having Miss Abbey, Miss Kylie and Miss L to swap ideas with, the best part of my new life is that I don't feel like I am missing out on anything! It is just using my time better, planning more and putting all the other things I try and do (100-mile eating, cooking healthy on a budget etc).

Photoshop-ing

One of the local electronics stores was opening late last night as a "welcome to the neighborhood" for the government department I work for. Everything in the store was going to be on sale. Aside from a generous promotion, it may also have something to do with us having 300 employees and it is the end of the financial year. Anyway, it was still generous and I was trying to support the intention of the offer.

I have only one thing left on my list of things to buy to prepare for my impending Lentil Club life and that was a copy of Photoshop. It may seem silly as an "essential" but I figure that I will need ways to amuse myself and I love taking photos, and this is something new to learn so, why not.

I went to this store straight after work just to check things out and wow (did you get the hint about what store it was) I got a guy with an attitude. He was in his early twenties and, after ambling over to me, slouched over the displays while asking if I needed help. I picked up the two Photoshop products they had and realised that one was for movies, and the other included movie software. Now I am never going to need that so I asked if I could just get the package for photos separately. He responded that you could at it was about $199, as opposed to the $279 of the combined product. I asked when they were getting more in and he said he didn't know. I asked if he could order one in for me. He answered no. I asked if there was someone I could ring during regular business hours to order one in. He responded "No, head office does all of our ordering and just sends the stuff to us. Then we have to just sell the shit."

That ended that conversation.

I whipped down a couple of doors to the stationery store and picked up a copy of what I wanted for $169.

I have told myself that I won't open my new Photoshop until July 1 (my first day out of work... um I mean "my first day in the Lentil Club") but I am pretty hopeless at not opening presents that are already here.

So all in all, I have a new toy and will post bits if I ever produce anything worth sharing lol.

Photo: "Photoshopping" by Calebow

Welcome to the Lentil Club

The Lentil Club was initiated by Miss A who is now on a fixed income. This is based on the joking premise that on a fixed (or should I say "low" income then all you can afford is lentils). Ironically we both like lentils and enjoy them regularly. Anyway, I get to join the club officially at 5.20 pm in 9 days.

Now there are two ways of focusing on life on a fixed income - you can either focus on what you have, or focus on what you are missing out on. We choose to focus on the positives.


I am already on my budget of $50 per week for food. Admittedly I have stumbled a little this fortnight but once I have my freezer delivered, and with a little planning, I think it will all be fine.

I will have my fixed income but I can still earn a little money (based on my physical state - and if that improves/changes then I can go back to work) so I have also invested a little of my store of lentil funds to purchase a copy of Photoshop with the intention that 1) it will provide a good hobby, and (possibly only) 2) I might be able to use my photos or photographic creations with any written work I produce. Yes I am still focusing on possibly doing a freelance submission here and there.

I also have a craft idea or two that might come to something but I am not looking at these as a career, more pin money.

And I have my beloved study.

Co-incidentally I have two other people that are interested in the Lentil Club.

Welcome to a new philosophy on sucking the proverbial marrow out of life!

Can't Wait

Okay I was going to post this when it got here but I am too excited - I have bought a freezer!!!

With my impending change in circumstances (I finish work in 12 days and then I am going to follow my doctors advice and take a couple of years off from formal work to hopefully improve the situation with my back) it seemed like such a good investment to extend my food storage capacity as well as continue to minimise food wastage.

Admittedly I was researching it online and had picked my make and model but was then beginning to think that maybe I should save the cash as a "just in case". That was until I got a catalogue in the mail last Wednesday where they had "my freezer" discounted an extra $50! Sometimes you just get handed a sign.

I am not sure whether they will deliver it this week or next week (depends when it comes into the store) but it is all good.

Dance dance dance