Comments on: Q&A

By: Bits and Bobs — Last Night's Dinner

Bits and Bobs — Last Night's Dinner — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:36:35 +0000

[...] doing so, I located a little zip top bag filled with a cheese and herb mixture, left over from the stuffed squash blossoms I never got around to blogging. I pulled it out of the freezer to thaw, with every intention of [...]

By: Kristen

Kristen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:14:03 +0000

I used to be able to feed my family on around $350 per month. There are five of us, but 2 of them are very small eaters. I can only do that when I do a monthly menu plan and live off of that to a tee. Otherwise, when I fail to plan, that budget goes out the window (like it has lately!)

By: Kaykat

Kaykat — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:05:10 +0000

I’m totally with you about the quality of food. We hit the farmers’ markets as often as we can – serious bounty exists there Besides, there is so much that can be done with bits and pieces and leftovers – soups, stocks, sometimes even a veggie hash – all goodness

By: christy

christy — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:06:21 +0000

I have been reading your blog for about 6 months. So far I haven’t tried anything on it. But I plan on starting soon. Especially things like soup and chicken stocks.
We have 5 kids and another on the way. They aren’t picky and will eat just about anything. I think they have drawn the line at brussel sprouts.

We do purchase a side of beef, from a local rancher, that is hormone-free etc. I do try to buy things like that at the store too.

We also had a garden this year, which the kids loved. We have had homemade spaghetti sauce, cucumber sandwiches (with homemade bread) and lots of other tasty treats.

Thank you for sharing all the great photos. We enjoy them and can’t wait to start trying some of the recipes!

By: Marie

Marie — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:09:30 +0000

Lamb shoulder chops! I had a couple last week and was surprised at how good and tender they were, and literally less than half the price of the loinchops.

You do have a nice food non-budget, though…I don’t know what mine is either, so this week will count. I am guessing it’s lower, but then, maybe not!

I find I save by buying less expensive cuts of meat, in general, when I eat meat, though sometimes I splurge on a mega-porterhouse… which blows any previous savings right out of the water! But I tend not to even look at tenderloin. My bank balance starts crying…

Recently I have started to save parts of vegetables I would normally keep in the fridge till they morphed into something weird…like the outside leaves of lettuce, outside ribs of celery, green parts of scallions, and make a summer soup with chicken stock and yoghurt or buttermilk, and then freeze much of it. Keeps my conscience clear, tastes yummy and is perfect if someone comes over for dinner – instant appetizer.

By: Helena

Helena — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:25:48 +0000

cupcakes: To my mind, Jen’s diet is screamingly healthy. It is extremely varied – she eats just about every available ingredient, and it comprises a lot of vegetables, pulses, grains, fish, and other healthy stuff. Bad stuff such as powdered foods and low-quality processed foods that are packed with transfats, MSG, artificial sweeteners and other things that are bad for you, is completely absent. I think it would be very difficult to NOT be fit, healthy and slender with such a diet – perhaps except if one eats absurd amounts of it.

I would also like to point out a few cheap ingredients that are both tasty and healthy: Tinned/canned fish such as tuna, sardines, anchovies, mackerel, salmon; canned tomatoes; dried or canned lentils and beans (dried ones are cheaper and tastier, but canned ones are good too); grains and grain-like items such as farro, pearl barley, couscous, bulgur, quinoa and millet; certain types of fresh fish (herring and mackerel in particular); onions, cabbage and swede; and so forth.

By: J Adamthwaite

J Adamthwaite — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:09:28 +0000

I’m glad you answered this question; it’s something I’ve wondered myself. I love reading your blog and looking at your food photos, and even when I can’t recreate what you have done, I am always inspired by your ideas. I enjoy the way that you balance both extravagance and being frugal and live and eat so ethically and with so much passion.

I love the satisfaction derived from wasting as little and reusing as much as possible. If I had more time, I’d be better at this myself. But ultimately it is where your passion lies that gets the most of your spare time: yours is food. While I love food, my passion is writing, and this is where my time goes.

That soup looks beautiful!

By: melissa

melissa — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:05:20 +0000

“but we have made a conscious decision to spend more on the best quality food we can afford – it’s a priority for us, moreso than going to see movies or traveling or buying non-essentials”

That’s how we are. And we don’t restrict ourselves to a budget either. For that, I am extremely and humbly grateful.

I always enjoy your stuff, tremendously in fact. Even with few words, your food inspires me (especially, recently, that soup). Thank you for continuing to do what you do!

By: cupcakes

cupcakes — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:41:09 +0000

That was really interesting and informative! Thanks for sharing such personal info. What I would like to know -and I hope this isn’t too personal- how do you enjoy these wonderful foods and stay healthy/keep fit? Do you go to the gym or do you just cut back in other ways? The reason that I ask is I enjoy a lot of the same foods, but I hate going to the gym! What to do!

By: Lana

Lana — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:17:27 +0000

I totally understand the need to make the most of the summer veggies. We watched King Corn last week and there was some stat that said we used to spend 25% of our income on food, but now we only spend 15? I think that was it. I’d rather spend my extra income on better food than “consumer goods” so we’re going to change how we shop a bit more as well.. and include more grass-fed meats into our diet. Even if it means going a bit out of the way to get to a decent meat shop. It’s so easy to spend $100 at the market!