Where Have All the Recipes Gone?
On a normal weekday, my website receives 300 to 400 hits. On Wednesday, I received 298 . . . that is, until I appeared on Campbell Live. By 10 that night, the website had received 14,000 hits and my inbox was filling up fast. It just goes to show that New Zealanders are fed up with supermarket rip-offs and being victimised (in the wallet department) by the mass- marketing of grossly overpriced packages of not much.
The $75 budget has forced us to live simply. There are advantages: weight loss, healthier choices, less sugar, more water drunk, no alcohol, less packaging, less waste, big savings and fast, straightforward meals – so, less fuss. It’s great. In the bad old days (pre-budget), I probably spent money to impress family and visitors with food and culinary delight. I would prepare far too much lavish food and supplement it all with fancy dips and spreads to garnish dainty crackers. Now when people come around, they just have to have what we are having, which is generally not much. In the beginning, I was a bit embarrassed, as I liked to express my generosity with food and drink, but I am over it now because, much to my surprise, no one cares. They are just as happy to drink water, eat fruit and be offered toasted sandwiches as they were before to get wine, crackers and Lisa’s Tzatziki. After all, they still get to see us, which is, I presume, why they came around.
People are amazed at the savings I have achieved in such a short time. How do you do it, they ask me. Well, take porridge for an example. You can get 10 sachets of Uncle Toby’s Oat temptation for about $7. Or you can go to Bin Inn and buy rolled oats in bulk for about $2. Uncle Toby’s lasts for five breakfasts (because I am greedy/hungry and had two sachets in one bowl) and the bulk porridge lasts for 20 or more breakfasts. You do the maths.
If you are waiting for recipes to appear in this column, don’t hold your breath. I did not know what direction Pig Tits would take and there was earlier potential for this column to feature some money-saving meal recipes. However, I have discovered that true money-saving meals do not need recipes: they are too basic. Unfortunately, recipes require ingredients and my tight budget cannot afford anything much above flour, salt, sugar. Next week: I hate tips, but here are some tips.
