The Pauper's Gourmet

Hey world.... it has been 12 years since I've posted on this blog!  Since my last post, I finished my PhD, I got a great job, I married my beloved Simon, and we bought a cute little house in the suburbs. My hubby and I both work hard and are good at budgeting. As a result, we have slowly and carefully built a lovely little life for ourselves. We were lucky to be able to work through the pandemic and are grateful to have come through these hard times with our health intact.  But here's the deal... in the past few months, almost everything has dramatically increased in price. Gas. Bills. Basic services. And most noticeably.... food. Like most people, my grocery bills have been outrageous. If I'm not careful, I could easily spend 50% more to get 50% less. The experts say that inflation is at 8-9%, but that's not even close to what I'm seeing on my bills. It's ridiculous. I confess that I've been cursing under my breath at the grocery store for the past few m

This is the first time I've ever tried to make ratatouille. I researched a few recipes, and then just decided to give it a go with my own. This was delicious. Unbelievably delicious. I used: 2 tomatoes, peeled and skinned: $0.60 1 zucchini: $0.35 1 green bell pepper: $0.30 1 medium-sized onion: $0.15 2-3 small cloves of garlic: $0.05 200 grams of skinless, boneless chicken breast: $2.80 (was on special) about 1/4 cup of olive oil (or cooking oil): about $0.50 for olive oil ($0.05 for cooking oil) 1/2 a cup of rice: $0.30 salt to taste black pepper to taste dash of dried basil pinch of dried thyme 1 small bay leaf (optional) TOTAL: $5.05, generously serving 2 Ratatouille is peasant food, best made in summer when ingredients are cheap and fresh. It normally includes eggplant, but I am not the biggest fan of eggplant. There are multiple approaches to cooking ratatouille. Julia Child's famous recipe suggests that you cook all ingredients separately, and then layer them into a casse

Today it was a sweltering 36˚C, with a humidex of about 42˚C. Holy smokes, who wants to cook under those conditions?! It'll have to be something quick and effortless in the kitchen today. Something light on the tummy, too. I looked through my freezer, and I still have some tilapia leftover from my last recipe. Great. A nice, light fish would be perfect for a day like today, and tilapia is such an easy meal. It can be cooked straight from frozen, in the oven. That means, I spend NO time in front of a hot stove, except to take the rice off, once it has boiled. So tonight, it's fish, rice, and fresh salad. Here's my dinner tonight, with prices: 2 tilapia filets (left over from my pack of $6.99): $2.80 side of rice (1/2 a cup, and I have left-overs for the fridge): $0.30 pack of mixed greens: $1.99 (I added the full price to the total, but I only used $0.40 of it, with lots left-over) an english cucumber: $1.00 (I used about $0.20 of it, with lots left-over) a lemon: $0.33 You

I love fish. I love catching fish, cooking fish, and eating fish! Yesterday I made a pan-seared tilapia with roast potatoes and a side of fresh greens. It was incredibly easy, and affordable. The following ingredients serve 2 people, but I bought a pack of tilapia that serves 5. If you buy a pack of tilapia and you are only planning to use part of it, then don't thaw the whole pack! You are not supposed to re-freeze fish (or any meats), so just thaw what you need and leave the rest in the freezer for future use. For dinner with my sister yesterday, I used: 1 pack of frozen tilapia filets: $6.99 for a pack of 5 ($1.40 for each person) a small dollop of oil: let's say $0.05 4 potatoes from my sack: about $0.25 worth mixed greens: about $2.50 for a pack (we have leftovers) salt black pepper paprika cayenne pepper 2 small cloves of garlic TOTAL: $9.79 to serve 5; $1.96 per person. Instructions: Potatoes: I have a million different ways of doing roast potatoes, but this is what I di

I am so excited to be making this for dinner tonight! My friend Cathy taught me how to make this simple but scrumptious sauce, which is high in protein and very satisfying. It's very simple and very affordable... and it's on the stove right now and it smells like heaven wafting out of a pot. Yay! :-) Importantly, I used olive oil this evening, because I have it in my pantry. If you don't have olive oil, then you can manage with regular cooking oil. But you should absolutely add a big bottle of olive oil to your pantry wish list. It is a bit costly up front, but it will last you for a long time and is well worth the value. Here is what you will need, and what I paid for each required ingredient: 1 lb of extra lean ground beef: $3.95 1 onion: $0.20 (from my sack) 3 small cloves of garlic: $0.05 (from my pack) 1 jar of strained tomatoes (mine was about 660ml, but give or take): $1.99 3 tablespoons of olive oil (you can use cooking oil if you don't have it): about $0.30 fo

After 3.5 weeks of being spoiled rotten at my mother's house, I returned to home and my kitchen, which was as barren as a wasteland. All I had in my pantry was some basmati rice leftover in my 10kg sack, some onions, garlic, a few potatoes, and some cooking oil. What a perfect way to start recipes for this blog! Here's what I picked up from the grocery store for today's recipe: 1 can of crushed tomatoes: $1.10 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs: $4.99 2 fresh garden tomatoes: $0.70 1 cucumber: $1.29 TOTAL: $8.08 for 3 normal sized servings (as pictured above), or two gluttonous portions that will loosen any belt. I also used a cup of rice from my 10lb sack, which is about $0.25, and an onion from a 3lb sack, which is about $0.30. Plus a 1/4 cup of cooking oil and a bit of salt and coriander. With this, I made my mother's simple but sweet chicken karahi with rice, with a tomato-cucumber side salad. That's between $2.5/person for 3 dinners, or $4/person if your idea