The Pauper's Gourmet

Effective frugal cooking requires some key staples in a kitchen. Oil. Onions. Garlic. Spices.  Acquiring these staples requires start-up funds, but they will pay dividends in the long run. If money is tight in making these purchases up front, one could rotate in cost-smart meals for a couple of weeks until the budget catches up. Beans, lentils, and frozen vegetables are not inflation-proof, but they are inherently inexpensive, super healthy, and easy to prep. In fact, I will use these ingredients a lot in my recipes here.  Now... where to get these core staples? No one should ever buy spices in pretty little jars. Anything beyond $3 for 200grams of any ordinary spice is stupid and a rip-off. Of course, saffron and candlenut are more expensive but we can skip those big ticket items and make delicious stuff with more accessible spices like paprika, basil, cayenne, cumin, and coriander. Always buy these spices in big packages, often best found at "ethnic" grocery stores that cha

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