Cheap Eats

One of my goals now is to find ways of eating healthy and cheap. So, here is a list of some things my husband and I have talked about doing:

1. Making at least one bean or lentil based dish per week, and having it last for several meals. Beans and lentils are a good, cheap source of protein, and we love them. I started eating more beans and lentils last time I was in university, so I've built up some good recipes. Some of my favourites are: lentil soup (the same one my mom used to make - it's SO easy, quick, and cheap), honey lentil bake (this is only affordable because I have stores of my own honey), and dutch bean soup (the soup recipe that changes for every meal, lasts up to five meals).

I think it's easy to have this priviledged view that we deserve a different, complicated, gourmet meal every night of the week. I like cooking, and I enjoy making (and eating) more complicated recipes, but that is a luxury, not an every day necessity.

2. Shopping at discount produce stores, buying what is on sale, and making a soup or meal out of that, which will last for several meals. I have yet to find a discount produce place here in Vancouver, but haven't looked too hard. In Edmonton, H&W was awesome - good prices and they sold organics, too. Anyone in Vancouver have any suggestions?

3. Having friends over for dinner/potlucks instead of suggesting to eat out. Save the restaurants for the special occassions.

4. Make a cabbage-based meal once a week. Cabbage is another one of those really healthy and cheap foods, that usually goes a long way. I recently learned, from my Chinese sister-in-law, how to fry up Chinese cabbage with eggs. Very tasty. There are other options like: Borscht, lazy Ukranian cabbage rolls (without meat), cabbage based salads, and frying up cabbage in other ways.

5. Making lattes and special coffee drinks at home. I know, the luxury of sitting in a coffee shop is always such a lure for me, but again, it is a luxury. I don't need someone to make me a sugary, fattening, extremely expensive coffee drink every day. Plus, I love my home, so I can enjoy sitting with a drink here, too. I think I will invest in a flavoured syrup. We were recently given an esspresso machine, so it would be ridiculous not to make use of it!

6. Limiting our meat intake. Really, my husband and I do this already. We rarely buy meat, but we do love fish, especially salmon. I say, eating meat once a week is enough. When we do buy meat, we like to buy organic and local as much as possible, so that makes it more expensive, too. I can say that I don't miss eating meat every day.

7. Baking my own bread? I am torn on this one. While I love baking my own, it is time-consuming, and not as cheap as you might think. The recipe I use calls for powdered milk, which is expensive. Also, the loaves don't seem to stretch too far. I'm not sure if this is worth it. Maybe the nutrition alone makes it the best choice - but this is probably something I'll only do every now and then.

Okay, those are some starters!