Creamy pasta with chard - 2x
Steamed vermicelli with chicken, onion, and raisins - 1x
Tunisian fricassé sandwiches - 1x
Couscous - 2x
Ojja (Tunisian style shakshuka) with round fluffy bread - 1x, with leftovers for next day's lunch
Not a lot meaty meals - the couscous was with chicken first, second time vegetarian. The fricassé sandwiches did contain a small amount of tuna, but it was just one tin for 5 persons. We didn't have a lot of legumes, which I'll try to catch up with this week.
Inflation. We've heard a lot about it and about everyone is affected by it - from Philippines to Argentina and everywhere in between. Firstly, I want to say that this post is in no way intended as a complaint, and that I want to acknowledge that we've been blessed in so many ways - more than so many other people. I just think it's interesting to show how different people can be affected differently by crises like these.
One of the biggest privileges anyone can have when it comes to finances is defenitely to have your own house. And I don't mean still have to pay a large amount each month despite the housd being still "yours". Our house, even though it's a relatively small one, is ours and not paid anything for. So that's our biggest security in leaner times. Even if you have barely anything to eat (not that it's ever been like that for us, but let's think of a hypothetical scenario when things get worse), at least you don't have to worry about a roof over your head. That's a very reassuring thought for me, especially since we did experience poverty with a lot of insecurities of being able to pay all the bills monthly and there's certainly still trauma that I need to overcome. Our house isn't perfect, by far, but it is our house. We'd like to renovate the bathroom and kitchen one day, but for now we're very content with our small dwelling. We feel very fortunate to have this house, especially during times with less income.
Food: this is probably the area in which we're affected the most. Prices are going through the roof it seems. There are some products that we're hardly able to afford. Yes, most of these products aren't strictly necessary, so it's still a bit less of a problem. It would have been problematic if this would apply for the basic staples. Bread, pasta etc. fortunately are very affordable, as they're being subsidized by the government. I sincerely hope that will never change, as it would be problematic for the poorest people if even bread prices would go up. Some of the foods we buy less (or rarely buy) are olive oil, meat, rice, eggs, bananas, and even regular cooking oil, white flour, among other foods. Most of them aren't particularly known as pricey foods for most people, yet some of them have quadrupled or have even multiplied more times than that so they've defenitely become expensive. Most of these foods are even more expensive than they are back home in the Netherlands. But the thing is, our salary isn't nearly as high... If you have 1/3 of a western European salary, it's considered a middle class income. Our income is not the same each month, there's months when we barely scrape by, and there are months when we can even save money. So even if we don't spend everything that comes in, I still certainly don't want to spend everything we earn and challenge myself to make do with alternatives or just without.
The biggest issue when it comes to food isn't just the price- it's the lack of availability. There are lots of shortages, especially when it comes to staples. Milk, rice, semolina, tea, sugar, flour etc. There's some reasons behind this, which I don't want to elaborate on as it's a very complex set of reasons, some of which have to do with politics, and I rather don't discuss that here. But defenitely the worldwide inflation has contributed tremendously to this situation. A few years ago there were short periods of shortages, like few weeks usually. Now some products have been out of stock for more than a year. And they alternate; when there's semolina there's milk shortages, and the other way around. This all started around the covid period and then got worse after the Ukrainian war. At the beginning it was more like "annoying" but now people are getting increasingly worried. This really shows us how vital a good stockpile is. Yes, you'll eventually run out, but at least you don't have to worry for a certain period. It doesn't take an unstable political situation, war, or floods to have empty shelves. It can also be less serious issues. If the truckers are striking, empty shelves are very likely too. It really doesn't have to take long to find empty supermarket shelves. In my opinion, the supermarket should not be relied on as a "spare pantry" like many people do nowadays. This annoying/worrisome situation has taught us a lot, especially about preparedness. And also about being creative with what's available. Fortunately, there is enough food. It's just that some items at some times aren't available so you just make do without. No white flour; make whole wheat/sorghum/oatmeal cookies. No rice; just cook bulgur instead, etc. I also found oat milk a decent replacement for cow's milk, even though it lacks nutritional value, but when I bake er French toast or pancakes that doesn't really matter to me. I would love the situation to get back to normal again defenitely, but this taught us a lot.
Utilities: this is our 2nd biggest thing in which we're affected. Not as much as with food though, but still, utilities are a big dent in our monthly costs at some times. I must say that we're fortunate to live in a country that doesn't get their gas from Russia. Not that I'd mind if they did, I'm not going into politics here, but just because that has caused troubles in many European countries. I heard stories from people I know in the Netherlands, the UK etc that are quite unbelievable, but are the harsh reality for some people. Things like not putting on the heater at all despite freezing cold weather, cold showers or having just one hot shower a week, not cooking to save gas but putting some convenience foods in the microwave instead. I feel sorry for everyone having to fo through things like these, it must be very hard to actually have to choose between heating and eating. Apart from the fact that we're not in that desperate of a situation, the weather here is usually such that a heater is a nice extra, not strictly necessary. I still don't want to go without heating if it's still possible to pay for that, but if that became impossible, I'm still happy that we're just chilly and not freezing to death. So that's the gas price. Electricity here is much more expensive than gas. Heating with electricity is nearly impossible, unless you're able to use free electricity (we have a relative whose partner works at the electricity/gas company, and they are allowed tu use as much electricity as possible without any costs!), or solar panels etc. We try to be very frugal with both gas and electricity, but with electricity in particular because of this. This is why we use the air conditioning minimal during the summer, which is one of the most guzzling appliances in our house. Still, with prices having gone up, our bills have too. You can only scrimp that much, and if you wanted to pay the same that you were paying two years ago, you'd need to use even less. But since we're not even using much already, that's nearly impossible. So higher utility bills it is, and we're very fortunate to be able to still pay them, even if that means we have to be more frugal in other areas.
Petrol prices: they have quadrupled so needless to say, most people feel that, and so do we. Fortunately we don't need our car a lot so it's still manageable, but it is still quite an expensive bit from our budget.
These are the main areas in which we're affected. I want to repeat that we're very privileged to be house owners which is a major factor in being able to manage the inflation a bit. But, after all, we still feel it. I will try to elaborate a bit more in a future post on how we still try to save as much as possible despite the increasing prices.
As some of my readers have noticed, we eat quite a lot of pasta! Pasta, in my opinion, is the frugal cook's best friend. The variety of sauces, protein sources and whatever else you add to this starch are just unlimited. Not to mention the kind of pasta you're using, there are just so many choices!
Where we live, pasta is insanely cheap, costing a bit less than €0,15 (or $0,16...) a bag. A bag contains 500 grams/1.10 lbs. This is due to government subsidies on certain food items, to keep them available for all people, including the poor. There's also subsidized bread, semolina, milk, and couscous. But for some reason, pasta seems to be the most popular starch of choice- probably because couscous can be time consuming to prepare. There's a history behind the reason of pasta being so popular. Apparently, around 100 years ago, there were many Sicilians living in Tunisia who brought with them various kinds of pasta. And they quickly fell in love with the pasta! Nowasays, pasta is consumed almost as much here as it is in Italy. I must admit that when I first came here, I was overwhelmed by the variety of pasta shapes and sizes. In the Netherlands we usually did our groceries at a budget supermarket chain where they had spaghetti, elbow macaroni and maybe some bigger shapes such as penne or fussili. Here, the pasta aisle is the most elaborated one of the entire supermarket. Not only are there a lot of different shapes, each shape has different sizes as well, suitable to use in different dishes. Overtime, I've learned which shape and size works best for which dish and we know our preferences. There are also some more luxurious pastas that are more expensive, such as cannoli and lasagna, but most of the pastas are cheap. They also go by different names, in some cases. Most shapes have their original Italian name, but some are changed to Arabic or French, possibly to make pronouncing a bit easier. I think it's fair to say that we don't even eat as much pasta as many other locals here, they consume it that much.
Rice, on the other hand, isn't really a thing here. And not just because it's not a culinary tradition, but the cheapest rice here is 6 times as expensive as pasta. So for many people, including us, rice is really an once in a while treat. I personally am also a bit sensitive to rice. I had no idea that it was a thing (being sensitive to pasta is understandable... you know, wheat, gluten and all that!), but after trying again and again I've noticed that- with many kinds of rice, many ways of preparation- soaking, not soaking, using water, using broth etc. Everytime I eat rice, my esophagus really hurts, as if it's being suffocated or something. I do like rice though, so sometimes I can't help but to "hurt" myself and still eat rice when I prepare it for my family. And every single time I regret it again. I did find some decent replacements, to eat when my family eats rice. These include burgul (or bulgur) wheat, barley, and orzo (rice shaped pasta). It's still different, but a decent replacement in case you can't buy or tolerate rice.
So pasta it is for us, on a lot of days. How do we eat them? Here's some ways we enjoy them most often:
The most well known traditional Tunisian way (recipe soon to come).
Makarouna bechamel, also known as the "Arabic mac 'n cheese"
Italian pasta all'ortolana (with mixed vegetables)
Aglio e olio (garlic and olive oil)
The "Dutch way" of pasta with red sauce, mince, and lots of veggies
Pasta with a creamy sauce and whatever vegetables we have on hand; we had this on Monday, when I used up a lot of chard
Pasta salads during the summer
Pasta based soups; such as mhamsa (Tunisian pearl couscous soup), or makarouna jaria (another kind of soup with small pasta shapes), cream of chicken soup with vermicelli/orzo, etc. We eat these mainly during the winter.
Steamed pastas: vermicelli and nouassar (which is, I think, a very traditional shape that isn't even found in Italy - it's flat, like the shape of a small postage). We also have a steamed orzo dish regularly. Steaming pasta is probably a very north African thing to do, and it's very yummy. Some steamed pastas are one pot meals whereas others have a separate sauce/stew added on top.
And of course, pasta is very suitable for using up all kinds of leftovers! This is probably one of my favourites as you never know what you end up with and it's never disappointing.
We do eat some Asian style dishes with noodles too, however, I don't think that fits in this post and probably needs it's own post.
So, these were some of the reasons why we eat a lot of pasta and how we eat them.
I guess I was on a blogging binge yesterday. It can happen... 😃
We've had a few weeks of nice autumn weather, in March and April, but especially for the past two weeks it's been very hot around these parts. It might not be "officially" summer yet in the northern hemisphere, but the weather is certainly more summer-like than spring-like here! I'm aware of the fact that summer is not something everyone necessarily enjoys, especially very hot summers. I still prefer summer over winter though. Even though we don't have very cold winters, I quite enjoy the heat. The added benefit of summers is that there's a lot of things you can save on.
Air conditioning: Our days without putting on the air conditioning are probably numbered, we can only delay it so much... But, every day without having to put it on is yet another one! Yeah, I know living without air conditioning is the ideal, both frugality wise as environmentally wise. There was a time when I didn't want one for these two reasons, but I'm glad we eventually purchased one. It was during a heat wave, when temperatures outside reached nearly 50°c... (which is 122° f). Living in a desert without air conditioning can be like living in Siberia without heating! It didn't feel as a luxury anymore and we were so relieved after ours was installed. Both my husband and me suffer from the heat when it reaches a certain temperature in the home. He sweats a lot, and gets warm easily. I'm quite the opposite, where the heat kind of stays in my body and doesn't come out because I can't sweat. I also have asthma and a lot of muscle contractions during the summer which both decreased immensely since we have an air conditioning. Still, we try to be relatively frugal with it - we put it on when it becomes almost unbearable and it's set on 26° c (78° f), never lower. We only have one unit in the living room- I guess that's one of the benefits of living in a small home. In our bedrooms we have fans, and I actually prefer sleeping with a fan on rather than AC. Also, the air conditioning is not on all day long. That's how we still try to use it minimal but still make it more bearable during the summer heat. Still, I've found that our "minimal air conditioning use" tends to be cheaper than minimal heating during the winter.
Another way of saving on utilities is by using cold water. Our pipes are outside the house which means the water heats up fast. On very hot summer days that means you can have a warm shower with "cold" water. This applies to the washing machine too- I usually turn the temperature setting completely off, as it's usually still at least 30°c, if not more. Same with doing dishes. We also try not to cook dishes with a long cooking time to avoid heating up the kitchen, and use the oven less.
Speaking of laundry: since line drying is something we do all year round, it's not necessarily a saving, but it is much easier now than it is during the winter. Also, since the house isn't cold like it is during the winter, we wear less layers of clothes. Less clothes = less laundry.
Gas: our car is mostly used to drive and pick up the children from school. Since they have a three month long break during the summer, we're defenitely saving on gas. We still use the car during the summer break, but much less than our average use.
Fun things: since it's so hot here, it's not adviced to go outside during most part of the day, so we really need to find ways to entertain ourselves at home. This usually happens to be a lot cheaper too! We do enjoy going outside at night for a stroll and an ice cream every so often. Vacations are not something we do a lot, last year was the first time in 4 years that we went on a small vacation. To be honest I'd rather stay home, but I did enjoy the children having a great time. I'm not sure whether we'll go on a vacation this year or not, but if we go, it'll be as frugal as possible. We don't go abroad but stay in our country. Since we live in a small country, it's just a few hours drive to get to the coastal region.
Food: we generally eat less during the summer, and prefer lighter meals with more veggies. In season produce is quite cheap here, fortunately, so that's a big saving right there. I've also noticed that some foods that can spoil quickly (like eggs) tend to be cheaper during the summer months.
As promised, here is my recipe for Douara, a Tunisian offal stew. I use the ingredients as a guide and have no strict measurements, so these are just rough estimates.
• About one kg of offal (we used cow's offal, but sheep or goat is good too) - It's usually a mixture of inestine and tripe, but lungs go well in this dish too
•one onion
•a few heaped spoons of tomato paste
•seasonings of your choice (I used a Tunisian spice mixture, garlic, turmeric, and salt)
•vegetables I used: tomatoes, hot green peppers, potatoes, parsley, and chard
•some cooking oil and water
First off, make sure your meat is very clean. Our butchers clean it thoroughly, but when we home butcher we have to do it ourselves obviously. Then cut into pieces and boil in water, just until the water boils. Then drain. Don't skip this step, it will prevent the dish from becoming bitter.
Then clean the pot (or just get another one), the remainder from the boiled offal can be a bit sticky. Chop your onion and sautee in some oil. Then add the garlic, diced tomatoes, salt, and spices*. Also add in your tomato paste and sautee for another minute or so. Now add in the meat and about three to four cups of water. It depends on how you like your stew and how long it needs to cook (the older the animal, the longer it needs to cook). About an hour into the cooking, add in your chopped vegetables and chopped parsley. You can use any vegetables of your choice, I just use what I had on hand. Leaving out the vegetables altogether (except for the onion) is possible too, I prefer some veggies in my stew though. I cooked this stew for about an hour and a half. Since it was calf offal, it didn't have to cook for hours to get it tender.
We eat this with either baguette from the bakery or homemade bread.
*I use an Tunisian spice mixture called 'tabel karwiya' which consists of mainly caraway and coriander, and if you can't find this spice mixture you can make your own. (A suggestion would be caraway, coriander, turmeric, cumin, and black pepper). I've also found that Chinese 5 spice powder mixed with garam masala (a 1:1 ratio) is a decent replacement. Or you can just use the seasonings of your choice, such as Mexican spices. Also, if you dont use hot pepper (like I did), I'd recommend to add some ground hot pepper, harissa, or other condiment.
Douara (offal stew) with bread - 2x
Roz Djerbi (Tunisian steamed rice dish, but made with orzo instead of rice) - 2x
Adass (lentil stew) with bread - 1x, but with enough leftovers to eat as lunch or to freeze.
Couscous - not every traditional one, made with courgette, onion and chicken fillets. It was very nice though - 1x, but some leftovers for lunch.
And one day, we did just a "leftovers buffet" as we call it. A great way to clear out the fridge when there's different single portions.
Did a bit more batch cooking past week, and also tried to make use of leftovers. In fact, the lentil stew were mainly reinvented leftovers, but with lentils mixed into it.
Most of my clothes are thrifted, but that doesn't mean I don't take good care of them and try to extend their life as much as possible. Fabrics have a bigger environmental impact than most people might expect, and it's just being wasteful with money not to take care of clothes. I do this by not tossing items in the laundry mindlessly (if it's not dirty, it can be worn another time, without guilt!), by wearing an apron when doing "dirty" kitchen stuff, removing stains directly, line drying etc. As a fulltime homemaker, I definitely have some "accidents" every now and then. I'm a bit clumpsy, which is probably why I mentioned removing the stains. And I have a talent for snagging on sharp corners. For some reason, some clothes get stretched out too quickly. Apart from them being too stretched out, they're still in good shape, which makes tossing them such a waste.
In a lot of cases, mending is really helpful to extend the life of many items from the wardrobe. I must admit that I'm terrible at needlework though. My mum used to sew, crochet, and knit, but unfortunately, it's not something I inherited from her! Yes, I know that everything can be learned. Still, I think I'll never be good at this, partially due to bad fine motor skills. Everyone is good at something else in the end, so it's not that I mind it that much. I'm fortunate to have a husband who is good at these things, and not only that, but in fact enjoys mending. So in my opinion, the perfect solution for a clumsy homemaker who still doesn't want to get rid of clothes that quickly.
I think, without exaggerating, we've already saved hundreds of euros by mending clothes- just everytime there was something my husband mended (not only for me, but the entire family) we could have bought a new item. So that's defenitely a huge saving! It's amazing how clothes can be rescued from going into the landfill by minimal effort. Oh, and did I mention we don't even have a sewing machine? It's something that we'd like in the future, perhaps for even making all of our clothes altogether instead of just to repair. But for now, we don't have one, and are still be able to save so much money by mending our clothes. It's sometimes these small efforts that people tend to forget when trying to save money but small things really add up.
I already mentioned how I love batch cooking. It saves time, cooking fuel, and effort, allowing me to focus on other chores around the house on days I don't have to cook, but only reheat our previously cooked meal.
People have mixed opinions about batch cooking. Probably the main misconception is that when you batch cook, you have to make do with a very repetitive way of eating. I don't necessarily think that we have to vary like in the way it's being propagated by most modern day nutritionists (fueled by the "food" industry). A so called "varied diet" is quite overrated in my opinion. The funny thing is though, people who think they eat very varied often are only doing so with their dinner while being very repetitive when it comes to breakfasts and lunches. Whereas for us, it's very rare that we eat the same breakfast for two days in a row. So I guess that despite batch cooking, we still do vary enough.
If I batch cook a certain dish, we usually eat the same every other day. So, for example, if I make a stew on Monday, we have it again on Wednesday. And on Tuesday and Thursday, we either eat another batch cooked meal, or I make two separate meals. Two sperate cooked meals can happen because I don't batch cook every dish, although I do batch cook most of the dishes we eat. I also do is what I call "half batch cooking". I may cook up a pasta sauce and have it with different kinds of pasta and side dishes/protein sources. Or I steam a large batch of couscous and we have it with different sauces. Even if this method isn't strictly batch cooking, it still saves a lot of time, because more than half of the work has already been done. And an additional bonus is that it's still a bit less repetitive than eating the exact dish being eaten twice.
I also batch cook ingredients such as the legumes that we use as a source of protein in many dishes. Since some legumes take up a long time to cook, it's best to cook them in larger amounts. As we speak, there's a pot of chickpeas boiling now. I'll devide that in several portions; a part for tonight's dinner and the rest goes in the freezer for later use. I do the same with lentils, despite the fact that they don't have nearly such a long cooking time. Even if it doesn't necessarily saves a lot of cooking time, it saves a lot of energy -and my sanity. If I make a legume based stew, I usually cook a double batch too. It doesn't go in the freezer usually, but we just finish it within a few days, not necessarily for dinner but for lunches too. I also keep small portions in the freezer for my mother in law, since she can't tolerate everything I cook, so I don't always have to cook separately for her. When baking bread, I also make bigger quantities and freeze is right after it's cooled down. That way, we can enjoy freshly baked bread with a bit less of effort.
Some other concern which is mentioned often is food safety. Even though I have some anxieties when it comes to food, food safety of home cooked foods is not something I worry about a lot. If you think you get sick of eating certain foods, you will probably get sick (in most cases). The thing is, people are afraid of storing foods in the fridge and eat it within 3 days or so- to me, that's just silly. If that's the case, what do you need a fridge for anyway? Most vegetables will keep outside the fridge. In fact, some last even longer outside the fridge, when stored properly. I think most foods can be stored in fridges longer than the official guidelines says. I usually know how long a certain type of cooked food will last, based on experience. If I'm not sure whether or not I'm using up something that's been there for a few days already, and I'm neither planning to freeze it, I simply reheat it to the point that it's been boiled thoroughly. That way, foods can technically be stored for ages if it's then put away again in a new, clean container. Because any bacteria have been boiled dead, it's as if you've cooked up something freshly. By this method, I've rescued quite a lot foods from spoilage. I know this might be a bit controversial and certainly not officially advised, but it does work for us and I have no concerns whatsoever.
The taste is yet another concern, and I find it a bit interesting that I've heard this concern more than once, because my experience is quite the contrary. In my experience, most dishes improve as they age. This is also why slow cooking methods are much better, taste wise. The faster food cooks, the less taste is has (with a few exceptions such as stir frying). Especially soups, sauces and stews taste much better the next day. This is why I sometimes make certain foods in advance. So in my opinion, this is another benefit of batch cooking; the next batch is even tastier! That's defenitely a win win if you ask me.
When I was pregnant with my youngest (11 years ago... Time certainly flies!), I batch cooked a lot. The 2nd batch went directly into the freezer to have some quick meals during my postpartum period. It turned out to be very handy as I was hospitalized for a week after giving birth and my husband was taking care of our oldest daughter while being injured himself, after a car hit him. If you have a surgery planned, having a baby, or knowing you'll have an insanely busy time ahead for whatever reason, batch cooking and then freezing that food is really a good solution to still have homemade food with less effort. It's almost like a takeaway, but healthier and cheaper. And about everything can be kept in the freezer, you just need to know how to store certain foods. What I also love about batch cooking is that there's always foods for unexpected visitors. Yes, people will technically be "served leftovers" but I don't see a reason to be squeamish about that. It's not different than freshly cooked foods. And I've never heard that people had anything against it either, around these parts anyhow.
So, despite all the objections people may have, I love batch cooking and will probably continue doing so for the rest of my life, as long as we have a fridge.
I've struggled a lot with keeping up with my recipes. It's mainly baking recipes, as they should be followed more precisely than cooking. I don't have a real recipe for most dishes and just use what I have on hand/what's in season etc. Baking is a bit different though, as a bit too much of baking powder or butter can totally ruin the end result! Let alone if I don't remember what temperature the oven should be set on. It's just that I don't like writing. Well, I do enjoy writing (or else I wouldn't be blogging), but not physical handwriting. I know that there are probably more apps than I am aware of, which all claim that they have the perfect solution to this problem. However, I don't like to be dependent on my phone too much. Screens can be addictive and I already spend more time on my phone than is good for me. I'm also afraid that if something were to happen, I lost everything.
I also want to have something physical which was really made and written by myself (despite my ugly handwriting!), to start a family tradition of passing on recipes. I really like a lot of old fashioned stuff. And when I think of handwriting recipe cooks, that's really an old fashioned tradition that should be kept alive, in my opinion. Whenever I read about people who have family recipes being passed down by their grandmother, it honestly makes me a bit jealous! I never had this opportunity. My eldest late grandmother passed away when I was 13 and I guess I was too young to think about her recipes; if she had written them down at all, which I doubt. My other late grandmother passed away 8 years ago, but to say she was a picky eater would be an understatement. Were she willing to get help she'd probably be diagnosed with ARFID. I don't recall her ever having cooked a meal for us; she nearly only ate cheese sandwiches. And when we came to visit her, she usually made pancakes. So, unfortunately we don't really have family recipes. That means I'm the first one to be starting this tradition! I don't want my children to miss out too. This will also include recipes that are being passed down by my mother in law (which she in turn learned from her mother). She's illiterate, so she cannot write them down herself. I think it's very cool to have such a strong connection with ancestors; through food. Of course, we hope we'll all be given much years to come to spend together as a family without having to worry about whether recipes were written down... But still, one can't start early enough.
And it's not just in case something were to happen to me- even with small calamities, it can come in handy. I realised this when I really needed a certain recipe but there was an internet blackout. Our internet connection isn't that strong, and blackouts are quite common here, but they usually last for a few minutes. That specific time, it lasted for hours! I ended up making something else, of which I was sure I knew the measurements of the ingredients. From then on I've tried to write down my recipes. One at a time. Since I don't like handwriting (I have a terribly looking handwriting and writing for more than 10 minutes just hurts my arms), it's a slow progress, but slow progress is better than no progress at all, after all. I try to at least write down a few recipes a week. Sometimes it takes a few weeks until I write down even one single recipe, but i'm getting there slowly. What I'm writing it down in is nothing fancy; just a basic notebook. Maybe one day when I get a really pretty notebook I might have to re-write everything again... 😆
I've made a few categories: breads, cookies, cakes, and miscellaneous (for things that don't fit in other categories). I guess I'll have to write down my main dishes too, although that's going to be a bit more challenging. Whenever I share recipe online of a main dish, it's always estimated and never precisely, so if I write them down in a notebook it's not going to be any different. The main dishes deserve a separate notebook, in my opinion. It'll be the next project when my current one is finished.
And I won't be tempted to use any app on my phone for this.
On monday, DH and I decided to do some shopping at the souk, the north African equivalent of a wet market. I love going there every so often. Everything is divided by category- vegetables, fish, etc. There's also a large meat section. We wanted to see what the butchers sold that day- as they don't always sell the same meats everyday. We were all craving an organ meat dish, which I'll go to in a minute. I also wanted to see if they had some fat to render.
Coming from Europe, it's quite interesting how it all works here when it comes to meat. First off, meat is very expensive here, hence, it's not something that's eaten a lot. Most people here won't eat meat on a daily basis, especially red meat. And we are no exception to that. Since meat is so expensive, people are in general not very picky, so they won't just eat only certain cuts of meat. They don't shy away from eating the "weird" parts - or which is considered weird in western societies, anyhow. Everything of the animal is appreciated equally, it seems. Since I was raised as a vegetarian, I think this is why it's not that big of a deal to me. I wasn't used to eating only chicken breasts and mince, like many Europeans, rather all meat was foreign to me anyway. So when I did start to eat meat, because of that, I didn't differentiate between a chicken breast and sheep lungs. It's not to say that people here eat the "weird" parts just because it's more economical. In fact, some parts are truly considered a delicacy.
I wanted to make douara (a stew with offal meat), something which we realized we didn't have in a long time and is one of our favourite dishes. There is absolutely no reason to look down upon organ meat; organ meats are super nutritious, and delicious. If the picky eaters would only get over their initial hesitation! The fun thing is, that even if it's not insanely cheap, the "regular" meat is 5 times as expensive, or 3 times as expensive when it comes to very old meat that requires a long cooking time. It's interesting that organ meat is becoming more and more popular in certain circles, especially those that focus on eating a nourishing tradition kind of diet, also known as ancestral diets.
Honouring the whole animal and being appreciative for the nutrients that all of the animal has to offer, is also known as 'nose to tail eating'. Where we live, one can take that quite literally! When we walked by some of the butchers (there are a lot to choose from) there were several butchers selling heads: goat, sheep and cow's heads. I was amazed by how massive that cows head was though! I must probably be integrated quite well, because I don't have a problem seeing this. I do eat meat, so I have no problem to see that it actually came from an real animal. I would have a problem eating meat from a factory, but I know these animals were raised at the countryside, which is probably also why they're expensive.
Hopefully I'll be posting my douara recipe soon.
Years ago, I ate a lot of Heinz sandwich spread- it was a good vegetarian option in a time when there was not a lot to choose from besides cheese. Being frugal as I was, I later switched to the generic brands when they developed their own version. Even though I wasn't vegetarian anymore, I still liked it, and still didn't eat meat on bread. Now I make my own, as they don't sell anything like this around these parts. The homemade version is obviously healthier, but I find it way more flavourful as well. As it's quite perishable compared to the store bought version, I don't make large batches at once. Or I only prepare the vegetables so I can mix in the remaining ingredients on the spot. This past week, I made a batch sandwich spread to have on baguette with lentil soup. There was some leftovers for the next day. When it comes to perishable foods, I'm always a bit anxious not to make too much as I'm so cautious about wasting anything.
I always make it a bit different, depending on what's in season and what I have at home. This is how I made it:
An onion, cut in half and sliced very thinly Grated carrots, turnips and courgette Some homemade sauerkraut Seasonings: salt, red pepper flakes, dried parsley, and garlic
Mayonnaise and double concentrated tomato paste
Sautee the onion and then add the carrots, sautee this with the onion for about a minute, then add the seasonings, turnip, and courgette. Stirr well and cover your pot with a lid. The turnip and courgette will release liquid so don't add any liquid. After about 10 minutes, check the doneness and if it's tender but there's still some liquid, let it evaporate without the lid. Then allow to cool completely and when it's cooled down enough, add the mayonnaise and tomato paste. The tomato paste isn't essential, but it kind of duplicates the store bought version that I liked the most. Then add some well drained sauerkraut. You can add any other fermented or pickled vegetables, this is just what I had on hand. The fermented vegetables not only adds in some extra nutrients, it's also a flavour enhancer- there should be a bit of tangy flavour in this sandwich spread, in my opinion.
Just use your creativity and remember to use what you have, rather than to run to the store for single items. No mayonnaise? No problem! Make your own, or use yogurt/cream cheese/even leftover bechamel sauce. Use any veggie you like. No fermented/pickled vegetables? Add in some lemon zest and juice, or vinegar etc.
So this is my 2nd menu plan in retrospect, , just like last week in random order as I'm again not sure anymore about what we ate when. I'm planning on posting some recipes of the foods we had.
• Couscous, 2x - once with baked chicken and once with lamb
• Makarouna (Tunisian style pasta)
• Vegetable stew with bread
• Red lentil soup with bread and homemade sandwich spread
• Another Tunisian dish: kafteji (grilled peppers and tomatoes with fried potatoes and egg) with homemade flatbread. We had this with takeaway bbq'ed chicken.
• Bami goreng (Indonesian fried noodles)
Did a bit less of batch cooking this week, which is quite unusual for us. But we did eat the leftovers for lunch. In fact, there's still leftovers which we'll have tonight to empty the fridge for tomorrow's grocery shopping.
As I mentioned before, our groceries are partially purchased at a refill store. Meaning, they're package free. I'll try to elaborate a bit more on this way of shopping in this post. Depending on which store we'll shop at, they have shelf stable goods in huge baskets or more tidy containers. From what I've noticed, the tidier the containers and the shops, the more expensive they are. Usually it's not self service, but an employee will measure/weigh the goods. You could bring your own container, but usually they put it in a baggie, similar to a sandwich baggie. It's then labelled with the product/price on it.
What kind of foods do we buy there? Legumes, some grains (such as whole wheat flour, sorghum flour, and oats), spices, nuts and seeds, cocoa powder, cornstarch, as well as some "candy". Traditional healthy treats such as frankincense (this is like natural chewing gum), corn for making popcorn, and carob. This obviously doesn't cover all our needs from the store, and there's certainly items that we don't buy there. If it were me, I'd buy everything there, but unfortunately not everything is available at the refill store. I really hope these stores will expand their assortment one day and that about everything would be available there.
Its obvious that this kind of shopping does reduce the amount of plastic going into the landfill, which is the foremost reason why we shop like this. Seeing nature sites getting more and more cluttered with rubbish is so heartbreaking. It's frustrating when you realise that the world's plastic pollution is not inevitable, if people would just put a little more effort in how they shop. Other than environmental reasons, which are obvious, what I especially like about these kind of shops is the simplicity! You've probably seen pictures (if not in real life) of colourful markets with heaps of different coloured spices. Well, apart from the fact that it's not just spices there, it still looks quite similar. The more modern refill stores will sell their goods in a bit more neat containers, which has a bit more of the aesthetic look. It's both very simplistic in their own way. I also really appreciate that this way we're cutting back on our plastic use. Living in a country where there's a garbage problem in some areas, it's clear how much plastic is being wasted. I cringe at every disposable plastic item that I can easily avoid using. Yes, they do use sandwich baggies in those shops, but I make sure to simply reuse those. So that's not too big of an issue (to me), and otherwise I can still bring my own containers. Another benefit of these shops is that they're usually just so much cheaper! Just to compare; oats are about double the price here if you'd buy them in the supermarket. And at the refill store, they already are quite expensive. You'll get the exact same product, which means you're paying all that money just for a cardboard box. Not even a firm reusable box with a lid or something. That's just throwing money into the trash, in my opinion. What I also like is that with package free shopping, you're not dependent on the package sizes that you find in the supermarket. When you have a small household or only want to buy a certain (small) amount for whatever reason, this is possible- you can buy just however much you want (this is the case where we buy our goods anyhow). This is a good way to avoid wasting foods.
Of course, as with everything, there are cons - or others may consider them to be cons, anyhow. I only see benefits in shopping this way but I'd thought of including them anyway. Since it's package free, there's obviously no "use by" date. To me, that's no issue at all - I think that putting dates on shelf stable foods is just a way to encourage wasting foods. If it looks and smells good, I'll just eat it. With foods not being "properly" packed, you do need suitable containers. Yes, this may cost a bit initially, but it doesn't necessarily mean very trendy and expensive ones with the "zero waste aesthetics", you can just buy the cheapest plastic containers you can find, or simply reuse food containers. With smaller kitchens, this does take up a bit more space at times, but I'm willing to sacrifice that space (I have no idea what else to store in my cupboards anyway). We have a lot of smaller buckets, I think they're 5L buckets, not completely sure - there fits about 3.5 kg of flour in a bucket. I also have smaller containers for the foods that we don't buy in bigger quantities, such as sorghum flour. Yes, this does take up space but I don't think it takes up much more space than stocking the average pantry with packaged items. The reason why we need a lot of space is due to the fact that we're buying in bulk, not so because of the lack of packaging. As long as you're using suitable containers, it's not that much of a space they're occupying.
All in all I like the way we shop- the way people have been doing this before supermarkets were there. You may find it too costly, which unfortunately is the case in some countries, unfortunately, and I can totally understand that especially in these times, people look at the prices solely. Some may find it too time consuming, which I can understand too. I'm privileged with a refill store in our street, even though we usually go to another one in a different neighbourhood, but it's still very accessible.
Still, despite people's general reluctance of returning to the old ways of shopping, I am very enthusiastic about it. It just may take some planning and making shopping lists and investing in containers.
Confession: I must be the most terrible housewife/mum out there, or even the most terrible cook, because I don't meal plan. Yep, there I said it. Well, saying I don't meal plan at all isn't correct technically, but meal planning in the traditional sense doesn't happen at our house. We don't sit down at the table with a piece of paper and pencil (or anything screen, but I'm more into old fashioned ways) and write down what we're going to be eating that week, and then buy every item that's on the list. Here's some whys as to why we don't:
First of all, we're living with/very close to my in laws. While we don't live in the exact same house, we basically live in my MIL's backyard, which is great as it enables us to take care of her. The thing is, as with most Mediterranean/African/Arabic countries, people are generally so spontaneous and planning in general usually doesn't really work. Even when it comes to appointments, it's better to expect that people won't probably be on time. If they are on time, that's a plus, but should not really be an expectation. Anyway, since my MIL doesn't/can't cook anymore, we usually bring her supper, but the thing is that relatives and neighbours might just pop in unexpectedly and bring food with them for her. Every single time I did try to plan somewhat in advance, that's what happened. Of course, I don't blame them at all, they're sincerely doing something good, but if your plan messes up it's sometimes a bit frustrating. Of course, at times I didn't plan anything at all, no one showed up to unexpectedly bring her food 😉
Secondly, since our way of shopping is a bit different (which I did a post about), we can't plan before we do our shopping. We just buy what's being sold and is most affordable at the market. For example, some weeks parsley is very cheap, whereas the next week it's five times as expensive, so it wouldn't make sense to make a lot of parsley based dishes then. So generally we buy what's available and it's always a bit different. This week, we had a LOT of aubergine, which is defenitely going to be on our plates quite a few times. And so instead of buying what's on the menu, I just make do with whatever's available at the market. We just estimate what we'll be using that particular week. And when there's still veg leftover, that's what will be used first the next week. Etc. I love that it makes me more creative that way. If I'd have to sit down an write a week worth of meals in advance, it's probably going to be a boring menu. When I'm forced to cook with whatever we have in the house and to come up with ideas instantly, my creativity thrives.
I deal with chronic pain issues, and I never know when I have a good day or a bad day. Usually I have a few bad days in a row followed by a few good days, but it's not quite predictable. When I don't feel well, I do still cook, albeit simpler meals that don't involve a lot of standing. This is also one of the reasons why I batch cook.
This might be a bit weird, but we never know what we'll crave when. If I, say, am supposed to make a pasta dish on a particular day when we crave rice, I don't see the need to still go for the pasta just because it was written on a list and therefore can't be changed. Others might call it stubborn, but for me it's just common sense.
It's interesting how meal planning is always mentioned as *the* way to avoid food waste. That you're very wasteful when you don't meal plan as you're essentially heading without any direction and you'll just buy perishable foods recklessly and that way, waste tons of foods. But here I am, practically not wasting any food AND not meal planning. Yes, that is possible. Saying that meal planning avoids wasted food is a bold statement, in my opinion. In fact, I believe it can even be the other way around: if you're sticking to a particular meal planned for that day, you might neglect other produce that's about to go bad. Avoiding food waste is actually a very reason why I cannot really meal plan; I might have to rescue certain items from the fridge on some days or finish leftovers (sometimes there's enough leftovers for all of us). Yes, even if we crave something else- avoiding waste comes first at our house.
I can't recall my grandmother or even other women from their generation ever had a menu plan. And especially my oldest grandmother, who was born in 1910, would never ever throw away any foods. So it's quite a new phenomenon actually. Which isn't bad in and of itself, although I do value a lot of the old fashioned skills and way of living people had.
We do kind of vary by rotating dishes that we like. The meals are usually centred around the starch. Not around the meat, as we eat more vegetarian meals than meat based meals. So for example, one day it's pasta, the other day it's bread or couscous. Today, we had a vegetable stew with freshly homemade bread. Since I batch cook, we usually have the same meals every other day. Probably it's a bit less varied than most people would do, but this is what we like and it saves time, cooking fuel and energy. I might do a different side dish with the meals so that it makes it still a bit varied. For example, yesterday we had pasta, with a salad on the side. The next time we'll probably have the pasta with a different side, such as stir fried vegetables. The days that I'm not cooking (or just making a quick side) I can focus on other household tasks a bit more, such as keeping up with folding the laundry, cleaning the bathroom/kitchen/floors, etc.
Yesterday, I desperately needed some room in the freezer. There were to large bags of pieces stale bread and I thought it was a good idea to make a bread pudding. I hadn't made one in a while and I know how much my husband and children love it. In addition to having so much stale bread, there were other foods that wanted to use up: some raisins, some leftover sweetened condensed milk that I made a while ago, and a small container of applesauce. This all goes very well in a bread pudding. When I make one, I don't really stick strictly to a recipe but just use what I have on hand. It would be a bit ironic to be sticking to a specific recipe with dishes that were actually invented to get rid of leftovers, wouldn't it? Anyway, this is how I made it:
Leftover bread - not sure how much exactly, but it was a big bag of pieces stale bread, both baguette and round bread. I cut this in smaller pieces and put them in a large bowl (similar to a washing up bowl). In a smaller bowl, I mixed 3 eggs with about 2 cups of sweetened condensed milk, 3 heaped spoons of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of applesauce, and three more cups of liquid (a mixture of milk and water). I also added about a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. This mixture was then added to the bread chunks and mixed with a wooden spoon. If there's some dry bread, add some extra liquid. Then I greased a big baking dish and spreaded half of the bread mixture on it, some raisins and then added the remaining mixture (flatten it with a spoon). I then sprinkled the bread mixture with cinnamon sugar.
I baked this for 75 minutes, the first 30 minutes on 220° c (428° f), then the remaining 45 minutes on 200° c (392° f). Then after about 10 minutes, let the bread pudding cool down outside the oven. When it was a bit warm I put it back in the oven and just let it sit there until this morning. You can reheat it a bit, but I didn't really find that necessary so we just had it cold.
There's this phrase "buy what you use, use what you buy". And I think that's one of my main "rules" when it comes to cooking and grocery shopping. Many people have a somewhat weird way to do groceries- they supplement their supermarket hauls by a few ingredients that they found in the cupboard, when it should be the other way around, in my opinion. This makes people just so dependent on grocery stores and takes away all the creativity. Creativity is one of the most undervalued yet important skills any home cook should have, and frugal cooks in particular. Frugal cooking is inherently important, as we're all faced with fluctuating prices, off season produce, or just very expensive items in general. Or even food shortages (which we're having to deal with for the past few years). Even though we have a corner shop right in front of our house, I still try not to go there for every single item. I must admit that I have quite a large stockpile of various foods, but if I want to use something that isn't at the house, I try to find a solution before I run across the street.
Using what you buy usually means coming up with certain alternatives, or simply making do without. It might seem a bit intimidating at first, but using replacement is easier than one thinks. Since I've been doing this for so long, it doesn't really feel like I'm using "an alternative" anymore (I did a post on cheaper ingredient/alternatives, in which I offer a few suggestions, but ofcourse it's not limited to that list if you use your creativity.) Doing without is also something I'm big on - some ingredients I just refuse to buy as they're outrageously expensive. I refuse to buy mushrooms, for example: they cost about 4 euros a kg, which is very expensive here, and they're only sold in small packets of 250 grams. Add to that that I've also heard that they aren't tasty at all when you're used to western European mushrooms. So I just do without. It's quite funny how you're getting used to not using certain ingredients anymore- in the past, I used them a lot, whereas now I can't really think of a recipe in which mushrooms are irreplaceable (except for mushroom soup, maybe?). A year ago or so a relative brought some tinned mushrooms, and to be honest, apart from one tin, they're still sitting in the cupboard... Now honestly, tinned mushrooms are less tasty than fresh ones, but it's more because of the fact that we're just used to doing without. Another example is minced beef: that's just so expensive here and while we sometimes do buy red meat (lamb or goat), mince I just found too expensive and not quite worth it. If I'm making meatballs or mixing in some mince in the pasta, it's not noticeable at all if you replace it by a cheaper kind of meat. This eid ul fitr, however, my kids requested me to make lasagna, specifically with minced beef. So it was the first time in 5 years (!) that we bought half a kg of mince. Was it good? Absolutely! But I still don't find it worth it to buy that often, for that price. Very recently, I've heard that apparently they want to raise the price of lamb and beef to 20 euro per kg, which is just very ridiculously high. It probably all comes down to what's important for you. For us, meat isn't on top of our list, but I can see that for other people it is. If we'd eat meat every day, we'd probably be in debt, and I'd rather spend my money on more important things. So far the "buy what you use" part.
As for "use what you buy", this can be a bit tricky, and this is the very reason that I'm not very fond of recipe books by most famous chefs. People want to try out specific recipes (not even knowing whether they're going to like them or not), that require specific ingredients that they otherwise would never use. Of course, from that bought ingredient only a small amount is being used. What I don't understand is how those famous chefs, with all their culinary knowledge, don't even consider mentioning decent replacements of those recipes. That would surely avoid so much wasted money and wasted food. This is something I refuse to do. I won't buy specific ingredients that otherwise wouldn't be used. Instead, I'll look for replacements, or reconsider making that specific dish altogether. This is how I make sure to "use what I buy". I can't recall how often others gave me half used packages of spices, grains etc "because that's what the recipe called for and I don't know what else to use them for". Yes, I'm well known as someone who can use up little bits of this and that because she hates wasting foods. 😉I even got a big bag of soy flour from a friend once, which I made lovely pakoras with, among other things. I think being able to think in solutions when it comes to ingredients is not something everyone can do easily, so I won't judge people who can't do this, but I guess that's also why my blog is here. It's not impossible to learn these skills.
I know people will say, 'it's just one bag of thrown away food', or just a few cents/euros being wasted... While I think it's very important to avoid waste altogether, I think it's not always about the waste in and of itself. It's also about knowing what you do when a calamity occurs: when you don't have as much resources (which can happen all of a sudden), what to do when prices skyrocket/when there are shortages. There can be all sorts of crises in which you need your creativity. As I mentioned, we do have to deal with shortages, which honestly is much more difficult than one would expect. In such a situation, I feel so privileged to be able to come up with solutions to problems which shouldn't be problems if the food system wouldn't be so corrupt.
So I'm trying to do this "what we ate past week" every Monday from now on. Meal planning beforehand clearly doesn't work for us, at least in the traditional sense (this is something I'll try to elaborate on in a future post). But I'd still like to share what we ate so sharing our "meal plan" in retrospect would work best for me that way. I'm not completely sure anymore what we ate when, so it's a bit in a random order.
• Steamed vermicelli with onion and chicken (among other ingredients), 2x
• Refried beans with homemade mlawi flatbread and fried aubergine
• Tunisian fricassé (sandwiches) with french fries
• Couscous, 2x
• Leftovers (soup, among others)
By "2x", I mean I batch cooked and we had the same meal twice. Usually we don't eat the same thing two days in a row, but every other day. And of course, we had more than one meal a day- I'm mainly focusing on the main meal here, not necessarily breakfast and lunch. Breakfast, although I try to vary a bit, is still a bit more repetitive and well.. just a bit "breakfasty" I guess. And for lunch we usually have leftovers or sandwiches, if we eat lunch at all (my husband and youngest aren't very big on eating lunch).
Where we live there are a lot of stray cats. Our cat is a former stray cat too, and there's just something special about giving a strat cat a home. We never looked for a cat, but he was suddenly just here. Initially, he was quite timid, only coming at the door for food, which is what he got. Then he slowly allowed us to pet him, and dared to come inside the house. He's still pretty much an outdoor cat- he always sleeps outside, and during the day most of his time is spent outdoors too. He might come in the morning and spend a good three hours of sleeping on his blanket, then go outside and come back in the afternoon for some sleep again. When it's rainy or stormy, he's inside the house more, but he'll always spend the night outdoors. We have an area in the back yard that's covered and there's some furniture on which he sleeps, during the winter we have a blanket on one of the chairs for him. There's also a heap of straw in the garden (don't ask me how that's gotten there), on which he loves to sleep.
Unfortunately, he fights a lot and I can't really recall a time when he didn't have a wound of some sort. They always seem to heal quickly. Once he had one of his nails ripped off completely- it really looked scary. His paw was blue ish and he couldn't walk, let alone run. But even that, he recovered from. Probably he will not change when it comes to fighting. It's interesting how stray cats can be so different from cats that have been indoors from the beginning, although I'm wondering if it's just because of being a stray cat. It could also just be his character. Anyway, he's certainly quite wild, that's for sure.
When it comes to food, it's fun to find out what he likes. Cat can have some really weird preferences! Most of his preferences I found out because of being caught on the counter. Chicken and fish are obvious ones, so I never leave that there (unless it's covered). But to my surprise, he absolutely loves legumes! All sorts, but broad beans are his favourite. And then chickpeas. I also caught him once sipping in a pot with aquafaba (chickpea brine). I do try to teach him not to jump on the counter, which he does when I'm in his sight, but he still tries to. Fortunately our kitchen is not an open-plan kitchen and separated from the living room so I can close the door, when necessary. The thing is that they don't really sell cat food here, so we need to get creative and make our own cat foods. For the most part, he just finishes leftovers- he LOVES pasta for example. This is supplemented with fish and chicken and some harder stuff to chew on, such as dried bread chunks. The other day I found cat food in the supermarket, which apparently was something new there, but it turned out to be a very small bag for a ridiculous price. I'd rather buy 5 KG sardines for him for that same price. We also get free fish heads from the fish vendor. The vendor knows my husband as we usually buy our fish there. As loyal customers, he usually saves the fish heads for us, which we get for free, as well as nearly expired fish that he sells for a small price. I honestly think this way of eating is much healthier for a cat than all that store bought cat "foods". His fur is amazingly soft and usually you can tell how good a cat's diet is by the softness of the fur.
What I find quite annoying, though, is that he seems to refuse to eat out of a bowl. He always wants to eat directly from the ground. Especially when he has fish, it's such a mess! That's probably another difference between "real" house cats and (former) stray cats. He was used to eating on the streets and not from a bowl/plate. Same with drinking, he exclusively drinks from a bucket, not from a bowl. It's quite funny how cats have a these "weird" traits and you'll be annoyed by them yet at the same time you love them so much. I am annoyed by the fishy kitchen floor and then wipe the floor clean after him with so much love.
But overall it's just an amazing experience to be cat owners. We feel very blessed that he chose our home and we're so grateful to give him a home he deserves. Even though the stray cat part will always be present in him somewhat, that's ok. He's just so affectionate and sweet overall. Having grown up with cats, it's kind of funny how I sometimes compare it to previous cats my parents had, and how every cat is so unique. I loved being around cats growing up and I love for my children that they have the same experience.
I read a article the other day on why people choose to live a frugal lifestyle and I found the perspective interesting, although I didn't really agree with it- it claimed that being frugal is usually done out of necessity, which is why being frugal is not so sustainable long term, as it might make people feel deprived.
Feeling deprived is defenitely something that can happen when you're making a lifestyle switch cold turkey, especially when you simply have no other option. So I get that. Where I don't agree is claiming that necessity is the only reason to be frugal. It's almost saying as if being frugal is somewhat pathetic. I am pretty sure that most frugal people are frugal out of choice. It's also interesting that poor people are often the least frugal people out there- despite being frugal would help them a lot to struggle a bit less. As someone experienced both periods of poverty as well as more comfortable stages financially, I can tell that being frugal absolutely helps when you're in dire need, but it also helps when you don't absolutely need to. It all depends on the reasons why you're being frugal in the first place.
The environment is not the first reason people think about when it comes to frugality, but for us this is one of the biggest reasons. Not only was I brought up to value green living, but being religious we believe that we need to take good care of the creation. We are not allowed to misuse resources and pollute the earth even more. Especially when we're facing crises like these days, this should be even a bigger argument to be very frugal. Yes, of course money plays a role too. As I mentioned, having experienced relative poverty, I know what's it like to have to pinch pennies. Even though I don't *have* to anymore, I think having gone through a more lean period can change people for good, I'll never take having a good material life for granted anymore. That being said, our income is fluctuating so it's always good to have money to spare for periods when money is more tight.
Some people will be surprised by this, but I just really, really like being frugal. I probably have the same excitement over having found a way to reuse a certain item or a way to cut down on electricity use that others would have after going on a shopping trip. This is why I never will become "normal" when it comes to spending money, throwing out stuff etc. But what even is normal? 100 years ago, frugality was the norm, whereas unfortunately these days, overconsumption and tossing away perfectly functioning stuff is considered normal. It's sad. I'd rather be the weird one than being wasteful. And I'm convinced that us frugal people will eventually prove the consumerism wrong. It probably has to take a few more crises until that happens.
I also find it very important to set a good example for the next generation, particularly my own children. It's funny to see them coming with random items they're about to throw away and asking me first if I'd want to keep it. It's also cool to see them making their own decorations for their rooms, rather than buying. Yes, they do have store bought decorations, don't worry- but I guess they just know the value of reusing stuff just too well. Most things they make are real pretty though. My oldest is becoming more into fashion and clothes and she rather buys them second hand. Our second hand market for clothes here is huge and she's always so excited when she found clothes that matches her size and taste perfectly!
Also, as much as we value frugality, we probably value slow and simple living even more. Even if it might cost a bit more in some cases. Having turned my back to the consumerism culture feels just so liberating. Trying to meet al the standards that most western societies set is like having your mind turned on 24/7, and I'm glad I refuse to take part in that rat race. Slow living and frugality usually go hand in hand though, they seldom contradict each other. You refuse to buy the newest trends just because they're the newest trends, you don't feel the need to buy that "necessary" new kitchen appliances that promise you to make your life even more easy- for busy people, that is. You don't have to upgrade your house a the time. You don't feel like you need to meet all the expectations of keeping up with the Jones's. Here in Tunisia, especially in the more impoverished areas (like where we live), there is no such thing as "keeping up with the Jones's" anyway, because very few people can afford to be like the Jones's. So that's an easy one. That can be one's definition of frugality, but for us, it's not just frugality, but also more simplifying our life.
As I mentioned before, being frugal and "simple" can make you being the weird one often. For a long time that bothered me a bit, because why would people be so judgy? I now know that that's just the way most people are- afraid of the unknown. I now try to do my best to set an example in the hope that I can inspire others to live a (little) bit more sustainable/frugal/simple, because I truly believe that's also in their best interest. Also, when you're trying to set an example, that leads to more accountability. Which is a good thing for my own conscience.
Saving for a rainy day- without having social security or a pension to look forward to, I think it's defenitely important for us to live frugally right now as we basically have to save up for our own pension (if it's decreed for us to reach that age anyhow). Or just unexpectedly high expenses. This feels different for us than to be frugal out of necessity. Some people might say it's similar, but since we don't actually need it right now to survive, it's still a bit different.
So- that were our reasons to be frugal. Yours might be different, and that's ok.
Apparently it's surprising to some people that we don't own a microwave. People have become so accustomed to using appliances for about everything that we kind of forgot how to do things in a more simple/old fashioned way and even think it's impossible unless you have a device doing it for you. We did have a microwave in the past, but haven't owned one in over 14 years. When my sister's oven died, we gave our oven to her, which was a small microwave/oven combo (we had a stove with bigger oven, so never really used the oven part of the microwave). That's when I realized that a microwave wasn't a necessity for us. Apparently, this is quite a controversial topic. Probably because the reason why some people refuse to use a microwave isn't exactly evidence based and people tend to link that to conspiracy theories. I can understand that, which is why I firstly wanted to make clear the reason behind not owning one. And I don't judge people for being into "conspiracy theories" or believe certain things that aren't considered evidence based; I just wanted to make clear our reasons behind this. Which is quite simply just not seeing the need to own one.
Isn't it interesting that one day you're convinced that you actually need a certain thing, only to find out you can easily do without after it's gone- the opposite way would be a lot easier. What's also interesting is that people here generally don't have microwaves either. They do sell them obviously, although there aren't quite a lot of different types. The combo things like we once had aren't even being sold as far as I know, so it's just individual microwaves. I actually know only one person that owns a microwave and she doesn't really use it a lot. People generally were just brought up reheating foods the old fashioned way and probably don't feel the need to buy something that does it for them. Which also plays a role is that they don't sell foods here that need to be microwaved- there's not a lot of convenience foods, and certainly no "TV dinners" kind of foods. So what do you do with a microwave then, after all.
Anyway, here are some tips on reheating foods without a microwave. It seems like people would like to live without one, but aren't sure how, so I'll share some practical experience that I've gained throughout the years.
• Soups, stews and other liquid foods are a no brainer to me, but I'm including them anyway. All you need is a saucepan of some sort. I'll be honest, I sometimes use an old frying pan, to make reheating quicker (the narrower the pan, the longer it takes to heat).
• Pasta dishes: I reheat this in a frying pan on very low heat, stirring occasionally. I do this too with rice, although with rice I prefer to add a few spoons of liquid. Then just heat until the liquid has evaporated. With mashed potatoes this works as well.
• Couscous: just the same way as it's being prepared- by steaming. This doesn't necessarily have to be a steaming pan, you can also use a meat sieve or colander. I'm not sure how it will turn out when using instant couscous as I've never used that. This will work for plain rice too.
• All kids of foods that have been fried up previously, such as baked potatoes, fish, eggs, chicken, vegetables etc. Eggs are probably not the first food you think about when it comes to leftovers but I thought I'd include it anyway, 'cause you never know. These you can all re-fry again, on a low temperature and flipping regularly.
• Food that's already on a plate is a little bit more complicated to reheat. Just a little bit. I have two methods: either to heat it up with the water bath kind of method, when you have a plate on a hot saucepan and let it simmer for as long as needed, usually not longer than 10 minutes and then letting it sit there for another 10 minutes or so (be careful when you take off the plate!). This works best with soup plates. My other method is to use my cast iron pan which I use to bake bread on the stove. I heat up this pan until it's very hot and then put the plate of food on it. If the plate isn't too big, I put another pan on top of it and cover that with something hot. I nearly always have hot pans on my stove, so when I just made something that needs to rest I'll use that. Sometimes I put a small saucepan on the lid of a bigger pan (they're metal lids, for safety reasons I wouldn't try this with glass lids). Another wat of water Bart heating is to put glass jars in a pot with water and let it reheat slowly. It's important to use cold water and let it heat up slowly as it could break the jars otherwise. This is especially handy when you have multiple small leftovers and you don't want to use so many pans. I use my glass jars a lot to store leftovers anyway, so this way I am saving a lot of extra dishes to wash.
• Pancakes, breads, waffles etc. can be heated (and thereby, revived) easily in a frying pan, but I use my cast iron pan that is specially designed for making bread. We usually have either homemade flatbreads (north African style, which is kind of similar to pita bread), or baguettes that we buy at the local bakery. Especially the baguettes become stale quite quickly, and by reheating them they taste almost freshly baked again. It's also a way to defrost bread- just make sure the flame is set very low and that the bread is being flipped regularly.
• Another kind of using residue heat is to use the oven. I have a toaster oven (albeit bigger, but it's an individual oven not attached to the hob), and especially when baking something that has a long baking time it can get quite hot on top. So I might use that every now and then to reheat foods on, by simply putting the plate there. Or just to keep foods warm. I also like to use it to dehydrate certain foods, but that's for another time. Another way to keep foods warm is to put pans on top of each other. This works well when pans can fit on top of each other, which isn't always the case, but when they do it's quite a handy way to keep foods warm until it's time to eat. This was done a lot in the 1950s, and apparently it was even propagated to do by the Dutch government, to encourage people to use less cooking fuel.
• Steaming can be used not only for couscous but for so many other foods. I know my father in law sometimes steams his bread when it has become stale. And my grandmother reheated poffertjes (tiny Dutch pancakes) this way- she didn't have a "real" steaming pan but just used the metal colander which I mentioned earlier. This, she called "the poor man's microwave".
• This is where I cheat a bit: I sometimes use my air fryer. I especially do this with small things as ours isn't that big. I reheat my baked oatmeal for example, although it's not limited to that. Other foods I can think about that I use my air fryer for are donuts, muffins (either savory or sweet), etc. To be honest, if it were me I wouldn't have purchased the air fryer, but we were gifted one. I do find them convenient at times though. If I wouldn't have an air fryer, I would probably have reheated the baked oatmeal/donuts by steaming.
• Of course, you can also use an oven to reheat foods. I don't really do that, as it's very energy inefficient in my opinion. Even though our oven isn't as big as most other ovens, it still takes a lot of energy to heat up. With casseroles, this is probably the best and only solution (although, if using a round oven dish, I'm sure my previously mentioned method of the cast iron pan, will work just as fine). We don't eat a lot of casseroles and if we do, we usually don't have a lot of leftovers. But all in all the oven is the last option for me. This reminds me of when we had blackout of our gas and my mother in law wanted to reheat her tea. She ended up using our oven! She couldn't use hers, as she has a gas oven.i found it a bit weird honestly, but it did work.
•The sun: since we live in a generally warm country, with plenty of sun, using sun warmth is obviously the most sustainable option of all! I might forget to take out a baguette from the freezer or something and just lay it outside in the sun. This works very good. I can't put everything there because of the cats in our garden, but defrosting bread isn't something that you can't do with the cats. When the heat is very intense during the summer, this should be possible with any food, although I must admit I haven't tried it a lot.
• Heaters: I grew up in a home with a wood heater. There was a flat surface on top of the heater which was very useful to heat up foods, which my parents sometimes did. It will also work with most radiators. The heater we use right now isn't suitable to put things on, unfortunately, but when we did have radiators we used that to heat up foods. Just make sure you don't put that heater on for the sole purpose of reheating foods- in that case, you can even better use an oven. 😉
• Apparently, you can even use the dishwasher to reheat (or even cook!) foods. Since I don't own a dishwasher (and am not planning on getting one) I'm not sure how, and if, this works. I just read that others do this. If it does work and you're running a load of dishes anyway, why not? Probably most people find it gross, but with all the water inside the machine, I'm assuming that the food is covered properly anyway, so I don't see a problem there. But again, I can't attest to the correctness of this.
So these were a few of the things I do. Kindly note that I'm not claiming these are the most healthy or safest ways- I'm simply sharing what works for us. What I'm sharing probably goes somewhat against most official guidelines. But then again, I personally don't really care about most rules and I guess I have my own kinds of guidelines. I mean, some things are obviously common sense, but I personally don't agree with the caution against reheating rice, just to give an example. That's going overboard with food safety concerns and I just think it leads to so much wasted foods. But, if it's a concern to you, just know that this is not necessarily meant as an encouragement to go against official guidelines. My intention is simply to share some of the things that works for us.
Ask the average homemaker what his/her least favourite chore is, and the answer is usually somewhat predictable: dishes and laundry. I'm not an exception, when it comes to dishes especially. As for laundry, I don't mind it that much, as far as sorting/"washing"/hanging to dry/taking it off the clothesline (yes, those quotations are there on purpose, as it's the machine that does the washing for me). Folding and putting away, however, is a bit different. I don't know why, but for some reason I just have a hard time with that, and I just keep procrastinating until there's quite a big mountain of laundry waiting on the sofa. Things need to get done anyway, whether it's a small load a time or a very big time consuming one. Rationally thinking, it would be much more easy to put the laundry right away when it comes off the line, but unfortunately for some reason, it doesn't always work like that. It probably also has to do with the fact that it's usually dry by the end of the day, especially during the colder months, and that's when I'm just tired with a hurting back and not willing to do a lot of things around the house. That's probably a big "why" to my procrastinating. I still try to live by the rule "do what's most important first, and do what's most fun last". That mindset really helps a lot honestly, so it already has improved.
Things get a bit complicated when you try to live zero waste/environmentally conscious and, as a consequence of that, have a lot of reusable items. If you're really struggling to keep up with putting away the laundry, why on earth would you be adding all those extras to that?! I honestly just can't use all those disposables anymore. I cringe by the thought of it alone. My no. 1 reason for the reusables is the environment obviously, although health and money play a big role too. It would be fun to calculate the costs I've saved already by using reusables instead of disposables, I've probably saved already thousands of euros by now (I've been doing this for nearly ten years). Knowing that I'm saving that much money, of course is a big motivation to keep doing this. I mean, as for the environment, you don't quite see a result, except if everyone is doing it, but when it comes to money, you do see results. Still, despite the overconsumption and overly plasticky world we live in, I still keep in doing this for environmental reasons, and perhaps convincing others to do the same. If I look at how the zero waste movement once was non existent and now has a lot of followers/enthusiasts... I think it CAN be possible as individuals to make a difference.
Ok, back to the laundry now... The annoying thing is that there's different kinds of reusables, so I need to sort them, which can be a tedious task. I do have developed a kind of system to sort them before washing, but after line drying, everything gets piled up in the same basket. I do try a bit to colour coordinate different kind of wipes, to make sorting out easier. I also stopped folding most of the wipes - it's actually ridiculous when I think about how I folded all those wipes! Perhaps it's one of the reasons I actually developed an aversion to this. So now I just dump them into boxes/baskets that I use for storing all these reusable wipes (with the exception of the cloth pads, which are stored a bit more tidy). It probably doesn't look as neat, but it saves me a lot of work- and above all, procastinating. And as I mentioned before: I try to live by the rule to do first what's most necessary and to do the most fun parts last. This means I'll try to put away all the small things first. These things combined really helped me to stay on top of all my reusables somewhat. Yes, somewhat, as there's lot of room for improvement, but still it's better than before. Fortunately I don't mind hanging all those tiny cloths... It would be an absolute nightmare if I'd have an aversion to having to do that! I've become a pro in hanging them as quickly as possible, but still takes a bit longer than the average load. Oh well, just free exercise!
I'm the kind of person that wants to do it either perfect or doesn't do it at all. Zero waste living can defenitely be a bit more work, but if you plan and organize it makes a real difference. You just have to give up perfectionism. That can be a challenge in and of itself, but seeing the results can be so rewarding. You're both saving the environment and money AND you're seeing improvement from within yourself.
