the end of crippling poverty.

so i finally get paid tomorrow which is quite exciting as i’ve been really cutting back the last few weeks to the point that some people are getting a little worried. i’m hoping that this whole exercise will help me to show a little more self-restraint with respect to my spending habits as i really haven’t missed out on much the last two weeks and i’ve probably actually been eating better than i usually do. in all honesty it probably won’t teach me a thing but there you go.

also, during the last few weeks i have come up with some fantastic food innovations that are delicious, nutritious and dirt cheap. the following recipe was made all with things i usually have in the house anyway:

POVERTY SALAD
1 tin chick peas, drained and washed
1/4 cucumber, cut into slices, then halves, then into sticks
add a tablespoon-ish of thai peanut sauce, and a teaspoon-ish of lime juice, a pinch of salt and pepper and voila!

the above salad is a fabulous addition to my culinary repertoire. chick peas are always a staple of my diet when i’ve no money and another recipe that i always utilize when i’m broke is as follows:

POVERTY CURRY
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin chick peas
1 tin lentils
1/3 jar patak’s curry paste
heat all together on low heat for about an hour, letting the liquid from the tomatoes boil off, adding a small amount of turmeric if available. also, if i happen to have an onion and some garlic in, i’ll start by frying half a finely chopped onion and little minced garlic before adding the curry paste and other ingredients. delicious. this recipe is crazy cheap and makes a huge amount of very filling food.

also, and not strictly because i’m broke, i was enjoying some instant oatmeal today (i love the PC blue menu multi-grain oatmeal which is delicious and also killer cheap) i added a mounded teaspoon of nutella and it was delicious! i usually use nuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, brown sugar etc, but sometimes get a bit bored with my selection. mmm, nutella is so good, and the nutella oatmeal reminded me quite a lot of the chocolate readybrek mornings of my childhood when i was totally as hyper-cool as the guy in the above ad.