Buy nothing new
For March, I decided to start a "buy nothing new" programme. No real reason; it was just a thing.
The rules I set myself (see how this works?) were simple.
Week 1:
Discovered that my camera died. Blast. Means that I need a new camera before major trip to Israel in May. Cost to repair camera exceeds cost of new camera, so no value in doing that! Explore craigslist for other options. Meanwhile, lunch and dinner are going well -- in fact, I have more cooked than I can finish in the week. Excellent curry and fabulous deal on the avocado at T&T means that the leftovers will probably carry into the weekend. Two outings -- sushi and Chinese for dinner.
On this week's menu:
Curry chicken and potato and dhalpouri
Chinese greens with chicken in hoisin sauce (served with rice)
Pelau served with coleslaw and avocado
Salmon with mushroom sauce and quinoa
Week 2:
Burnt one of my stainless steel pots... So researching that too. Probably a good thing that the sale at the Glebe Emporium ended before this happened :) Got caught with a sale at Laura Secord -- what I thought were chocolates for coffee break turned out to be boxes at $0.49 each... so even more reason to enforce the "No impulse buy" rule! LOL Lent also started, so there's a hard-and-fast "No meat" rule for Ash Wednesday and for Fridays. Lunch from the food court -- went to the InfoDeli.
On this week's menu:
Char sui chicken with stir fried Chinese greens and rice
Lemon barbecue pork chops with mashed potatoes and cole slaw (This is a Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives recipe. Yummy!!)
Bok choi and mushroom lo mein
Spaghetti bolognese (made with ground turkey)
Chicken salad sandwiches.
Week 3:
Getting into the habit, and it's Lent. Haven't bought the camera yet, nor replaced the pot, but I have been looking at some options. I do have multiple library books, so that is a bit of a distraction. My other shopping has reduced almost by default. I have bought very little, except foodstuffs, and those are getting used up a lot more :) The freezer will get a fairly thorough clean out this end of season LOL Went to Costco, and restocked on some items that were low -- essentially things like tuna, canned corn, nuts -- my ONE impulse item was some luxury biscuits, and they're SOOO good that I'm probably going to add them as a treat once in a long while. (Swiss Delices. Lemon, Japonnaise, etc.) One benefit of this little experiment is that I'm not throwing out much food -- it all gets eaten, at the latest within 2 days. Had lunch from the new little patisserie -- not too remarkable.
On this week's menu:
Minced chicken with gai-lan and noodles
Lemonade barbecue chicken with coleslaw and rice (same sauce as the pork from last week.)
Mahi-mahi (dolphin fish) in almond jackets (from the Salybia cookbook) with mushroom salsa and couscous
Cornmeal coucou with stir-fried greens and grilled chicken
Week 4:
I've been browsing my extensive collection of cookbooks again, and I'm finding some superb ideas for things to try out. It did cross my mind briefly to try cooking my way through one of my books, just to try all the recipes, but that would mean quite a committment of time. I'll see... Maybe in the summer. Meanwhile, I'm less inclined to want to do deep fried food, and even more fond of fresh. Also becoming FAR more skeptical of "organic" labels. Given a choice between "organic" and not, I'm tending to reach for not... I am not inclined to pay 30% more for stuff that's of the same point of origin several thousand miles away for a label. I will do local, but not "organic" honey, oranges or squash. And definitely not "omega-3" eggs. I'll take the extra-large, free-range stuff. No enhancements.
Noodles with spinach and shrimp stir-fry
On this week's menu:
Rice with curried chicken and potato
Roast turkey with dressing, corn and mashed potatoes
Turkey fried rice with spinach mushroom stir fry
Week 5:
Fell off the wagon this week for the most part. I'd like to say that I was so much into this that it's now all second nature, and I do, sort of. I did have my menu planned, and set things up to go. I've found that setting aside a couple of hours on the weekend for food preparation (or on a weeknight) so that it's ready to go -- you know, the tips that were all handy for doing Chinese cookery? -- do make life easier. Also, there's this neat book Deceptively Delicious, which I found helpful for tips (the recipes were so-so) on increasing vegetables in menus. And for shopping... OK, confession time... Murale had a points redemption day, and I got myself a bottle of the new Chanel No. 5, which is normally $80, but I used my points, so all I paid was $5. (Also got some shampoo.) Plus, for restaurants, I had lunch with a friend who I don't see all that often (allowed 1) and another catch up with someone who I haven't seen in years, but she cancelled at the last minute because of work pressures (2nd restaurant meal) and I had a bad migraine and didn't feel up to cooking on a third. So, I'll work on regularizing next week :) But the perfume is MARVELLOUS!!!
On this week's menu:
Bisteeya mini-meatloaves (see recipes page) with stir-fried greens and rice
Macaroni tuna salad
The rules I set myself (see how this works?) were simple.
- No new items. Only food and hygiene items could be bought new.
- No impulse buys. Only items that were on the list for the supermarket could be bought.
- Lunches and dinners were to be made and carried from home. A maximum of 2 per week could be restaurant meals. (Same for teas -- no more than 4 bought per week)
- Reuse / recycle / repair to the maximum extent possible.
- This would last until the end of April.
Week 1:
Discovered that my camera died. Blast. Means that I need a new camera before major trip to Israel in May. Cost to repair camera exceeds cost of new camera, so no value in doing that! Explore craigslist for other options. Meanwhile, lunch and dinner are going well -- in fact, I have more cooked than I can finish in the week. Excellent curry and fabulous deal on the avocado at T&T means that the leftovers will probably carry into the weekend. Two outings -- sushi and Chinese for dinner.
On this week's menu:
Curry chicken and potato and dhalpouri
Chinese greens with chicken in hoisin sauce (served with rice)
Pelau served with coleslaw and avocado
Salmon with mushroom sauce and quinoa
Week 2:
Burnt one of my stainless steel pots...
On this week's menu:
Char sui chicken with stir fried Chinese greens and rice
Lemon barbecue pork chops with mashed potatoes and cole slaw (This is a Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives recipe. Yummy!!)
Bok choi and mushroom lo mein
Spaghetti bolognese (made with ground turkey)
Chicken salad sandwiches.
Week 3:
Getting into the habit, and it's Lent. Haven't bought the camera yet, nor replaced the pot, but I have been looking at some options. I do have multiple library books, so that is a bit of a distraction. My other shopping has reduced almost by default. I have bought very little, except foodstuffs, and those are getting used up a lot more :) The freezer will get a fairly thorough clean out this end of season LOL Went to Costco, and restocked on some items that were low -- essentially things like tuna, canned corn, nuts -- my ONE impulse item was some luxury biscuits, and they're SOOO good that I'm probably going to add them as a treat once in a long while. (Swiss Delices. Lemon, Japonnaise, etc.) One benefit of this little experiment is that I'm not throwing out much food -- it all gets eaten, at the latest within 2 days. Had lunch from the new little patisserie -- not too remarkable.
On this week's menu:
Minced chicken with gai-lan and noodles
Lemonade barbecue chicken with coleslaw and rice (same sauce as the pork from last week.)
Mahi-mahi (dolphin fish) in almond jackets (from the Salybia cookbook) with mushroom salsa and couscous
Cornmeal coucou with stir-fried greens and grilled chicken
Week 4:
I've been browsing my extensive collection of cookbooks again, and I'm finding some superb ideas for things to try out. It did cross my mind briefly to try cooking my way through one of my books, just to try all the recipes, but that would mean quite a committment of time. I'll see... Maybe in the summer. Meanwhile, I'm less inclined to want to do deep fried food, and even more fond of fresh. Also becoming FAR more skeptical of "organic" labels. Given a choice between "organic" and not, I'm tending to reach for not... I am not inclined to pay 30% more for stuff that's of the same point of origin several thousand miles away for a label. I will do local, but not "organic" honey, oranges or squash. And definitely not "omega-3" eggs. I'll take the extra-large, free-range stuff. No enhancements.
Noodles with spinach and shrimp stir-fry
On this week's menu:
Rice with curried chicken and potato
Roast turkey with dressing, corn and mashed potatoes
Turkey fried rice with spinach mushroom stir fry
Week 5:
Fell off the wagon this week for the most part. I'd like to say that I was so much into this that it's now all second nature, and I do, sort of. I did have my menu planned, and set things up to go. I've found that setting aside a couple of hours on the weekend for food preparation (or on a weeknight) so that it's ready to go -- you know, the tips that were all handy for doing Chinese cookery? -- do make life easier. Also, there's this neat book Deceptively Delicious, which I found helpful for tips (the recipes were so-so) on increasing vegetables in menus. And for shopping... OK, confession time... Murale had a points redemption day, and I got myself a bottle of the new Chanel No. 5, which is normally $80, but I used my points, so all I paid was $5. (Also got some shampoo.) Plus, for restaurants, I had lunch with a friend who I don't see all that often (allowed 1) and another catch up with someone who I haven't seen in years, but she cancelled at the last minute because of work pressures (2nd restaurant meal) and I had a bad migraine and didn't feel up to cooking on a third. So, I'll work on regularizing next week :) But the perfume is MARVELLOUS!!!
On this week's menu:
Bisteeya mini-meatloaves (see recipes page) with stir-fried greens and rice
Macaroni tuna salad
On the Camera note reduce reuse recycle..
ReplyDeleteIf you can tell the difference between 6 and 8 gig by looking at the picture go for 8 gig.. Most people upgrade evry 2 to 3 years if your old camera was older than that yipeee.. Plus travel cameras lead a rough life.. Buy it now so you get used to it before the trip..
Double aa's from Costco since they are universal..
Rechargeables let you down in camera's unless its the manufacturers .. then there's the issue of Isaraeli power and adapaters and charging.. Double AA's. Used is fine is working.. get it now to "learn the camera". Smaller is better so one hand for cell and and one hand for camera and one hand for gyros..
oops phone in pocket
A