A Healer’s Geste

Grocery skimping

I recently checked out a few cookbooks from the library. I’m tired of my stand-bys and I haven’t felt creative lately (I’m generally not in July & August!). I am always partially amazed and partially frustrated by most cookbooks, however. I like cooking. I enjoy making tasty meals. I flatter myself that I’m pretty good at it; I have consciously worked at it for 5 years now and have been preparing meals since I was 8 or 9. I am not a gourmet. I am homey and basic. That’s good enough for me — and what my husband prefers.

Hence, I automatically skip most recipes after skimming the ingredients list.

I do not buy deli chickens or many deli meats. I do not buy pancetta, prosciutto, porcini or portabella. I do not buy chorizo, about as close as I get is the occassional pepperoni. Basic mushrooms are an occassional luxury, but I don’t pay double for pre-cut.

Romaine is good enough for me. I don’t buy arugula or fancy salad mixes. Salads are generally nutrition-poor (especially pre-packaged mixes), Matt doesn’t care for them, and I don’t like the extra chopping, so we rarely do green salads at all.

I don’t use frozen stir-fry veggie mixes in every skillet or casserole meal; I rarely use them at all. Plain frozen broccoli is good enough for my purposes. I only buy red peppers when they’re in season and the same price as green (in September local red peppers get as low as 25-cents each, and then I use them generously!). I generally use half of the amount of bell pepper called for without ill effect and still with the desired flavor.

I don’t buy shallots or scallions. I buy Walla Walla sweets when they’re in season, otherwise I just get yellow onions. I rarely even get green onions unless it really makes a difference to the recipe (a sprinkling of dried chives, available in bulk, generally achieves the same effect).

I use dried herbs, even when the recipe calls for fresh. Someday I’ll have an herb garden and use only fresh.

I use bouillon instead of canned broth or consomme. A sprinkling of bouillon and herbs makes better flavored rice at 1/3 (or more) the cost of the boxed rices.

I don’t buy ham steaks or shrimp or crab or lobster. I have yet even to buy a salmon (I do regret that and hope to not be able to say that for long). I don’t buy pre-cooked or pre-prepared meats. I do buy boneless-skinless chicken breasts, but only when they go on sale for under $2/pound, when I stock up. I buy whatever pork is on sale and adjust recipes accordingly. Our splurge is our freezer filled with half a cow, which I will, from now on, be sorely sad to forego. Someday I’d like to get a half a cow and a pig.

I buy cheddar cheese and sometimes mozzarela. A few times a year I spring for ricotta cheese for lasagnes. I don’t buy Gorgonzola or feta or Gouda. Freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese is not even to be compared to the dried grated stuff, but Matt doesn’t care for it at all so I don’t even keep that. Maybe someday.

Because of Hans’ allergy to corn (especially corn syrup, but also including corn starch) I no longer buy cream of mushroom soup or any canned soup. I can’t even buy bread. This adjustment is offset by our no longer avoiding dairy, so sour cream is back on the regular shopping list and cheese is used up three times as fast as it was in the past (we’ve moved back to the Costco size).

I don’t pretend that the type of meat or type of cheese you use does not make a difference. My choices have most certainly affected our meals. I forgo copying recipes that sound good because they use things I simply do not buy. Oh well. I don’t really mind. There are plenty of recipes that only use what I am wont to buy, and many more that can be easily adjusted. My repertoire doesn’t suffer.

Or, at least, not enough to count.