Kidding yourself about the grocery bill!

One of my absolute favourite blogs is by Gail Vaz Oxlade, of "Til Debt Do Us Part" fame. If you've never seen the show, she is a financial "tell it like it is", no BS gal and absolutely fabulous at helping families navigate their financial chaos.

Regular readers of my posts have to notice the financial undertones laden in the recipies I put on here, and my friends certainly have been open to a heartfelt and hearty suggestion or two whenever we talk about food.

Yesterday was a payday, and that used to mean that I would spend a huge percentage of my disposable income on food. I think back to posts from Gail's blog (gailvazoxlade.com/blog) where she talks about what our grandparents would have done. They did not buy rice cookers or glassware from the grocery store. They certainly did not by clothes! Yet our mega-store marketing allows the regular (stressed out, busy, many-irons-in-the-fire) person to do a heck of a lot of non-grocery shopping there.

Yesterday, with Canada day off, I was able to get the week's leftovers into a great meal, but found myself talking with Carissa about legumes and beans, supplementing any meat based dishes with some of this very cheap, very easy substitution for meat protein.

I must confess to often buying canned beans because of their convenience, and they are so cheap (most under $1) that soaking my own just never makes the list of things to do,

But yesterday, I soaked three kinds of beans - lentils, red kidney beans, and white cannelini beans. They have now swelled overnight in the fridge, and the whole thing cost less than a loonie.

Everyone in Ontario has been complaining about the the new HST. Keep in mind that the government can only tax you if you choose to spend. So pounds of convenience foods (like chicken breasts) for $9.99 will hit you much harder than if you add in pound for pound protein from lentils, or other legumes. $11.28 versus $1.11.

They're great for your body, they're cheap, and they're an efficient source of protein.

**by the way, you may have noticed a distinct lack of pictures on the blog lately** I had some camera issues, which I'm going to take care of today. Right after I make a great summer bean salad for lunch!

New readers should check out some old posts, namely:

"52.8% on Meat, Dairy and Eggs?" from November 2009"
"Getting Good at this $43 thing" from Feburary 2010
"Beans Three Ways and Home Equity Renovations" from January 2010
"Redefining Easy Cheap and Healthy" from January 2010
"Holiday Time and Budget Accellerator" from December 2009