the spare change kitchen

Now there are some basic fundamentals that we need to cover if your going to have a spare change kitchen. There are pantry must haves, a few refrigerator staples and you are going to have to do a little work. And by that I mean your going to have to get your hands dirty.

Now I only started growing a few edible plants a few months ago but my successes and my failures have certainly made me a strong believer in at least making the effort to grow some herbs and some leaves at a minimum. It amazes me that I have not always grown at least herbs. Well that is a slight lie. I have attempted to grow a few things on occasion but sadly they have met with a slow death of neglect. Now, I am trying harder. I have been called brown thumb on more than one occasion but seeing my daughter run out to check on the tomatoes  and devour them before I get a look in or collect the herbs for our dinner and start to really understand the deep connection we have with food and our planet makes the effort so worth it.

Now I am not going to give you gardening advice because I am most certainly in the beginner/learner category but I would say that the flavour of your own herbs is second to none. Not to mention the cost savings. Gone are the days for me of paying $3 or more dollars for a bunch of herbs only to use a few leaves and then find then days later slimy and brown and worthy of only the bin. After travelling all those miles from a farm they did at the very least deserve to be used up. However the reality is, I would use at least 5 herbs every week in my cooking and more often than not, its a few leaves, a small handful or a few sprigs of thyme. I would often spend $15 dollars a week on herbs to use only a small portion. What a waste? Of money and food miles. So I would encourage you, if you do nothing else, if you only have a windowsill, a balcony or room for one pot, fill it with herbs! I suggest growing basil (and lots of it), mint, thyme, oregano, sage, continental parsley, coriander, rosemary, chillis, chives and vietnamese mint.

I also recommend growing lettuce, whatever variety pleases you and some rocket and spinach. Sometimes its just a quick mixed leaf salad served on the side of a soup or a small cut of rocket across some poached free range eggs on fresh sourdough that lifts your dish from ordinary to a dish that can brighten your day. I hear (courtesy of Jamie Oliver) that those bags of leaves from the supermarket are washed in a chlorine solution.And to be honest, I rarely use a whole head before it is past its prime. Lettuce often meets a sad wasteful fate at the bottom of the fridge. Not to mention the lack of any life force and the absolute depleted nutrients in a a wilted head of lettuce or that sad bunch of spinach that you are going to use up. Save yourself the waste and grow your own. I would much rather grab a handful of leaves as needed and leave the rest happily full of life force in the garden.

If you have the room and the inclination…..tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. you only need a pot to produce a fairly prolific crop and it will be well worth the effort. Oh the sublime burst of a homegrown cherry tomato in your mouth is like nothing else.

Now I would suggest some light reading to get you started, books I love and recommend

“The Edible Garden” Indira Naidoo

you can buy it here and be sure to check out Indira’s blog here 

“Little Veggie Patch Co” Fabian Capomolla and Mat Pember

Buy it here

Now lets talk about those fridge staples. I always have bacon or proscuitto in the fridge to add deep flavour to soups, pastas and salads. When you are trying to live on spare change anything that packs a big flavour is your friend as you can make a little go a long way. Half a rasher of good bacon adds a lovely meaty flavour to a corn chowder and makes it seem just that little more hearty.

I also like to have some caramelised onions for a cooked breakfast or to dress up a sandwich. A good wedge of parmesan is a not negotiable in my house. This is one area not to cut corners. I buy a sheep milk parmesan with peppercorns and it is one of my “splurges”

Now in the pantry, you should always have

• Pasta
• Noodles
• Rice – brown, basmati, jasmine and arborio(or some other risotto rice)
• Oats
• Sultanas and other family favourite dried fruit
• Flour, SR, Plain and Tipo “OO”
• Lentils and chickpeas
• Couscous
• Polenta
• Sea Salt (I like Himalayan PInk salt- it has more of the good minerals that have been “washed” out of regular salt)
• Sugar – White, caster and brown
• Yeast
• Cocoa
• Nuts – I like to always have almonds, cashews, pine nuts and walnuts
• Bicarb Soda
• Baking Powder

Cans of

• Tomatoes
• Tuna and Salmon
• Coconut milk and cream

Vinegars, Oils and Sauces

• Balsamic
• Red and White wine vinegar
• Olive oil – I keep two types, a cheaper one to cook with and a more expensive one for salads and dipping fresh sourdough bread in)
• Sesame oil
• Tamari
• Fish Sauce
• Oyster Sauce

Spices

Now I have an entire cupboard of spices that I use but I don’t suggest going out and buying unfamilar spices until you know that you will use them. Also pop into your local asian grocer, they often sell spices in much larger bags for a fraction of what you get at the supermarket.

I am never without

• Cinnamon
• dried chillies
• peppercorns
• ground cumin
• green cardamon pods
• bay leaves
• ground ginger
• star anise
• cloves

Other things I consider absolutely essential

• fresh ginger, essential for teas, and for making a lovely ginger, cardamon and saffron milk as a nightcap
• couverture chocolaté 65% or more
• a good selection of herbal teas
• good coffee (I like Illy)
• Full cream milk – I prefer non homogenised organic.
• Organic butter
• Free range eggs locally produced

A spare change kitchen does not mean going without taste. There are a few items on here that I would not consider “budget”, however these are what will make you feel like you are never scrimping or eating budget food. A grate of exceptional parmesan can truly elevate an ordinary meal to delicious and satisfying status. These items also are never used in excess. A little of a good thing is more than enough.

Saving money in the kitchen is as much about the things you don’t buy as the things that you do. Packet biscuits and well anything in a packet apart from pastas and rices are a rarity in my house. Thats not to say we never have them. They are just not a part of the regular shopping. I often am amazed at trolleys at the supermarket that are laden with glistening, shiny packets filled with sugary or salty processed foods. Often things that are not even palatable to us but are fed to our children in droves.

A batch of yummy buttery homemade biscuits costs a fraction of that bought in the shops and is not filling your body with all those preservatives.

You know I have to wonder about the role of whole foods and old fashioned cooking in an age of obesity, diets, diet products, pretend sugar, low fat and a ton of preservatives in our diet, we have higher rates of allergies, asthma and behavioural disorders than ever before. We have more diet and low fat options than you could poke a stick at and yet we have staggering levels of obesity. Is old fashioned butter and milk really the culprit?Should we be demonising a weekly pudding and feeling guilty for eating butter on some toast?

On the other side we have a wealth of information available and the rise in popularity of television shows talking about cooking and food has given us a much wider knowledge of cooking techniques and unusual ingredients. Some of us are trying to cook like Masterchefs every night (which is not easily done with spare change! Some of those meals blow my entire weeks budget!) whilst others struggle to serve up more than frozen sausage rolls to our kids.

Times have changed. We are busier and short cuts are easier to take. Sometimes shortcuts are essential (BBQ chicken anyone) but to truly sustain your body and nourish your soul, take some time to enjoy the process of cooking real food, of savouring flavours and allowing food to ground you and connect you to the world around us.