Monday May Day - Bank Holiday - Stretching the Euro

It's supposed to be a nice day today, weather-wise. I'm hoping to get out to finish painting the gates - not sure that's going to happen, we'll see if the rain comes....

Last night, Patrick made BBQ Chicken and baked potatoes; I made a salad. We started with a few fresh crab claws. Decided to skip making dessert and picked up a pre-made chocolate swiss cake roll instead. The crab was lovely, the chicken and potatoes - beautiful, the salad was new and different and the dessert although tasty had a really funny smell about it. All in all, it was a wonderful Sunday evening meal.

This post is not so much about a "recipe", as it is about my experiences with "stretching our euro". Before dinner we were "skyping" with my parents and one of my grandmothers. Dad had taken a bit of time to share some of my blog posts and facebook photos with Grandma L - which was an immediate conversation starter as she has cooked and baked all her life. Probably where I get it from. Nevertheless, she couldn't get over the presentation of the food and more so how little we spend on such delicious food. She can't wait for Patrick's cooking when they arrive in 12 days!

Where we live, there are no Wal-Marts, no Dunnes stores, no "big box" shopping centres and certainly no big business. In the words of a former colleague, we live "up the backside" of rural Ireland. That said, we/I go shopping once a week at a Tesco about 30 minutes from home. If I forget any ingredients the next closest village is Kilkee about 15 minutes away and let me just say that if it's sour cream or ricotta cheese I forget - well - there's just no substitute close by, so we're likely to go without or simply modify the recipe which is what happens more often than not. I digress.

Back to the case in point. A few weeks back, following a delicious meal of Black Bean and Spinach Burritos, we decided to figure out how much it costs to eat "so well" each day. Reason being, winters are like hibernation around here where you spend as little, in this case money, as possible. Coming full circle to the conversation with Grandma, she's spent her life cooking with minimal ingredients and not focusing so much on presentation. So, here's 5 things we figured out about our food habits.

1. We can survive on less than 8 euros a day (that's less than 11 dollars). That includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, 1 coffee each, 3 teas (2 for Patrick, 1 for me) and a sweet treat. That's about 240 euros each month and 2,200 euros each year.
2. We have about 4 vegetarian meals each week. I can buy 4 different kinds of veggies for less than 5 euros.
3. If we buy 1 whole chicken I can stretch this into dinner, lunch and soup. One chicken or other meat product costs about 5 euros.
4. We catch and freeze as much fish and shellfish as possible during the summer months. As fish would cost 5 to 15 euros each week in the store (for one meal). That's a savings of about 520 euros each year. Plus, we're able to use this fish to barter with friends for vegetables and fruit.
5. I buy "mark down fruit" to make jam, jelly or sauces which costs less than buying a jar of the equivalent (unless I buy the uber cheap, fully loaded with sugar and preservatives brand which is usually less than 1 euro). We save all our glass jars for canning (things like mustard, mayo, pickles) - all of these jars will reseal when treated like true canning jars. A savings of about 78 euros a year.

To further the euro stretching-fun, we've planted many fruits and veggies in our back garden, in hopes of off-setting our food costs. For about 200 euros, we planted 2 apple trees,1 pear tree, 1 blueberry bush, Potatoes, Onions, Shallots, Garlic, Squash, Tomatoes and a handful of herbs. We're anticipating a savings this year of roughly the same amount we spent to get started. The trees and berries will continue to produce for years to come and we'll be able to harvest seeds from what we've planted for next year, further reducing the cost of fresh produce not to mention increasing the joy of watching something grow which is priceless.

All this aside, there are days when I feel seriously challenged to create something new or at least slightly different. How easy it would have been in my previously life to hop in the car and drive straight to the nearest restaurant or fast food joint, spending a minimum of 25 dollars each time I "didn't feel like cooking". Today, these days are the days when Patrick steps in and cooks up a lovely traditional meal of bacon and cabbage or smoked fish with steamed veggies. I get sick when I think of how much money I used to spend eating out or grabbing a quick cup of chai.

A few years ago, my mom taught me to ready labels. I stick with a lot of the same ingredients each week (balancing new seasonings to change the dynamics). If I do buy something pre-made, I look for a short ingredient list and try to steer clear of the words I can't pronounce and the overly processed sugars. As it turns out, most of the veggies and things we enjoy are on the "healthy" list. Things like broccoli, dark leafy greens, fish, chicken; by sticking with the same ingredients it makes it easier to know "what" we're putting into our bodies.

The Internet is my friend, especially when I can open 20+ tabs (addicted to tabs) - I reference hundreds of thousands of recipes and experiment as I go making my own version, bookmarking my favorites - most of the time it works and sometimes it doesn't (I can think of 3 meals in the last 6 months that weren't anything to blog about and I'd sooner forget). Plus, when I get comfortable with a recipe, that's when the fun begins; I can start shaping it to be my very own!

At the end of the day, our life revolves around "good grub". An adventure in the kitchen is just as fun as an adventure outdoors and to have the knowledge and piece of mind to stretch our euro in the healthiest way makes all the difference.

Time to get out and enjoy this day! Keep smiling from your liver and laughing from your spleen!

A Taste of Ireland

What a great weekend, we just enjoyed! My family was supposed to visit us last week; however, the Icelandic volcano kept them in Colorado. My brother's trip which was scheduled in the middle of my folk's trip went on as scheduled and so we enjoyed a few short days with him.

We enjoyed plenty of food, wine, beer, hill walking, sight seeing, wildlife viewing, visiting and even managed to find a Trad Session on Friday night in Kilkee.

Chadd arrived as scheduled on Thursday. Patrick was out fishing, so I made my way to the Shannon Airport to pick my brother up. We made our way back to the house, I gave him a quick tour, then went down to the village for lunch and a pint at The Long Dock. I love the feel inside the Long Dock, it's cozy, like the whole pub is a "snug" and the food and Guinness are pretty good and as local as you can get without enjoying a meal at our Sunset Diner.

After our lunch we strolled into the square and I introduced Chadd to our Post Master, the first person I met when I arrived in Carrigaholt last June. Our village isn't very big, even though it is considered a "Large Village" by the County Council, so Chadd's quick tour ended with another pint inside Keane's, the first place I enjoyed a pint when I arrived last June.

When we were finished we made our way back to the house for afternoon tea and finally met up with Patrick who brought home fresh crab claws and mussels.

I could continue to describe many of the details while brother was here; however, this blog is about food, so I'm going to change the format and give you highlights from our dining experience.

Thursday
We started with fresh crab claws and a fruity salad of mango, apple, kiwi, cucumber, onion, spinach and butter lettuce with an apple and poppy seed vinaigrette followed by baked Pollock with mushrooms, onions, green peppers, leeks, and a few knobs of butter accompanied by baked potatoes. For dessert I made Toffee Bread Pudding which was heavenly.

Friday
We started Chadd's first full day in Ireland with a Full Irish Breakfast which included: 1 poached egg on toast, bacon, rashers, white and black puddings, beans, fried mushrooms and tomatoes before setting out on a tour of the north side of the peninsula.

Chadd enjoyed his first "99", although is was sans the Flake, in Kilkee and also enjoyed a pint and a bag of crisps at The Lighthouse Innon the bay in Kilbaha. Before returning home for homemade crab cakes and mussels. For dinner Friday night we had a bit of a BBQ and enjoyed chicken on the grille and homemade potato salad. We finished out evening with Banoffee Pie that was even more heavenly than Thursday's night's bread pudding.

We finished the evening in Kilkee at Fitzpatrick's for a Traditional Irish Music session.


Saturday
I think we all agreed when we woke up Saturday morning (mind you, we didn't get to sleep until 3:00 am) that we were full from all the previous meals and drink... that didn't stop me from making us Apple and Banana Pancakes with a bit of fruit on the side. I think we rolled to the College Bay for our walk to the Battery.

Chadd got a taste of rain Saturday afternoon, but not before Patrick gave him a tour of the Fiona David, Patrick's boat. When we got home, we enjoyed a hot mug of tea, the last of the BBQ chicken and potato salad then nibbled on the treats Chadd picked up in Heathrow - Chocolate and shortbread.

Patrick's parent came down from Moycullen, outside of Galway, to meet my brother and spend the evening with us. We had a great evening, as the rain cleared and the sun came out just in time for us to enjoy dinner at our Sunset Diner. On the bill, I made us Crab and Lobster salad and Patrick made Bacon and Cabbage with mashed potatoes and boiled turnip. We sweetened the deal with the last of the Banoffee Pie, a cowboy cookie and chocolate.

The conversation was great, and different and carried us well into the night. A little after 11:00 pm, Chadd, Eileen (Patrick's step mom) and I walked into the village for a serving of Curry Chips from our local chipper. As Chadd was informed, Curry chips after a night on the drink is considered an Irish delicacy! I'd say they weren't as good as something Patrick and I could create in our kitchen - it was worth the experience anyway.

Sunday
Chadd flew out Sunday, mid-day from Shannon, which made for a whirlwind morning getting ready and eating before departing. We had leftover mashed potatoes so Eileen showed me how she makes potato cakes and Patrick made us a big fluffy omelette after he and Chadd washed and dries the pile of dishes from the night before. It was a great food finale to Chadd's expected-unexpected visit.

All those highlights behind us now, I'll leave you with Eileen's Potato Cake Recipe, perfect and easy for any morning.

1 onion, chopped small
1 clove garlic, minced
Any amount of mashed potatoes (we had about 3 cups)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper, a handy sprinkling of both
seasoning of your choice, Mixed herbs, Curry powder, Aromat, whatever you like

Preheat a frying pan to medium/medium high with a little oil. Fry the onion and garlic in the heated oil, until tender.
Meanwhile, mix last four ingredients together in a bowl and add onion and garlic when cooked through.
Next set out about 1/2 cup of flour to coat your hands before forming the mixture into cakes (any size you like).
Fry the cakes in the hot oil for about 3-5 minutes, on either side until golden brown.
You can enjoy them straightaway or keep them warm in a moderate oven.