How Much Do Our Meals Cost? (and a Recipe)

From Loulou — Blog by Jennifer Greco

March 21, 2009

Out of curiosity I decided to start adding up the cost of some of our meals.
We base most of them around vegetables and fruit in season (for the most part), don’t eat a lot of meat (Cassoulet being one exception!) and love rice, beans and pasta.
One rule I have: I won’t trade quality for quantity. We try to buy as much local and organic as possible. Often the price isn’t much higher and I think it’s worth it.

We have been acutely aware of food prices for the last 5 years due to our a tight budget. Weekly shopping at the outdoor market in Olonzac every Tuesday for fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and some meat means that we only have to see the inside of a large grocery store about once every 10 days to 2 weeks. The average weekly expenditure at the market is usually between €10-20 and that fills the big straw market bag to overflowing.

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The Need to Knead

From Loulou — Blog by Jennifer Greco

February 6, 2009

(originally published on Chez Loulou on January 22, 2009)

Seems like forever since I’ve dug my hands into some soft, squishy dough, stretched and kneaded it into a glossy, springy ball and made some homemade bread.

For a long time I was making my own bread almost every day. Or at least every other day. I had the luxury of time and love the meditative rhythm of this domestic activity.
Then things got so busy over the holidays that I simply got out of the habit.

This morning, once again, I was overcome with the need to knead.

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