Simple food easy living
Author: Mushroom
Article Posted: 19/05/2008
"All you need in life is a shilling a knife and a piece of string." That's an ancient farm labourer's saying handed down from those times when you needed very little in life to get bye. Like-wise living on a shoe-string budget is simple enough if you know the basic rules of how to live comfortably without relying on take-a-way food. Basic staple foods are potato, pasta, rice and bread, but to make the latter palatable tubs of margarine or butter are essential. Like-wise there are condiments such as vinegar, salt, black pepper and tomato sauce. A tip for those who have a problem with the tomato sauce that is left trapped in the bottle, add a small quantity of vinegar and then give the bottle a shake, not forgetting to replace the lid on the bottle. Cooking oil will be needed for pasta dishes or for a fry-up of eggs, beacon and sausage, don't forget the baked beans they are making a come-back here in England, "Old favourite rocket to £295 million." For those who don't like cooking what could be simpler than a meal of baked beans on toast ? Cut a thick slice from a large bloomer loaf of bread, toast until golden brown, add grated cheese to the toast and grill to create Welsh rarebit, finish the dish by topping this mouth watering delight with a generous portion of baked beans. To give you an example of how tastes are changing here in England, baked beans taste so much better with a sprinkle of ground black pepper. What I should mention here are Salisbury's notorious basic cans of baked beans. I remember how disgusted I was when I saw not only how few baked beans there were in the can, but these baked beans were small, soft and were of a dirty grey colour. Potatoes will last for quite some time if they are kept with other vegetables in the refrigerator. Swede has become my staple potato substitute as apart of of my reduced carbohydrate diet. Bread is not only too bulky it contains finely ground flour which has little roughage to offer, and so I eat crisp bread with sesame seeds instead. England were the only country in the world to produce edible yeast extra that was until Australia realised its potential. It's one of those items that can be stored indefinitely, it has a similar flavour to soy sauce hence it can be used as a stock, or a ten spoon of this rich concentrate can be diluted in hot water to make an excellent and invigorating winter drink. Living in a £70 a week bedsit room with no cooking facilities would be very expensive, that's if it wasn't for my portable one ringed electric cooking stove which is easily packed away in my wardrobe pending a health and safety inspection