lentils rule ok

dear fellow frugalists

Cracked and had 2 take away cappuccinos this week - curses! Went to the pictures with a friend and it cost $17 for the ticket. Damn! Trying not to spend $ and have a life is very challenging. Eating healthily is expensive so enter the lentil stage left. People think I'm joking when I say the humble lentil is my friend.  Lentils are cheap as and at the moment that's how I like it. And small fact - they are full of protein, vitamin B1 and iron. Archaeologists have found evidence people were eating them thousands of years ago. So if it was good enough for Neolithic woman it's good enough for me.  This recipe can be whipped up in no time and you can add grated carrot or zucchini  or some diced onion to the mixture - whatever does it for you

Here is my recipe for Neolithic Lentil Burgers

Ingredients

1 cup cold mashed potato

400g canned brown lentils

1 tbsp curry paste or powder

1 egg

1/2 cup breadcrumbs or crushed Vita Brits

1 tbsp olive oil

Place all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and yes mix them together. Season with salt and pepper. How easy is that? Divide into small patties - not too large. Heat the oil in a pan and cook your patties until they are brown on each side.

Serve with a green salad (maybe snow peas for crunch and some salad leaves) and a lovely dressing/ dipping sauce of 1/2 cup plain yoghurt , 1/4 cup lemon juice and 2 tbsp of tahini ( sesame seed paste from the health food section of your supermarket. If it's too bitey add a small teaspoonful of honey.

Any leftover mash keep to make potato cakes for breakfast - add an egg and then a small amount of plain flour until the mixture is stiff. Fry until brown in some oil.

And that lovelies is my austerity tip for the week apart from drying out your teabags on the line and reusing them - hmmmm just joking although I did share a house with someone who actually did this.......he wasn't frugal he was just mean!

Katerina della Austerita!  x

in sympathy with the spanish people

dear darling darlings
My pen was poised one centimetre above the page to sign when my conveyancer said, 'Are you quite sure?'. What do you mean am I sure, I screamed inside, how can you say that to me now??!!? Outwardly I turned towards her and smiled the smile of the condemned woman, a kind of inscrutable Mona Lisa smile, and said quite calmly, 'Yes of course I'm sure', and signed the paper. Yes so blithely I signed that paper as if it were nothing, nyet, niente. Foolish woman!

And yes my friends that is how I came to be the owner of my very own pile of rubble in the Blue Mountains in Australia and how I also came to be in total sympathy with the Spanish people. Why the Spanish people I hear you ask?? It has nothing to do with my Spanish heritage, great grand daddy Santos, oh no no no, it's due to having to convert a pile of rubble into something I can actually live in. I was most upset when the building inspector, having completed his inspection, reported that my home, my gorgeous 1920's house in the mountains was barely liveable! Barely liveable!?#* Is the man blind? Can he not see what I see? Obviously not. Barely liveable. It has heating, it has hot water, there is a bath and a kitchen sink and a stove, what more does one need?? Barely liveable. Didn't he see the original leadlight windows and front door? Didn't he see the original fireplace or the dresser in the kitchen? The old girl has good bones. I can see what it will look like when I've finished and she will look amazing. She just needs some love, don't we all?

So anyway once I started to tote up all the things I needed to do to the old girl and  I realised some pretty frugal times were  ahead and I started to love the Spanish people enduring as they are, their own austerity measures. So when I wear my tights with the holes in the feet and when I make my coffee using coffee bags rather than my usual daily cappuccino, my heart goes out to the Spanish people. They are my peeps, my bros and my sistas, yo or si senor, they're wearing stockings with holes too and having to reduce their serving of paella and cut down on the flamenco classes. Challenging times. So I am totally into the whole austerity thing you know. I'm taking my lunch to work each day and lentils and baked beans are now my friends. I stock up on the specials at the supermarket. I've cancelled my gym membership. Ouch!

So follow me as I negotiate the world of renovation, my own and the house! It's going to be a wild ride!
Settlement is early August and before I actually move in I'm going to get some walls removed and the floorboards polished and then start painting. I'll be dealing with the whole change of lifestyle from cityslicker urbanite to mountains momma - for those not in the know the Blue Mountains are to the west of Sydney and about and hour and half to two hour drive from the CBD - so it should be interesting. One friend who lives up there already said yes, great I'll introduce you to some people so you can meet all the freaks in the mountains! oh yay.......fantastic.......I love meeting freaks......too late to back out now....

So when my conveyancer asked me if I was sure, I wonder what she knew that I didn't know?? I think I may be about to find out.....

this is the mountains senorita Katerina di Austerita signing off in holey stockings while eating lentil burgers and knitting her own socks