Food for the newly budget conscious

I was perusing the pages of The Aucklander the other day and I came across the food column. The first thing I noticed was that like many papers and magazines recently contained a recipe for a "budget" meal, in this case a deluxe packed lunch to serve two.

What followed certainly wasn't my definition of inexpensive.
The ingredients for this pasta and chicken dish included 2 chicken thighs and 2 courgettes and half a capsicum.

As many a housewife will be able to tell you chicken isn't cheap meat any more (pork is) and any dietitian or diabetic could also tell you that a chicken thigh is enough meat for a main meal, not a light lunch.

Then there are the courgettes.

These are not only out of season but just about as out of season as you can get given that they are a summer vegetable (early summer at that in a dry year like we just had) and it is now definitely winter. Yes you can still buy them, at $6.99/kg but the only thing green about them is the skin colour.
The capsicums at least are in abundant supply and can even be found at less than 99c each.

Vic Williams needs to be a little more realistic than optimistic when it comes to was is reasonable to spend on an everyday lunch.

Here is some more constructive food advice for the budget conscious:

1. If a fresh fruit or vegetable costs more per kilo than budget beef mince don't buy it.
2. The only exceptions to rule #1 are things you can buy and use is very small amounts e.g. garlic, ginger, a couple of mushrooms etc.
3. Do a little research and buy your fruit and veg when in season and therefore less expensive.
4. Buy only what you are going to eat before it rots. If your fridge doubles as a compost bin you are buying too much.
5. Compare prices, shopping at your the local fruit shop or even the diary can be cheaper than the supermarket when it comes to fruit and veg, Asian ingredients and sometimes even bread. The same applies for meat at the local butchers.