Runner-up for Queen of the UFO's

Get back to basics/eat healthier/budget better? That seems to be the theme(s) I’m seeing in ads and on social media. Not a new trend for the beginning of a year, I don't think.  I feel there’s always been a that sort of thing in the stores/advertising (especially grocery store ads) even before the advent of social media.

How many “budget friendly”or "healthy alternative" recipes showed up in newspapers and magazines in January? Going my my own collection, which dates back to the 80’s (even some from the 60’s & 70’s~thanks Mom and Grandma) the answer is a lot!

No doubt it’s in response to a combination of peoples’ New Year resolutions and the dawning realization that we’ve overindulged (one way or another) during the holiday season. But somehow it seems even more pronounced this year. Or is that just me? Eh?

I usually ignore this sort of content, but my curiosity got the better of me earlier this month (I was sick and very, very bored) and started reading/watching a few selected pieces. Some was interesting, some was obviously just pimping out a product that’s probably neither healthier nor budget friendly and some left me sitting there blinking thinking what did I just read/watch? Wack-a-doodle advice that shouldn’t be followed for any reason. Just saying.

I did find one new to me cooking channel on You Tube that I will follow because it looks fun, not that I thought the “budget recipes” were all that budget. YMMV of course.

I am left with a question. How do the content creators figure out cost per serving? No idea why this question is only occurring to me now. I’ve been seeing those calculations on recipes in different magazines and recipe books for years. Maybe it’s just the difference between something produced a (presumably) big corporation and an individual content creator. Or I had too much time to think while I was sick.

I know we’d struggle to figure this out, we buy stuff in bulk(ish) when we can, shop sales and marked down/clearance areas and we have access to a Food Rescue organization (think I’ve mentioned that before). So at times we have a good bit of food on hand that was free and we don’t always remember what was or wasn’t purchased.

My lunch today for example: Chicken sandwich, Buffalo Wing inspired salad from a kit and small handful of potato chips. Bread was free, chicken was a slice of deli meat from a package that was 30% off, salad was free and so were the potato chips. Even trying to calculate cost of our dinner last night would give me a headache. We had Indian spiced lentils and naan. The naan was home made and I couldn’t begin to calculate how much 2 cups of flour cost when we buy flour in 10kg bags? And the lentils were dried and come in 1kg bags and we used about a cup or maybe a cup and 1/2? Eh, too much math for me. Maybe there is an online calculator or chart of some kind that could help.

Question of The Day:

January 13 - Make Your Dreams Come True Day - if money, time and location were no option - what would be your dream?

Interesting shift of topic considering my previous discussion. The answer here is more complicated than expected. It would depend on a) how much complexity (read: work/stress) I could tolerate and b) how peopley I could stand to be.

Maximum on both would be to buy a fibre business in a Lancashire city (yes I have a specific one in mind) and a close by, but rural, property large enough to hold conferences/classes linked to the business. It would need to be big enough to have accommodations for participants and staff (no way would I want to run it by myself) and a good sized space for a personal studio.

Less complex but still very peopley would be to buy similar large rural property (but not the external business) in either Alberta or BC with the idea of hosting fibre related conferences/classes.

Complex but less peopley would be to buy a smaller, but still rural, property in the UK. No business/ conferences/classes, but big enough for us, plus space for family to visit and a big studio space.

Least complex and peopley would be a smaller rural property in Alberta. I can think of one in particular that would have a decent amount of space just for us, somewhere for family to stay and a really big studio space!

I may have spent way too much time thinking about this.

Zed