The Credit Crunch Menu

Its credit crunch time and the Menon household are trying to save up pennies to make it a mighty pound. The ‘cutting down’ officially started this weekend, though they opted to call the process ‘lifestyle remodeling’ instead, just so that their inflated egos don’t get hurt. And for anybody who cared to ask, they announced that they were following the Jamie Oliver at Saintsbury’s example.

So the Friday evening take away is out, the healthy home cooked meal is in. But What Lady. M did not realize was that cooking was going to be a one (wo)man operation, a tired and irritated full time working woman operation, that is. ‘I am hungry’ announced Lord M upon reaching home and headed direct to the laptop, and the unwilling chef was stuck with Junior M screaming for dinner, who was yet to be bathed, lotioned and be coxed to bed . After a meal of fried chicken and chips, and 10 renderings of ‘Lavender’s blue dilly-dilly’ off he closes his eyes and bang! It stuck 8.

Lady M’s resolutions for healthy home-made were going astray, though she managed to push in two-three baking potatoes into the oven with a sprinkle of rock salt. Tuna and sweet corn came out of the can. Lady M chopped some onions and green chillies to mix with mayonnaise, all the while pretending that she was chopping the one at the laptop! The onions came out pretty small, by the way.

The Lord and the Lady managed to wolf down the jacket potatoes with tuna and corn topping and fresh fruits (plus some forbidden ‘units’ – at a quarter of what they would have spent at the restaurant) and were off to bed by 10, though the satisfaction normally associated with putting the feet up on the Friday night and eating all the calorie laden cheesy pizzas and fries was evading the Lady. It certainly did not feel like a Friday!

The ‘healthy-living’ theme continued to Saturday and they managed to hit the farmers market and came out with lots of oranges, sweet grapes, crispy green leaves, freshly-dug potatoes, perfect strawberries and juicy carrots- all under a 10! Lady M was having goose-bumps with pride and then realized that she still had to clean the dirt off the stuff and actually cook them! OMG, what will happen to the French manicure?

The lunch was plain rice and vegetable curry with coconut milk. And poppudums dry roasted for a minute in the Microwave. That tasted good and yes, its under a fiver!

Great, its left over rice for dinner disguised as one pot Fried Rice meal, decided the Lady. Stir fried some frozen veggies, some chicken strips, eggs and a handful of soybeans and some garlic in olive oil and added them to rice along with a bit of soya sauce.

Then the phone rang, announcing the arrival of friends in 30 minutes- so the menu had to be expanded now, much to the Lord’s delight. The tofu was browned gently with onions, tomoto puree, ginger and garlic paste, to be added with a bit of cream, yoghurt, curry powder, chillies and coriander leaves to form the low fat version of the eternal favorite - Paneer Tikka Masala. Out to impress, she threw in and sautéed some onions, lamb mince and green peas and coriander leaves along with the leftover baked potato from yesterday’s dinner, broken an egg over it and scrumptious mince patties ready to grill happened like Magic.

Some garlic-tomato ketchup jumped out of the jar and got mixed with mayo for that sophisticated dip. The very generous Lord M did a salad of lettuce leaves, cucumber, coriander leaves and cherry tomatoes and emptied a can of cooked drained chick peas on top with a generous helping of lemon juice and the dinner was bursting with texture, colour and nutrition - all with 30 minutes of toiling. And the fun they had at the back yard – No pub smoke to harm the lungs and a gently breeze lifting the spirits under the shiny stars, that was a night out to remember!

Sunday came in with lots of sunshine. So its Italian theme today, pasta! Off pasta goes to boiling water. With Onions and tomatoes and spinach and a bit of bacon and mushrooms all sautéed to perfection and added in, the homemade pasta was a thing of beauty. The strawberries and melons and pineapple met the 5-a-day requirement without adding any extra sugar. The neighbors, Lady and Lord J brought in a carrot cake and some lemonade and hours were spent basking in sun and generally having fun!

By evening, Lady M was so tired that she started longing for a take away and the associated guilty pleasures and above all, rest. Lord M rose to the challenge and came up with spiced meat balls (onions, tomatoes and a bit of curry powder sautéed and mixed with the canned meat balls) and herby noodles (the cheap Asda variety with chopped herbs and a sprinkling of cheese on top) and the plates were licked clean. The Junior was served some grilled cheese too.

Sunday night was the audit night and the Menons realized how much good money they saved without loosing any of the fun! Its friendship and love that matters and what’s more convenient and easy than knocking down two or three dishes and having a good time at your garden with the loved ones?

But the glitter, glamour and adrenalin-rush associated with evening-out still lures, and let’s wait and see if Menons will stick to their resolutions.

(This first came here: http://www.digbritain.co.uk/category/lifestyle/food-and-drink/)