Frugal Food

You may recall that, a while ago, I was thinking of adding some variety to this blog - subjects other than nail polish and make up. (Le gasp!) You’ve already seen some of these changes here, here, and here, but today is the biggest change yet. Frugal Food is coming to Glitter Mountain! Don’t worry – the nail polish and make up aren’t going away. But this blog was always intended to be my creative outlet to the world, where I talk about all the things I enjoy, and cooking is one of those things. 

Frugal Food is going to be a regular feature from now on, primarily focusing on cheap but tasty, mostly vegan food. Why vegan? Well, I've been vegetarian for most of my life, mainly because I have never liked the taste or texture of meat, even when I was tiny. Then, about a year ago, I discovered that dairy products are actually really bad triggers for my asthma: the more dairy I consume, the more I wheeze. Because of this,I avoid eating dairy products most of the time, limiting it to things like the odd chocolate bar or a slice of non-vegan cake once in a while. Whilst I'm not completely vegan, the majority of my food is. Apart from quorn, which I do use sometimes, but you can replace that with tofu or soya mince or beans or whatever (or meat, if that's your bag).

Why Frugal, then? I have a certain style of cooking when it comes to food:  cheap, filling, easy, and quick. I work all day, and I get home at 6pm, and I'm starving; if it takes ages to cook, it's no good to me. It also has to be made primarily out of ingredients I can buy in the local supermarket. I could be all worthy and go on about how bad processed food is for your health - but I won’t, (even though it’s true), because to be honest, that’s not what drives me. In case anyone’s been living under a rock and failed to notice it yet, the world and his dog are pretty strapped for cash right now and the cost of even basic items just seems to be spiralling. While I'd love to hang around in expensive health food shops and dine on Goji berries and Agave nectar, if I went round buying that sort of thing, my whole month's food budget would be gone after just one meal.

I’ve chosen to see this as a challenge rather than something to get depressed about: just how many good tasting, quick and easy meals can I make, for pennies instead of pounds? Answers to follow, via the medium of Glitter Mountain: Frugal Food. At worst, it means I’ll get to eat something tasty that hasn’t bled my wallet dry. I’m also hoping it might help other people who, like me, are having to make do with a lot less cash than they used to.

Watch this space for more Frugal Food!