Keep it simple

OK. I,m ready to tackle the pantry again.January was quite successful with only $56.73 being spent on food,however I can tell you right now February isn't going to be a repeat. For one thing our Farmers Market introduced seafood this month.It was a one day event that will be repeated in March. I had to work so I sent Jiggy [the hubby]to do the buying. It was his first time at the Market. He doesn't go anywhere unless he can bring his golf clubs with him. This was a huge step for him. He probably wished he had a club with him as he claimed it was wall to wall people with hardly any room to breathe. Poor thing. He came home with a 6lb bag of shrimp heads still attached and 3 beautiful lobsters. The shrimp $16 the lobster$27. As you can see my total is already inching its way towards January. I'll just have to suffer and eat it anyway.Yum. My lesson learnt so far is Don't send hubby shopping if your trying to keep the budget balanced.He insist that this was a treat and should not be counted but,total amount spent on food is just that treat or not. Something else keeps coming up in this project. I love trying new recipes and I realize if you put yourself on a tight budget simple is much better. I believe I really only have to make one,two at the most, complete dinners. So I suspect that will give me a little time out of the kitchen.

Another plus is to have soup on hand. Work hours having been cut at the barn I decided to start a little business of my own. I have a small group of people that I make soup for just once a week. The word has spread and I have enough customers to make this worthwhile. I always make an extra one for the family. This week I kept a Butternut soup for us to try. Quality control,after all I have to know what they taste like,don't I?This recipe was found back in October when I needed more vegetarian soups. Many of my clients like the idea of having a meatless lunch. I eliminated the chicken broth and replaced it with veggie broth added cream cheese in the final puree and have had repeated request for it. The little container on top is a roasted pepper ganache you can swirl into the soup. If you want to give it a try here is my recipe: 2tbs butter

1 large onion chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

2 teas minced fresh ginger root

1&1/2 teas curry powder

1/2 teas each salt and pepper

5 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash

1 large potato peeled and cubed

4 cups veggie stock

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/3 cup milk

4 oz cream cheese

2 peppers [sweet] to roast

I start with cleaning the peppers ,rub a little olive oil on sprinkle a bit of salt and pop them in the oven to roast. Then I chop the onion and garlic and saute in the butter till translucent. While that's going on I grate the ginger measure the spices and cube the butternut and potato. I like things to flow so I don't actually start to saute till I have at least the butternut cubed.When the onions seem right throw in your spices and stir to coat . Add the butternut and potato and stir to get a good blend Add your stock tomato paste and lemon juice another quick stir and bring to a boil then simmer till veggies are tender. While this is going on I puree the skinned peppers and set aside. Puree your soup adding the milk and cream cheese along with it. Top with a garnish of red pepper and you'll have a fancy smancy presentation..................said the hobbit