Entertaining and celebrating on a budget

I've written about my recent change in circumstance and how the Hubs and I were buckling down and budgeting closely to get through the next while until I find the perfect new job.  I'm happy to report we continue to eat well and sustainably despite a tightened belt.  We're eating expensive items like meat and cheese less and gorging ourselves on fresh corn, tomatoes, peaches and other vegetables from our garden and markets, and lots of whole grains, beans and fresh bread from our local Portuguese bakery.  I realize come winter I might be singing a different tune but for now we are very fortunate!

Fresh Moves for food deserts

For those lazy summer mornings

I'm taking a break from the tomato posts to bring us back to my other favourite summer fruit - Peaches.  After last weekend's post about the peach crisp a reader Kerri commented that she likes to add pecans to her crumbles.  This got me to thinking.  Nothing says the south like peaches and pecans (or as they'd say "Peh-Kahns") and the two together?  Heaven.

Spicy cherry tomato salad

Tomato Season!

Starting today will be the first of a series of posts from me which centre around tomatoes.  It is the season and my tomatoes are flooding in.  Not that I'm complaining.  Tomatoes might be my favourite food ever.  If you remember this spring I planted 5 varieties in the garden and I've since added a Cherokee Purple tomato in a large pot on our patio. 

Everything is just peachy!

The peaches and plums from our Niagara region are now flooding the markets.  We've already had two baskets in the last week but almost all were simply eaten out of hand or chopped up in our morning yogurt.  If there is anything better than sitting in the sun and letting warm peach juice run down your chin I don't want to know about it.  I intend to whip up another batch of peach salsa later this week but today we had company and I decided to make a peach crisp for dessert.  Crisps are my go to when I need a quick dessert idea because if I don't have enough fruit in the fruit bowl I likely will have enough in the freezer.  I use the same technique for all my crisps no matter what the season (apple in the fall, rhubarb in the spring) and have gotten a lot of compliments.  I think it's the addition of ground almonds and pulsing down the oats in the food processor that makes it so good.  The finer topping reminds me of an oatmeal cookie and I often steal chunks of it to eat raw while I'm cooking.

Oxfam infographic on food price spikes

One in seven people in the world go to bed hungry every day. This statistic alone should catch your attention, but I find that compelling infographics really drive home what is happening with food prices, food availability, and the future of food. Check out this informative, compelling, and devastating infographic from Oxfam.

Glad I'm not having kids

According to an article in AlterNet, "The price of our loaf of bread is forecast to increase by up to 90% over the next 20 years." I love kids, but when I see statistics like this, I'm even happier that I'm choosing to not have any. How would I feed them? A 90% mark-up on bread within 20 years? What is going on? AlterNet explains.

Dog days of summer

It's a long weekend here in Canada (August 1st is our Civic Holiday dear American readers) so you'll have to excuse my lack of posting this weekend.  As is tradition I was busy BBQing, swimming, beaching, boating and eating the best ice cream in the world.   But I thought I'd share some pictures of the bounty we've been enjoying from our own garden and the farmers market!