one local supper: 13

one local supper: 13
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

this is a pretty typical supper for us. One pot, simple, little bit of meat, plenty of veggies, some cheese, filling starch. I grew up eating cheese grits- it is one of my favorite comfort foods. I cooked stoneground grits with just a little salt and butter. It is topped with less than 1/4 lb of sauteed local sausage, onions, diced, salted, pan-roasted baby eggplants (outsides crispy, insides creamy, in 1/2" cubes so that the boys didn't even know they were eating eggplant. It is NOT their favorite.), chopped cherokee purple tomatoes (finally getting tomatoes in from my garden) and peppers, basil ribbons, and goat cheese crumbles. Since this had four vegetables (one 1 lb baby eggplant, 2 bell peppers, 2 tomatoes, a whole onion- that's more than four!), we didn't do a salad. We all cleaned our plates.

What I like most about this tasty and easy meal was how very little it cost. When I bought the sausage it was a father's day $1/lb special. I cut it, partially frozen, into quarters to use in bits. Some meals need a quarter, some only need half of the quarter. The grits were $7 for a 5 lb bag, I used one cup out of maybe 10 for this meal. The eggplant was $1/3, as were the peppers. The goat cheese was $6: I used about 2T out of the 8T in 1/2 cup. Tomatoes and basil from my garden, and the onions were $2/lb. That would make that big onion the priciest part of this $5.50 meal! I think we'll be eating it again before summer's out.
I think I feel compelled to break down my meal's cost because I'm reading my way through More with Less, a Mennonite (but not horse and buggy Mennonites) cookbook emphasizing conservation in relation to world hunger. I want to be careful with our resources, use meat sparingly, use inexpensive, plentiful, healthful foods more. This book really gives a lot of food for thought.