Healthy Eating Menus on a Budget

 Village Life - Eating Healthy on a Budget.

As many, the Cost Of Living is something many of us think about, and us too included.

Thankfully one of our pleasures, delights and cost saving ventures is, with living here in Corfu in a village, having a large garden, enabling us to eat healthily and with a minimal outlay, thanks to our hard work in our garden. Time invested well as we are not retired as yet but need to think about all cost saving ways as possible these days!!

Here are a few things from last week on our menu.

Briam

We picked :  Peppers, Tomatoes, Courgettes and Aubergines, Potatoes already had been stored. So apart from the cost of the water to grow and the electricity to bake/roast plus the bought items below. 

Result was a Tasty Briam. known as Roasted Greek Vegetables became the dish.

Olive Oil from our stock of.

Bought items included: Bread, Salt, Pepper, Onions and Feta Cheese.

All Baked in one casserole dish in the oven. Also saving on washing up too.

Stuffed Peppers and Tomatoes

We Picked, Larger Tomatoes and some Bell Peppers and Fresh Mint.

Bought items included Long Grain Rice, We had Feta, Onions and Bread from the day before. Along with the Oil, Onions and Potatoes from our stock

Stock Items, Origano, Salt & Pepper.

Again all baked together in the oven in one casserole dish.

Of course you can add mince meat and fry if you prefer to have a more meat based diet.

Fried Aubergines with Skordalia.

Aubergines from the garden.

Stock items : Flour, Salt & Pepper & Olive Oil.

Fresh Egg - locally from a neighbour (we give her our left over bread to feed her chickens, free range of course and she gives us a few eggs every week) Fry the Aubergines in Olive Oil, dipped in the batter.

Skodalia (Garlic Dip)- Old bread socked in water and then drained, Garlic (bought) and  Red Wine Vinegar (bought).

Blend together to make a lovely Garlic dipping sauce.

Aubergines - dip in the flour and egg mixture, fry in hot olive oil.

Served with your already purchased Feta and some Fresh Bread 

Desserts included:

Pancakes/Crepes

Served with Cactus Fruits and Lemons picked from the garden.

Stock Items Sugar, Flour Milk and 1 Egg.

Grapes - Picked from the Vine

Cheese, wine, grapes and feta.

Bread & Butter Pudding. Grapes dried for raisins.

Our Sunday Special

You can see we live healthily on a mostly non meat diet and treat ourselves to a Fresh (not frozen) Chicken at the weekend bought from the local village butchers and not from the supermarket.

This Chicken I roast with veggies

Avgo Lemono Soup

Leftover  Chicken I make the following  day as the famous Greek Avgo Lemono Soup - Chicken Egg & Lemon Soup.

So you need:

Chicken Leftovers) Eggs, Rice and Lemon all as above already in stock or purchased.

Boil Leftover Chicken for a tasty broth - forget stock cubes and if you need to thicken the stock use your flour. Fresh Dill from the garden to serve

Other items purchased for a weeks shopping included:

Feta Cheese - choose from your local minimarket the type in the large tin already preserved in Brine whenever possible rather than the mass produced Feta in a plastic tub.

Lentils - To make Fakes - Lentil Soup 

Chickpeas - Revithia Soup made with chickpeas, onions, garlic, lemon and flour to thicken. Leftover soup  can be strained and made into Humous - add some more Garlic and Olive oil and blend by mixer to make a tasty dip.  Some add Tahini however I prefer Greek Yogurt.

Spaghetti No 6 - for a simple 3-4 ingredient spaghetti, sauce made with tomatoes (small Cherry ones picked from the garden which are sweet & tasty) , Onions, & Garlic.  I also pick celery from the garden to add some more flavour to the tomato sauce.

Of course, with all of the above you can make a healthy lunchtime snack of Greek Salad and I make potato salad but instead of mayo I use Olive Oil, Mustard (stock item) and mint.

You can use the Homous as above. I also strain the Lentil Soup to make Lentil fritters.

Boil some Eggs and make a Egg (Mayo) Salad served with tomato salad........ 

I haven't included recipes but a synopsis of our typical Summer menu.

If you would like any of my own simple recipes you can post comments or email me on  corfuselections@gmail.com

Kali Orexi.......

and when I am not cooking and gardening??? .......

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