Using What I Have Journal Entry #20: Dinner Bowl #88

 

I'm combining series again.

As inflationary pressures spiral upward with no end in sight, one of the ways I've been keeping my sanity is simply avoiding shopping very often. I changed a lot about how I shop, and that usually means, as of now, just very quick jaunts to a local health food store when I really need something. Mostly, it has meant stretching out my trips as long as possible. I make a point of not needing things.

So this one, aside from my health food shop top ups, was about 6 weeks between trips. I went to the health food store twice in that time, just grabbing the bare minimum, plus chocolate. (You can't not have chocolate...though I'm also trying to remind myself that the answer to all the world's problems is, in fact, not chocolate.) Avoiding shopping is one way of avoiding the panic.

Even so, what we have here is stuff I love! I have misir wat (Ethiopian lentils), Ethiopian vegetable rice, Ethiopian-style kale (it should be collards, but I had what I had), and Ethiopian-style mushrooms. I was mostly inspired by recipes online, though I didn't follow any exactly except for the rice (which is one of my favorite recipes of all time, by Rayne Drops on Roses--though I do cook the rice for 15 minutes and steam for 5, rather than 10 and 10, because I don't have success with the timing suggested).

The kale, somewhat forgotten because I'd gone through being a bit sick for a while, had to be picked through. The mushrooms were frozen. The tomatoes were canned. But you know what? This was the best meal I think I'd had in ages! And it filled my fridge with tasty leftovers which will be delicious for a few days.

My refrigerator, as of this writing, is pretty much empty. And tomorrow morning, I will go and spend what used to be more than a full month's budget on food, fill up the empty spaces, and see how long it lasts. A month? Almost surely, with my health food store runs. It's what's working for me right now, though I probably need to reevaluate, because I also find I'm annoyed for a few weeks after shopping because the fridge, freezer, and cabinets are just so full.

My grocery budget used to give me a really good buffer, and I rarely, if ever, spent it in a month. I'd go shopping every other week. These days, keeping under that number has gotten to be such a struggle that I am having to let myself concede defeat. Savings will decrease a bit, and I will increase my food budget for the first time in years. This is, in part, because my employer's raises this year weren't even 25% of the rate of inflation, and one can't squeeze water from a stone. Based on research I've done on the average expenditure for food in my area, I'm still extremely frugal even if I increase the budget by 20%. Veganism is cheaper; so is never eating out. But it's not a magical insulator from the realities outside. So that's what we're doing. We're upping it by 20%. We're going to keep eating lentils, rice, and cabbage, because they're delicious. But we're also going to keep eating chocolate, berries, and nuts, because they're also delicious. We will eat less chocolate, the berries will be frozen, and the nuts may be peanuts, but we'll keep going.

(And by "we," I mean "me, myself, and I," but somehow detaching and calling it something "we" are doing helps me.)

It's rough out there. It's rough in ways I don't know how to comprehend, in terrifying ways, in ways that enrage me every time I go shopping. But it's not my fault. It's just what is. So in the midst of this, we might as well make lentils, rice, and cabbage the most amazing meal possible.

Here's to everyone out there trying, even when they're failing. It's not your fault, either. It's just what is.

Good thing I love cabbage.