Creativity is borne out of necessity

It's 2008, and we've just arrived in Wellington, New Zealand. The exchange rate is much more painful than we'd imagined/planned for, and we're watching our bank account shrink on a daily basis. We're both looking for work, but so far have zero income--and we still have to eat.

This specific situation is what started me on my personal cooking journey. We wanted tasty, hearty food, but couldn't afford the $25 NZ per meal that most nice restaurants charge there. In fact, our budget was closer to $5 NZ per meal per person (probably close to about $3.75 US, at that time). What to do?

The answer was get creative: research recipes on the internet, cook in bulk (at least four servings at once, if not more), and base meals around carbs (as opposed to meat). We also had to change our eating habits based on the New Zealand food market. For example, we were used to eating chicken breasts--in the UK and US, these are plentiful and affordable. This is not the case in NZ, but on the other hand, seafood was both.

Some of our favorite recipes were found during this time, including fish and cilantro stew, which I included at my blog at the time. The habits that I formed have proved to be lasting ones, and have been extremely valuable and rewarding for me.

Now that I have money and space (and have no current plans to move countries again), I have the luxury of collecting cookbooks. My personal favorites are the Donna Hay softbacks and the 'Beautiful Cookbook' series. But when I was living out of my backpack, the internet did a brilliant job of meeting my needs, and I have used it for finding new ideas ever since.

I still cook large meals the majority of the time, and I have learned to love leftovers. Some meals, like curries and soups, even taste better the next day. Rory calls this the 'maturing' process. Cooking at least 4 servings at once is much more economical--in terms of time and money.

And the whole 'cooking around carbs' idea is still the way I operate. Yes, there are times that I fancy a steak--but this is happening less and less. When I plan meals, I ask what carb (or starch) we haven't eaten in a while: rice, bread, pasta, cous cous, potato, etc. Then I build the meal around that, and use the meat as a garnish, sometimes literally. A little meat can stretch a long way--especially red meat.

My cooking repirtoire has certainly expanded since that time in our lives, and I'm thankful. They're skills I'll always be able to use, and improve upon as I age. Now when I go to a restaurant, I try to order something that I can't make at home, and then try to imagine how I someday could. A few restaurant experiences recently have even left me saying 'I could do that dish better', and how wonderful is that?