After abandoning ‘Cooking Broke’ almost 2 years ago I’d say it was more giving up than a break. Some comments have trickled in and at times I forgot I’m still paying to keep this site up! My husband and I spent a year in India, and REALLY learned what it means to cook broke and learned some interesting food and life lessons. At this point we’re not as broke as when I started the site but I still struggle with making a weekly food trip last, trying not to let anything rot in the veg bin, and use what I have on hand in the pantry. We’ve moved to the East Bay in San Francisco and couldn’t ask for a better place for veg and fruit in the country. Most things are local and the freshness factor is amazing.

I used to be a vegetarian (in college of course) and then realized I didn’t want to live the rest of my life with out bacon and brisket and basically a lower quality of life (hahaha). However I do believe and have read about the astounding amount of meat the US consumes and how it’s devastating our environment and our bodies. When we moved back from India Johnathan and I decided to do the veg thing during the week, Monday-Thursday. This is in an effort to help us eat better, have a little less impact on the meat supply, and also save money during the week. Now I won’t say we’ve followed this 100% for the last couple months, but as I was ogling over the Whole Foods meat counter getting ready to buy my first pork chops in almost 2 years - I realized - “I haven’t bought a whole cut of meat in a REALLY long time!” The pork chop recipe made by Johnathan from the Jamie at Home cookbook was truly amazing and I was so proud of him for making such a great meal. A great resource if you’re also thinking about cutting back on your meat intake, Meatless Monday. This is a great site and is also Slow Foods approved.

So here we are, not so broke, but making an effort to save money for the important things (mostly balls for our dog and maybe a roast for Christmas). Stay tuned for some fun, possibly retro holiday recipes.

Cheers from San Francisco!