No Frills, the monthly shopping expedition

Photo by Gary Wood

It's the beginning of the month, which means it's time to head to the supermarket to stock up on the basics.

No Frills is a popular chain for thrifty shoppers here in Canada, as their approach is, well, no frills. They forego all the usual advertising, marketing, and fancy displays in order to keep prices down. It's not a warehouse, like Costco or Sam's Club, so you won't be buying a jar of salsa that will last you six months, but they are all over the city and accessible by foot or public transit.

No Frills generic corned beef
Photo by Danielle Scott

They stock their own generic, no name brand of many basic food items. You can find thousands of no name grocery items -- pasta, canned veggies, sauces, canned meats, frozen foods, cheese, household cleaners, pet food and litter, and more.  I'm a big believer in buying the generic brand of foods -- I'm told it all comes from the same factory, anyhow.

Although No Frills is cheap, they are NOT always the cheapest in town.  And here's where the web comes in.  No Frills has a price comparison website: Won't Be Beat. You can enter your local No Frills store, and then ask the site to compare the No Frills price against the other supermarkets in your town.

Dried Apricots - the inspiration
for the Armenian stew

I like to cook based on what's fresh at the veggie store, and what mood I am in that week. Am I craving Thai food? Curry? Soups?  Did I find an interesting veggie, new to me, that I want to try?

I am often trying new recipes, based on the ingredients I bring home, which I think is the opposite of many thrifty bloggers who rotate a standard menu of favourite dishes.

Yes, I have favourites, but there are so many new recipes to try out there! And new ingredients to explore!! Why limit myself?

So here's how I figure out what I need at No Frills -- I ask, do I need:

• flour
• sugar
• butter or margarine (whichever is on sale)
• tinned tomatoes
• pasta and rice
• salsa (cheaper at No Frills than making my own, except for summer)
• dairy
• pet food
• pet litter

On a weekly basis I go to the veggie store, and around the corner to my local health food store, The Nut House, for small amounts of spices, herbs, and nuts. I only buy a small amount as spices and herbs lose their flavouring after a very short while, and why spend $3 or $4 on a jar of spices when you only need 1 or 2 tsp.

So here's what's I will be cooking this week, based on the ingredients I have on hand:

BREAKFASTS

• toasted bagels with green onion and chive cream cheese
• scones
• oatmeal

LUNCHES and DINNERS (I cook on the weekend, and reheat during the week)

• lentil apricot stew w sesame rice (never tried this one before, but have lentils, rice and dried apricots in the cupboard)
• carrot ginger soup (big bag of carrots in the fridge)
• cornish pasties (with the rutabaga i bought last week, plus lentils, potatoes, carrots, and herbs)
• jamaican patties (winter squash and hot peppers)
• braised celery and mashed potatoes
• quesadillas (winter squash, refried beans and cabbage, with salsa and sour cream)
• eggplant and lentil chile mole (never tried this before, either)

SNACKS

• apples
• brownies

I will post the recipes, with photos, as I cook these items.

Welcome!

Welcome to Eat More, Spend Less -- a blog about thrifty cooking, shopping, and eating based in Toronto, Canada.

Why this blog? I am passionate about local, healthy, and affordable food. 

For the past 3 1/2 years I have been living on ODSP, which is a government support program for people with disabilities. My monthly cheque is $1,200.00.  Out of this I pay rent, transportation, groceries and for therapy. Money has been tight.

photo by Adityo Sastromuljono
Bloor/Lansdowne

Last spring I decided that I wanted to take steps to leave disability and retrain as a commercial photographer. Now I am a first year student in Photography at Sheridan College.  This means that money is even tighter.  I received a combination of loans, grants, and scholarships to pay for my tuition. School pays for therapy. But everything else comes from my ODSP cheque.

Just so you know what we are talking about, on a very concrete level, out of my $1,200 a month I receive, my budget is $750 a month for rent, $40 for my cell phone, and $310 in commuting costs (subway, GO train, and Oakville transit). That leaves less than $100 a month for everything else. 

There are, of course, additional costs for school on top of tuition, such as printing my assignments so that they can be handed in and graded, as well as props and accessories for photo shoots. 

So now I have a grocery budget of $60 - $80 a month (that's $15 - $20 a week), which leaves a little bit for everything else (printing, postage, vet bills for the cat, and savings for a rainy day).

So that's a little bit about my background.

photo by Adityo Sastromuljono
Bloor/Lansdowne

But what you really need to know is that I LOVE to cook, and I LOVE Toronto. I live in this amazing city. Our population is about 2.5 million (6 million if you count the outer boroughs), and it is incredibly diverse.  30% of our population are recent immigrants, and collectively we speak over 140 languages.  50% of Toronto's citizens were born outside of Canada.

Within steps of my apartment, in the Bloor/Lansdowne neighbourhood, you will find a Latin American grocery, a Bengali supermarket, a mosque, 2 West Indian restaurants (Queen of Patties and Vena's Roti) , a South-East Asian vegetarian restaurant, a Middle-Eastern fast food shop, a French bakery, and a Portugese bakery, a Vietnamese restaurant, assorted art galleries, a Brazilian capoeira company, a bicycle DIY place, and I'm sure I'm leaving out a bunch of places.

I look forward to sharing thrifty recipes, cooking, and shopping tips with you in the coming months! Welcome.