I could never be able to dish out a universal budget cookery formula even if I wanted to.
What I can do, however, is make the best of what is available to me, especially in the local market.
If cooking is going to be budgetary, good and worthwhile, it requires that I plan, get creative, and put in some work. The prize of advance planning is better health and more money left over to use towards other things that are just as important as food; house, car, school fees, holidays, the list is endless.
Without a doubt, there will always be that one backslide day when even in the midst of singing this good living song, I find myself queued up for an indulgent dose of that saucy burger and fries at my local takeaway spot.
The trick? I don’t remain there; I dust myself up and get back on that track where I see home cooking as a worthwhile adventure.
We need to get ourselves into the habit of eating healthy, even from the tightest of budgets and schedules.
I have programmed myself to often walk down the Station and the Main Mall in Gaborone solely to make use of the local food market. I take a lot of pride in eating the food that local farmers produce and sell.
This gives me further satisfaction in that I would also be making a contribution towards the growth of the economy of my country.
The “culture shock” that comes with living this way is immense. Changing a lifestyle is a whole new ball game; to win it, we require tactics.
As much as we are hungry for good food and money, we need also the hunger for information.
I find that the best and most reliable information is the one that is served real and raw from experience. For that reason I like to get practical.
When I want to go on that holiday to Antigua in December, I put in the extra hours at work and figure out a cost effective but healthy eating plan. That’s when that packed lunch gets a promotion.
I surround myself with like-minded people in my quest for healthy living. I can not afford negative energy to walk in, own and disrupt my schedule, which just might cause me to drink too much alcohol and or spend money impulsively and excessively on things that are of no long term benefit to me.
It’s really all just money down the drain if you ask me plus upholding such tendencies just defeats the purpose. Nothing good falls like manna from heaven so we really do need to put in work. That work includes leaving the ones that are not prepared to fit into our new lifestyle behind, having moved the goal posts, time can only be money.
Let us not invest our thinking time on issues that are going to leave us with serious financial setbacks.
I want a splendid life and for that reason I am motivated every minute to surround myself with what I personally regard as splendour.
By observation, I find this to be more like the issue of taste buds, where no two people have exactly the same kind of taste buds. I am on a quest therefore to reach as many taste buds as possible in this life time and through that instil a strong sense of health consciousness into others.
My challenge is to shed as much light as possible with every opportunity.
Cook a lot at home and unleash the chef in you, there’s one in all of us!
