I'm Married!!!

To address any concern you may have had, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I got married (though I’m sure in the minds of some people, those events are equivalent)!!!  At any rate, the ceremony was last Saturday, the only nice day in Maine since forever and we had a wonderful time.  It was perfect and everything I dreamed it would be.  A week later, my Man and I are getting settled into our apartment in the Berkshires and starting our life together. Finally.

I love my Man more than words can express. I’m so glad we’re finally married and together, instead of doing the silly long distance thing we maintained for 2 years. My Man has innumerable wonderful qualities, but one of the ones I’m most excited about is his willingness to let me be myself in the kitchen. He’ll eat pretty much anything (or at least try it) and though he still wants to eat meat on occasion, he’s totally cool with the healthy, flexitarian/vegetarian, homemade lifestyle I’m pursuing. Such a refreshing change from home, where “beans”, “vegetarian” and “different” are sometimes dirty words. And we’ve got a plethora of new pots, pans, dishes and cooking gadgets to encourage me in my culinary endeavors. It’s very exciting.

It’s also thrilling to be living in a place with several decent supermarkets in town. No more driving half an hour because our local store doesn’t have what I need! I’ve promised myself (and my Man) that I will shop more purposefully than my family does at home, which sometimes results in going to the supermarket several times a week.  I made a list, planned a menu for the week and staked out deals in the supermarket fliers last night. We ventured out to the store this morning at which point I made a very sad discovery.

Food costs money.

Clearly this is not really news to the rest of the world, but now that I am living on a budget and seeking employment, we’re trying to limit the amount of money we spend on groceries every week.  A sad reality for my cooking dreams, given that I used to not give a thought to spending $20 on the ingredients for one meal when I was living at home. At any rate, it adds to the challenge and I’m sure will work out once we get into a routine, have more staples in the cupboard, and I get a job.

Meanwhile, I’ve subscribed to the following blogs (because I obviously didn’t have enough others to read) with the hope that they’ll help me cook good food while saving money:

5 Dollar Dinners

Fat Free Vegan

Closet Cooking

Thanks to another great blog,  Cheap, Healthy, Good, for the links!