RECIPES

Wednesday 14 September 2022

Cabbages

 

The good old humble cabbage is becoming a luxury vegetable!  Yesterday I paid $6.99 for a very small cabbage – and am determined that absolutely all of it will be eaten.

Our first meal from it was Cole Slaw – finely sliced cabbage with grated carrot and grated cheese.  I used to add finely chopped onion as well, but the Rats share what we eat and onion is not good for them.  I compromise by snipping up some spring onion and sprinkling that over the top of mine.

Cole Slaw goes best with a creamy dressing of some kind, but I often just use a sprinkle of olive oil instead.  Probably because I like my Cole Slaw to be fresh and crunchy – hubby used to like his after it had sat for 24 hours as he said the flavours mellowed together better.  Each to their own!




New Zealand Statistics have announced an overall increase in food prices of 8.3% for the year to August, led by a 15% increase in the price of fruit and vegetables and accompanied by big increases in the cost of eggs, meat, yoghurt and cheddar cheese.  No wonder our basic grocery shop has been getting more expensive!

The gloomiest part of their announcement was that there would be no change in the foreseeable future and prices may still rise further.

It makes one realise how dependant we are upon supermarket chains to provide for most of our food needs.  Perhaps it is time to return to the past a little – grow your own, preserve the excess, cook from scratch, eat seasonally, be thrift-conscious when buying things.  All things we used to do but have largely dropped in the name of convenience.

By the way, we ate the Cole Slaw with boiled potatoes and baked sausages.  Delicious!

Margaret 😊

 

24 comments:

  1. Cabbage has become expensive here too, but nowhere near $7.00. We too make cole slaw and enjoy it very much. If you start to cut some of the meat out of your diet you will save substantially.

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    1. Agreed. We started to do that a while ago and eat a lot more beans now.

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  2. Cabbage is a versatile vegetable. We’ve been eating it roasted, sliced thin, sprinkle of evo and roasted for 30 min or so. Coleslaw is tasty. We eat it often. Boiled cabbage is good with other veg too. It is costly here now too. Growing some is a great idea.

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    1. I've not tried cabbage roasted (although I like Brussel Sprouts that way) so will have to give this a try.

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  3. I was just looking at the price of cauliflower- the only ones I could find were half a small white one $4.99 and a small coloured one 7.99. I am so glad ours did so well this year.

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  4. Cabbage is one of my favourite veggies and I eat a lot of coleslaw in summer. The price of veggies is shocking at the moment, isn't it?

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  5. Not sure what $6.99 is in £s but it sounds a ridiculous amount of money!

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    1. I think it works out at about three and a half pounds.

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  6. Everyone here are full of complaints about food prices, but everything is more expensive, fuel, either used in production or transport is push prices higher. I hate food waste, my mum always used all the food, and reused anything left over. We need to go back to basics, use all the food purchased, as the household waste figures are really high. If everyone tried a bit harder, there would be plenty of food, and the overall cost of your shopping would level out. PS, I can't stand cabbage these days.

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    1. As you say, everything is becoming more expensive. I guess it will level out again one day, as it has in the past.

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  7. Sounds very yummy, and yes, let it sit for a while, so it can mix the flavor, if you like ;-)
    Yes, prices rise here, too, crazy.
    And unfair. E.g. Ingo has to drive to work, it´s not for fun. It´s a crazy world - but isn´t it always?

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  8. I hope our cabbages are not so expensive this winter. They're still not on the market yet. Tomatoes are more expensive than usual but not too bad.
    I love cabbage. Coleslaw, Greek cabbage salad, and my Mum's curried cabbage. And it's one vegetable that lasts a long time.

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    1. Curried Cabbage sounds interesting. I'll have to look up a recipe for it.

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  9. Yes....i agree that we rely on Supermarkets too much. Plus, these days they do not have big warehouses with big storage but rely on regular shipping to keep their stores supplied. Between shipping disruptions, farm labour shortages and driver shortages we could all quickly be without food. Add a natural disaster and we really have a problem

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  10. I can't believe the price - yikes. I don't make cole slaw very often, but now that you've got me wanting to try it with olive oil, I will. Will keep you posted on the price here. And those are words of wisdom: reminding me it's time to double check our food storage. I always do before winter comes, but you're right...if super markets can't get supplies or the prices go even higher, we need to be prepared.

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  11. Prices are way up here also. We try to make the best use of what I buy, have no leftovers and throw nothing away.

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  12. I'm just happy I'm not making meals for 7 people any more. Now that it's just the two of us the grocery bill is much less but I have noticed how much prices have gone up..

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  13. Prices have sure gone up.here, too. Every thing one looks at has increased in price.

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  14. Wow that is a lot for a cabbage! That is one of the few things that is fairly cheep to buy in the UK, it grows well here. I have a veg box delivered which is much cheaper than buying supermarket veg and without all the packaging too. We grow some things in the Spring/Summer but don't have enough land to be self sufficient.

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  15. Oh my goodness! $6.99 for a cabbage. My husband picked up a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread this week. It cost him $4.27. Never in my life did I think I would see bread that expensive. I really do need to make better use of my garden.

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  16. crazy prices these days for vegetables! tho at least avocadoes are wonderfully cheap and plentiful. something to do with farmers planting 3 million trees over the last 5 years here in Oz!

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