Recipe for
 budget cuts


Happy New Year! The year 2010 is off and running and there are changes to be noted in the everyday doings of the nutrition program. It is about economizing.


It’s so easy to run a program with substantial funding, but now is the time to adjust to some cutbacks. This program can be run with the same standards and quality as in previous years. Angela Corbett, Alan Krauss and I are working hard to ensure that good food and savings can live together at the Dinner Bell.


One of my favorite ways to save is by making soup; my famous “I’m sorry, but there is no recipe” soup.


The technique lies in successfully foraging through our freezers and saving vegetables and pan juices that are left over. Then, we romp through the fresh vegetable bin, add some Parisienne herb blend, chop up some curly kale (purchased at the store), throw in white beans, barley or pasta and “voila!” It’s soup, it’s cheap and it’s delicious.


We have eliminated a couple of expensive menu items and we’ll try some other more economical dishes using chicken or fish. The church is our meeting place for meals and there we see economizing as well. Everyone has to adjust and I see that everyone is doing so in a positive spirit.


So, 2010 — a year of less salad and more soup. A year to pull together and to see our cup as half-full. Another year to appreciate our comfortable lives, good friends, family, health and the beautiful Island we live on.