Breasts or Thighs?

About two years ago, in the midst of saving our butts off for this adventure, our financial miracle worker told us in a meeting that we were entering the "rinse out your Ziplocs" phase of the saving process. We laughed. Being fond of Ziplocs, tupperware and any other type of plastic polymer storage container we were ready for it. If rinsing out our Ziplocs was going to save a few more pennies to put toward Oz, then we would gladly do so.

Fast forward two years and about four months later. The Ziploc rinsing has paid off but we haven't forgotten about the need to save and spend carefully. We still rinse out the odd Ziploc or hopefully its no name equivalent. We travel around the city on Sundays when it's cheaper. We have become members of places where we were sure to return. We walk everywhere and when we are tired we take the tram. When we need a hotel we try to get one with a fridge and stove so that we can have breakfast in the room and pack a lunch. Linton is a coupon collector and unashamed redeemer! Me, not so much. We slow down at windows that advertise 10% off. K-Mart and Target are our favourite stores.

With respect to the weekly grocery bill we also try to save a few pennies. But that's where it gets a bit trickier. When cost messes around with taste. For the most part food is more expensive in Australia and for the most part - banana for banana - similar in quality. We have taken a bit of time getting used to different tastes in the apple sauce or bacon departments, but for every weird one there is also a Tim Tam or some other tasty pastry making us cry out for more.

Which brings me to last night's dinner. We were having chicken thighs among other things because they are almost half the price of breasts, especially if the breasts are skinless and boneless. This is not a revelation to us, but in Canada with slightly more change in our shorts we would think nothing else of a buying a box of breasts - so to speak. But here in Oz, in a more cost conscious kitchen, chicken thighs are a "go to" staple. Now, we are both preparers of food more than we are cooks and so there was nothing fancy about these thighs - and as result they were blah - little meat, less taste. But I can't blame it all on the chicken as it wasn't my best effort. The roast potatoes were a tad burnt and the beans a bit limp. Regardless, the experience made us all pine a little for a nice, plump breast.

But that is another small part of what this year is about - choices. We chose to take a year off at the cost of missed income, delayed retirement, possible debt. We chose to adventure down under at the cost of missing people back home. We are in a constant dance between breast or thigh type decisions more than we ever have been and the process has begun to teach us what we truly find important and what we can indeed, live without. In the world of choices and chicken parts it is all about cost versus convenience. If a few more bland chicken-thigh a la James dinners are what it takes to keep the coffers full, then that is another choice that I can fully tuck in to.