Week 15

Week 15
4/19/12

Lettuce, red leaf 1.19
Apples, golden 1.91
Potatoes 1.95
Walnuts, bulk 1.80
Ground beef 3.07
Oats, quick, bulk 1.42
Milk 1.99
Bananas 1.36
Sweetened Cond Milk 1.99
Cottage Cheese 1.49
Raisin bran, store brand 3.59
Angel hair pasta .98
Half and half 1.29
Sugar 1lb 1.39
Peanut butter 2.89
Tomatoes 1.21
Tomatoes, canned .79
Pearl barley 1.19
Total 31.50

Wow, week 15 already! This budget has become second nature to me. It's not a big deal, although, I have tried to get more creative(see previous post). When my son was young and I had issues with money and had to budget, I remember doing the shopping by myself, so he wouldn't ask me for something or see some character promoting a cereal that he just had to have. Those times in particular, when he was little, I made it a point of not taking him with me. It worked; he ate what I fixed and he was not much of a complainer, and he was a good eater. As opposed to his mother - I would take forever to eat and was very finicky as a young child.
If you have to shop with young children it can be stressful, more time consuming and somewhat cumbersome taking little ones into the market with you, especially if you're trying to budget and calculate costs. Being able to focus helps get it done and not cave in on something you know you shouldn't be buying. And moms do cave-in once in a while, we almost have to to keep our sanity.

I have been thinking about a realistic budget for a single person; for myself. What would a sound budget be for me with my income level? If a financial crisis happens and you are forced to live on a very strict food budget, the first items to go should be things like soda, frozen premade foods, processed snacks. You want to focus on real foods to make real meals. And if you stock your pantry with real foods, and have on hand flour, oatmeal, sugar - with those ingredients you can make cookies or a sweetbread - and oatmeal can be for breakfast, flour can be for bread. Pantry items become a priority. Pantry items are also versatile. It's not like buying one frozen dinner - and that's all it is. You have the power to make whatever you want with basic ingredients. It's totally your call.

Being on this budget, I look for the solid food items and try to keep my pantry stocked. The things I do miss are flavors and spices and specialty items. I have quite a bit; I was stocked to begin with. There are just certain things I use a lot of , say curry. I am looking to fit that into my budget soon, I use it a lot. I have secret passion for Lyle's golden syrup, I like this on my oatmeal, although, I love molasses and have been using that - pretty soon I want to be able to fit that in. What I'm thinking is that during the summer months when I'm able to stock up on produce (hopefully), I can get some of these items and it won't crush my budget. These things that I normally would use without thinking about, I have to keep my eye on myself and not use as liberally as I would. I am really interested to see how the year turns out, as I honestly don't think I would up the weekly amount by very much.

It's unfortunate that great learning experiences come from adversity - things that make us angry and worry us - but at the end of the day, we're only human and these challenges are life lessons to take with us.

What's Available To You

It's coming up to the most wonderful time of year when produce is beginning to grow abundantly. Local farmer's markets are opening up with displays of gorgeous varieties of produce. Produce sections of grocery stores sometimes will sometimes make note on signs of local items - and get an abundance of something in particular when it's about to become overripe. Look for deals like this - buy as much as you can and freeze some or can it for the winter months. Do this with as much fresh produce as you can throughout the summer growing months.

If you have dirt, use it. I'm giving it a shot and I'm totally amazed at what's growing in my kitchen right now. I have sprouts growing from squash seeds I saved and dried over the winter - and they're growing! Tomatoes can be grown in pots. Compost can be saved on your kitchen counter. Some plants like beans and peas are tall and pretty. Try out just a few plants to see what you can do. Better yet, invest a few bucks worth of seeds, some egg cartons and dirt and see what's possible.

If you're not able to grow your own produce, look for a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and sign-up. If I still lived in the city, no doubt about it, this is what I'd do. You do have to pay up front to support the farm, which is run by volunteers, people who want to learn about farming. A box is distributed to each member weekly from a designated spot. The variety is better than any store and you may get lucky and get heirloom varieties. The CSA's that I have read about often include a newsletter and recipes - now that's what community is all about!

Join a Community Garden. Learn gardening from people who've been around and grown lots of gardens. Now would be the time to join a class or volunteer. Where I used to live in Los Angeles, there was a community garden where you could rent plots and it was about $30 a month (though probably much more now). I see these opportunities becoming more and more available which is exciting.

The thing is, right now is the time. Investigate your area. Plant some seeds. Join a CSA. Maybe you can do a little of each. Join a CSA, grow some plants of your own, take a class. Can and freeze some of the abundance for winter. Learning how to keep things like squash and root vegetables throughout the winter is another really helpful thing to learn, too. To take advantage of what's available you have to do it now.

Follow my garden by clicking the Garden tab or go to www.inspiredhomegarden.com.

Week 14

Week 14
4/22/12

Potatoes 1.43
Tangelos 1.40
Tomatoes 1.32
Lettuce, gr. leaf 1.19
Eggs .99
Bread 1.99
Milk 1.99
Bananas .87
Apples 1.95
Stew meat 3.58
Ground beef 4.01
Green chiles .68
Yogurt, plain 2.59
Total 23.99

I shopped on Friday after the vet. I thought I'd go during the week to get produce but had to get home and check on Duke.

The weather is warming up and I love anything on top of a bed of greens - one of my all time favorites. I don't use much in the way of dressing, just a splash of vinegar, salt and pepper and sometimes a splash of veg oil. And a huge bowl - most likely I'll be going for more lettuce in a couple of days to refresh my lettuce supply.

I got bread, as I do once in a while. At the moment, there are not enough hours in the day. Gardening is a big chore. As well as just plain living that takes up time, I chose not to spend much time cooking this weekend and be outside - it's gorgeous!

My sweet tooth needs a fix so I'll have to stop and get some chocolate chips in bulk. I have a terrible sweet tooth - and chocolate fixes lots of things!

My Little Dog

My little dog, Duke, has been having some health problems lately. He's been drinking a lot of water and having to pee a lot and he's lost some weight. I got him to the vet yesterday to get to the bottom of it, and my little Duke has diabetes. Of course, I was worried if I had something to do with it, if you've read any of my blogs from the very beginning when I told you he was a baker's dog - he'll steal the baguette from a bag of groceries rather than the steak, and stand guard at the oven if he knows a loaf of bread is baking.We all know it's not good for a dog to have human food. The vet assured me that his diabetes is hereditary. But it was not at all news I wanted to hear. He's at a stage where it has progressed. So with a change of food and some medicine for a mild bladder infection, we'll see how he behaves after two or three weeks. Diabetes is controllable and not that expensive to do for small dogs. I am relieved to know this--and pray for the best.

I'm glad the weather is nice now and the warmer months are coming - still have lots of trails to walk! We had a nice walk at the river this morning - a favorite thing for both of us.
Making sure he has a good dog's life!
Keep good thoughts and prayers for my little Duke!

A Taste for Something Very Particular

Last week, as is the usual plan, our office order from a local restaurant. There were "Melts" on the menu. Wow, a melt was just what I was in the mood for, a Tuna Melt fresh off the grill - melted cheese, toasted buttery bread.

I laughed inside when I opened my box. I wished I had made it myself. The toast was dry "toasted" and the tuna spread on the toast with the cheese on top "melted" in a salamander. Once I took a bite, I craved my own version. It is nice to have this weekly lunch meeting, and get to order from one of the many local establishments - I appreciate it very much and look forward to it with all of my co-workers. And as with lots of things in life, You Can't Always Get What You Want, but sometimes you get what you need. I ate it - it was lunch.

Real Food Rots

I had a conversation with my stepmom a while back. She was telling me about someone she knew who had kept a potato that had pesticide on it for over a year and a half - it didn't go bad.
I have my own experiment going, I have a bag of snow peas that I've had since the beginning of February. They have not turned one bit brown, moldy or even curled or become limp. Because of this, I will never, ever buy produce in a bag again. Everyday I look at them in my frig and am more and more blown away that we as consumers are being sold food like this - it seems like it's wax! I'm keeping them to see just how long they will last.

I've bought bread, too, that has stayed much longer than it's supposed to. An artisan bread with very few ingredients will go hard as a rock in about 24 hours. A loaf of  so-called French or Italian bread that is common at the checkouts of large grocery chains has a long list of ingredients and will still be soft in a week. Remember, the fewer the ingredients, the better the quality of the food.

Real, fresh produce is supposed to rot. Fresh produce is supposed to mean what it says - freshly produced, which means it needs to be consumed. Ready to eat. It's not supposed to have a shelf life.

If you shop at the market once a week, you should be able to have enough produce to last for the week, either by keeping it in the frig or in a cool dark place. And over-ripe fruits can be made into breads or frozen to make smoothies. Veggies can be cut up and frozen or made into soups.

Pay attention, don't let anything go to waste. It will go to waste, it's supposed to.

Quality vs. Quantity

Budgeting food really can be a better quality of life. Think about how much you spend freely when you have a good job and are not paying attention to your spending habits. Just buying willy-nilly whatever you or your family wants. Maybe you've bought really good quality foods and named brands, some processed snack foods thrown in the cart. Veggies in bags and seasoned meats to "help you out". Lots of food in the frig but "nothing to eat". Kids too good for leftovers?

Turn this picture around. Job insecurity becomes food insecurity which becomes a budget. Waste is not allowed and certain packages in the cart are put back because they're not "real food". Leftovers in the frig become real food if you're hungry. Now, thinking more about the true value of nutrition you eat better on less. Looking into your frig and cupboards - you think about what you can do with what you have, not what do I want that's not there. This is called being resourceful and naturally happens when we become insecure - we want to be able to do the best with what we have - I truly hope so. Though, it's not always the case. Many people have learned to be resourceful during different times in their life or different economic times that have affected them.

We learn that having a lot does not mean we've been living the best quality. Living high on the hog and buying without planning and letting food go to waste is just a bad habit, also. Facing job insecurity can be a learning experience for budgeting and buying wisely - once back on track it's a way of living differently and much better for the experience gained. Quality can become a way of life by learning to budget.

To learn reusing and re-purposing and not buying everything brand new or buying just to have something - is a great opportunity to have a few times in life. A really nice aspect to looking at things, I find, is that I buy what I really want because I have to wait, so I buy something not because of a name brand or because of how it would make me feel if I owned their product. The things in our life should make us feel good, because we love them, we've earned them and worked for them.

Take advantage of learning to budget yourself, and when you don't need it anymore and still use it, quality of life will stay with you.

My Work Life

Work is good, it always is. Food and eating at work is another story. Everyone knows about my project and the concessions I've made for work. On Friday we have our work-lunch meeting which is a nice perk for the week. And once in a while someone will bring in a treat, either from home or from a local bakery or from the store. Today, I felt like I need to reciprocate and took a quick walk to the market. I got a bunch of fresh strawberries and some gluten-free brownie bites for my co-workers. It was a good treat, although it would've been better if I made the brownies myself. Maybe next time.

One of my pet peeves is eating at my desk. I loathe not being able to get away to eat my lunch. My hours are a straight 8, which I do like, and don't wish to change. So that's just how it's going to be. Everyone eats at their desk and this schedule is something we all sort of appreciate because a whole hour break would be a waste of time. Almost every single office job I've ever had has been this way. So, like a lot of other people in the world, I just live with it. On my own time I try very hard to focus on my meal. I think work stress is something we all deal with and time with our families and other activities are so important and that one hour takes so much away of our life that working 8 hours straight suits us just fine. I think I speak for lots of people that work to live our life that is away from work. We all work so we can have a life.

Trying To Be Creative On A Budget

I know I'm a creature of habit but this is ridiculous!

13 weeks into this project and I'm starting to feel a bit monotonous. Keeping with my budget, I tend to buy the things I know will fill me up. I have to admit, trying anything new is a risk on my budget. I just bought yellow split peas and to be completely honest, I'm not too crazy about them. However, I will eat the soup I made with them and probably freeze a couple of servings. And most likely, never buy them again. I've been thinking about quinoa, I had this grain many, many years ago and was not particularly fond of it. But it's been catching my eye in the bulk bin, so, I'm thinking about buying a cup of it and finding a doable recipe with ingredients I like and giving it a shot. Perhaps, next week.

The part of this that gets me is buying flavors and herbs and spices - these items are pricey and cut into my actual food budget, and this is a definite concern. I have quite a few spices and would recommend buying spice in the ethnic food aisle of the market or actually going to a local ethnic grocery store where more variety is available without the brand names.

Thinking about this more, I think I will take the spices I have and look up recipes using each one of them. Mainly looking for ideas - I can always adjust a recipe.

I have my Recipe Book that is filled with inspirations - in picture and recipes and my own ideas. I highly recommend starting one, if you haven't already. I have a section on this in my book - worth having a look! Staying within my budget while perusing my book for ideas will be my main focus. A few new ideas, a few new flavors...just what my tastebuds need! Keep 'ya posted!

Week 13

Week 13
04/15/12

Exactly one-quarter of the way through my project!

Canola oil 4.99
Red onions 1.95
English muffins 1.99
Brown rice 1.63
Yellow split peas .76
Oatmeal .50
Mint chocolate tea 2.79
Cheese 2.99
Oatmeal quick 1.03
Milk 1.99
Total 20.62

I don't think I have ever eaten yellow split peas, and they caught my eye, so I have them simmering on the stove right now. I hope I'll like them!
I've been really into my oatmeal thing - I mix the rolled oats with the quick oats and the oat bran, and it's a really nice texture. I usually add raisins, sometimes cinnamon and walnuts - with very little sugar.
When I see English muffins on sale, sometimes, I like to get some - I love toasted English muffins.

I'm trying to think up my work lunches. I made some tortilla chips with a bunch of tortillas, which last a long time and make great chips. I've never taken chips to work with cheese and all the toppings for nachos, not sure if I want to do all of this. I have the soup on the stove...Maybe baked potatoes with some soup over the top. Also, I can do an English muffin with PB & J or Nutella. I have some meat frozen - some cooked shredded beef and chicken breasts. I have a couple of bananas; probably have to make a produce stop in a couple of days.

Mint tea is one of my favorite things, and chocolate, WOW - it's great plain or with a little milk and sugar, I call it a Mint Tea Latte (I wrote about this in a post last summer) - great night-time treat. I think this one will be easy to make homemade with mint tea leaves and cocoa powder. Mint will be growing in my garden this summer! Mmmm, delicious, iced mint tea....and all the many different variations!

Rising Food Prices

If you haven't noticed it already, food prices are going up. This year the expected increase is supposed to be 2.5 to 3.5%. Gas prices are going up again. Natural disasters and financial market drops, also, play their part in the prices we pay at the grocery store. The best thing we can do is take care of ourselves as well as we possibly can, on a budget. Home cooking is a significant and powerful step in taking care of ourselves. Budgeting, buying whole foods and cooking from scratch as much as we can are important changes we need to look at closely and implement into our daily life.

Simple cooking with three to five ingredients. Easy, tasty food can be affordable on a budget. Cooking well in your own kitchen should not be intimidating; it should not be overly time consuming; it should not be a daunting, overwhelming task that drains you. And if cooking at home makes you feel this way and gives you this kind of anxiety, then you need to change your thoughts, simplify your kitchen and get used to your own cooking.

For many, many people, food tastes better if someone else cooks it. If you're just now learning to like what you cook, I recommend making a list of some of your favorite foods that you go to in restaurants or in other peoples' homes. Use this list to make your own repertoire. Get clear the flavors you like and types of food you tend to lean towards. From your list, look up recipes online to make easily and healthy at home. Change out some of the fatty ingredients restaurants use, keeping the flavor.

Learn the techniques and prepping you need to do to make some of your favorite meals. Get some of the prepping done ahead of time. If you like stir-frys, do some of the chopping ahead of time and keep this in the frig ready for the night you choose to make it. Keep chopped onions, mushrooms and peppers in containers in the frig - saute and pour in some eggs for a quick meal. Measure out flour and dry ingredients for quick breads so all you have to do is mix in the wet ingredients - in no time at all you've got a quick bread in the oven.

Keep in mind that you don't just start to cook a meal 30 minutes before mealtime - unless you have thought ahead and planned ahead, and prepped ahead of time - and have dinner on the table 30 minutes from the time you walk in your door after work. Just don't start thinking about what's for dinner when you're tired and hungry at the end of a long day, this is a recipe for disaster.

A good, solid food budget is a wise action to take with the rising costs of living. Home cooking may seem like a homely little thing to do to make significant changes in your life but why don't you try it anyway?

Tribute to the Highway Cafe

I have a love for Cafe food. Food cooked on a grill, grilled cheeses, melts, burgers. Good, old coffee shop breakfasts - eggs fried on a grill, pancakes, french toast. I owned the coffee shop in the Culver Ice Arena for a couple of years way back when. The best part of running that little place was cooking on the grill. I could do 30 burgers at a time with my prep table ready with the fixin's. It was amazing and my grill menu was a hit. I had a bit of experience when I took over and added some items to the menu that were instant favorites like the melts: tuna melts, patty melts, grilled ham and cheese and club melts.

I have a thing for cafe food. I've read Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, many more times than I should ever admit - probably going into triple digits. I love a place with regulars coming in every day. Hearing the goings-on in the community, be it a small town or an ice rink - it feels like the center of things in that particular area; the hub.

Cafe food is a big inspiration in my home cooking. I have cast iron griddles that I've had for several years now - and truth be told I have a particular affection for my cast iron because it reminds me of cooking on a grill. I even found, at Surfas in Culver City, a baster, which is the round lid that you can place directly on the grill for melting and steaming. My baster is great for fried eggs, melting cheese quickly - it bastes and melts, keeping the moisture in. One great hat-trick!

Many inspirations for cooking come into my life daily, but the Cafe - I can say, is one I use on a daily basis. Griddle, I suppose would be a more accurate word for it, but I prefer to use "grill". Menus from coffee shops are a favorite of mine - great inspirations for my own versions made in my home kitchen. Just one of many, many inspirations for home cooking!

Week 12

Week 12
04/08/12

Flour, 10lbs. 4.99
Bananas 1.03
Carrots .42
Raisins 1.21
Milk 1.99
Total 9.64

Not much needed this week. I had stocked up over Spring Break when my son was here. Been cleaning out the frig and freezer this week. I had some leftover chicken soup along with some beef I had cooked in the crock pot. Tonight I made a loaf of Soda Bread - it's the easiest bread and makes great sandwiches. Try it with some butter and a little yeast - it's the same way I make popcorn - soooo dang good. Made some egg salad and will have that for lunch tomorrow. I had gone over budget - but I knew I'd have leftovers so I knew it wouldn't be over my budget in the end. The raisins are for my oatmeal - creature of habit every day - for breakfast. Over the weekend I made banana bread with whole wheat flour and spelt flour and added chocolate to the mix - amazing! Little changes here and there can do wonders for keeping it interesting! Maybe tomorrow some lentil soup...with a curry twist, maybe?

My yard has been keeping me busy - oh, have I been raking up some leaves! Check out my Garden tab to see what I've been up to. Gardens are a lot of work, initially - I'm learning. Once everything is in place, I hope to reap the rewards. All of my seeds have been started in egg cartons sitting on my kitchen counter. Careful to keep the little plants protected from this unpredictable mountain spring weather. The wind has been blowing today and it looks like we may be getting a downpour any minute now! I can use the rest today...Phew.

Amazing Pastels!

In my previous post, I talked about Pastels. This is what a gorgeous, Caribbean Pastel looks like!
My cousin, Dan, did an amazing job, as always! I'm homesick beyond-homesick!!

Welcome to Gardening 101

It's that time of the year - Time to prepare the garden! Join me in lots of hard work, wit, wisdom and plenty of sarcasm on Inspired Home Garden.
Just click the "Garden" tab at the top of this page or go to www.inspiredhomegarden.com.

Pastels - Fusion of Heritage and Taste

I don't cook like anyone but myself. So, I think. My heritage comes from many places and tastes. My tastes that came from my family are not the same as my aunts, uncles, cousins or brothers and sisters. We all like different things. We all didn't like different things. My grandmother adored curry and I know a few people in my family that can't even stand the smell of curry. We all came from the same place. I use curry in many things, from chicken and rice to egg salad. To me it's a taste from my past I am very connected to. Ask someone else in my family and their answer will be quite different.

There are many good cooks in my family. Outstanding cooks, I should say. I have been homesick the past few days just knowing my cousin Dan is making Pastels this weekend. This is a family 'connection'. My grandmother made them. She made them better than anyone. I even went to Trinidad, the country where she brought them from, and sadly they did not even compare. My cousin, Dan, was young enough and at her side when she decided to bring this familial dish from her mother to us. I was seventeen, too old to be at my grandmother's side learning an old tradition, unfortunately. Dan was there. When they found a banana tree, in Los Angeles, to trim leaves from, he was giggling, red-faced as they snuck up to the tree and cut the leaves off and ran back to the car. I would have been down in the backseat overcome with embarrassment, ignoring her as she egged me to help.

Dan is an accomplished Pastel maker. A Pastel is full of flavorful ingredients that take lots of time to cook and assemble. Assembly is key. There is a stack of foil, cut into squares. A stack of banana leaves, washed and steamed to make pliable. A pot full of a mixture of chicken and sometimes pork - the seasoning of which I am not completely sure, although, I know lots of garlic went in - that took hours to cook and get right. Golden raisins, capers in the meat mixture, also. There is a masa, spread first on the banana leaf, spread out. The meat mixture is then spread on the masa. Sliced hard-boiled eggs are lined up over the meat mixture and sprinkled with green olives. This is folded, tightly within the banana leaf and wrapped tightly in foil. Very tightly in foil. It is imperative the Pastel be steamed in a skillet of about an inch of water. There is no other way. These rectangular foil packages in the frig or freezer were something special, indeed.

Any time I taste a green olive or a caper, I literally expect there to be something else. For the meaty texture to be felt in my mouth mixed with the masa and the flavor of the banana leaf. These flavors have been engrained on my soul. And I am homesick today.

Reheating is not Cooking

The frozen food aisle has good intentions. But the path to a good quality life is not paved with the frozen foods provided by the processed food industry.

Preparing your own foods that can easily be reheated, after taking the time to prepare them and portion them out - either kept in the frig or freezer is our own answer to fast food. I have to get myself in this 'zone'. But I do it. I can eat the same thing for a good three meals, after that I need to taste something else. When this happens the rest of the leftovers go into the freezer. Boredom and monotony is not what home cooking is all about. I want my food to satisfy not just my hunger but my senses, as well. And, my soul. And, I need to cook. Cooking time is special to me. Chopping, sauteing, simmering - open my senses. Feeding your senses is soul nourishing. Smelling food is a connection to everything I'm about; that makes me who I am. I smell onions and garlic and memories come alive; memories only I can connect with. The smell of something vanilla or chocolate baking in my oven - I have created a connection to my soul.

When my son walks in the house and the first thing he says is, "Wow, something smells really good, Mom". Love is this kind of memory. Not love in its entirety, just a familial connecting love.

Someone might say "Food smells good when it comes out of the microwave, too". But that's five minutes of waiting and maybe making the 'turn' required by microwavable foods so they don't scorch on one side. The long lingering aroma of different foods cooking together, producing wonderful gastric juices in our mouths and stomachs. Waiting for food to cook - giving it the time it takes to be the wonderful food you know it will be - is an inspiration unto itself. Good food takes time. Once a person can learn this, there is almost no turning back. I hope to never turn back.

My goal is to inspire people to make home-cooked meals. It's my goal for myself. Like anything inspiring: the inspiration takes place once you begin it. Once you actually do it, you will be inspired to do more. Cook and you will be inspired to cook more. Really, it's that easy.

Week 11, 2nd Trip

Week 11
2nd Trip

Eggs, 18 1.99
Cottage cheese 1.79
Milk 1.99
Sour cream 1.39
Potatoes .95
Avocado 1.97
Total 10.08

Can you believe it!! Week 11 and already a 2nd trip. Always something...I am on this cottage cheese kick right now. I take it to work with fruit and it's good stuff. Oranges and cottage cheese is just heaven and I've been looking forward to it, so I have to keep the stuff on hand.

Week 11

Week 11
04/01/12

Chocolate chips, bulk 2.02
Half and half 1.58
Chicken 6.41
Oats, bulk .92
Roast 10.33
Garlic .31
Total 21.57

Lots of meat. I found the prices for meat are better at a newer market in town. I thought we'd be eating a lot more of it but we didn't. It will go in the freezer. I think I have enough meat for the month to come. I'm pretty well stocked, except for fresh produce and milk for a while. This same thing happened when Chris was here at Christmas. For a month I had food. Does this happen to everyone when they have company or their kids come home to visit? I love to cook,  so there was always food in the frig for him to heat up and dinners and I still have plenty. I sent him with a loaf of Irish Soda Bread and a Vanilla Pound Cake. He's not big on desserts but loves simple baked goods - hence the care package.

Week 10, Trip 2

Week 10
Trip 2

Walnuts 2.58
Asparagus 4.07
Bagels 1.98
Cornmeal 2.39
Mushrooms 2.36
Total 13.38

Just some fill ins. The asparagus was for our celebration dinner. Between the two of us, we had to catch up on the celebrations! Bagels for braunschweiger....should I say trashy decadence? Oh, and so worth it!

Week 10

Week 10
03/25/12

Chicken 4.75
Oranges 1.32
Pineapple, canned 1.49
Braunschweiger 2.49
Chipotle Sauce .99
Apple Juice, frozen 1.59
Orange Juice 1.89
Sweetened condensed milk 1.99
Green chili's, canned .89
Raisin Bran 3.59
Milk 1.99
Total 22.98

Lots of stuff!
I stopped drinking juice, even though I water it down considerably - I got the juices for Chris, and I even water them down for him. Living in the high desert and keeping myself hydrated is really important, I have a tendency to not drink enough liquid in the winter. I used to get frozen juice and not measure the cans of water but just fill up the container and drink a few glasses of those everyday. I've switched to water for myself for the time being, lukewarm glasses of water in the winter to keep myself hydrated - but will drink up what's leftover.

The Chipotle sauce is a real deal, in the ethnic foods aisle, it's a bit strong on it's own but mixed with sour cream or mayo, it adds flavor to tacos or a sandwich or egg salad. It's just flavor, not heat...mmm love the stuff. Braunschweiger is an old-time favorite of mine. I have not bought it in decades, there is a local brand here that I got, but seriously, the ingredients are not much better than the national brand. Why do I love it so much? It's great on toast or a toasted bagel. Delicious. No, it's not great quality meat, it's a once in a while thing. The chicken and green chili's went into the white chili/tortilla soup which was awesome.