Saturday, February 20, 2010

Day 7, part 1

Food has been... interesting... the last couple days. I had popcorn for dinner on day 5 (yes, homemade, yes, lazy, yes, tasty, and I know I need to eat more). Yesterday I did Mad Shopping Extravaganza with Mom, and she bought lunch. She also keeps trying to feed me, give me food, and may at some point get desperate, break into my house, and hide food in my fridge. I hope she doesn't, though, since it's kinda silly.

So for "lunch" (more like breakfast) I had falafel in a pita with veggies and tahini with a side of Bam!'d fries and a Coke. And ZOMG was it good. Well, except the tahini. Tahini, in case anyone out there doesn't know (which is probably just about everyone) is paste made from sesame seeds. It tastes like unsalted sesame seeds. And chalk. I can't stand it, but it's full of calcium and stuff, so I eat it anyway.

But I won't be buying any, and my bones can break, I don't care. It feels like licking chalkboards.

Then last night I went crazy with my food cooking, since I have my crockpot now and added a wok and some other gadgets.
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Most of this stuff went into a country fry/ hash sorta thing. It was yummy, chop (and/ or peel), and toss in a frying pan (wok) with some oil and salt- just add it in order of cooking speed. I put everything but the onions in at the same time and the beets weren't cooked all the way.

Later I made black bean cheater chili, and I'll put a recipe up when I make it again. It would have gone farther/ been better over rice, but I was lazy and haven't made any yet.

On to shopping!

First was a place I love, and a slight change to the "rules"-
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The $3.49 "fruit" is actually 8oz blanched, slivered almonds, which I have plans for (staple). The two items for 1.99 are a five pound bag of potatoes (cheaper but lower quality/ fewer potatoes elsewhere) and a three pound bag of honey tangelos- I think. Oh, and since I'm pretty sure the only veggies anywhere for 50 cents or less a pound are sweet potatoes and cabbage right now, the rule change is that I can go up to $1 a pound. I'd rather not, but woman cannot live on sweet potatoes and cabbage alone.

Mom bought a bag with 4 red onions in it and gave me two. I should have her and DSD over for dinner to make up for it. Need furniture first, though.

Everything else is a "staple"
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This is Earth Fare. I hoped they'd have baking yeast in the bulk bins, either they don't, or I just couldn't find it. Yeast nutrtnl flakes is weird vegan stuff- has vitamin b12, tastes kinda nutty/ cheesy. If you've never had it before and want to try it, get it at a whole foods-type store. The stuff at vitamin places is usually brewer's yeast, which tastes like gross and should not be used to make fake cheese.

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Target of super early closing +2. McCormick is imitation vanilla extract, off brand. Fleishmans is a small tub of yeast. Raisins explain themselves.

and finally World Market
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Only the first two here are food- $3.02 worth of curry powder. It's a 2x2 bag and a 4 or 5 inch square bag. Should be enough for the year.

I think this just about ends my major staple buying. I need to pick up a big bag of flour (found it for $12.50/50lbs), some more rice, and about twice as many beans. I'd also like to get some corn meal for polenta, but that's more difficult to find here. Zany southern-types.

Totals for yesterday-
  • $4.04 in monthly veggies, $0.76 overspend made up with "luxury" money
  • $1.62 in weekly veggies, should last through the coming week $2.34 for 2 weeks, $2.66 left for Feb. 21-27.
  • $18.01 for basic staples and "stuff"
Total spent- $23.67

Total spent so far-
  • $58.49
Total random money picked up off the ground- $0.25

Now I can make just about anything I want! Yay!

Oh yeah, and before I go- I tend to be wordy. Anyone out there in intarwebs land, do you prefer one huuuge long post, or more shorter ones?

1 comment:

  1. Just found your blog from a link at lessisenough.com. I had a feeling you were in Charleston after reading about EarthFare closing early and your trip to the expensive store (HT). After these receipts I know I am right. :)

    BTW - The City of Charleston Farmers Market in Marion Square starts Saturday. Some of the vendors have very good prices, and it might be a good way to stretch the produce budget.

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