Still Lovin' The Antigua Hostel Kitchen

I've been challenging myself for the last week or so, to see if I can eat (moderately) well for a bit more than a dollar a day here. Shopping at the (expensive) grocery store, that hasn't been too challenging. Sure, I've needed a bit of imagination to come up with some stuff.

But for the most part, I've been well, if repetitively, fed for the last week.

I've nommed pancakes (just about every day) with failed simple syrup (it keeps crystallizing), "Mexican" stove-top pizza, and fast pasta with fresh-whatever.

Today, I wandered down to the supermarket, knowing I had an almost-empty pantry and no caffeine waiting for me back at the hostel. I was hoping for the magic 4lb bag of potatoes for 6Q. Unfortunately, there were no magic bags this morning, so I picked up loose potatoes, instead.

It is potato harvesting season down here, by the way. So the potatoes are fresh. Like, with very soft, almost see-through skin fresh. I picked up about a pound and a third, and I'll spread it over three meals. That, plus two good-sized onions, 4 medium Roma's, 2 small cans of black beans in tasty sauce, and 3 cans of soda cost me Q28.85, or a bit less than $3. Not a dollar a day, I'll be back tomorrow for some pasta to make eating more interesting.

But it let me have something I've been dreaming of for a couple weeks, at least.

Crispy, yummy, salty, greasy, fried potatoes. With a quarter of an onion for flavor, a can of beans for nutrition, and a diced tomato for nutrition and yumminess, it was just what I wanted.

Sorry, no photo. I ate it too fast. Only three things could have made it better--

1. Someone else to cook it for me
2. Garlic
3. Some melty, tasty, cheesy thing.

Otherwise, it was perfect. Gonna have it again, just like this time, tomorrow for breakfast. Om-nom nom.

Food Cost of "Luxury" and A Magic Kitchen Toy

I spent close to 200 pesos yesterday. About half was just trying to break a 500 peso note- not easy here. The rest was on (overpriced) water, a soda, and more than my share for communal dinner last night.

Which sounds bad. Actually, if "more than my share" of dinner was more than 15 pesos I might be more upset, but it was only about 25 pesos, and dinner fed 9 people for about 10 pesos each, so it's not that big a deal (spaghetti alfredo, if you're wondering- and yes, I think cream *is* cheaper here).

But that's not luxury, unless you're on some kind of low-fat diet. For me it was more of a hell (please let my abdomen like this, please oh please, etc), but it tasted good.

No, luxury was cheese and white bread, and a tiny tub of Nutella for us$3.75 or so. Oh, and an avocado, but who counts those anyway. Nutella is magic stuff, by the way. Chocolate-y and melty, and "healthy" and good for breakfast. Not my usual speed, but still pretty good. Worth $3.75 (m$45), I think- when you consider it had to come all the way from Cancun, and from somewhere else before then, it's a pretty good price. But, yeah, total luxury. I'd probably be better off eating potato tacos again.

Kitchen Toy of Magic Shiny-ness

In the hostel kitchen (actually, in many hostel kitchens) they have something called a toasted sandwich maker. They never really caught on in the States, but they're crazy popular pretty much everywhere else. In New Zealand ads for flat-shares would include the toasted sandwich maker on the list of basic mod-cons. Somehow I managed never to use one.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday when I came back with my Bimbo bread and cheese and tomato and onion, I decided to be brave. I decided to use the toasted sandwich maker. ZOMG, it's easy. It's fast. I has a new kitchen love. If/ when I ever have a really for reals home, I am totally putting one in the kitchen there. Maybe even before I add a wok.

It smooshed the bread, and half-sliced it, and melted the cheese, and softened the tomatoes, and toasted the outsides, and I'm sure if I'd thought to spread margarine on the outside it would have even made it better. And it's totally non-stick inside, so I just wiped it out with a kitchen rag after I unplugged it. I has love.

Then I used it again for breakfast. You know how Nutella gets all melty when it's hot? And kinda runny, and just somehow better? Yep, I spread that stuff on (more Bimbo brand) bread, slapped it in the hot sammich maker, and kept the lid shut just long enough to melt the insides and toast the outsides. I bet it'd be even better with the magical speculoos spread (for people who fly Delta, it's a spread made from the same type of cookie as the cinnamony Biscoff cookies they give out). Or, you know, both.

Um, so... yeah, not really a good day for budget eating, but sometimes a bit of "luxury" at home can keep you from wandering over to the pizza place or expensive restaurant, right? Maybe?

Food Should Look Good?

I don't actually have a photo of my breakfast/ lunch from today. I guess I really should just call it my breakfast, since I ended up taking a walk to the very end of "the Mystery Island of DOOM" and dragged a bottle of coke along with me. Um, the drink, not the white powdery stuff. That'd be *really* bad for the whole steady weight thing.

Anyway, this morning I made something that, while quite healthy, and even kinda tasty, looked like dog vomit. With catsup.

No, really, it looked foul. I put it in tortillas and ate about half before I was full. I then promptly tossed the rest.

Not just because it looked like something you should throw out (though it did) but also because I went a bit overboard with the cabbage. I won't be buying more cabbage until monday.

Also, there's *a lot* of cabbage in a softball sized cabbage. I never would have guessed.

Anyway, it was cheap, and kinda tasty (um, less cabbage next time, tho), and if you don't mind food that looks really *really* REALLY gross, you should try it.

Breakfasty Veggie Taco Filling- (feeds one very hungry person, or two normal people)

• 1 potato, diced
• 1-3 leaves cabbage, chiffonade-ed
• 1/4C onion, diced
• 1-3 cloved garlic, diced
• 1/4-1/2C tomato sauce
• splash vinegar
• 1tsp veggie oil
• 1/2tsp salt
• hot sauce to taste
• fresh squeezed lime juice (if you want)

Fry up the veggies (in the oil), starting with the potatoes(until about half done), then onions, then cabbage and garlic. simmer/ fry until the cabbage starts to wilt, then add vinegar and salt, simmer another minute or two. Add tomato sauce, hot sauce, and lime juice. Serve in a bowl and fork into tortillas for yummy filling breakfast.

For eggy types, this would probably be good with fried or scrambled egg, meaty types would probably enjoy it with some chopped ham or leftover chicken, or something. 

But yeah, you're warned, it *looks* gross.

Oh, yeah, and everyone at home will be glad to hear it's a been a bit chilly. Needed blankets the last couple nights, and now I even *have* one. No, really, people were in long sleeves and sweatshirts this morning.

Day 334- Junk Food And Oatmeal

I got paid early (don't you love when that happens?) so yesterday I wandered to the store and picked up my chips and soda. I ate the chips (duh) and started the soda. I think I'm getting closer to breaking the soda habit- something about only having it some of the time.

No fun, right?

Anyway, I nommed the whole bag of chips and some of the soda, and made a small vat of oatmeal.

The oatmeal actually wasn't bad- I used a glass pie plate to make it, so it dried out better as it cooked, and a handful or so of crunched up almonds, and vanilla and apple juice, and salt, and water, and cinnamon. Oh, and sugar, but not quite the perfect amount- It would have been better with just a bit more.

So that's what I nommed yesterday, while watching Firefly and working.

Now I have to figure out what I'm buying tomorrow morning. I think probably stuff to make fried rice. It's been a while since I had a fried rice-a-thon. And maybe cheap beans and some more rice. I dunno yet. Ideas? I'm looking at maybe $5 worth of "real" food, maybe $6. Onion, cabbage, sweet potato, frozen peas, rice and a pound of beans?

Day 333- Sleepy

I slept almost all of yesterday. I don't know if it's a nutritional thing, a getting sick thing, or just a sleepy thing. But I slept pretty much all day. Crazy, right?

Anyway, when I was awake I nommed some more noodles (which aren't going to last long at this rate, I think I only have three or four bundles left) then mixed up some "cheese" sauce using cashew bits and spices. Turned out ok, eaten with chips. Kind of like a bland swiss cheese. With a grainy texture. Ok, maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was good enough, filling, and full of tasty nutrition. 'Specially since I gave it a shot of the magic nutritional yeast.

Meanwhile, I have to start getting my stuff ready to move- I'm out of here on the 30th, and that's only about 2 weeks from now. I've done nothing really about moving yet except eat down my already tiny pantry. After i take care of getting rid of my soda bottle collection (finally found out where the recycling is in this blasted town) I need to wash and dry and dry and dry and bag everything I own that can be washed, then get it into my car before it has a chance to pick up any new bedbugs.

In there somewhere I also need to cook, and eat, and post, and write for dollars. It's going to be a remarkably busy couple weeks. If, you know, I actually stop watching tv shows and napping long enough to get anything done.

I think oatmeal will make a return today. With apple juice and cinnamon and almonds and stuff. Actually, that sounds good....

Day 290 (I think)- "Fast" Food and Pizza

Sounds bad, but this time it isn't.

I was rushing around yesterday. Between the stuff I needed to get done at home on my "off" day, and the stuff I had to do outside the house, I was kinda busy.

For breakfast, I had the leftover crust from Tuesday's pizza. That kinda rush.

So around 4:30, when I realised I had to be at mom's in an hour and a half, instead of mixing up something real I checked my e-mail. Then, at 5 to 5, I was like "whoa, I'm totally gonna be late" and mixed up oatmeal.

Now, I've had a bit of an on-again, off-again relationship with oatmeal. Sometime's we're best buds, sometime's I want to torch the fields it grows in and plow them with rock salt.

Yesterday marks a new beginning for us. I made the oatmeal taste good. Then I jumped in the car with my solid enough to eat with a fork oats, and took off to visit mom.

See, by then I was close to running late by Charleston rush hour standards. I had 50 minutes to get where I was going, and about 20 miles to go. I was counting on the hot-food hating forces in the universe to keep the lights all green for me.

It worked out about half way. At the first red light, I grabbed for my bowl of piping hot oatmeal, and the light switched straight to green. Same for the next three, maybe even four. I made it all the way to the highway with  a mostly full bowl of nice, cooling oatmeal.

Then I made a mistake. I turned onto another highway. People around here will know it, it's 526. It's one of those "ring" highways, designed to take travelers (kinda) around major metro areas. In Charleston it takes them from one bloated suburb to another, all day long, very slowly in both directions. Unlike roads heading into the city, there *is* no good direction to drive on 526.

Which I realised before the first exit, and got off the highway, so I could go around and take a different route to mom's.

This is where the laws of being late took over from the law of eating hot food while driving. I sat at that highway exit light for a good 4 minutes. I proceeded to catch just about every red light the rest of the way. I ended up about 10 minutes late. Yep, 1 hour to drive 20 miles, at mostly highway speeds...

But the oatmeal was good, and so was the concert. Mom, the SD, some of their friends from church, and I got to see the Vienna boy's choir. All holiday music, which isn't my favorite, and no-one's voice cracked, though it was close. Really beautiful, tho. And some of those boys are *tiny*.

When I got home I made pizza. I was starving. Used the basic dough (no real rise), stretched it out over the magic non-stick foil, and covered it with onions, garlic, and zucchini fried and hit with red wine, half a sliced tomato (from mom), and the last of the mozz. cheese. Super filling, and super tasty.

The perfect oatmeal-

• 1/2C oats
• 2T sugar
• 1tsp cinnamon
• dash salt
• 1tsp to 1T vanilla
• 1/2c apple juice
• 1/2c water

Stir, microwave 1.5 minutes. Stir. If eating with fork, cook another 1 to 1.5 minutes. Nom

Would have been better with something crunchy in it, but oh well.

Also, Bear would like everyone to know that he got sand in the camera when he and mom went to the beach. So there *are* photos, he's just not sure mom can get them off the camera. I might have to go do magic with my laptop and the memory card, but she might be able to get the stuff to work. We'll see.

Bear also wants everyone to know that he figured out how to steal the roll of toilet paper off the back of the toilet. It took some time, and a lot of ear-fur singeing brain work, but he learned that he *can* stand on the toilet seat, and reach the roll from there. He brought it to mom, to show her his amazing new skill. She is not amused.

OBD 21- Beans

I *was* going to make food for the next week. Mom has a pile of veggies she picked up for me, which I have yet to get my grubby little hands on. I'll have to trek over there later today and fetch them, most likely.

Once I have them in my kitchen, I've got plenty of stuff I can do with them. Until then, I've got to work with what I've got. Also, this work thing is taking up more time than it should. No, seriously... Much more.

So I ended up getting none of what I needed to do done yesterday. I'll probably get nothing done today, and I've got nothing cooked for lunch.

Yesterday I was happily loafing along with Nog for b-fast. Then I answered the phone (oops) and didn't eat "lunch" until after 11pm.

So it's a good thing that I had a bit of rice still left over, and that I scooped out a couple cups of plain beans before I made the rest into chili. I ended up with the world's easiest, laziest, fastest meal.

Beans and rice with lemon juice, onions, and garlic. Just what it sounds like, only the garlic was powdered, there was a bit of oil and cayenne, more than a dash of salt, and something else, but I don't remember what...

Really, for something that took less than 3 minutes to put together, not that bad.

Then around midnight I got snacky and went to the convenience store. Most of a bag of chips later, I'm not doing so well nutritionally, or budget-wise (very still a consideration) but I got closer to a reasonable calorie number for the day.

Now, back I go (pleh).

OBD 9- Oops, No Chili

See, I *was* going to make chili, and it might get made today, but I ran out of energy.

Or maybe I just got sick of fighting the benadryl...

Yeah, probably that second one.

So instead, yesterday I feasted (kinda) on spicy oniony homefries, and sweet hot tea, and oatmeal. Which really doesn't sound that good, or like that much, now that I think about it...

Anyway, the homefries are getting done again today, 'cause they're easy, but I'm nuking them to done-ness before frying them. It cuts down on to-wok-sticking, and also cooking time. Win!

The sweet hot tea was a desperate attempt to beat back the "ack, no caffeine" headache (plus ibuprofen and benadryl...) which eventually helped, a little. More of that today, too...

But the oatmeal? that's where the excitement is!

Last time I made oatmeal I used half water and half applejuice for the liquid (I think). Yesterday i used all abbajuice. Which might have been a mistake. See, the abba juice overpowered the other flavors I added to the oats, so that I couldn't really taste the cinnamon or the vanilla, or even really the basic white sugar. Also, I made the oatmeal in my mug, and didn't watch it very carefully while it was nuking.

Did you know that oatmeal will overflow a mug like one of those lava volcano craft thingies? Spilled over the top and down the sides to puddle on the glass spinning plate-thing. Also made the outside of my mug very sticky and paste-y. I need to get the stuff off before I can make tea again.

Anyway, don't make totally apple juice flavored oatmeal. It seems to be a bit more likely to explode then you really want food to be.

Now, off to soak the mug, make the fries, and maybe even start some chili....

OBD 7- Yayz, Dramaz!

So... the random in the garage comes with drama. And a wife. And a ungrown human genetic experiment. Having met the donors, I'm pretty sure it'll turn out to be a *failed* experiment, but who knows, strange things happen every day.

Hit publix for super sale kraft brand mac and cheese, have angry intestines, ate half a pound of steamed/ stir-fried broccoli with onions, garlic, soy sauce while waiting for Publix to open.

They don't open until 7! What about people who are hungry at 6:30, tho? Yep, they just have to wait. Fail.

Also got choco "cream" cookies. I say "cream" because they contain no dairy. Indeed, based on the ingredients they are (maybe, possibly) vegan. They were also cheap. Win! Unfortunately they also contain every food coloring known to man. Interesting to watch me get nuttier and nuttier and my focus get worse and worse the more I ate.

Stupy food colors.

Anyway, yeah, RM1 has rented out the garage. For occupancy. Without a lease. With nothing going through the "landlord" (his mother), and he can do nothing about my rent, because the lease I have is with his mother. For "his" house.

I'm pretty sure I'm missing something here.

I'm also pretty sure that if my "friend" gets kicked out of their housing and can't live with *family* I don't rent them my garage, let them crash my couch, or otherwise move them in unless:

• We've lived together before
• I don't have other roommates
• Clearing it with anyone else who lives with me
• I have an *empty bedroom* or
• We share genetic material in a "shared donor" or direct donor/ product relationship.

I'd totally help them find a place to stay on Craig's, tho... or an extended stay hotel.

And if that twit asks me one more freaking time why I don't eat turkeys, or tells me again about her non egg eating, but fish nomming "vegetarian" friend, I fear I will give up all claims to nonviolence and slam her head into the table, or wall, or window or something.

And then I'll offer to roast and eat her dogs, cats (she has 10) and child. 'Cause, you know, they're stupid and made of meat.

Ugh.

OBD 2- Broccoli Attacks!

Or, you know, maybe not.

Before I dive into food, I must admit, I have made no more progress on my nano novel except perhaps a big fight with my (fictional) hero (in my head) about who the heck he is. Also, missed this link yesterday-

Genreality- good, interesting, not happy happy joy joy, group blog by a bunch of writers.

Ok, back to food. Technically, all I ate on the 2nd was half a pint of (ZOMG, tasty) ice cream, which is now gone. You might call it "dinner". The previous meal was just before midnight, and the next one just after.

So, since I'm sure no one wants to read about ice cream (all gone, sob), I'll tell ya about what I ate just *after* midnight.

Right, so I went to the store yesterday. Picked up 3 decent sized sweet potatoes, a lemon, a good sized onion, a bit over a pound of broccoli ($1.47/lb, I think it was), and a box of super cheap store brand mac and cheese.

I was craving it. Craving I tells you.

Was a mistake, btw.

Anyway, I cooked up the box of mac and cheese (with water+tofu+blender for "milk" and oil instead of butter), about 1/2 cup of broccoli chopped into small bits, and another batch of the curried popcorn-tofu stuff.

It was *almost* a real meal. Actually, more like 3... A bit short on veggies, heavy on cheese (ugh, mistake) but very filling.

It actually tried to overflow my plate. I *hate* when the food touches other food. I don't know how many people hate it as much as I do, but I used to have plates with sections in them (yes, like babies eat off of...) that I *loved*. They went with the last roommate. Or maybe to her sister, whose son *also* doesn't like the food to touch.

Anyway, that's why I usually make "one dish" meals. Without the dividers it's tough to keep everything separate.

You should see me at thanks-for-giving, trying to keep each different food in it's own little area, with a nice clear border...

Um... yeah... enough weird food talk for today.

Now, to finish the ($0.34) mac and cheese, and never ever ever buy it again. My head hurts....

Off-Budget Day 1 and NaNoWriMo

Food first, then fun.

I started off my off budget month in a flurry of eating. Went to Denny's very early yesterday morning to have something that had been calling to me for a while- the cheese stick sammich thing- even though I know I said I wasn't going to gorge on dairy.

Shouldn't have, by the way. I still hurt from that. Also must have gone through about 5 glasses of full sugar coke. Om nom nom.

Then home, where I chatted at you guys while telling my intestines that gurgling isn't refined.

The intestines eventually got quiet(er), and I hit the grocery store.

It was a junk food kinda day, in case you hadn't already guessed.

Picked up a bag of chips (half off!) and a pint of Ice Cream.

Chips were so-so, but the Ice Cream? ZOMG, happy party in my mouth. I've been dreaming of this stuff since the end of February. The Purely Decadent stuff? It's vegan, they make one with coconut milk, one with almost all soy milk... it's like *real* ice cream, and at my store it's the same price as a pint of that Haagen dazs stuff. Also, the cookie dough? It's Gluten Free. You know of another gluten free cookie dough ice cream that tastes good? Or even exists?

Oh, and did I mention- it's a *real* pint, not one of those wimpy size modified 15 or 14.5 oz ones. Actually says "one pint" on it. How win is that?

So yeah, I ate half of it yesterday, all of the chips... Will finish the ice cream today, and pick up some veggies to nom with my food later today.

NaNoWriMo-

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, peeps. I've started (against my better judgement and desires to actually get stuff done) to use Twitter. I'm gonna give you guys my Twitter ID. It has my *really real* name attached. Please don't IRL stalk me.

What? Paranoid? Me? Just a bit.

Online stalking is ok. It's just the showing up at my grocery store, mom's house, gas station, front door stuff that creeps me out. A lot.

So you can follow me @lazyjayn. If there's a pic of Bear the dog instead of a human, you've found me.

It's also my NaNo name... friend requests accepted.

So, resources...

• I don't know if I've pointed it out before, but I'm in love with Write or Die. There's an online version, or you can buy a desktop one for like $10 (not associated, just in love). The program is in their sidebar, just put in words or time, pick level of evil, and click start. Don't forget to save your work, either.
• I'm listening to Apocalyptica while I write- (most of) the music is fast and there aren't a lot of words to distract me. Good for pumping out wordcount. Better if I know where I'm going first. May change if I ever get to know my characters.
• Harlequin (the romance novel people) are doing some seriously cool stuff over on their blog and community pages and whatnot. There are chats, editors doing some (very limited) quick turn around reviews, blog updates with super useful information, and a chance at the end to submit a first chapter to them by December 15th with guaranteed response by the end of January. Talk about jumping the line with that- 6 weeks instead of 12-15. Win.
• Also, I follow Lynn Viehl's blog. She's a multi (multi multi) published author who manages some pretty serious production every year. Last November she NaNo'd with the unwashed masses and she's doing it again this year. Puts up super useful link lists, offers a view of things from the "other side", and is just generally human.

Right, think that'll help?

None of it's helping me right now. I took off in what turns out to be totally the wrong direction with... um, yeah, no idea where I'm going, no one talking in my head (that sounds good, right? but it's really not) and no real outline. I have just over 1300 words (behind already, ack!) which I'm keeping.

I'm starting over, though. The words I have sound dead. They don't have my voice (at all), and are very tell-y. And it was physically painful to write them. I think I'm keeping the characters, I'll just be playing with them differently. Right now my heroine is whiny and my hero's an ass. Not a good start.

So I'm going to spend an hour or so writing them through, get some outlining done, and maybe do the query for today's eharlequin challenge to set the direction in my head. Then I'll set my stage, drop my characters in it, and see what they *actually* do.

No write or die tho- not until I know who they are and what they're doing. As painful as it is to *read* whiny confused heroines, it's at least twice as bad to write them, know it, and be able to do nothing to stop the dratted twit from doing it.

So yeah, that's me so far.

Other NaNo-ers?

Day 252- And I Stuffed Myself

Like some kind of animal for ritual holiday sacrifice (and roasting, and nomming).

There's something just plain wrong with trying to fatten myself up going into the "holiday" season. I don't know if it's my mental image of me, apple in mouth, on a huge platter with some kale, a la Bugs Bunny(I think) or just a general dis-inclination toward "fattening", but I'm really not enjoying it.

Note- No pic for that one, too many pages of roasted... yeah.... It's a bit too early in the morning for that, thanks.

But yeah, so I feel like I'm fattening myself up for winter harvest. Which is wrong, because only crazy people eat people. And I'm bony anyway.

What sort of stuff did I eat yesterday?

• A biiig batch of fried tofu and home fries, with 3 potatoes and a big chunk of onion;
• Two (big) calzones with pan fried eggplant chunks, onion, tofu ricotta, lots of salt and a solid glug of oil;
• Red sauce equal to about half a tin of tomato paste for dipping.

Did I mention that I'm still stuffed? The calzones were really good. Would have been better with some black olives, so maybe next time I'll remember them. Also would have been better if I'd remembered to let them cool a bit before eating.

So now I have a raw section right behind my top front teeth, from where the sharp edge of the bread cuts in when I bit. And right behind that, on the solid bit behind the teeth, before the archy- bit of the mouth starts, I've got a blister.

Yep, I ate food so hot that it blistered the roof of my mouth. It also made my tongue feel rough and tender. Kinda like I think a cat tongue must feel to a cat. Only with burning and pain, too.

Blargh.

Day 251- I heart Potatoes and Tofu

I don't know if it's because they're easy, or fast, or just so darned flexible, but I heart these two things. I can happily wander along for weeks or even months without either of them.

Then I get a bit of one or the other and it's a mad race to see how fast I can finish it!

I think I'll be finishing off the potatoes I have today (down to half already, should be easy) - probably fry them up with carrot, tofu, onion again for a good round meal-, then make a batch of tofu "ricotta", roast the eggy plant (oops), cook up some onion and mix myself a tasty batch of pizza dough and have "cheesey" calzones for the next day or two. Om nom nom.

Or, you know, for dinner...

Yesterday I worked out a way to get the tofu to fry without burning the flour topping. I just fried the tofu first, plain. All (most?) of the water comes out and kinda oil-poaches the stuff first, then the side against the pan starts to get brown and crispy. On low heat this could take forever, but at med-hi it didn't take too long. On high it'd take very little time, but getting the tofu unstuck from my defectively non0-stick wok would kill the time savings. So I wandered from medium to high, and fried off the bottom, while slicing carrots and onions and nuking a potato so it wouldn't take too long to cook when I was ready to toss it in.

When I had one side all nice and browned (and scraped off the wok-bottom) I added the veggies, then I spiced it (yum), and only *then* did I add the flour over it and toss the whole batch in it. I had to scrape the stuff off the bottom again, but it meant that everything got some crispiness, and there were crispy bits just loose int he food, which I like, and the flour didn't burn, so I could cook the tofu as done as I wanted it.

Yum, and win.

Day 244- The Sweet Chili Sauce Experiment

I'm down to one type of sauce (ok, and a bit less than half a tiny can of tomato paste). The sweet chili sauce of yummy love (+1).

Pretty much anything in my kitchen can (and should) be eaten dipped in this stuff. I'm sure of it now. I started with my spicy pancake/ nugget thing.

And when I say started, what I really mean is I made two or three of them throughout the day, dipping each one in *more* sauce. Yum.

I thought the spicy nugget would end up too spicy with nothing to cut the heat, but nope. The sweet chili sauce made it extra nummy, and the sweetness cut the heat just fine.

Then I made more noodles, this time with onions and powdered ginger, and nommed them. There was still some chili sauce (though not much) on my fork when I mixed them up, so there was even a bit in that. Super nummy.

Of course, I still haven't quite gotten around to the crock pot scouring, so I haven't made the fried bean roll things. But I'm pretty sure they'll taste good in the sweet chili sauce too. If I weren't running so low on general supplies I'd mix up a batch of cookies or a coffee cake and see how they did with this yum sauce, too.

Oh, and I had a biiig sugary mug of chai. I might have to cook up a batch of simple syrup for sweetening, and make "sweet tea" using the chai, a whole lot of ice, and some tasty simple syrup.

For, you know, that authentic southern drinkyness.

Or something.

Day 196- Near Almost Total FAIL

I didn't cheat- Cash Flow says No! I didn't really eat, either.

I cooked up 2.5 of the remaining 3 (tiny) potatoes- 1/2 had to go to the great potato beyond- it was gross. I peeled and sliced (tiny) a small carrot and half a half an onion. Fried and spiced and salted and nommed. Not bad as a breakfast, but I took a benadryl (allergies) pretty much right after that and napped until about 1:30.

By then it was time to go help the SD with his project (which is interesting and will take a whole ton of work), so no time to cook/ eat. Mom bought me a can of diced tomatoes at the Dollar store last week during her shopping, though, so I got to bring that home with me.

When I got home I finally cleaned out the crock pot and got the beans started. I was probably 7 before they were started, and I was ready to pass out by 8:30, so I turned them down and went back to sleep.

Gotta say, being off caffeine I sleep a whole lot more. It's not as restful, either. Driving me nuts. Hopefully I'll eventually catch up on my sleep-debt, but for now? This sleeping thing is getting old fast.

For today I'm thinking tea, spicy beans/ tomatoes/ onion over rice, and later maybe some bread. Yum, right?

Day 195- Bread, Tomatoes, and Allergies

Allergies first-

So, the RM's all smoke. tobacco (and I'm assuming other) smoke sets off my allergies. Normally not too much of a problem, 'cause they smoke in the garage and try to keep the door closed so it doesn't get into the house. Lately, though, the smoke's either been seeping through the door, they're not closing the door fast enough, or it's getting picked up by the AC unit and pumped straight to my room.

So my nose is *huge*, I keep sneezing, my eyes look really bad, my head is killing me, and I just want to lay around and say "bleh." Not going to work, though. I have too much to do- today I need to get some of my own work done before hopping over to mom's house and working with the SD on some business idea/ opportunity he has. So setting up a blog/ web page/ whatever. It'll be fun. But I need to be clear-thinking and un-stuffed before I go.

I think I get food out of it, though.

Back to Bread and tomatoes.

Bread and circuses might be more fun, but at least I know what quality bread I'm getting. Well, and I'm less likely to die of typhoid.

I made a loaf of bread. Or rather, I made what I'm calling a loaf of bread. I don't think I kneaded enough, and then I probably didn't cook it right. The top expanded like a muffin and cracked all over the place. It was still edible, but probably could have done with another 10 minutes baking time. Oh well.

I took it out and started making a tomato-sorta salad to go over the bread- just chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and some Italian seasoning. The tomato was... strange inside. the seeds had started to go, but the flesh was still rock hard. dratted grocery store tomatoes. I guess that's the down side to buying non-roma tomatoes at save-a-lot, no matter how cheap they are.

I took out the seeds and washed the flesh and called it good. Sliced the bread into slabs and toasted it a bit under the broiler, and when it was a bit browned piled it on my plate, dragged the bread and salad back to my room/ cave, and nommed of the salad on the bread. Ok, fine, so it's just bruschetta, but it was yummy, even with the crappy tomato.

I have *really* got to get some beans cooked. This is just getting silly now.

Speaking of now, I think I'm gonna go finish the last 3 (tiny) potatoes, with some carrot and onion. Om nom nom.

Day 193- Tasty Bread!

So yesterday I ate bread. I started off plotting to cook the chickpeas, realized I was too hungry for that, and moved on to my next want- bread. Of course, what i really wanted was a loaf of bread, cut into thick slabs, toasted, and smothered in tomato /onion /oil /balsamic topping. Which, of course, takes longer because you actually have to let it rise.

So that bread-y idea got tossed, and I moved on to twists, which is also where I ended. Sneaky, right?

So I made the twists, heated the oven, mixed up some oil /herb/ salt/ chopped onion stuff, dragged the twists through it, drizzled/ spooned the extra over the top, and baked them (not long enough). Then I mixed about a tablespoon of my tomato paste with 1/3 or so of a cup of water, some salt, some more herbs, and nuked it. Tasted kinda like tomato soup, strangely enough. Yum dipping sauce, though.

Then (of course) I nommed the bread. And nommed it, and nommed it.

Around 5pm I started thinking about making something for "dinner"--maybe actually cooking the chickpeas or something. Unfortunately, I've been falling asleep sometime between5 and 8pm lately, and I was too sleepy to tackle that. Probably today, though. I'm not sure if I want falafel or chickpea curry more.

And, of course, I *still* want the bruschetta. Maybe if I make pita breads...?

Question- You guys interested in another challenge? It's back-to-school *and* end of cookout season (n. hemisphere, anyway...) so some possibilities. What do you think?

Day 123- Sleeping In and the New Cheating Rule in Action

I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a morning person. So my waking up at 5 or 6 in the morning for no other reason than to write up what I ate yesterday so it's up by my randomly chosen time of 7am is more than a little strange. Calling what I did to day sleeping in feels wrong, too.

I mean, I'm writing this at 7:30, not noon (oh, noon, I love you so...).

But wow, did it ever feel good to just hit snooze.

In actual food related news- i used my one cheat for the week yesterday. I was hungry and didn't feel like cooking (crazy, right?) and just wanted to veg for a while, so I picked up a bag of chips and nommed most of the way through them. I'll finish them off today.

It felt kinda weird being "allowed" to cheat. I was all for a bag of chips, then when I was actually on my way to the store to buy them I realized that this is my *only* junk food for the week. Wouldn't I rather have ice cream? Or Amy's frozen burrito? Or Cupcake the Size of my Head?

But no, I wanted chips.

Any maybe some week soon I can go to Moe's and get a burrito the size of my head (note the theme here?) and be stuffed on beans and tofu I didn't have to cook for two or three hours.

I didn't just have chips, btw- I finished off the black bean salad stuff yesterday morning. It actually gets better as the vinegar soaks into the beans and the flavors mix. It would have been even better today, but it's all gone.

Also, I have yet to find the "enough to repel biting insects and strange men" garlic ingestion threshold. Gnats are feasting on my hands and wrists, mosquitoes on my hips and arms (only bad thing about low rise jeans- new real estate exposed to mosquitoes). Ever try not scratching your hands? Yeah... not going so well.

Ok, have a good Thursday, and good luck with your challenges.

Day 122- 1/3rd of the Way Done and a New Challenge!

First though, I actually cooked and ate yesterday. A lot.

I didn't even spend much more time than it took to make rice. I know, because I filled and started the rice cooker first.

This is my super lazy, ultra cheap kinda channa masala thing. Really, it's just chickpeas, cooked onions, salt, tomato paste, and curry powder. Chop and fry the onions (and some garlic) in some oil, when they get soft, add everything else and some water, and cook until it thickens a bit.

I did this whole thing (and started/ rinsed black beans from dry in the crockpot) while the rice cooked. I even had time to do some dishes so the kitchen was just about clean when I finished. Not bad, right? This is one can of beans, so probably two servings for a normal person- Less than $2 as made, less (lots) if dried beans are used. Probably get it down to about 30 or 40 cents per serving, including rice.

Black beans cooked, I rinsed them and made my own version of the black bean salad/ salsa.

Now, normally this would have half an avocado, some lime juice, maybe some cilantro, and a handful of frozen corn in it. But I don't have any of that stuff, so it's ultra basic-

• 1qt cooked black beans (est)
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/3 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• oil
• vinegar
• salt

Dump it all in a bowl and nom away.

Optional-

• chopped avocado
• chopped cilantro
• roasted or frozen corn kernels
• lime
• all ingredients, really
• corn chips for efficient salad intake

really, super easy. I think the most expensive ingredient might have been the oil. Or maybe the 16 cent tomato.

ok. So on to the challenge.

This time the challenge is pretty much all make at home.

I challenge you (yep, you out there) to adjust a recipe that's expensive to make the "right" way so that it's more affordable. The goal is 20% savings, with out it taking more than a couple extra minutes hands on time, and without seriously changing the flavors. Most people won't notice if, for example, you use cheap long grain rice in a recipe instead of basmati, or if you use legs and thighs for your chicken skewers instead of boneless skinless chicken boob.

And just to make it more... interesting, it should be something you wouldn't be embarrassed to serve to guests. Extra invisible points for larger savings, pictures, side by side price breakdowns, and whole menus. Same $5 shopping limit as last time.

Think next Friday sounds like a good deadline? Ooh, and extra bonus-y bonus points if making it cheaper *also* makes your recipe healthier.

Any questions? Does that sound fair? Anyone know what they're doing?

Day 121- Almost No Food

Not in the pantry, that still overflow-eth. In my tummy yesterday.

I managed in the morning to make some spicy fried dough stuff (and by some, I mean a big plate full), but after that, there was no desire to cook *or* eat. I thought about some lazy channa masala-type stuff, but it didn't happen. Then I saw that Allie at Yum In Tum made Corn and Black Bean Salsa.

So, back in the days before student debt, credit cards, and having to actually pay for things myself, I used to eat something like that about twice a day. I'd eat it on chips or in tortillas, or even just off a spoon. i give the recipe to random strangers, along with the knowledge that everything in the recipe is optional, but that if they leave out the black beans they can't call it black bean salad anymore.

I was motivated, I was interested. I was without cooked black beans. And it was hot, and I was tired. And I fell asleep. Oops.

See... If you want to get kinda technical about it, this is my first "real" summer in about 7 years. 2004's summer was spent in Wyoming. So was 2005. 2006 I was southern hemisphere, but I didn't get there until about halfway through February, when it's slipping fast into autumn (they looked at me funny every single time I called the season between summer and winter "fall"). By the time NZ summer rolled around between 2006/2007, I was solidly used to their weather, and 75 was roasting. But that's really not summer. Then I moved back to Wyoming, where anything over about 80 has the whole town passed out under wet towels, in front of fans, begging for A/C.

So 95 with high humidity is a bit of a change. And my car doesn't have A/C (has heat though... maybe a bad choice?).

So I'm going to try and get the ol' crock pot fired up today and make some beans. then I'm going to work on getting a couple meals in the fridge. Meals from places it's hot a lot, so maybe they'll be appetizing to me when it's hot. Because really? This whole "it's too hot to eat" thing is killing me. srsly.