Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

This year Thanksgiving was kind of a non-event. I wrote a story, hit a bakery, and had a bottle of wine.

Of course, back home, Thanksgiving is a great chance to stock up on all kinds of food for cheap. Healthy food, even. In South Carolina sweet potatoes go on sale for tiny amounts--like 15 cent per pound. And baking goods are all on sale--everything from flour and butter to baking powder, spices, and "pie filling".

Which means it's a great time to be on a budget.

Sounds crazy, right? Not really. If you eat meat, you can pick up a turkey, otherwise, you can load up on all the other "holiday" food items, and eat like a healthy-eating rich person for a couple weeks. With sweet potatoes alone you can make:

• baked sweet potatoes
• sweet potato fries
• mashed sweet potatoes
• sweet potato pie
• sweet potato gnocchi
• sweet potato ravioli
• sweet potato pancakes
• sweet potato pirogi
• roasted sweet potatoes

Easy and cheap, right? They might each take a couple other ingredients, but most of them are simple and cheap to put together. Some are even fast. The others pretty much all freeze well.

That leaves out all the other Autumn veggies, like squash, carrots, Brussels sprouts, beets (yum), fresh garlic, and on and on. And all on sale--either last week, or for the next couple weeks.

And all I got was a cheap bottle of very young wine. Oh well, it was fun and that's what matters, right? Or something.

Food Exhaustion In Guatemala

When I think of food, I think of many things. Not usually eating the same thing every single day.

When I think of Mexico, the US, or even the rather odd grocery stores of NZ, I see, in my little -j. head, an insane variety of foods.

When I step into the supermarket or open-air market here in Guatemala, though, I don't see any such thing.

If I'm lucky, I see a bunch of packaged food (made with beef fat, yum). Then I cruise past some staples (flour, corn, cornmeal, corn tortillas, corn tortilla mix, oil). And the deli counter. And on (in the supermarket, anyway--in the open-air market I have to cruise past a variety of strange animals in various stages of life/death first) to the veggies.

Right now, in Guatemala, the veggies, the ones that aren't refrigerated, anyway, are tomatoes, potatoes (imported and "nacional"), avocados from Mexico, white onions, garlic imported from China, the odd squash, a couple large but sad looking cabbages, and papaya or banana for fruit.

Oh, and an odd purple/green leafy herb thing. Epazote, maybe? Dunno. Plus a couple sad looking jalapenos.

In the cooler there are some summer squish, unripe tomatoes, greenbeans, corn (cheaper by the basket-load in the *real* market), and a couple other things.

And that's it for veggies. There's some bread, a bunch of (really bad) wine, pasta, mac and cheese, and cleaning products. I think that pretty much finishes off the store.

Oh, sorry, and a couple random spice racks with different brands of spices, a bunch of small fridges with dairy products in them, and those wire rolling basket thingies (big ones like they sell pillows out of back home) full of sugar and rice and beans in bags.

And that's the grocery store. The market is about a dozen times more crazy, more likely to get pick-pocketed, and half the cost. But the same selection.

So since leaving Lake Atitlan for Antigua, I've eaten potatoes. And pasta. And pizza made with refried beans instead of pasta sauce. And the odd bit of processed cheese. And pancakes.

For flavor and nutrition I've had beans, garlic, onion, tomato and oil.

You want to know 12 shiny new ways to use flour, onion, tomato, oil, salt, sugar, and beans? Give me a day, I'll write them down. But I'm running out of ideas. I actually bought *dried* black beans today, I'm so sick of what I've been eating.

I dream in magical piles of food. Food my stomach misses. Food like pickles and saurkraut. Food like cheesey mashed potatoes. Food like basil and olives and vinegar.

And Brussles sprouts. And vegan mayo. And taco seasoning. And vegetables that aren't tomato, onion, or potato.

And, while in the peak of mango season I thought I could never eat another, now that mango season seems to be over, I'd kill for one of those tasty little monsters. Not the big round-ish green ones, no, the "sunrise" or "strawberry" types. Smaller, with softer sweeter flesh. Less grainy, not as stringy. Made of forking magic.

Looks like I'll be making a run to Mexico anyway, huh?

Budgets, Diets, and My Mommy

Even the hugely rich have to follow some kind of budget. That can mean only one sparkly new Rolls a month for the super monied, or eating out less than once a month for "normal" people.

I haven't been following my (unofficial) budget the last couple days. It's not something I *have to* follow, after all. There's more money coming in. I just feel the need to hold back some cash. It's the responsible thing to do. And if I were cooking for myself it'd be no problem. One meal of pasta and veggies isn't that much less expensive than two. But I'm eating out every day, every meal. I don't have a knife or plate (both cheap, but too much effort to track down and bargain for) so even breakfast of fruit involves paying someone for more than just the mangoes. Lazy, right?

Now, if I were staying in the "local" part of town, and eating animals, I could stuff my face two or three times a day for 20Q, or a little less than three dollars. Because I'm down in tourist-land, I'm stuck paying gringo price. If I really cared I'd hike up the hill to town for cheaper food.

Instead I have a running dialogue in my mind. It goes something like this:

"Hmm, I'm not hungry, but I'd like something to munch on. I bet pizza would taste good about now."
"you fool, you just had a huge bowl of soup. you even admitted that you aren't hungry. you don't need pizza"
"Yeah, but I want pizza."
"it's 5 dollars, and the size of a super cheap frozen one back home. you are not paying 5 dollars for a tiny pizza."
"Yeah, but I want pizza. And it tastes good. And it'd be hot, and it's cold now."
"but you aren't hungry, and if you're cold you can damned well go inside. Besides, you just had pizza yesterday. If you keep spending $8 a day on food there won't be any extra money left for eating out in antigua."
"But the less-rip-offy shop is closed today, so I can't go get a bag of chips."
"YOU AREN'T EVEN HUNGRY! SHUT UP ABOUT THE FOOD ALREADY."

At which point I order the pizza. Impulse control will be, I suspect, the last thing to come fully back on line as I re-drug-ify myself. Most of the rest is wandering slowly back in.

Meanwhile, if you've never had pizza with fresh sliced garlic tossed on as a topping, zomg are you ever missing something good. They don't even fry it first. Sooo yummy. Sooo good I'm not kissing anyone. Or breathing on or near them. I get fewer mozzie bites, though, so it's all good.

So yeah, budget+food=diet. I've been supplementing with chips, but really can't wait to get to antigua and one of the three places I've hunted down that have guest kitchens.

Now, My Mommy

My Mommy has a new blog. She's just getting started with it, and hasn't got pictures yet, but I think the meat using types (and anyone who isn't offended or too disturbed by meat recipes) might enjoy it. She's much more with the fancy food than I am--she's cooking for more than herself, so she has a reason to cook better stuff.

She's calling it An Inexpensive, Healthy Food Adventure

And for those who might be interested I suspect Bear the Dog will show up from time to time. I know he wanted to help kneed the dough she was working with last week... With his teeth.

It's ALIVE!!!111one

Hostel BBQ Dinner

It's been a crazy week here- windy and cold (er, 70?), with some rain even. I've spent most of it bundled up under my (1) blanket here at the hostel on the mystery island. In bed, actually, where there is no wifi reception.

And I totally admit to having no food photos either.

Not because I don't like taking photos, though it's really not my *most favoritest* thing to do.

Mostly because I don't like having to remember to fetch my camera from the locker, keep it in my pocket, not crunch or drench it while cooking, and only *then* snap pics of what I'm eating.

Mango, the (8 month old) hostel dog

Also, I'm not so big on the going through the photos, picking out the ones that should ever see the light of day, and deleting the rest.

Iguanas, Hangin' Out

I've been eating lazy food, anyway. I've fallen into a rut. I have quesadillas with black beans and queso Oaxaca (when the entire island isn't out of it), potato-cabbage taco-things, black bean "chili" in tortillas, on rice, mixed with pasta. I nom pasta with veggies and tomato sauce.

Yeah, I think that's everything. There's other stuff to eat here, I just don't eat it. Heck, even if I ate animals I'm pretty sure I'd steer clear of lobster pizza. I just don't see how it could turn out good, ya know?

Part of a (hopefully) dead horse(?). Part of a scapula or pelvis, I think. There were other "horse parts" scattered around.
Old, weathered bone really only *kinda* looks like wood.

I actually realized earlier today (while making pasta for breakfast...) that I haven't made stir-fry. And one of the other people here (going home) even left me their tiny bottle of soy sauce.

Day 359- Back to Chips

I didn't eat "real" food until late yesterday- like 9 pm. Super lazy, I know. I need to do some real cooking, I just haven't quite gotten around to it yet. So last night I had fried fake chicken strips with fried onions and chunked tomato. Which was really yummy, and I think almost makes up for the stuff I ate earlier.

None of it fits into the budget, though. Naughty, I know.

But the chips taste sooo good! And the dog likes them.

Ok, lazy day over, time to go make some yummy food and turn the interwebs back over to mom.

Day 348- The Inexhaustable Dog

Yesterday, in an attempt to actually get *something* done at the computer, I took Bear the dog for a walk.

Ok, so he took *me* for a walk, but close enough. We walked aaallll the way to the local greenway. Then we walked another mile or so. He started dragging his feet (and, you know, shivering in terror at the small barking dogs behind their fences...) and looking tired, thirsty, and sad about a mile and a half into this walk. So I turned him around (he didn't want to...) and made him walk back home.

Back past the big scary strange barking dogs (in their own yards), past the smelly posts and clumps of grass, and small piles of poo. Across a couple streets, down the path, and back to where we got on the greenway.

At which point I was pretty sure I was going to have to pick him up and carry him. The crazy, lunatic, lunging, leaping monster (who leaps and grabs at my arms like those police dog training videos, only without the teeth...) was a slow moving doggie of goo. His feets were dragging. He was staying even with me. He wasn't trying to drag me off the sidewalk to meet cars. Two and a half miles into a three mile walk he *finally* was too tired to misbehave.

er... mostly.

He still tried to dart randomly into the middle of the street a couple times. Next time I dog sit I'm totally bringing biljac. He behaves *a little* bit better when I have a food bribe.

Anyway, exhausted dog and I get back to the house. My legs were twitching. I am (right now) sore from head to toe. Walking Bear is a full body workout- hands and arms trying to keep him under control, back from trying to keep my balance when he tries to drag me off the trail, legs from both walking and bracing against his off-trail antics. Bear, of course, drinks a bit of water, takes his (20 minute) afternoon nap, and then wants to play "catch the squeeky bone".

So basically, my mission failed. Totally. Completely. *And* I got a squeeky rubber bone thrown at me, besides. As soon as my arms recover enough to try walking him again, I'll pack up a bag with some water and clip him to a halti instead of a harness (not that I think it'll work, but maybe?...). So next month sometime?

Oh, Mom left me (most of) a pan of baked ziti. She and the SD ate maybe 1/4 of it for dinner Thursday night. I ate the rest in about two meals. Today I have to cook.

Also, today I have a dog project that *should* get me some dog-free time. I'm going to de-ook his ooky ear. That's always good for at least 2 hours of him avoiding me totally. If I get desparate I'll just carry the bottle of ear cleaning solution around with me. It *might* work...

Day 342- Lazy Weekend?

Yesterday I finished off the rest of the pasta, with another small batch of home-made sauce. Quick and easy, super lazy and cheap. Win across the board.

Then I started thinking about food I don't have. I have the biggest craving for open faced grilled "cheese" samiches piled high with avocado, onion, and tomato. Melty white cheese on crispy bread, crunchy onions, yummy bite of tomato and lime juice. squishy, fatty yum of avocado.

Seriously craving.

Of course, it's about an 8 dollar sandwich, so it's not happening.

Neither is pizza. Or vats of french onion soup. Or fried ravioli I don't have to make from scratch.

So I'll try to quiet my cravings another way. I've got pintos in the slow cooker, and four in the freezer. I'm thinking some bean tacos or even just bread might work, for now. I'll figure the rest out later.

I'd pretty much *kill* for chips, dip, and delivery pizza right about now, though.

Day 332- Accidentally Work Free Day

Yesterday. It was going to be a day of work, and maybe cooking.

Instead I had noodles, leftover bean salad (all gone now) and tea.

And I watched the Vin Diesel Live chat-thing. Fell asleep before (I think) it was totally over, but that was a good 3 hours in. Just a "normal" guy chatting randomly over the internet. Sort of...

Now, today, I *really* need to get some work done. And some cooking. I don't think I can eat noodles and nothing else much longer. Back to oatmeal, I guess. And Saturday, I think, A bag of chips.

Also, *still* watching Boys Over Flowers. I think I put less time into leveling my first WoW toon than it's taking to watch this show.

Day 331- I Want Chips!

If I made a list of the things i want to eat, have wanted to eat, since this whole thing started last February, only three or four foods show up every week.

Chips
Pizza
Pasta
Soda

Not even ice cream beats them out. Of course, chips should really have dip, but I don't *always* want dip. I do always want chips though.

Last night, while watching more boys over flowers (almost done with it, just a couple more episodes) I wanted them soooo bad. I would probably have beat up a little kid for a bag of chips and a bottle of soda. Makes me feel like a total junkie.

After all, pizza and pasta *can be* healthy. Chips and soda, though, are pretty much always junk.

But I want them. Can't have them. If I'm a good girl and actually get some real work done this week, I might, maybe, perhaps let myself buy a bag of chips and a couple bottles of soda when I get paid Saturday.

With this shiny new Korean drama habit I seem to be growing, though, it's looking pretty unlikely. Guess i'll just have to turn off the internet for a day, huh? Totally un-fun, but I've got to work some time, right?

Otherwise- I really like black bean salad on tortilla chips. Really I do. But if I have to eat it for three more days straight, I think I'm going to scream and pull my hair out. I swapped out chips and beans for noodles and onions at dinner. I'm still sick of it. Pleh.

Kinda whiny today, huh?

Day 330- Geek TV

Turns out that flurries count as a blizzard down here. Everything in all of Charleston seems to have been closed yesterday. Wimps.

Anyway, that meant that my 2 hours of appointments were cancelled. And while I might rather have known they were canceled before I wasted a gallon of gas trying to get to them, it turned out pretty good.

You see, I used the money I was going to spend at my appointments (all $4 of it) to pick up a bag of tortilla chips and a tomato. Once I got the cashier to weigh the tomato without the chips on the scale things went much better. (quote: "guess I would have noticed that if I ate tomatoes." Since when do you need to eat tomatoes to know that anything *on the scale* gets weighted... grrr) Then I made black bean salad (black beans, tomato, 1/4 onion, avocado, oil, vinegar, salt) and watched bad TV all day.

Ok, actually I started the night before, but close enough, right?

Anyway, I was watching Boys Before Flowers (IMDB, Amazon), which is a South Korean adaptation of a Japanese Manga. And while live action is no substitute for the real thing (hello LA sailor moon), it has *real live* attractive boys. Some of them are even old enough that I don't feel letchy looking at them. Most of them are 20-25 though.

Still, better than thinking "gee, if that were a real guy (you know, not animated...), and he were old enough to drink in this country, I'd totally kidnap him and use him for his body." Which is just a little weird, right?

Best part is, I've got a friend over in S. Korea teaching English. She told me that next I should watch You're Beautiful. I guess all the teenage girls over there went crazy for it. Ooh, found it on Hulu, even. Win!

Wait, what? I'm supposed to work? That's just crazy talk.

Public geeking is over. Move along.

Day 329- Junk Food Cravings

It never fails. When cash is low, my craving for junk food shoots through the roof.

Normally it's not a problem. I pick up what I crave, nom it, and get on with my day. Yesterday, though, I picked up my snack of crave-y-ness and nommed it. Then it decided that the cheese was going to turn my abdomen into a raving center of liquid hate. It was not a good afternoon.

Anyway. I ended up only really eating a pizza (+2 to pain) and some more cookie dough. I didn't even want to cut open my nice tasty avocado, even though it's finally ripe. Guess I'll eat that today. With onion, vinegar, salt? Maybe. Maybe some roasted root veggies, too. I should still have some worth eating, even if it's just a carrot or two.

Srsly, though, if the (savoury) junk food fairy stopped by I'd be soooo happy.

There's something about the flavors that gets me. I don't know if it's all the sugar in the frozen food and chips that I crave, or the salt. I just know that an avocado wouldn't have worked. I don't know if even nachos would have worked. It's the cheesey, tomato-y flavor that calls to me most of the time.

Back when I was in high school, for a little while, there were pizza flavored Ruffle's potato chips. I would eat them every day. Could only find them at a couple stores though. then they disappeared. Probably a seasonal or test flavor. I loved them though. Tomato sauce, spice, just a hint of cheese. I could have eaten them all day long. Once or twice I did.

Now I've gone and made myself hungry. Not good. I'll just have to cook and eat real food. Pleh.

Day 328- Noodles and Cookie Dough

Noodles and cookie dough, together or separate, are not the best things to eat. I know that, really I do.

But without cooking rice and beans (and I've got plenty of both) they were the fastest, easiest things I could pull off.

Ok, that's a lie. Oatmeal and apple juice would have been easier than cookie dough. It just wouldn't have been as much fun. It *would* have boosted my blood sugar a bit faster, but I forgot I even had juice until just now.

Oops.

Anyway, I've been eating a lot of noodles. I bought the super-mega-jumbo pack back in... July? Yeah, I think July. And I've been eating them a bit at a time since then. I'm down to the last couple bundles of tasty bargain somen. I'm mixing the cooked noodles with caramelized onions, oil, salt, soy sauce, and sometimes (when I remember) a bit of ginger (since I now have powdered, fresh, *and* pickled), and some garlic powder. I don't know how healthy it is, but since it only takes about 4 minutes longer than just boiling water does, it's really not that bad a choice.

Speed-wise, anyway.

I was introduced to noodles with soy sauce and oil back in high school or junior high. A friend would make it when we went to her house after class. She'd cook the noodles and add the soy sauce, oil, and some MSG. It made it somehow sooo much better. If you want to try it that way, you can cheat (the flavor isn't *quite* right, but close enough) by sprinkling a bit of sugar and a bit of salt on the noodles. But if you're like me, and MSG doesn't bother you, use a little pinch. It makes everything better.

Anyway, cookie dough. I added a handful of smooshed sliced almonds for protein. It's still sickly sweet. I'm not totally sure how sugar fiends do it. I get putting a bunch of sugar in coffee (it tastes too foul to drink, otherwise) or rolling rum balls in it. But just eating it in cookies? Isn't food sweet enough already?

I might just need to test how little sugar I *really* need in cookies. Not today, tho. Maybe next year.

Day 324- Nope, No Lotto Here

Just pasta, and a bag of chips.

I know, I know, should have picked up veggies. By the time I dragged myself out of the house yesterday, it was chip time. It just was.

Then I did the pasta thing from Monday again.

So, I know the lottery is a big bad way to waste money. And I know the chances of winning are slightly worse than getting struck by lightning while *not* acting as a human lightning rod, or roughly on par with getting caught in a tornado and landing in a magical now land.

The thing that interests me about it, though, is that at some point (and I get that it's totally un-American to even *think* this) there's such a thing as too much money. Really. I'm sitting here, in my bed, in my rat-shack-hovel (it's not *quite* that bad...) and I really have no idea what you do with that much money.

Well, other than invest it in dividend bearing stocks and property, and personal security and whatnot.

Really, once you've got more than you need, you've just got more than you need. Would I like an authentic pre-revolutionary mansion downtown in Charleston? Sure.

Do I need one? Would I even ever use something like that? Probably not. It's cool to think about, but just the idea of a house so big that it requires a live-in staff gives me hives.

Plus, most of the stuff I enjoy, like travelling to developing countries, is just plain safer when you don't have the better part of the GDP of the country you're visiting in your bank account back home.

I spent, I'm pretty sure, less than $8000 all last year. Half of that (give or take) was on rent. Some was food, some gas, some insurance and car. If I had no debt I could live pretty much forever on $10,000 a year.  Who needs millions, I'd be happy with enough to pay off my student loans.

Back to more normal food stuff tomorrow. Promise.

Today, though- How much money would it take to change *your* life?

Day 316- No Moar Chocolate

common sense says that I should have hoarded that chocolate, eating no more than one square a day. It was so very yummy, though, and so long since I had yummy chocolate, that I nommed all that was left yesterday.

For Breakfast.

I love my mommy who gives me chocolate for holidays I don't actually celebrate. It's win.

Of course, then I had to come up with something to eat later in the day, when the sugar wore off and I was all shakey and stuff.

Which is when I dipped back into the stash of nuts and pasta and made some more kinda mac-and-cheese. I still  can't call it really for real mac and cheese, and somehow it takes me longer to make each time... But it's the closest I've got, so I'll eat it and be happy.

Which is what I did.

What I didn't do, but should have, is start more beans. They take about 5 hours on high in the crockpot, sometimes longer (for chickpeas or old beans). So I guess I'll be doing that today, huh?

Day 306- Lost Day

I thought yesterday was Thursday. All day, seriously. Until my sister told me it was Friday, I totally thought it was Thursday. So I got kinda turned around a bit.

Anyway, I ended up at lunch with Mom and the SD (during tree-buying) at a Thai restaurant, where I may or may not have eaten something with fish sauce *and* mushrooms in it. My throat and tongue are swollen, which I can fix with benadryl (kinda, a little), and I am a bit queasy, which I can fix with more ginger tea (also good-ish for swelling), and my breath and hiccups and stuff all taste kinda like fish. Which is really gross, actually....

The food didn't, though, so I'm not sure. Maybe next time I'll just stick to veggie spring rolls and mango sticky rice.

Anyway, if I did, oops, and I'll be more careful next time. And if I had mushrooms, oh well, it wasn't bad enough for a trip to the hospital, so it's all good.

But I'm kinda icky, and that doesn't help the meandering cold from earlier in the week.

Anyway, cookie cooking has been put off until Tuesday, Bear is cute but bored, and it's raining in Charleston.

Oh, yeah, and if I drink anymore ginger tea, I think I might float away.

If I were feeling better, it'd be a great day for a hike.

ETA: Think I've figured out part of why my "cold" isn't getting any better. RM1 is smoking in his room. Allergic to cig smoke. Think super pollen day, pumped into your room/ office/ whatever. Pleh!

Day 298- j.'s Intergalactic Cheat-O-Rama

With the need to be out of the house even more than normal comes the need to eat outside the house more often. The kitchen is a questionable spot most of the day, so food hasn't been leaving the house with me as often as it should. I need to make up some fast stuff (other than nuts) to take with me.

So I've been snacking my way across South Carolina. Not good.

I probably spent enough eating out yesterday to feed me (bare-bones) for a couple weeks. Heck, I bought 2 different hot drinks.

I think this week is pretty much the week of FAIL.

Worst part is, I'm really looking forward to making some tasty mac and not-cheese. Have been for weeks. I even have *all* the stuff to do it.

But it takes time in the kitchen. I could do it over a camping stove, maybe, but I'd still need to grind the "cheese". That takes the hand blender (or a *lot* of time with a hand grinder...) and electricity. Not super available out in the great wide world.

But tomorrow. Srsly.

Now, I'm going to go work on talking my stomach into loving me again, and try to clean up my nano story for the harlequin thing next week. I *hate* writing synops. And I'm bad at them, too.

Day 295- RM Drama Means Spendy Food

I'm avoiding the RM. Which means that when he's awake, I'm either in my room with the door locked or out of the house.

I've eaten more "restaurant" meals in the last two days then in all of the rest of the year until now. Crazyness. My stomach, btw, totally not into it.

I do have all kinds of tasty food, though, so maybe I'll be awake and willing to crawl out of my hole long enough to make something interesting today. I've been playing with hiking foods, balances, and stuff that's cheap and easy.

I still really want to do some baking. I also still really have all the stuff for a couple fun easy curry dishes. I really enjoy basic cheater curry. I think it'd catch on more in the US if the ingredient lists didn't look so scary, and people had more experience with the flavors. It's crazy, in NZ it seemed like every crossroads had an Indian take-away. Here in the states it's only cities, really.

So make your own, I say, and call it good. Like the "Chinese" recipes in cookbooks from the 1950's. May not be authentic, but if it tastes good it's good enough for me.

Day 291- Black Bean Salad

Sorry about posting late so much lately. Between shiny new medicine that makes it tough to *get* to sleep but easy to *stay * asleep, and a generally forked schedule, I've pushed this back farther than I wanted to. I'll be back on schedule next week.

Yesterday, though, I nommed black bean salad.

See, the oatmeal (pleh, I know) from the day before was, well, a big bowl of carbs with nice simple sugar carbs mixed in. Great if you're a suicidal diabetic, not so much if you're someone who likes the idea of nice, steady blood sugar. The pizza wasn't much different- white flour, sweet veggies, only a little cheese and oil for a slight protein and fat boost.

So by the time I was ready to eat yesterday morning, I was *really* ready to eat.

Lucky for me I had a couple cups of black beans still ready in the fridge. I think I made this once before. Th only rule is that it has to contain black beans. Yesterday my black bean salad/ salsa had:

• black beans
• diced onion
• 2 tiny cloves diced garlic
• 1/4 tomato, diced
• splash vinegar
• splash oil
• salt
• pepper

All mixed up and nommed on leftover chips.

I could seriously live off this stuff. If you make it like I did yesterday, it's even pretty affordable- maybe 20 cents for the beans, 20 to 40 cents for the chips, 10 for the onion, 15 or 20 for the tomato. salt, oil, vinegar are maybe 5 cents together. With chips it's probably *not* in a $1 a day budget, but it's close.

Also, I'm pretty sure those cost guesstimates would make about twice what I did. For another dollar you could add an avocado and make it *really* yummy.

Then, in the late evening (after baking my squash so I can use it later) I mixed up a nice big batch of twisty roll things and some red sauce.

I am really loving having a bottle of wine to flavor stuff with. I used up the last of the Italian seasoning on the twists, and would have only had onion and salt to flavor the sauce, when I realised that i could fry the onion bits really quickly, simmer them in wine, and mix *that* into the sauce while the rolls finished baking. It was totally perfect. Even tasted good.

Hmm, I think i need to cook some more black beans. Wonder if they'd make eatable gnocchi...?

OBD 29- I Missed Mole Day

Not, you know, that I had money for mole-day festivities.

It's just... after missing Pi day back in March, I was looking forward to an excuse to eat avocados and food in spicy kinda-chocolate sauce. Guess between Talk Like A Pirate Day and the start of NaNoWriMo, I just got too excited/ burnt out, and missed it.

Sorry, science geeks. I will have to worship standardized quantities next year.

Um, or something- I never did pass chemistry....

In other news, my house is now a pasta-free zone. I finished it all. So no more mac and cheese, and no more tasty fresh veggie pasta sauce stuff. I finished all that yesterday.

Don't worry, though- I still have onion, garlic, beans, chips, turnips, wine, panko, flour, cheese, zucchini (bought more, just in case), and all kinds of other stuff.

I'm thinking pizza. All in favor?

Also, I've been thinking about what stuff I actually use, and what I'd like to have, and what basic, simple, rather cheap stuff makes the whole cooking/ eating thing more enjoyable/ less utilitarian. Sure, food is fuel, but it doesn't have to be just fuel, right? Form and function, like modern furniture, only more comfortable. I'll be putting that together for tomorrow, I think, when I go back to a real, live, ugh-full budget. Yay?

OBD 28- Thanksgiving Weekend

Hopefully all you US-types survived.

I did too. Of course, the closest I got to thanksgiving dinner was a bag of beets and some wine, but meh. Sometimes you've gotta work with what you've got. And with what you want.

My last Thanksgiving weekend day was super lazy, super junky, and probably is going to toss me right back into a nasty cold.

You see, I went to the store. Craving mac and cheese, I went to the store and picked up 4 boxes. When these 4 are gone I'm probably never eating it again, but I wanted those 4 boxes.

I also walked along the back aisle, thinking about soy milk. Then I saw the coffee cake. You know, the Entenmann's one? For $6? Said to myself "I could totally make that for less," and went looking for margarine.

Decided the margarine was too expensive, so wandered in the direction of the veggies (still need *another* zucchini, they're soooo good), and was stopped, suddenly, by the *other* donut display. A box of donut holes made it's way home with me.

They weren't as good as I expected. the flavor wasn't as good, the texture was far too cake-y, and I just didn't really enjoy them. I ate them all anyway, but it wasn't as good as I was hoping for.

About 6 hours later, I made two boxes of mac and cheese, and stuffed my face with them. Like, above and beyond the call of hunger. To the point that my stomach stuck out like a pregnant ladies, all rigid and stuffed.

Turns out my abdomen is *not quite* large enough to hold a whole two boxes of mac and cheese, however small that may look while it's cooking.

Oops.

Don't worry, tho- I fixed the day with about 2 oz out of my bottle of magic $6 wine. Just a little wine, and I wrote some stuff for NaNoWriMo. Still never going to catch up, but maybe, just perhaps, I'll have a first draft and sturdy outline done in time for the first chapter deal over at Harlequin. Hey, girl can dream, right?