Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Day 100- Finally Re-caffeinated

I love my Daddy. Not just because he loans me money (though he does), and not because he put gas in my car (and he did), but because he's my daddy.

And he bought me soda.

He also "paid" me to drive him around yesterday, though I'm tossing it all in with the loaned money. I keep borrowing like this and I'm gonna have to keep him in a manner above and beyond what he's accustomed to to make up for lost interest on retirement savings.

But the important part is the soda. Srsly.

I did take some of the money and replace the $4 and change I used for gas. I bought a tub (now 15 oz) of Earth Balance "buttery spread"- the original type, full of tasty soy. $3.53 including tax. Then I headed downtown for some veggies- I was already in the area, the veggies are best/ least expensive at the vegetable bin, and I just plain like it there.

Veggies are starting to come into season here! I got 1.31 pounds of (unknown source) sweet potatoes for .49/lb or $0.64, .56lb of local (john's island, less than 40 miles, even with the trip downtown) yellow summer squash for .99/lb or $0.55, and one tiny roma for 21 cents, total spent on veggies of $1.42.

So I'm a bit over on spending, but I found a dime under the drivers seat that came with the car (I don't lose dimes), so it's close enough.

Food wise, I had total fail. Still haven't cooked my challenge food, haven't cooked anything. After I got back from the library (after running errands for dad/ me) I locked the keys in the car. Finally called the local cops, who open doors for people, but it was after 7 before the officer came, popped the lock, and left. At which point I realized that all I'd had to eat was half a bottle of water, half a small bottle of diet soda, and an allergy pill. At which point I gave in to evil laziness and the power of cash in my pocket, and cheated with a bag of chips.

Which didn't taste as good as I remember them tasting. So next time hopefully I'll just make some blasted oatmeal, already.

Challenge-

Nancy F., who can't post comments, sent me this e-mail (edited for flow)-

Veggie/Nutburgers‏

1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded $1.50
2 Eggs $0.16
1 cup Cooked rice $0.50
1 cup Parsley, finely chopped $0.25
3 stalks Celery, minced $0.25
1/2 Onion, minced $0.50
1 cup Walnuts, finely chopped $1.76
1 Green pepper, finely chopped $0.50
1 teaspoon Salt $0.01
1 tablespoon Basil $0.50
2 teaspoons Curry powder $0.50
2 tablespoon Oil for cooking $0.50

Total
$6.93

Per pattie cost (based off of 10 patties):$0.69
Price for entire burger (bun, mustard, swiss cheese): About $1.50
Price for store bought veggie pattie: $1.00+
Price for restaurant veggie burger: $3.00+

I made 2 patties and gave the leftovers to a friend. Not sure how many she got, but probably 8 more. This makes a huge batch! I only had to buy the curry powder, basil & nuts, so I used less then $5.00…$2.76. Plus I could have cut the per pattie cost if I had bought whole nuts instead of already chopped. Could have saved lots of time with a SlapChop too.

I have not had too many veggie burgers, but this was the best by far. Maybe because I'm picky and knew exactly what was in here. Either way it was a winner in my book. Oh yeah, if anyone is interested; just combine everythingand mix well. Place enough batter for 1 pattie in hot oil, cook until brown and carefully flip and cook until brown on last side.

Next time I probably will add some garlic too. It was a pain having to hand "finely chop" and "mince" but I was very happy with myself once it was done. I was kinda proud of all those tiny pieces. Strange, I know. I made them last night and have been thinking about them all day. So yum! This weekend I'm going to try Ruby Leigh's bread! We always eat at home, but never this much from scratch.

Thanks,
Nancy
I admit, her email had a lovely table, but it won't transfer- it's either chrome, blogger, or open office causing the problem, and I'm not sure I'd be willing to lay bets on which. But the e-mail was prettier, I promise.

All right- tomorrow's the official end of the challenge. Guess that means I've got to actually cook today. With my motivation, what I've got in the fridge, and my to-do list, guess that means I *am* making tortillas. Black bean soft tacos with pan-fried summer squash, onions, and sliced tomato to dress them, anyone?

I do have to say, though- if someone were to do a local eating challenge, the Charleston area would be a good place to do it. Well, better than Wyoming, anyway. Man cannot live on beefalo, elk, and antelope alone, and vegetarians don't do well at all. I do miss the wild sunflowers, though. Maybe next year.

Ok, enough rambling. I need to go invent some more good luck. And tortillas, can't forget those.

9 comments:

  1. Good luck! I'm right there with you... today it's straight to the kitchen to make those tortillas for me as well. Any particular recipe you will be using for the tortillas themselves? Though mine are being made into (hopefully chicken) and cheese and pepper quesadillas... we'll see. I need to find my camera!

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  2. @TJ - the following blog post has a couple seemingly good tortilla recipes in it. http://dealstomeals.blogspot.com/2010/05/weve-figured-it-out.html Good Luck with that, I plan to try them eventually.

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  3. TJ- I'm probably using one of the recipes that Ruby Leigh linked to. Most likely the first one in the article- I'm too lazy to swap things out this week.

    Mmmm, cheese. I need to get started, it seems like the evening is zipping past.

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  4. Congrats on making it to Day 100! How are you feeling? Are you going to make it another 265? :)

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  5. LOL- trying not to think about it. I don' wanna! I think the worst bit right now is that I can't get the zucchini at the veggie shop. It'll come down in price as it moves further into season, but now... Oh man, I wanted that 8-ball zucchini.

    I'm going to spend some time this weekend hopefully, thinking about what I can do with what I've got and the funds in my budget to get some more variety in here, and cut back on the boredom that leads me to cheating.

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  6. Well... 50 minutes left in the day and I got it done! Yay. Photos as linked. I am horrible at procrastinating. Thanks for the recipe! I will have to try it next time. Didnt get access to a computer until I got this done (after ALL other chores/tasks/things got taken care of). Definitely will do it again. Thanks for the challenge, J, and thanks for the recipe, Ruby!

    http://yfrog.com/89quesadillasj

    Sorry for the horrible food photos. And the horrible looking food. It was GOOD, though. No salsa. And I spent $3.59 in extra food.

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  7. TJ, that's pretty tasty looking to me. Did you get yours to play "round"? And if you did- *how*?

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  8. My last two were actually pretty round (my first ones kept reminding me of Halloween treat ghosts). You get the balls of dough and "pat" them as far as you can, keeping the round shape. I read somewhere that you should pat them until they are about 4 inches in diameter. Then you roll it out horizontally, flip it, do it vertically, and they should maintain the round shape.

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  9. I think my problem with shape was that i was trying to roll and fry at the same time. Maybe next time I'll get them all rolled out in advance... That should help. I think.

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