food
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Saturday Saga, with Free Rant included!
Last night I neglected to mention that we enjoyed Lemon Drops (an adult beverage made with lemons and vodka) as a part of our Friday Night Date Night. All those (free) lemons we gleaned the other day came to good use, especially when a few friends dropped in. It was simple entertainment, and leads me to a conversation about food stamps and paternalism. But first, today’s menu. Look at that potato frittata — although to be proper, I should call it a Spanish tortilla. No fancy pan needed. I baked it in the cast iron skillet, which adds extra iron to whatever you cook. This was so delicious that we have had…
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Fine Dining
I was going to pour myself a cup of coffee in a regular mug this morning, but decided to make it a treat — by using one of my nicest teacups and saucers. It feels like I’m having an elegant mini-vacation when I drink from so civilized a vessel. I can even crook my pinkie if I like. I was feeling as if I needed a little boost because I’m doing the June Food Stamp Challenge, and I didn’t want to waste money on cream for my coffee. I had some left from a previous week, but it’s not in the JFSC budget. Even though this budget is not “real,” because I can…
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Three Days In
The June Food Stamp Challenge continues. I was going to cook something interesting for dinner tonight but when I saw that we still have chicken, corn on the cob, sausage and eggplant parm left over from earlier JFSC dinners, plus a salad I made for Mr. Husband’s lunch that he didn’t take to work, I said heck no. Leftovers it is. The salad may have cost $1 counting the lettuce, tomatoes, green onion (from my garden), celery and radish (from previous week’s trip to the farmers’ market), plus homegrown alfalfa sprouts off my kitchen counter. Cost of the salad: $1. Everything else is already accounted for. Breakfast: Oatmeal, coffee (from pantry*), hardboiled egg.…
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Food Stamp-o-Rama (Or, What we ate for lunch today)
Tracking what we’re eating this week to keep on the Food Stamp Challenge: WednesdayBreakfast: Oatmeal (bulk-buy, from pantry), small amount of cinnamon-sugar* (pantry) and milk; coffee**Snack: 2 apricots, slice of cheeseLunch: Leftovers: cold chicken, half a red bell pepper, coffee Snack: 2 plums, handful of unsalted peanuts*** (pantry); hot tea**** Dinner: Baked eggplant Parmesan and Italian sausage: 1 eggplant (leftover from last week’s farmers’ market trip), half a bunch of chard, 1 chopped tomato, 1 chopped clove garlic (pantry), 1 frozen pint of tomato sauce from last summer’s harvest, 1 cup of red wine left from guest visit. Baked with 1 cup shredded cheese on top. Italian sausage (bought 6/1…
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The June Food Stamp Challenge begins
My friend Katy over at the NonConsumer Advocate lit a fire under her followers to take the June Food Stamp Challenge. I won’t go into parameters, so check her out for all the details, but the idea is to live on a food stamp budget — what you would get for your family if you were living on food stamps — and, if you are so moved, donate the difference in what you spend vs what you would have normally spent on food. (We’ll be donating to the Alameda Food Bank.) Katy has a chart on her blog site about how much to spend per family/person, but for the sake of…