A Varied Diet

Would a nutritionist consider this a varied diet? (And no, this was not all eaten in one day!)

Quesadillas

Stirfry

Bagels

Egg Drop Soup

Chili

Split Pea Soup

Tofu Sandwiches (Fried tofu, with soy sauce, italian seasonings, and ketchup)

Bean and Rice Burritos

Spanish Rice

Hummus and tortillas

Nachos

Pizza

Grilled Cheese

Pupusas (Tortillas stuffed with queso fresco)

Spaghetti

Scrambled Eggs

Chex Mix

Muffins

Hotdish

Mix in a healthy dose of fresh fruits and vegetables, an occasional smoothie, and life is good!

Sunday's Successes

Today I:

1. Made enough homemade pizza for my roommates and I to have supper tonight, lunch tomorrow, and some leftovers. I used Betty Crocker's Stir and Roll Pizza Crust recipe, and random ingredients from the fridge. It was super tasty, but I should have had the oven a little lower (maybe 375), and checked it at 15 minutes. It was a little crispy, but still tasted wonderful!
2. Made a batch of homemade Chex Mix to take to work for a snack, and to my EDU 119 class tomorrow night. It will be another day of not getting home until 8 or later, but I have my three roommates in the same class, so it's fun.
3. Took a long overdue nap. I've been working over fifty hours a week for the past three weeks, with very few breaks. It felt so good to relax and get caught up on sleep!
4. Researched an article for my EDU 119 class.

What did you do today?

Would You Eat This?

Food in Guatemala was always an adventure. Not only are you dealing with new kinds of tropical fruits and vegetables, but often you may be unable to identify the food on your plate. That was the case with this dish.

Think green potatoes with little cords in them, mixed with a gooey reddish paste. Not your typical dinner.

What was your most adventurous meal?

Success!

Today I:
1) Made a big pot of vegetarian chili---this will be lunch for the next week.
2) Finally e-mailed off a photo I took for a friend so long ago in Guatemala.
3) Cleaned out my fridge and located some tempeh I need to use up before it expires.
4) Found books to take to the local thrift shop.
5) Bought salsa and whole wheat flour in bulk (before I run out of food stamps at the end of the month).

All in all, it was a pretty successful day.

Frugal Hints and Tips

Money can be tight, especially for college students and recent graduates. Here are few simple money saving tips that have saved me more times than I can count.

1) Explore the bulk section of your grocery store or health food store. They are often much cheaper than buying prepackaged foods, and you are able to buy just the amount you need for a recipe. If you don't use much cumin or dill, bulk bin spices are the way to go. You can measure out just a half teaspoon of spices, and pay just for that, rather than have a whole bottle languish in your pantry for years and lose potency. This is also the way to go if you're trying out a new grain. You can buy just the amount you need for your recipe, and not be stuck with an entire bag if you don't like it.
a
2) Check out grocery store ads online before you shop. I used this tip a lot in college. I could save gas and driving time by figuring out which of three grocery stores nearest to me had the best deals. Simply Google grocery stores you frequent, and check out their store circulars.

3) Visit your local library! They have DVDs, books on tape, book clubs, Internet access, and language tapes all for free!

4) Frequent thrift stores and garage sales! I got a dresser for $8, a terrific bookcase for $2.50, and a large TV for $10. My roommate got her futon/bed for $35. Not only are thrift stores and garage sales cheaper than Walmart, Target, and furniture stores, but they are also more ecologically friendly. They keep objects out of the landfills, and give a second life to pre-owned objects!

5) Visit your local farmers' market! The produce is fresh, local, and many times cheaper than that which you find in the supermarkets. Especially check out damaged produce, which may be sold at a substantial discount. I recently found a three for $1 deal on slightly bruised peppers. The damage was mainly cosmetic, and I just opted to use these peppers first. Cheap and healthy!

How do you save money?

The Great Doctor Search

I need to find a doctor. I've had this horrible earache for a few days now, but no time to hit a clinic. I work from 8:30 to 5:30 Monday through Thursday, and commute 45 minutes each way. Friday, I volunteer at two different sites, with little time in between to actually wait in a clinic and be seen.

I really need to find a walk-in clinic with Friday hours, preferably close to my apartment. As it is, my apartment is kind of in the middle of nowhere, ten minutes from the a major road. It makes a quick jaunt over to a clinic nearly impossible, but it won't be that bad if I couple it with hitting the post office and bank.

In other news, my food stamps should be arriving any day now! It's my roommates' first time receiving them, so they are really excited. They have peppered me with questions about what they can buy (pretty much anything that is edible or drinkable, with the exception of alcohol and tobacco products). They also want to know where they can use them, and were thrilled when I told them that they could buy items at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, the local co-op, the farmer's market, and even Walgreens. This will be incredible!

Today's To Do List

1. Make a spare key for our new houseguest.


2. Find a surge protector for my laptop.


3. Add cash to my laundry card---two loads of laundry in three weeks is a little low.


4. Wash all of my freshly picked blueberries!


5. Find (or make) a bookshelf.


6. Make curried tempeh shish kebobs and avoid setting the wooden skewers on fire (update: failed at the attempt. Must remember to soak the skewers in water first).
7. Clean my room!

Things I'm Thankful for Today

1) The Baker's Dozen blog. Raising fourteen children, running a photography business, and keeping everything light and humorous is way harder than anything I could possibly be going through today.

2) Batanga. I'm able to make a personalized radio station with all of my favorite music (9/10 of which is Spanish---Reik, Camila, and Juanes, with a scattering of Maroon Five and others).

3) Wild blueberries. Somehow they taste so much better than the store bought ones.

4) Road trips to Canada. What am I going to do in North Carolina, half a country away from Canada?

5) My goofy black lab, who loves Pocky sticks. Who knew?

What are you thankful for today?

Horseradish Cheese

Imagine sitting at a table, surrounded by your bosses and coworkers. They offer you some cheese, so of course you politely take a small chunk. Only afterward do you learn that it's Horseradish Cheese.

If you have never before tasted this (ugh) delicacy, let me tell you: you're missing out on one of the rare flavors of life.

And I don't blame you one bit.

Thrift Store Fun

I love thrift stores. I recently picked up a very cute navy green purse for $2 to supplement my (very worn out) purse that I've been using daily for the last two years. It's time to give that one a break (and a good wash!).

I also hit the Farmer's Market today. Amidst accordian playing and an exhibit by the animal shelter calling for the adoption of five new kittens, I was able to find organic garlic shallots for $2 a bunch, a pint of strawberries for $3, and a really good coconut scone for $2.25. Trust me, the scone was so worth that price.

I'm off to the library to pick up the rest of rest of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series. What are you reading?

Favorite Meals

Admittedly, I enjoy some strange food combinations. But who doesn't like the salty goodness of Teriyaki Garbanzo Beans, even when it is mixed with Garlic Mashed Potatoes? Who doesn't occasionally crave Italian "Sausage" as a lovely complement to Guiltless Gourmet Spicy Black Bean Chips with Guacamole and Follow Your Heart Cheddar Cheese? And can I help it if a Tofu Guacamole Sandwich floats my boat?

I dare say that no one (meat eater or not) can resist my Spaghetti with Green Pepper, Green Olive, Garlic, Onion, and Soy Crumble Sauce. Trust me, it is much more appetizing than it sounds.

My more traditional combinations are also heavenly. Take the Follow Your Heart Cheddar Cheese Quesadillas with Southwestern Style Salsa: simply scrumptious! A good side of Teriyaki Tofu makes this a meal to devour.

If that doesn't suit your appetite, how about a Tofu Stirfry, with plenty of green chile and green peppers? Or a little Curried Tempeh on a Whole Wheat Bun?

For those in a rush, there's always the classic "Hamburger" Hotdish, or a nice Black Bean Burger.

On Lunch and Plumber's Cracks

I have been eating way too many Pepperjack "cheese" and tomato sandwiches recently. Put them in the toaster oven with a few diced green olives....Mmmm.

In other news, I'm currently working with my second graders on not interrupting. We've tried the talking shell ("You can only talk if you have the shell"), incentive charts, time outs... just about everything. I've tried to figure out the root of the problem---do they not feel heard? Do they have some unmet need? I've also tried stiff consequences---one warning, then a time-out in the room, then a time-out in the hall and missing out on the game that day. Things work for awhile, then worsen. I think this is going to be a constant struggle this year. Hopefully it's just their age.

On a lighter note, when I asked my first grade group "What kind of workers can you think of?" one of my first graders proudly told me that her uncle has a plumber's crack! You have to love kids!

The Vegan's Grocery Budget

While there are many challenges associated with being a vegan (just what can you get at McDonald's besides an iceberg lettuce salad?), budget grocery shopping is not one of them. Sure, tofu can add up, and if you insist on buying dozens of Boca Burgers each week, your budget may suffer. Yet compared to the cost of eating meat and buying cheese, vegan shopping is cheap.

I distinctly remember a $15 a week grocery budget in college. If I had to buy even a pound of meat with that, it wouldn't have gone very far. Yet I was able to buy several pounds of tofu from the local Oriental food store (at a dollar a pound), a 5-pound bag of whole wheat flour ($2.79), a couple of pounds of fruits and vegetables (anything that was under a dollar a pound), and plenty of noodles, spaghetti sauce, TVP, dried beans, split peas, and lentils. It definitely wasn't very fancy, but it was healthy and inexpensive.

Boca Burgers and vegan cheeses were splurges; while they were definitely less time-consuming to prepare, I had a lot of time and not much money. A couple of times a year a relative would take pity on my poor grocery budget and give me $20 to spend on vegan chocolate and Follow Your Heart vegan cheese. Needless to say, after several months of TVP and nutritional yeast based "cheeses," I was very thankful.

I spend a little more each week now for food; I now eat a lot more fresh fruits and vegetables, and fewer canned ones. I have access to a discount grocery store, which is heavenly! I can get my splurge foods for just a fraction of the cost. This would have made a huge difference when I was in college, but I definitely got by all right on what I had.

Vegan grocery shopping, when done right, is probably one of the cheapest ways to shop. If you view prepared, packaged foods (such as Morningstar or Boca Burgers) as a splurge rather than an everyday food, you will spend just a fraction of the cost of what you would on meat and cheese. However, it really comes down to making the bulk of what you eat at home, from the raw ingredients. Vegan packaged food is expensive! Eating well on a vegan diet is not.

No More Avocados

It will be a long, long time before I am ready to face another avocado.

Honestly, I love guacamole. There is no greater complement to Spicy Black Bean chips than a well prepared guacamole. However, after my latest case of food poisoning, I can't imagine eating anything containing avocados for at least a year.

This was my third case of food poisoning in two years. The other two cases took place in Central America, so they're really a whole different ball game. However, even one case of food poisoning in two years is really one case too many.

Sierra Mist, I Love You

I woke up on Friday morning with the worst feeling in the world: a raging case of food poisoning. I spent the next six hours barricaded in my bathroom, projectile vomiting. Fifteen times.

Did I mention that it was 1:30 in the morning? And that I really had to be at work the next day?

Needless to say, work didn't happen. I called the school switchboard at 5 a.m., just to let them know I cared. I e-mailed all the teachers I could reach, before sprinting back to the cool, cruel recess of the bathroom.

All of that changed when I met you. You took away my pain. You filled my very soul (and my stomach). Oh, Sierra Mist, how I love you.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Pickles

I am still such a college student. I crave simple meals (and some strange ingredient combinations). I love Garlic Mashed Potatoes and pickles. A simple tofu stirfry with plenty of vegetables (usually frozen, from the Farmer's Market in the summer) is a perfect dish. I usually make up a bunch of brown rice ahead of time and freeze it for a quick complement to the meal. I also like fifteen minute meals: Curried tempeh, Teriyaki Tofu, and Tofu Guacamole Sandwiches fall into this category. On the weekends, I might make a "Hamburger" Hotdish, or Teriyaki Garbanzo Beans.

If I can find Teriyaki Chex Mix at the discount grocery store, I am a happy camper! I am absolutely in love with the discount grocery store. I can find 75 cent tofu, $1.99 Soy Dream Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, and $2.49 "Chicken" tacos. It is a paradise for the budget shopper!

Never Laugh While Eating Soup

It just doesn't end well.

I love my land lady. Her whole family came up for a birthday celebration, with plenty of Vietnamese food. She invited me along, and even cooked vegetarian Pha for me. Isn't she sweet?
Her family is hilarious, by the way. We were all eating our soup with chopsticks, and then they'd say the most random thing and disaster would occur: soup everywhere. It's not so easy to get Pha out of long, thick hair. It doesn't do much for make-up either. Maybe it's the newest moisturizer?

A girl can dream.

My Saturday

I look a little rough today. I have a knee brace on (from my adventure pushing a stranger's car and then giving it a jumpstart), and a bloody lip. The story behind the bloody lip is pretty simple, if humiliating: hot cheese burned it when I was eating my (supposedly cool) pizza, and it blistered. The blister soon burst, leaving my lip bloody and oh, so appealing.

I slept in until noon, and then hightailed it over to the next town's large public library and the discount grocery store. I need to stock up on more snacks for my morning group. One of the boys is always so hungry, begging food off of the others. One day I found him even going through the garbage for food. Luckily my food stamps will cover a fair deal of crackers, granola bars, and cereal. Maybe I can even toss in a little fruit.

Time to go find some "Queen of Babble" and "Little Lady Agency" books. I'm so looking forward to some light reading!

Favorite Vegan Foods

1) Follow Your Heart soy cheese
2) Spaghetti with olives and "Italian Sausage"
3) Guacamole and Guiltless Gourmet Spicy Black Bean Chips
4) Everything bagels
5) Tofu Stirfry with green peppers, broccoli, onions, garlic, and soy sauce
6) Bean Curd Family Style (when eating out at my favorite Chinese restaurant)

Food has never tasted so good!

Food Stamps/EBT

I am now the first person in my family to ever receive food stamps, as my dad so kindly reminded me just before my interview with the Department of Social and Human Services. It's quite an honor, I tell you.


Working with AmeriCorps, my living allowance falls just under the poverty line (a little under $950 a month, after taxes). To me, it feels like a lot of money, compared to a student budget ($15 a week for groceries, and selling plasma for gas money.) But then I look at my debts ($25,000 for school, then another $25,000 my parents took out for me to cover the rest), and I realize I'm in trouble. This is going to take a long time to pay back. Hello, reality.


So I went to a community agency to start the application process. The lady was very nice, and didn't make me feel awkward at all. This agency received funding from the government in part by referring qualified individuals for food stamps and housing assistance.


The next step was an interview at the DSHS, a formidable building with a huge line of people waiting to be served. There was a timed computer sign-in, which counted down the number of seconds you had left to key in your data on a dilapitated touch screen before the machine would start over. Then you had a good half hour wait for your name to be called for the first time. A lady at the reception area would speak to you for maybe a minute, clarifying whether you needed food stamps or medical benefits, before you were relegated to your comfy seat and a another lengthy wait. When your name is finally called (in an hour, if you were lucky), you were led into a cubicle at the rear of the building and mined for data. Woe to you if you forgot to bring a rent statement or second form of ID! Tomorrow you get to start the process all over again.


Finally, after being asked if you are a fleeing felon, you are led back to the dreaded waiting area. This time, you are a number. Thirty minutes and four numbers later, you just might be called to receive an EBT card with food benefits. For me, it was worth it---nearly $200 a month in food benefits! The first month I actually ran out, as I was setting up a new pantry, and didn't even have a container of salt to my name. Those spices really add up!

Within two months, though, two hundred dollars seemed like way too much money to ever spend in a month. I began donating some super cheap sale items to the local food bank. The rest gets rolled over. There is no way I will ever spend it all!