Hey y’all! Welcome to the series Weekly Eating.
Here is where I’ll talk about the week’s meal plan versus reality, what we ate for the week, and how we did budget-wise. I hope it gives readers a behind-the-scenes look into our life through the lens of food, and it’s also a way to keep us on track with meal planning and grocery budgeting.
Feel free to share your wins and lessons in the comments below!
Over the weekend I had many adventures, mostly food related of course. I pickled some carrots, cauliflower, and beets. They turned out pretty great. I had a food tour on Saturday that was super fun, everyone was very talkative and there for a good time.
I finally got my egg incubator! That meant that I got to put 14 of my quail eggs in for their 18 day journey. I am impatiently waiting and checking the temp and moisture levels daily. We should have baby chicks by the first week of March and I cannot wait!
And Erin from ReachingForFI was in town! We went to AYCE sushi on Sunday, and made an impressive tower of empty plates. She was the most perfect house guest and is welcome back any time.
Monday:
Breakfast – cinnamon raisin bagel with almond butter and an apple
Lunch – leftovers from tour
Dinner – I made what was meant to be a sausage and kale soup, but then I decided to let it thicken a bit and eat it over rice. Fabulous decision! Even the boy loved it.
Tuesday:
Breakfast – tropical smoothie and a nut kolachi
Lunch – leftover homemade Ethiopian dal, kale, and beet hummus with grape tomatoes and a black bean brownie
Snack – apple
Dinner – made a killer mac n cheese, then added some leftover cooked sausage, spinach, and pinto beans
I also meal prepped a pork roast with beans in the insta pot and a big tray of roasted veggies
Wednesday:
Breakfast – smoothie
Lunch – leftover sausage kale soup and roasted veg
Dinner – had dinner at a friends house, with sausage made on his farm, green beans, rosemary potatoes, and pickled goodies made by yours truly (beet pickled veg and pickled watermelon rind)
He’s also a woodworker, and gave me piece of a barrel stave that was smoked and then used for whiskey followed by beer. I added it to my soy sauce, and it has darkened considerably already! I can’t wait to see what the difference in flavor is like.
Thursday:
Breakfast – spiced pear and raisin oatmeal
Lunch – the last leftover enchilada from last week with avocado, rice, tomatoes, and spicy salsa
Snack – leftover from Valentine’s day cookie & chocolate covered strawberry. And then a nut bar on the drive home.
Dinner – tortellini with sauce (that smelled suspiciously like salsa…)
Snack – big ol bowl of popcorn. Clearly I was a bottomless pit for some reason this day…
Friday:
Breakfast – burrito of 4 quail eggs scrambled with salsa and spinach
Lunch – rice & beans with roasted veggies
Snack – bits of PB&J and an apple
Dinner – leftovers
Food Total: $53.23
Harris Teeter + Weekly Produce Box = Eat the Uglies
I am so in love with the movement to eat “ugly produce” that is gaining traction around the US and the world in general. Grocery stores usually have pretty strict standards on produce they will accept, like the size, shape, and color. Anything that has the slightest bruise, dent, nick, or blemish or doesn’t fit these requirements just gets rejected, and thrown out.
So this produce is wasted, sent to landfills, or left in the field to rot. The farmers lose out on money, and it does the world at large a lot of harm, just because we want our apple to look “perfect”.
Guess what folks?
Nature ain’t perfect.
Sometimes carrots have 2 legs, or taters are alien shaped, or apples get gnawed on a little bit. Produce grows from literal dirt, and poo is probably involved somewhere (hopefully, it’s the most perfect fertilizer). It’s still perfectly edible and healthy. Just give it a rinse before you eat or cook it.
The Weekend
I will be avoiding the online hullabaloo over the recently published Alt-FI Manifesto. This blog is not a place for politicking or arguing; it is a place to talk about food and money and health. The end.
I will say I am happy to see those who are willing to have a respectful dialogue regardless of beliefs, and saddened by those who seem to delight in attacking and generalizing.
I will also be attending my first NC Drag Show!
Not my first ever, but first since… oh, over a decade for sure. So I am nervous and excited to see how it goes! It will surely be full of fun and music and glitter.
Then Sunday we have brunch plans with our recent CA transplant Steve & his wife! They came to Durham from San Fran, and I am going to do my darndest to show all the ways the Triangle is far superior! Friendly people, great weather (maybe a losing battle here), and phenomenal cost of living (for now…).
One last announcement…
The boy has decided we are doing a Whole 30
Starting now.
?