Monster Pork Butt Roast

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One of the local stores had a sale this week on pork butt roasts - 99 cents a pound - yum!  The moment I saw the ad, I have visions of pork carnitas, pork chili (yes, with beans - shoot me), and yummy meat for paleo-friendly dishes dancing through my head.

So, I sent one of my roommates, R, over to the stores to buy one.  I thought she'd come home with the usual 4 pounder that will easily fit in our large crockpot.  Nope - there is currently a 10 lb monstrosity of a pork butt sitting in our fridge, just waiting for this heat wave to end so we can roast it.

I have a feeling I'm going to end up cutting it in half and crockpotting (yes, that's a word!) one half today and the other tomorrow (or overnight) to keep the house cool.  (Our oven is a freaking furnace - once it comes on, we can't keep the house cool, even with the AC on.)  Most of the cooked meat will probably end up tossed with taco spices and placed in the freezer for later "quick meals" when we don't want to cook or heat up the house this summer.

So, lesson learned - don't send R out to the grocery store hungry - she comes home with half a pig.  Sheesh....  ;-)

Beets Bonanza

Source - Not our collection of canned goods....
but our pantry looks similar!

 
I'm a lucky duck - not only did I move into a household where they follow a strict Gluten-Free diet and are proponents to the Paleo Diet, but they almost believe in the wonders of a home garden.  Most of the tiny yard about our mobile home is garden space, not to mention the nice patch at the community garden where we can plant anything, as long as we stay organic.  I help out when I can - usually watering and pulling weeds when I see them - but what I enjoy the most is when they bring the fruits of the garden inside and we start processing the food. (yeah, I'm strange....)

We are currently working our way through out collection of beets.  It seems that someone (who will remain nameless) went a little crazy with the beet planting this winter.  Not only is there a 3' by 3' "hedge" of beets here at the house, there is a full 10' row of the stuff at the community garden.  Yeah - we're literally seeing red these days.

I went through the home patch last weekend and pulled what needed to be pulled - mainly the HUGE beets and anything trying to "escape" out of the ground (yes, they're literally climbing out of there!).  These were cooked and peeled and later consumed. 

Source

 Yesterday, my roommate, A, went through the same patch and pulled some more.  We spent last night after dinner cleaning, boiling, and canning those for later enjoyment.....

And still....the beet hedge stands out there in the front yard and mocks us. 

There are rumors of going to battle tomorrow - pull everything in the front yard AND in the community garden and clean, cook and can it all.  I'm sure we're going to come out of the experience looking like we actually went to battle. (If you don't know beets bleed a LOT.)  Should be....interesting.

But I will say this - I think we're going to be eating beets forever....

Link - More Reasons to Give Up Sugar

The ladies over at Food Your Way are doing a Break the Sugar Habit Challenge this June. 

Now, if you're reading this website, you've probably already given up the sugar monster but if you haven't....or if you have friends that could use a little "motivation", check out the great links at More Reasons to Give Up Sugar.  Lots of great information to get your moving towards your "sugar free" lifestyle!

Remembering....

One of my good friends lost her battle with cancer today. 

This is a very distressing event for everyone who knew Ms. M.  The illness happened so quickly!  One moment, she was fine and bouncing off the walls....and the next, she was fighting for breath in the ICU of the local hospital. 

I had just had coffee with her 5 weeks ago.  She was bubbly, happy, and ready to rebuild her home business after having to take a year off to recover from an unrelated brain surgery. 

2 weeks later, I called to see if she wanted to get coffee again but she turned me down - she had "pneumonia" and had to stay in bed. 

A week after that, her doctor admitted her into the hospital.

2 weeks later, she was gone....

So, do me a favor and go hug your family on this Memorial Day.  Remember - life is short.  All we can do is live each day to its fullest.....

Attack of the Onions and Lettuce!

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I got 15 lbs of onions at Family Harvest on Friday.  Add that to the boxful that we already had (my roommate, A, gets a weekly brown bag from the Senior Assistance program here in town and there's always onions and potatoes in it), and we have enough onions to keep a Italian village happy.

So, now we're on the lookout for good Paleo onion recipes.  I woke up Saturday morning, to find A and my other roommate, R, prepping and shredding onions in the food processor.  These were handed to bleary-eyed me (remember, this is all before I've had my coffee) to make oniony meatball soup for lunches this week.  It's Thursday and I think there's just enough to feed everyone today and tomorrow.  Thank god, since we're are getting sick of soup!

We're very "grocery-sales-conscious" around here.  Since this is a "toss it all in the pot and see what happens" partnership, we make it a point to sit down Tuesday or Weds night with the ads and discuss what we have, what's on sale, what to buy, and what needs to be eaten.  That way, things get cycled through here with minimal food and money waste. 

So, we spent some time Tuesday night with the grocery ads, recipe books, and Mr. Google, trying to find ways to make that mega-box of onions disappear.  Same with the four heads of cabbage and three huge bags of "gourmet salad mix" that they gave me.  (And let's not even mention the multiple heads of lettuce in the garden outside that are coming to maturity and must be eaten.) No matter how many salads we have, there's no way we're going to eat through all of those tender leaves before they go bad.  I suggested sauteed salad leaves with lots of onions, garlic, and ginger....A voted for lettuce soup....R voted for a little of both.  So, we're doing one today and the other tomorrow.  Should be interesting!

BTW: we did have some good news - A, who is my mother's age and has been eating Paleo for 3 months and gluten-free for over a year and a half, saw a 40 pt drop in her bad cholesterol in the last year.  40 POINTS!  Take that, Mr. Low-Fat, No Taste!  ;-)

The Rumors of My Demise Are False...

To answer some questions I've received via email in the last month or so:

Yes, I'm alive.

Yes, I'm still Paleo.

Yes, I'm still watching my pennies when it comes to our food budget.

The last few months have been a bit crazy....but really, every month since I broke my leg (July 2011, if anyone is interested) has been a bit insane!

The biggest change of the year - the kids and I moved.  We're now sharing a house with a couple friends to help everyone save on expenses.  The kids and I share the large master bedroom - a seriously HUGE change for us but we're getting used to it.

Why the sudden change?  Well, we live in one of the most expensive places in the US (San Fran Bay Area) and with the economy the way it is, this was one way we could assure everyone could pay their rent AND eat - two VERY important things when you have kids!  ;-)

Thankfully, my roommates are gluten-free and semi-Paleo (they like an occasional GF noodle, rice, or potato at dinner) so we get along well.  We're pooling our food resources to ensure that everyone eats.  I kick in $100 / month plus whatever I get through the Family Harvest program from the local Food Bank and they kick in what they can from their budgets and other sources...and we seem to eat well!

Yes, I do participate in the local food bank's Family Harvest program. I take the kids' wagon to the local community college once a month where they fill it with some packaged and canned foods, rice, beans, a protein or two (usually frozen chicken or ground turkey), some fruit, and LOTS of vegetables.  The first time I went, I was amazed at the sheer amount of fresh stuff I got.  They say that Family Harvest provides each family with 100 to 120 lbs of food a month - I believe it!  Some months are hit and miss (like the one month I got a full box of canned green beans - we're still eating through those - or the month we got another box full of frozen mac & cheese - my son ate half and the rest went to a local homeless center) but most of the time it's pretty good.  The non-paleo stuff that we won't eat gets passed on to friends or others who are struggling so nothing goes to waste.

Now, as you can guess, I had a hard time stepping up to the plate when it came to accepting food from the food bank....but then I realized something: if I had to decide between my pride or feeding my kids, my kids would win every time.  We weren't actually starving - my frugalness and tight food budget kept that away - but I do have other bills that need to be paid off....and that wasn't happening as long as I allowed my pride to win.  So, yes, I swallowed down that hard pill and did what I had to do. 

This grown-up stuff SUCKS.....but sometimes, a Mama's gotta do what a Mama's gotta do, right?  ;-)

Anyway, I promise to be back here a little more often to share our new exploits and adventures of eating Paleo on a Budget.  Can't wait to see what happens next!

2011 Wrapup

source

Yes, I know - I'm a little late with my end-of-the-year wrap-up but with the holidays and a couple big projects that seemed to take over most of my December....  Well, you get the idea.

So, let's discuss health first:

I haven't stepped on a scale since ..... oh, early December-ish, I think.  At that time, I was a solid 190.  My goal for this year was to get under 200.  Seems that I blew past that goal!  WOOT!

This means that over the last two years, I've lost 77 lbs (almost 30% of my overall body weight) and around 10 inches around my waist, all without starving myself.  I'm quite happy where my weight is now - all of the charts say I should be around 170 but realistically, I'm not sure I'll ever get down there and still be healthy.

Though I did really well in the weight loss category, I've done really sucky in the "get in shape" area of my life.  Everything was great up until the end of July when I broke my leg/ankle while hiking.  (Yep, my new healthy habit bit me in the butt hard!)  I've been on the sidelines ever since. 

It's been hard to go from "being able to walk 4-6 miles without even the slightest muscle complaint" to "walking to the end of the block and back makes me want to cry".  *sigh*  I keep repeating what the doctor told me right after my accident: 6 months to a year....6 months to a year.  Well, it's almost been 6 months, god damn it!  Get with the program, ankle!

Food Wise:

It seems that I have become the Queen of Soups, Stews, and Gluten-Free Muffins.  With my limited budget (and a major influx of homemade chicken broth), I've been experimenting with soups and stews.  One in particular, my Turkey Meatball Soup, gets rave reviews, even though it's different every time I make it.   (It's becomes my new "clean out the fridge" stew.)  Every time one of my friends is sick, I get a phone call, begging for some of my soup.  They repay me with extra veggies and fruit when they're well, so I can't complain.

Oh, and I discovered over Christmas that my Gluten-Free Pumpkin Oat Muffin recipe is a great all-purpose muffin recipe.  I've replaced the pumpkin with homemade orange sauce, bananas, and homemade apple sauce, and they always end out good!  I made extra batches of orange and pumpkin muffins for Christmas gifts for my gluten-eating and non-gluten-eating friends and everyone loved them.

On other fronts of my life:

Money still sucks.  Budget is as tight as ever.  I've had to investigate some alternatives for bringing food into the house to keep us within our means.  (More about this in a later post...)

Freezer is as full as ever, thanks to some great end-of-the-year turkey and steak sales.  I just wish I didn't have to shovel out the snow every few days. (Yes, it's snowing in the freezer - enough to make a good-sized snowball every few days.  No, it's not fixable.  Yes, the landlord knows - he's waiting for the appliance prices to drop at the end of the month.)

Kids are...well, growing like weeds and are always hungry.  I think 80% of my budget goes into feeding those two.


Car is acting okay now.  My dear sister bought me a code reader that would allow me to reset the computer codes.  No "check engine" light ever since....but I still cross my fingers and say a little prayer ever time I start up SwampThang in the morning.

TED Talk on the Paleo Diet

This is a great video on how one woman cured (yes, cured) her MS with a Paleo Diet!  I had to share!

The YouTube link is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KLjgBLwH3Wc - please pass it on!

Post Holiday Deals on Protein (And We're Not Talking Turkey!)

While I was out shopping this morning, I decided to stop by our local Smart & Final.  I mean, I was in the neighborhood and I did need some more sugar-free vanilla coffee syrup (not Paleo, I know...but it's a lovely treat in my tea in the morning)...so in I went.  I grabbed two bottles of syrup and made a side track though the meat section on my way out....and was completely surprised at what I saw.  They had steaks and chicken on 50% clearance!  That meant 49 cent/lb chicken leg quarters and $2.35/lb steaks.  WOOT!  I grabbed a cart and snatched up everything I could find. 

These heavy discounts seem to be common right after a major food-driven holiday.  Everyone is so centered around their turkey- or ham-based holiday meal, no one buys the other proteins.  Instead of letting them hit their expiration date and tossing then, the stores decide to heavily discount them so they can get something for the meat.

Now, before you start with the "Ewwww!  Rotten meat!" - this is not rotten meat, heck, it's not even expired yet.  They usually discount the packages a day or two before the expiration date...and even then, the expiration day has a lot of leeway to it.  I've found that as long as your freeze or use it up within a few days of that date, you're good.

I ended up cracking open the vacuum-sealed packages of steaks and cutting them into meal portions.  I also cooked all four packages of chicken leg quarters (I don't play around with "almost expired chicken"), stripped the meat off (which was later frozen), and then tossed the bones into a pot to brew overnight for chicken bone broth.  I see a LOT of chicken and turkey stew in our near future.

So, I'm extremely jazzed tonight - the freezer is full, the house smells great, AND there's steak in the house!!!  What more could you ask for????  ;-)

Our Thanksgiving Meal

Clockwise, starting at the top:

• Roasted vegetables (Brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli stems)
• Spaghetti squash
• Turkey
• Fried potatoes
• Paula Deen's sweet potato souffle (minus the flour and about 1/2 the sugar) because it's not Thanksgiving unless you have some sort of dessert!  ;-)

Yum!

Quickie Update

First of all....yes, I am still alive. 

Secondly, 2011 can kiss my ass.

This year has been going downhill ever since I broke my leg in August.  I'm barely keeping my head above water these days.  When I'm not trying to drum up work (which has hit the usual holiday lulls), I am either writing or playing World of Warcraft.  (Hey!  Don't laugh!  Some people drink when they're stressed, some people do drugs....I smash in orc faces.)

Oh, and let's not even mention the car trouble and the "Cold From Hell" that attacked us at the beginning  of November (thanks to my ex-husband who brought it home from work and passed it onto the kids) and is only now leaving our house.  I will say this: my immune system has really improved since I started the Paleo Diet.  I fight off all sorts of junk...but when I finally do catch something, it's NASTY!  The good news is, even though it made one kid throw up for 2 hours one night and the other grumpy for a week straight, this ick didn't turn into bronchitis like it did for my ex.  *crosses fingers and knocks on wood*

So, please don't get worried if you don't see many updates around here in the next month.  I'm just busy treading water, waiting for this sucky year to end.

Before I go, I thought I'd share a little pre-Thanksgiving food porn:

This is the first Thanksgiving since my divorce that I've actually been home.  I've spent the last few Thanksgiving with my family in So Cal....but this January is my mom's big 7-5 birthday bash, which I really want to attend, and since I can only afford one road trip this winter, I decided to stay home for Thanksgiving.

Of course, I always seem to have bad luck with the timing of my turkeys - they never seem to be done in the time I guestimate, so dinner get's delayed and the kids get grumpy and...well, you can see where this is going.  ;-)  Since it's just me, myself, and I cooking dinner this year, I thought I'd make the turkey today so Thanksgiving day could be spend doing other things like smashing in Orc faces playing Hi-Ho Cherry-o with the kids.  ;-)

Oh, and BTW: if you can see fit, please pray for my car.  I have an intermittent "check engine" light that's really starting to stress me out.  One day it's on and the next it's off.  A friend (who also owns a Subaru) says that it's probably an oxygen sensor and not to worry.  HA!  My engine blowing up would be the topper to this year!

And if you know of anyone in the San Fran Bay area with a automotive code reader that would be willing to help out a single Mama who barely has 2 pennies to rub together, please comment below...  ;-)

Rearranging the Fridge

My fridge is having issues this month.  It's still snowing in the freezer and the bottom refrigerated section is ....well, let's just say that it's having some mold issues.  I've been trying to ignore it for the last couple of weeks or so - I just haven't had the energy to tackle emptying the fridge and bleaching everything.  (Hey, you break your ankle and see what you let go, okay?)

But today, I woke with a song in my heart and pure adrenaline racing through my veins.  Of course, the cup of coffee I had this morning probably helped too.  ;-)  After changing beds, washing all of the bedding in the house (yes, even the blankets), bathing the kids, and vacuuming the floor, I set to work cleaning out the fridge.

The food was still in good shape - I've been trying to make sure I cycle new produce in and out of the house so we're always eating the oldest stuff first.  It was the actually fridge that needed scrubbing.

It seems that the extra moisture from the snow in the freezer has been melting down the back of the refrigerator compartment and pooling in the bottom of the fridge under the produce drawers, making a nice toxic sludge.  I donned my trusty yellow gloves to clean up that mess.  Then I emptied, bleached, and scrubbed the produce drawers and shelves and carefully washed and inspected the food.

While the plastics soaked in the tub, I tackled the actually body of the fridge.  Ugh.  Let's just say that it had been a while since I did such a deep clean of this appliance.  It made for some interesting discoveries.  Thankfully, with the cleaning power of bleach, the fridge is now spotless and completely rearranged.

Yes, you're seeing that right - the produce drawers are now on the shelves.  The thought of keeping my fruits and vegetables in an area that is now super-prone to mold growth seemed to be a really stupid thing to do.  Also, keeping the drawer area at the bottom open will hopefully allow air to circulate better in that area and help retard future growth.

You'll also notice that all of my leftovers are now on the top shelf.  That should help to remind me of what needs to be eaten or frozen.  The tan plastic tub holds our fruit - hopefully that will make it easier for the kids to grab a healthy snack.  And yes, the eggs (and the excess of green apples that keep showing up at my door - AUGH!) are now stored in the bottom where it "should" be the coldest.

I'm crossing my fingers that this arrangement, though strange as it is, will help us to keep food longer.

What do you think?  Any good suggestions or ideas?  Comment below!

Edited later to add - My friend, Mr. Google, and I diagnosed and fixed my fridge issues.  It seems that the drain in the floor of the freezer was blocked with ice.  It took about 15 minutes and 2 cups of water to fix the issue.  This should stop the water dripping down into the fridge - I hope!  Who says girls can't fix stuff!?!?!? 

My Kids' "Not Quite Paleo" Diet

I, "Gimp-Along Annie", have three different appointments to get to this morning, including a fun trip to physical therapy - ugh.  (Can you tell I'm thrilled?)  So, I crawled out of bed at 5:30 AM so I would have a few minutes of peace and quiet to check my email, drink some tea...and make a lot of food before the kids got up.

See, I have these nice friends who have offered to babysit for me on Fridays while I attend to my appointments.  Yah!  Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy!  To make life easier for them, I make the kids' breakfast and lunch and leave them in the fridge.

Now, as I've said before, my kids are not following a 100% Paleo diet BUT I have integrated a lot of the Paleo ideas into their meals. I limit their intake of processed foods, centering their diet more on proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables.  They do get some grain (oatmeal and 1 sandwich a day) but their intake is small when you compared it to what other kids get.

Here is today's menu:

Breakfast (left): 1.5 eggs - scrambled-fried, 1 banana, 1 GF Pumpkin-Oat muffin, GF Cherrios (thanks to a friend), and a small handful of raisins.  (My meal is usually eggs and fruit.)

They usually clean their breakfast plates within an hour and will demanding more food around 10 AM.  Their morning snack is usually a piece of fruit and / or a stick of string cheese.

Lunch (right): 2 hardboiled eggs for my daughter / PB&J sandwich for my son, 1 GF Pumpkin-Oat muffin,1 small handful of raisins, 1 small pear, and a selection of vegetables. (I usually warm up some leftovers or have tuna on celery.)

Note: My daughter usually get an egg salad sandwich but all we had this week was the tiny loaf of rye bread that a friend gave me and she hates rye...so she's eating hard boiled eggs instead.

For their afternoon snack they get a choice of fruit, air-popped popcorn, or cheese stick.

At my house, the kids' dinner is whatever I'm eating (Paleo-style food) plus a piece of fruit and any extra veggies I can find.  Since it's Friday, they're having dinner at their father's house which means it could be anything from spaghetti to roast beef.  (My ex does not follow a Paleo diet but he is trying to keep to homemade food whenever he can so it is an improvement.  He's the reason why I keep some wheat in the kids' diet - I'm afraid that if they went wheat-free, they'd get wheat sick every time they went to their father's house.)

Do your kids eat differently than you do?  What's your take on kids' diets?  Comment below!

Lifehaker Article - Slice Your Own Steak

Just a quick stop before my Monday takes off to pass along this link to y'all -

Slice Your Own Steak @ LifeHacker.  

Years ago, pre-divorce, we used to do this - buy a "chunk of beef", bring it home, cut it down into cuts that we could use, wrap and store in the freezer for later yumminess.  I don't (or really can't) do this anymore - those chunks of beef just cost too much for my budget and I have very limited freezer space. 

You can find the beef at meat wholesalers, Costco, and places like Smart & Final.  Sometimes you can find a place that will actually butcher it down for you for a nominal fee, just in case you don't have the time or butchering skills, but the meat can cost more than places that don't.

Hope you have a great Monday!  ;-)

Freezer Cleaning Time!

Once a year, I get tired of the state of the freezer and decide to enact a moratorium on freezer items and make it a goal to eat through what's in there before I buy anything else to go into there. 

We are having one of those moment right now.  I enacted this moratorium two weeks ago after the chicken avalanched and tried to take the stack of ground beef with it.  I just took a big step back and let it all fall out.  I'm sure the neighbors in the apartment next door thought the world was coming to an end. 

I discovered some interesting things while I dig in there: a rogue ice cream bar that a friend lost in there, a bag of frozen vegetables (this is surprising because it's been almost a year since I bought frozen veggies), and a couple bags of what I think is "Greek Lima Bean Casserole" which I hadn't made in forever.  Oops!  ;-)

So, we're in freezer clean-out mode.  Some things get cooked and recycled back into the freezer - like the last six bags of frozen broccoli which were turned into Curried Cream of Broccoli and refroze for easy lunches or dinners when the kids aren't here.  The more interesting-looking meat and chicken were tossed into casseroles and soups to disguise any strange tastes they may have picked up

Remember! I hate to waste food!

And it's a good thing that the freezer is getting cleaned out.  It seems that the seal on the freezer compartment is going out and with all the rain we've been getting, the moist air is playing havoc with my freezer.  I opened it up yesterday morning to find snow banks gathering.

 

Good timing, huh?  It's going to take a while before this gets fixed - it seems that my landlord is ignoring me while we go through rent negotiations.  *sigh*  Isn't life fun?

When was the last time you cleaned out your freezer?  What do you do with your more interesting items?

What is Paleo? It's All in Your Prospective!

Someone recently commented on this blog that I'm not following a true "Paleo" diet since I periodically eat potatoes, only buy commercially-produced fruit, veggies, and beef, and do not partake in coconut oil.  And let's not get into the "you're poisoning your children" because my kids do not follow a 100% Paleo Diet.

I deleted the comment but her words have stuck in my head for the last week.  So, I thought I'd take a moment to respond here, publicly, just in case others has the same concern. 

If you do a Google search, you'll find that everyone seems to have their own definition of what is and is not Paleo. People have morphed and evolved (yes, pun intended ;-)  ) the Paleo Diet to suit their needs and taste.  Some buy only organic or grass-fed fruit, veggies, and proteins.  Others have decided not to eat so much fruit to help regulate their weight.  A few have even figured out how to eat Paleo while on the run or traveling a lot - kudos to them!

My Paleo Diet revolved around whole foods with limited fruit and potato intake (I still have at least 10 more pounds to lose) and very limited sugar.  I don't eat anything out of a box (aka - processed foods).  I don't eat nuts (I gain weight when I eat them), beans, or grains,except for a rare treat made out of oatmeal.


I do not eat organic fruits and vegetables mainly because of budget constraints - hell, I can barely afford the conventionally grown ones these days!  The same goes for grass-fed beef and chicken and coconut oil.  When you're on a tight budget, these luxuries are just not possible!

Even though I "poison" myself with non-organic items (her words, not mine), my health still continues to improve.  I've lost 70 lb, finally bringing myself under the 200 pound mark, I have lots of energy, and my blood pressure has dropped from dangerous levels to "high normal". 

I'm a living example of what the Paleo Diet can do for you, even without the "curative properties" of organic or grass-fed.  ;-) 

And when it comes to my kids, I only have one thing to say - my kids, my rules.  Yes, they are not 100% Paleo.  They enjoy oatmeal, a piece of candy, or a slice of gluten-free goodie every once in a while.  I buy individually-wrapped string cheese from Costco to be used as a cheap and convenient snack for when we're on the go or to hold them over while I finish dinner.  And yes, they have one sandwich a day - an easy lunch and it keeps their tummies used to eating wheat so when they go to their dad's house, they don't get sick.

Oh yeah, I'm "poisoning" them.  *rolls eyes* 

So, to the person who made these comments (See how I'm keeping names out of it?  I'm so nice!) - I'm glad that you have the extra money in your budget to invest in your food like that but like a lot of people these days, I don't.  So, you follow your organic-lined path and I'll follow mine - I'm sure we'll both end up in the same place....

Tonight's Dinner - Broccoli Soup

I spent my Saturday cleaning and restocking the fridge.  It was pretty easy - the old baby was getting pretty empty thanks to a week and a half of no rides to the grocery store.  (I can't wait until I'm driving again...)

Sunday was a cool day here in the San Jose Valley - cloudy and cold - but after spending the day before running (okay, hobbling) around Costco, Trader Joe's, and the Asian market, I was too tired and sore to do anything but the basics.  I'm glad I didn't - I got some bad news that afternoon (really really bad rent increase) and I was in no mood to cook never mind eat much that night.  I swear...this economic mess is going to either give me a mental breakdown or make me super skinny.


I stayed up late last night, trying to figure out a battle plan, crashed for six hours or so of crappy sleep, and got up this morning in a slightly better mood so I decided to do some serious cooking.  Tonight is Paleo-friendly Curried Cream of Broccoli Soup from NomNomPaleo, using up the more "interesting" vegetables from the crisper and some of the broccoli I froze months ago. 

My Soup at Noon - Notice the Frozen Blocks of Broccoli?

I do plan to make a few changes - I don't think I have any curry powder (I'll have to go digging into the back of the spice cupboard) but I do have some Gharma Masala which I think will add some zing to the soup.  I also plan to toss in some heavy whipping cream along with the coconut milk to help with the creaminess.  I'll also add in a bag of diced cooked chicken to help increase the protein, which will make it a complete meal for m.

I started the soup around lunchtime and will let the veggies "brew" all afternoon, tossing in the "cream", and blending it down right before we serve it.  Considering that my stew pot is completely full right now, I think I'll be eating this for a few days.  ;-)

(BTW: if you know of anyone that's looking for a freelance writer or virtual assistant, please have them contact me.  I need to extend my client base to cover the $147 increase in my rent.  *sigh* )

Sweet Freedom!!! (and Tonight's Dinner)

I'm FREE!!!  Finally!  

Of course, this doesn't mean that I tap danced my way out of the doctor's office.  My ankle and leg are very stiff and yesterday, it was so swollen, my moms were comparing my toes to "little pink sausages".  (Yeah, real funny, people...real funny!) 

This morning, my leg was still swollen but not as bad as yesterday and as the day goes by, the swelling continues to slowly go down.  I still can't walk on it but I can put my weight on it which is a start.  PT starts next week.  Won't that be fun?  LOL

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Tonight's Dinner - Stove-Top Zucchini and Ground Beef Skillet

Super easy and super cheap right now, while zucs / summer squash are on sale.  Of course, I don't use spaghetti sauce but rather just toss in a can of stewed tomatoes.  Yum!

Tongiht's Dinner - Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Chicken Soup

My mom woke Saturday morning with a nasty toothache.  After hemming and hawing about it for a couple hours, I called a friend and asked her to take my mom to the Urgent Care at the hospital.  They returned a couple hours later with antibiotics and instructions to see her dentist in two weeks.  Ever since then, Mom's been feeling under the weather.  Pain and infection will do that to you, right?

She woke this morning feeling blah again so I decided to make my special cure: Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Chicken Soup.  Yum!

So, what's in Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Chicken Soup?  Well, the name says it all.  I make this when I need to clean out the fridge and use up some of the more "interesting looking" veggies.  Today's soup includes onions, garlic, celery, carrots, squash, and cabbage, along with chicken meat and broth.

UPDATE ON ME: There's a rumor that I might get my cast off tomorrow.  Do me a favor and think good thoughts for me - I want...no, I NEED this damn thing off.  I miss walking.  I miss cooking without having to stand on one foot.  I took a spill while cooking last week - I just sort of sat down on the floor - and ever since then, I've been wary about doing too much.  I mean, my balance isn't great on my best days.  LOL

Green Tomato Bonanza!

Source

A friend came by my place this morning with a plastic grocery bag full green tomatoes, straight from her garden.  Being one who can't stand wasting food, I spent the rest of the day washing, sorting, and processing tomatoes.

• The larger, more ripe specimens (ones that were the hue of the one in the pic) were placed in my front window to finish ripening.
• The small dark green ones were turned into Green Tomato Relish (Thanks to Lauren for the suggestion when I put the all-call out on our Facebook page).  This was a HUGE hit - my mother was scooping it up by the spoonful during dinner.
• The slightly larger green ones are sitting in a bowl on my counter.  I call that bowl "limbo" - if they're still green when we run out of relish, then I'll make more relish.  If they're rippening, they'll be added to the window sill to finish off.

That's one of the things that's saved me a lot of money when it comes to our food budget - I make it my goal to not waste a bit.  (Nor do I turn away free produce ... but that's another story! ;-)  )