there was a little girl

There was a little girl,

Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good,

She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was horrid.

That poem, composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow while trying to quiet a daughter for sleep, is a perfect narrative for my relationship with Trader Joe's.  Well, the Trader Joe's in Philadelphia, anyway.

I love Trader Joe's for a few reasons.  First (and possibly most importantly), they have an amazing 10-grain bread that makes amazing toast (it gets all crispy and chewy in the best possible way) and even Mister likes it.  I bought the multigrain bread at Whole Foods for years before he told me he didn't like it.  Second, and also important, is that I usually save a ton of money buying produce there, rather than Whole Foods.  Let's compare: $0.69 for a red bell pepper (when they're in season) versus $4.99/lb (meaning the average pepper is over $2).  $0.39 for a potato versus the seeming bargain of $1.99/lb.  You get the idea.  Finally, they have the most palatably store-brand soymilk.

So what's horrid?  Ever trying to shop quickly.  Which can be important to me.  Also, ever trying to shop between 5 and 6 pm.  It doesn't matter if it's a weekday or a weekend - trying to shop at that hour is maddening.  The lines literally run halfway down every aisle and I'll be in line longer than it takes to shop.  Also, since their low prices do rely on seasonal produce, they don't always have stock of what I want, where I know Whole Foods almost always will (even if it's $8 asparagus).  This is not a bad thing, per se, but when it's already inconvenient to go there (on the other side of town completely), I want to get as much as I can to make it worth the effort.

One thing they're hit and miss on is arugula.  This week, it was a miss, so I ended up with fresh baby spinach, even though I have two bags of frozen spinach in my freezer.  Why the hunt for arugula?

Pasta Della California from Veganomicon had cried out to be made one last time before I do a snow dance and hunker down with a wintery menu of stews and chilis and other impossibly hearty things to be cooked slowly and to warm my innards from head to toe (or... at least my belly).

When Mister and I were shopping at Superfresh last week, I saw a surprising thing for December - a sale on Haas Avocados!  So I gently poked a few, trying to find a ripe one.... then took one that looked a good size and let it ripen on my counter the last few days.  It is so rare to find avocados for less than a dollar here in Philadelphia (not exactly prime avocado-growing climate), I couldn't resist the urge for a flavor and texture that always brings me happy memories.

Failing to find arugula, I opted for a slightly easier-to-eat green and honestly, I may always make it this way now - it was really good with the baby spinach and its silkier texture.  It seemed a better match for the nice squishy, creamy avocado.  The arugula provides a bitter foil for that creaminess and it works, but this was so good even Mister commented on the flavor.

So, with this last delightful dish (before I continue pressuring my friend to go to El Vez for their unbelievable guacamole and delicious margaritas via facebook chat), I bid farewell to the last gasp of warm days in December and look forward to some snowy weather....

flashbacks are fun!

Everyone have their Flashback Hats on?  Okay, hold on tight - here we go!

It was sometime in the autumn of a day in the mid-1990s.  I was in college, sitting in my dorm room.  It was later in the evening, I'd probably just finished some homework and had no other plans for the evening. I was hungry, but all food options on campus (aside from the healthful options in 1990s vending machines) were closed down for the night.

What's this?

My eyes fall on a plastic milk-crate beneath my nailed-to-the-wall desk.  It's packed to the gills with all kinds of "food."  When I shipped off to college, a group of dear friends had assembled this Care Package for me, full of strange and exotic foods I'd never eaten before.  Well, okay, I'd had PopTarts on the rare occasion my mother was willing to permit them as a breakfast treat, but never artificially purple frosted Wildberry PopTarts.  By the way - they're revolting.  If you've never had them, there's no reason to start now.

I pulled the crate out in to the glow of the flattering fluorescent overhead light and poked through the contents for something that would qualify as Substantial Food.  Finally, I pulled out a plastic packet which I pulled open to reveal a brick of dried "noodles" and a packet of seasoning that I think was supposed to taste like chicken.

That's right.  Ramen Noodles.

I had never had them before, but I broke the brick into smaller bits, sprinkled the seasoning over top and filled the bowl with hot water.  It was love at first slurp.

I can't even imagine what my body thought of the extraordinary sodium increase, but 10 (or so) pounds later, the love affair began to fade...

Don't fret!  There is still time for a happy ending!

So a few months ago, vegan ramen started being a new foodie trend and for the first time, I learned that ramen is not just a 10-for-$1 phenomenon that prevents college students from starving at midnight (while raising their blood pressure and increasing their waistlines).  NO!  It's also a normal, everyday Japanese dish, ordinarily made with a savory (albeit animal-based) broth, plenty of fresh veggies, and long slender noodles.

Imagine my delight upon paging through Celebrate Vegan for this week's menu to find that Dynise had included her own ramen recipe.  Tonight's dinner, then, was the ubiquitous Ramen Noodle Bowl from that very same book and it was far more delicious than those bricks of dry noodles soaked in reconstituted broth could ever be (no matter how long I'd been writing a term paper, preparing a speech, or studying for a test).

I don't know why the picture is green - all I can think of is the reflection from the placemats?  Anyway... per the recipe instructions, I simmered ginger and garlic in a vegetable broth, along with carrots, green cabbage, broccoli, and green onions, topping it off with cappellini noodles standing in for those old, crumbly bricks (and also, because of a sale, the box of cappellini cost less than a six-pack of prepacked ramen noodles).  It was delicious - Mister and I both slurped up two bowls with reckless abandon for our waistlines or blood pressure, and although I'm sure we could do without the concentrated sodium in the cubes of Rapunzel bouillon I used for the broth, I'm sure we could have (and have) done worse.

I was impressed with how much more flavorful and, for lack of a less pretentious word, complex the broth and noodles were.  I'm not going to pretend that the cabbage added some je ne sais quoi, but I will say that the drizzling of toasted dark sesame oil to finish the dish did so with such a flair, it's hard to believe someone would bother simplifying all that jazz to sell by the penny to poor [stupid] college kids.

By the way - if you're wondering where the Freshman Fifteen comes from, it's not the beer Freshmen are too young to drink legally - it's from the Ramen their parents willingly buy them to get them through all-night study sessions (which really do happen!).

diversity for dinner

So, over the weekend (when I wasn't writing my novel about Bay Area Eats), I got to construct and shop for my full week menu.  I definitely had another one of those ILoveTraderJoe's moments and each time I go there I find myself more willing to go out of my way to shop there.  I'm still getting used to the layout and the much smaller size than Whole Foods, but I pay about half of what I do at Whole Foods and I'm still working out that budget thing.

On Friday, I made Aloo Gobi from The Vegan Table because Mister Loves Curry, especially with two favorite veggies.

It was quite a bit more chopping than I anticipated, but by the time I crammed all 4 potatoes, 6 tomatoes, and head of cauliflower into my miserable little saute pan (near fail!), it smelled too good to think it wasn't worth the work.  I steamed some brown basmati over which to serve it and then called a very happy (and by then, very hungry) Mister to the table.

After dinner, I made up my new menu:

1. Granada Paella from The Urban Vegan, which is one of the main reasons I had to at least drop in to TJs, but the whole $25 for a bag I'd pay $50+ for at WF was also pretty alluring.

2. Bean and Bulgur Tacos, also from The Urban Vegan.  I've passed this recipe a dozen times, each time wondering exactly how that would work, but being unwilling to take the chance of finding out.  Carpe Diem, friends!

3. Orecchiette con Broccoli, also from The Urban Vegan.  Hopefully this time I won't make myself sick.  I do anticipate this will be my easiest and tastiest attempt because I bought a convenient and inexpensive bag of pre-cut broccoli florets at TJs and I plan to dissolve the miso in something that isn't rancid this time.

4. Fusilli with Lentil Sauce from Vegan Italiano.  I was poking through some old posts and came across the first time I made this and thought, Hey, that was pretty good - let's have it again.  So there you go.

5. Penne with Cannellini Beans and Escarole, also from Vegan Italiano.  I'm still finding my way around TJs, but for all I could see, Whole Foods is still the only place to go for escarole.  Not that it's a huge, irreplaceable part of my life.  There may or may not be a post soon on Pretty Woman in an Ugly World about a recent customer service encounter at Whole Foods that may or may not be fueling my search for an alternate organic grocer...  maybe.  

Anyway, with a fridge full of food and well-stocked cupboards, I did the logical thing and made Sloppy Joes from The Urban Vegan.  Nothing exciting - they were as fabulous as they always are, which unfortunately makes for seriously boring blogging, so we'll move on to last night's dinner: Fusilli with Lentil Sauce.

This makes an absolutely delicious sauce, but I'm not thrilled with how soupy it comes out.  I think 2 cups of broth + 14 oz undrained diced tomatoes might make a little too much liquid, especially when you include about 4 Tbsp of liquid condiments.

I think where I go wrong with the sauce is following the directions.  That whole Tyranny of the Recipe thing again... the recipe instructs me to cover the pot while the lentils bubble and boil their way to plumpy-tenderness, presumably so that the steam helps the process along, but I think they will still plump up just fine if I leave the lid off and allow the liquid to evaporate and concentrate a bit.  I think Mister will appreciate that, too, since puddles at the bottom of his pasta bowl make him a little sad.

As long as you ignore the puddle beneath this pile of pasta, it's really a very attractive (and super easy and tasty) dinner.  I really should make this more often.  I used de Puy lentils this time around and I think I probably would have done better with regular old Goya brown lentils.  The way they held their form was a little distracting - I would have liked them to blend in with the rest of the sauce a little more.

Tonight, Mister and I were both pretty starving by the time I got home from work, so ignoring the good sense that told me to save my fastest cooking meal for tomorrow night, I sped through the prep for Bean and Bulgur Tacos tonight.

In the little square of plastic, you see something you could easily mistake for very creamy guacamole.  You would only be half right...it's Trader Joe's Guacamole Hummus - 50/50 blend of avocados and chickpeas with various seasonings mixed in.  You can also see the little corner I dug out with a flatbread and part of a red pepper...quality assurance, you know.

It was a bit spicy, owed to the blended jalapeno and at least a little garlic, as well as some cilantro and lime.  It was an unusual color.  Does anyone like Fiona Apple?  On her first CD, Tidal, she sings a gorgeous song called "Pale September."  For some reason, the opening line (Pale September - I wore the time like a dress that year) always made me think of a pale chartreuse chiffon dress, gossamer against sunlight and a gentle breeze.  If I had married in September, rather than October, I would have hunted that color down and made it my wedding color...and promptly made enemies of my bridesmaids, at least three of whom would not have been flattered by the shade, but hey - it's my wedding, right?

Fortunately for everyone, I married in October, so they wore crimson instead.  My point?  The Hummamole (that's what Mister and I are calling it) was that color.

I shredded a big bowl of romaine lettuce and sprinkled it over top of a generous smear of the Hummamole on each tortilla, then topped it with the bean and bulgur mix.  It was light yet filling and really hit the spot with a variety of tastes and textures.  I guess in that way it was very much like the dinners in this post.  The heat and tanginess of Indian curry, the savory toothiness of pasta with a rich Italian sauce, and a new take on a familiar Mexican taco recipe, replacing the brown rice with coarse bulgur.   

a bean is just a bean

I'm gonna make this quick because I have to get up earlier than usual and my internet connection is being stupid and that is immensely more frustrating than it would be ordinarily due to the huge and unnecessary amount of stress trying to strangle me.

Tonight's dinner was Veggie Goulash from La Dolce Vegan.  We haven't had this in a long time because I repeatedly forget how good it is.  Granted, when you look at the ingredients, it's easy to see my hesitation.  It just doesn't seem like this is going to end well: carrot, zucchini, tomato, cauliflower, and pinto beans?

Doesn't it look incredibly tasty, though?  That's because it is.  I always forget what a good simmer in some garlic-laced, paprika-spiked broth will do for a melange of vegetables.  I did make a couple of adjustments due to budget issues (or, you could just say I'm frugal to a fault?).  Fresh cauliflower is stupidly expensive when I only needed a relatively small amount, so I bought a block of frozen cauliflower.  Although I'm pretty good at stretching frozen veggies packed in bags, I'm not so good at figuring out how to protect a cardboard box from freezerburn, so I just threw all 10 oz of cauliflower in there.  I'm pretty sure Mister didn't mind.  I also subbed Great Northern Beans for the Pinto beans.

Pinto beans would have been a little creamier, I'll grant you, but I cannot figure out this weird recent phenomenon at Superfresh.  For reasons unknown and probably illogical, for the first time I've ever seen, Goya brand beans are much more expensive than store-brand beans.  The brown rice is actually more expensive than Carolina rice.  I don't get it.  So, since Superfresh was having a Great Northern Bean sale (5 for $3!), I bought 3 cans of those instead of a can of Pintos ($1.07, which doesn't seem like a lot, but for beans??  really???), and two cans of cannellinis @ $.89 apiece. 

That's all for now, kids.  It would have taken me half the time to write that (or I could have written twice as much) if I didn't have to wait 15 seconds for the damn pinwheel to stop spinning after every second sentence.  Hopefully, tomorrow's better.  See you then!

another day, another dollar [saved]

This has nothing at all to do with the rest of this post, but I thought you might be interested to know that Angst has spent more time in the kitchen lately than I have.  It started a couple of nights ago.  I was sitting here at my computer, clickity-clacking away, when I spied something out of place in my peripheral vision.  I turned to see what was awry with just enough time to see something that appeared to be small and gray and possessing a tail skitter away.  Angst chased his new friend under the dishwasher and then sat there for the rest of the night, waiting for his little buddy to make another appearance.  Honestly, it happened in such a flash, I couldn't be sure if it was the cute little mouse I thought it was or a really big cockroach.  Obviously, my vote was for the former.

No appearance was made by Angst's little friend, who only popped his little head in during the heaviest part of the recent rainstorm, so Mister and I assumed he had found his way back out to wherever mice in the city live (probably someone else's home?).  Then, just a few minutes ago, I noticed Angst was stalking the stove, staring quite intently at various parts of it.  Nothing says "Exciting Monday Night" like this: the cat was staring at the stove and I was staring at the cat and occasionally glancing at the stove.  Then it happened: a tiny, gray, fuzzy head popped up out of one of the burners and looked around.  He popped back down after I may or may not have exclaimed something relatively unholy...

He's good at hiding, so who knows how long he'll stay, but I'm not letting Mister kill him, so we'll see what Angst ends up doing.  He likes mice.  We had one at our ghetto apartment and he used to hang out by the stove and wait to pet it.  That mouse was much bigger than this one and he never did me any harm, so I don't see why this one needs to meet an untimely demise.  I'm just glad he turned out to be a mouse, not a 'roach.

So about that dinner... I didn't end up making dinner last night since we didn't even get home from the wedding until almost 7pm...and then we took a short nap.  Around 11, we both broke into leftovers and then went to bed.  Very exciting, I know.  But that's why I made Coconut Curry Rice from Vegan on the Cheap tonight.  I was a little surprised by how amazingly flavorful it was, for how simple a recipe it is.  I was completely astonished, though, when the brown rice actually did cook in the coconut milk.  As I was adding the rice to the dish, I thought to myself, "No, no...this is a mistake."  It took a little longer than I wanted it to, but it was well worth the wait.  I served it with some garlic naan.

Besides the normal savings earned by my diligent use of Vegan on the Cheap, this meal saved us money by helping me create the illusion of tasty, authentic Indian food right here at home.  Last night, I found myself craving a trip to Lovash for their amazing samosas, crispy poppadums, and startling spices.  However, right now I am both making an attempt to scale back our unnecessary expenses, as well as devoting any "extra" food money to our final trips to Horizons before they close.  All in all, a very "cheap" evening, which leaves more cash for a trip to Horizons in the [hopefully] near future.

A few other cash-savers included attending Employee Appreciation at work today.  Due to the stylish and healthy way we celebrate things, we had vendors with all kinds of health foods, served from little red kiosks under white-and-red striped umbrellas.  Here's the rundown: sno-cones, cotton candy, popcorn, smoothies, and soft pretzels (it's a "Philly" thing, as one new hire who recently moved here from Massachusetts pointed out).  Even though I know there is nothing natural or worth eating in that yellow flavoring they put on popcorn, it doesn't change the fact that it smells incredible and tastes as yellow as it looks, so I treated myself to some. I couldn't tell you the last time I had that kind of carnival popcorn, so I was able to justify it.  I also had a pretzel and would have had a smoothie, but the line was way too long.  So, there you go - afternoon snack taken care of with no added expense to me!

Finally, I managed to sneak off with about a half dozen "fresh" bagels for Mister's breakfast this week (probably me, too....I mean, they're free and they're bagels - what's not to want?).  One of the nighttime supervisors has a team member who works at Manhattan Bagel during the day, so he frequently brings in the bagels that would have gotten thrown away.  He had a haul of about 4 dozen bagels, so when my colleague invited me to help myself, I certainly did!

Here is your money-saving tip o' the day: although cherries are now increasing in price again, Whole Foods is blowing out organic strawberries at $3.50 a carton - they are so incredibly red and smell so good, you will do yourself a serious disservice if you let this pass you by.  By the way, not only are they extremely attractive - they taste like the best strawberries you've ever had. 

fake it 'til you make it

Through some incredible stroke of luck, I finally managed to find myself in the right place at the right time.  Just so you know, that person is never me.  I'm the one holding the lotto ticket that is just one digit off from winning.  I'm the one who gets to the party after everyone is drunk.  I'm the one who walks out of my front gate just in time to see the bus fly by.

This time, though, I had something on my side.  It's fairly well-known at work that I couldn't possibly care less about sports unless someone paid me to care less.  Instead, I enjoy "the finer things," and long for a subscription to the Orchestra or the Ballet.  It just so happens that the CEO of our company is on the Board at the Kimmel Center, a huge performing arts venue in Philadelphia.  It just so happens that the Kimmel Center is hosting the amazing opening night gala for the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA).  It just so happens they needed some volunteers and it turned into a great opportunity for the CEO to send some over...which turned into a great opportunity (read: chance of a lifetime) for me to attend a black tie gala people are paying $750 to attend, completely free, aside from my obligations to help herd people.

While wearing an evening gown.
While seeing a joint performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the best in the world, with the Pennsylvania Ballet, for the first time in the history of the venue.  (as a side note, I've been fortunate to work for both organizations.)
While eating a dinner catered by Wolfgang Puck in honor of Georges Perrier (of Le Bec-Fin fame).

I live for this stuff.  So, when people say to me, "Oh, you got volunteered, eh?" I just smile.

Today I got to leave work early because I had to attend volunteer orientation.  According to the fine folks at the Kimmel Center, ordinarily they just do a quick briefing a half hour before an event, but since this is kind of a big deal (800 confirmed attendees, plus people who are only attending the concert, plus cocktail hour under an 80-foot tall replica of the Eiffel Tower strung with lights) they wanted to be a little more organized.  They had a pretty little spread of stinky French cheeses (Paris is the theme) with strawberries and grapes, alongside bottles of Perrier.  I could get used to this.  They also gave us "party favors"

Chocolate Eiffel Tower on a stick.  Yes.

In addition to this incredible privilege, I also got to leave work after only a half day in order to ensure I had plenty of time to get to the Kimmel Center.  The venue is conveniently located about 11 blocks from my home, so another great thing about today (and next week, when the actual event occurs) is that I got home early since I had a noticeably shorter commute.

Obviously, I took advantage of this opportunity to cook something time-consuming and intricate for dinner, instead of heating up the leftovers dominating our refrigerator.

No.  Actually, I took the opportunity to "enhance" our leftovers of Sicilian Market Pasta with an incredible find from Superfresh.  In a perfectly ironic move, Superfresh has packaged up produce they deem to be defective in some manner - rotting, or otherwise past its prime - and sell it for a dollar.  If a person was in need of tomatoes so ripe they were about to rot and needed a layer of plastic wrap to keep the flies away, this would be a tremendous bargain.

What luck!  I needed perfectly ripe tomatoes tonight!  So for one measly dollar, I brought home 6 perfect-for-sauce vine-ripened tomatoes and turned them into a very flavorful sauce with the help of some olive oil and my magic Tuscan Seasoning from California.  While I had only planned to get the tomatoes, I ended up with what looks like a perfectly fine bundle of tiny potatoes, perfect for roasting, also $1 and two heads of not-brown-yet iceberg lettuce for another $1.  Let's total that up:  6 tomatoes, about a dozen potatoes, and two heads of lettuce for....drum roll, please....$3.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

new year, new adventures

Last night was kind of exciting - more so than New Years Eves past.  I saw more people than I've seen... since the last day I was at work.  Speaking of which, I really can't say I'm enthusiastic for Monday - AKA the day I return.  Regardless, Mister and I had a short visit from an old friend and then I travelled by bus, foot, and taxi to spend some time at another friend's party before rushing home to kiss my sweetie at Midnight.

We've had some interesting Midnight Kisses through our years together.  I think the most memorable (not intentionally, that's for sure) was the one I got on the side of a highway.  Mister had played a show that night, things had gone a little late, so we were speeding through the relatively traffic-less night to get to my friend's house (yes, same friend) before people were too wasted to remember we even showed.  I was also trying, in vain, to get there before Midnight, but no dice.  So, as the clock turned to 12:00, Mister poked me and told me to pull over so he could give me a proper kiss.  So there you have it: Romance on Rt 422 Eastbound.

Mister is recovering, but still "relapses" if he exerts himself too much.  He had been trying to get himself together all day so he could attend the party with me and be in as good of spirits as he can be when he's been sick for more than two weeks and is now taking medication that reduces his already short fuse, but in the end, we decided I would go solo and return for my kiss.  I had a ball at the party (no pun intended), and was a little late leaving, which resulted in me bursting through our door, all full of New Years Cheer (or Beaujolais) at exactly Midnight. 

So, happy new year.

I thought of doing a round-up post, but felt like it would be more boastful than introspective.  Instead, we'll flash ahead to my first First of 2011.

I made seitan!  It was really good, too!  (click here for recipe) Mister said it tasted kind of like the lamb-turkey sausage-jerky they put on those huge spools for Greek restaurants to shave off small bits and make gyros (pronounced YEE-rohs).  Considering how much we both liked gyros when we still ate Mary's Little Lamb, I consider it a success.  Also, I couldn't stop pulling off little pieces to chew on while I prepped our dinner. 

Segue, anyone?  For dinner, I made the Irish Stew with Potatoes and Seitan from Appetite for Reduction.  It was nice and thick and savory.  I will stop one breath short of saying it was hearty, because although it was utterly delightful, it was not so inside-out warming as other stews I've made.  The flour slurry definitely enhanced the thickness of the stew, but didn't make it quite as thick as the aptly named Homey Vegetable Stew w/Dumplings.

Mmm... look at those big chunks of homemade seitan....  I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of myself, and I can already see the savings over pre-made seitan racking up on my internal budget calculator.  As far as I can tell, I'll save at least 50% by making my own.  Besides, it wasn't that hard and I only burnt myself once.

I'll be excusing myself shortly to construct a new menu and corresponding grocery list.  I'll be back to work, thus out of time, come Monday, so tomorrow I'll have to shop for the week.  Additionally, Mister found his Hungry last night, so I "whipped up" Isa's Potato-Spinach Curry before I went to the party.  Actually, now that I have proper knives, the whipping up goes much faster, so it really didn't take me long at all to make dinner last night, which is good, since I was heading out afterward!

I used Whole Foods 365 Organic Chopped Spinach, which was an amusing addition to the curry and potatoes already in the pot.  One thing I really love about potatoes simmering in any small amount of liquid is how the potato starch escapes and blends with the liquid, thickening it and making an involuntary sauce.  It was fun to shock that saucing process with the addition of little frozen nuggets of chopped spinach!  The only complaint Mister and I registered was that the curry spices overwhelmed the tiny bit of salt I added, per the recipe.  I'll make this again, but when I do, I'll increase the salt to a full teaspoon.

Back to the whole New Years thing for a moment; I didn't consciously make any resolutions.  This may very well be the first year.  I'm trying to figure out if that displays apathy or if it is evidence that I am at peace with myself.  Previous resolutions have included:
1. reducing debt (yes, me and everyone else)
2. being content and living in the now
3. accepting that people love me and not asking why

I still have debt, but not as much.  Being content and living in the now is a constant struggle, but present on my mind, so I didn't feel like I needed to set aside specific energy for that.  I haven't had self-esteem problems in years, so number 3 is moot.  Aside from continuing to reduce my debt and work toward other financial goals, I can't think of any promises to make to myself.  What about you, dear readers?  Have you made any promises to yourself this year?

$20 for groceries (revisited)

When I was taking the VeganMoFo survey and I got to the following question:

You have $20 to spend on fresh groceries and produce for the whole week (with a fairly well stocked pantry of dry goods, legumes, grains, and spices). What do you buy?

 I thought that it was a clever, make-ya-think kind of question.  I had no idea I would have to take it seriously a week later!  Nevertheless, I went grocery shopping today with the list I made from last night's menu planning and although I didn't have a dollar goal in mind (aside from spending as few of them as possible), that question/hypothetical situation kept repeating itself in my head.  I used my super-sleuth eyes to find the lowest prices on everything on my list and absolutely could not believe it when I arrived home with our entire week of groceries for...are you ready?  I don't think you are.  I have two receipts here to show any doubters that I walked away from the stores with everything I need for this week's dinners for only...(drum roll, please)

$22.54

No, I'm seriously not kidding.  That is how much I spent, total, between Whole Foods and Superfresh.  
No, I don't think I could be any more pleased with myself. :D

And just in case you still don't believe me (I don't blame you), here is what you can get for that amount:

• 4 ripe bananas
• 1 lemon
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 loaf of multigrain bread
• 1 block of extra firm tofu
• 32 oz almond milk
• 16 oz ziti
• 28 oz crushed tomatoes
• 14 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 15 oz cannellini beans
• two 15 oz cans of black beans
• 15 oz pinto beans
• 16 oz salsa
• 1 lb of colombian coffee
• frozen apple cinnamon waffles

for $22.54.  I'm not lying.  Here's how I did it: first, I made a list and did not even look at anything that was not on that list (even though I almost got distracted by the "upsells" at WF checkout again).  Second, if there were a few brands available (for example, the tomato products and pasta), I looked for the lowest priced item, even if it was only a few cents difference - those cents add up.  Third, I have a Superfresh club card, which not only makes me eligible for the $1 can of crushed tomatoes, but also gives me an additional 5% off my next trip after I spend $300 there (which, by the way, takes me about 2 months at least), and I got my certificate last time, so that knocked a little bit off the SF bill (5% to be exact).

So, to my great surprise and Mister's delight, we actually have a precious few discretionary dollars this week.  We have food, with at least one item on the menu promising leftovers.  I have a miraculously unopened bottle of Beaujolais and I'm looking forward to seeing how long it stays in that state - I'm betting for tomorrow night.  I have $3 in my wallet and a few in the bank, and only 4 days until that wonderful transfusion called "my paycheck."  I think we're gonna make it.

Then, in an effort to stave off Mister's use of those discretionary dollars for pizza by at least one more day, tonight's dinner was Tuscan White Bean Pizza.

What an attractive and tasty meal - the pizza, which I really jazzed up (more in a minute), served with a bowl of mixed olives and the last of the leftover soup.  I feel like a little bit of a glutton, revealing that Mister and I each start with 2 slices of pizza, but neither of us went back for more, so think whatever you want ;)

Now for the fun: the picture isn't the best, but it's the best I have to show you the big chunks of green hiding in the "sauce."  You may recall the picture of my mom industriously mincing fresh herbs when we were cooking together for Thanksgiving.  Well, she doesn't use a lot of fresh herbs, so she sent me home with fresh sage, thyme, and marjoram.  I ran out of basil recently and keep forgetting to replace it so I usually sub dried marjoram because it smells very similar - sweet, ever so slightly anise-y but nothing like tarragon.  Fresh marjoram smells almost floral and has a very strong taste - sweet and slightly floral.  Anyway - the chunks of green?  Yeah, that's marjoram.

Also, I sprayed the pre-made crust with olive oil and then sprinkled a few pinches of my California-bought Tuscan seasoning over top of it before I spread the "sauce" over top.  I laid the tomatoes down in overlapping circles and then sprayed them with olive oil, sprinkled the whole mess with my beloved Mediterranean Sea Salt and sprayed one last time.  I might have used a little more of the sea salt blend, but nothing is going to change that we are well past prime tomato season now.  For heaven's sake, there are only two days left of November and VeganMoFo!

Well, folks, tomorrow begins my descent into madness, but I do have a few more tricks up my sleeve so don't go anywhere far!

lifestyles are like a woman's purse

For many reasons not worth going into right now, we're [temporarily] back to being a one-income family.  We did that for years, in a sense, so we'll be fine, but right now I'm still adjusting.  I think lifestyles are like a woman's purse: the more space you have, the more stuff you manage to fit into it.  Mister and I were really good at living primarily on my income, but when he started working in the city, it was like we won the lottery.  At first, we stuck to our plan to still live off of my salary and save every penny he made so we could move into a house.  Over the past year or so, we started to allow ourselves little indulgences just because we could, so although I know we can live relatively comfortably off of just my paycheck, I'm having a little trouble [and some anxiety attacks] trying to remember how.

Part of my memory returned to me this evening as I stood in my kitchen plotting dinner.  I got distracted last night - my brain wasn't really with me, so I failed to construct the new menu.  I intended to do it before work today, but I slept late (because I'm freaking exhausted, as my last post may have shown) and dilly-dallied shamelessly for the first couple of hours I was awake, so I ended up making a mad dash for the train anyway and didn't get my menu done.  I also had to clean up the death and destruction wrought by the kitty while we were sleeping.

This is what the rose looked like last night:

This is what it looks like now:

Yes, it is considerably shorter and my Lenox bud vase is considerably more distributed...in tiny shards.  Bad Angst.  Fortunately, he was too traumatized by the catastrophic explosion of the crystal vase to shred the rose, so he just left it there in the remains of the first wedding gift we've lost.

So, that was a heck of a thing to wake up to after a night of anxiety and introspection.  Let's look at the bright side - there's one less vase to wrap when we get to packing for our Spring move!

Anyway, when I got home from work, I thought it would be nice to go out to La Fourno, an intimate Italian place a couple of blocks away.  I had a craving for a good, garlicky pasta dish with dark red wine, and maybe one of their fabulous salads.  Then I remembered we have no money for such frivolous things.  Then I remembered I'm actually a pretty good cook these days and that pasta sauce was one of the first "homemade" things I mastered with approval from Mister and his Sister.  So, I popped out the door and ran up to Superfresh for a couple of ingredients and came home to make an Italian feast complete with a rich pasta dish and crunchy-outside-pillow-soft-inside garlic bread...at about $1.75 a serving (which is substantially less than we would have paid at La Fourno).

Rotini with White Bean-Tomato Sauce
serves 6

12 oz Rotini
14 oz Fire Roasted diced tomatoes in puree
14 oz petite diced tomatoes, drained
15 oz cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
6 oz tomato paste
7 oz roasted red peppers, chopped
2 Tbsp Olive oil
4 large cloves of garlic, pressed or minced finely
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp Balsamic vinegar
1/2 to 1 tsp sea salt (to taste)

Set a pot of water on high heat.  When it boils, add pasta and cook as package directs.
While waiting for the water to boil and pasta to cook, heat the olive oil on medium in a 2.5-qt saucepan.  Add garlic and give it a good stir, then reduce heat to low and saute for about 3 minutes.  Sprinkle on basil and marjoram, stir again and saute 3-5 minutes, being careful not to brown or burn the garlic.  Pour in both cans of tomatoes and the tomato paste, then stir well to combine.  Increase the heat to medium-low, bringing the sauce to a light simmer.  Stir in salt, Balsamic vinegar, and cannellini beans, then simmer, stirring occasionally, while the pasta cooks (about 10 minutes).
Once the pasta is al dente, drain and return to the pot.  Pour in the sauce and toss to coat.  Serve with garlic bread and vegan parmesan, and maybe a full-bodied red wine, if that's what floats your Italian-style boat.

a tasty way to save money

One of the recurring themes of Vegan on the Cheap is that you can save a ton of money through DIY (Do It Yourself).  Now, this makes sense to me in the way that I understand I will make my money go further by cooking most nights and only dining out on a monthly basis (if that frequently!), and I know I save money by taking my leftovers to work for my lunch.  Everyone who has paid any attention to the money-saving tips and advice articles that have been quite abundant in recent years is aware of the way convenience foods like bagged salad suck the money from your bank account.  I think we've become so used to other convenience foods that it hasn't even occurred to us that they are convenience foods.  This includes things like: condiments, lunch "meat," baked, flavored tofu, Tofurky sausages.  Although Isa has several awesome sausage recipes in Vegan Brunch, it still seemed more like a special occasion "Hey, look what I did just for you" kind of thing, meant to impress more than to save money.

The entire first section of VotC teaches you how to make everything from a two-pound seitan loaf (which can be diced for stews, roasted in a slow-cooker as Pot Roast, or thinly sliced for sandwiches) to simple things like mayonnaise or stock/broth.  The rest of the recipes usually refer back to this section for one or more ingredients.  Last week, I was a bit resistant to the "extra work" that appeared to create, but tonight's experience just might have changed my mind.

Tonight's dinner was Peanut Noodle Salad, which involved some fresh veggies, noodles I already had on hand, tofu, and a DIY peanut sauce that was so good I could only believe I made it because....well....I made it.  Whole Foods carries a store brand peanut sauce that I love and have been relying on since the very first vegetarian meal I prepared in my first solo apartment in this beautiful city.  If someone blindfolded me and had me taste that prepared sauce and then Robin's sauce, prepared with the two hands busy typing this post, I would not be able to tell you which was which.  I consider that worth the price of the book alone, because I had all the ingredients necessary for the sauce on hand, and I usually do, where I had been paying over $4 a bottle for the prepared one.

In other news, I can honestly say I spent at least 30% less on my groceries this week.  Just some food for thought...