What we ate and what I bought 07-18-14

stir fry with chicken, water chestnuts, carrots, cabbage, and sweet and spicy glaze

I made a stir fry for dinner last night and used this recipe for the glaze. I also added slivered almonds, and we ate it with white rice. I have figured out that the secret to using cabbage in stir fry is to add it at the very end, and only fry it for like a minute. Otherwise it gets overcooked and limp and isn't very good. It seems kind of "duh" in retrospect, but there you go. I also found out how to do matchstick cuts, finally, from reading a cooking magazine. Next time I'll do photo tutorial.

Breakfast: chocolate banana oatmeal bread
Lunch: leftover quiche, nectarine
Dinner: chicken and vegetable stir fry with sweet and spicy glaze and white rice
Snacks/desserts: more chocolate banana oatmeal bread
Beverages: Dr. Pepper Ten, Crystal Light, water

I also picked up a few things at the store yesterday:

2 lt. Dr. Pepper Ten (it was the free Friday download at QFC) $0.00
5 lbs all purpose flour $2.69
8 oz Kraft shredded cheese, cheddar blend (on sale with digital coupon) $1.49
Turkey pepperoni $2.99
.05 lbs slivered almonds from the bulk bins $.35

Total $7.52

Recipe for chocolate banana oatmeal bread

A few months ago I bought a huge bottle of banana liqueur on impulse. It tastes like burning, and I don't really like it at all, so I added a little to this banana bread in an attempt to use it up.

Adapted from this recipe.

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe banana
2 oz banana liqueur (optional)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix, but not too much or your bread will be tough. As soon as everything is incorporated, stop mixing. Most recipes tell you to mix the dry ingredients separately from the wet ones and then combine them. I don't bother with this step, and have never noticed a difference, but you can if you want.

Pour batter into a non-stick loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool ten minutes.

Tip: it's easier to cut if you wrap it in plastic after letting it cool a little. This softens the crust on the outside. It will keep for a few days wrapped in plastic or in a large zipper bag. Nutrition info is for 1/10th of the loaf.

What we ate 07-17-14

For dinner last night I thawed out 6 oz of chicken breast, and Jeremy cut it into chunks and mixed in one T of chili powder. He also cut the green bell pepper into strips. I sauteed half of the pepper and all of the chicken in 1/2 T of oil, and served it with the last two tortillas and some sour cream. I meant to squeeze some lime juice on it, but I forgot.

I'm really enjoying having a microwave at work. Being able to take leftovers for lunch is a pretty big time saver and money saver.

Breakfast: banana Greek yogurt
Lunch: leftover curried chickpeas and carrots, nectarine
Dinner: chicken fajita
Snacks/desserts: reduced fat Cheez-its
Beverages: water, Crystal Light

My right arm has been killing me since yesterday, and I just got booked a 2 hour massage for this afternoon. I've been icing it and I took two extra strength Tylenol. It's starting to feel better. I think I just need more days off.

I made myself get up this morning, despite the pain, so I could make some chocolate banana oatmeal bread. I'll post some pics and a recipe shortly.

Buckling down

Ok, we are just barely halfway through this month, and have around 80$ left to spend. We have 5 lbs of chicken breast, lots and lots of tuna, carrots, radishes, old bananas, bread, pasta, rice, and couscous (which is also pasta).

I'm planning to make some oatmeal banana muffins. I have enough flour for one batch, and then I'll have to get another bag. We can also do some smoothies with the bananas. There is still enough potsticker filling and wrappers in the freezer to make a dinner out of it. We have a couple of flour tortillas left, and I'm planning some chicken fajitas for tonight. We can make a stir fry with chicken, rice, carrots and that one chunk of cabbage that is left. I don't have a lot of ideas for couscous. Maybe a chicken noodle soup, but use couscous instead of noodles? Good way to use carrots too. I can pick up some lettuce and use the chicken and radishes in a salad. Chopped radishes are also good in tuna salad.

We can do this.

Recipe for slow cooker curried chickpeas and carrots

1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes in juice
3 or 4 carrots, thickly sliced
2 cloves of garlic
1 T curry powder
1 T olive oil
2 T dried onion flakes

Soak the chickpeas in 3 cups of water overnight. The next morning combine all ingredients in a 2 qt slow cooker, and add 2 more cups of water. Slow cook on high for 6 or 7 hours until chickpeas are tender. Makes about 8 cups. Nutrition info is for 1 cup.

What I ate and what I bought 07-16-14

They repaved a section of 8th Ave, right by the corner where our bedroom is. They started working at 6:30 this morning. There were loud noises like what it might sound like if one were to torture a mechanical horse. And the entire apartment smelled like hot tar.

I bought a loaf of bread for $2.50 and a jelly filled doughnut for $.89 at QFC. I also stopped at Safeway after work and bought the following:

3 Oikos Greek yogurts ($.85 ea) $2.55
8 oz sour cream $.99
8 hamburger buns $1.12
1 green bell pepper $1.00
2 nectarines $1.79
3.38 lbs of reduced for quick sale spotty bananas $1.66

That's a total of $12.50 spent today

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast: smoothie with pineapple coconut water, milk, vanilla yogurt, frozen banana
Lunch: leftover quiche
Dinner: curried chickpeas with carrots
Snacks/desserts: raspberry jelly doughnut
Beverages: water, Crystal Light

What we ate and bought 07-15-14

Yesterday I spent $1.89 on a pint of chocolate milk and $1.10 on a vanilla cone from McDonald's. I didn't have any pain where I had my tooth pulled, but still wasn't feeling quite up to anything but soft foods until later in the evening. The antibiotics are making me a little nauseated. Particularly while riding the bus. I made a broccoli and cheese quiche for dinner. I used this basic recipe, but added 3 oz of Lancashire cheese, and about 1 1/4 cups of chopped broccoli instead of the green beans and cheddar.

Breakfast: marionberry yogurt
Lunch: peanut butter and honey sandwich, banana
Dinner: broccoli quiche
Snacks/desserts: vanilla soft serve cone, sweet potato crackers with goat cheese, Cocoa Krispies with milk
Beverages: chocolate milk, water, Crystal Light

Jeremy's still eating lots of sandwiches and has been going through the deli meat and tuna quickly. He also put barbeque sauce on his quiche, which made me gag.

What we ate 07-14-14

I am posting under the influence of narcotics this evening. I still have half a bottle of them left over from when I injured my shoulder at the gym three years ago. If I filled every script I have gotten since then and sold it on 3rd ave by the crappy McDonald's I'd have enough money to have gotten a root canal and crown instead of having the tooth brutally ripped out of my skull. I'm not really all that into painkillers I guess.

By the time I got home from the dentist I was already feeling an ache through the lidocaine, so I decided to crack open the reserves. Glad I did.

For those of you who have never had the pleasure of having a tooth extracted without some kind of sedation, allow me to fill you in. It's terrifying. Avoid it. It didn't hurt, but I felt the pressure all the way through my skull. Plus all the sickening "cracking" sounds I could have lived without. Adult teeth are really hard to dislodge. I'm honestly surprised my blood pressure didn't crash through the floor.

I had planned on making a quiche tonight, but once I got home I was like, "ha ha ha NO." I'll make the quiche tomorrow. Jeremy made me a shake with vanilla yogurt, milk, and a scoop of protein powder.

Here's what I ate today. I'm still kind of hungry, so I may have another protein shake later.

Breakfast: marionberry yogurt, banana
Lunch: leftover bean and vegetable soup, strawberries with honey and lime juice
Dinner: shake made with milk, vanilla yogurt, and protein powder
Snacks/desserts: nothing yet
Beverages: Crystal Light

Jeremy had a ham sandwich for dinner. Don't what else. Probably more different sandwiches.

What we ate 07-12-11 and 07-13-14, and also some groceries

Last night we had this pasta dish for dinner, with a few adaptations. I used the penne pasta with extra fiber, broccoli and carrots, tuna, and 3 oz of Lancashire cheese. It turns out that Lancashire cheese is pretty strong, so we used a little less than usual.

I tried that Zico coconut water with pineapple juice that I got for free, and really did not care for it at all. It's just really bland to me. I figured it would be pretty inoffensive in a smoothie though, and with some yogurt and frozen mango added it tasted just fine. It was very fruity and refreshing, and I could still taste the pineapple and coconut. Apparently coconut water is very high in potassium.

07-12-14
Breakfast: smoothie made with pineapple coconut water, vanilla yogurt, and frozen mango
Lunch: sandwich made with honey and oat bread, chipotle chicken, caraway havarti, and dijon mustard
Dinner: pasta with tuna, veggies and cheese sauce
Snacks/desserts: apple with cashew butter and honey, key lime sugar cookies
Beverages: water, Crystal Light

Jeremy bought an iced tea for $1.69. I'm not sure what he's been eating lately other than a lot of sandwiches. Oh, and he had a peanut butter Power Bar yesterday for breakfast. I know that.

Tonight we went out for dinner to a local burger place in our neighborhood called Freddy Junior's. My coworker told me they make their veggie burgers with Field Roast, and since Field Roast is pretty much my most favorite thing ever, I was sold. Freddy Junior's has slider sized burgers, and they are all $2 each or less. We sat at the bar seat by the front window, since it was the only open seating available, and witnessed a violent altercation between two people of somewhat ambiguous gender. Not a terribly uncommon occurrence in lovely Capitol Hill. I enjoyed the burgers, and would definitely have them again. Jeremy said he liked the veggie burgers more than the meat ones. We spent $21.23 total.

two veggie sliders and some Cajun fries

fighting couple not shown

We also went to Yogurtland after dinner to try their new cosmo sorbet flavor. They were also supposed to have a caramel macchiato flavor out right now, but they must have been out. We had earned a free 3 oz reward on our Yogurtland card, and the total there was $7.94. I thought the cosmo sorbet was pretty good. It's cranberry and lime flavored, and I could taste both of those things. It's not too tart and not too sweet. They have quite a few flavors coming out in the next few months I am looking forward to trying.

he already ate the pineapple off of his

On the way home we stopped by QFC to stock up on some more produce. We bought 3 bananas for $.70, 1 pound of strawberries for $2.00, and 2 pounds of carrots for $1.29, for a total of $3.99.


07-13-14
Breakfast: oatmeal with teff grain, half and half, goat milk caramel and slivered almonds
Lunch: sandwich with oat and honey bread, chipotle chicken, caraway havarti, and dijon mustard
Dinner: two veggie sliders with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and stuff, I also tried one Cajun fry
Snacks/desserts: cosmo sorbet and raspberry pomegranate frozen yogurt with gummy bears
Beverages: water, root beer, Crystal Light

Jeremy had a sandwich before I left for work today. He also had two veggie sliders and two beef sliders, a small order of Cajun fries, and a soda at Freddy Junior's. At Yogurtland he got cosmo sorbet and strawberry lemonade sorbet with pineapple and maraschino cherries.

a touching moment between my husband and step-son, Joey