129 new of 158 responses total.
The examples were actually for my height, weight, and age, which I think are similar to yours. Are you getting blood tests to determine whether you are eating more protein than you need? The protein RDA is just as applicable to carnivores. What exactly are you taking as an 'accusation'?
After a conversation with Lynne, and another friend, I'm working on the "people chow" idea. Here are the guidelines so far: Easy, easy, easy. No thawing, no microwaving, no pouring of milk. We've all agreed that on *people-chow* days, those simple things have been barriers to eating. Even a "bowl-of-cereal + milk" is too much effort. Needs to store in a canister on the shelf. No freezing, no refrigeration. I've imposed a set of dietary guidelines: Needs to meet USDA macronutrient spread for a 2000 calorie day: 91 gm protein, 271 gm carbohydrates, 65 gms fat. Converting those to % of calories we have 17.9% from protein, 53.3% from carbohydrates, and 28.7% from fats. I rounded it to 20%, 55%, 25%. So starting this weekend, my very-agreeable cooking partner has volunteered to be the guinea pig for various concoctions that meet the above criteria. When they are ready for beta testing, I'll add Lynne to the test-subject pool. Up for debate is whether pouring boiling water over the concoction is too much trouble or not. (jadecat, I think your potato concoction will need to have at least that much effort).
Sounds good! And I think adding boiling water is an acceptable step, not too much trouble. :)
Yay! I so like this idea because usually when I eat unhealthy foods it is because of laziness or exhaustion or whatever. I mean at those times, I dont even care if the food tastes good...I just want what is easiest and fastest. Cereal and milk *would* be a good thing except that milk doesnt stay fresh for too long so it involves regular shopping. But boiling water is different and probably would not be too much effort most times. But man, sometimes even that would be too much. All I would want is to be able to come home, grab a handful of "people chow" and fall down on the couch with it :)
You can microwave a potato in about 5 minutes, or store cooked ones.
Yeah. I sometimes microwave potatoes. But I dont like plain potatoes much so I end up needing to put a lot of stuff on them (plain yogurt being my favorite thing).
Microwaving potatoes makes their skin funny, in my opinion. What I've been known to do is microwave them for a couple minutes- then cook them in the oven so as to be able to eat their skin too.
We microwave and then peel them (dunk in cold water first). The skin is actually not good for you, but the protein layer is right under the skin.
Why is the skin not good for you?
It figures that the skin is not good for you. It is my favorite part!
I did not know that. I thought it was.
I'd always heard that it was, too.
Well a quick google search reveals that George Mateljan of whfoods.org, the Reader's Digest, the Mayo Clinic, Discovery Health, and wisegeek.com all say that the skins are very healthy to eat. so I would say that is 5 for skins and 1 against (Sindi) Now none of that proves anything of course. The skins might very well be unhealthy. I didnt find any actual science on the subject.
If they are exposed to light they turn green and develop solanin, which is bitter and toxic, in and just beneath the skin. I found an interesting Czech article on it. Toxic glycoalkaloid. Most of the bags of potatoes at Kroger are clear plastic or mesh. 'Solanin is a natural substance found just under the skin in all potatoes.' Also in green potato skins. The green is from chlorophyll, which develops when the potatoes are in the light, and the light also produces solanins. If the potatoes are stored very cold or warm, says one person, they also produce solanins. Potato skins are high in fiber. 'The skin of the potato contains themajority of hte potato's fiber, and many of the utrients are located close to the skin.' So if you cook ad then peel the skin, you do not remove the nutrients, just the fiber. I find the skins bitter in red potatoes. Another site says the green is from solanine (sic). I get plenty of fiber without eating the skins.
Many plants, such as celery and mushrooms have naturally occuring toxins. Others, such as spinach, have oxalaytes that interfere with nutrient absorption. As long as you remove any green spots on the skin of a potato, you will probably be fine. Remember that Sindi has multiple chemical sensitivies. She reacts badly to many things that have little impact on most of the rest of us. While it is interesting to discover these little-known facts, they actually are not new information, and warnings about not eating green potato skins, or avoiding spinach if you have iron absorbtion problems, have been around for at least 40 years. There is no need to drop something from your diet if you aren't reacting badly to it. Of course, if you know you have a sensitivity or allergy, of course you make changes. But there is no evidence that eating potato skins that do not have green on them will cause any harm whatsoever.
Oh yeah, I have always known not to eat green potato skins. We keep ours in a dark cupboard- so as to help them stay non-green longer. One of the reasons I do like potatoes is for the fiber. So I guess I'll just keep eating the baked potato skins.
Well I never knew not to eat green potato skins so I have learned something from this item!
Baking type potatoes are bred to have less bitter skins. The skins are what protects the potato from insects. What are my multiple chemical sensitivities? You should not eat the green parts of potatoes under the skin either. With red-skinned potatoes you cannot easily see the green without peeling them.
Red skin potatoes aren't really good for baking anyhow.
Potato skins have even become a snack or appetizer [or dinner] in many dining establishments [restaurants, some bars that serve food, grocery stores-in the freezer section, in cookbooks, and in home kitchens. So they can't be all bad for most people. Unless, of course, you add the extra fat calories with the various toppings that often get served on/with such skins.
Yeah denise, even I, with my "no bad foods" philosophy, am not going to claim that eating potato skins with bacon, cheese, and loads of sour cream is something that one should do with any great frequency ;)
But it does taste great every once in awhile. :-)
Yes. Those do taste very good. And, like *any* food, they can be part of a healthy diet :)
Warning about the salsa recipe: I like fairly hot spicing. You may want to start with a smaller amount of pepper flakes, or else eliminate them entirely and use a few drops of your favorite hot sauce instead. Looks like plums will be my fruit of the week. I remember a pflaumekuchen from my childhood that might be fun to re-create. It is a plum cake with concentric rows of plums laid on a yeast-based cake and baked like a fruit tart. I'll have to dig that one up from my Foremother's Cookbook. My mom and I spent a pleasant week digging up family recipes and assembling them with genealogical information to track the matrilineal descent of some recipes that go back to the early 1800s. We called it our Foremother's Cookbook, although a few of the men's recipes got included.
that salsa sounds awesome.
Yeah, I thought that the salsa sounded pretty good too.
It is interesting to me that I'd never bought a mango before. In Hawai'i as a child, we had a mango tree in our yard, along with a papaya and banana tree. I took them for granted, and grabbed hand-fruit from them often, but I'd never actually used a mango as an ingredient before. I think I had some vague notion that they were an imported, tropical fruit and therefore had to be more expensive than locally grown items. And they offend my "think globally, act locally" ethic because they need to be shipped so far to reach my table. A question was raised at the Happy Hour about whether I was trying to keep to some previously-important shopping rules, like the "top-15 fruits and veges to avoid unless they are organic". I decided to start afresh with this experiment. You can lock yourself into some very limited eating patterns if you try to superimpose a lot of different rule-sets. So, here at the beginning, I'm trying to overcome previous ways of thinking and let the cost issue be trump. Of course I'll try to get back to the "eat locally" and the "avoid toxic chemicals" rules, but for right now, it's complicated enough just trying to find the cheapest eats.
I love the idea of the Foremother's cookbook!
If anyone wants to try the Armenian green beans, and doesn't have a bit of mint growing under the water hydrant outside, let me know. I'll bring sprigs to Happy Hour on Friday. If you want a bit of mint to start your own patch, let me know too. Mint is invasive, but needs a lot of moisture. It self-limits pretty well if you plant it under the outside water faucet, where the drips keep it moist. You can also use dried mint, stealing it from a teabag if that's all you have. Use the herbal mint tea, not a black tea with mint bits in it.
My folks have a bunch of mint growing on their beach. It is pretty cool actually to have such a large supply of it handy when it comes time to make mojitos ;)
Give us the mojito's recipe? I'm always on the lookout for recipes that use herbs. Most of my mint goes into iced tea, or the once-a-year mint juleps.
People Chow 0.2 will be available for beta testers at HH. PC 0.1 has been tested and found deficient in several areas. PC 0.2 has been reformulated and now has crunchier walnuts, and more maple taste. Ingredients: Rolled oats, egg whites, walnuts, maple syrup. Current macronutrient breakdown: 19% protein (46 gms), 57% carbs (143 gms), 20% fat (27 gms), 1001 calories. Protein comes from egg whites, and rolled oats, carbs come from rolled oats and maple syrup, fat comes from walnuts and rolled oats.
I was under the impression that nuts had protein too...am I wrong?
oops, yep, you're right!
Yeah, most of the protein comes from the egg whites and the nuts. The oats contribute a little, but not much.
I eat a fair bit of nuts, especially when I'm hungry. They really hold me over.
resp:60 basically you take mint leaves and lime juice and sugar and put them in a glass or pitcher. You mash the leaves in with the juice and sugar. Then you add club soda and rum. My brother makes them with more rum and less sugar or club soda that other people seem to. The really important part though is mashing the mint leaves in with the lime juice. If you want to get fancy, you can use leftover mint leaves as a garnish
You can also make a simple syrup, so you don't have granules of sugar.
I am bummed because I cant go to HH today. I am really interested in the people chow experiment. If others think it tastes ok, I would love the recipe :)
Lynne, you're my main subject!! I'll be making more experiments. This is the first public version, and I've already figured out some changes that cut costs by about 30%.
I gotta tell you...Just LAST NIGHT I got home and I was exhausted and just way too tired to make something. I was out of milk so my dinner was a couple of handfuls of cereal. Not a balanced meal but I had eaten plenty earlier in the day so I am sure I wasnt hurting myself. But man, I was thinking as I ate it about what a good idea the people chow idea is :)
Peanuts are cheaper than walnuts. So are sunflower seeds.
PC 0.2 is quite tasty.
I agree. The taste, without any additions, works, but add some cinnamon and raisin and you'd have a mighty fine granola. Too, I found the crunch just right, meaning, it takes some time to eat it.
Yes, cinnamon! That would make it perfect, I think.
At HH last night, samiam mentioned a Save-A-Lot grocery on Washtenaw, that I didn't know about. I'll do some comparisons, and see what changes. I've found in the past that they are usually better on many things, but that you can often beat their prices if you stock up at sales. For routine, week in, week out, shopping without building your menu around sale items, they are usually cheaper than the same shopping list at any other store, if they stock the item. Save A Lot is an "extreme value" grocery store, which means they carry a very limited selection of the most in demand items. I've never been able to get my whole shopping list (even for Cheap Eats) at Save A Lot, but they usually are *very* good with what they have.
Ok, we'll taste test maple/walnut/cinnamon next! :-)
Yay. PC is a success. :)
Made a trip to Save-A-Lot. Will report cost data later. But I couldn't wait to share the AMAZING selection of Mexican food they have. It's better and cheaper than going to La Colmena, on Bagley in Mexicantown. First, they have 7 kinds of dried chilis, and 5 kinds of hot sauce. That doesn't include any of the salsas. The exotic (and cheap) items include tamarind concentrate, dried hibiscus flowers, menudo spice mixes, achiote, mole sauce, sofrito and recaito bases, nopalitos, pacay palm, seven blossom spice mix, mote pelado, and azafran (saffron). They also have Goya and La Preferida brands of yellow, Mexican, and Spanish rice; green, red, casera, and ranchera salsa; pigeon peas and hominy; and two soups, pork and hominy and chicken and hominy. Things you can get elsewhere, but cheapest here: enchilada sauce; chipotle in adobo sauce; refried pintos and refried black beans; pickled jalepenos; mango, tamarind, malt extract syrup, and guava drinks; cumin, coriander, whole black pepper, anise seed. An absolute treasure trove for these items, and low price as well!
heh....all of these things found at my local Fry's. Amazing how geography dictates...
Hmm, though I do like mexican food, a lot of what's mentioned in resp 78 I haven't a clue as to what they are! You can correctly deduce that I don't make a whole lot of mexican stuff at home, huh? Though I do occasionally make quesadilas, tacos, burritos, basic stuff like that...
There is a new Mexican grocery in downtown Ypsilanti on MIchigan Ave near Abe's Coney Island. It is called Dos Hermanos. I havent been there but I have heard it is a pretty decent place.
Thanks, slynne. Sounds like time for an adventure in Ypsi! Denise, much of what was in that list truly is exotic. The Mexican dishes you're cooking are a great way to change up the flavors of basics. If you need recipes to help you get started making them yourself rather than buying them at the store, let me know. Somewhere I wrote up a little cheat sheet for the common spicing in various cuisines. I'll see if I can find it and post it.
Cool. I'll have to check out that new mexican grocery place sometime too [field trip anyone?]. And Colleen, please do share some recipes! In NC, the hispanic population grew big-time over the years I lived there. And thus, the influx of mexican and other latino grocery stores and restaurants also went up quite a bit. Many of the places had their signs in spanish instead of english, too.
From Science News July 9, 2007 Thousand-Year-Old Chilies Spiced Up Ancient Mexican Cuisine "Dried out remains of chili peppers from two Oaxacan caves reveal that people of the region used at least 10 different varieties of fresh and dried chilies between 5,00 and 1,500 years ago. "If you've got seven different kinds of peppers, if you're using them fresh and you're using them dried, you've got some interesting food," says archaeobotanist Linda Perry of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
This Week's Shopping Deals Eggs 1.00/doz Kroger Milk 2.39/gal Meijer [Fresh milk is still slightly more expensive than dried, if you buy the dry in 4 lb boxes. Otherwise, fresh milk on sale is less expensive than any other form] Pantry Stock-Up deals Peanut Butter 1.67/28 oz Kroger Walnuts 4.59/lb Meijer Vanilla Extract 30% off Meijer All lists below are from lowest to highest cost per serving Meat (SaveALot everyday prices are for reference) Just for comparison, the price/gram of protein (in order, all less than $.02/gram): Peanut butter, leg quarters, eggs, tahini, split breast, split chicken Meats are all less than 15 cents a 1 oz serving Chicken Leg Quarters 5.99/10 lb SaveALot Chicken Split Breast 1.29/lb Meijer Ground Chuck 1.59/lb Meijer Chicken, Split .99/lb SaveALot Ground Round 1.79/lb Meijer Fruits are all less than 10 cents a 1/2 C serving. BTW, mangos are on sale at Meijer, $1.00 each, if you want to try the salsa recipe. Raisins and canned pineapple are less expensive than these fresh fruits, but I can eat them all winter. Plums .88/lb Meijer/Save Apricots .99/lb Meijer Grapes .99/lb Busch/Save Nectarines .88/lb Meijer/Save Fresh vegetables are all less than 10 cents a 1/2 C serving Cabbage is about 20% less at SaveALot Cabbage .39/lb SaveALot Cucumbers .34 @ Meijer/Busch Green Pepper .69/lb SaveALot Summer Squash 1.00/lb Busch Green Beans .77/lb Meijer Collard Greens 1.00/bunch Meijer Broccoli, frozen 1.50/32 oz Meijer
As usual, thanks for sharing all of this info ever week. It's making me think about where to shop!! And it looks like this week Kroger isn't up to speed on their sales!
Its always fun when some squirrelly interest of mine turns out to have a practical use in someone else's life. BTW, let's set up the Ypsi Mexican market trip at HH this week.
Ok, sounds good to me! I think it'd be cool to go with others that can fill me in on some things that I should know... On my way home from an errand today, I went past the above mentioned market. I would've stopped in then but I was feeling a bit under the weather. So now I'm glad I waited!
"slynne: There is a new Mexican grocery in downtown Ypsilanti on Michigan Ave near Abe's Coney Island. It is called Dos Hermanos. I haven't been there but I have heard it is a pretty decent place." Grexpedition!!! Next Friday, July 20, denise and I are meeting at Dos Hermanos at 5 pm. We'll cruise the aisles, brainstorm menus, and laugh out loud at how ignorant we are. Feel free to join us. At 6 pm we'll proceed to HH, which will be in Ypsilanti, probably the Tap Room.
Unfortunately, I dont get off of work until 7:30p
slynne, we're going to have to do something about this. Perhaps kidnap you from your workplace?
Well, I submitted my resume to about a half dozen companies last night. One of them is Quicken loans which has a good reputation. I am thinking that I dont want to be in the computer support business anymore. They seem like a company that would have lots of room for growth in other areas. I've always been interested in finance. Oh and my boss wouldnt approve me to apply for another job within Borders which I would really love. I am going to have to talk to his boss about *that* on Monday. The job title is "wage analyst". It is just the sort of job that would be perfect for someone with a B.S. in Economics and lots of technical skills (you know, like ME!). It sounds fabulous. I would get to spend my days researching salaries of people in other companies to make sure that the salaries Borders offers are competitive. I think it would also involve analizing the salaries of people currently employed to make sure there isnt any obvious discrimination. Oh and of course that server install isnt going well. Something came loose during shipping and now it wont boot up. So I get to talk some book store clerk through opening up the panel and looking for loose cables. Yay!
Go for it! Wage analyst seems like the perfect job for you. And I hope you get a couple good offers that can be alternatives that might make Borders look a bit more carefully.
Lynne, you definitely do need a different job. One that'll not only cover expenses and a bit extra to put aside, but one that you'll enjoy doing AND will allow you to time off to get out and play, too! :-) I'm looking forward to the field trip; any other grex/m-netters are welcome to join us. And if there are any other cool places to take a field trip to, please let us know where!
Mexican grocery field trip is kinda going to happen. I'm going on a small scouting expedition, but will meet Denise there some other time. Meanwhile, looks like my posting of this weeks bargains didn't show up. Let's try again. Best Deals July 15 - 21, 2007 Meijer = good through Saturday Kroger, Busch = good through Sunday Fruit < .10/serving (Raisins SaveALot) Plums .88/lb Meijer Grapes .99/lb Meijer/Kroger Vegetables < .10/serving Potatoes 1.99/10 lb Meijer Cabbage .25/lb Meijer Summer Squash .77/lb Meijer Zuchinni .77/lb Meijer Green beans .88/lb Kroger Protein < .15/serving Peanut Butter 1.67/28 oz Kroger Pork Shoulder 1.19/lb Busch Ground chuck 1.79/lb Meijer Just for fun: Busch has Ben and Jerry's on sale for 1.99/pint. Time to grab a pint of black walnut, and pour on the maple syrup.
Have you tried the farmer's market for locally grown food? We just picked our first summer squash and the green beans are coming in, along with early cherry tomatoes. Lots of kale.
If you compare the farmer's market prices to what I'm posting above, you will see that it is more expensive.
I've seen that case recently when I went to Ypsi's farmers market they have on Tuesdays [shortly after having been at the grocery store]; the market's prices were higher]. Though it IS cool to support the locals but it isn't always the cheapest way to go. I dunno what Ypsi's Saturday markets are like [and haven't been to AA's in years] since I have a committment in Dearborn each Saturday so I can't varify what those prices are like.
Have you compared prices for what is in season right now? I don't go to market any more, since we have a garden.
Yep, I have; I've been to the farmers market within a day or so of the grocery store and in-season is often more at the farmers market [as I thought I said earlier; at least I meant to. Though apparently Colleen found this to be true, too].
Here are this weeks best buys from my shopping list. As usual, they are in order from cheapest up, and only go to the cost/serving limit shown. Milk Kroger $1.25 half gallon Meijer $2.50 gallon Meat (< .15/oz) Tuna .49/6 oz Busch Chkn Leg Qtrs .69/lb Busch Ham 1.59/lb Meijer Whole Chicken .79/lb Meijer Vegetables (< .10/serving) Cucumbers .33@ Meijer Cabbage .29/lb Busch Summer squash .77/lb Meijer Celery .77/bunch Meijer Green beans, frozen 1.00/lb Busch Green beans, fresh .99/lb Busch Fruit (<.10/serving) Grapes .99/lb Busch Nectarine .99/lb Kroger Pineapple 1.99/can Busch Peaches .99/lb Kroger/Busch Extras Bacon 2.19/lb Meijer
Tried a new recipe last night. Amounts are for 4 servings and 1 serving. Lemon-Caper Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Dilled Green Beans. Chicken thighs 1 lb 1/4 lb Lemon juice 1/4 C 1 Tbsp Capers 1 Tbsp 3/4 tsp Cook on low in crockpot for 6-8 hours. About half an hour before serving Potato 1 lb 1/4 lb Butter 2 Tbsp 1 1/2 tsp Chicken broth 1/4 C 1 Tbsp Boil potatoes, then mash with butter and lemon caper broth from chicken. Green beans 1 lb 4 oz Dill 1 Tbsp 1 tsp Steam green beans, then sprinkle with dill. If using fresh dill, triple above amounts.
Fine Print: Vegetables and Fruits all cost less than .10 per serving, and are arranged from least to most expensive. Meat costs less than .15/cooked oz, and is arranged from least to most expensive. New fruits and vegetables on this weeks bargain list. Fruit Plums .88/lb Meijer Kiwi Fruit 6 for $2 Kroger Grapes .99/lb Meijer Vegetables Summer squash .77/lb Meijer Green Peppers .77/lb Meijer Green Beans .77/lb Meijer Tomato (canned) .99/ 24 oz Busch's Frozen broccoli .88/lb Meijer Frozen green beans .88/lb Meijer Roma tomatoes .77/lb Meijer Meat Eggs .99/doz Busch's Ground Chuck 1.49/lb Busch's Chicken Thighs .89/lb Meijer Pork Shoulder, bone in 1.19/lb Meijer (western spareribs or pork steaks or roasts) Ground Round 1.79/lb Meijer Other Everybody has butter on sale this week, but as usual, Busch is the best buy: Kroger 2.99/lb Meijer 2.00/lb Busch 1.88/lb
Butter is something I buy pretty much only at Costco ($6.75 for 4 lbs.), though I will buy it for $1.50 a pound at Safeway when they run their "really great deals". I use a lot of butter at the holidays when I bake, so I start stockpiling it right about now and put it in my freezer, that way I'm not hit all at once with the costs.
Bello Vino has had beef ribs at 99 cents/pound recently. Probably less meat-per-dollar than the Busch's chuck, but there's some nutrition and maybe a lot of flavor in the bone.
Thanks, i! I did some voodoo and some math (actually Excel did the math) and figured out that the beef ribs come in just under the goal, at $.146 per ounce of cooked, drained, lean meat. Yeah, the protein costs a bit more per gram, but frankly, with all the measurement variables, the "under .15/oz" is close enough for me. Another bargain for the week!
Notice that I'm comparing the cost of a *cooked, drained, lean* ounce for all of these meats. This means that it's cooked, the liquids are drained off, and the visible fat and skin is separated from the lean. It's the best side-by-side comparison I know short of the $/gram standard.
If anyone can point me to a store that has better everyday prices than what I've listed, let me know. Dry, refrigerated, and frozen storage are limited to a small apartment with an apartment-sized refrigerator, so anything above 10 lbs or 1 gallon is of no use.
With chicken thighs and grapes both on sale this week, here's a way to use them that I really like. Chicken 2 thighs Lemon juice 1 tsp Onion 1/4 C Grapes 4 oz Rosemary, fresh 1 Tbsp Preheat oven 340. Rub chicken with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slice grapes in half, slice onion. Remove rosemary leaves from stem. If making more than one serving, quarter onion and roast. Otherwise thick slices will work. Spread grapes on bottom of pan, top with onion slices. Sprinkle half of the rosemary leaves on top of grapes. Place chicken on bed of vegetables and fruit. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then remaining rosemary leaves. Roast for about 20 minutes. Serve with rice, with cooked vegetables, fruit, and juices.
Yum!!!
That sounds good!
Wow, I would've ever have thought to combine grapes with onion; how interesting!
This week we're beginning to see the effect of food price increases: there is only one meat choice that still falls below .15/oz. Milk 2.50/gal K/M Fruit < .10/serving Plums .88/lb M Grapes .99/lb M Nectarine .88/lb M Vegetables Green pepper .77/lb M Zuchinni .77/lb M Green beans .77/lb M Tomato, Roma .77/lb M Meat <.15/oz Pick of the Chick .99/lb M Other Good Buys: Sugar 1.97/5 lb M Spaghetti, macaroni 1.00/2 lb Busch
SaveALot has a good buy on bottom round, that comes in at .154/ounce. They've got it on sale for 1.69 a pound until August 11.
Zucchini - free from garden. Pattipan, butternut, buttercup, acorn ditto. Green beans - Cherokee Trail of Tears, Tigre, Fagiolino, Great Lakes Special, Tucomares runner. Red cherry, yellow cherry, roma, Principe Borghese, large bumpy red. Kale, beet greens, lettuce, melokhiya, amaranth. Cucumber. Small pumpkin. Japanese beetles. No more groundhogs. First pears. Grapes almost. Add rice.
Is it me or is milk just going through the roof? I've especially noticed it in cheese prices.
Milk is going through the roof. Anything that involves corn in the production cycle is going through the roof: meat, dairy, corn sweeteners. Part of the blame is the move to bio-fuels. A lot of corn production is being diverted to fuels.
Not to mention that people are drinking more milk. Demand with lessening supply means going up prices.
Everyday price of skim milk is $2.75 at Washtenaw Dairy; used to be $2.40. My impression is that lots of non-corn foods prices are skyrocketing, because "plant corn instead" is far more profitable for the farmer. Aren't those *billions* of American taxpayer's dollars being spent to push up corn prices just so well invested? Save American - lynch the politicians before it's too late (tm).
I hadn't been grocery shopping in ages and ages [though I love to eat, I rarely get fired up to do the shopping for it part, so I only go maybe every 3-4 weeks for a regular/big shopping and then if needed, I'll run in someplace for specific/limited needs]. I'm trying to incorporate a lot of Colleen's stuff that she's been sharing with us: Starting a basic pantry list of inexpensive stuff to have on hand most/all the time and then supplement the basics with the seasonal things that are more readily available, thus, often less expensive during that season. And just taking advantage to stuff as they become on sale and stocking up as I'm able. [I, too, have somewhat limited space do to living in a shared housing situation.] So today, though still feeling somewhat under the weather, I did head out and did some shopping at Save-A-Lot. Since my cupboards, fridge and freezer were pretty lean, I did have to buy quite a bit of stuff. However, by saving on their lower prices on a lot of things compared to other grocery stores and with taking in some of the sale items, I think I was able to get more stuff than I usually get in a monthly trip at a somewhat lesser cost AND a bigger variety of stuff as well [including getting a few more seasoning/herb type stuff]. Again, I'm trying to not only shop the inexpensive basics learned here, I'm also trying to incorporate a lot more healthy foods. So some of the stuff I did purchase today includes chicken [on sale], macaroni for pasta salad, rice, canned vegetables [including tomato sauce, spaghetti style sauce, etc], canned fruits [many of these things ARE less expensive than fresh, though I did by a cucumber and some raw carrots], cottage cheese as well as a bit of regular cheese [gotta have that cheese!], whole wheat bread, beans, flour tortillas, frozen dinners as well as a couple frozen pizzas for under a buck each, a couple packets of pizza crust mix [just add water, mix, let rise, prep and bake] for less than 30 cents IIRC, at least 3-4 spices, sweet relish to go in my egg salad, olive oil for cooking with, and I'm sure a bunch of stuff I'm not remembering right now. Sometime in the near future, though, I do need to get some more eggs and, for a bit more variety at breakfast--to get into something simple to fix in the morning, some oatmeal. So... the next steps include finding new ways to fix what I have, and MAYBE I'll even take a stab at doing some menu planning, too, to keep my nutritional needs better covered. Though one step at a time. I'm *great* in having all kinds of wonderful ideas and even starting a lot of them but then, not sticking with them because I try too many new changes at once and/or I just get too overwhelmed... OK, between my most recent postings in tea this evening as well as here, I've rambled enough for one day. :-)
Sounds like you are becoming a much more adventurous cook. At some point you can try making pizza crust by adding water AND YEAST to flour. Is there anything else in the mix? Maybe salt? We have oatmeal for breakfast nearly every day, with a different fruit if there is any around. This week dried Chinese jujubes. Nuts are good too. Jim put dried haws in - they are VERY sour and are meant for sweetened tea.
I don't remember off the top of my head what else is in the pizza-crust mix. It probably does have salt in it [but I do like salt to add flavor]. Though I don't use very much salt on a day to day basis [and only add salt to stuff maybe once a week, if that. And I've reduced the amount of stuff that already has added salt, so my salt intake at this point doesn't concern me. :-) ] Growing up [and periodically on my own since then], we had a lot of oatmeal. And it IS something that's easy and quick to fix and it tastes good; especially with some of the added fruits, nuts, cinnamon, etc. Anyway, I guess you can say that I am becoming a more adventurous cook. :-) I hope it sticks!
I could have sworn I posted this yesterday, but when I went online last night at someone else's computer, I couldn't find it. This Week's Shopping List Item is one of 50 listed on Cheap Eats shopping list. Meat is less than 15 cents an ounce. Vegetables and fruit are less than 10 cents a serving. Lists are ordered lowest to highest. Meat Peanut Butter .99/18 oz Kroger Eggs 1.00/doz Meijer Chicken Thighs, bone in .96/lb Kroger Chicken, Whole .79/lb Meijer Chicken Breast 1.20/lb Busch Vegetables Cabbage .25/lb Meijer Celery .77 Meijer Zucchini .99 Kroger Green Beans .99 Kroger Fruit Peaches .88/lb Meijer
This response has been erased.
I got bored being such a nerd, so I made a simpler rule to follow: don't pay more than 15 cents a serving for your main protein source. I posted those maximums in the other item. As long as the meat is on sale for that price per pound (or can, or whatever) or less, you won't be paying more than 15 cents a serving. This obscures the really cheap, good buys, but at least makes perusing the weekly ads a bit easier.
Looks like someone is going to be eating a lot of peanut butter ;)
Actually, now that I think about it, that someone is *me* because I am kind of short on money because of changing jobs and stuff and I happen to LOVE peanut butter :)
Peanut butter, eggs on sale, and I'll try to get back to posting the best buys for the week. Notice that tahini is the same price as peanut butter. Tahini and garbanzos and garlic = hummus.
Yeah. I like Tahini a lot too but I am more likely to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich than I am to make hummus. Although I really like hummus and garbanzo beans are pretty cheap.
What IS tahini?
ground up sesame seeds
Ah, ok; cool, I like sesame seeds [and hummus, as well].
I never buy hummus anymore. It's too expensive, considering that it costs maybe $1.50 to make a good pint of the stuff.
Recipe! Recipe! (said to the tune of Author! Author!) ;-)
For hummus? Lord...I think I can remember it - I make it enough. Drain one can of chickpeas. Toss into food processor. Add 1/4 cup of water Juice of 1 lemon 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup of tahini Cumin and Salt to taste My secret ingredient is that I take 1 head of garlic, cut off the top, wrap foil up around it after pouring about 1-2 TB of olive oil into the cut top. Roast it for about 45 minutes and then let it set. I squeeze the softened garlic into the rest of the ingredients, flip that puppy on and let Cuisinart do the work for me. I get raves every time. I've made it with raw garlic (as the recipe calls for) but it gives it the bite at the back end that I just don't like - almost horseradishy. Roasting the garlic really gives the recipe some depth. But see now why I won't buy it?
I use 1/2 cup of tahini and leave out the olive oil.
Yeah, it's definitely to taste/preference. I just know that I can't stand raw garlic.
A potato masher can be used instead of a food processor. The kind with a flat end that has holes in it, not a loopy end. We add spearmint.
You're right - it could be. But to be honest, the food processor makes such quick work of it and it's at a uniform consistency, that I wouldn't do it by hand.
That's my experience too, edina. Using the potato masher has resulted in a gritty texture that I find unpleasant.
The potato masher is much easier to clean and takes up less kitchen space. You can also use a manual gadget with a chrome plated cone (with various sizes of slicing perforations) and a handle - feed things in the top, turn the crank, they come out sliced or chopped to different finenesses. The finest setting works on the chickpeas. Or a 'meat grinder'.
resp:135 I'd buy that. ;) Hmm, or maybe take the recipe and figure out how to make my pseudo-food processor thing work.... That could be fun too. resp:141 but they don't make the neat noise.
Re 141 I think you mean a foodmill. I'd love to have one. Sindi, please remember that I am not the luddite that you are when it comes to my kitchen stuff. While I don't have tons of gadgets, the ones I have are ones I truly love and use (Kitchen Aid, Cuisinart, crock pot). They really do make my life easier. All I need is a blender....
I am glad to know that one can make it with a potato masher though because I dont have a food processor.
Actually, I lied. I just remembered that happyboy left one when he moved out. But I would have to get out my step ladder to reach it as it is on top of the cupboards. Plus it is probably crazy dusty.
We have an assortment of food processors and blenders. Jim modified one to grind styrofoam into little bits to pour into his walls. We played with them and prefer the hand tools - quieter, simpler, easier to clean. We don't process large amounts. The food mills (we have several models) make potato pancakes faster than a hand grater (and don't grate my hands). You can also grate carrots and rutabagas into the pancakes. What is this item about?
You don't look at the top of your screen or can't scroll back to see? If you're inferring that the item is drifting by talking about these various gadgets [which CAN be discussed in the gadgets and gizmos item], perhaps we can get back on track and use the current discussion and discuss ways we can use such items to create the things we want with our gadgets in order to save some $$ on our food bill. [There ARE creative ways to get items back on track. :-) Or just mention that you want to get back to discussing whatever the item topic actually is [and then start an item for whatever the topic is drifting to]. Easy enough to do. [Granted, I do realize that we all drift in various items from time to time, as we do in real-life/real-time conversations and sometimes it needs to get back on track...]
Tonight I made a homemade stovetop lasagna. I had seen them make it on America's Test Kitchen (what can I say? I'm a Chris Kimball junkie.) and it looked easy and interesting. It's basically homemade hamburger helper. It's pretty easy - sautee onions, add your meat to brown, add in two cans of 14 oz. diced tomatoes, making sure you have 4 cups of the tomatoes with juice (add water if not). Break up a box of lasagna noodles stir it up, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add some grated parmesan when it's done and nestle some dollops of ricotta on top, put the lid back on and let the ricotta heat through (you should have turned the heat off). Finish off with some fresh basil. I made mine with turkey, sauteed some mushrooms and zuchini with the onions, forewent the ricotta. Dave loved it. It makes plenty for leftovers too.
that does sound pretty tasty...
I am using backtalk from a linux console and cannot scroll back because mdacon is defective in that respect. If I were using a VGA monitor (vgacon?) I could type Shift-PgUp (on my older monitor which does not have PageUp - I edited some file to reassign key values). Is there some way to use backtalk itself to scroll back?
Ok Sindi - it's one thing for me to wax on poetically about my love for my cuisinart in this item. It's another completely for you to talk linux speak, which has absolutely no culinary bearing.
[I have no idea, Sindi-re response 150; I think one of the other conferences would be more appropriate to discuss the hows and whys of various computer languages. In my earlier comment, I assumed that, as people read through items with responses, they actually looked at each new item with a response in it as it is displayed at the time-as, at least in some programs, you can/do see. Apparently some don't allow to scroll back, which I didn't know about.] So lets get back to this, the cheap eats item.
You probably see different things using the web interface than if you ssh to grex and access the conferences with backtalk/fronttalk. I see only the response I am reading or writing and however much of the material above it fits into 25 rows. Someone asked why I did not scroll up - I cannot. I explained why.
I have been reading the conferences by web for so long that I think I have forgotten most of the commands but I *think* that if you type 'h' at the Respond or Pass? prompt, it will display the item header
[I'm going to go ahead and enter a separate item for computer and other unrelated stuff that people want to discuss here in the food conference, ok?]
skip it denise, there are plenty of other conferences where that is much more appropriate.
h worked, thanks. I might experiment with the rest of the alphabet.
Back to ad-scanning: This week's best bargains at Meijer Meat is less than 15 cents an ounce. Vegetables and fruit are less than 10 cents a serving. Lists are ordered lowest to highest. Apples .88* Grapes .99 Cabbage .33 Winter Squash .33 Chicken thighs .79 Ground round 1.79
You have several choices: