Change the World Wednesday: Food Budget

Every week I intent to write a Change The World Wednesday post, but you see how infrequently I post so it's just not getting written. I have a few hours left in Tuesday...we'll see if we get it done this week!

Though it's a bit ironic that this week I'm *not* participating...

The challenge this week was:

This week, spend no more than $25 per person on food. This includes anything which is consumed ... spices, oil, fast food items, soda, etc. Make smart choices and stretch that food dollar as far as it can go. In addition to budgeting your food dollar, please write about how it went. We'd like to know what worked, what didn't and your strategy for staying within the budget.

I'm not opposed to living on a budget. I already do! But I don't like trying to drastically slash my food budget. Good food: food that's good for you and good for the environment, tends to be more expensive than traditional food. It's a very sad commentary that it can be far cheaper to get processed food-stuff than fresh meats and vegetables, but there you go. What are some of the reasons I can't spend only $25 per week on food? Organic milk is twice as expensive as regular. Unbleached flour is more than bleached. Fair trade organic bananas and coffee are more expensive than traditional. Grass-fed, organic meats are at least twice as expensive as factory-farmed meat. Those are just a few of the items that I'm not willing to bend on, that would bust our $25/person food budget.

I hate that farmers can't make a living wage...there's so much pressure on the price of food! I think we should recognize the value of fresh, healthy food that is grown/prepared in an environmentally-friendly way--and I think it's worth paying a fair price for it.

That said, I do have a few tips for saving money on food:

• Eat vegetarian/vegan. Meat is pricey, and I believe for health reasons should only be eaten in moderation anyway.
• Shop your local farmers' markets rather than large grocery stores. Sometimes, though certainly not always, you can get better prices since there's no middle-man. Also, it's almost always tastier!
• Shop sales/specials to stock up. For example, the other day our local grocery store was running a special on bags of peaches for $3 (probably 15 or so peaches)--only problem was, they were RIPE, and had to be used asap. We had some for lunch, then I pureed the rest for baby food and to make peach ice cream.
• Eat what's in season. It's always cheaper than when it's out of season!
• Find a you-pick place. We picked strawberries today and got 4 quarts for $10.30. At the store, I've seen local strawberries priced between $5.99 and $7.99 for a single quart! Special bonus: it's fun, especially for kids.
• Prepare your own foods. Don't rely on prepared foods or eating out. Probably healthier that way, too, besides saving you money!
• Don't waste food. Eat leftovers; don't let food go bad before you eat it.
  

Even with all those tips, though, I'm not even close to $25 per person per week. For a family of 2 adults, 2 preschoolers, and 1 baby, I'm spending closer to $200 per week for food, and that doesn't count my husband's lunches at work. I could certainly do better than that, but I'd never be able to get it down to $25 per person on a consistent basis. Sure, I could do it for a week by eating from our freezer and cabinet stores, but I couldn't keep it up.

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I also wanted to comment on a Change the World Wednesday challenge from a few weeks ago:

This week, give up single-serving foods. No single-serving containers of yogurt, pudding or jello. No single-serving snacks or drinks. Eliminate individually wrapped slices of cheese and fruit cups. Basically, if a container holds only one serving ... don't buy it.

I definitely try to do this on a regular basis, but what I wanted to talk about is baby food. Baby food: always in single serving containers! You end up with a zillion little glass jars or plastic containers. Ugh! I wanted to put out a suggestion to make your own baby food. It's pretty easy. I just steam the fruit or veggie, then blend it up with a stick blender. Pretty fast, easy, and nice that I can control what goes in. I freeze it in ice cube trays, then store it in a freezer bag: far less packaging than the jars of baby food! Plus, it's so much less expensive. The other day I bought 2 organic turkey thighs. It made 14 servings and cost $3.72. If I'd bought it jarred, it would have been more like $10! And don't even get me going about when I get a REALLY great deal, like that bag of peaches for $3!

Anyone looking to make their own baby food, Wholesome Baby Food is a great resource!

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Every Wednesday, there's a new challenge. Head on over to Reduce Footprints where you can help change the world, one small step at a time!

Fear Factor

N-man and B-man have this thing where if we have m&m's, they both always want to make sure they get red ones. They don't care about any other color...they just want red. I figured it was their favorite because they both love the color pink. (As an aside, B-man now calls pink "light red"...I don't know if that's his attempt to make it more boy-friendly??)

Today I asked them: why red m&m's?

The answer surprised me, and reminded me that they're like little sponges, absorbing every little thing I tell them: "because red dye is made from mushed up bugs!"

Yes, I told them about carmine. I thought it was a fun gross-out fear factor thing. Now they avidly pursue red foods so they can be eating insects.

Yum.

Our garden

I posted about our garden over on our local eating blog. Head over there if you want the whole story, but here, I'll leave you with a few pictures:

Food Inc update

In the past, TK has more endured than appreciated my efforts to change the way we eat. While he was generally supportive, there's been some eye-rolling and some comments that perhaps I was falling victim to propaganda. When he found out I snuck Food, Inc. to the top of our Netflix queue, he wasn't exactly overjoyed, though he did agree to watch it with me.

The next day, he came home from work and I asked what he'd had for lunch (there's an awesome cafeteria where he works). He had eggplant parmesan. Yum, I said. One of the other choices was pot roast, he admitted. That sounds even better than eggplant, I said. Yeah, but I kind of felt like I needed to eat vegetarian, he answered.

The Omnivore's Dilemma is now on his nightstand. He brought leftover bean soup for lunch today. I'm honestly shocked. I'd kind of resigned myself that he would never be really on board with trying to eat local and/or organic food. I'm pretty excited that he's becoming more aware of the problems with the food system.

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Green tip for the day: Can I recommend Food, Inc. again? Anyone who has seen it, I'd love to hear your opinion!

How I finally broke the coffee habit

So, over the past few years I've developed this bad habit: going out for coffee. It seems so innocuous at first, a good cheap pick-me-up treat. But here's why it was bothering me:
1) It's expensive. Sure, it's just a few bucks here and there, but it adds up, especially if I'd go three or four times a week.

2) It's not healthy seeing as I'd get sugary drinks or add a thousand sugars to regular coffee. Too many empty calories wasn't doing anything to help me drop the baby weight.

3) It's bad for the environment. Idling in drive-thrus, forgetting reusable cups, using straws and coffee stirrers and individual packets of sugar.

I knew all this, but I was still having trouble breaking the habit of going out for coffee. So I linked it to something else I wanted to do: switch to organic milk. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I'm a big fan of organic and locally grown food. However, I'm a bigger fan of not living beyond our means. In other cases, I've been able to make choices. For example, humanely raised meat is far more expensive than regular meat, so I control costs by eating a lot less meat. I buy in-season fruits and veggies, which tend to be less expensive than out-of-season. But we drink a lot of milk. Switching to organic milk adds about $40-$50 a month to our grocery bill. I love milk, the kids love milk, and I use a lot of milk for cooking and baking. Cutting back on our milk consumption wasn't really a valid option for us.

So I linked the two in my head (and budget!). Cutting out all the coffee stops easily freed up an extra $50 a month. I've been doing it for almost two months now, so I think it'll stick. I feel good...we switched to organic milk, I broke the out-for-coffee habit, and I kept our budget in line! Win-win-win!

And I should admit, it's not that I'll NEVER get coffee out again. I mean, I still pop out occasionally with a friend, or grab a coffee with TK on a weekend while we're out and about. But now it's a special treat, something I do once every couple weeks rather than nearly every day.

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I'm thinking of including related or unrelated "green tips" at the end of my posts from time to time. Who knows if I'll keep it up or not, but it's just something that I've been thinking of. As I've mentioned numerous times before, I'm a fan of small steps. I make little changes, because it's relatively easy and eventually, enough little changes add up to big changes. Anyway, feel free to use 'em or not...I'm pretty non-judgmental about it all. What works for me and my family might not work for y'all. I'm just getting them out there! And please, share the green tips that have worked for your family, too!

Okay, here's my first tip: when we make coffee at home, there's usually some left in the pot. Instead of just dumping it down the drain, we've started freezing it into ice cubes. Then I can use them to make DELICIOUS homemade frappuccinos! Just add some coffee ice cubes, milk (or half and half if you're feeling wild), and a few teaspoons of sugar to a blender, and blend until the ice is well-crushed. To make it extra special, drizzle some chocolate syrup down the sides of a clear glass, then pour in the frappuccino. Looks pretty, tastes yummy! You could also use the cubes to cool down hot coffee without watering it down. I bet it would also make an interesting Baileys or Kahlua on the coffee-rocks :) I can't verify that until I've weaned Z-man, but you better believe I'm going to be trying it next fall!

See, pretty painless, right? Just finding a use for a common leftover in our house and getting into the habit of being aware of food waste. Plus, making these coffee frappuccinos once every week or two keeps me from missing my coffees out too much!

Zero-Waste lunches

Have you checked out the Reduce Footprints blog? Every Wednesday is "Change the World Wednesday". Though I don't often participate, I love the idea of it as I'm big into making small changes. It's too much to try to be "perfect" or to change everything about the way I live. It's too overwhelming to expect that, and then it's too easy to give up entirely. So I've been trying to make small changes to the way we live our lives, in the hopes that over time, it will add up to big changes.

Anyway, enough about why I love the idea of "Change the World Wednesday". Let's get on to this week's challenge:

This week we're all about kids ... after all, they will take the "green torch" and become environmental "Olympians". So this week, your challenge is to do an environmentally friendly activity with your kids (or grand kids or neighbor kids or nieces/nephews, cousins, etc). Get them involved. Need some ideas? Here you go:


Awesome Activities

Kaboose

Kids Links (Teaching Green)

Gardening for Kids

Once you've done the activity, we want to know about it ... so come back here and leave a comment (either with the activity or a link to a post) ... or if they did something fun during the summer like an Eco-Camp, tell us about that. We'd also be interested in little Eco-Stars ... kids who have taken it upon themselves to come up with green living ideas.

Or ...

If you don't have any accessible kids to have "green" fun with, then write an article about ways that we can get kids involved in an Eco-friendly lifestyle.

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So that's the challenge for the week, and it dovetailed perfectly to something I was already working on with N-man and B-man: zero-waste lunches. Friday was their very first day that they were eating lunch at school. Working in schools in the past, it was kind of appalling to see the vast amount of garbage generated at lunch time. And I'm not talking about the food thrown out (that's a separate topic, though I did briefly sub at a school that had the kids compost all their compost-able food so it is possible!). I'm talking about the juice boxes, single-serve packets, water bottles, ziplock baggies, paper bags, aluminum foil, disposable silverware and napkins, etc, etc, etc. Kids' lunches just seem to generate huge amounts of trash, and most of it can't be recycled, or just plain doesn't get to a recycling bin.

That's where a zero-waste lunch comes in. The idea is to pack the lunch in reusable containers, with reusable silverware and napkins. If all goes well, the child shouldn't have anything to throw away after lunch (besides those pesky sandwich crusts!).

The boys and I brainstormed some ideas of things that would be good to include in the lunch, and things that wouldn't be good. That was a bigger hit for the boys...they were very good at listing things that come in single-serve packaging (i.e., nutrigrain bars, yogurt tubes, etc...things I get for treats but have been trying to wean myself off even in our own house!)

You can get official bento boxes, but I just used a regular lunch box with tupperware I had around the house. And the Rubbermaid Litterless Juice Boxes that some readers recommended last year are still going strong (love these!).

Here's what the boys had for their first school lunch:



Apple cider for a drink

Cream cheese and jelly sandwiches (cut into the shape of dinosaurs! I have a cool sandwich cutter that cuts one sandwich into two dinosaurs with only a little crust waste.)

Cut up strawberries and kiwi

A scoop of hummus and some bagel chips

And for dessert, a soybean butter and honey oatmeal ball. I (kind of) followed this recipe, but with some changes to make it nut-safe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soybean butter
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips (if you're not dealing with allergies, I'd use mini-chips. I just can't find any nut-safe mini-chips. Though heck, if you're not dealing with allergies, I'd go to the original recipe and use peanut butter and nuts in these!)
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Mix soybean butter and honey until blended. Add all the other ingredients and stir until mixed and thoroughly coated.

Roll into balls (I made them from about 1 heaping tablespoon each). Freeze or refrigerate until firm.

N-man ate almost everything in his lunch! B-man didn't do quite as well, but said he liked everything.

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So here's why I like the idea of zero-waste lunches:

• The obvious, of no trash for the kids at school
• More economical in that I can buy large containers and apportion them into smaller servings.
• The packaging from the products can be recycled at home, while there might not be recycling available at school (or the kids may forget to use it).
• Buying large containers means less packaging than the single-serving packets.
  
• Any leftover lunch comes home, and if appropriate, can become an afternoon snack so there's less food waste. B-man ate his leftover bagel chips and hummus yesterday after school!
• Gets kids involved in reducing the amount of garbage they generate.
• Opportunity to make healthier lunches by not relying on prepackaged individual serving (and often highly processed) "convenience" foods.
  

And as I said, this is a small step. There's always room for improvement...here are some future "small steps" I may try to take to make this idea even more effective.

• I'm not sure what kind of non-plastic options there are for containers, but as the tupperware becomes lost or worn out, I'd prefer to replace it with something that isn't made of plastic.
• Okay, my zero-waste lunch wasn't ZERO-waste, because I had to include a disposable napkin. I have fabric to make into cloth napkins...I just need to do it!
• I could do a much better job making local choices for their lunches. For example, I got them strawberries and kiwi, their favorite fruits, as a special treat for their first school lunch. But come on! It's apple (and peach) season here. That would be a much better choice for future lunches this fall.
• What other ideas do you have for me?

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Overall, a very fun, and easy activity. As I said, this was my boys' first school lunch, so we're not in the habit of relying on convenience packaging. Hopefully it will remain just as easy to continue with zero (or very little) waste lunches!

Discrimination against new moms

I love the new town we've moved to, but they are guilty of the most heinous act of discrimination against new moms. They don't allow drive-thrus. None. Really.

So that means if I'm out running errands and I want a cup of coffee, a doughnut, a bagel, an egg mcmuffin, a COFFEE, I have to park the car, get all three kids out, hike into the restaurant, order, hike back out to the car, now carrying food, too, strap all three kids back into their seat, then finally get going again. It turns what should be a 5 minute stop into a 20 minute expedition.

Too much work. So I skip it, then get grumpier as my blood sugar level (and caffeine level) get lower and lower.

I'd plan ahead and have food and coffee with me, except, you know, I lack the ability or energy to plan ahead. Severe sleep deprivation will do that to you. Plus, half the time my errand is to the grocery store because we're out of food anyway.

And the town has a perfect set up here. I'd organize a group of new moms to protest this obvious discrimination against the people who most need a drive-thru, except we're all too tired and need coffee...

An Eat Local Challenge

For anyone who browses my "favorite blogs" list on the right side bar, you may have stumbled upon the Reduce Footprints blog. I love this blog...I get lots of good ideas and learn new things all the time.

Every Wednesday, Small Footprints has a new weekly challenge. I missed the first two, and boy, I'm glad I didn't miss this one! Check out this week's challenge:

For one full day this week, eat only local foods. No tropical fruits from across the world ... no veggies that traveled hundreds of miles to get to your table ... only locally grown foods (this includes meats, dairy products, etc., if you eat them).

Cool, huh? Right up my alley! I wonder, though, how much fudging is fair for the boys. I don't think their morning Cheerios are local. I also haven't found good local sources of cooking oil (though I could just plan to use local bacon on my 100% local day and cook in the grease, or use butter, or, gasp, plan meals that don't need any sauteing), salt, or grains. I can probably do without those for a day, though it's the staples like these that keep me from ever attempting a more extensive local food challenge.

Anyone else want to play along? Head over to Reduce Footprints!

I'm going to cross post this on the How Does Your Garden Grow blog as well, I think, and see if I can get others to join in!

Extra stuff from the CSA

Yesterday, Ms. Sotorrific Twins asked a question about what you should do with stuff you get from a CSA that you don't want. I was going to just email her, but then I decided this could be part two of my CSA decision making series. Whoa, don't get me going, I might just post once every 6 months about CSAs!

The fact of the matter is, with many CSAs, you end up with vegetables you don't want. Some CSAs are structured where you get to choose what you want, but many just give you a box of whatever is ripe on the farm that week. So what do you do with the vegetables you don't like?

The first thing I'd suggest is TRY THEM! Search around for a different recipe that uses the vegetable in a way you've never tried. You're getting the most fresh of the vegetables...it hasn't been trucked across the country or sat in a warehouse for a week. You might be pleasantly surprised by a vegetable you thought you didn't like.

But, there's probably no way you're going to like everything. Kohlrabi is my veggie I don't want anywhere near me...I tried it a few times last year, and never liked it. I'm not sure yet if I'll even bother taking it at this year's CSA pickups. Icky! So here some ideas of what to do with those extras:

• Talk to your CSA about setting up a "trade table", where people leave things they don't want and take something they do want. I mean, you're probably never going to find the popular veggies on the trade table, but you may be able to swap out your kale for kohlrabi or something. The CSA I belonged to tried this one week last year, and unfortunately, at least when I was there, the "trade table" just became filled with kohlrabi. I guess I'm not the only one who isn't a fan! But in theory this might work.
• Talk to your CSA about the possibility of organizing a donation to a local food pantry or hunger relief agency (if any can use fresh veggies). People can just leave whatever they get too much of, or don't want, and then a volunteer (probably you, if it's your idea!) can deliver it to the charity. Our CSA donates to hunger relief agencies, and I absolutely LOVE this about them, and it was one of the main reasons I chose them. If there's stuff in our pickup I don't want or know I won't be able to use, most times I just don't take it and know it'll go to good use.
• Offer the vegetable(s) you don't want to someone else who is there picking up at the same time. One week last summer, a family with a child with soy allergies offered us their edamame. I love edamame, so was quite excited! That vegetable you hate may be a favorite of the person standing next to you.
• Bring the vegetables home and offer them to friends/neighbors/coworkers/family. Someone will probably want it.
• If all else fails, start composting. I mean, I would never take veggies with the intent of just throwing them on the compost pile, but if all else fails, and despite your best efforts you can't get rid of them and just can't eat them before they go bad, well at least with a compost bin/pile, it's not a complete and total waste.

One of the things I love about a CSA is getting to try all different veggies and getting a big variety. I think a traditional CSA works best for people who aren't overly picky about their vegetables. If you and your family are exceedingly picky, then a CSA that offers you choices of what to take would probably be the best bet for you. Or shopping the farmers' markets, where you have total control of selection and quantity.

What other suggestions do you have for using up those unwanted veggies?

So who else is CSA'ing this summer? Or farmers' market'ing? Yay, I love summer!

Java chocolate chip cookies

Me? A sweet tooth? You don't say!

I made cookies the other day. I figured I better post the recipe, 1) because they are awesome, and 2) because I made a number of changes to the recipe and if I don't write it down, I'll never be able to replicate these.

I started with a recipe from the December/January 09 Taste of Home magazine for Java Cream Drops. The recipe seemed kind of fussy (making two different doughs and pressing together for each cookie), plus, it contained walnuts. But come on! Coffee, chocolate, and chocolate chips? This was still worth trying! The recipe also contained a typo (it said "cream" in one spot instead of "flour"...TK took one look at the recipe and figured it out in a minute though it had me flummoxed while I was actually cooking), so I was having trouble figuring out the quantities needed and just had to wing it. So here it is. My adapted version of the recipe:




Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. instant coffee granules (I'd use more in the future...3 or 4 tablespoons. The coffee flavor is very mild)
1.5 Tbsp. half-and-half cream
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the coffee granules and cream. Stir well and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and coffee/cream mixture.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Mix. Gradually add to the creamed mixture, stirring well.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

These are good cooled, but hot out of the oven, I think this is my all-time favorite cookie. So make sure you plan to sample a few before they cool!

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So I feel like I should explain about my last post, given how many of you commented that you didn't immediately get why it was a rated R post. See, the thing is...I have a dirty, dirty mind. It's totally my mom's fault (really, she reads this and will probably be the first to admit it). Had she been there when I was reading the book, it wouldn't have been ten minutes of laughing, it would have been half an hour! I'm sure I've made my mom proud!

The high cost of food allergies...no desserts for ME!

This weekend, we ended up making dinner really early one night because the boys were hungry. Usually, by the time we finish dinner, there's just enough time for the boys' bath, clean-up, and bedtime. But we had tons of time that night. And I have a wicked bad sweet tooth.

You can see where this is going, right? Out for dessert!

Due to B-man's nut allergies, desserts are REALLY difficult. Almost everywhere we'd go, there are nuts used. Bakeries and ice cream stands are right out as there's way too much risk of cross-contamination. So I had to think outside the box. You know what finally occurred to me? McDonald's!

We rarely eat at Mickey D's. I'm really not a fan of their food. Well, except Egg McMuffins. Mmmm! But besides one time we stopped on a road trip a few years ago when there was nothing else around, and a few times through the drivethru for fries, the boys have never had any McDonalds.

They were so excited to go out for dessert! I had read the ingredient/allergen lists online ahead of time, and knew I could get the boys ice cream cones. We got the ice cream cones, and the boys were literally jumping up and down in excitement. We sat down, and gave them the ice cream cones. They both looked at them. Then N-man asked perplexedly, "How do I eat this?"

Oh my. My poor, poor children! Nearly 4 years old, and they don't know how to eat an ice cream cone. (In my defense, I haven't been quite so cruel. They have had ice cream cones maybe 2 or 3 other times, all at Grandma's house and not since last summer. They must have forgotten.)

We taught them how to eat ice cream cones. They loved it! I got to eat dessert, too. I mean, it was no Melting Pot chocolate fondue or Cold Stone Creamery ice cream, but I think I just have to accept that my days of desserts like that are over, at least when B-man is out with us.

So I guess I found what McDonald's is good for: adequate desserts out for my son with nut allergies.

Did you ever think you'd hear me singing any praises for McDonald's? I know, it surprised me, too!

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In an ironic twist of fate, I'm reading In Defense of Food at the moment. I believe going to McDonald's while reading this book was kind of like my endless yearnings for Twinkies while reading Twinkie, Deconstructed. Missing-the-point!

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I tried one of the new McCafe coffee drinks while I was at McDonald's. A cappucinno. It was NOT good. In fact, it was pretty disturbing. The "foam" on top stayed foamy. I don't know what it was made of, but I don't think it was foamed milk. There's no way foam shouldn't melt into the coffee by the time you get to the bottom of the cup! It totally grossed me out!

See, now this sounds more like me, right? A little bit of honest food snobbery? Hey, I calls 'em like I sees 'em!

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Where's your favorite place to go for dessert? Mmmm, chocolate!

Isn't this WILD?

So, I decided to make a foray into backyard foraging. We're growing quite a crop of dandelions in our yard, and I knew TK was going to mow 'em all down last night. So, the boys and I headed out to pick dandelion leaves.

I researched a little online and saw the young, small leaves are generally less bitter, so that's what we picked. We got about half a colander full before we all lost interest.



I popped 'em in some salted boiling water for about 8 minutes while frying some bacon. Then I drained the dandelion greens and transferred them to the pan with the bacon grease, along with some minced garlic. Snipped in a few chives from the garden, sauteed it all for a few minutes, then topped it with crumbled bacon.

My overall assessment: kind of bitter, but certainly edible. And kind of fun that it's just a weed growing in the yard!




I do have to say, though, that I'm more excited for the wild blackberries we have growing in a brambly mess in the backyard. Foraging those blackberries are worth braving the thorns!

Anything worth foraging in your backyard?

Meat with a side of meat, and back to the house hunt

I'm not big into the "oh men, are sooo different than women" thing. Except sometimes they are.

Like when they grill.

I wasn't feeling well this weekend, and it was beautiful out, so TK said he'd grill. Perfect. He even took the kids to the grocery store to buy something. Here's what he got: lamb kabobs, teriyaki chicken, and hot dogs.

What? Have I ever made meatloaf with a side of chicken cordon bleu and some pork chops?

And it's not just TK. I've never met a guy who grilled who didn't do this. It makes me giggle. And it makes me glad I'm not a vegetarian, or else I'd never eat when he grills!

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We went to some open houses yesterday, checking out some towns we haven't looked at much. It was funny, because the three towns we looked in really spanned the total picture of available housing. We really have to decide what we're looking for!

First, we went to the town "next door". It's very similar to where we live now, but with slightly better schools, and slightly higher home prices. Otherwise, it's very similar to where we live now, and could we certainly afford to upgrade to a nothing-special, nothing-terrible 4 bedroom house. The commute for TK would be similar to what it is now, and the traffic congestion, medium sized lots, and convenience to shopping would be quite similar to what we have now.

Then, we went to one of the upscale, hoity-toity towns very close to where TK works. When we first looked at houses seven years ago, we couldn't afford anything in these towns close to TK's office. Now, we can. But, we'd essentially have to downsize from our current house, facing all the same problems we have now with lack of storage space, plus we'd have to give up our nice kitchen. We also can't afford the "neighborhood" areas in these towns, so we'd be on busier roads. On the plus side, great schools, and extreme convenience of location. However, I think we're about ready to throw in the towel on these towns. While I think good schools are important, I don't think it's worth paying *that* much more for a house, or for giving up things like closet space or a nice yard.

Last, we went to a "way the heck out there" town, further than any other town we've looked at, and at least a 45 minute commute for TK. I believe the directions to get there were "go to the middle of nowhere, make a left, and keep driving". We LOVED it out there...it was so beautiful and idyllic. And the house! First, it was $25k less than any of the other houses we saw. And, it was literally TWICE as big as the house in the hoity-toity neighborhood, with a lot nearly three times as large. In fact, the house was really too big. It was in a beautiful neighborhood, with good schools. I think it was really too far away, though. And there's not much out that way. But boy, what an eye-opener! TK has plenty of co-workers who live out that far (and even farther!), but I just don't know if it's worth it for us.

It's hard, because I think we want to live in the country, but we're close enough to Boston that really, our only choices are degrees of suburb-ness. The less typical suburban setting we get, the further the commute is for TK. And a long commute is a total quality-of-life killer (not to mention the cringe-worthy environmental impact!) Who knows. I guess we'll just keep looking in a variety of areas, and wherever we find a house we like that happens to coincide with when our own house sells, I guess that's where we're meant to live!

What's most important to you in choosing an area to live?

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More book recs coming soon!

High opinions of my cooking ability

As I've mentioned here from time to time, the boys have been surprisingly resistant to eating anything I make. I'm often surprised they don't just turn into stick figures.

So I haven't thought they were big fans of my cooking. And they probably aren't. But I realized today that N-man at least has extremely high expectations for my abilities. Here was our conversation this morning, when he wanted Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (his favorite).

N-man: We have apples, don't we?

Me: Yes.

N-man: And there's cinnamon in this house?

Me: Yes, why?

N-man: Why don't you just make me some Apple Cinnamon Cheerios?

Me: I think I'll just pour them out of the box.

N-man: No, I want the ones you make.

I guess I'm supposed to figure out how to make cereal for him. Perhaps I'll just pour the box onto a cookie tray while he's not looking!

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Another funny N-man realization today: B-man had fallen and was crying, and N-man always likes to sing to him to make him feel better. Today he sang the ABCs. And at the end, he sang, "Now I know my Abe Eeee Cees". I asked him to repeat himself, and he definitely said it again. So funny, since at the beginning of the song he knows it's A B C! The world must be such a weird place for kids!

A weekend in food

Sorry I've been MIA...we just got back from a long weekend (well, almost a week!) in Buffalo visiting family for our first annual "Christmas in January". It was a lot of fun, and felt a lot less hurried and stressful than normal Christmas-at-Christmas time travel.

But the purpose of this isn't to recap all the fun stuff we did, but rather, all the delicious stuff we ate. See, when we go back to Buffalo, we OD on all the local Buffalo food that we miss desperately. I don't know if I've got any Buffalo natives reading, but if so, you are so lucky to always have this food readily available!

So here's what we had:

• Loganberry "juice". I've never seen this anywhere besides the Buffalo area, but it's an omnipresent lurker in the soda stations back home. It's SWEET and bright red and delicious!
• Sponge candy. Okay, this isn't just a Buffalo thing, but it's everywhere in the Buffalo area, even the bulk bins at the supermarket. I could find it here, I'm sure, but I'd have to search. At home, I got three different flavors (milk, dark, and orange) in the bins at the grocery. Easy, peasy, and so yummy!
• Duff's wings. First, if you're in Buffalo, they're not called "buffalo wings". They're just wings, or perhaps chicken wings. And they're awesome. I've never had wings as good anywhere else. In fact, I'd be hesitant to tell people to try "buffalo wings" outside of Buffalo. Or really, outside of Duff's. Oh sure, some of you are going to pull the whole "but Anchor bar is where wings were invented." Fine, but Duff's is where they were perfected, so head out to the 'burbs if you want the best. These are true HOT wings. So good, and just sopping in hot sauce, that's perfect to dip the fries in. Mmmmmmm....
• John's Chicken Finger Subs. It's so simple: chicken fingers shaken in hot sauce, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and blue cheese dressing. I've tried to get restaurants to make it here in the Boston area, but no one comes close to the perfection that is John's. Their pizza is horrid (though we'd always go out to eat it after track meets in high school), but their subs are outstanding!
  
• Elmwood Taco and Subs burritoes. It's nothing like "real" Mexican food...but it's still good. Their bean and cheese burritoes and meat and extra cheese burritoes are perfection. And that's about all that's on the menu (okay, fine, there's more, but just ignore it).

Things we missed this trip (hey, we can only eat so much!):

• Ted's Hot Dogs. They know, as everyone everywhere should, that the only proper way to prepare a hot dog is grilling. Oh, and they have the most awesome onion rings and milkshakes. Why can't you find a good hot dog stand outside of Buffalo?
• Mighty Taco. Well, this is a little embarrassing. If you're from outside Western New York, the best way I can describe Mighty Taco is that it's a regional chain kind of Taco Bell-ish. Except that doesn't do it justice at all, as you couldn't pay me to eat Taco Bell, but I still love Mighty Taco. Not like my brother and sister-in-law, who got this the minute they arrived in town, but the hard shell bean and cheese tacos at Mighty are just so awesome!
• Beef on weck. It's a famous Buffalo food that I'm actually not too keen on. I find kimmelweck rolls kind of gross, what with all the excess salt and caraway seeds. So we often skip this, but it did need a mention since a trip to Anderson's for a roast beef and frozen custard (loganberry on the side!) is always a good Buffalo outing.

Isn't it weird how tied you become to local foods? I wonder, if we ever moved out of the Boston area, what food we'd miss?

What's the local food in your area that's not to be missed?

Wine Slush

At Thanksgiving this year, my brother-in-law made a delicious dessert: wine slush. I loved it, even though I don't normally like wine. As I've said before, though, the closer alcohol tastes to ice cream, the more I like it!

Anyway, as soon as I tasted it, I knew I had to make it for book group. Last night, it was a big hit and I was asked to post the recipe. I wish I'd taken a picture, though it doesn't look that pretty. I'd have to pretty it up in a martini glass or nice bowl with a sprig of mint or something on the side...none of which I had. So you'll just have to make the recipe and try it for yourself.

I got the basics of this recipe at Thanksgiving, and figured I couldn't really mess it up as it's so simple. I'm sure this isn't precisely the "real" recipe, but it turns out just fine.

Wine Slush

Ingredients:

1 c. red wine (any kind, whatever you've got lying around)
1 1/4 c. water
2/3 c. sugar
3 thin round slices of an orange (I use rounds from the thickest part of the orange)
1 small container raspberries

Directions:

Add raspberries and red wine to a large tupperware container.

In a medium saucepan, add water, sugar, and orange slices. Cook over medium high heat, stirring often, until all the sugar is dissolved. Pour into the container with the raspberries and red wine.

Cover and store overnight in the fridge.

Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the liquid into a container that will fit into your freezer. I use a small metal casserole pan (11" x 7"). Squeeze the oranges to add the juice to the liquid. Discard the oranges.

Next, using a plastic spatula (those flexible scraper kind), squish the raspberries against the mesh and let the juice strain into the wine mixture. Keep doing this until mostly all you have left is seeds (well, use your judgment. The longer you do this, the more likely it is some seeds will make it through the strainer and into your liquid). A lot of raspberry juicy stuff will collect on the bottom of the strainer, so make sure you use your spatula to scrape it off and add to the wine.

Stir it all up, and put it in the freezer. Every 45 minutes or so, use a fork to scrape it up so it doesn't freeze solid. You only have to do this a few times, and in my experience, it was okay when I forgot for more like 3 hours instead of 45 minutes.

That's it...it's ready as soon as it freezes (give it at least 2.5 or 3 hours).

Yummy!

Reinspired

This weekend I took a trip to a spice store. A while back, Snick had told me about a shop in the area that just sells spices, but it's not that close to my house and I'd just never had the need to go. But I finally went. And it was awesome.

And I'm totally reinspired to cook. I was kind of in a rut since the CSA ended. I think I have to face facts that I'm someone who is inspired by new things: new recipes, new ingredients. I get bored of making the same ol' same ol'.

So here what I got:

Fleur de Sel, my one "luxury" item. I bought a tiny jar, so it wasn't too expensive, though I calculated it out and it costs almost 100x's as much as that blue cylindar jar of normal salt. I don't care, it was a fun $9 splurge!

Sweet curry powder
Taco powder
Cilantro (I know, boring. I just happened to be out of it)
Green Goddess mix
A mix for sprinkling on sandwiches
Lemon Grass
Vanilla extract (again, boring, but I use a lot in winter cooking)
Lavender

The lavender was the real reason I went to the store. I found a recipe for lavender shortbread cookies (I'll post it after I try it if it's any good), but haven't been able to find any dried lavender to make it with. And I couldn't find it in this store.

I asked at the counter, and got the most awesome example of food snobbery: "CULINARY lavender?" Yes, I answered. "You're going to COOK with it?" Yes, I answered. "Okay, we keep it in back so that only people who know it's for cooking will buy it."

Hee! So I got my culinary lavender.

Have any recipes I should try with my new spices? Link 'em or post 'em!

I made two great things with the Fleur de Sel last night. Soft pretzels, and caramel dark chocolate truffles with fleur de sel. Both were good, but the truffles were unbelievable. They took a zillion hours to make though. I'll never complain about the price of truffles again...I get it now! And I "ruined" some of mine by not tempering my chocolate after I had to take a break with one of the boys trying to use the potty. Oh well, they're still tasty, even if they're not all lovely.

Pics pics, to make my mouth water:

Help the chef

Some cooking blogs go so far as to, you know, actually offer cooking advice.

And that's why this will never be a cooking blog.

I need help. Help me, please!

I made Thai Pumpkin Soup last night. I followed this recipe, using one roasted acorn squash and one can of pumpkin puree (there were no sugar pumpkins at the store! Heresy!) It was okay. Nothing special. Kind of...one note.

I used a sweet curry because I don't like the spicy ones, and added a bunch of freshly grated ginger, and a hint of freshly grated nutmeg. It helped, but still wasn't awesome. I have a bunch of it I put into the freezer with a note that it needs SOMETHING. I hope you'll tell me what that something is.

Here's the picture of it. It's pretty, right? I garnished with roasted pumpkin seeds. This should have been great. I'm so disappointed it was just okay. Help a sister out, won't ya?



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Last night was some GREAT television. First, let's talk Chuck. Casting Bruce Boxleitner, Captain John Sheridan himself, as Awesome's dad...well, it was AWESOME.

Then, in Heroes (spoiler alert! Stop reading now if you have it DVR'd and haven't seen it yet!)

Okay, you've stopped reading if you don't want to be spoiled, right? Last warning!

Oh my, I love Seth Green. Heroes has some great casting. But on a down note, please, please, please don't tell me my best friend Kristen Bell has been written off. I thought for sure she was going to end up preggies with a lil' baby watchmaker...

In other random news, I just saw the preview for the new Star Trek movie. Despite my full-fledged geek status, I'm just not a big Trekkie and have been ignoring this. And will continue to do so, except that did you see Zachary Quinto (Sylar) was cast as Spock? That cracked me up, since on Heroes his incredibly huge eyebrows do half the acting, and now he's cast as Spock, another famous eyebrow-actor. Funny, or maybe it's just me...

The Famous Mashed Potato Bar

I know, you've all been waiting with bated breath to hear about the mashed potato bar. Don't worry, I have photographic evidence.



It was pretty awesome. Even better, the next morning, we made individual servings of scrambled eggs that people personalized with leftover potato bar toppings.

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Anyway, we're back from our Thanksgiving trip. The drive was suitably hellish, taking nearly 10 hours to get there (from Boston to NJ...usually about 5.5 hours), and 7 hours to get home. I hate Thanksgiving traffic. I swear, next year I'm petitioning the family to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. Or Columbus Day Thanksgiving. Or Veterans Day Thanksgiving. Anything that doesn't require me to be on the road the day before turkey day.

Other than the traffic, we had a great time. We had an awesome Thanksgiving. We went out to a fancy-schmancy lunch to celebrate my MIL's birthday. We played lots of games, like The Works and Super Munchkin. We were introduced to the TV show Big Bang Theory, which is ridiculously funny and I'm not sure how we've missed it. We hung out with family and generally had a good time.

I hope all of you also had a great holiday!

Was this an exaggeration?

The other day, I was IM'ing my sister-in-law. I'm not great at IM'ing. I get kind of confused as the conversation jumps in different directions. As you're waiting for the other person to type, you introduce a new topic, then they do, then you're responding to something old and they're responding to something different and, well, it's an interesting mess. It's so...I don't know...non-linear. Fun, but sometimes some of the conversation threads get left hanging.

That happened to me the other day. My sister-in-law is hosting Thanksgiving this year. Her first. She's pretty excited. She likes to host really elaborate, cook-for-a-few-days kind of events. So as we're IM'ing, I asked what I could help with. She said the mashed potato bar.

It turns out she wants three kinds of mashed potatoes (regular, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower, which I know isn't technically a potato, but mashes up like an Atkins-freak's messed up rememberance of mashed potatoes. Of course, I've already owned up to my opinion of Atkins and cauliflower). And she'll serve them in martini glasses, with a toppings bar of things to add on top.

That sounds pretty neat, doesn't it?

Then she IM'd that she has a list of FIFTY toppings, like mini marshmellows and wasabi and chives.

Do you think she was exaggerating, or do you think she really has a list of 50 toppings? I don't know if I can even think of fifty potential toppings. But I believe she could. I have to send this to her to see if she was exaggerating for comic effect or just reporting the facts.

So what type of potatoes would you choose from the mashed bar? And what would you top it with?

I think I'd go with a mix of regular and cauliflower, with sour cream, chives, and bacon. If those are choices. With potentially fifty choices, I'd guess things as boring as those would be on the list!

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Current NaNo Word Count: 51,569

Current NaNo Attitude: Still excited about being past 50k. I took Sunday off, and now I'm aiming for writing 1k a day until I reach the end of the novel. I'm close. I forgot about some subplots, but as I said, that's editing now. I'd guess I'm within 5k of ending, and I could be even closer if I skimmed over some stuff. I'm not rushing it, but I'm trying not to drag it out, either. It'd be fun if I actually finished the novel in November, but if not, at least I passed 50k in November!