Nothing Special

No great bursts of creativity today as I had a fairly routine spinach omelet for breakfast, my usual, and somewhat addictive peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch, and leftover pork stew for supper.

This is the Bar Man's spinach cooking method.

Just Plop It In And Heat


Of course you need to add a bit of water and then put it on the stove.

This is just to give you an idea of how little, other than the spinach, you need to make a good-sized omelet. You can see I don't use a lot of cheese, just one egg, and I only used half the onion.

The Ingredients


I didn't get around to cleaning my frying pan last night after I fried up the chicken. But then I thought, Why let all of that stuff just go to waste?

Hmm, Too Good To Throw Away


Now, I know, some might say that isn't healthy to use something that has been sitting out all night. Well, when I was a kid just about everyone poured the fat at the bottom of the pan after cooking bacon into a coffee can. The can just sat on the counter and you used the fat whenever you fried anything. Lord only knows how old the fat at the bottom of the can was. Probably as old as the catsup in the bottom of the bottles in the restaurants where they continually top them off. I don't recall anyone getting sick though, at least not from bacon fat.

Whatever happened to eating bacon? It seems to me that we used to have it for breakfast almost every day. Damn, now I am getting hungry for it. I will have to check to see if I can squeeze a package into my budget.

Sauteing My Onions And Garlic In The Fat


After everything turned translucent, kind of a brown translucent, I simply threw in the rest of the ingredients.

Everything Into The Pan


After scrambling it all up, I had a mighty fine omelet.

The Finished Product


I did have to drain off a bit of liquid after I plopped it on the plate. I guess I didn't do a thorough enough job of straining the spinach. Next time I will squeeze it a bit before I throw it in.

As I said, for lunch I had my usual peanut butter and banana sandwich. If you want to see a picture you can look at one of my previous posts. I kind of made it and ate it in a hurry because I was in the middle of playing WoW and my group was in the middle of Uldaman.

For supper I dug out my leftover pork stew.

Leftover Stew


After heating it up in the microwave, it was as good as ever.

Simply Yummy


I had a grapefruit as an after dinner snack because I was too full after eating my omelet to have it for breakfast.

And thus ended the eighth day.

Waterfall Of Death - Another Update

Those of you who follow my blog on a regular basis, you know who you are, probably remember my criticism of the waterfall installation. One of my criticisms concerned the damage that was being done to nearby plant life as a result of the brackish spray the waterfalls produced. Well, my concerns were justified.

The April 4th edition of the Brooklyn Paper had this as their headline:

SILENT SPRING - It's official: W'falls were arborcidal maniacs

The gist of the article is that the damage done to many of the trees and plants at the River Cafe, situated next to one of the waterfalls, may have suffered permanent damage. Many of the trees, bushes, and plants appear to be dead. This is really a shame too, because the River Cafe had a beautiful garden and a staff to maintain it. Needless to say, there will probably be a lawsuit of some kind before this is all over. In the meantime, what used to be a cheery spot in Springtime as the trees came to life and the wisteria began to blossom now looks, well, desolate.

One Week Down

Today marked the end of the first week of my experiment and, in my opinion, it has gone quite well. I have learned a few things too. I learned that I really, really like peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Also, and somewhat to my surprise, I find that I quite enjoy a thick bowl of oatmeal with raisins and dried bananas. Go figure. And I have learned that, with a bit of creativity, you can produce some interesting and flavorful meals with a minimum of ingredients.

Oh, and I have learned that I quite like my coffee black. I used to drink it with milk and honey, but now I doubt if I will go back to that except as, perhaps, an occasional treat. Like a desert, or something.

Another bowl of oatmeal for breakfast this morning.

My Breakfast Makings


Oops, I forgot to take a picture until I was almost done.

Good To The Last Glop


For lunch I had yet another peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Nothing To See Here, Just Move Along


I decided that I would like to use some ginger with my chicken tonight so I picked up a good-sized piece for only 50 cents. I also replenished my grapefruit supply, buying a bag of six for $1.79.

Today's Splurge


I had one grapefruit left from my last bag and I decided that I would somehow incorporate that into my dinner.

A Guy's Just Got To Halve It


Then Juice It


Next I peeled a couple thumb-sized pieces of ginger.

Opposable Ginger


Ah, now what, you might ask. I decided to make a citrus and ginger infusion for my chicken. I simply put the sliced ginger into a small pan with the grapefruit juice. Then quickly brought it to a boil, reduced the heat, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

Simmering Away


After the simmering was done I strained out the juice, and then ate the ginger as kind of an afternoon snack. Quite tasty, if you really love ginger.

The Strain Was Beginning To Show


The Mysterious Chinese Woman bought me a nifty injector to use on meats and I figured this was a good time to put it to use once again. I filled it up with the grapefruit juice and ginger infusion.

This Won't Hurt A Bit


The leg and thigh were a bit plumper after the Angelina Jolie treatment.

I Only Have Thighs For You


Then I assembled everything I needed for my evening meal. If you remember, when I first cooked up my pork shoulder I saved the drippings. Tonight I decided to use them.

My Dinner, Some Assembly Necessary


Here is how I cook my rice, courtesy of Jeff Smith. I put twice as much liquid as rice into a pot and then add the rice. Then I bring it to a boil and stir it just until the rice starts to swell up a bit. Once it starts to swell I turn the heat down low and cover the pot and just let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes. Last step, turn off the heat and let it sit for another 10 minutes. Perfect rice every time.

This time I used the drippings for the liquid. I used half a cup of rice and, as luck would have it, had exactly one cup of the drippings. The only variation to the above this time was that after the 15 minutes I took off the top and threw in the broccoli and then put the top back on.

Steaming The Broccoli


While all that was going on I simply seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and then browned it on both sides in a frying pan with a little olive oil and then let it fry for about half an hour.

The Finished Product


The chicken was quite good. The grapefruit juice and ginger infusion gave it a nice little zing. If I did it again I might use a bit of soy sauce, but that wasn't on my budget this time around.

I saved the bones this time too, for future use in a stock.

My Stock And Trade


Okay, time for a little check on my progress. So far I have spent $79.48, but I have a lot to show for it. I still have four chicken legs and thighs left, way more than enough rice to last the rest of the month, half of my beans, three packages of spinach, half of my broccoli, half of my carrots, half of my cheese. A dozen eggs are still sitting in the refrigerator along with half the tomato sauce that I used for my pasta. Oh, and I have a bit over a box and a half of pasta left. I still have about six slices of bread left, four bananas, half a jar of peanut butter and a half dozen grapefruits. And, all of my condiments will last me through the month, including, now, ginger.

I am pretty sure I have enough oatmeal to last the month along with, I think, enough raisins. I may have to buy some more dried bananas though. I am not sure about the coffee, but that might make it through the month as well. I am down to just one mug in the morning most days now.

I also have tomorrow night's dinner sitting in the refrigerator, the leftovers from the stew I made.

So far I think I am looking pretty good. I will have to buy some more meat to supplement my remaining chicken and, eventually, will have to buy another package of chicken. Also some different vegetables to break up the routine. Maybe some beets or something. I should get a couple of potatoes too, sweet potatoes I think. I will certainly need another couple bags of onions and, probably, another package of garlic.

Well, there you go. Not a bad start, if I do say so myself. I certainly haven't felt any hunger pangs. If I do feel like a snack I simply eat a carrot. I think I actually feel a bit more energetic, but that is probably due to not drinking. It wouldn't surprise me if I lost a few pounds this month, which would be fine with me. Again, this won't be because I am not eating enough, it will be due to not having any beer. Funny thing, I don't really miss the beer, but the month is still young. I did have a couple glasses of champagne at my niece's birthday party, though.

Closing Out Week One

The first week is drawing to a close and I am suffering no ill effects. In fact the Mysterious Chinese Woman says I am eating healthier now than I usually do. I know I certainly haven't been going hungry.

I decided I would make a variation of my spinach omelet today, a quick and dirty version.

Similar ingredients, but just one egg.

Breakfast Ingredients


Step one is just a little chop chop.

Preparation Is Everything


Then I simply saute the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil. The trick is to keep the heat really low and just get them to turn translucent. You especially don't want to burn the garlic.

Just About Perfect


After I had the onions and garlic just the way I wanted them I threw in the cheese and spinach.

Just Tossed It In


After the cheese started to soften I cracked the egg on top.

Everything Is In The Pan


Then it was just a matter of scrambling everything up together.

Not Really An Omelet


And voila, a healthy and hearty breakfast.

A Great Way To Start The Day


I popped into Trader Joe's to pick up some more bananas. They still had them for 19 cents each, which is a pretty good deal. Generally speaking, I am not a big fan of Trader Joe's, and frankly do not understand why so many people are such fanatical supporters. I think their selection is limited and the prices, other than for the bananas, aren't that good either. I do like their peanut butter, though. But for most of my shopping I will stick with Key Food.

My Bananas


As you can probably surmise, I had my favorite banana and peanut butter sandwich for lunch with a carrot thrown in for good measure.

Meet Mister Sandwich


I figured on making a bean stew of some kind for dinner and had to figure out a way to do it with somewhat limited ingredients.

Not A Whole Lot To Work With


I trimmed off most of the meat from the pork shoulder and set that aside for later. Then I chopped up the carrot, onions and garlic.

Ready To Go


I just threw everything into a small pot of water along with some salt and pepper, brought it to a boil, and then let it simmer for about an hour.

Ready To Simmer Away


When I judged it to be done I strained the stock and tossed everything else. I suppose you could eat it, but it would be pretty flavorless. All the flavor goes into the stock.

The Leavings


And The Stock


You may recall that way back on day one I had rice and beans with chicken and broccoli. When I soaked the beans I had way more than I could use so I just put some of them in the refrigerator. I broke them out and threw them into the stock to cook.

Cooking The Beans


After cooking the beans for about half an hour I threw in the carrots. I wanted the carrots to be cooked, but not mushy.

Carrots Into The Mix


When the carrots and beans were done I added the pork that I had cut into fairly good sized chunks. I wanted this to be a hearty stew.

Hmm, Not Quite Right


I was looking for something thicker, more like a porridge. Luckily, I had watched Tony Bourdain last night. He was visiting Azores and they had an interesting custom. The community builds a house and then hold dinners for the poor people. Azores is doing fairly well these days so now the house is used more for just family or community gatherings.

Okay, to the point. The primary dish they made was kind of a stew where everyone brings something to throw in. Something a bit unique though is that they add bread as kind of a thickener. So there it was.

My Thickening Agent


Just Threw It In


Suprisingly, after letting it cook a bit the bread absorbed all of the excess liquid and then kind of browned up a bit.

Now This Is More Like It


It actually turned out much better than I had expected. The bread added a bit of sweetness, but it was a pungent sweetness because it had absorbed the flavorful stock. I had a big bowl of it and it was very satisfying. I will have to remember that bread trick.

Fit For A King


I was plenty full when I finished my bowl and still had plenty for another meal in a day or so.

Looking Forward To My Leftovers


I have a chicken leg and thigh thawing out in the refrigerator for tomorrow night so I will have to figure out what I am going to do with it. Probably nothing too fancy, though. You can get a lot more flavor than you might think out of just onions and garlic and just salt and pepper, but I am accustomed to a wider variety of spices. I will probably find out that I had enough money to buy more, but I don't want to come up short. Ginger is pretty cheap though, so maybe I will pick up some of that tomorrow.

Not A Warm And Fuzzy Feeling

I once had a Quick & Reilly account that somehow managed to morph into Banc of America Investment Services, Inc (BAI). One of those mysteries of life, I guess. Anyway, this month, along with my statement, I received an insert titled Important Information about Revenue Sharing Arrangements. Now this is the type of thing that probably 90% of the people receiving it throw away. For some reason I decided to look through it.

Basically, the whole insert describes conflicts of interest "Because BAI receives revenue sharing payments based on the amount of sales of, and assets invested in, annuities of Branch Access Annuity Companies and mutual funds of Branch Access Fund Families, BAI has a financial incentive to promote sales of those annuities and mutual funds, in particular annuities of Branch Access Fund Families that pay the highest revenue sharing rates to BAI."

And here I thought my friendly BAI broker had my best interests at heart. How naive an investor can be.

A Leftover Monday

The day wasn't entirely leftovers. For breakfast I had a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and dried bananas and a grapefruit.

A Healthy And Hearty Breakfast


Leftovers did play a predominate roll in my lunch, however. I pulled out the good old pork shoulder and sliced off enough meat for a decent sandwich.

My Sandwich Makings


I heated up the pork in the microwave and toasted the bread. Then I simply put the pork on the toast and slathered it with mustard.

You Gots To Like Mustard


Then I put it all together and sliced it on the diagonal. Plopped it on a plate with a raw carrot and, voila, my lunch.

My Manwich


Dinner was almost all leftovers. I had the leftover pasta with some cheese on top and the other half of the acorn squash with some broccoli. Stuck the stuff in the microwave and ding, ding, my dinner.

Pre-Microwave


Post-Microwave


Tomorrow I am going to try to concoct some kind of a thick bean soup or stew or something with the remainder of the pork shoulder. I will also have to go get some more bananas. I miss my peanut butter and banana sandwiches for lunch.

A Null Day

My sister-in-law who lives near me in Park Slope stopped by to pick me up this morning. We, along with her two young daughters, went to visit my Mysterious Sister-In-Law who lives in New Jersey. Another sister-in-law with her young daughter, the birthday girl, were coming over too for a birthday party as did my brother-in-law Jim.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and my Mysterious Mother-In-Law went out yesterday so it was kind of like a reunion. You know, running towards each other through a field of flowers with our arms stretched out, music playing in the background. That would be me and the Mysterious Chinese Woman. The Mysterious Mother-In-Law is not the running through the flowers with arms outstretched kind of woman. She is more the chop-the-chicken-with-a-cleaver type.

The birthday girl wanted pizza for her party so we ordered a bunch of pies from Pizza Hut. Man, have they ever gone down hill. The pizzas were terrible. The crusts were undercooked to the point where they were almost raw in the middle. And the toppings were laughable. The pizza with pepperoni had at least two slices with no pepperoni at all and another two slices shared one piece of pepperoni between the two of them. And we are talking about slices of pepperoni so thin you could see through them. The mushroom pizza was about the same and with what looked like shriveled up and overcooked mushroom parts. Don't even get me started on the meatball pizza, hamburger was more like it. If I had to describe the pizzas in one word it would be a hard choice between "disgusting," "horrible," or "laughable." Oh, and "terrible." Let me simply say that I will never again get a pizza from Pizza Hut.

At any rate, I skipped breakfast this morning, relying on black coffee to hold me over until lunch. But, in keeping with the spirit of living on my food-stamp budget for a full month, I will extend my experiment through Friday, May 1st to make up for today. I am nothing if not scrupulous. Or obsessive/compulsive, take your pick.