Two Thirds Done

Today is day twenty out of my thirty day food stamp diet so I am two thirds done. Other than that minor milepost there wasn't anything particularly special about today.

Picked up six bananas and a jar of peanut butter at Trader Joe's. Bananas remained at nineteen cents each and the peanut butter was still $1.79 so I spent a total of $2.93 today for a grand total of $128.35 to date. Tomorrow I will pick up some more oatmeal and dried bananas and another sack of onions. Unless something catches my eye that may very well do it as far as my monthly expenditures. Maybe I will pick up some more vegetables. I still have one package or spinach left and quite a few glowing broccoli. Also, my carrots seem to be multiplying, so I won't run out of those. I have determined that five pounds of carrots is, indeed, a one-month supply for one person. I might pick up some green beans and a can of corn and another couple of potatoes. What the hell, splurge a little.

I started out with my oatmeal, dried bananas, and raisin special for breakfast.

Ooh, Another Picture Of Oatmeal


I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch, but in my excitement I ate it before I took a picture.

This Will Have To Do


For dinner I broke out the steak that I had thawing in the refrigerator.

My Steak


There wasn't any need to do anything fancy with it. I like them just fried up a bit.

Pan Fried Steak, Can't Be Beat


To finish off the meal I cooked up some pasta and stirred it up with some of my leftover chili, the container without any meat.

My Steak And Spaghetti Dinner


This steak was thicker than the last one I ate so I really couldn't finish it without just stuffing myself. I will probably have the rest for lunch tomorrow and then have pea soup for dinner.

Tomorrow's Lunch?


Well, that is about it. Nothing too exciting, but I certainly am not going to be going to bed hungry.

Out Of Siberia And Into Brooklyn

And now for something completely different.

Just thought I would take a quick break from blogging about my eating program to bring you some exciting news. My old friend, Tracy Westmoreland of Siberia fame, and Bellevue too, has opened up a new bar here in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Strangely, he is naming it The Manhattans.

In typical Tracy logic he said "All the bars in Brooklyn look like movie sets," but "This bar is like an episode of 'The Outer Limits' that never aired.'

You may remember that Bellevue was bar number 527 and Siberia was bar number 564 for me on my journey to 1000 back in 2005.

I also did a guest bartending gig at Bellevue once upon a time.

Guest Bartender On His Break


Tracy is the big guy with his tongue hanging out.

I think I will celebrate the end of my food stamp diet by heading over there on Saturday, May 2nd. If you are in the neighborhood, pop in to join me. Just look for the place with the windows plastered over with old newspapers. This is Tracy's idea of "creating ambiance."

The address is 769 Washington Avenue between Sterling Place and St. John's Place. That isn't too far from Prospect Park up by the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the Brooklyn Museum.

Tracy is just adding a bit more, or is that West-more-land, culture to the neighborhood.

Another Cold And Rainy Day

Well, we had a nice summer here in Brooklyn. Too bad it only lasted one day. Just nasty out; cold and a light drizzle that turned into a fairly heavy rain. Oh well, life goes on.

I hit Key Food to pick up some more coffee. This time I upgraded to Yuban for $4.29 a pound. The Key Food brand just didn't cut it. I also picked up another loaf of bread, Hearty Extra Fiber Whole Wheat, for $2.50. I only had five eggs left so I figured I better get some more. I got a dozen, well, eleven, actually, for $1.89. I usually check the eggs to make sure that none of them are broken, but today I forgot. Wouldn't you know, the first one I tried to take out of the carton just cracked apart in my hand. It had already been cracked and some of the egg had leaked out and hardened in the bottom of the carton. This is why you should always check your eggs, and maybe even count them. I also bought a bag of eight oranges for $1.99. They were advertised as juice oranges, but I just eat them. I still have two increasingly shriveled grapefruit left, but I am going to eat both of them tomorrow, I promise.

Nothing special for breakfast, but I was a little hungrier than usual so I had a piece of toast with peanut butter to go along with my oatmeal, dried banana, raisin concoction.

A Rainy Day Breakfast


As long as I had plenty of eggs and hadn't gone to Trader Joe's to replenish my bananas and peanut butter I decided to have an omelet for lunch.

The Fixin's


I stuck the frozen spinach in the microwave for a couple of minutes, diced up half of the onion and the garlic, cubed the cheese, and threw it all into my frying pan with a couple of eggs. Actually, I threw the onion and garlic in first and let it saute a bit before I threw everything else on on top of it.

Into The Pan With You


Then I just whisked it around a little.

I Know, It Doesn't Look Real Good


But once it was dumped onto a plate it looked a bit better, and it tasted just fine.

Tastes Better Than It Looks


I had a pretty good-sized breakfast and lunch, so this was a good night to just have leftovers.

Leftovers


This was the leftover rice and beans and the sweet potato and banana mixture from the other day. I also broke out a little of the meatless chili just to put a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce on the rice to add a bit of flavor and a little color.

I fried the piece of pork just to crisp it up a bit.

Crisping The Pork


While I was frying up the pork I threw the rice and beans and the sweet potato and banana mixture into the microwave for a couple of minutes. Stirred the chili sauce into the beans, and dinner was served.

Not Too Bad For Leftovers


My little shopping excursion today cost me $10.67, most of it for the coffee. This brings my total to $125.42. Tomorrow I will buy another jar of peanut butter and some bananas.

My friend Allen managed to make the most out of our short summer on Saturday. He went to an afternoon Yankee game and the evening Mets game. If he could have squeezed in a round of golf he would pretty much have done it all.

I popped a steak into the refrigerator to thaw and am looking forward to a steak and spaghetti dinner tomorrow night.

Chilly And Chili Sunday

It was about twenty degrees colder today than yesterday, but it did get up to the low sixties by late afternoon. It is supposed to be kind of cold all week too, with rain to boot. Makes me miss Mexico a bit.

A nice bowl of steaming oatmeal was a good way to start the day, but no dried bananas.

The Real Thing


Just one left after this one, and that will be for lunch. I couldn't just stir the fresh, well, kind of fresh, banana into a thick oatmeal so I added some milk to kind of thin it out.

My Morning Oatmeal


Those are raisins floating in there, by the way.

My afternoon sandwich worked out just perfectly, my last banana and the last two slices of my loaf of bread.

All Good Things...


A chilly Sunday afternoon is just the right weather to inspire some creative chili making. And, given my dearth of ingredients, I would have to be creative.

First, I started with the last of my black beans that had been imprisoned in this jar for the past several days.

Beans Who Sprout In Glass Houses


And I broke out the last of my pork stock.

Blump's Pork Juice, Chunky Style


For anyone who got the chunky style pork juice reference, you should see the movie The Million Dollar Hotel. How many movies can you name that either have a guy growing a third arm or a guy who has had one removed? Oh, and the first movie, The Dark Backward, had both Wayne Newton and James Caan in it, along with Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Bill Paxton, and Lara Flynn Boyle (Twin Peaks, anyone). The Million Dollar Hotel starred Mel Gibson. I bet you are wondering how you could have missed these classics. And how I could possibly have inserted a reference to them in this post.

But, enough of a digression. Put the beans and pork stock together in a pot and turn on the heat and, well, that is how you cook the beans.

The Creature In The Black Lagoon


While the beans were cooking away, you first bring them to a boil and then simmer them, I got to work on the rest of the ingredients.

My Potato


Peeled And Diced


I gave them a quick fry in some olive oil and then set them aside for a bit.

Frying, But Just A Bit


Next, the onion and garlic.

In Their Natural State


I just gave the onion a coarse chop and sliced the garlic fairly thick. I didn't want everything to just fall apart in my chili. I like a bit of chew to it.

Coarse And Thick, Kind Of Like Barman


I shook the onions and garlic with some salt and lots of chili powder (only 79 cents at Rite Aide) and then sauteed them in some olive oil just until they turned a little tender.

Looks Kind Of Pretty


My carrots are still holding up, and there are still a lot of them left. I figured this would be a good time to get rid of a couple of them, though.

Two For The Pot


Well, First You Peel And Chop Them


Then I threw everything, potato, onion, garlic, and carrots, into the pot.

Everyone Into The Pool


And I still had the meat to play with.

My Meat


I cut the meat into about 1/2 inch cubes. Maybe a little less because the "steak" was cut thinner than that.

All Diced Up


I shook the meat up with some salt and more garlic powder and then quickly browned it in my trusty little frying pan.

Red And Browning


The last ingredient was the half can, about 14 ounces, of crushed tomatoes that I had left over from when I made spaghetti sauce.

The Final Ingredient


I threw the meat and the crushed tomatoes into the pot and let it simmer for about another half an hour and when it was all over, I had my dinner.

A Chili Delight


I thought it was pretty darn tasty, too. Maybe it wouldn't win any ribbons in a chili contest, but I bet if you had been herding cows all day you would think this was a mighty fine supper. I hadn't been herding cows, and I really liked it. In fact I had two bowls. And there was still plenty left over.

My Leftovers


One container doesn't have any meat in it. I figured I would use that for a spaghetti sauce and then have the spaghetti with a steak or a chicken. Probably both, because I think there will be enough to have two spaghetti dinners. The other two, heavily laden with meat, will each make a very hearty dinner in their own right.

If I was ever to do this again I would make the things like pea soup and chili earlier in the month. I now have three containers of pea soup and two containers of chili left and only twelve days to go. Factor in a couple of spaghetti dinners, left over pork with rice and beans, a couple more packages of left over pork and two more "steaks" not counting the one with the spaghetti dinner and I will run out of days before I run out of food. And I still have a big hunk of that beef roast that I haven't done anything with. I can probably have pea soup for lunch a couple days and then have a lighter dinner.

I really don't see what else I need to buy except another loaf of bread, probably another jar of peanut butter, some bananas, and a few more grapefruits or oranges. I will spring for another pound of coffee too. Maybe upgrade a bit from the Key Food brand. It isn't very good. I might need some more oatmeal too, and a few more dried bananas. I have plenty of raisins left. I bought way, way too much rice at the start of this thing too. My 18 eggs held up pretty well too. I have at least half a dozen left. I hadn't counted on liking oatmeal so much and thought I would be eating more eggs for breakfast.

If I was going to continue this experiment for another month, or if I was actually living on food stamps, I would invest any leftover money to build up my spice cabinet a bit. Also, I would get off my duff and actually go to Chinatown and buy some fish. Kind of late in the game for that now, though. I am not lacking for protein.

Yankees are looking good, only gave up 14 runs in one inning the other night. And the cameras are being very careful not to show the empty seats, the expensive ones behind home plate. Reminds me of how they used to do that at the Knicks game. I loved it when they would announce sell outs and you would be looking around at a half empty house. It turned out the Knicks were buying the extra tickets so they could claim a sell out. A bit devious, I always thought. I wonder if they are announcing the paid attendance at the Yankees games.

I wonder what it is about New York teams. They spend so much money on talent you would think they would be winning championships every year. Compared to the Knicks, though, the Yankees are doing okay.

No Clams For Bar Man

Withstanding temptation, I did not visit Brazen Head to partake of their Clam Festival. They have several a year so I will get another chance in the not too distant future. The Clam Festivals and their Cask Ale Festivals are really not to be missed.

For breakfast I simply heated up the remnants of yesterday's breakfast.

Just Leftovers


And lunch was a hastily thrown together peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Quick And Messy


I really did have to figure out something to do with my bananas before they became nothing more than a liquid swamp breeding fruit flies. The old sweet potato and banana trick seemed appropriate. Last time I thought it turned out a bit on the dry side so I decided to double the bananas.

This Should Do It


I stuck the peeled and chopped up sweet potato in the good-old microwave for about ten minutes and then put them in a bowl with the sliced bananas. I had milk left over from my pea soup, lots of milk, so I decided to add a bit of that to the mix as well.

Could Be A Breakfast Cereal


My handy dandy stand up blender finished the dish.

Baby Food


Meanwhile I had my black beans cooking in a small pot.

Boil, Boil, Toil And..., Well, Beans


I also fixed up half-a-cup of rice using a cup of my pork stock for the liquid.

Perfect Rice, Every Time


Of course the final outcome was, hold the applause:

Rice And Beans


I took the leftover pork that I had thawed in the refrigerator overnight and just gave it a quick fry in the frying pan.

Just Crisping It Up A Bit


When it was all put on a plate I had a nutritious, kind of well-balanced, and very filling meal.

A Saturday Night Supper


In fact I made so much that I had enough left over for another meal. This one I will save for Monday night because tomorrow I am bound and determined to make my chili thing. I already have a steak thawing in the refrigerator.

Another Meal In The Wings


It will be a chili Sunday tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like outside. It got up to almost 80 F here in Brooklyn today. Maybe even higher. I saw 77 F at one point, but I don't know if that was the high for the day.

Pasta For Breakfast, Pasta For Dinner

It is amazing how much pasta you can make out of just one box of the stuff. I still have another box that I haven't even opened yet and I had a lot of left-overs from last night. I mean a lot. But I have an old trick for using leftover pasta to make kind of a breakfast, well, I don't know what you would call it.

Dividing The Pasta


The stuff in the blue bowl is for my breakfast, the stuff in the white container is for my dinner tonight.

Into the blue bowl I threw a couple of eggs and some diced Cheddar cheese. This is a bit of a departure from what I usually do. Normally I would throw in a bunch of grated Parmesan cheese, but my budget didn't allow for that luxury.

Everything Tossed Into The Bowl


Next you mix it all together with your hands, getting them nice and gooey. Then you toss the mixture into the frying pan after putting in about a tablespoonful of olive oil.

And Into The Frying Pan It Went


I fry it over a low heat just until the cheese on the top starts to melt and then pop it into the broiler to give it a nice crust on top.

The Finished Product


It was way too much for one meal so I just dished up half and finished the meal with a grapefruit.

Plenty For Breakfast


And the other half gets saved for tomorrow morning.

Saturday's Breakfast, Just Heat And Serve


For lunch I made a bold decision and cut my peanut butter and banana sandwich on the diagonal. A radical departure from the norm. I also had a hairy carrot.

Hairy, The Carrot


The carrot was still firm, and I did peel it so there wasn't any hair getting stuck in my teeth. Sunday I will check to see how the rest of them are doing and will probably use them in some kind of a chili concoction. I got a good deal on buying five pounds of carrots, but that is a lot for one person to eat before they start to, well, grow hair.

For dinner I had thawed out one of my steaks and just fried that up.

Before


After


While I fried the steak I threw the rest of the pasta from last night into the microwave and when everything was done threw it all on a plate.

But, Where Is The Chianti?


Last time I just ate half of the steak and saved the rest for a sandwich the next day. I must have been hungry tonight because I ate the whole thing. Plus, I bought too many bananas the other day so I have to use them up pretty quick. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches for lunch will be the rule until this batch is gone.

I took one of my packages of pork out of the freezer and have it thawing in the refrigerator for supper tomorrow. I also have some black beans soaking. I will probably use half of them with rice to go with the pork and then use the other half on Sunday when I make my chili concoction.

There is probably no ideal time to go on one of these austerity programs, but Brazen Head is having one of their Clam Fests tomorrow, and I really do enjoy those. They also feature beers from Long Island. To make matters worse, they have a big sign out front that I can see from the YMCA while I put in my time on the treadmill.

I MUST BE STRONG.