A Satisfying Saturday

Okay, enough with the eggs for breakfast every morning. Today I headed to Key Foods and picked up some oatmeal and raisins. Then I popped in to the fruit and vegetable store next door and picked up about half a pound of dried bananas. The oatmeal was $1.29 for one pound two ounces, the raisins were $1.69 for 15 ounces and the dried bananas were $.74 for about half a pound.

Breakfast Stuff


I measured out a cup of the oatmeal (I have the feeling I bought a month's worth) and an appropriate amount of the raisins and dried bananas.

This Looks About Right


And for those of you who might think that Bar Man can't cook, just look at this. And I did it without any help from the Mysterious Chinese Woman.

Look Everyone, I Boiled Water


The oatmeal is the instant kind and cooks in just over a minute once you throw it into the water THAT I BOILED ALL BY MYSELF!!! I also threw in the raisins and dried bananas.

Looks Yummy


When it was finished I had a big, and filling, bowl of, well, oatmeal, raisins, and bananas, no longer so dried.

A Healthy And Hearty Breakfast


It was very satisfying and, the Mysterious Chinese Woman will love to hear this, I may start having oatmeal for breakfast more often. Not that thin, prison gruel stuff that she seems to favor, but a manly thick and chewy concoction like I made.

For lunch I had, drum roll please, a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

The Obligatory Picture


I figured I would take a break from my rice and beans for dinner so I decided to make myself some pasta. I also figured it was about time for me to do something with my acorn squash before it just sat around and became inedible.

Dinner Fixings


I always like to prepare my misa-mess or whatever you call it. You know, getting everything ready before you start to cook. This involved chopping the garlic and onion and cubing a decent amount of the pork shoulder.

My Misa-Mess


The first step was to separate out the little chunks of just the pork fat and then crisp that up with about a teaspoon of olive oil.

Crisping The Fat


After the fat was all crisped up, and a bit of the fat was rendered out adding to the olive oil, I threw in the onions and garlic with some salt and pepper.

Everything All Thrown In


Now, while the onions and garlic were slowing turning translucent, I prepared the squash. First, I simply cut it in half and scooped out all of the seeds and stuff.

Easy Enough


Then I just placed them face down on in a baking pan with about a quarter of an inch of water in the bottom. Well, where else would the water be? Floating on top, somehow?

Oven Ready


Then I just popped them into the oven at 350 F where they would spend the next 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, I was stirring the onion, garlic, pork fat mixture until everything looked right. The onion and garlic translucent and soft and the pork fat already nicely crisped up.

Ready For The Next Step


The next step was to simply throw the pork on top and turn the heat down very low. The pork was already cooked so I just wanted to heat it up a bit.

Like A Politician, No Cutting Out The Pork


Now, and here was the tricky part, I had to open up the can of tomatoes and measure out one cup.

My Final Ingredient


Again, I saved the remaining tomato sauce for future use.

Enough For Something Else


Meanwhile, the spaghetti sauce was coming along nicely.

Just About Ready


Having mastered the art of boiling water I advanced my skills by adding a pinch of salt and a bit of olive oil and boiling a larger quantity. I am getting really good at this. Once the water hit a rolling, or is that roiling, boil I put in about a third of a box of the pasta.

Pasta In A Pot


While the pasta was cooking, about 7 minutes, I took the squash out of the oven and flipped them over to check them out.

My Flipped Over Squash


It looked like it was done so I scooped out one half.

My Scooped Out Squash


When the pasta was done I strained it, put it into a bowl, and then poured the sauce (gravy for all you Italians) over it.

The Finished Product


And, the final plating with the squash, restaurant worthy.

Looks Good Enough To Eat


As usual, I made more than I could eat, so I saved about a third of the pasta and sauce and will probably have that for either lunch or dinner on Monday. I also had half of an acorn squash left over so I stuck that in the refrigerator too.

Tomorrow I am heading to my sister-in-law's for my niece's eighth birthday party. This means I will only have breakfast at home and, for reasons beyond my control, take a half day hiatus from my experiment. I promise, though, I won't just load up on calories. I think you can see that I haven't actually been starving myself so far.

Monday I will have to use some more of the pork and then, depending upon how much is left, either freeze the rest or make a stock out it. I will make stock though, you can't just waste that bone. I probably should have saved the bones from the two chicken legs and thighs that I ate but I kind of forgot. I won't make that mistake with the five I have left though. I will save them and freeze them and then, when I have all the bones, make some chicken stock.

Day Three - Original Title

I woke up this morning and the idea of eating beans and rice with cheese no longer seemed too appealing. I decided on a spinach omelet instead.

The Ingredients


Well, the grapefruit wasn't an ingredient.

I started by slicing the garlic and then cooking it in olive oil until translucent.

I Love The Smell Of Garlic In The Morning


Then I dumped the package of spinach into a pot of water with a pinch of salt and brought it to a boil.

A Quick Boil


I ended up with more spinach than I could use so I just took a cup for my omelet and then saved all the rest.

Fascinating, A Cup Of Cooked Spinach


The next step was to throw the spinach on top of the garlic and then crack a couple of eggs over it.

Moving Right Along


At this point I decided a little cheese would perk this up a bit.

A Little Cheese


I chopped up the cheese into little chunks and then after scrambling up the eggs, garlic, and spinach I dumped the cheese on top.

Tell Me When This Gets Too Exciting


Next step was to stick the frying pan into the broiler for about two or three minutes.

Now This Is Looking Good


I then plated the whole thing and had a mighty fine breakfast.

Almost Too Much To Eat


This was a very good breakfast but the next time I make it I will only use one egg and half a cup of spinach. I really was stuffed and didn't even have room for my grapefruit.

For lunch I had my usual peanut butter and banana sandwich. I decided to include a picture, but not until after I had made it. I opened it up though and, quite frankly, it doesn't look quite as appetizing. In fact, for some reason, it reminded me of a dirty diaper.

It Still Tasted Good


As promised, today I cooked the pork shoulder. First, I just seasoned it with salt and pepper.

The Seasoned Pork Shoulder


Next I browned it in the smaller of my two cast iron dutch ovens.

Browning The Shoulder


After browning I threw in half an onion and a few cloves of garlic and then stuck it into the oven for a few hours. I had the oven set at 225 F.

When I took it out it looked like this:

The Finished Product


I cut off a couple of slices that I thought approximated a serving of meat.

About The Size Of A Couple Of Decks Of Cards


Then I cubed it.

Cubed Pork


I couldn't avoid the rice and beans forever so I simply heated them in the microwave with a handful of broccoli and then added the pork. I ended up with a tasty and filling dinner.

Rice And Beans, A Variation


This is what was left after I took the pork shoulder out of the dutch oven.

The Dregs


Being of the waste not want not mentality, I poured the stuff through a sieve and then poured it into a plastic container.

Strained Dregs


I figure I will use it to add a little flavor the next time I cook up some rice, and to get some grease into my system.

Tomorrow I am going to cook up some pasta for dinner. I think I can do without rice and beans for a day or two. Seeing as how I have plenty of the pork shoulder left I will incorporate that into the sauce, somehow.

Oh, I finally had my grapefruit as an after dinner snack.

For those of you who might be concerned that I am eating too many eggs, I think I will buy some oatmeal and begin incorporating that into my breakfast routine. Maybe get a package of raisins and some almonds to mix in.

Another Exciting Day

Today I decided to try something a little different for breakfast. This was something my dear old dad used to make every once in awhile.

Starting with only a piece of bread and an egg. The grapefruit is just a backdrop, although I did eat it afterward.

A Bread, An Egg - Ignore The Grapefruit


Okay, you following me camera-guy? Behold, the bread now has a hole in it. I ate the piece that is missing.

The Subtle Transformation


Then you heat a teaspoon of olive oil in your frying pan (I prefer cast iron) and place the bread in the pan and then crack the egg so the yolk is in the hole.

Great Dexterity Is Required


You let the egg fry a bit, just until the bottom of the yolk gets cooked a little, and then you flip the whole thing over.

Told You This Was Exciting


After you have fried the other side of the egg, the one that is now on the bottom, you remove it and plate it.

The Finished Product


That, along with the grapefruit, was my breakfast this morning.

Now if you thought that was interesting, I am sure you will be simply fascinated by my lunch, which was the same thing I had yesterday, but with more pictures.

You slice a banana, toast two pieces of bread, and take the peanut butter out of the refrigerator. Arrange tastefully and take a picture.

The Ingredients


Apply peanut butter to both sides of the toast and then carefully place the slices of bananas on one side. Eat any banana slices that don't fit.

Partially Assembled


The final step consists of placing the piece of toast without the bananas on top of the piece of toast with the bananas. You can try to do it the other way around but you have to either be very quick or make sure the bananas are really stuck into the peanut butter.

The Finished Product


This really is a very good sandwich. It wouldn't make a bad desert if you trimmed off the crusts and added a scoop of ice cream.

Yesterday I made way too much rice and cooked way too many beans. In fact I figure I cooked up about four days worth of the stuff.

The Leftovers


Seeing as how I had another chicken leg and thigh that I cooked yesterday I just heated that up in the microwave with some of the rice and beans. I skipped the broccoli, though. I forgot to take a picture, so yesterday's will have to do.

My Dinner Of Leftovers


For an after dinner snack I had a carrot.

A Carrot


I have heard that carrot cakes were either invented or became popular during World War I when sugar was being rationed. Carrots are very sweet and so you could make a decent cake without using any sugar.

Tomorrow I will have to figure out something to do with my pork shoulder. I suspect I will season it with salt and pepper and then brown it up and cook it in the oven at a low heat for many hours. I will probably throw in a few cloves of garlic and half an onion just to add some aroma and flavor. That should give me a nice chunk of fairly tender pork that I can use in a number of ways.

I think I will try melting some cheese over rice and beans for breakfast tomorrow. I have had chili over rice with shredded cheese on top before, so maybe this won't be too bad. Never again will I make such a large batch of rice and beans, though.

The Challenge Begins

Today was the start of my dietary experiment and it went fairly well, in my opinion. Breakfast was pretty much the same as usual except for the grapefruit instead of a glass of orange juice. Oh, and the bit of cheese in my omelet with a spoonful of mustard for some additional flavor.

The Basic Ingredients


The mustard was a last minute decision, so it didn't make the family portrait.

The first thing I did was fry the chopped onions and garlic in a little olive oil after sprinkling with a bit of salt and pepper.

Onions And Garlic For Breakfast


After adding the eggs and cheese and the mustard I scrambled it all up and ended up with:

My Omelet


Quite tasty and plenty filling.

I headed to Trader Joe's to buy some peanut butter, $1.79 for 16 ounces, and some bananas, four at 19 cents each for a total of 76 cents. Grand total for the day, $2.55. Again, the peanut butter will probably last me all month and the bananas for four days, so it wasn't a bad deal.

My lunch was pretty simple, but quite tasty, a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Bar Man Enjoying His Lunch


If I had added bacon, even Elvis would have loved it.

For supper I put two of the chicken legs and thighs into my Ronco Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ. Then I made a cup of rice that I added some broccoli to at the end to steam them a bit. I also cooked up the beans that I had started soaking the night before and threw in a big carrot that I chopped up. I ended up with a very hearty dinner.

My Dinner


I have a spare chicken leg and thigh for tomorrow and a whole lot of leftover beans and rice. I have the feeling that tomorrow's dinner will look pretty much like today's and I am sure lunch will be the same. That is okay though, I have to see my accountant about my taxes and need to do some preparation beforehand, so eating leftovers will save me a bit of time.

Someone asked me to be sure and post my recipes, but I am afraid they won't be too fancy. Living within my budget puts some pretty severe restrictions on the spices I have available. So far it has been limited to salt and pepper. I suppose I could cheat a bit and use spices that I already have, but I don't know if that would be fair. You can get quite a bit of flavor out of onions and garlic, though.

Down For A Day

There are serious rumors of a PC Virus that may let loose on April 1st. Maybe the rumors are an April Fool's Day prank, or, maybe, that would be the perfect day to spring a Virus.

Be that as it may, just to be on the safe side I am shutting everything down tomorrow.

See you all on Thursday.

Preparing For Austerity

Today I went out shopping to prepare for my attempt to eat for a month on the amount allocated to an individual for food stamps. I believe this is $176, and I buzzed through a bit under $70 on my first visit to the supermarket. I did buy a fair amount of food though, much more than a single weeks worth in some categories.

My First Shopping Spree


Part of my money was spent on necessities that should last me for the whole month. This would include $10 for salt, pepper, olive oil, and mustard. I will be a little lacking in the spice department, but I did buy a bag of onions for $2.29 and 5 bulbs of garlic for another $.99.

My meat supply should last me for a the better part of two weeks with six good sized chicken legs and thighs for $6.20 and a three pound pork shoulder for $3.75.

Of course I plan on having a fair amount of rice (five pounds for $7.29) and beans (1 pound of black beans for $1.99 and another or red kidney beans for $2.39).

I am not much of a milk drinker, but I did buy a pound of cheese for $5.

To supplement my protein, and because I like them for breakfast, I bought 18 eggs for $2.99. I figured I could make onion, garlic, and spinach omelets for breakfast so I bought four packages of frozen spinach for $5.

Additional vegetables that I bought were an acorn squash for $1.36, 24 ounces of broccoli for $5, five pounds of carrots for $3.69 and a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes for $1.99.

I figured I could use the can of tomatoes for spaghetti sauce so I bought two 13.5 ounce packages of whole wheat pasta for $3.

The mustard I bought was for chicken sandwiches that I plan on making for lunches so I bought a 1 pound loaf of whole wheat bread for $2.

To get a bit of fruit into my system I bought a bag of 7 grapefruit for $1.99.

I also caved in and spend $2.99 on a pound of coffee.

My preparation tonight will consist of soaking some beans so they will be ready to cook tomorrow. In the morning I will probably wrap the chicken legs and thighs individually so I can freeze them and just use one at a time. I will probably cook one though to make a sandwich and then use the rest to go with rice and beans and veggies for dinner.

I will probably slow cook the pork shoulder as well and then use it to make a vegetable stew of some kind that I can freeze. I haven't thought that one through yet, but I will think of something. Maybe after I cook it I will shred it or chop it and freeze it in serving sized portions to mix with rice and beans.

At any rate, to date I have spent a grand total of $69.97. Let's see how far I can stretch what I have bought so far and what I will need to supplement it with.

Now, isn't this much more exciting than me just going from bar to bar and visiting restaurants? Boy, I know it sure is for me.

All Good Things...

A bit late in posting, and kind of a short post at that. I moved all of my picture files from my lap top to my LaCie NAS drive on Saturday. No problem. Got up on Sunday and my dear LaCie wasn't talking to me. I then tried what you always try, shutting it off and then turning it back on. To shut it off you push in a blue button that is lit up until it starts to flicker and then release it. This should shut it down. But, no matter how long I pushed it in, it would not flicker. I tried unplugging the device but when I plugged it in again the blue light was still on. No way to access my pictures.

On the bright side, if there is one, when I called LaCie customer service today and described the problem they knew exactly what was wrong. It appears that there is a known problem with the power adapter. Luckily this is the cord that plugs into your electrical outlet and the LaCie so it is easy to replace. They are mailing me out a new one free of charge and I should receive it by the end of the week.

In the meantime I will make do with a few pictures my friend Sharon sent me of our last night in Puerto Vallarta and our leaving the following day.

The Gang's Almost All Here


To celebrate we headed to La Palapa, just down the beach from Blue Seas where we all stay. We went early, about 6:00 P.M. and didn't think it would be crowded, but it was. We hadn't made reservations so we ended up sitting outside on the beach. Not bad until after sunset. Then the little no-see-ums emerge and made it impossible to enjoy a leisurely after-dinner drink. We did have a beautiful sunset, though.

And then, all too soon, the evening was over and the next day we had to make that sad trek out the gates for the last time. Well, for this year, anyway.

And Away We Go


Bar Man Following Behind


Tomorrow I will begin my shopping in order to begin my one month food-stamp diet. Of course I will keep you up to date on my progress. I already see a few glitches. First, next Sunday I will be attending my niece's 8th birthday party so I will be sneaking some extra calories in that day.

Also, a friend of mine said he was sending me ten pounds of venison from a deer he shot from his deck with a bow and arrow. What I will do, however, is, for however much of it I eat, deduct the amount of money it would take me to buy a comparable cut of meat if I purchased it. I am guessing something like a beef roast or a round steak might be a reasonable equivalent.

Needless to say, my posts for the next month may be a bit on the boring side so if you decide to just skip reading them I will certainly understand. I will never forgive you, but I will understand.