Lissa's Better Eating Journal

[bethy]

It doesn't get much more exciting than Free Produce
What do you have to do, license yourself as a hog farm?

[DCLissa17]

ok! So the free produce thing worked out ok and I have hopes for it to get even better! Basically, you go into the grocery store and ask if they have any produce discards that people can pick up for their chickens/goats/etc. This is the stuff that the stockers deem too bad/damaged/ugly to sell. It includes lettuce trimming, broken carrots/celery stalks, bruised fruit, etc. A lot of this is perfectly fine and edible once you sort through it. A lot of stores, especially the chain stores like Safway around here give all of this stuff to the food bank, but sometimes the smaller places may have it available. I asked at a bunch of places yesterday and found 3 possibles. The local small grocery (but I think they will mainly just have lettuce), a big produce stand (only had lettuce trimming when I was there, but I want to go earlier in the day next week), and the local natural foods co-op grocery store. The co-op was all - SURE go back in the back of prodcue, there's two big bins, take whatever you want. Sweet! Found 2 FULL garbage bins labelled compost that had tons of stuff inside. Mostly lettuce trimmings but I was able to pull out about 10 nice heads of green lettuce, about a whole bunch worth of celery stalks, and about a pound of organic carrots. There may have been more but I didn't want to try and dig to the bottom of the bin. Again, I think I'll try there again next week earlier in the day. Super exciting though!

Yesterday was another weird food day cuz I was napping/running errands/whatnot.

B: greek yogurt w/ splenda & strawberries
S: cheesestick
L: lettuce chicken cheese wraps, carrots & celery sticks <--- from my reclaimed food!
S: rum & diet sparkling cranberry juice x 2, Cheetos
then I slept for like 5 hours
D: spinach salad w/ chicken breast @ Denny's - out with friends
Back home I finally got into the kitchen and got serious about food for next week. Made:

Dozen HB eggs (6 into deviled )
Homemade chicken broth w/ chicken breast (will make chicken noodle soup tomorrow morning for the week)
Dried apples, bananas, pineapple, and some mushrooms (in the dehydrator..they came out perfect this time!)
Eggplant lasagna - yum! Will go perfect with salads now that I have tons of lettuce

This evening I'm wasting time because I got called into work 2 hours late. Maybe I'll go update my blog.... if anyone wants to follow the coupon adventures, it's http://www.dclissa17.wordpress.com

[DCLissa17]

Wow! Can't believe it's been a week since I posted here last. It's been a crazy week...besides a PAH job from May 2-12 (only about 20min a day), I worked 60 hours last week, then Sunday off, worked Monday, off tonight, then I have my normal 3-day workweek. THEN a REAL 4-day weekend! Yay!! Here's hoping it will be warm and sunny and I can lay in the park reading my brand-new KINDLE FIRE! (Yes bethy, bought with a coupon - kinda. I was on goldbox sale at Amazon.com for $139 and I used my Discover card rewards to pay for it so FREE! It's my birthday present to myself one month early)

This was (thank god!) a quiet week in shopping. I made a quick stop by the Grocery Outlet for some mangos and strawberries and stopped by 2 other stores to pick up some "reclaimed food". Was even more exciting than last week! I liken it to belonging to a CSA and getting the boxes of random and different produce each week. It's just that my 'CSA' is free! Here's what I got:

6 Roma tomatoes (gonna make homemade tomato sauce to freeze)
2 pablano peppers (made mango & pablano pepper quesadillas - wow, yum! I'm not a pepper girl, like I NEVER eat them in ANYTHING so you shoulda seen me on said Kindle Fire this morning googling peppers to find out what kind I had and then looking up recipes to figure out what to DO with them.)
4 ears corn (made corn on the cob to go with my quesadillas + side of chipotle pinto beans)
2 pounds of strawberries (wish I hadn't bought 2lbs at the grocery outlet - now I have FOUR pounds! not like I can't eat that though......)
1 organic apple
1 orange

Food last week was pretty good overall. Had eggplant lasagna + green side salads for lunches and chicken noodle soup for dinners. Lots of strawberries & pears.This workweek I plan to make chili + side salads plus I have 2 more portions of the mango/pepper quesadillas w/ corn & beans.

Today:
B: 1 HB egg, 2 slices colby-jack cheese, 1/2 pear, ~2/3 cup carrot & celery sticks, cinnamon apple spice tea
S: strawberries, almonds
L: mango/pepper quesadilla w/ corn on the cob & chipotle pinto beans
S: yogurt w/ strawberries & splenda
D: turkey chili w/ side salad

In all honesty....there will probably be some Cheetos and 2-3 glasses of white wine in there somewhere also.

Happy hunting!
~Lissa

[bethy]

Happy 11 month birthday! I don't get peppers, either, I've never known which kinds are for what. I like them, that mango salsa sounds good and chipotle pinto beans sounds even better-I'm googling that I'm *dying* to be outside reading and it's just rain rain rain all week. Here's to Real Four Day Weekends!

[bethy]

yo lissa!
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/05/09/kevin-williamson-fox/?google_editors_picks=true
*serial killers*

[DCLissa17]

lol bethy.....while I love me some Kevin Williamson, I go more for his softer love-triangle small-town side. But should be interesting to see what comes of it.

FINALLY done with the 2 week crazy-town schedule. I've got my 4 day weekend and it's supposed to be 70's and sunny the Whole Time. YAY! I have definite plans for laying at the park and beach with snacks and my Kindle. And sleeping. There is definitely plans for lots of sleeping.

Food is doing great. I picked up another box of reclaimed produce this morning after work and OMG it just gets better and more fun each time! I think the produce guy is really getting a kick out of this---the box was so heavy I could barely carry it! Here's the final edible tally:

15 ears of corn
5+ pounds of strawberries
4 heads of green leaf lettuce
4 big beefsteak tomatoes

I was grinning as I sorted through it all! The corn is in near-perfect shape, the tomatoes had a couple soft spots, the lettuce looked totally fine, and the strawberries....some a little soft but only 2 that were actually going bad enough not to keep. TWO. Out of FIVE POUNDS. Seriously, I can't believe I ever paid for strawberries before....imagine all of them getting tossed out every day.....

So what did I do with this bounty?

-Tomorrow I will boil and make frozen sweet corn - we did this every year when I was a kid in Nebraska.
-I ate 1/2 a head of lettuce and will use the rest in salads (duh). I only had one head left from the boxes 2 weeks ago so this works well.
-I am making homemade tomato sauce with the big tomatoes and 3 of the 6 Roma from earlier this week. -- YUM. I am so excited about this, you have no idea! The other 3 I sliced up and oven-dried to top salads with. Finally found a bag of spinach on clearance so I'm going to have a spinach w/ artichoke heart and oven-dried tomato salad w/ feta this weekend!
- 2 pounds of the strawberries were deemed good enough condition to put in the fridge and eat over the next several days to a week. Luckily I'd already eaten 2 pounds from earlier---so I'm back to having 4 pounds of strawberries in the fridge. Sigh, what trials. Another 1.5 pounds I sliced and froze to use in desserts/yogurt what have you later in the season. And the last 1.5 pounds? I made strawberry syrup w/ splenda! Great for making SF strawberry lemonade, as a mixer, a waffle/pancake topping, etc. Looks reallly good!

So today:

B: 2/3 c. chipotle beans, 1 HB egg, coffee
S: coffee
L: green side salad, bowl chili
S: pear, Starbucks refresher (quite good! I did actually feel perked up without being wired or having the negative GI effects of coffee, so I am pretty pleased with these!)
S: some pretzels while I was waiting for dinner
D: marinated chicken breast, WG rice-a-roni, canned peas, side green salad
s: strawberries w/ choc/PB sauce

This weekend I actually have several meals in the fridge so that is really nice! I have probably 3 servings of chili left + 2 servings of the chicken breast dinner I had today. And of course, fixings for 2 spinach/artichoke/tomato salads. So that should get me through the weekend and I'll have to make a plan for next week....when I work 5 nights in a row. Because I'm foolish. But the extra money is SO great! Vacation is coming.....one more month and I have 10 days off! Woot woot!

[bethy]

Dude, it's exciting! Tons of free produce, what else IS there? You really make me wish I was more enterprising. I'm having fun just Watching. I don't think the Pennsylvania mega-stores even Have produce guys anymore, just minimum wage-slaves with no authority to do anything radical like give away the garbage. I'm definitely going to start eye-balling them though, maybe one will look rebellious. So, Plane Crash, who's gonna die? I did NOT realize until thursday that VD comes on thursdays at 8. After the GA finale I'm going to use my thursday nights to watch vampire diaries from the beginning. Seeing Rory's friend Paris and Will from the White House on Scandal kinda made me want to watch West Wing and Gilmore Girls too. My last major watch-fest was Breaking Bad and Jesse's girlfriend has a show of her own now, it's endless responsibility trying to keep up with these tv relations. And when is Homeland coming back on? Have you seen that? If not, do it TONIGHT. Angela Chase with Bipolar Disorder!!!

[DCLissa17]

LOL you crack me up. I'm still watching Fringe just (ok mainly) to see Pacey on TV again from my Dawson's days. And Bones is great in it's own right but def started watching that for Angel. And oh yeah....Castle I started watching after seeing Firefly (tho truly it's hard for me to pick which I like better: firefly or castle. Seriously, once you get sucked down the Joss Whedon and Kevin Williamson roads.....you see the family everywhere.

Ahhh I have enjoyed my little mini-vacation (otherwise known as my normal 4-day weekend that I rarely let myself have). I didn't leave the house once until 9pm tonight since last Saturday morning. I slept 12 hours a day, went to the park for 4-5 hours every day, did very few chores, talked to no one except my mom on Mother's Day, read lots, watched all my shows, and just RELAXED. It has been glorious.

Course this week I work (5) 13 hour shifts in a row. So whatever. Honestly though, otherwise from here til my vacation starts June 16th I don't think I have any extra shifts (so far). I think I'll keep it that way and think about picking up more stuff in July. Or not. Seriously, buying a house isn't THAT important to me. And a few hundred dollars or a few months here or there aren't going to make and break buying one if the perfect one appears. And that is what I want and what I am waiting for: the PERFECT house.

Food has been pretty good all in all. With this lazy time off, it's been helpful to have leftovers still in the fridge. As happens on my days off, I do a little more grazing and sometimes don't actually make 3 large meals....especially when I am zonked out at the end of the day after being in the sun for hours and never quite make it to dinner!

Let's see for today:

B: cup chili, one WW waffle
S: strawberries, slices of colby jack cheese
S: gummi cherries (sue me) strawberry lemonade (made w/ SF crystal light lemonade and homemade strawberry syrup made with splenda)
then I went to the park......
S: cheesestick, celery sticks
Lish: large spinach salad w/ artichoke hearts + ovendried tomato + feta + strawberry vinagriette, strawberry lemonade
D: marinated chicken, WG rice, corn on the cob, bowl of mango & strawberries
S: a butterfinger (hey, I didn't SAY I didn't eat P3. Let's face it, I've been on P3 for weeks now)

Food chores done this weekend: made frozen corn, made strawberry syrup, made another batch of butter
Shopping today was really great!: 1 bag spinach, 3 bags lettuce (ok I have a fridge full of free lettuce. But this was actually a moneymaker and let me get FETA for free!), Feta cheese, 5 more Starbucks refreshers = all free. Plus I used a bunch of catalina coupons from other stores and got a 17lb bag of cat food @ fred meyer for $4.63. Sweet!

[thisteensy]

Bethy, yes it is impossible to keep up with the 6 degrees of Gilmore. Sometimes you have to hunt. Sometimes they just walk across your screen, like, "what?" Alexis Bledel was just on Mad Men. Life is too good.

[bethy]

Now YOU are a young woman who knows what to do with a four day weekend. So reassuring to know that Standards are still being upheld by a few discerning young persons. So right about the house, too. Houses are like dogs. The right one will find You. (Or like my son's good belt about which, when I asked him if he could find it to wear to a funeral, he replied: "Yes, I can find it, but not by looking for it."
Gummy Cherries . Those ones that have green stems? I want one.

[DCLissa17]

Teensy - I know, right? I was just thinking, what's Alexic Bleidel been up to lately? I miss that girl!

I am having serious withdrawals already as the season finales progress. Summer is so long and September is so far away! OMG the Vampire Diaries finale was so exciting. A crazy game-changing cliffhanger but not in the typical torturous way, more in a This Is So Unexpected Yet Not I Can Hardly Wait For Season Four way. Seriously. Watch this show. For now, I am trying to focus on the upcoming happy summer shows. Like So You Think You Can Dance. Seriously I have a jealous envy crush on this show. The incredibly beauty and emotion that comes out of it is like Skittles for the soul.

bethy - yes, those are the ones! The Haribo gummi cherries. Only thing better? Haribo gummi raspberries - I can eat those All Day Long.

Back to work last night and it went pretty well. Busy but no crises (or surgeries) and no really horrific loser cases so actually felt productive and satisfying for a change. Good thing since its Day 1 of 5. Only sad thing was that I had actually managed my sleep schedule to be back on track for work yesterday and then they were jackhammering next door all morning! So very little sleep AGAIN. Oh well, heading to bed in a bit. (If the boards don't erase my post again.

Food is good, though I still need to make a plan for the rest of the week. I have 8 meals to fill and 1 serving of chili and 2 servings of spinach/artichoke salad left. Can't....figure....out.....what....else to make. For goodness sake, it's not like I don't have an insane amount of food in the house.

Today:
B: 2 small waffles with SF strawberry syrup, 2 scrambled eggs w/ spinach, 2 slices turkey bacon, glass v8 fusion, cup coffee
L: side salad, marinated chicken breast, WG rice, peas, coffee
S: plain greek yogurt w/ splenda & strawberries, coffee
D: turkey hot dog, sweet potato fries, green salad
S: strawberries & mango

[SBMike]

Wow, I'd be happy with that menu if I WEREN'T on SBD! Nicely done.

Have a great weekend!

[bethy]

Haribo roulettes! so hard to find...

[DCLissa17]

Day 2 done! Tonight was another steady busy night without any scrambling or chaos. Just the way I like it! My back/hip issues tend to not flare when I have this level of work because I keep moving without straining myself. Just soo sleepy tonight, especially after coming back from lunch break. Course now that I am home I am WIDE AWAKE and will probably have an awful time sleeping. It's weird, the last few weeks I have been having more trouble sleeping well between work shifts than I ever have before. Not sure what's up with that.

I was trying to wait til Mon or Tues to pick up more produce discards but I just couldn't hold out! I realized that I had a quick PAH job after work this morning and it would time out perfectly to give the local grocery an hour head's up for me to pick up my box at the "regular" time of 9:30a. So seeing as how I have an addictive personality and this is my latest obsession, I did! Not quite as thrilling as others but that is just fine. I have a feeling that at this particular store, I will generally see a lot of the same mix of items since the guy is putting them aside for me himself. 6 tomatoes, 2lbs strawberries, and 8 heads of corn. Very happy. Also bought broccoli for $0.69/lb. I think my meal plan will be broccoli chicken alfredo w/ side salad for this week. Wah-lah!

B: 2 fried eggs w/ spinach on a WW waffle, V8 fusion, coffee
L: green salad, turkey chili, coffee
S: small light yogurt, Starbucks refreshers
S: a few almonds and a couple prunes on the way home
D: large spinach/artichoke/tomato salad w/ feta, side of tuna
S: strawberries! (of course)

Oh yes, one more thing - today was Raise Day at work! Quick history.....no one has gotten normal yearly performance/cost of living type raises in over 3 years at my job due to the economy + opening a new sister hospital 2 years ago. We have been steadily increasing profits and have been SO BUSY this winter and it has really started wearing on the long-term employees. April is when the management talks about/decides on raises each year so April came and went without any definitive answer. Then last night late an email was sent out saying that yay we are getting raises this year! Everybody is super-excited. I figured I wouldn't get one because I personally have had 3 different raises in the last 9 months for various reasons NOT associated with normal perfomance-based raises. (one was a new graveyard shift incentive program, one was for being promoted to a shift lead, one was for attaining my emergency/critical care board specialty certification) So I was definitely not expecting anything and wasn't about to be upset if I didn't get anything! Much to my surprise and glee, I got a small raise too! Not huge, $0.33/hr but that is almost $50 a month and shows that they are appreciating my performance separate of the other increases I have received.

Do you have any idea how much food I can coupon for with $50/month?

[DCLissa17]

Sorry about the missing weekend! I worked Fri & Sat night and then just fell off the wagon on Mon/Tues. But I don't care because I have some very exciting news!

I am going to (hopefully) be going to 2/3 time at work! Not able to sleep on Friday morning (big surprise) I decided to update my budget since I hadn't done so in like 2 years. Low and behold....with all the raises recently and my coupon savings -- I can actually afford to go from 3 shifts/wk to 2 shifts/wk without changing my lifestyle AT ALL! I will actually have time to develop my business, Pets at Home, properly! And sleep. And coupon. And maybe get back into fostering kittens. And keep my home nice. And socialize. And exercise. And did I MENTION THE SLEEP?!

I am very excited. I am talking to my HR manager in the morning, but I can't see that they wouldn't let me do it, or inflict such financial penalties as to make it impossible. I'll let you know what happens.

In other news, I had an AMAZING coupon shopping day yesterday. And I picked up a HUGE box of reclaimed produce - look what I scored! I spent most of the night yesterday cleaning and prepping it:

2 whole cantalope – will cut and take to work as I don't actually like cantalope
3 red bell peppers – 1/2 in stirfry, 1/2 in pico de gallo, 2 for raw snacking
5 zucchini – hmmmm......may eat in roasted veggies, may make some zucchini bread
15 tomatoes – 5 made oven-dried tomatoes for salads, 4 made pico de gallo to take to work, 6 made homemade tomato sauce - part of which will be used in my African peanut soup this week
4 bundles of asparagus – 6lbs? – OMG the aspargus. I am going to use some as a side for the porkchops I got for free this week. Others I will roast. Maybe throw some in an omelet. Can you freeze asparagus very well? Honestly this reclaimed food thing is insane....this asparagus is probably worth $20-25+ and it is FINE!
~2lbs of oyster mushrooms - had to go online to identify these. Dried about 1/2 of them to add to soups and such later, froze some, used some in a stirfry in place of meat today, have some left to do something with. May chop and add to ground turkey to use as a mini-pizza topping
2 big bunches of parsley – dried and crushed
~1 lb celery - trimmed/washed for snacking/African peanut soup
~1 lb carrots – organic - some for stirfry, some for African peanut soup
1 fuji apple – organic
1 peach
1 apricot
1 lb strawberries - ATE THEM
8 ears of corn - cooked, cut off kernels, will eat with porkchops this week
few florets of broccoli - stirfry

PHEW! Was quite an evening of chores and food prep but its all done and my house looks great. Ready and eager for the workweek. Mealplan:

Leftover chicken/veggie/linguine from restaurant yesterday + salads (2 servings)
Stirfry w/ oyster mushrooms + salads (3-4 servings)
Porkchops w/ corn + asparagus + salad (3 servings)
African peanut soup for add-ons instead of salad or on it's own for a light meal + salad w/ protein (4-6 servings)

bethy - Can you BELIEVE that Grey's finale? So angry...