Molasses, quinoa, calcium, outer space

Just had a bedtime snack, an English muffin, toasted, with molasses, and some grapes (only fruit in the house, it's almost shopping day). The label says molasses has 20% of your recommended daily value, whatever that means, of iron. Twenty percent of your recommended daily vitamin A, and 20% of your calcium. Hmm.

Made a rare trip to the grocery store after work. Bought something expensive I'd been thinking about all day. Quinoa is $3.99 for a 16 oz. package. We searched it online, it only goes up from there. Does anyone know where to get this cheaper? (She said, as though people were already hanging out here reading.) But I want to try it. You prepare it like white rice, but it's heartier than rice. Got cheap balsamic, $2.29 for a glass bottle that will last us a couple of months. The English muffins, splurged on some soy sausage, got soap for the shower, flax seed meal, I feel like I'm forgetting something. Spent around $15 altogether. I usually go to the grocery store about once a month for oat bran, flax seed, and tea. Coffee comes in cans from Fu-Wah. Yesterday at Fu-Wah we picked up a package of pastry wraps and that's why we couldn't resist the soy sausage. Oh, we're gonna stuff something and cook it.

Quinoa is a wonderful food:

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthful choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.[4] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.[4]

I would like for it to be cheaper. But I can already eat on $80/month if need be. Depending on the outcome of this weekend's festivities, quinoa might get its own line item. We have a birthday in the family this weekend, and a cat adoptiversary, and a new Michael Moore movie (Capitalism: A Love Story). Cool weather and cooking. And blogging.