a vegan grocery list from thriftway

A person with a dorm fridge and no stove, at DeKalb Thriftway, Norristown. The smartphone says you can make baked potatoes in the microwave.

10 small-to-medium Yukon Gold potatoes
1 lb. bagged spinach
a carton of grape tomatoes
1 lb. whole grain penne pasta
24 oz. Newman's Own Cabernet Marinara sauce
3 oranges
24 oz. apple sauce
1 quart soy milk
99-cent bag of barbecue potato chips

Total:  $21 and change

I have this trail mix with carob chips and giant raisins and sunflower seeds that is great sprinkled on a salad with Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing.

Microwave-baked potato with olive oil and seasonings.

Oatmeal, also with the trail mix.

Pasta and marinara with mushrooms.

Should have picked up some asparagus.

Saturday

Coffee is brewing here. I'm downstairs at my cute neighbor's apartment. We're watching Planet Earth.

This morning, walking to Stony Creek, ate a banana to get breakfast started. Then wandering on the creek bank, had my favorite trail mix from Nuts to You ('Slightly Sweet,' $2.29 / lb.). Crunchy soy nuts, sunflower seeds, pepitas, peanuts, raisins, carob chips.

After creeking, and after thrift store shopping for home decor (successfully: $8 = Ikea stool, body pillow with washable brown cover, aqua throw pillow, two big cream-colored plates, two small white plates with blue trim and the words Delta Airlines on the bottom, two petite coffee cups that look like miniatures of big chunky midnight blue coffee mugs, and a little box with a green fish on it), my pal and I went grocery shopping at the DeKalb Thriftway.

I am so stocked for food. This is great. Discovered a wonderful generic brand called White Rose that has delicious things with short ingredient lists for cheap money.

1 lb. box of whole wheat penne
?-oz. pasta sauce (like, enough for the pasta, Newman's own, tomato and basil, $2.99)
1 lb. jar of White Rose natural peanut butter, $2.79
gigantic box of "whole grain" saltines (whole grain saltines?), $2.50, to spread the peanut butter on
22 oz. box (yes, you heard correctly) of Mom's Best raisin bran for $3.29, also with a strikingly short ingredient list
a 12-pack box of White Rose instant oatmeal, $2.49
a jar of Vlasic baby dills, $don't-remember
1/2-dozen doughnuts, $1.50

I cannot remember what else I bought right now, but I spent $23. My companion bought some peapods and tomatoes and coffee and some other important things. At home were couscous, asparagus and broccoli.

Dinner was couscous and steamed peapods, asparagus, broccoli and tomatoes. Dessert is dark, muddy coffee and doughnuts.

Yes, you are seeing  Steamed Grape Tomatoes.  

They were... tomatoey, in the very best way.

Snack, on my mind for later: Saltine cracker, peanut butter, crunchy soy nuts, banana slice, drizzle with honey (or not). Repeat.

Other snack, on my mind for another time: Raw peapods and broccoli and cherry tomatoes dipped in Italian dressing.

Also begging to be put with peanut butter: 'Slightly Sweet' trail mix from Nuts to You ($2.29/lb.) and oat bran pretzels ($1.50/lb. at Nuts to You). Spread peanut butter on a pretzel and sprinkle with trail mix.

Pasta and steamed veggies for dinner a couple times this week. Maybe once with just olive oil, seasoning and steamed veggies, and nutritional yeast, and once or twice with the marinara sauce and veggies. Marinara and veggies is decadent. Doesn't happen often enough in here.

Breakfast will be raisin bran and 8th Continent soy milk. Oranges. Coffee. Improv breakfast cereals: banana/trail mix/soy milk or even orange/trail mix/soy milk.

The couscous turned out better tonight. I didn't make it. Hm.

Food Snapshot: DeKalb Thriftway

DeKalb Thriftway. Rainy Thursday night. Had the day off and spent it cleaning and continuing to settle in. A lot has changed in this blog's lifetime. Kitchen appliances now consist of a coffee maker and a rice steamer. Employment is marginal. Food comes from DeKalb Thriftway, CVS, 88 No. 1 Chinese Kitchen, a gas station, a fancy-schmancy grocery/deli in Bridgeport, and on trips back to the old neighborhood, I suppose there will be things from the Clark Park Farmers' Market and Mariposa Co-op. I'll be shopping as a nonmember. I don't live there anymore.

Tonight in the rain at DeKalb Thriftway:

- Green onion bulbs, eight of them in a package, slightly wilted, for 79 cents.
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- 3 bananas
- 3 oranges
- 1/2 gallon 8th Continent original soymilk

Total: $9.39

Running clean water through the rice steamer now to clean it up after the move. Then steaming vegetables. Borrowed Salad & Greens Seasoning, Basil, Black Pepper, and Coffee from my downstairs neighbor, the cute one.

Going to steam vegetables and couscous. Was going to buy my own coffee, but this mean man who works at the DeKalb Thriftway rudely told me to leave because the store was closing. I could have taken an extra moment to grab coffee and tea, but I didn't appreciate his tone. I'll go elsewhere, but I'll go back to the DeKalb Thriftway again. Most because it's there.

My rented room has two closets. One of my closets functions as a pantry. In my pantry are: CousCous, Thai Kitchen Garlic & Vegetable Noodles (1 pack), a box of Fantastic Foods falafel mix, what's left of a 1 lb. bag of trail mix from Nuts to You (across from my office), what's left of a bag of roasted green peas from Nuts to You, what's left of a bag of oat bran pretzels from Nuts to You, nutritional yeast, sesame seeds, cornmeal, what's left of a box of Oh's cereal ($1 for a 6 oz. box at CVS), instant cream of wheat, one packet of instant oatmeal, and a jar of peanuts.

On my countertop are two leftover Fortune Cookies from 88 Kitchen, the seasonings and coffee I mentioned, what's left of a bottle of Canada Dry seltzer water, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and the three bananas and three oranges I bought tonight.

In my fridge are the soymilk, the asparagus, the broccoli, the green onion bulbs, what's left of a bag of spinach, what's left of a carton of white mushrooms, a small bottle of Italian dressing, and leftover soy sauce from 88 Kitchen.

What I would get from the co-op:

- rolled oats (bulk)
- tea
- more Thai Kitchen Garlic & Vegetable noodles

My favorite food discovery lately: Nuts to You. Right across the street from work, easy to visit, cheap, great selection, cheap, cheap! A pound of the most magical trail mix I've ever had for $2.29. It's soynuts (crunchy), carob chips, fat raisins, peanuts, pepitas (those little flat tear-shaped green things that remind me of pumpkin seeds only green and smaller), and sunflower seeds. I feel like a bird. A healthy, happy bird, living in winter.

I've been swallowing a tablespoon full of olive oil every day, because I remembered that I learned last winter that it keeps my skin from being dry. It does. It's amazing. Do it.

Saturday food haul

At the farmers' market (about $25)

1 quart button mushrooms

a bunch of collard greens

a bunch of kale

a bunch of winter salad greens (watercress, etc. mix)

1 head of green leaf lettuce

several bulbs of red shallots

10 red carrots

3 bagels

2 brownies

1 quart apple butter

At Mariposa co-op (about $35)

1.5 lbs rolled oats

1 lb penne pasta

1 lb asparagus

1 quart rice/soy milk

a bunch of dulce (sea vegetable)

dijon mustard

Tofurkey deli slices

4 bananas

lapsang souchong tea (bulk)

raspberry leaf tea (bulk)

valerian root powder (bulk)

nutritional yeast (bulk)

1 can of red beans for the food drive at my school

1 can of spicy refried beans for the food drive at my school

6 starter strawberry plants

I forgot to get beans for us (bulk red beans), and I forgot garlic. The winter greens mix and collard greens were the best deal of the day: $2.40 for both at the Pennypack Farms table. I'm into mushrooms for sandwiches again. They're filling and high in protein and they soak up whatever flavors you put on them. With springtime, I'm into sandwiches again, which just always seem like an appropriate food for warm weather. We've been getting hoagie rolls from Fu-Wah, and I bring sandwiches on them for lunch. Mark has been making me a delicious pasta and bean salad for lunch that I just don't get tired of. It saves my life on those long Wednesdays when I have to go out to Glenside for class after school.

Lapsang Souchong tea is now one of my favorite things. It is smoky and sexy. It's campfire tea. Valerian root is for relaxation, including relaxing your muscles, so I wanted to try it to help ease the tension in my neck and shoulders that doesn't let go at the end of the day. Raspberry leaf tea is especially for ladies. I just discovered that the co-op has bulk teas, which is great. I got a lot of the campfire tea for $4, which, a box of 16 Russian Caravan tea bags (another smoky tea) is over $4, and this is a lot more tea than that. I don't know how to use the Valerian root, so I have to look that up.

We've been running out of money pretty much every week as we catch up from winter heating bills, unemployment, and the general January-April money curse, so we've gotten creative with food a lot. Mark's payday was yesterday and not a moment too soon. Yesterday, I actually brought four slices of cheap white bread and a container of apple butter to spread on it for lunch. Thursday, I brought a bag of raisins and got a bag of pretzels and a very sad banana at the 7-11 near the school. Pitiful. Back on top of things now. I tried to be conscious about what would last the longest, with the exception of the Tofurkey slices, which were a splurge. The quart of button mushrooms, with greens, vinegar, mustard, and onions, will be great for sandwiches for lunch. I'm sure I can sweet talk Mark into making me another pasta salad. I still have lots of raisins, and the rolled oats are $1.02/lb, and a lot of bang for the buck, with high protein, calcium and iron, and very filling for breakfast (or dinner). Adding raisins sweetens the oatmeal and ups the calcium. Cheap pasta sauce from Fu-Wah, along with the cheap white bread for garlic bread makes for a good, cheap, filling pasta dinner. We also have plenty of whole wheat flour and black pepper for gravy, and Mark perfected a rice-and-gravy dish this past week that is ridiculous-tasty. I don't know what the hell I would do without Mark's mad cooking skills. My life would be sadder and less fulfilling. And then there's the love. That makes things better, too.

$18 at mariposa co-op

3 bananas
3/4 lb organic flame raisins
1/2 lb pecans
3/4 lb carob chips
32 oz soymilk
16 raspberry-leaf teabags
and
a 3.2 oz raspberries-in-dark-chocolate candy bar

Ready for the week

Made this chili with canned ingredients tonight, for lunch tomorrow. Roasting some greens (fresh from the farmers' market) right now to go with them. Will also bring grapes from the farmers' market that taste like wild grapes. Very excellent trip to the store tonight.

Fu-Wah Mini-Market

Whole wheat flour
mineral water (2)
diced tomatoes (in a can)
black beans (can)
kidney beans (can)
Beirut Tahini Sesame Paste
brown rice cakes
chili powder
1 quart Almond Dream almond milk
baking soda

Total: $23.80

At the farmers' market on Thursday, I bought...

collard greens
mustard greens
okra
green beans
grapes
blackberries
yellow onions
carrots
tomatoes

I think that's it. I have maple syrup to mix with the tahini paste to put on the rice cakes. I can now make whole wheat pancakes. (I'm getting really good at pancakes.)

Tomorrow:

Breakfast - raw grain and walnut cereal with almond milk and blackberries
Noon Lunch - roasted greens, tahini w/maple syrup on rice cakes, and grapes
3 pm Lunch - 2-bean chili
When I get home from Arcadia - Whole wheat pancakes w/maple syrup

Stocking the new kitchen!

First farmers' market from the new apartment. It was a nice little walk (about the same distance, but a different direction). I cleaned the new (to us) refrigerator to within an inch of its life before heading out this afternoon (yes, it was afternoon before I was done). That took about an hour and a half. I took out all the trays from the door and all the shelves and washed them in the sink with baking soda and hot water. Scrubbed out the inside of the fridge with baking soda as well. Dried and reassembled everything. It is sparkling. Then went nuts at the market.

Saturday Shopping List

1 lb. small red beans
1 lb. green beans
1 pint shiitake mushrooms
2 heads red leaf lettuce
6 ears bi-color sweet corn
10 red potatoes
10 sweet onions
a dozen carrots (smallish, with the greens still on)
3 summer squash
2 golden zucchini
2 green zucchini
4 small cucumbers
2 purple peppers
1 green pepper
6 heirloom tomatoes
2 giant red tomatoes
6 peaches
1 pint blueberries
12-oz jar of strawberry jam
1 lb. granola
1 loaf country white bread
1 oz. fennel seeds
2 oz. black pepper

Total: about $50


Came home and had raw green beans and carrots dipped in hummus for brunch. Haven't had coffee yet, so I'm venturing out in the heat for an iced coffee. Later, it's off to the old apartment to gather up dishes and cooking utensils.

We've been living large these past couple days, picnicking on gourmet food from the local restaurants. Gourmet veggie burgers and salads last night from Dock Street Brewery. Night before last, chickpea-tabouli salad, guacamole and hummus with pita and black olives, with orange-chocolate-chip cake for dessert, from the Gold Standard Cafe. Tofu scramble from Gold Standard for breakfast yesterday. But at some point, we have to actually settle down and start cooking again. Clean fridge, check. Groceries, check. Clean stove, clean cupboards, clean dishes next.

Thursday boost

Summertime. I can go shopping at the park on a Thursday afternoon. Nothing better to do. Nice.

Thursday Shopping List

6 peaches
1 quart blueberries
1 quart peas-in-the-pod
bunch of green onions
giant head of purple leaf lettuce
I feel like there was something else, but I don't remember what.

total: maybe around $12

And then at Milk & Honey, we found sweet corn ($2/lb.) and bought 6 ears of that. Haven't seen that at the market at all yet and have been waiting eagerly. Today was the first time there were peaches.

I have eaten a lot of fruit and raw vegetables this past week. I love this time of year because a.) the fruit is here and b.) all the veggies that are good to eat raw are out. Raw green beans were the prize from Saturday. Those peas in the pod are amazing raw. They're big. Every pod has about 9 or 10 peas in it and they are plump and sweet and juicy. They're not the ones I was getting in the quart boxes, that are already shelled. Those are good too but always go bad by Monday when I get them on Saturday. I don't know if it's my fridge or if they just don't keep. The ones in the shell are much less finicky.

Snacks: apricots, cherries, blueberries, green peas

Apricot, cherries (chopped) and blueberries, ready to go onto granola

Apricot, cherries and blueberries on granola with rice milk

Saturday: downed trees and paper bags of fruit

Saturday Shopping List

1 pint sweet cherries
1 pint blueberries
1 pint apricots
2 quarts green peas
2 quarts green beans (and yellow green beans)
1 pint shiitake mushrooms
1 portobello cap
2 giant orange carrots
1 bunch small multi-colored carrots with greens
1 bunch kale
2 heads buttercrunch lettuce
2 bunches broccoli
5 tomatoes
2 big white potatoes
3 red potatoes
and one 16-oz. iced coffee

Total: $38.85



Roasted some squash, green beans, and shiitakes with salt, pepper, and fennel seeds. It was very strong and savory. Kind of chewy.

I have a raw vegetable and fruit snack buffet on my refrigerator door right now. Been snacking all day on cherries, blueberries, apricots, green peas, green beans.


I found the park severely wind damaged this morning.

Saturday Market in cell phone pictures

Saturday Shopping List

1 lb chickpeas (dried)
2 quarts green peas (fresh)
4 summer squash
2 green zucchini
1 golden zucchini
5 tomatoes
6 sweet onions
2 fat carrots
1 bunch broccoli
1 huge bunch kale (green/purple leaf)
2 heads buttercrunch (green) lettuce
5 stalks rhubarb
4 sweet potatoes
5 white potatoes
1 pint shitaake mushrooms
1 quart strawberries
1 quart cherries
and a 16 oz cup of iced coffee

Total: about $47

The coffee shop across the street set up a stand selling iced coffee. Smart them.

Still no sweet corn, and asparagus appears to be finished. Plenty of berries out now.

I saw a three-year-old girl eat her first blueberry. Her mother was looking for fruit for her, asked if she could try a blueberry because she had never had one. The baby ate the blueberry, paused for a moment, grinned and reached up to the table for another blueberry. "We have a winner," her mom said, and bought a quart.

Last week, the fridge was on the fritz and a bunch of our food wilted. :( That happened shortly after last week's market. I've eaten way too much noodle soup this week.

I'm looking forward to roasting shitaake mushrooms with sweet potatoes, squash and fennel seeds. And juicing some of this kale with those giant orange carrots. Got a loaf of bread last night, so mushroom/vinegar, tomato, onion, lettuce sandwiches are on the menu. The chickpeas might get roasted. The green peas will no doubt be eaten raw, along with cherries and strawberries. And strawberries will be dropped on top of oat bran.

Saturday Market: Fruit and Green Peas!

It would be a shame to cook these peas. I have been eating them raw, by the handful, all day. Peas, by the way, are another great answer to every vegan's favorite question, "Where do you get your protein?". Peas are a legume and, as such, a great source of protein.



Saturday Shopping List

1 quart green peas
1 quart cherries
1 quart strawberries
1 very large head of romaine lettuce
1 head of buttercrunch lettuce
4 sweet potatoes
1 bunch of asparagus
1 quart crimini mushrooms
6 large carrots
6 tomatoes
4 summer squash
2 zucchini
1 loaf multi-grain bread
2 bagels

Total: $39 and change

The cherries are delicious. This was the first week there were cherries. I got a quart of strawberries at one table and put them in a small paper bag, then a quart of cherries at the next table and put them into the same bag. So I have a paper bag full of refreshing, sweet, tart, fruity goodness in the refrigerator. I can't keep my hands out of it. Today has been busy with homework, and I've lived on snacks of raw green peas, strawberries, and cherries.

This is also the first week there was Patty Pan Squash, but I didn't get any, because I had already gotten summer squash and zucchini, and we still had some squash at home, and I didn't want to let it go to waste. It's good to know the Patty Pan is back, though. I'm having flashbacks to last summer, as we head into our second full summer of living off the farmers' market. We're moving at the end of the month, and it's good to know we'll only be a few blocks away and actually a little bit closer to the market. The walk will change slightly, but will be about the same length.

Here comes the summer (squash).

You should have seen how happy I got when I saw the summer squash at the market yesterday. Actually, I saw golden zucchini first and got excited because I thought it was summer squash, and even after noticing it wasn't, I still bought a bunch of it, cause who doesn't love golden zucchini? Then, on down the line a few tables, there was the real summer squash. Got some of that as well. At this point in the summer, I can fry this stuff in thin slices and eat it like candy. I don't get sick of it until at least late July. I found green zucchini at Milk and Honey last week, got a couple of those and threw some slices in with my vegetable roasts, along with shiitake mushrooms. Delicious. Last night, Mark made us a stir-fry, to be detailed below.

Saturday Shopping List

5 summer squash
5 golden zucchini
4 large sweet potatoes
1 lb. chickpeas
5 tomatoes
1 quart strawberries
23-oz jar of home-made apple sauce
1 pint shiitake mushrooms
1 large portobello cap
1 head buttercrisp lettuce
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 bunch curly kale
2 bulbs garlic
1/2 loaf sourdough banana bread
1 loaf multi-grain bread

Total: $36 and change

I'm happy about all the fruit I got. Strawberries are expensive; most people have them for $4 a pint or $7.50 a quart. One of my favorite vendors yesterday had them for $5.50 a quart, so I bought a quart from her. It's an indulgence I just decided I would indulge in. You can only get fresh local strawberries for so long (which doesn't make sense, because it seems like you could grow them in a green house pretty easily - am I wrong? Does anyone know?). Over the winter, I crave fresh berries, think about them, dream about them. When it's summer, I intend to eat as many fresh, Pennsylvania strawberries as I possibly can. Just wait until the blackberries and raspberries come in. And cherries. And blueberries. I'll buy them all.

Now, about this stir-fry that Mark made. It was asparagus, zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onion, garlic and red beans. I never think of putting beans in a stir-fry, but it's great. It's a great way to eat beans if you're tired of beans, and it's a great way to make a stir-fry more substantial. It's like you can feel the iron fortifying your body as you eat the red beans. Plus, it's delicious. We had it with multi-grain toast with jelly on the side.

Saturday market, mid-May... waiting for squash

I can't wait for summer squash. I don't remember when it comes in, so every Saturday I go to the market hoping it will be there. I want to roast some with sweet potatoes. But today was not the day.

Saturday Shopping List

about a dozen large carrots
8 of the tomatoes you see above
6 white potatoes
4 red potatoes
5 yellow sweet onions
2 of the bunches of asparagus you see above
a large head of buttercrisp lettuce
a jar of apple syrup
a pint of strawberries
a pint of crimini mushrooms
1 large portobello cap
2 bunches of dark green curly kale

Total: about $27

We want to start juicing again, so I got a bunch of carrots and the two bunches of dark green kale. We haven't had kale in a while. No sense in that. It is a great source of protein, calcium, and iron. The carrots are really big and I got plenty, so there should be enough to both juice and roast.

My favorite dish lately has been to roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, asparagus and onions in the the cast iron skillet in the oven at 425 for about 35 minutes. So good. I put on sea salt, black pepper, and fennel seeds. I cut up a whole, small sweet onion, in big chunks, and put in there, and it makes the whole house smell savory and foodie. Garlic is also good to add.

Saw an apartment on Craigslist that advertises if you live there you might have to help with the vegetable gardening and composting in the back yard. Hmm. That would be awesome. We e-mailed about it. Will keep you posted.

An avocado gives you 4 grams of protein with a perfect amino acid score

Had to go downtown today, so I stopped at Trader Joe's.

out-of-the-ordinary shopping list

3 avocados
1 lb. of oatmeal
2 lbs. 4 oz. of pancake mix
8 oz. maple syrup
17.5 oz. strawberry preserves
1/2 dozen English muffins
80 Irish breakfast teabags
and
dish soap

total: $27 and change

Avocados are expensive, but they are $1.29 at Trader Joe's and $1.99 at Milk & Honey.

An avocado gives you 4 grams of protein with a perfect amino acid score.

So I grabbed three, figuring I will eat one and Mark will eat one and I will use the other for sandwiches.

Things I can have now that I couldn't have before these groceries:

pancakes (with syrup or jelly)
English muffins (with syrup or jelly)
mushroom scramble on English muffin
an avocado, lettuce, & onion sandwich with mustard
an avocado
a bowl of oatmeal (with or without maple syrup)
iced tea
hot tea

We're out of bread and the stores are closed but I had a mushroom, lettuce, & onion sandwich earlier, will get bread tomorrow, and will have the avocado sandwich for lunch Friday.

Shortly: pancakes

For breakfast tomorrow: English muffin with strawberry jelly, oatmeal

For lunch tomorrow: not sure

Dinner tomorrow: baked potato, steamed asparagus & carrots, miso soup

Breakfast Friday: grapefruit, oatmeal

Lunch Friday: avocado, lettuce, & onion sandwich with mustard

Dinner Friday: pancakes

How's that?

Saturday Market

2 lbs. asparagus
12 fat orange carrots
1 baby green leaf (curly) lettuce
1 baby purple leaf lettuce
1 large green leaf lettuce
8 red potatoes
1 big white potato
5 small yellow sweet onions
1 pint white mushrooms
1 portobello mushroom cap
2 bulbs garlic
23 oz. jar of homemade apple sauce
1 oz. black pepper
1 loaf multi-grain bread
one plain bagel

Total: $36.72

Sauteed 5 of the white mushrooms with fennel seeds, onions, and pepper, piled onto a bagel with the green curly and purple lettuces and vegenaise.

Then steamed some asparagus and carrots with olive oil, Old Bay seasoning, salt and pepper. They are perfect, steamed for 6 minutes. (pictured above)

I've been baking sweet and white potatoes in the oven in the cast iron skillet, at 400 degrees, for about 35 minutes. Cut the potatoes and coat with olive oil, then toss with salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning, and include some crushed cloves of garlic. Makes a great side for a sandwich.


Asparagus is plentiful at the market all of a sudden, and so far we're not tired of just steaming it. But there is also this great, quick, lazy meal. Steam the asparagus for six minutes, and during the last three minutes, cook some Thai Kitchen Garlic & Vegetable rice noodles. Sprinkle some garlic powder either on the asparagus, the noodles, or both, throw the two components together in a bowl and be amazed. It's really unusually good.

Birthday Saturday Market

2 lbs of asparagus
a dozen small yellow potatoes
2 sweet potatoes
1 head green leaf lettuce
2 heads baby purple lettuce
~1 lb. of small little fat orange and purple carrots
23-oz. jar of apple sauce
1 pint white mushrooms
1 portobello cap

$27 at Clark Park

1 loaf rye bread
4 tomatoes
1 whole wheat bagel
1 lb. rice-buckwheat hot cereal

~$12 at Milk & Honey Market

Total: ~$39

I didn't post last weekend, but we got chives and fresh herbs and pretty much everything we got this weekend. The groceries pictured above are actually last week's. I'm trying the rice-buckwheat hot cereal for the first time. It sounds ridiculously good with berries. I don't have any berries, though. Might be good with apple sauce. I've been running out of oatmeal every few days and decided to try this for a change. Finally getting enough grains in my diet because I discovered how amazing a few grains of sea salt will make oatmeal taste. I can't wait to have the brown rice and buckwheat cereal with a little salt and a little sugar. I can't wait to have it with blackberries.

I'm thirty-one today. There's a flea market on at the park. The neighborhood is beautiful but full of pollen.

Saturday Market & North Port Fishington Cookie Factory

There are 30 vegan cookies in my kitchen, and I can't eat them until Monday.

We'll come back to that. It's a cold, sunny day at Clark Park, maple-syrup weather, and chilly yellow daffodils are in bloom. White sunshine glances off the mud or is absorbed by bare branches. Food is plentiful, sweet and variable. Even the bean-and-spice lady is here, and I think she may be back for the season. She has chickpeas today.

Saturday Shopping List

1 lb of chickpeas
1 bunch of kale
baby spinach
2 heads of green leaf lettuce
a carton of micro-greens
a paper bag of small white potatoes
2 parsnips
1 quart of white mushrooms
1 portobello cap
a 23-oz jar of homemade apple sauce
1 oz. of "chicken seasoning"
a really big butternut squash
a loaf of multi-grain bread

total: about $35


Hadn't gotten a butternut squash in a long time. I'm going to bake it, of course. Going to try to make hummus - that's what the chickpeas are for. I also have a recipe for falafel I want to try. Still did not use the leek from last week, so I think I'll start off the week with a potato-leek soup for lunch.

I also purchased today 30 vegan cookies from a local bakery for my students. Milk & Honey Market special-ordered them for me and they came in today. I would tell you the name of the bakery but I'm afraid to open and look at the cookies. I have to keep them until Monday. Since two days were lopped off of spring break due to snow days, I wanted to bring my kids something for having to come to school those days. And I want my kids to know I like them, and what better way to show someone you like them than by giving them cookies. And I wanted cookies.

UPDATE: I braved a look at the cookies. They look so good! There are ten chocolate chip, ten snickerdoodle, and ten oatmeal-cranberry. They were baked at Philly Kitchen Share on South Street by North Port Fishington Cookie Factory (the name is an amalgam of several northeast philly neighborhoods: Northern Liberties, Port Richmond, Fishtown and Kensington). The baker apparently also makes donuts! And the donuts look good!

Spring Market

In a few weeks, the Clark Park Farmers' Market will be a buffet of vegetables I had forgotten about. Over the summer, the variety will change weekly. Carrots in every color of the rainbow, roots that look like they came either from outer space or the core of the earth. Greens tinged with purple, red, blue. Patty-pan squash in three colors. Yellow summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers. Potatoes whose skins are a mix of colors shimmering like an oil slick only to hide a completely different pigment underneath in their flesh. Heirloom tomatoes like your granny grew. People will set out buckets of tall flowers that drip water from their stems when you lift them out. And okra! Okra! My favorite meal will again be okra with tomatoes, and crunchy, salted, sauteed green beans on the side like fries.

Yesterday was the first official market of spring, and already the offerings were more diverse. A lady had potted plants ready to set out in your flower beds. She also sold micro-greens, which you see above. These are new to me. They are packed with flavor. I had two sandwiches with these yesterday. They're pretty, too!

Saturday Shopping List

6 red potatoes
12 small sweet onions
1 leek
1 head green butter lettuce
1 head purple butter lettuce
1 head crispy green leaf lettuce
1 bunch kale
1 lb. white beans
a carton of micro-greens (pictured)
10 orange carrots
6 small red carrots
1 pint white mushrooms
1 portobello cap
1 loaf multi-grain bread

Total: about $30

This morning, we went out walking in the sunshine and came back with 2 grapefruits, 2 cinnamon-raisin bagels, a thing of vegan cream cheese, some rolled oats, and a cup of coffee. Good weekend.

Sixty-Five-Cent Meal

I was almost out of everything. Had the perfect potato, a little bit of falafel mix, and some lettuce. Added some oil and salt to the lettuce and used it as a bed for the falafel, which is spicy and good. The falafel was crispy and the lettuce was crunchy. The potato was perfectly al dente. It really came together beautifully. It was a surprise gourmet meal, because when I first went into the kitchen, I just didn't think I had anything. As far as nutrition goes, this had legumes (protein, the garbanzos from the falafel), green vegetable and root vegetable.

Money: The box of falafel mix was $2.39, so this portion was maybe 40 cents. The individual potato was maybe 20 cents. A head of that lettuce is 75 cents, so that portion was maybe a nickel. So about 65 cents for this meal.