Week Two

The gf and I went to a local farmer's market today with the intent to get the vegetables and fruit we'd eat throughout the week. Maybe it's due to the holiday, but this was a pretty sad small farmer's market compared to the Santa Monica farmer's market on Wednesdays and the Hollywood farmer's market I used to frequent until I moved. There were very few produce booths with some sad looking produce. And nothing of what we wanted. I did buy some sunflower seeds, pistachios and dried mixed fruit from one vendor for $10. I wanted the sunflower seeds for my bread I planned to make. And the gf wanted the mixed fruit and pistachios for snacks.

Target was closed, so we stopped at Ralphs on the way home with the intention of getting some tuperware. I realized that I needed some quality tuperware to help keep my produce throughout the week, so I wasn't wasting any money.

Ralphs bill:
Lactaid Milk - $4.69
Velveeta Cheese (not organic, but we're making the transition slowly. Can't just go cold turkey and this makes AWESOME grilled cheese) - $4.99
Ralph's brand cheese (for salads and until I can find a good alternative) - $3
Newman's Own Balsamic Light dressing (not orgranic, but a portion of the proceeds go to charity) - $3.69
Margarine (not organic, but we're only going 99% organic. This is one of my splurge items. It's heart healthy :D) - $2.29
Bananas (not organic, but hopefully we can make the switch soon) - $1.18
All Natural Quick Oaks - $1.49
Total = $21.33

I have still have $18.67 to spend at the Santa Monica farmer's market on Wednesday.

The Salon article's author I listed in my first post began her experiment with nothing in the cupboards. I'm not willing to throw away all the food in our cupboards to begin this experiment. To me that's extremely wasteful and goes against my efforts to be environmentally conscious. So we will continue to use what's in the cupboards until we run out and can buy an organic or ethically produced alternative.

Tip Of The Week: (If I find a great cooking tool or idea or great alternative to non-organic foods, etc. I'll leave a "Tip Of The Week")

If you don't have a lot of seasonings, but want to flavor your steamed vegetables in a tasty healthy way try this: Take a piece of bread, crumble it into small pieces in a bowl. Use Olive Oil to coat, add a pinch of sea salt and a pinch of pepper and if you have it Herbs de Provance. Mix and then drizzle over your steamed vegetables.

Now I'm off to make my first loaf of no knead bread. I'll let you know how it turns out.