100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 21 & Something About Dark, Leafy Greens...

Though I'm sure this is the case in many other places in the world, I know this to be the case in most of Asia: we eat crap that tastes bad because we know or think it's good for us.

From ginseng roots, to bitter melon, to dandelion greens, to alien looking mushrooms, to godawful black-brown and *mostly* herbal decoctions made of godknowswhat, if we think it'll help us live longer, *perform* better, poo easier, look younger, or prevent cancer, we will eat it, and not just when we're sick. 

There's probably a word in Korean for that trait, and I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, I think that's the thing that compels me to buy dark, leafy greens. Because I don't really like them. Kale, mustard greens, and tonight's collard greens - all tough, all bitter, all just *meh*. 

And yet there is a part of me that cannot resist them from time to time when I see them in the produce display. Like some ancient instinct bred into my DNA, I am compelled. And even as I'm eating them and thinking to myself,

Self, these are really meh and bitter, even though you've braised them for, like, a frickin HOUR, with bacon, even.

I cannot stop shoving the stuff down my gullet because there's some little pea in my brain that says I'm going to wake up tomorrow regular, cancer free and looking like a 20 year old.

So far, I'm 2 for 3. I'll probably throw some dandelion greens in the basket tomorrow.

BREAKFAST

As the Boy ate the last of the yogurt yesterday, I made cream cheese pancakes instead of my usual yogurt *buttermilk* ones, two for each of us, extra big ones for the Man.

   pancake ingredients $0.75
+ 2 cups coffee @ $0.40

= BREAKFAST: $1.15 total.

LUNCH

For the Man, leftovers from last night's yakisoba dinner, plus the last two eggs, hardboiled, and a Fuji apple.

Having done our Fresh and Easy trip today (which I'll report on tomorrow when I finish the rest of the grocery shopping), the Boy came home pretty darned excited about a box of chocolate Cheerios. It's nice to be a kid.

That, some deli turkey (I rarely buy coldcuts, but there are tomatoes, avocados and mayo in that fridge that are screaming to be made into a sandwich), and a Fuji apple for him.

A Nongshim kimchi ramen bowl plus two sweet, juicy, fragrant and buttery Bartlett pears for me. I love it when the growing season is kind to a crop of something I enjoy so well.

   2 Fuji apples $0.60
+ 2 hardboiled eggs $0.35
+ a bowl of Cheerios with milk $0.50
+ kimchi ramen bowl $1.00
+ 2 Bartlett pears $0.50

= LUNCH: $3.00 total

DINNER

Well, that salmon finally defrosted. So it was that with a homemade tartar sauce; aforementioned superamazing healthful wondergreens of the collard variety braised for an hour with bacon, garlic, chicken stock and apple cider vinegar, and sweet potatoes mashed with the last bit of cream cheese and some buttah.

mayo, celery, onion, sweet pickle, sweet pickle brine,
lemon juice, lemon zest, wasabi, and a little
black pepper

   a little over a pound of salmon $7.50

+ tartar sauce fixins $0.50

+ 2 bunches collard greens $2.00

+ 4 slices of bacon $1.15

+ 2 sweet potatoes $0.60

+ seasonings $0.50

DINNER: $12.50 total, $4.15-ish/serving (This reasonably served 3 adults, but we actually had a surprise dinner guest and ended up feeding 4 of us in total.)

Saturday:  $5.40

Sunday:  $16.00

Monday:  $12.40

Tuesday:  $12.60

Wednesday:  $12.00

Thursday:  $13.00

Friday:  $17.00

$93 in food spent for the week (if the math doesn't add up, it's because of the 4 bucks in snacks I added in), and just one more week left to go. 

Half of me is excited to get back to focusing on writing recipes over journaling my diet, but the other half of me is mildly concerned that I won't be so disciplined with posting. Hopefully this exercise has changed me for the better.

The Man is in the living room listening to the kind of music Dave Chappelle says white folk like to dance to. 

I don't like that stuff, but at least he ain't dancin'. Kekeke... :P

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