Showing posts with label Spanish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spanish. Show all posts

Thursday, October 13, 2011

100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 26 (Wednesday) & Something About Waste...

Because she will likely tire of it, I will mention her only one more time this week to say she told me so.

Maria told me to put the other half of those corn tortillas in the freezer, but I didn't. And as a result, my biggest waste in these four weeks:

Adios, supermoldy tortillas. Lo siento... :(

In the past four weeks, I've managed to throw away very little, really. A couple of dried up, half used limes, a little bit of leftover braising liquid, some very small scraps of produce that got too dried up to use and can no longer be sacrificed to the compost pile because we've given up that pipe dream... the serious gardening one, I mean.

And for the negligence that kept me from taking 1 minute out of my life to put them in a freezer bag and shove them in the freezer, I threw away 40 something tortillas that would have lasted at least 5 taco dinners. It's not the money because those tortillas cost all of a buck forty. Just a little disappointment in myself that I let my laziness get the better of me. But you can be sure the next time I have to bring home 80 corn tortillas because the Meximart doesn't let me buy fewer at one time, half of them are going into the freezer immediately.

BREAKFAST

More cereal.


   2 bowls of milk and cereal $1.00
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

BREAKFAST: $1.40 total, $0.70/person

LUNCH

For me, the rest of that pasta. With kimchi, even. Why does pasta sauce taste that much better the day after and the day after? I have some theories, but whatever the reason, lucky for me it does.


For the Man, a cheddar, bacon and caramelized onion omelette.


   2 eggs $0.35
+ 2 slices of bacon $0.20
+ half an onion $0.10
+ some cheddar cheese $0.50
+ some milk, S&P, and oil $0.10

= LUNCH: $1.25 total.

DINNER

Not being able to locate the saffron I thought I had, I opted out of paella and made something similar: arroz con pollo (ahRROHSS kkohn POHyoh) - literally, rice with chicken - with some super sweet roasted red bell pepper and some broccoli and cauliflower tossed in a little olive oil and roasted until the florets had crispy edges, almost as if they were deep fried.

Some homemade aioli (ayOHlee) (something very much like mayonnaise) to go with it all, and a bottle of semi-dry cava to wash it down.


Bubbles make happy. They make you forget
all about all the passive-aggressive, paranoid,
guilt-tripping and crazy-making person
in your life...

   5 chicken drums $2.00
+ onions, peppers, garlic and seasoning for chicken $0.75
+ broccoli & cauliflower $1.50
+ 1 egg, some oil, some lemon juice and some garlic for aioli $0.75
+ 2 cups rice $0.80
+ 1 bottle of cava $5.00

= DINNER: $10.80 total, $3.60/serving for 3 servings.

Saturday:  $18.15
Sunday:  $17.30
Monday:  $11.20
Tuesday:  $7.75
Wednesday:  $13.50

$70.00 spent with two days left to go.

I am trying really hard today not to let my empathy for someone who pretty much makes *LOCO* out of everyone who spends any appreciable time with them get the better of me. There are two sides to every coin, and contrary to some popular thought, compassion can be as much of a weakness as a strength.

Wish me luck.

shinae

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 25 Y Algo About !Viva España!...

I am green with friendly envy this morning.

My friend Maria went to a tablao the other night and posted pictures of what looked to be a great flamenco show, and then that fabulous biatch turned around the very next night and went to hear Ferran Adria speak. I could only have been made jealouser if he had cooked for her, but he didn't, so thank Goddess for small favors. Take that, Maria.

Mis zapatos are out of practice. I wonder if the landlord
would mind a little taconeo on these cheap
Pergo floors...

But jealousy aside, I want to thank her for reminding me of a place, a people, a language, and a culture I love and to which I am inexplicably drawn - except for their affiliation to Enrique Iglesias and bullfighting. No one's perfect.

I haven't gotten to travel in a while, but to go back there is next on my agenda. <nudge to the Man>

I think I might make a chicken paella (ppahEHyah - unless you're a Brit and you say it like it's written, which is silly) tonight. Too bad we drank the rest of that tempranillo-grenache last night.

Ohhh... I just remembered there's cava... That and a little Paco de Lucia on cue should make alegría .

That last link, btw, is for a clip from Carlos Saura's Flamenco, which is a visually and aurally stunning introduction to flamenco cante, toque, y baile (singing, guitar and dance). Que te disfrutes. :)

BREAKFAST

Some more of those ham and cheese croissammies with a little dab of strawberry jam to cut through the salt. If you've not tried it, it's not as odd as it sounds. Or, perhaps you will find it oddly delicious.




And in honor of the new gopher hole in our front yard...



   2 croissants $0.75
+ 3 slices of turkey ham $0.10
+ cheese $0.60
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= BREAKFAST: $1.85 total, $0.95/person

LUNCH

Leftover pasta from last night and a Honeycrisp apple for both of us.




LUNCH: $0.60 for two apples.

For dinner, I'm thinking that chicken paella and steamed or roasted broccoli with a lemon aioli on top and a bottle of cava to wash it down. Because you can't not finish a bottle of cava. Because if Jesus had meant for us to piecemeal the drinking of sparkling wines, they would have come down from heaven with screwtops on them.

I'm guessing about $10 total because of the cava, but I'll be back much, MUCH later with dinner pics and the breakdown.

!Olé!

shinae


DINNER

@6:58 PM - Plan B. Completely wiped out this afternoon by the kind of exhaustion you can only experience by being female, I sat on the couch to write and fell asleep for too long.

Since we had another one of those $5 Church's Fried Chicken coupons for 3 drums, 2 thighs, 2 of their funky chewy biscuits, and a side of something that you're supposed to think is mashed potatoes and gravy, we ate that plus a homemade garden salad with Balsamic vinaigrette made weeks ago.






   Takeout chicken, biscuits and mashed potatoes $5.50
+ lettuce $0.30
+ 1.5 avocados $1.15
+ 1 Roma $0.20
+ 1/2 a cuke $0.30
+ some red cabbage $0.30
+ some after dinner ice cream from last night $1.00

= DINNER $8.75 total, $3.90/person


Saturday:  $18.15
Sunday:  $17.30
Monday:  $11.20
Tuesday:  $7.75

$56.00 spent with three days left to go. I will definitely make that paella for dinner tomorrow. I just hope I don't feel like I'm feeling today. UGH. :|