100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 4 (Monday) & Lemme Bitch A Little On Black Friday...

It is now Black Friday, and I am FOUR posts behind with good reason for once. It's the holidays, I've been busy cooking, I had an unexpected but very welcome chance to spend the day with Mads on Tuesday, and then Turkey Day was upon us before I knew it. But I am no less daunted by having to write five posts by the end of the day in order to get caught up.

I've only gone Black Friday shopping a few times in my life, and each of them was with a couple of once friends who loved to shop. They used to laugh at me because I'd refuse to go anywhere before first getting a 16 oz. coffee, and I'm pretty sure they thought it was because I wasn't awake yet. But I'd been a very early riser for years by then from having to work East Coast hours. The truth is coffee is my drug of choice, and you need to be some kind of drugged to brave the insanity that is Black Friday.

It's taken a divorce, a few other relationships left behind, and many years of being misunderstood as an unfeeling or unsentimental person, to finally surround myself with people and an environment in which my minimalist approach to Christmas is understood or even appreciated.

I don't hate Christmas for the togetherness or general sense of warmth and goodwill that seems to permeate the season (except at Walmart and Target on Black Friday). I don't hate Christmas for the observation of family traditions. I don't hate Christmas for the red and green color scheme, as they are two of my favorite colors.

I hate Christmas for the thoughtless commercialism and consumerism we have unconsciously and unwittingly allowed to take hold. I hate Christmas for youtube videos of little kids acting like assholes when they get books instead of electronics, and the parents who shamelessly broadcast those videos as if they're proud of the fact that they're creating materialistic monsters out of inherently easily pleased children. I hate Christmas for that bullshit e-bay commercial where that chick is essentially calling out all her family members for the crappy gifts they got her last year and directing them to her self-absorbed e-bay wishlist instead. I hate Christmas for the fact that people put themselves into debt and stress that lasts for months, sometimes years, after a given Christmas because they've bought into the idea that their worth and ability to love as a human being is tied to how much money they are willing or able to spend. And I hate that that warmth, togetherness and goodwill aren't enough for some people who are so emotionally attached to things that they can't respect someone else's decision to celebrate the season without buying and exchanging more things.

Don't get me wrong. I love that Christmas makes my kids giddy with anticipation and excitement. I love that we're working on our tissue paper Charlie Brown Christmas tree together, little by little, looking forward to its completion. I love that no matter how you celebrate, or if you even celebrate the same way every year, there is tradition built into the holiday season. And I love that even if we don't believe in its religious underpinnings, the observation of the holiday allows time and our little microcosm of the world to stand a little stiller, if only for a few days.

And so as I sit here on Black Friday, in the comfort of home, my son beginning to sleep in like the teenager he's fixing to be, my daughter watching Alton Brown and waiting for a break in my writing so we can work on our Christmas tree, my man listening to music for inspiration with our clingy furbaby nestled into his lap, I can say that I actually am looking forward to a simple, meaningful, grateful, connected, and very merry Christmas.

BREAKFAST

was leftover cupcakes from the weekend. And coffee.

Cupcakes already accounted for, coffee was

= $0.40 for BREAKFAST

LUNCH

To balance out the chili and cupcakes from the day before, I made a meatless meal of sahngchoo ssahm (Korean lettuce wraps) and tofu jjigae (stew).

    half a block of tofu, half a zucchini, half an onion, a couple of garlic cloves, a jalapeño a small potato and some gochoojahng and dwenjahng for jjigae $1.00
+ half a head of red lettuce, a quarter of an English cuke, and a few sprigs of mint for sahngchoo ssahm (the seasoned chili paste was leftover from meals past) $1.20
+ 2 cups jasmine rice $1.00

= $3.20 FOR LUNCH ($1.60/serving)

DINNER

To balance out all that rabbit food goodness of lunch, and to satisfy my PMS cravings, I made onion rings, fried zucchini, and bunless burgers.

   2 onions, half a zucchini, an egg, some flour, and some panko for the onion rings and fried zucchini $2.00
+ half a pound of ground beef, 4 lettuce leaves, 1 Roma tomato (onion already accounted for) for the burgers  $1.60

= $3.60 FOR DINNER ($1.80/serving)

$7.20 spent on Monday.

Friday 11/18 - $9.06
Saturday 11/19 - $12.65
Sunday 11/21 - $15.20
Monday 11/21 - $7.20

$44.10 spent for the week with three days left to go (and guess who completely forgot that this week was Thanksgiving and had to go shopping again?)...

It's only 9:37AM, and I'm ready for lunch.

One down, four to go. 8|

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 3 (Sunday)...

Sunday was brew day, and brew days are always full of activity from early morning into the afternoon. I'm always up before everyone else, but brew days find the Man up and at it not long after, setting up burners, brew kettles, mash tuns, and all kinds of other odds and ends to ensure that the day goes smoothly. Sunday's batch was a barleywine which has been bubbling like crazy all day and should be ready just in time for Christmas festivities (if we were the Christmas-loving kind...). Not that we need Christmas as an excuse to get frunk on barleywine.

And barleywine is much too easy to get frunk on, but I digress...

BREAKFAST

Breakfast was something I haven't had in ages but have been craving for a while now. As I've described it before, a Dutch Baby is the baby that would result if a crepe and some custard bumped uglies.

They're often served with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon, but we did powdered sugar and cinnamon for the kids, strawberry jam for the grown peeps.

   2 eggs, some flour, some milk, some sugar, a little vanilla, and a healthy pat of butter for the Dutch Baby $1.25
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40
+ 4 cups orange juice $1.00

= $2.65 FOR BREAKFAST ($0.70/person)

SNACK

Ever her mother's daughter, Mads needs to eat constantly, so she asked me for a bowl of ramen and some kimchi. Joe made a special request for carrots cut into coins rather than sticks to dip in some Ranch dressing.

   1 packet of ramen and some kimchi $0.30 (it was the supercheapo Maruchan kind)
+ 2 carrots and some Ranch $0.40

= $0.70 FOR SNACK

LUNCH

The gods were kind yesterday and gave the Man and his brew buddy just enough good weather to get the barleywine brewed before the wind started in. But hard work and cold weather called for something hearty, so I made a hodge podge chili using the scraps of the ribeye trimmed from the steaks used for pho on Saturday, a quarter of a link of chorizo, a pound of ground beef, 3 hot dogs, and some black beans.

Served with rice and topped with chopped cilantro, green onions, avocado, cheese, sour cream and just a little bit of minced habanero, that chili was one of the better chilis in recent memory. You will likely not believe me when I tell you that those hotdogs were the shizz in that chili, and if you haven't tried it yet, you should.

1/2 lb. of ground beef $1.25

+ 3 oz. chorizo $0.35

+ 3 hotdogs $0.30 (they were on sale the week I bought 'em)

+ 1/4 lb. ribeye $1.50

+ 2 cups black beans $0.40

+ 1 onion, 1/2 green bell, 1/2 red bell, 3 serranos, 6 cloves garlic and 2 Romas $1.75

+ spices and seasonings $0.50

+ 2 cups jasmine rice $1.00

+ 1 avocado, some sour cream, cilanto, green onions, habanero $1.25

= $8.30 FOR LUNCH ($1.40/serving for 6 servings)

TREAT

The week before last, Fresh & Easy had this sale on Betty Crocker cake mixes, so Mads and I picked up 5 boxes of cake mix. The monsters don't cook too much at their other house, and baking goodies is one of the things they look forward to doing when they come to our place.

So this weekend, we made devil's food cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting. I usually add a couple of tablespoons of either mayo or sour cream to make the cake extra moist and fluffy. (An old trick I overheard once at a church potluck when I was 7.)

I think boxed cake and brownie mixes are a great way to give older kids some autonomy in the kitchen. Joe and Mads had fun measuring and mixing, and I finished the rest while they took their weekly walk to 7-11 to buy Oreos and Flamin' Hot Cheetos. I think it's cool that they still think it's a treat to walk to the corner store and get to buy a little bag of something that's maybe not so good for you, but apparently tastes bomb to their pre-teen palates.

We sent some cupcakes back to Stepford with the kids and kept a few for ourselves.

I wonder when they'll be too cool to let me take these
pics anymore. I hope not anytime too soon...

   1 box of Betty Crocker cake mix $1.25
+ 1 can of frosting $1.50
+ 3 eggs and some oil $0.60

= $3.35 for 18 cupcakes

DINNER

As I had taken an uncharacteristically large serving of chili for lunch, I really didn't need much dinner and ate one cupcake and half an apple that was left over from making Japanese curry earlier in the week. The Man ate the rest of the chili and rice.

$0.20 FOR DINNER (for the 1/2 apple - all else was previously accounted for)

$15.20 spent on Sunday. A pretty economical day, all things considered!

Friday 11/18 - $9.05
Saturday 11/19 - $12.65
Sunday 11/20 - $15.20

$36.90 spent so far with 4 days left to go in the week.

I think I've done about all the catchup I can handle for one night.

I hope there's some good trash TV on right now. This week's epi of Beverly Hills Housewives was lackluster.

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 2 (Saturday)...

Saturday was one of those running around kind of days. Mads had her TKD belt ceremony, so we had to drive up to Stepford and spend a few hours there. I did manage, however, to make some pho broth in the morning and have the foresight to defrost some ribeye so we would have it ready for dinner when we got home.

BREAKFAST

Still just the three of us for breakfast. Joe opted to eat the last of the Honey Bunches of Oats (his favorite cereal), and the Man and I had a cheesy soft scramble and some coffee.

OJ all around.

    bowl of cereal with milk $0.50
+ 4 eggs, some milk, some cheese, and a little butter for the scramble $1.00
+ 3 small glasses of OJ $0.75
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= $2.65 FOR BREAKFAST ($0.90/person)

LUNCH

Was out. On the grandparents' dime (many Asian parents aren't keen on letting their children pay - not even grown ones). At a place called Taiko in Irvine that always has a line out the door. And don't even ask me why because that place just might serve the sloppiest sushi I've ever eaten in my life. That was a fairly unanimous conclusion at the table.

Because I was raised to eat what's put in front of me, I did. But I will never, EVER go back to Taiko. EVER.

I did, however, enjoy a new flavor of yogurt from Yogurtland. I think it had something to do with guava and passion fruit.

I think I got strawberry, green tea, coconut, and guava-passionfruit.
The little amphibian egg looking things are like strawberry caviar.
They call them boba, but they're not boba.

DINNER

Was pho tai (fuh DTAI), the rare steak kind. I often make pho broth with chicken stock because I always have chicken stock on hand. And while it isn't quite as rich and gelatinous as the beef broth, I do enjoy the lighter quality of it from time to time.

Since we all prefer our beef medium rare, I always place the beef on the side or nest it atop the noodles so the broth can cool a bit before we swish the beef to cook it.

The Man and I are both chili heads, and while we don't push the kids to eat their food spicier than they can handle it, I think it's kind of cute that they're both trying to emulate us by putting more sriracha in their pho. It's nice to bond over the little things as well as the big.

   sliced ribeye for 4 (about a pound) $6
+ noodles, sprouts, herbs, lime and jalapenos $3.00
+ onion, ginger, garlic, anise and cinnamon for broth $1.00 (the stock is already paid for because the chicken carcass used for the stock gets accounted for when I use the chicken meat in other dishes)

= $10.00 FOR DINNER ($2.50/serving)

$12.65 total for the day.

Friday 11/18 - $9.05
Saturday 11/19 - $12.65

$21.70 spent so far this week with 5 days left to go.

Just two more posts and I'll be caught up!

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 1 (Friday) The Meals...

You know, it really is something to have a crap memory and have to write retrospective blog posts like this. Some days, I can hardly remember what I ate for breakfast by time lunch rolls around. It's a good thing I take pictures of everything to help me remember.

So where was I at?

BREAKFAST

Oh, yes. Friday. The Man had the day off on Friday and was rudely roused from his sleep by a doughnut-jonesing me.  :)

   3 doughnuts $2.30
+ 2 cups of coffee made at home $0.40

= $2.70 FOR BREAKFAST

LUNCH

I vaguely recall that we were both really busy with odd things, so we ended up eating the last of the Japanese curry from the tonkatsu (DTOHNkahtseuh) and kare raisu (GAHreh RYseuh) dinner of the night before, with a fried egg on top for some added protein.

That bloody mess is the splattage from the last
of the old bottle of sriracha...

   2 eggs @ $0.35
+ leftover curry already paid for

= $0.35 FOR LUNCH

DINNER

As the girlchild had a birthday sleepover, it was just me, the Man and the Boy for dinner, and we had goi cuon and some pho broth.

   about a pound of pork $3.00
+ lettuce, mint, cilantro, sprouts, jalapeno and wrapping paper $2.00
+ onion, garlic, ginger, anise & cinnamon for broth $1.00

= $6.00 FOR DINNER ($2/serving)

$9.05 spent on the first day of the project. Sorry this post is so cheap, but I'm trying to get caught up!  :o

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 1 (Shopping Day - Friday)...

For someone who is given to bouts of analysis paralysis, rote activity can be a godsend. In the past couple of weeks as I've been contemplating ideas, personal issues, and business plans, and not really making any conscious headway on any of them, it occurred to me that I needed to get back to some rote activity to occupy my conscious mind and to allow my subconscious to do some important work without the constant assault of purposeful thought, hence the return to this foodbudget diary.

If you're just joining me this time around, you can read about the first 28 days here. The first prologue-ish posts are primers on my general approach to shopping and cooking and explain a lot of my choices.

$72.29 @ Earthgrown (my local hippie foodmart) +
$57.94 @ Fresh & Easy =
$130.23 total
One of the spendier grocery runs in recent memory, but
we'd only spent about $45 the week before.

Friday's shopping trip was a relative doozy for us - just over $130 - but given that we spent less than $50 the week before, it smooths out over time. I went a little nuts on produce as I tend to do from time to time, but it doesn't always look as good as it did yesterday, and unless it's fridge cleanout week, I like my fridge full of fresh fruit and veg.

PRODUCE: For onions, apples, green onions, yams, broccoli, red cabbage, carrots, Roma tomatoes, limes, red and green bell peppers, poblanos, leeks, cilantro, lemons, red leaf lettuce, ginger, garlic, mint, avocados, artichokes, green beans, zucchini, jalapeños, habaneros, grape fruits, an English cuke, a bag of mung bean sprouts, some Napa cabbage, and a pineapple, I spent $52 or 37% of the total.

MEAT: For roughly 2.5 pounds of pork shoulder, a 5 pound chicken, and a package of surimi, I spent $14 or 10% of total. (I normally spend a little more on meat, but I have some backlog in the freezer.)

DAIRY: For 20 eggs, a block of Monterey Jack cheese, and a gallon of whole milk, I spent just under $10 or 7% of total.

PANTRY: For dried cranberries (I have no idea why dried cranberries were calling me), black beans, sriracha, coffee, jasmine rice, dried basil (the fresh looked really crappy this week), wasabi powder, crushed red chili flakes, and whole black peppercorns, I spent $31 or 22% of total.

GRAINS/BREADS/CEREAL: None this week. No such thing as easy breakfast 'til Friday, I guess!

INDULGENCES: For a 6-pack of Paulaner lager, a bottle of OJ, and 3 MexiCokes, I spent $18 or 13% of total.

MISC: For TP, girl products, and dish detergent - I bought myself a new scent, which always gets me a little too excited. This time, it's almond. Can't wait to open it - teehee! - I spent $14 or 10% of total.

$130.23 total. If the numbers don't add up, it's because I used a $10 off a $50 purchase coupon for Fresh & Easy. They're really starting to rope me in with all their Big Brother tactics. Next thing you know, they'll have my social...

Trying to write this retrospectively, I have to say that I actually didn't have any plans for any of the groceries this week upon bringing them home like I usually do. Lots going on in my brain, and it was all I could do to be in the moment as I was grocery shopping to recognize what was appealing. Oh, wait. I did know that I had to make kimchi, and that was about all the foresight I could handle for this trip.

Back in a bit with catchup posts. (Three days' worth. Help me, Jesus. 8| )

shinae

Project Alchemy - Introduction...

As I sat down to write this initial outline, it was clear to me that the ideas had been percolating in bits and pieces, sometimes consciously sometimes subconsciously, for a long time now.

Without further jibber jabber, I present to you the first draft of the mission statement and other vital kinds of information type stuff for PROJECT ALCHEMY.

______________________________________________________________________

project alchemy

helping families turn food into gold

Alchemy is the magic of turning organic elements using the four essential elements - earth, water, fire and air - into gold.

MISSION

To empower Americans through a grassroots approach to low tuition, multi-cultural cooking classes to:

- make more healthy, varied and delicious food choices,
- stretch our hard-earned dollars,
- create something we can feel good about, and
- return to the family table as often as possible.

SHORT TERM GOAL

To create a successful, easily duplicated pilot program here in Oceanside with and for our enlisted Marine Corps families.

LONGER TERM GOAL

To re-create the program wherever there is need.

IMMEDIATE NEEDS

- a kitchen facility in Oceanside equipped with the space and equipment to handle classes of at least 4 hands-on participants at a time including cooking vessels, utensils, and dishes

- 4 participants who meet the current criteria, i.e., enlisted military personnel and their immediate families

IMMEDIATE WISHLIST ITEMS
- donations of raw materials (ingredients), preferably meats, fresh produce, and spices

CLASS DESCRIPTION

The classes will cover a variety of dishes from a variety of cuisines, but always with a focus on using as much whole foods as possible and including as much fresh produce as possible.


Attendees will participate in all elements of food preparation, from start to finish. There will be focus on improving knife skills and cooking techniques with the ultimate goal of becoming a skilled, organized, creative, adaptable, and resourceful home cook.

While specific nutritional information will not be provided at this point, the goal as respects nutrition education is to encourage a sane approach to a healthy diet of moderation to include meats, vegetables, starches and grains, fruits, fats and other indulgences in healthy proportions.

CLASS TUITION

$10 cash fee per participant, per class.

*This is a grassroots project, hopefully entered into in good faith by all participants. It is my hope at this point not to have to essentially nullify the low-cost element or an efficient startup by having to jump through all kinds of legal, insurance, licensing and other bureaucratic hoops. I believe good people can be trusted to work together for the greater good without having to put unnecessary barriers of protection in place that in the end usually just serve to feed greedy mouths with no intention but monetary gain.

If you can help with any of the needs or wishlist items, I look forward to hearing from you either here on this page, or by email: shinae(dawt)godinez(at)gmail(dawt)com.

______________________________________________________________________

I feel pretty good about it as a starting point for discussion for any and all who would like to get involved. Your input is welcomed here (though the comments have been glitchy), by email, on facebook, or on G+.

Thanks for your support, everyone. It makes me feel empowered every day. :)

shinae

Request For Help - Please Send Good Juju...

Those of you who've been with me for a while now know that I've been wracking my brain to find a way to get back into the business of teaching cooking classes that is more in line with my present values.

When I did this the first time around, my head, heart, and life were in a different place. Back then, I wanted to see if I could come close to replacing a pretty good corporate sector income while doing what I loved and to see if I could have value in a marketplace where upscale foodie-types were the consumers. And I indeed found that I could. By charging affluent people and corporations to be their personal *chef* <wince> and/or to teach them how to cook, I was able to make a lot more money for my time than most people who work in professional kitchens could ever dream of.

And I needed that then. I needed to get that exercise in ego out of the way at some point in my life to be able to get to where I am now. And where I am now is at a place of sincere desire to do something good and useful with my gifts while making a fair wage that will enable me and my family to have some memorable and enlightening experiences together that require money to be able to do. I am super grateful that my partner in life is willing to resume responsibility for the necessities at the moment. And while we endeavor to live relatively humbly, we both realize how fortunate we are that we can get our needs met on his income.

So, we all know how we can try too hard to solve a problem that we can't see the solution that's right under our noses. And when that happens, we need a distraction. Well, my distraction came in the form of a couple of heated confrontations with online characters over petty online drama and vehemently opposing political views respectively that ate up way too much of my personal resources. But those confrontations did serve to redirect my energies for a bit - just long enough to stop thinking too hard - and then to snap me back into the reality that I have better things to do than get worked up over people who appear to try to find personal power in stirring shit.

But I will thank the second one for forcing me to re-examine and eventually reaffirm my values. Because were it not for their vile, wannabe-bourgeois mockery of the less fortunate, it might have taken me longer to remember what I wanted to do in the first place: to pay forward the kindness of so many people who helped me when I was in deficit - be it spiritually, emotionally, or financially - from an illness that was not of or from my choosing.

And the solution that was right under my nose appears to be this community that's right under my nose: a very large community of military personnel - many of them young, idealistic, and yet likely disenfranchised in some way, men and women who signed up for the possibility of combat duty for meager wages made all the more meager when you consider what is at stake for them.

Last weekend, I put up a request for help on my G+ page for a connection to the local Marine Corps community who would be willing to help me offer low cost cooking classes to enlisted personnel and their families. Before the weekend was over, I was given a name and a number for someone who is actively involved in that community and excited to help. Again, proof, I think, that the Universe responds well and quickly to our good intentions. I am so grateful.

From a career standpoint, I would like nothing more at this point than to see this idea come to fruition. I think it would be a tremendous opportunity to connect with and contribute apolitically to my community and to try to live up to the blessings I've been given.

Please send good juju.

shinae