Day 37: Odds and Ends

Day 37 Vitals:

Weight:  270 lbs.
Mood:  Exhausted
Water Consumed:  2 Nalgenes
Breakfast: 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
Lunch: Tomato Soup and Toast
Dinner: Tomato and Sweet Potatoes
Hangry Thought of the Day: Do not EVER nominate me for your Facebook Challenges!

We are now rapidly approaching the half-way point of Project Table for One.  So far so good.  I went looking through my pantry the other day and I actually have quite a bit of odds and ends that I should find some use for.  Here are some of the items I have in abundance:

• 1/2 bag of Flour (Week 1 Cub Foods)
• Possible Uses:  I would like to take another stab at baking bread.  But right now I tortillas, bread, and am making scones this week.  So I will take this venture on in the near future
• 1 full bag of black eyed beans (Week 0 Pantry Stocking)
• I have a recipe for these, but the last bunch of stores I have been at did not have ham hocks.  I will keep trying!
• Soy Sauce (Week 3 Wal-Mart)
• I picked this up as a flavoring agent based on the advice of the book Good and Cheap.  but I am trying to be mindful of my salt intake, so I have been avoiding it's use.  It's not that this is a BAD thing to pick up, I just don't need it.
• 1 LARGE pack of Hot Dogs (Week 4 COSTCO)
• I picked these up for cabin weekends.  So I will get to these shortly.  I think I just burned myself out on hot dogs the first few weeks.
• Baking Powder (Week 1 Cub Foods), Vanilla (Week 3 Wal-Mart), Brown Sugar (Week 0 Pantry)
• And lastly I have some odds and ends from Week 0 Pantry Stocking like a jar of Vindaloo sauce, some canned beans, a can of spicy corned beer.  Lots of fun stuff still out there.  

So what would you cook with these odds and ends?  Leave a comment below!

Don't forget, if you like this blog please help us in trying to end Childhood Hunger here in the Twin Cities.  Click the link the FINNEGANS logo in the right hand panel, and donate what you can.  Every dollar helps to reach our goal of $2,500 for this GREAT cause where 98% of your dollar will go back to the community!  Thanks for you help!

You can find us on the web at the following places:

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Day 19: Pasta with Eggplant and Tomato

Day 19 Vitals:

Weight:  273 lbs.
Mood:  Seems like a normal day so far...
Water Consumed:  2 Nalgenes
Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs
Lunch:  Pasta with Eggplant Sauce
Dinner: Beef Stroganoff
Hangry Thought of the Day:  Don't you hate it when your work is erased because you forgot to save properly?!?

So today we are going to be looking at a new recipe from the book Good and Cheap.  This is one of the dishes I set out to make after Week 3 (Wal-Mart).   It is a Pasta dish with an Eggplant Tomato Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 8oz Rigatoni (I substituted another pasta that I had on hand)
• Olive Oil
• 1 Eggplant
• 4 Cloves Garlic
• 1/2 tsp of Chili Flakes
• 2 Cups diced tomatoes (calls for fresh, but I used can)
• 1/4 cup grated romano (I used shredded marble jack)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook Pasta according to directions on the pack.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat warm up pan with olive oil.  Add eggplant and sprinkle with salt. 

When the eggplant starts to look brown (around 5 minutes) add garlic and chili.  Stir around, then add tomatoes.  Cook for 15 minutes.  Add water if it begins to look dry.

  

Add half the cheese reserving the other half for garnish. 

So there you have it, another easy to make, budget friendly dish.  This one is great because a few simple modifications can make this a vegan dish!

What would you add to this dish, or what would you change?  Leave a comment in the comment section!

Day 17: My $30 At Wal-Mart

Day 17 Vitals:

Weight:  271 lbs.
Mood:  Exhausted
Water Consumed:  2 Nalgenes
Breakfast:  Fried Potatoes and Onions
Lunch:  Hot Dog and peas
Dinner: Eggplant Sauce on Pasta (more on this in an upcoming post)
Hangry Thought of the Day: Seriously Leo, teething AGAIN!

First off, sorry bout the lack of posts over the weekend.  It sort of got away from me with that crazy busy schedule I had.  But alas, I am back.  Today we are going to be talking about my $30 for my week 3 budget at Wal-Mart.  I'll be honest, I don't shop at Wal-Mart often, and for a variety of reasons.  But I can understand how so many people rely on their everyday low prices.  I for one was relieved to have this week come by.

Now part of my strategy is skewed this week because I needed to bulk up on dry goods after Whole Foods Week (Week 2), and prepare for COSTCO Week (Week 4).  At COSTCO I only plan on getting 3 to 4 items, so some of the items I get this week are actually for next week.   If I can focus on getting some veggies out of the way, and maybe even my eggs, I can open room in my budget to focus on getting some good protein like chicken wings next week.  Luckily Wal-Mart made it easy.  I picked up enough stuff for two full recipes (Eggplant Sauce on Pasta, and Beef Stroganoff).

I had enough in my budget left over for five bags of frozen veggies, a pack of tortilla shells, and two packs of hotdogs.  Here were my big wins at Wal-Mart

• Imitation Vanilla for $0.98.  This will be for adding to pancakes, plus I am going to bake some items from scratch to share with people at work to help raise awareness of Project Table for One.
• French's Sweet Mustard for $0.70.  I think this stuff was on clearance, but I'll take it!
• Carrots $0.99.  This was actually for a recipe, but I will use this for soups later on as well.

Over all my shopping experience wasn't bad.  It was a little harder to find the clearance items, and their ad wasn't much help for me this week.  The ad was designed to target families, but as I am flying solo on this project, it didn't much help.  But their everyday low prices are rock bottom.  Say what you will, but I am betting a lot of families who need to stretch their dollar rely on those low prices.  This will be the first week were I think I will have veggies with every lunch and dinner, and still have a couple of bags left over to go into next week.  You can't buy THAT for a dollar...oh wait, at Wal-Mart, you CAN!

So I am off to eat like a king today!

Don't forget, if you like this blog please help us in trying to end Childhood Hunger here in the Twin Cities.  Click the link the FINNEGANS logo in the right hand panel, and donate what you can.  Every dollar helps to reach our goal of $2,500 for this GREAT cause where 98% of your dollar will go back to the community!  Thanks for you help!

You can find us on the web at the following places:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/tableforoneMN/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TableForOneMN?lang=en

Please help spread the word of this project!