Well, a few beautiful, sunny days were all I got, then back to clouds and drizzle.  Yuck.  And the drizzle has become downpour today.  I want BACK IN MY GARDEN.

Stopped into the local food bank yesterday to talk to some friends, see what they had for distribution.  There on a table near the door were seeds and seedlings for those who had garden space available.  So one of the things I want to look into is container gardens.  Not everyone has a pea patch, but everyone could grow salad greens in a container at home on a deck.

Well, back to the kitchen.  Tonight's dinner is simple: Sauted Spinach with Pasta.

First off, you can sub Kale or any other green for the spinach, which is great, because YES, I still have kale in my garden.

So I put a couple of handfuls of pasta on to boil.  I prefer Barilla Plus, because it has lentil flour in it, which makes it higher in protein.  And it is tasty to boot.

Wash the greens (again, no measuring done--I just grabbed a couple of handfuls and rinsed them),  Don't worry about drying them.  Heat a small amount of oil in a saute or frying pan, and add some freshly chopped garlic.  When the oil is hot, and you can start to smell the garlic, toss in the greens.  You can also toss in sliced mushrooms.  Saute for a couple of minutes, stirring often.  Drain pasta, then throw it in with the greens.  Mix and pour into bowl.  Throw some grated cheese on top if you have it, but the garlic gives it nice flavor without.  Sometimes I add a dash of nutmeg.

A box of pasta will cost you about $1.99, and will create 4 servings.  A bag of spinach is about $1.99 also (at fred meyers).  So for $3 you can make this meal that is high in fiber, vegi's and protein for four people.  I would put a second veg on the side, because while I find the dish very filling, I know that a teenaged boy or girl would need two servings to feel full.

So after a month away from my blog, I feel a need explain.

Blame it on a virus.  Not a cold or the flu.  A computer virus.  Because this blog is linked to one of my two Google email accounts, I could not access it.

But as you can see, I am BACK.  So happy to be also.

I started this back at the beginning of Lent, which is now almost over.  But the goal was not to do a blog for the 40 days of Lent.  It IS to explore the challenges of living on the equivalent of food stamps for a prolonged period of time.  Which I have mostly held to while being unable to blog.  Yes, I slipped a couple of weeks ago (and I have no excuse, just had an unbearable bad couple of days and went for the comfort food).

But since I am now back online, lets move forward.

Spring, that elusive creature, has been sighted in the Salish Sea area, so I spent part of yesterday afternoon working on garden beds.  Last year I managed one for myself and one for the community center I work for.  This year I have my own, plus THREE for the community center (though one of those will shift over to the day camp once summer arrives).  One of the three beds was my personal garden last year, and while I had cleaned out most everything before the freeze, i did not get out the last of the kale and collard greens (they had been growing for weeks and I had fresh kale even in November).

So I went over to clean out the bed of what I assumed would be dead kale and collard plants . . . and got a great surprise.

Fresh kale and collard greens (the collards were tonight's dinner!).

In the plot that the community center had last year?  Kale and green onions.

Because the collard plants were in fairly bad shape, I did end up pulling them out and putting the remains in the compost bin.

What was harder was the new bed I have been assigned for my personal bed this year.  WHAT A MESS!

Yeah, I weeded out about half of my bed--and probably pulled up the garlic I planted in the process.  The weed piles (two) were both over a foot tall when I quit.  Last year's beds don't have this kind of weeds.  Just the new ones built late last summer.  Oh well, I suppose I will treasure my fresh food even more for the work . . .

Meantime, about this week's groceries:  It is Holy Week.  I have yet to find out/figure out my Easter Sunday plans.  Breakfast this morning: Cream of Wheat.  Lunch: A friend took me out to soup and salad at the Olive Garden.  Dinner:  Collard Greens (free from the garden) with bacon and garlic and a baked potato.

My grocery list for the week:
Carrots
Cabbage
Mushrooms
Milk
Firm Tofu
Spinach
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Cream of Wheat
Chili (canned, on sale)
Top Ramen
Corn Tortillas
Lettuce

On hand: pasta sauce, salsa, cheese, pasta, keilbasa, Cherrios, spices, cooking oil, butter

Total spent: $20.86

first steps . . .

On Tuesday I had my (now traditional) "last meal" with my friend Allison R.  We met at Pour by Four (which is a great place for a glass of wine, and the food there is affordable AND excellent).  Cost of my meal:  $25 before the tip.

In other words, I spent more on one dinner than I plan on spending most weeks for groceries.

Enjoyed sharing an appetizer of calimari with Allison;  loved (as always) the baked brie with raspberry-terragon compote (oh so rich), and the wedge salad was divine.

But Wednesday, I got down to business.  Ash Wednesday.  For me it was a fast day--no food until evening, when I ate two bowls of incredibly good borscht (have no idea who made it at church, but I want the recipe), a roll and coffee.  Then the reminder in church that we come from ashes and to ashes we shall return.

A year ago when I embarked on a $21 a week menu, I had one or two meals a week at either work or church.  These days, dinner on Wednesday and Thursday is free, as is lunch on Tuesday (largely due to meals served to various program participants at the community center I work at).  In theory, this should make my $21 a week stretch further.

Tonight I came home and started working on menus.  First stop, the kitchen.  What do I have on hand that I can use?  What do I need?

I still have about 6 oz of sharp cheddar, and a bag of fresh spinach; a wedge of mizithrah cheese that I have not opened; soft corn tortillas; one can of black beans.  But no salsa, no lettuce, and my only fruit is 3 apples I bought on Sunday.

My life is hectic this week--the annual auction that supports the community center is Saturday, and while it means Saturday night's dinner is taken care of, it also means I am in constant motion.  So, for the next few days my meals will look like this:
Breakfast:
              Cherrios (dry, not because I don't have milk, but I like my Cherrios dry)
              One glass of milk
OR
              One Banana w/2 tbles peanut butter

Lunch:
             Apple Slices
             One hard boiled egg
             three rye crackers
             about 2 oz of cheese (yes, I have a scale to weight the cheese on; no, I DON'T have a cheese       slicer)

Snack:
            Yogurt and frozen berries (that I picked at the u-pick last summer)

Dinner:
            Spinach sauted in olive oil, with mushrooms and garlic (I always have garlic) served over high protein pasta

Dessert:  Two thin mints (yes, I bought Girl Scout cookies a couple of weeks ago--and I intend to enjoy     them)

I have already given up soda.  Coffee?  Well, we have it at work, and it costs me nothing.  But I am trying to cut back.

What I immediately notice is that there are not nearly enough fruits and vegetables in this menu.  I have to see if I increase my vegetable and fruit eating, to improve my health.  But it is tough on $3 a day.

What am I missing right now?  I am CRAVING oranges.  Those little thin skinned ones that are so common in winter.  So sweet and juicy.  I want, want, want one right now.

But at $7 a box, they are not in my meal plan.

The bananas?  I don't have them in the house, but I can buy them 3 for $1.  And with peanut butter they make a filling breakfast.

I will need to expand my menu, and go shopping, but that will wait until Sunday.  I have enough to make it through until then.

A new beginning

In 2013, during the 40 days of Lent, I participated in what some people call The Food Stamp Challenge. For six weeks, my food costs were kept to $21 a week--the national average per person for food stamps (SNAP) benefits.  You may have followed me on my blog at the time, as I tried to eat healthy on $3 a day.

It was an interesting experiment, and one that I have decided to engage in again.  There are many reasons for this.   First off, I am fairly passionate about the need to make sure that everyone has access to healthy, nurtritious food.

Second, I hope discover new ways to make that $21 a week stretch further and further, in healthy ways.  And to share what I learn with those who read this blog--and with those I work with that struggle with food insecurity.  So right now, I invite anyone reading this blog to share their cost saving tips and ideas or recipes with me.

Finally, yes, I have to admit, I like the discipline of having a blog.  I plan to write here 3 to 4 times a week (minimum), more if I can.

Some of the initial recipes you see may look familiar: if you read my previous blog (Living in the Desert) you will notice that I am starting out in about the same circumstance.  My income is low (though not food stamp low).  I live in a food desert (no grocery story in the area), and I have a tiny, TINY kitchen.  So I will start out with some of the same recipes that I found worked for me last year.

New this year: photos.  My goal is to post photos of some of the dishes I cook.  This is largely because I love recipes that have pictures.  Most cookbooks have them.

I will give credit where credit is due--while I love to create new recipes, I also love to take cookbook recipes and play with them.  But I will share where the original came from.

Finally, this blog is more than just me rattling on about my cooking and my food budget.  From time to time I plan to share my thoughts on hunger issues, and ways that we can all make a difference.

The title of this blog "Feed Just One"  comes from a Mother Teresa quote.  "If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one."  The one I am feeding with this blog is you, my reader.  Please share this blog with your friends.  And please share your thoughts with me.  I hope I am often informative and occasionally entertaining.  Or often entertaining and occasionallly informative.

So I hope you stop by often.  Thanks so much!