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