subluxate, posts by tag: cooking - LiveJournal

There are going to be kind of a lot of posts for awhile, particularly public ones. I desperately want to keep everyone up to date.

As of now, I have emailed our governor, our state legislators, our congressperson, our senators, and the Iowa Secretary of State. I have also written letters to send to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sebelius and, on the off chance that her department can help, Secretary of State Clinton. Those letters will be signed and sent tomorrow. Tomorrow, I am also filling out forms to send to Representative Braley regarding the Medicare issue. That will be mailed promptly.

Currently, help_kelly has ten offers in the Words post, including two from me that are both buy it now--fanfiction, 500 words minimum and original fiction, 500 words minimum. There is one offer in the Graphics post and three in the Miscellaneous post, for which I am offering auctions for two handwritten cookbooks. You can ask Amy, Sara, Geena, and Dustin about my cooking if you need to.

Again, thank you all for your auctions, your bidding, your signal-boosting, your good wishes, everything.

So! Thanksgiving. I hope you're all having good ones.

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Things I am thankful for this year:
- That meal. Yum.
- My parents. We have our problems, but they are definitely always there for me; look at how they're moving me home, and bringing Geena along.
- My brother and sister, and how they've got my back.
- My friends.
- My cats.
- The apparent return of my ability to write.
- Moving home.

We were discussing movies today, because we were thinking about seeing one. Starr said, "Damn, Australia's like three hours long!"

Geena and I were in the kitchen at the time. Geena said, "And it looks terrible." She was pretty quiet because she's had a sore throat today, and I think she was washing a bowl.

"I think it looks good." I don't remember what I was making at the time, but I was semi-occupied.

"You liked Appaloosa," Geena countered.

"And you like musicals. We have different taste in movies."

So Starr pipes up, "I don't think Australia is a musical."

Geena and I cracked up, and Starr did not get it at all.

In the end, four hours later, we decided on Transporter 3 tomorrow around 3. Matinee show, and theaters tend to be much emptier on Black Friday than on Thanksgiving.

And babies.

That mage FINALLY grew up. Took her long enough. I bred my white egg; the rest are adopted abandoned ones.

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Scroll.

And Geena's four. I bred her the gold.



Finally, Sara's eggs.
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There is something so unutterably soothing and satisfying about feeding one's family. The prep, the stirring, the judging of seasonings--ultimately, it's going to feed the ones one loves, and that's rewarding in its own right.

And when the food is delicious, consider the evening a grand success. They're fed and they love it.

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It was delicious, and I am stuffed.

Apparently, coffee, eggs, avocados, mushrooms, and peanut butter all have definite health benefits. Now, for me, I can't afford avocados, and I dislike mushrooms. But the other three are great news.

See, my financial situation is currently this. Last month, I paid my car bill, utilities, and rent, and that was just about it. I could barely afford eggs, milk, and butter substitute, and had to scrounge for gas money. This month should be better; I'm getting a raise, and my hours have increased, thanks to my promotion, but I still won't be able to afford any particularly pricey foods.

G and I are grocery shopping this week, probably Friday night. We need to make a list, and I think eggs will top that. I made eggs with potatoes and crushed (canned) tomatoes last night, and it turned out to be very yummy. Glad I stocked up on herbs when I had the money. Eggs are versatile and great to cook with, so they're a favorite of mine when we have them.

Another favorite is potatoes. Potatoes are incredibly cheap, just a few dollars for a five pound bag, and they can be used in just about anything. That egg dish I mentioned, baked potatoes, soups, stews, mashed potatoes...the list goes on, but I am not the Bubba of potatoes.

I also love tomatoes. Not only can I eat them fresh all day long, the canned versions are easy to add to anything and to season, and they're really healthy. Lots of antioxidants and vitamins. I tend to add tomato paste to rice casseroles especially, but also beans, eggs, and potatoes.

And take a look at beans. You can't get a lot cheaper than those. Sure, it takes some prep if you're working with dried beans (much cheaper than the canned version), but you can make an easy vegetable soup with them, add them to a rice casserole, or just have beans. I'm not so sure about beans and eggs, though.

Brown rice is a fairly cheap source of fiber, and it's filling. It also has more flavor than regular white rice, though the texture may not be to everyone's tastes. It's also a good mineral source.

I know most of those are not particularly good protein sources, but that brings us back to eggs. Twenty-six grams of protein per cup! No cholesterol, either, despite the reputation, and it does have vitamins and minerals. Eggs will certainly be on our shopping list.

Oatmeal! All we currently have is prepackaged and preflavored, but I think that's going to change. Cheap and it lasts, so it definitely makes the cut for something healthy to add to our diets. And it can be modified fairly easily. One of my favorites is to buy frozen raspberries and add a small handful while the oatmeal is cooking; the raspberries break up and flavor the oatmeal, and it doesn't really take any extra sugar. Make it with milk instead of water for some extra calcium.

It may be frustrating to have a highly limited grocery budget; in fact, I know it is. All it takes is a little research to find healthy foods that fit the budget, though, and some creativity to make it fresh and tasty each time.

Any other ideas for inexpensive, tasty, healthy foods, or any recipes?

NaBloPoMo post here.