Eating Out of the Pantry, Coins from Malaysia, & a Snail Named George

I was going to blog about another restaurant today but I thought I would save it for another day...SOON!  Instead, I thought I would do a post about current happenings and upcoming events.

One thing is for sure...I don't have a whole hell of a lot of food in my house!  This photo above is from a few months ago and it's already 'ancient history'.  I have a feeling I will be doing a lot with Quinoa and Lentils next week because that is what I have in my pantry.  It will surely be 'slim pickings'.

And speaking of that phrase - I had to Google the origin.  I knew it was old but I didn't know it went back to the 1600's!  And that is according to Dictionary.com...and what they had to say about what it alludes to is a bit ironic due to me being a vegan and all but I still thought it was interesting...

A small amount left after others have taken a share. For example, After each of the children took what they wanted of Mother'sthings, it was slim pickings for the rest of the family. This expression alludes to animals devouring a carcass. [Early 1600s] 

Something that is LONG overdue is a THANK YOU to Suituapui for these wonderful coins from Malaysia!  I received them a few months ago and totally forgot to blog about them!  YIKES!  So sorry!  Because we are in the 'thick' of winter I'm sure I will be sorting out coins over the next couple of weeks again!  We are supposed to get anywhere between a foot of snow up to 2 and a half or even close to 3 feet of snow in some spots!  YIKES!

This is a photo of George the Snail.  It was reported that he passed away on or around the 10th of the month at the age of 14.  He was a land snail species, Achatinella apexfulva, which used to be plentiful on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and George was believed to be the species single survivor.  He lived his last days alone in a terrarium in Kailua, Hawaii, alongside an ample supply of fungi (a food his ancestors liked to scrape off leaves in the wild). (Article)

According to Wikipedia...as of January 2019, the IUCN's 1996 conservation status assessment (the most recent IUCN coverage of the species) still lists the species as Critically Endangered.

A few things that I am in Planning Mode for have to do with several boards, groups, and committees I belong to.  Such as...celebrating the 100 years of Women's Right to Vote...we have a planning meeting of how various organizations can work on the local level to celebrate for a full year!  Another project in the planning stages is our county's first annual Weekend of Service.  We are trying to promote Volunteerism and trying to encourage more people to volunteer!  That will be the weekend of May 17 thru the 19th.  We have a lot of things in the works for League of Women Voters and Zonta International, too.  And, we are in full force for obtaining new vendors for the county fair in August!  In addition, I have been trying to submit more reviews again over at Sororitea Sisters.

Recent Cheap Eats & Zonta Happenings

Today I have updates on recent cheap eats and local Zonta updates.  I thought I would start off with food stuff and I'm working a little backwards because this is what I had to eat last night for dinner.  I made a couple of sandwiches.  Chickpea Sandwich Spread Sandwiches to be exact.  I still had some canned chickpeas from a Brandless order in my pantry.  I added some Just Mayo, Garlic, Parsley, Black Sea Salt, and Smoked Paprika.  I made a double batch so I still have some for dinner tonight.  I might try and pair it with something else, maybe, to change it up.

I've been a little too addicted to making sauces and homemade vegan sour creams with a cashew base.  It's been too pricey and I really shouldn't do that in January which is the worst month budget-wise.  So I challenged myself to make a vegan Mac & Cheese with no nuts, no seeds, no potato/carrot-combo, and using just a few ingredients.  This is what I came up with.  It's been a while for a vegan cheese sauce like this for me.  I used a little Vegan Butter Flavored Coconut Oil, Earth Balance, Yellow Mustard, Flour, Almond Milk, Onion Sea Salt, and Nutritional Yeast.  It turned out pretty good.

Saturday I continued cleaning our kitchen that has gotten out of hand.  While I was doing that I was able to take some time to cook a few things for a bit of meal prep...such as Lentils!  But before I get to what I did with the lentils I have to tell you about this dish, first.  What you see in the photo above is a Sweet Potato Spinach Mash topped with leftover homemade vegan sour cream.  It was AMAZING!

Enter the LENTILS!  After I cooked up the lentils I added the leftovers from the Sweet Potato and Spinach Mash and that is what you see in this next photo  I ended up adding quite a bit more vegan sour cream (because...why not) and it was super tasty!

Late last week we had our monthly Zonta meeting.  This month was a lunch (next month will be a dinner).  They are VERY open to vegan options and always accommodating!  This month we did a Taco Bowl Bar!  This was mine!  They set aside the bean and corn salsa without the dressing special for me and they had a taco seasoned chicken that was cooked separately and offered off to the side!  Of course, I passed that over and opted for extra avocado instead!  Mine contained Quinoa, Tomato, Corn, Black Beans, Avocado, Red Onion, and Lime Juice.

During our Luncheon, we recognized 3 women in our community who make a difference.  These are the 3 ladies we recognized.  I knew all 3 of them.  The one I nominated is the person on the right.  She is highly involved with several dozen aspects of our county fairgrounds as well as our local Red Cross.  The person in the middle is involved with many literacy programs, student programs, senior citizen programs, voter registrations, and others.  And the person on the left is involved with early childhood education, child literacy, area fire departments and first responders, and more.

That evening we had a Service Committee Meeting.  That went really well and we planned for the next several months.  In addition, we had another Free The Girls (FTG) Bra Shipping Party!  We shipped another 456 bras in 5 large boxes!  

LightLife Bowls, Use-What-You-Have-Casserole, Vegan Thumb Print Cookies

Before I get into a few other finds from yesterday I forgot to mention this Southwestern Quinoa & Black Bean Bowl I found at Wegman's a few weeks ago.  It was fairly good.  I would probably buy it again when and if it's ever on sale.

One of the items I grabbed while at Mustard Seed Market yesterday were these Vegan Thumb Print Cookies!  They came in a 3-pack and were tasty.  They used a whole wheat based flour.  I also bought some Chocolate Cookies and will be sharing those with you in a couple of days!  I decided to treat myself because I don't often have vegan cookies.  One - because I don't bake, Two - because they aren't often found in my area.  And Three - I don't have that much of a sweet tooth that I crave them that often.

Here is a Casserole I threw together based on what I had on-hand.  I threw everything in a glass dish and baked it for about an hour at 375.  I used 2 C Kamut Pasta, 1 small can of tomato sauce, 1 C water, 1/4-1/2 small bag of frozen tater tots, Crushed Corn Chips to layer, 1/2 bag of frozen veggies (I used peas, carrots, corn, green beans), 1/2 can chickpeas, 1/2 Jar of salsa, and 2 handfuls of vegan shredded cheese (I used Daiya Pepper Jack).  Talk about COMFORT FOOD...this was FAB!  And I'm pretty proud of myself...I didn't even use any additional spices!

One Pot Beer Chili Mac

I was finally able to locate the photo of the Thug Kitchen 101's Skillet Beer Chili Mac attempt.  Here is my version with the changes I made below...mostly because I didn't have a few things on hand and tweaked based on what was in my pantry.

1 T of Grapeseed Oil

1 Onion, chopped

1 Carrot, chopped

1 Orange Bell Pepper

Pinch Cayenne Powder

2 t Cumin

2 t of Smoked Paprika

Black Sea Salt to taste

2 T Tomato Paste

1 can of unseasoned Tomato Sauce

1 C Beer

3 C Water

3 C Kamut Pasta

1 can Chickpeas 

1/4 C Nutritional Yeast

1 T Maple Syrup

1 T Lemon Juice

Garlic Powder to taste

Last Week - sometime - I made a simple Buffalo Chickpea Wrap.  This is what the inside looked like.  The Buffalo Chickpeas were SO YUMMY.  I will have to see if I can recreate them and NOT lose the recipe I did in the near future

Another quick photo of a recipe I made and lost the actually recipe for...Cheaters Tomato Soup.  I used Canned Diced Tomatoes for the base...that's why I named it Cheaters Tomato Soup!

This is one of the many coins I have gotten recently!  The reason I was interested in it so much is because it said Trinity on it!

And...speaking of Trinity...here are some photos of her!  She's already hit the 8 month mark!  I can't believe it!  I also can't get over her smile, here!

And this one makes me laugh every time!  She was trying to eat those veggie puffs that are in the shape of Cheerio's and it ended up on her nose and stayed there for at least 5 minutes!  

We took a day trip today and found some really awesome places and I will be sharing those places and items within the next couple of weeks - so do check back often!

Now I'm off to catch up on YOUR blogs!  Sorry for not stopping by much lately!

Riced Cauliflower Diddy & Plant Strong Book

The days seem to be getting away from me!  I have been meaning to blog about a dish I made from the Thug Kitchen 101 Cookbook but I lost the photo!  That is mostly due to the fact that I FINALLY got a new phone!  I've been watching mine die and slow and painful death for at least a year now.  I'm stubborn.  That's my problem.  But anyways...

I did take this pic on my new phone last night!  I'm already like the camera on my new phone a whole lot better!  This dish was FAB by the way!  I used frozen diced cauliflower and then threw in those frozen cubes of garlic, onion, and cilantro.  I also used a can of diced tomatoes!  I will be doing this dish more and soon!  I LOVED it!  Oh!  I also added smoked paprika, cumin, and nutritional yeast!  YUM!

For Valentine's Day hubby asked me what I wanted.  I told him flowers die in 3 days and I would enjoy vegan cookbooks WAY MORE!  So he did just that...he gave me the nod to go on a vegan cookbook shopping spree of sorts.

I just received this one in the mail today.  I will surely update you in the next couple of weeks the other books I got, too!

I ordered them off of Jet because I have found them to be lower in price most of the time.

I've been a fan of Rip Esselstyn and other members of his family for a while now and thought I would finally add this book to my collection!  What are some of the books on your wishlist lately?

What's In My Kitchen For December

Thanks to a few of my blogging buddies for reminding me to hurry up and post my 'What's In My Kitchen' for December!  I'm going to TRY not to repeat too much here, but, this first one I MUST!  The first item on my Top Ten for this month is Grapeseed Oil.  I recently stocked up on the Natural, Garlic, and Basil Pesto Grapeseed Oils from Wildtree as we will no longer be reps but I still LOVE the product!

#2 on my list for this month is Organic Liquid Smoke which also happens to be raw vegan!  I have had this in my pantry for a while and I seem to go in spurts when I use it but for the past month, I have been tossing a dribble or two in many of my dips!  A little bit goes a long way!  This is my FAVORITE brand!

I've blogged about this before.  This is my #3 for this month.  It's Sesame King's Tahini but more specifically their Garlic flavor. 

As many of you know I'm garlic obsessed and will try just about anything that is vegan that also has garlic in it! 

Not shocking that 2 out of my top 3 contain garlic, eh!? 

This is also my secret weapon when it comes to my most recent vegan cheese sauce!

#4 is Dill.  I have been adding a dash of dill in almost everything for the past month or so.  I LOVE the aroma of dill and the taste.

#5 is Chickpeas.  This really isn't a surprise, I realize that but when I don't know what else to eat I bust out a can of chickpeas and throw something together - real quick and easy!

Plus I thought this graphic was a wonderful comparison!  Less Fat, More Fiber, ZERO Cholesterol, Less Sodium, WAY MORE Potassium and Calcium, and More Iron than chicken!  Knowledge is POWER!

#6 is Justo Mayo.  I realize this is a convenience item but it's pretty darn good.  The price is right.  And it seems to be more and more available in my area than any other vegan mayo.  That and if you have followed their battles in the last couple of years I have had a soft spot in my heart for their company and how hard they fought their competitors to stay afloat and get where they are today!  They have been able to educate a lot of people along the way about plant-based foods not having to be more expensive, too!

#7 on my list is Amy's Kitchen VEGAN Soups.  I have to admit that I'm not sure if all 6 pictured are vegan because I have never come across a few of them but I LOVE they have as many vegan options as they do!  And those few days I was sick and didn't feel like making anything or even moving - I was grateful I could find them locally.

#8 on this months list is Potatoes!  Plain and Simple.  Potatoes!  Hillary got me on the bandwagon, finally!  Thanks, girl!

#9 is Bragg's Liquid Aminos and/or Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos!  Since I'm not much of a sea person I like to add these two items to my sauces, dips, vegan cheeses, etc to give it a little more savory flavor while still incorporating more aminos into my foods! 

#10 has to be these Bare Coconut Chips.  They have moved out of my kitchen and into my office.  I like to snack on them while at work!  Yum!

Scroll down for a 2nd post today and swing by the Kitchen Link-Up, too!


 

Vegan Pupusas & Sauce

A couple of weeks ago when we were in Erie and visited Giant Eagle I saw these 'bad boys' in the freezer section.  I had never seen them before and I don't think I ever had a Pupusas and even if I did they were very memorable so I wanted to try these.

It was 1 of about 3 items I bought that day.  I really appreciate that the ingredient list was so short on these, too! 

Organic Corn Masa (Organic Corn Masa, Trace of Lime), Water, Black Beans, Corn, Olive Oil, Salt...those are the ONLY ingredients!

Of course, you know me...I have to have a dipping sauce.  I didn't have many ingredients to work with in the frig or in the pantry.  

All I did for this was take some leftover salsa and add a little bit of water, garlic, balsamic Vinegar, and about 2 ounces of cashews to my Vitamix and blend until smooth.  I think it turned out pretty good, actually!

And speaking of cashews...I found 2 ounce bags of them at the Dollar Tree so I grabbed 2 bags to tide me over until I can get a pound of them at Aldi's later this weekend.

I have 2 posts today so make sure you scroll down and check out the other one, too!  Question of the day - do you enjoy a dipping sauce for your Pupusas?  If so I would love to hear about it in comments!  CHEERS!

This Is What Happens When I'm Too Lazy To Eat Vegetable Curry...

Yesterday I posted a recipe I used for 'whatever you have in your kitchen' Curry and I had a lot of leftovers but the problem I was having was I wanted something super simple to digest and I was being lazy and didn't want to be a slob and get the huge broccoli chunks all over me.  So I decided to put it in my blender and pulse and this was the outcome.  I know it probably doesn't look pretty to some people but it sure was yummy!  I added a little bit more smoked paprika and turmeric powder!  Yummers!

I figured I would also take this time to do a bit of catching up on what I have been watching, listening to, reading, writing, etc...

What I'm Watching...

Or...should I say...what I watched?  Yup!  I binged watched it and I'm NOT sorry!  I can't wait for season 3

As for music I always have an eclectic mix.  Lately, it's been flashing back to Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty while squeezing in some 90's Billy Joel and Guns N Roses.  Not to mention some random show tunes now and again!  Oh yeah...and some Reggae to lift my mood!

As far as what I'm reading and writing...well...

I write commercials for a living (among other things) so I'm always writing something.  But lately, I have gotten back into writing short poems.  I haven't done this in many years.

As for reading, I'm not like most people...I don't ready books cover to cover.  I read collections of poetry, magazines, cookbooks, and such.  

I have so many eBooks that I have been thumbing thru that there are too many to remember but some of them off the top of my head are...

The Best Sh*t I've Ever Made by Tess Challis
Mend Your Way To Healthy, Happy, and Strong by Victoria Moran
Heal Your Hunger Workshop from Alex Jamieson
#MakeItYourself Healthy Kitchen Essentials from Happy & Raw
7 Day Healthy Dinner Challenger Quick Start Guide from Happy & Raw

What about you!?

"What Ever You Have" Curry

It's been 'slim pickins' with the foods that are left in my pantry and the last thing I actually bought was (canned) lite coconut milk so I knew I could get away with some sort of curry.  

I like to call this my "What Ever You Have" Curry

If you are anything like me - it's all about the curry sauce or broth that can make it or break it and I knew I was CRAVING a savory one so here is what's in this version - this time around...

1 can of Organic Light Coconut Milk

2 T Coconut Oil

3 to 4 Tomatoes, Diced

1 t Minced Onion

1 T Minced Garlic

1 t Garam Masala

1 t Curry Powder

1 t Turmeric

1/4 t Cumin

1 t Lemon Juice

Pink or Black Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

2 t Coconut Flour

About 6 or 7 Mini Red, Orange, Yellow Bell Peppers, Diced

About 1 Pound of Broccoli

About 1/2 C Corn

Smoked Paprika to taste

This 'hit the spot' and I will be doing variations of this recipe again very soon!

What's In My Kitchen ~ Current Top 10 ~ 2 X 2

For once I really wasn't sure what to blog about because I haven't been buying much even in the way of groceries and what I have been buying is pretty standard.  I haven't done a What's In My Kitchen in a long time so I thought I would do one today.  This time around I thought I would do my Current Top 10 in 2X2 format.  So...2 in each category!

SPICES - Turmeric & Smoked Paprika

I try and add Turmeric in as much as I can and it's tremendously easy to include in sauces, dips, and spreads!  Same with Smoked Paprika!  I just use a pinch in just about everything and it really kicks it up a notch!

Everyday Fruits/Veggies - Tomatoes & Mini Peppers

I eat some form of tomatoes nearly every day!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! I REALLY enjoy sweet red bell and mini peppers, too!  Especially Red, Orange, and Yellow!  I eat a LOT of these and they usually have a top spot on my What's In My Kitchen List!

Nuts/Seeds - Sunflowers & Cashews

Cashews are almost always on my list whether it's actually IN my kitchen or on my grocery or wishlist.  However, I have had to start replacing them with Sunflowers lately because of prices and availability.  I adore both of them but haven't found them as interchangeable as some other bloggers...YET. 

Tools - Tupperware Holiday Cups & BlendTec Wild Side

Many of you may know that I have a VitaMix that I use often but a few years ago I bought a BlendTec Wild Side Jar that attached on my Vitamix base.  I still use my Vitamix but will also use this BlendTec Jar other times.  Just like anything I think there are Pro's and Con's to each.  The most important PRO for me for the BlendTec Wild Side Jar is that it's more user-friendly in getting the contents out (better than the Vitamix Jar).

One purchase I haven't talked about yet was Tupperware.  A friend of mine had a book party and I grabbed the Holiday cups similar to the one of the top of this photo.  They are small and cute.

Condiments: Lemon Juice & Dijon Mustard

I have found that I am using more and more Dijon Mustard in my sauces, dips, spreads as of late to enhance the flavors.  Lemon Juice is almost ALWAYS in my frig, too!

Convenience Items: Aldi Guacamole & Vegan Veggie Burgers

Avocadoes are ALWAYS expensive where I live.  The cheapest place to buy them here is my local Aldi but the last 6 months or more even Aldi's has made it so I can't or won't purchase them.  As of this weekend, they were priced at $1.69 each....the highest I have seen them at Aldi.  So instead, I opted for one of their prepared Guac's which was priced at $2.99 but you get 2 packets which would last me longer than 1 Avocado!  The other convenience item is their Vegan Veggie Burgers which I blogged about last week.  I added them to Taco's this weekend!  YUM!

Must-Have's For Munchies: Carrots & Celery

I have been trying to shy away from massive amounts of corn chips and have been opting for Carrots and Celery Sticks instead.  So far - so good!

Oils: Grapeseed & Pumpkin Seed

As many of you know, I sell Wildtree Products.  But not for long because we will end that journey the end of this year.  I have and will probably continue to use Grapeseed Oil as my main oil of choice when I do use oil, however, I found some Pumpkin Seed Oil a few months ago at a really good price and I'm almost done with that bottle.  I will be on the lookout for new good deals on oils, soon!

Superfoods/Additions: Sprouts & Chlorella

As you can see from my recent blog posts I have been getting into sprouting again and have been trying to include Chlorella into my daily intake more and more.

Superfood Contents: Genuine Health Gut Superfood Summer Berry Pomegranate & Hemp Seeds

Here's a new product I need to tell you about and upon opening the tub it smells AMAZING! It's Genuine Health Gut Superfood Summer Berry Pomegranate! @genuinehealth #GHsuperfoods - Genuine Health sent me samples to work with and I'm in the process of working on ways to include this product in some recipes. In the meantime, I'm simply mixing it into water and BAM! There you go! I'm always excited to try a new product that helps with gut health and is VEGAN!

WHAT'S IN YOUR KITCHEN Link-Up!

Simple Cauliflower & Sweet Potato Side Dish ~ My New Favorite Comfort Food!

Since I have been trying to avoid bread and pasta this month and because I didn't want to buy anything at the store until I absolutely HAD to - I have been eating some really odd things! 

This was one of them.  But it ended up being VERY memorable!  I went to Giant Eagle in Erie a weekend or two ago and found a bag of frozen Cauliflower and Sweet Potato.  Those were the ONLY 2 ingredients!  So, of course, I was curious about them! 

I heated them up in a frying pan on the stovetop and added a bit of Earth Balance, Cinnamon, and a pinch of Black Himalayan Sea Salt.  It was absolutely incredible!  It was certainly a comfort food!  In addition, I did a side-by-side with frozen corn.  I always like adding dill to my corn!  YUM!

I had some leftovers of both side dishes.  I found a can of spinach that I had to use quickly so I decided to throw it all together in a bowl.  This was the outcome.  It was pretty good, too!  Next time I would probably try adding a sauce and a bean of some sort.

Have you ever seen and/or tried the frozen, diced Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Combo?

I have been working on a few projects in the evening that requires research so I have been at my desktop typing away.  The other night I turned around and saw Riley and Cricket basically spooning!  LOL

Fall is certainly here.  It's getting much colder.  The last few mornings have been at freezing point. 

I hope to do some more soups and blender recipes and dishes soon!  Happy Friday!

Mixing Leftovers & A New Mug!

Here's one of 3 new mugs I bought over the weekend!  It's from a local vendor that I couldn't find online anywhere but HAD to post this bit of pottery!  LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  I will save the other 2 mugs for a later date.

As for my Food Challenge for this week - I didn't spend any additional money yesterday on food and used leftovers and added it to something I had a little bit left of in my pantry...pasta!  It turned out tasty!  It was a bunch of stuff thrown together that is for sure!  I ate it for dinner last night and the rest today for lunch!

I used the leftover black beans, and leftover cauliflower rice, carrots, and peas from the night before and added it to elbow mac.  I used - all to taste - Vegan Mayo, Dijon Mustard, and Garlic...YUM!

This is a different take on a Vegan Macaroni Salad.

Also a good way to get in more veggies for the day!

I was pleasantly surprised!

Budget Blabbing & Babies!

Before I get to my semi-daily updates on what I ate and how much it cost I thought I would share 2 more photos of Trinity.  My sister was gifted a Baby Photo Shoot from her Co-Workers and these are the first ones I have seen from that session.

OMG I can't get over her!

In other family-related news that I haven't mentioned YET while I share these photos...my cousin and her husband traveled up from Tennessee last week.  They stayed for a week over at my parents house.  It was WONDERFUL to see them.  I was able to spend a little time with them while they were in town.

While they were here we were able to take a tour of Southern Tier Brewery.  That was really neat!  We got to see all the machinery and ins and outs of everything!

This past weekend my parents and I were part of a committee that helped put on a craft show at the fairgrounds.  Also on the grounds this past weekend was a car show, BBQ, and Horse Show.  Of course I didn't grab anything at the BBQ but I did stock up on some convenience items last week to put in the camper freezer to have on hand...and good thing, too!

The event went really well!  I'm super excited that my parents were in the committee, too!  Next major event is Fair Week which is always in the beginning of August.  If you have been around my blog for a while you know that I always share photos after that week is complete.

Oh!  Another UPDATE...I was voted in as a board member with the Secretary position of our local League of Women Voters - so that's exciting!

And FINALLY...my semi-daily food update!  So after blogging yesterday I noticed I had 2 gift cards in my purse that had about $5 each left on them.  I wanted to get my dinner stuff for the next few days and hubby needed bread and a few things for the house.  With everything I only spent $1.24 out of pocket.


What I ended up buying for food was Black Beans for $1, Chickpeas for $1, Corn with Onions and Spicy Peppers for $1 (all of these items were canned), then I found a frozen bag of Cauliflower Rice with Carrots, Green Onions, and Peas for $1.79, and a package of Tortilla Wrap/Burritos for $2.29.  So that was really only $7.08 for the day but I got it at no cost to me because of the gift cards I used.  But for sake of argument we will look at it as a 'charge' for the day and week.  So far I have spent $14.58 on food this week.  BUT...with what I bought yesterday that should take care of me for 2 to 3 days I'm thinking.

I have been doing a lot of research on other people and their vegan food challenges.  Yesterday I found a girl online who posted about her food journey for the week.  When she added everything up she spent $21.88 for 10 days of meals!  I thought - HOW WONDERFUL - so for the heck of it - I went thru her list and put what my local prices were and came up with the total of $52.77 and that included me already having 5 items in my pantry and deleting 3 other items!  So with NOT having to purchase 8 items from her list my total was between 2 and 3 times higher than hers!  Oye!

I have been out of cashews for a month, I'm totally out of Nutritional Yeast at the moment, I have NO fresh produce either.  I currently only have French Fries and Frozen Artichokes in my Freezer, and with what I got yesterday I have some leftovers but only have 1 unopened can of chickpeas and the Mexi-Corn for canned items.  This will certainly be interesting!  If I buy a 1 pound bag of Nutritional Yeast it's $19 here.  If I buy 14 to 16 ounces of Cashews the cheapest price in my town is $12.99.  If I buy only those two items the total would be $31.99.  I guess THIS is what happens when you eat out of your pantry and take it down to nothing, eh!?  

What Does THAT Have To Do With The Price Of Rice?

One of the things I say fairly often is "What does THAT have to do with the price of rice".  Lately I seemed to be taking that pretty literal as I am trying to figure out some more Budget Friendly Vegan Solutions for Meal Time.  I've done many of these mini blog posts throughout the years and I have seen a lot of veggie buddies doing VLOGS about $30 or $25 a week on a Budget when it comes to food shopping.  I would like to do more of that ASAP!

I was reading several articles about food prices lately.  The most recent was an article from May 2017 that said 2 person adult house hold with no kids spends anywhere between $400-$800 each month on food/groceries.  In a similar article on debt solutions it said to take the $400-$800 figure and try and only spend $125 on food each month per person.  So that's $250.  Which is only $150 less that the low end of each of those articles.  However, if you are able to save $150 per month right there that money could be used for something else, I suppose.  I guess it's the little steps, eh?

At this point in my post I should confess and say this entire post will just be one big BLAB.  I would like to see if I can challenge myself to do that but I'm horrible at planning because of everything else going on.  I think I will start with the weekly challenge. This blog will be a nice way to keep me accountable.  

Since it's already TUESDAY and our weekends are impossible to plan I can tell you that I already spent $7.50 on a HUGE salad yesterday.  That leaves me with $17.50.  Time will tell if I am able to start this week or next.  But I guess the first step is the thought - yeah - it's the thought that counts - right?  (insert frustrated laugh here)

(clears throat...nice segue, eh!?) I have been easily frustrated lately.  I need to jump back into meditation again.  Today I did some thinking - does that count?

Long story short - be on the lookout for more 'off the wall' vegan foods while eating on a budget and eating from your pantry.  I'll leave you with a photo of my darling niece TRINITY...