Day 3 - Value Eating on 01/22/10

Well, today was all screwed up, eating wise. The combination of yesterday’s feast and an extensive to do list (keeping me out of the house and away from the fridge and it’s calling) led me to skipping both breakfast and lunch. Not healthy, I know. But I also believe in the capability of my body to send me the signal “feed me” when it really needs to be fed. Brief cravings (“have you seen that muffin, oh, I want that NOW”) in my mind are disconnected with what the body needs. When you are hungry, eat. Otherwise don’t.

Anyways, en route to one of my to-do’s today, I passed a huge thrift store. Not in the mood of experimenting with one pot and no plates for the next ten days, I hit the brake, swung into the parking lot and purchased a fantastic double boiler for 4$. Now that IS neat, cause a double boiler is something I do not yet have (maybe that also means it is not really the most important kitchen item, but whatever) – it translates into two pots! With the perspective of suddenly having the luxurious possibility of using three pots at the same time, a stop at a grocery store was imminent. A kitchen with three pots also needs salt and pepper! That was when a Trader Joe’s caught my eye. Now, I have to admit, I am probably one of the few that have never been in a Trader Joe’s before, so I was curious. I had always perceived the brand as fairly “healthy”, a grocery discount with a fair deal of natural and organic foods. Boy, was I wrong. Yes, they do carry organic products in many categories. But healthy? It is a convenience store. The aisle with the frozen meals is longer that the one with the produce. I asked for dried beans – do not have them. Seems as if you are asking too much of the consumer when he has to soak his beans. So here they are, cans of them. My catch of the day was the Himalayan Sea Salt, harvested in Pakistan (sure, it is the Himalayan) and packed in South Africa, before shipped to the US. Right.
My shopping cart was fairly empty when I arrived at the cash register. Some canned tomatoes (cannot wait till summer and the real tomato canning sessions!), spices & herbs. And with those, I was all set to prepare a delicious stir fry made of Fabio’s & Nicoletta’s Carnaroli rice, a lamb bratwurst from a small farm and organic broccoli. Yu-hum! And as I enjoyed it so much, I finished all of it, although it was supposed to last for tomorrow, as well…
Actual costs: one organic onion (Trader Joe) 50c, 125g Carnaroli Rice 1.99$, 1 Lamb Bratwurst 2$ , ½ lb broccoli 85c. if you consider the chilli flakes and salt sprinkled on this meal, you are looking at 5.37$ for a portion that could/should have fed two…