Do you have a "tariff" or food shortages pantry?

A reference in a post by the Domestic Mrs. Murphy to stocking up her tariff pantry got me thinking about what may become very difficult to purchase or outrageously expensive as we try to survive not only the ever changing impulsive tariffs but also the decimation of the farm and meat industry workforce.

Of course one could answer for the latter "Everything!" but what specifically is likely to go away first due to tariffs and second due to crops not getting processed. What might we want to add to our pantries.

I used a CVS coupon before it expired to buy a small bag of granulated sugar simply because we were getting low but it also dawned on me that sugar may be affected by tariffs. However this particular product was from a Colorado coop of sugar beet farmers. Cane sugar however is mostly imported I believe.

Let's hear what you are adding to your pantry as backup whether in small or large quantities please.

Kicking off the BEST new year

We had a low key and fun New Year's Eve with dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant and then a cozy evening at home. I tried a new to me dish - shrimp with crispy sweet basil and vegetables and boy was it delicious. I ate the whole thing which made it easy to start the first day of the year off right food wise.

I have decided that the BEST thing I can eat for breakfast is oatmeal with fruit and soy milk. Sometimes an addition of peanut butter. Oatmeal is the one breakfast food that keeps me from getting hungry before lunch. So this morning it is microwaved oatmeal, half a banana and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter with soy milk.

I've finished off my financials for 2015 and am delighted that we saved 35.5% of our income! Go us. I usually think in terms of a dollar goal for savings and always fall short. Looking at it this way, we did great.

I did splurge a bit on the dog yesterday - replaced the 5 year old pad in her crate. A bit needed although she does love her crate for naps even with the old pad. The old one will be back up for a while as I do wash them. I couldn't remember the brand and had cut off the tag so I went back to the (expensive) pet store we bought it at the day we adopted her. They were just getting a shipment unloaded from a truck and there was exactly what I wanted in that load. I also got her more of her Harry Barker prickly pear shampoo + conditioner so I wouldn't need to order it online. Don't you love the brand name?

Today is finally a brisk weather day with no rain! I think I'll use this luck to get out and spray the driveway for weeds as well as the foundation for bugs. A nice long walk is in the plans too. I'm joining in with Ilona on her 1000 miles in 2016 walking challenge. I started yesterday (why not?) with 2.4 miles. Want to join in?

Lastly, I remembered that I had stashed a free 2016 wall calendar and pulled it out. To my surprise I actually had 2 free ones put away so I will donate one tomorrow.

Here's to your BEST year ever.

Healthier eating as we age - what to choose?

We have been looking again at our diet as we try to balance nutrition and food sensitivities, gout and different metabolisms. Just talking to others about what they are doing to be as healthy as possible makes the head spin a bit. One couple is doing Paleo and have lost weight and seen cholesterol levels drop dramatically. Another person is on a macrobiotic diet while going through chemo. Then there is the wine, beer, butter, meat and lots of good vegetables couple.

Our diet had evolved to limited dairy items (Greek yogurt and some cheese), soy milk, chicken/fish/pork, lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Due to my husband's gout we have eliminated beer and have white wine only when out to eat. Still we can improve. Too much coffee and breads although they are whole grain. An increase in vegetable quantity wouldn't hurt. We are not going to go to extremes but I need to get back some excitement around planning and cooking meals. I do see why my Mom was plain sick of meal preparation late in life!

I'm back to trying to include more vegetarian dinners in the rotation. Tonight it is kale and roasted vegetable soup from the Simply Recipes blog with fruit salad and cornbread. Tomorrow we are back to meat with a turkey meatloaf with sweet potato and at least one other vegetable dish.

Are you doing anything specific with your diet to maximize your health as you age?

Eat for $4 a day - what a great resource to try no matter what your budget

I happened upon The Salt, NPR's food blog, and a link to this cookbook that was created by Leanne Brown in fulfillment of a final project for a master's degree in food studies at NYU. She has made it available as a free download and raised money through Kickstarter to print and distribute copies to SNAP recipients.

You hear about people taking as a challenge trying to live on a SNAP budget and complaining about the food they have to eat. Well she has created recipes that any one of us would be happy to cook and eat. I love the ideas for varying oatmeal and plain yogurt as well as other ones.

Take a look and tell me what you would cook first! Then try it out and report back.

A SNAP Cookbook: Good and Cheap

Other people recommend this additional resource: The Stone Soup

 

 

I'm inspired by these - weekend reading ideas

Don't know what to do this weekend? Read these and enjoy.

Purging paper and found treasure at Midlife Mom Musings - Sharon cleaned up the paper in her kitchen and office and found money besides! I should be so lucky. I am starting today on the "clear off my desk" goal on my list though. I am determined to resolve each item on the desk not just move it so this will take a while. Then the file cabinets.

The twenty ideas method at How to be Chic - This post took me back to 9th grade when we were given a creativity test (part of living in a university town; lots of experimental tests) that required us to come up with an many ideas as possible for a variety of things. For myself I am going to apply this to two questions: What things can I do that are likely to make me happy? What do I want to do before we move back to California in 2018?

In My Own Style's post on How to make outdoor glass globe lights - I just like this!

Recipe Girl's yummy looking raspberry mango dessert bruschetta - I just want to eat this!

The kitchen island made out of a dresser at My make do and mend year - An idea for our next house

Spiked mango lemonade - This is possibly going to be my birthday party cocktail.

Menu plan for multiple dietary challenges: Week 1

I found the cutest free menu planner printable at ollibird and more for other purposes at Apartment Therapy .

Now to the hard stuff. I managed to feed us dinner this first week of our additional requirement of "gout prevention" dietary challenge (along with no milk, low cholesterol, low salt, low sugar) and discovered some new and delicious main dishes. You'll see it was all very heavy on veggies and light on protein. For example, when we had turkey burgers we each had one half of a burger. When you are limited to 4 to 6 oz. of meat/fish/cheese per day that isn't much. Nuts, yogurt, tofu and soy milk don't seem to need to be counted in that - hope I'm correct about that.

For the first time we coordinated planning what Hubby made for his lunch and what we had for dinner. He is having less pain in his foot but who knows if diet is making any difference. He is not on any medication except ibuprofen as needed so perhaps it is. The whole point of this is to lower his uric acid level enough so that his body will reabsorb the crystals deposited in his toe joint.

So what did we eat?

Monday – Ate out: Thai restaurant - hubby had veggies with tofu and rice

Tuesday– Healthified seared tilapia with lemon tarragon sauce (delicious), pasta, zucchini, peaches

Wednesday –veggie salad w goat cheese and pecans, watermelon/peach/kiwi salad

Thursday – turkey burgers, roasted new potatoes, steamed carrots & snap peas, sliced tomatoes

Friday – steamed mixed veggies (carrots, snap peas, summer squash, broccoli), sautéed Savoy cabbage & red pepper, brown rice, cucumber & radish salad, orange slices

Saturday – pasta sauce (leftover turkey burger, bell peppers & tomatoes), fruit salad, marinated golden beets

Sunday – chef salad (heavy on chopped veggies & light on chicken), fruit salad

What do you eat when you have lots of dietary restrictions?

When you need to eat low salt, low cholesterol, low sugar, low purine (for gout) and non-dairy. Be sure to add in to the challenges that one of us needs to lose a bit of weight and one gain weight!

I have found some new recipes online and this site looks good as it labels recipes low sodium, low sugar, gluten free, etc. and you can search that way too (Live Better America). It doesn't have the purine levels but I've made a spread sheet and other cheat sheets based on research based dietary advice that actually showed the purine levels of food as well as providing general guidance.

It is a conundrum as some food that are healthy in other ways (spinach, broccoli, prunes, etc.) are high in purines. In the end diet only has a small effect on gout flares anyway but it is worth trying.


Here's what we figured out. Note total protein is to be below 100g per day from all sources.

IN	OUT
Water, coffee, tea, cherry juice, white wine (on occasion)	Beer, fruit juices except cherry
Rice, barley, quinoa Whole wheat pasta, cereal & bread (limited) Limited oatmeal	Beans, lentils, split peas
4-6oz per day of skinless chicken breasts, some fish, reduced fat cheese, eggs and occasionally very lean boneless & skinless turkey, beef or pork Nuts & peanut butter	Any more than that!
Non or low-fat soy milk and Greek yogurt (2 servings per day)	Any more than that!
All fresh fruit	Dried fruit
Most vegetables especially salad items, carrots, cabbage, beets, potatoes and more	Very limited broccoli, peas, spinach, etc.

Has anyone else figured out the gout dietary issues?

By the way, we won't be making this dish I found on a recipe card in my Mom's old recipe box! Not appealing for so many reasons but it must have been a post WWII item. I know she never fed it to me.

Open-Faced Sandwiches

1 can Spam
1 small onion
6 T. catsup
1/8 lb. butter or margarine
1/2 lb. cheese

Grind Spam and onion. Melt cheese and butter in double boiler. Mix together and add catsup. Spread on half of hamburger buns and put under broiler until hot and bubbly.

Another week, another 52 projects and accomplishments update

More projects completed:

23. Sprayed yard for mosquito control before they hatched. Hope to stay ahead of the problem this wet summer.

24. Altered two pairs of shorts so that they fit better and I am happier wearing them.

25. Hubby washed the front entry and siding. He also touched up some paint chips around the door using paint on hand.

Other accomplishments & all seem to be food related LOL.

- Made a coleslaw dish to take to the neighborhood potluck and summer party with what was on hand (green & red cabbage, green onions, red pepper, carrots and a vinegar dressing). It was a hit.

- Used up extra ripe bananas, applesauce and walnuts to make muffins

- Had 5 people over for lunch before a play matinee. We had fallen out of the habit of having people over to eat and are trying to get back to doing that more.

- Made a menu plan and followed it. No dinners out again this week.

- I am trying to break my going out for coffee & a treat every afternoon habit and managed not to do it at all this week.
 

Making the effort to socialize more

I am trying to be open to and act on opportunities to socialize more instead of spending my days happily alone. At the end of a week I always wish I had spent more time with family and friends.

We are going to a play Saturday afternoon along with our fellow season subscriber. Two other friends also bought tickets to this one and our cousin was planning to come for a long weekend visit. Her trip had to be postponed due to her mother's illness so I invited a single friend from up the street.

That would be good but in my effort to invite people over more often I invited everyone to lunch before the play. We cook for ourselves all the time but are out of practice cooking to entertain so I have be spending (too) many hours looking for ideas on food blogs!

Here is the menu for Saturday - what do you thing? Any suggestions?

Curried chicken sandwiches on croissants
Tomato salad with balsamic dressing
Watermelon mango salad
Cookies and gelato

And then we are off to see what should be a fun show - Cowgirls - at the Horizon Theatre here in Atlanta.

So, all those veggies ...

I've been dealing with the mass of veggies I purchased because they all looked so good. So far we have had some mega veggie salads and a wonderful rainbow chard dish as well as zucchini sauteed with onions and garlic. I also made applesauce out of some apples that weren't sitting well in our stomachs when eaten raw.

This afternoon I decided to deal with others in the bin so I washed all the rest of the salad greens and cooked the baby beets and beet greens. I mixed them together and added a bit of vinegar. We will have them tomorrow.

Tonight is fish with leftover green salad and some sweet potato that I bought today. I plan on making a big batch of roasted veggies on Friday to use up a lot of what is left. I might actually make it through it all without tossing any!

Cooking meal after meal is an interesting challenge. Sometimes I am diligent about making up a menu plan and shopping to it. Then I get tired of that and just buy what looks good as well as what we are out of and is on the list. I think of those weeks as more improvisational LOL.

I guess after learning to cook when I was about 9 years old and my Mom had a bad shoulder for about 6 months and then cooking for myself and various family members since I was 19 I am a bit tired of the routine. Fortunately Hubby pitches in and is a good cook. Both my sons have turned into great cooks so I feel like we did a good job there.

Laundry, some cleaning, food shopping and cooking have to be done. How do you keep yourself interested and motivated around these type of repetitive chores?

Oops - It must be veggie week

I guess it is the influence of spring weather but I seem to have overloaded us with fresh veggies. Everything green looked delicious! So this week will be filled with veggie dishes which will be great.

We started last night with a main dish salad full of romaine, spinach, arugula and frisee with chopped orange and red bell peppers, white radish, carrot and grape tomatoes. We topped it with tuna salad and quinoa and some broken up crostini. Add some orange slices for dessert and it was the perfect follow up to our very meat heavy, rich anniversary dinner the night before.

In addition to more of the mentioned salad veggies also in the frig are fresh small beets and beet greens, rainbow chard, snap peas, broccoli, onions and zucchini. As always we also have frozen French green beans, corn and peas. (This morning I added 2 avocados.)

And there are the fruits - fresh strawberries, cantaloupe, apples, bananas and grapefruit. Frozen blueberries. Canned pears and peaches.

Grains and beans are around too - quinoa, brown Jasmine rice and barley; black, kidney, pinto and cannellini beans. We also have chicken and salmon.

I clearly have been shopping without a menu plan.

Recipe suggestions please!

Weekend reading you might enjoy including about pies!

My favorite news article in recent memory - This pie chart is delicious & statistically sound

A most interesting blog focused on trying out a different self-help book's recommendations each month - Help Me! Blog

If you find you don't like cleaning your home
- The lazy person's guide to a happy home - I especially like tips 5 and 6
- 10 Tips & Tricks for Keeping a Small Space Clean - I especially like the one day a week for regular cleaning and one a month/quarter for deeper cleaning as I feel like each day I am reminded of things that need cleaning in our not-so-small-space.

This is on a federal employee focused website but most of the advice is good for anyone wondering about how to financially prepare for soon to arrive retirement - What to do and when to prepare for retirement

I threw out the cheese but kept the Greek yogurt

If I was a more humble person I would tell my Hubby he was right but who wants to encourage their spouse to comment more on their food choices LOL. As part of the Engine 2 Diet Challenge eliminate dairy week I read carefully the label on the pepper jack cheese that I really, really like (after I had it on a sandwich!). Hubby was right. Way to high a level of fat overall and of saturated fat specifically. The half package that was left went into the trash.

I have two cartons of Trader Joe's Greek yogurt in the frig too and they aren't too bad on the measures I am targeting - saturated fat and sugar. No fat but some sugar. I eat half a carton at a time with fruit as a snack or part of breakfast so I am going to finish them and then decide if I am buying any more. I already switched to soy milk as my cartons of milk kept spoiling before I finished them. We have used a non-dairy butter substitute for years so I'm done with this week's challenge.

Next week's challenge is to eliminate all meat, poultry, fish and eggs. Not going to happen in this house, but I will increase the number of days we have vegan dinners and make other meals more "plant strong". This part of the challenge will have to wait a week as we will be on vacation in N CA starting Thursday and so I will be focusing on how to eat healthfully when staying at someone else's house and eating out a lot.

How are any changes you are trying to make in your diet going?

Engine 2 Diet/Plant Centric Eating

Oh, the internet and social media do drive our choices these days don't they. I saw a posting on Facebook about a friend attending the Engine 2 Diet Challenge kick off at her local Whole Foods store, looked up when it was happening at my nearby store and signed up. I went to the first of 4 sessions tonight which was on cutting out dairy products which is relevant because Hubby is somewhat lactose intolerant and uses light plain soy milk although he eats some cheese. It was interesting and we got to try different nut, oat, soy, etc. milks. I won a carton of almond milk. What I didn't do was by the Engine 2 Diet book for $25. They have a website with lots of recipes and Whole Foods has recipes on their website too. And of course vegan recipes abound.

I am interested though in seeing how we can change our diet to help reduce our marginally high "bad" cholesterol levels. Tonight's dinner was ratatouille (always makes me smile while thinking of the movie of the same name), sourdough French bread (thanks Trader Joe's) and salad. Oops, forgot the wine for me and beer for Hubby.

Next week focuses on how to eliminate meat/poultry/fish - which we will simply reduce. I like being able to try different products without buying them so I will keep going. It helps me decide what to try which will increase our repertoire of foods.

A recipe passed out tonight was for kale-almond bruschetta which I think I will try for the next book club meeting.

Are you making any changes this year in your cooking or eating habits to improve your health?

Comfort food, take out instead of eat out and trying to think of solutions

Hubby and I have spent several days talking on and off about how much we both like chicken pot pies and then bemoaning how unhealthy the frozen ones are and how he needs a non-dairy version. Today we decided to go to Whole Foods to see if we could meet our craving in a somewhat more healthy, non-dairy ready made frozen version - and we did! We bought 2 Blake's Chicken Pot Pies as the sodium and saturated fat levels were ok although higher than we normally eat. They solved our craving - pretty tasty.

While we were at the store I suggested we get some salmon for dinner. We ended up buying 2 pieces of cooked blackened salmon from the deli so it will almost feel like going out LOL. Just salad and veggies to cook.

We have also been trying to come up with a lower cost solution to the problem of removing 2 large trees down in our woods. I have emailed the arborist to see if they could leave tall "snags" that wouldn't hurt any property if they fell and how much that might reduce the cost. The lowest cost proposal so far involves a crane and will remove all of the wood but will also require some landscape repair/replacement work to be done. At least the need to remove the trees isn't urgent and we can explore alternatives.

Luckily we didn't have the problem a neighbor had yesterday. Squirrels chewed through the insulation on the power lines going into her house causing a power surge that destroyed some appliances, a tv and more as well as melting a surge protector and burning a hole in the rug where it sat. She came home in time to avoid a larger house fire. Yikes.

A lovely short walk after lunch and now a peaceful and sleeping dog beside me. 

$145 and 5 stores later I have finished shopping for food

I try to shop on Wednesdays as the stores aren't very busy and Publix and Kroger offer 5% senior discounts. I mean, where can I get that rate of return on my money - LOL?

Today I was trying to do most of the food, household and toiletries shopping for 2 weeks instead of one as I am going to be out of town for most of the second week. We both eat breakfast, lunch and dinner from our food supplies almost every day. Hubby will continue to eat at home for breakfast and dinner and take his lunch to work while I am gone. I'll just have to fill in next Tuesday with more produce and that should do it. Of course we have food in our pantry, frig and freezer as well and some of the things I bought will last beyond the two weeks.

I'm planning on several vegetarian dinners during this coming week - barley & sweet potato risotto, veg chili and green peppers stuffed with kasha pilaf. We'll also have turkey burgers, tilapia, salmon, chicken as main dishes and lots of fruit, green salad, kale with peppers & corn, spinach, etc. as side dishes.

I find the photos other bloggers post of their food shopping interesting, so today here's what I got for our money in this round of shopping. Very few bargains were available. Produce prices are crazy due to the soggy summer. I can't believe the stores want at least $1.99/lb for zucchini in the middle of summer. I only had one coupon for $1, $1 off another item and got the 5% senior discount at two stores for $2.76 in savings and then spent that on a treat!

Trader Joe's - $40.39 Lots of staples, lunch items and a pizza for a quick dinner for Hubby when I'm gone

Whole Foods - $36.60 & much is non dairy for Hubby plus they have the best salmon & frozen blueberries (hiding behind the beets). Also got some small beets and kale which aren't carried at the other stores.

CVS $11.87 & the shampoo & conditioner happened to be on sale - My receipt was almost as long as I am tall too!

Publix $34.60

Kroger $18.70

And I just may have stopped at The Cupcake Factory since I was in the neighborhood.

Cupcake Factory $2.97

Leftovers = Yummy lunch

I find using up leftovers to be a creative challenge. Sort of like when the host of the radio show The Splendid Table gets given a list of 5 ingredients and comes up with a recipe or two using them.

Today the frig yielded a rather gourmet leftover lunch - take leftover green salad, leftover pasta and bean salad, and a piece of leftover salmon and mix together. Add a piece of sourdough bread spread with fig preserves and yum.

It is also heart healthy so I get to go out for a piece of decadent chocolate cake and coffee - right?

What has been the favorite creative meal you have made out of leftovers?

I'm trying a new dinner menu planning approach

I struggle with planning dinner menus and tend to just shop and then pull it together day by day. That works out but I'd like to try a bit more structured approach and further minimize the I'm burnt out on cooking so let's go out to eat nights.

I've decided to pick a type of main dish for each day and plan from there.
- Sunday: chicken or turkey
- Monday: fish
- Tuesday: vegetarian
- Wednesday: chicken or turkey
- Thursday: fish
- Friday: pork or eggs

I've started a list of dishes we like in each main dish category and that will make it easier to make a specific menu plan. The fish we tend to eat are frozen salmon or tilapia and canned tuna.

There are also vegetables that I want to make sure we eat each week at dinnertime:
- sweet potato or butternut squash
- spinach, kale or chard
- broccoli
- carrots
- red pepper
- tomatoes

And fruits that make it to dinner are cantaloupe, watermelon, mango, pears or oranges depending on season and canned peaches, pears, and pineapple.

Generally leftovers either are eaten at lunch or used for another meal. For example, since its Tuesday we are having leftover barley and vegetable soup plus garlic bread, a large salad that includes spinach and red pepper, and mango or cantaloupe for dessert.

I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but it feels like it may be a good approach for me. How do you approach dinner planning?

3 grocery stores and the coffee roaster later

I did the week's grocery shopping yesterday which involved going to three grocery stores (Publix, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's) and the coffee roaster/shop. I spent $124.65 on food, $2.87 on toiletries and $0.70 on over the counter medical stuff (distilled water). This is for 2 adults for a week and is once again more than I had budgeted. I didn't have any coupons, did find some store sales and got $2.60 for a senior discount. We will probably pick up a few more items during the week and we will also be eating what was already in the pantry, freezer and fridge.

Am I the only one who thinks food prices keep going up? According to the US Food Price Inflation Forecast the most recent inflation rate is lower than it was a year ago (did I understand that jargon filled post correctly?). However what we buy probably isn't the same as their comparison food basket although I can't find a description of what is in that food basket.

So what did I buy to feed us and replenish our longer term use items?

Dairy - half gallon each of milk and soy milk
Canned food - cranberry sauce, pears, peaches, soup. tuna (3)
Frozen food - orange juice, peas, enchilada, salmon, blueberries
Meat - ground turkey, ham lunch meat
Breads - cinnamon raisin bread (2), burger buns, tortillas, chocolate croissant
Cereal - toasted Os, shredded wheat, puffed kamut
Fresh fruit - apples, bananas, mangoes, cantaloupe, pear
Fresh vegetables - lettuce, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, red pepper, zucchini
Other - chutney, ketchup (expensive in glass container), cucumber dill sauce, prepared wasabi egg salad, coffee

All was in relatively small quantities as there are only two of us and much of it will carry over to other weeks but that is the case every week. I would think that the typical food basket used to gauge inflation would have more meat and prepared food but less of the other category and fresh foods.

I continue to try to strike the right balance between buying for what we will eat in a week vs stockpiling. Of course have things like condiments, partially used containers of grains, baking ingredients, etc. is unavoidable I am curious if I buy before I need things. I don't intend to figure out how much money I have tied up in our food supplies but if your are curious about what others have in theirs check out An Exacting Life's food inventory and additional links listed in her post.

Today's Decluttering Items
Unused recipes from magazines/newspapers/internet

Some small steps on reducing plastic contact with our food

I have already taken some small steps towards reducing the amount of plastic that comes in contact with our food.

- Finally bought a travel mug. Yes there is a plastic lid but the container is stainless steel. As an added benefit I'm no longer getting take out containers for coffee when I do go out for it.
- Moved some unused Pyrex casserole dishes into our storage container drawer and am trying to consciously use them first.
- Took the food I was going to microwave out of the plastic container it was stored in and put it on a plate before heating it up.
- Decided to stop buying yogurt as I'm not that fond of it anyway. I don't eat enough of it to make it myself and Hubby is lactose intolerant so he doesn't eat it.
- Started to look for the availability in glass packaging of products we do buy. Bought some raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing at Trader Joe's to try. 

Products I have found in glass containers at Trader Joe's but haven't tried yet:
- Other salad dressings
- Low fat mayonnaise
- Maple syrup (Publix does too but at a higher price)

Also, they have baking powder with no aluminum added in cardboard containers with a metal bottom and plastic lid. That is better than the one I have been buying that is an all plastic container. I'll be checking out Whole Foods today and see what else I can find although I'm not buying anything until it is needed. 

Today's Decluttering Items
No longer needed orthodontic supplies