Day 17 - Another Road Trip

I started off very early on the road again, so I didn't eat too much for breakfast, just a bit of toast from partner Arlene, butter, greens and a protein shake from partner Igor.
I stopped by partner Arlene's, and was served a nice morning snack of coffee with cream and sugar with a large bran muffin. Pumped up with all that sugar and caffeine, I headed down the road again.
For lunch, I was served a plate of fresh vegetables, falafel, coffee and Diet coke, all from partner Jose.
For dinner, partner Jose served fish, game hen, salad (with a heaping serving of carrot/raisin salad!), sunflower seeds, cooked carrots, coffee and a taste of warm apple cobbler topped with whipped cream.
Once I got out of the car, I worked hard, especially walking, so it was nice to have these meals.
I spent no money on food today, so there is $7.55 in the food bank.

Day 16 - Project Recap

I spent no money on food today, so I have $6.72 left in the food bank.
I have been able to keep my food expenses low by relying on my garden and my trading partners.
I did purchase a few items, but the surprising part about this challenge is how much of the purchased food I still have left, with less than halfway to go and lots of money to spend if I need it. Here's what I still have:
6 lb. potatoes
over 2 lb. salt (this is LOTS of salt!)
8 eggs
1/2 stick butter
1 lb. oats, minus a handful

Day 16 - No Carrots

I went looking for my container of carrots from trader Gaston and found that someone else had eaten all of them. Dang! I really wanted something different today.
I was too busy to shop today. I spent over three hours in the garden, tearing down some old fencing and putting up new metal mesh fencing. I worked until the staples ran out in the staple gun, about a third of the way through the project.
I picked a ton of greens to take with me on a trip, and spent much time washing, trimming and pulling off slugs. The fridge is bursting with vegetables.
For breakfast I had the last of the coffee from partner Irene, and a protein shake from partner Igor.
For lunch, I ate MORE french toast with honey, lettuce and potato salad.
For an afternoon snack I ate a tangerine from partner Earl. After working in the garden, I sat down with a large container of tea from partner Otto and lime from partner Colin.
For dinner I made stuffing with bread from partner Arlene, turkey from partner Cindy, leeks, celery, sage, salt, thyme from partner Philippe, and black pepper from partner Ophelia.
For an evening snack I had a cup of the squash soup, garden pumpkin seeds, lettuce, corn salad, and a taste of sauerkraut. I decided to put some dried shiso leaves into the crock, to see if they would lend more color to the batch. By the end of the day, much color had been added, and I fished the shiso leaves out and ate them. They tasted wonderful, but they could have been left in longer. (They were a bit too chewy.) I lined the crock with a new layer of shiso leaves and put the kraut to sleep for the evening. Shiso leaves have a cinnamon-like taste, and the only cinnamon flavor I have enjoyed since the start of this February challenge

Day 15 - Too busy to Cook

I have been on the run since the weather turned for the better and I realized that I had better get the garden prepared if I wanted any summer food at all. Can't live on dehydrated parsley and leeks forever.
For breakfast I had coffee from partner Irene, toast from partner Arlene, almond milk from partner Igor and garden greens with some butter.
In the morning, I snacked on snow peas and broccoli at the garden.
For lunch, I had a protein shake from partner Igor.
For a snack, I ate raisins, cookies, orange juice and cheese crackers, all from partner Nate.
For dinner, I finished the second batch of vegetable soup with turkey from partner Cindy, toast from partner Arlene, butter, broccoli, lettuce, beets and corn salad.
For an evening snack, I had a few almonds from partner Igor and some lime juice with limes from partner Colin.
I made a batch of squash soup with almonds from partner Igor, celery, leeks, vegetable broth, salt, coriander and black pepper from partner Ophelia. This will be for Monday.
Trading partner Ophelia has also been decluttering yard and garden supplies and the trades will really help to keep my garden expenses low for the coming year and beyond.

Day 14 - Halfway point

After today, I am halfway finished with this food challenge. After a sort of boring couple of days, I was able to round out my scrounged menu with some of the luxury foods, like butter. Eventually, the crazy abundance of my community kicked in and I don't think I will have to buy anything for the next week, unless I get bored with what I already have. I have been churning through the butter faster than I had planned. Perhaps I will go a bit more lightly when the bread runs out.
For breakfast I had the usual eggs and greens cooked in butter, with some toast from partner Arlene and coffee from partner Irene.
For lunch, I finished up the bean soup, ate a large plate of steamed broccoli and peas (some of the peas were from partner Colin), mini bagels with butter, lime (also from partner Colin) and grape juice.
For a snack I had more french toast and honey. I am not really all that into french toast as it seems, but I do have an abundance of eggs and bread and it is really easy to make. I spent several hours today working in all my gardens, getting ready for spring and don't have much time, or the inclination to spend it, in the kitchen.
For dinner, I ate a bowl of vegetable soup with turkey from partner Cindy, and the final bit of rice from partner Matthew. I also ate more apple slices from Colin, an almond cookie from partner Lisa, garden lettuce and another mug of coffee from partner Irene. The coffee is starting to taste a bit old, but as long as the caffeine still is there, I'll keep drinking it. I would put some into the freezer if it wasn't full of squash.
Over the weekend I harvested many leeks and now have two trays of them in the dehydrator, along with another batch of parsley. So far I have "made" about an ounce of chopped and dried parsley flakes, and of course, the head of cabbage slowly being turned into sauerkraut.
I did not buy any food today, and so have $5.06 left over.
In the first two weeks, I spent a total of $6.56 for food. Combined with the cost of the garden, it works out to an average of 63 cents a day.

Day 13 - Spring is Here!

I ate a substantial breakfast before a date with another trading partner involving lots of walking. I had eggs, greens, toast from partner Arlene, butter, and coffee from partner Irene.
I had a late-morning snack of french toast with honey from partner Alex and a tangerine from partner Earl.
For lunch I finished up the chayote squash dish, and had some mini bagels and apple slices.
For an afternoon snack I had 1/2 banana, and another cup of coffee from partner Irene, with a dab of honey and some Detroggia beets.
I have to take back all the bad things I said about the Detroggia beets! Despite their shape and lack of a white ring, when I cooked them in the pressure cooker, all the water was yellow. When I sliced the beets, I discovered that the insides were strawberry red and gold striped, with all the wonderful flavor of a chioggia. I can't wait to show these off at the next locavore potluck, I'll be the best little food snob.
We went out to eat with friends for dinner. I also had a calcium pill from partner Igor.
I did not spend any money for food today, and so have $4.23 left over. This is almost enough to buy a package of raisins at Whole Foods.

Day 12 - Back to my old favorites

I made another baking dish full of chayote squash (from partner Julia) and tikka masala from partner Karl. I also had a mug of coffee from partner Irene and a taste of my new batch of sauerkraut. While I was away, the kraut started to turn nice and pink from a baby head of purple cabbage from partner Richard. It looked pretty sad before, but now that the acidity is higher, the color is much better. The juice looks like a nice blush wine.
For a snack I had some mini-bagels with margarine and a mug of coffee with half-n-half, all from partner Arlene. I also got some bread from Arlene.
For lunch I had french toast made with the bread from partner Arlene, an egg and some butter. I also had a huge plate of steamed broccoli and peas from the garden, some cookies from partner Arlene and some lime juice.
For an afternoon snack I had toast and butter, and more of the squash with tikka masala.
For dinner, I had a bowl of the vegetable soup made earlier in the week, rice from partner Matthew, 1/2 of the banana and some turkey from partner Cindy and a handful of dehydrated apples from partner Colin.
I didn't spend any money for food, so I have $3.40 in the "food bank".