some things we ate this month


here we go, here we go...



Whole wheat pasta with asparagus.  Cook pasta and when almost finished drop in asparagus for a few minutes.  Drain, stir in Earth Balance margarine, red pepper flakes and pepper.  Top with bread crumbs.





Tofurky Peppered slices with chips.





Grapefruit, blackberries and blueberry soy yogurt.





Lettuces with thinly sliced radish, onion in vegan buttermilk dressing.





Vegan Buttermilk dressing - 1/2 cup plain soymilk, 2 T white vinegar, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 t season salt
Put in covered jar and shake.




Chocolate soymilk, 1 cup spinach, 1 banana, ice.  Blend then drink. :)





Yukon gold potatoes, bell peppers, onion sauteed and served in whole wheat tortilla.




Another sandwich...more chips.





Mixed salad greens tomatoes with buttermilk dressing





Thin spaghetti with thin asparagus. Prepared same way as first pasta dish up there.





Veggie Chili in tortilla bowl.




This is either a freshly squeezed glass of grapefruit juice or a greyhound.  win win.



Baked potato topped with chili in wrap.





Chocolate chip tea cake

In a bowl...

1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt

mix in...

3/4 c chocolate milk
1/2 c salad oil
1 c sugar
1 t vanilla extract

1 cup toasted chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips

Pour in loaf pan and bake at 350 1 hr





Chickenless strips with yukon gold mashed potatoes and asparagus



Tofu *Egg* Salad - via An Urban Cottage

1/2 block firm tofu drained and pressed
1 celery stalk
2 Tablespoons chopped onion
1/4 cup vegenaise
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

combine all ingredients and chill.



French Toast with Blackberries

Slice bread and dip into mixture of 1 cup soy or almond milk, cinnamon and 2 T orange zest.
Brown on skillet.



Chopped salad with peanuts and spicy asian slaw dressing




My grocery receipt for this week. $23.83

So I'd say 90% of my groceries were purchased at the .99 store this month and we ate very well.
Another successful month!

How are things going for you?  Any big changes or set backs you'd care to share?


43 comments

  1. Everything looks so good. I wish I ate as healthy as you! And all from the .99 store? Awesome.

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  2. I noticed on your receipt that the yogurt is 2 for 99 cents, yet they charge you 50 cents for each one. So you are spending a penny more on every other one....Yes, I'm the person that notices things like that.

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    1. Hi Paula, it seems to be just the 2'fers. I looked at my receipts for this month and those are the only items rounded up. Not sure why, maybe Janet knows more.
      blessings, jill

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    2. The yogurt is 2 for .9999 so really it's a buck for two, just like the asparagus for .9999 is really $1.
      It's like gas prices, sounds cheaper to say .99 than $1.

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    3. here is how they explain it...

      http://www.99only.com/search/node/pricing

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  3. Looks amazing and delicious! I hope your book proposal is in the works Janet! There are many people who could benefit from your thrift and healthy meal planning.

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  4. Janet,
    It all looks so delicious!!! I love seeing what you eat each week as it gives me ideas of what to cook; I'm not that great of a cook. So thank you, thank you.

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  5. Janet, even though I eat meat once or twice a month our diet is so similar, yet mine is the really basic, not so pretty version of yours, I love everything here.

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  6. How do you make your tortilla bowls?

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  7. Fabulous!! I'm doing much better since I started to plan our meals a week at a time. I didn't throw any food put last week, which is a milestone. We are addicted to your vegan egg salad and currently eating the mushroom Bourguignon twice a week :)) your pictures all look so fabulous too. xoJennifer

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  8. Yours looks so much more pretty and artfully displayed than my meals even though I think our diets are pretty similar! I'm coming over! xxx

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  9. I'm running off to make the chocolate chip tea bread right now! :)

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  10. You my friend, are truly my inspiration right now. If I added up all my receipts just since the beginning of the year, and gave you that money...you'd be a whole lot closer to paying off that mortgage! It's disappointing really. But, this week I planned and bought 7 meals and a treat for the week. Just like simplifying other things in your life, it's freeing.

    oh, and don't you just love Steve's egg salad?! I've had it at least once a week since he posted it.

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  11. It allllll looks so good, and I'm not a vegan. My son's best friend has been for over 6 years...he is all of 23!! So we do experiment from time to time after my son has eaten something his friend shared. Currently reading up on the Shakers. Did you know many of them went vegetarian back in the 1830's/1840's? And here I thought it was a new thing.

    Going to jump in with the others trying to get you to make a cookbook. Think ebook....you could pay off your mortgage even faster.
    blessings, jill

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  12. Wow - everything looks amazing, Janet! They look like the menus from an upscale restaurant, only healthier! I will be trying your Vegan Buttermilk Dressing! ox

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  13. Is your restaurant called The Gardener's Cottage? You would have that mortgage paid off by summer. Lovely!

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  14. I really love this, and apparently, I am not alone in my thinking! I, also, find appealing that you take time to prepare a nice presentation. I am assuming you do this even when you are not photographing your plate, but my bet is you do. I know I feel slighted if I don't do that for myself. I enjoy it more and recognize the gift that it is. Rushing through a meal is necessary some days, but on a regular basis, it leaves me feeling I missed out. We have been eating lots of blackberries, too. They are delicious.

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  15. such a useful,inspiring post Janet. these meals look so delicious but doable. I have made the tofu egg salad and the vegan chili and both and so simple and so good. last week asparagus was on sale at my local market. this pasta would have made a nice dinner choice. actually I made some soup with it, based on your post, which I enjoyed for several days. I am having a hard time ditching my dairy yogurt though. recently tried some vanilla soy yogurt had didn't like it at all. maybe coconut would be better. my local supermarket does not carry non dairy ones but Whole Foods which opened recently would probably carry it. any thoughts on non dairy yogurts?
    Darby

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    1. darby i really don't have much to say about them other than i pretty much like all the ones i've tried. maybe you just have to try a few brands to find one that works for you.

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  16. Each plate looks so fresh and healthy. Your food posts are so wonderful!
    Thanks!

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  17. That's a lot of delicious looking healthy food!

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  18. This all looks wonderful, Janet. Thanks for the inspiration. I love how that thin asparagus looks - very tasty.

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  19. suddenly I'm starving!
    everything looks so amazing.

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  20. love it all Janet!!!

    I have been a spending fool this month, but I'm happy so never mind! x

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  21. Well, while it all looks good, I am one of "those" persons who can not eat gluten/wheat, soy/tofu, raw vegetables, or nightshade vegetables (potato, tomato, peppers), (among other food items like beans/legumes and corn), so I could only say "enjoy". I do not eat meat but also could care less what I eat anymore.

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    1. I feel for you. I've been there. I thought my colon was a gonner; damaged in a prior surgery. Fourteen years of recovery but I finally got some turnaround in the past two of those. Don't give up hope. But I know how depressing it is to want to eat, have so little to choose from and simply not know what to eat or how to eat. Even dieticians couldn't figure it out for me back in the day. Steamed veggies were even a problem for me, in which case, just boil the darn things; it's better than nothing although you of course lose nutrients, but you have to do the best you can. Even canned fruit is better than no fruit. And a plain scrambled egg can be mild and give you protein. Best of luck to you. Again, don't give up hope. I once lived on nothing but skinless (unadorned) chicken breast, canned pears, water, white rice; unhealthy 'white' food diet and terribly high-glycemic (not heart healthy), but no choice. It makes you feel abnormal and deprived around other people at the table. The food is so visually unappealing, no variety. I would crave salads. Sometimes things can change; sometimes you wind up learning about other things you can do for your health needs despite the limitations. Again, take heart; hang in there..

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    2. Michele,

      Michele, don't see this as a life sentence. I was there too. Today I can eat most
      anything. Keep pressing on!

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  22. Dear Janet
    These all look very appetising. But I'm not a vegan so don't know what tofurkey is (I'm guessing it's meant to look and feel like turkey). What are the ingredients plse Janet? I usually have to steer clear of processed foods because of a food allergy. Lots have msg or flavour enhancer which I'm very allergic to. Have never heard of tofurkey here in Oz so wonder whether it's available. Maybe one of your readers knows?
    Congrats for keeping up the economy drive. You'll have your mortgage paid off much earlier. Best wishes, Pammie x

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    1. here are the ingredients. just click on ea product for details.

      http://www.tofurky.com/tofurkyproducts/deli_slices.html

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  23. It all looks very pretty and probably tastes good, too!

    Your dishes of "fresh" food do often leave me wondering, though, if everything is in season all the time in California? Here in central Europe we have seasonal food - e.g. asparagus in May/June, blackberries are an early autumn treat we like to prepare with apples (also an autumn fruit) and so on. Eating these things out of season is both expensive and ecological nonsense, like the asparagus from Mexico that is currently on sale or the blueberries from Chile… Different types of tomatoes can be harvested throughout the mid-late summer, but the ones available in winter from Spain (not so far!) are tasteless, so I don't bother. And so on. Does none of this apply where you are?

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  24. Janet, I am new to your blog, but count me as a fan. Your personality shines through your writing, your pics are beautiful and I've learned lots! I agree with some of the others, you could easily do a lifestyle book. Somebody get this girl an agent!

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    1. I agree, the photos are as good if not better than recent cookbooks I've bought; beautifully-displayed, healthy food; uncomplicated recipes that are genius. But it's more than food...it's the conscientiousness, the mindfulness and thoughtfulness of living well with less while maintaining style and substance. Perfect.

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  25. I stocked up on bottled spices at the dollar store today. I feel it was pretty 'fresh' stock; the expiration dates are quite far out on them, so good shelf life there. The brand-name spices at the box-grocery stores are very expensive, so I felt this was a bargain and they had a really nice variety, made in U.S.A. and with no weird preservatives or fake colors. I don't like things like this in plastic, so am merely transferring them to my glass spice bottles at home.

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  26. I have to say this. Nothing to do with food for the week...although kinda-sorta. Forgive me, I'm a Californian. It's midnight...and it's raining. It's raining A LOT. Answered prayers for a land in drought. Maybe things can grow again; something for wildlife to nibble on in the hills and meadows come Spring. This will help farmers so much; we grow many vegetables and fruits where I live. Irrigating the orchards and fields is expensive and uses up our precious water resources. So glad Mother Nature can come to the rescue. Rain. RAIN. At last. Such a lovely sound to hear it out there right now!

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  27. you need to open up a little restaurant.
    I want to order up one of your lovely dishes now.
    pve

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  28. Wish you were my neighbor and we could cook and create recipes together. My vegan recipe ideas continue to grow and grow, thanks to you!

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  29. You really make some amazing dishes. They all look so yummy.

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  30. I can't believe two months have gone by already. Congratulations!

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  31. We don't have a .99 Store that sells fresh food, but I would love to try this at our local market with organic items.
    Great post!

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  32. Everything looks so delicious, Janet! Thanks for the ideas and inspiration.

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  33. hi Janet - i love this post! the tea bread is in the oven as i type and it smells wonderful. you should do a book of your dishes. xxxx well just a book of everything on here really. :)

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  34. Hi Janet! I made this today and it was delicious! I thought it might be something you would like :) ~ Catherine
    http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/mushroom-barley-soup/

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kindness is never out of style.

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