I've decided to start blogging my eating adventures. Mostly because cooking has become increasingly boring lately and this will add some excitement to my life. I'm not that girl who shares what she eats because I have an eating disorder. I don't believe in dieting. I think diets, like budgets, are lame and evil. On that financial note, some may consider me cheap and wonder why I can't afford regular food, this has nothing to do with that. Really I am just trying to be more resourceful so my money can be used for more important things. I decided to put cost next to my meals. If it is something I have in the pantry it's free which I realize isn't super accurate but going forward, if I grocery shop, I'll consider those costs.
On my sister's recommendation I stole the title from Carrie Sun's blog on hospital eating .

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Leap Day Splurge

Breakfast: Eggs and Mushrooms ($0)
Lunch: I was at my friend Lani's house and she made me half a sandwich. ($0)
Starbucks: Wednesday is my day to do homework at Starbucks, evidently the card I had on me only had a dollar on it so I bought an iced tea but had to pay the difference ($1.08)
Snack: A bowl of Total ($0)
Dinner: There was a mixer for the MBA program, I like to go to them to get free food. Last night didn't disappoint, sushi and those amazing frosted store cookies that come out at every holiday. ($0)
Later Snack: Wednesday is also my day to meet my friend Grace to finish our weekly homework, I usually drink water but had a free club soda last night and left a tip. ($1)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

why i'm over chicken

Breakfast: Mushroom egg scramble again ($0)
Lunch: Finished off my broccoli pie and brussel sprout salad with pita chips ($0)
Dinner: A few weeks back I found some chicken in the freezer so i cooked it, shredded it, refroze it and was just bursting with ideas of what to do with it...chicken quesadillas, chicken salad...chicken tortilla soup...etc. In reality I ate it twice and then was frustrated deciding if I should keep it frozen (and have to chip away at it) or keep it refrigerated (and shorten the shelf life).  Because I'm lazy I kept it in the fridge ate it maybe one more time and then forgot about it. Tonight I was thinking of using it again and surprise surprise it was bad.  Don't worry I could smell the rancidness and didn't try to eat it.  I think this happened to me last semester too.  I'm over chicken.  Have no fear, instead I made a mushroom quesadilla with some corn tortillas that were donated to me recently.  It was really delicious, I'm not joking it was amazing.  I also had some green beans, they were great too.  ($0)

Monday, February 27, 2012

what a way to start my week

Breakfast: I was going to to make a mushroom, cheese omelet but remembered that I don't make omelets so it was mushroom, cheese scrambled eggs and a grapefruit. ($0)
Lunch: Leftover broccoli Bisquick pie, brussel sprout salad and pita chips (a new donation). ($0)
Dinner: Cereal ($0)

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Finishing off at $0

Breakfast: Since last night's dinner was kind of like quiche and quiche can be a breakfast food i had a slice on the way to church (on a paper towel so my hands smelled like onion) ($0)
Lunch: At the Lennoxes ($0)
Dinner: Bean and cheese quesadilla and an orange. ($0)

Weekly total: Another week at $0 but I feel like a cheater since I used gift cards twice for groceries.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

actually eating while at a restaurant

Breakfast: I went to breakfast with my friend Heather to this great little place, The Grove, that I had never been to (or heard of...I don't get out much), I was fully planning on paying for myself but she paid. ($0)
Lunch: Breakfast was pretty late but I did have beans in a tortilla for a snack. ($0)
Dinner: I had Heather over for dinner, almost as fancy as breakfast.  I bought Bisquick yesterday (with a gift card from Aimee) so I totally can use my Bisquick cookbook now.  I was going to make the impossibly easy broccoli chicken pie but the chicken was questionable so it became impossibly easy broccoli pie. I also made that brussel sprout salad again because it is super good. They're gone now so next week I'll have to move onto a new vegetable. ($0)

Friday, February 24, 2012

Hello Friday

Breakfast: My roommate loves the Schwan's man (which is a whole other story for a different blog) so she bought some pecan caramel cinnamon rolls from him, I ate one of those with an egg (you know balance carbs and protein) ($0)
Lunch: Another egg with some mushrooms ($0)
Snack: Green beans! ($0)
Dinner: A family from church had me over for homemade pizza and store bought salad ($0)

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Hello Thursday

Breakfast: Total (I meant to have a grapefruit but I never got around to it) ($0)
Lunch: The rest of my brusell sprout salad, it was really delicious and i have more of all the ingredients so I need to make more.  I got a donation of like 2lbs of mushrooms this week so I have to figure out what to do with them, today I sauteed them and stuck them in a quesadilla, also delicious. ($0)
Dinner: Trail mix and hot chocolate ($0)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

hanging out at restaurants

Breakfast: I got sent home home with milk last weekend so I can have cereal again.  I had a bowl of Total and a grapefruit (also sent home from camp) ($0)
Lunch: Sometimes I just spend the day at Starbucks achieving productivity.  I had a latte with the peanut butter crackers I brought from home (also sent home from camp). ($0)
Dinner: Gnocchi and brussel sprout salad from last night. ($0)
Snack: Wednesday nights I study with a friend from 9-11, we meet at a bar/grill and I drink water. Tonight every time a server walked past with a tray of food I was hoping it would be for me, it never was.  I came home and ate some more cereal. ($0)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

cooking for people

Breakfast: beans and cheese in a tortilla and yogurt. after eating this yogurt i remembered why i only like trader joe's yogurt. not all fat free vanilla yogurts are the same! ($0)
Lunch: orange slices and my chicken salad sandwich from last night. ($0)
Dinner: tonight i made dinner for my friend morgan and my roommate april.  i made gnocchi (from my mom) with pesto (from when i moved here) and garlic bread (we decided those little jars of garlic don't go bad) and a really exciting brussel sprout salad with some of the brussel sprouts that my friend aimme mailed me last week. you shred and sauteed brussel sprouts and then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, dried cranberries and walnuts (all things I had in my pantry) thanks aimee!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Variety

Breakfast: Egg, toast and orange ($0)
Lunch: I have new vegetables that I'm really excited to eat but decided I need to eat leftovers first so I had broccoli and the rest of my purple quinoa - FINALLY! ($0)
Dinner: I don't know what happened here.  I went to Target and bought some things but I had a gift card from Christmas so I think that was a free trip.  Realistically if I didn't have a gift card I don't think I would have gotten any of the grocery items.  I did have one of those Bolthouse chai drinks that have no redeeming nutritional value except for protein.  Then I went to Chick-fil-a to give my friend a ride home and she gave me a free meal (which was great because I didn't bring my gift card or meal tips from Kelly B), I drank a lemonade ate some fries and got to bring home a chicken salad sandwich for later. ($0)

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Away

Friday Breakfast: Eggs and toast ($0)
Friday Lunch-Sunday Lunch: I went away this weekend to a FREE church camp thing, there were balanced meals made out of amazing food.  Really my body doesn't know what to do with actual meals. They even gave me milk, fruit and crackers to bring home. ($0)

Weekly total: $0

Thursday, February 16, 2012

i love refrigeration

Breakfast: Oatmeal. ($0)
Lunch: Orange (still from the bunch my mom sent back with me last month, amazingly delicious), broccoli, and a veggie burger with gouda (given to me already expired a month ago). ($0)
Dinner: Trail mix (with no chocolate...sad) also sent back from my mom.  ($0)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

boring

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0)
Lunch: Bean and cheese quesadilla ($0)
Dinner: At like 11pm I had some apple sauce ($0)

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day...Joy gets a real meal

Unfortunately those two statements are not connected, although the guy on the bus who got a new backpack out of the garbage was definitely into me (for real).
Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0)
Lunch: Um I picked painting my nails over lunch then ate a granola bar on the way to the bus stop. ($0)
Dinner: April brought home some enchilada sauce so I made myself enchiladas and broccoli, I think it took less than 10 minutes, I don't know why I don't get around to cooking more. ($0)

Monday, February 13, 2012

Monday...Monday

Breakfast: I finished off my multi-grain Cheerios with week-old milk, it wasn't very good. ($0)
Lunner: I had a lunch burrito, the same as a breakfast burrito be eaten later in the day and some purple quinoa (will it ever end?) ($0)
Night Snack: As I'm writing this I'm getting ready for some Ovaltine, hoping it will hold me over while I write a few more pages on my goals, values and ideal self. ($0)
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No amount of Ovaltine powder could mask the nastiness of the milk.  I'm switching to tea.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast: I overslept. Gummy vitamins, toothpaste, communion bread and a shot of grape juice. ($0)
Lunch: The reason I overslept was because I was exhausted so I came home and slept some more, no lunch required. ($0)
Dinner: Pizza (leftover from Friday night's meeting) and asparagus. ($0)

Weekly Total: $1.50

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Why I Volunteer

Brunch: Breakfast burrito and brownies ($0)
Afternoon: Starbucks (on a gift card) and more brownies ($0)
Dinner: My friends wanted to open their house so couples could drop of their kids and go out.  I helped babysit and got pizza. ($0)

Friday, February 10, 2012

Why I go to School Functions

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal, with a pear ($0)
Lunch: Not very good mango ice cream someone brought to our potluck a few weeks ago. ($0)
Dinner: There's a graduate school association that serves food at their meetings so I went to that to get some pizza. I don't know what the meeting was about but I don't really think anyone did.  They also gave me the leftovers to take home. ($0)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Pictures!

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal with golden raisins. ($0)
Lunch: I had a balanced meal!  Purple quinioa, some chicken (bought in October, cooked yesterday) and asparagus.  I was so impressed I took a picture. There is some emptiness on my huge plate, I'm a Thomas so it was filled with mayo.


Dinner: Not so balanced, but delicious. Hot chocolate and almonds. ($1.50)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Don't you wish you could share one of these lovely meals with me?

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal again, this time without the pear. ($0)
Lunch: The generous description of what I had would be a bean burrito, more realistically it was beans and a little cheese in a tortilla microwaved, I burnt my mouth.  ($0)
Dinner: There were some cookies at church. When I got home I decided that wasn't a real meal so I had french toast without syrup or peanut butter. ($0)

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Poisoned?

Breakfast: More baked oatmeal with craisins and pear. Really delicious. ($0)
Lunch: I wasn't feeling great, and although my first thought was that I poisoned myself again I've decided that probably isn't true.  Because the shadiest thing I've had is that milk and I remembered that milk curdles when it's bad and mine is still fully liquid.  Anyways I ate saltines (bought when I really did poison myself) with peppermint green tea. ($0)
Dinner: More purple quinoa and taquitos. ($0)

Monday, February 6, 2012

Grains

Breakfast: I made a pan of baked oatmeal and ate it with pear and craisins.  ($0)
Late Lunch: Finished off my pear with purple quinoa and some taquitos that got sent home with me after yesterday's potluck.  ($0)
Dinner: I have class through all reasonable times to eat dinner but had Ovaltine when I got home, my milk is on the way out so I'm trying to use it. ($0)

Sunday, February 5, 2012

I love potlucks

Breakfast: Last night Heather and I made some vegan, gluten-free, almond "cookies."  I was running a little late for church so had some of those. It's not actually eating cookies for breakfast because I'm not sure how to actually categorize them. ($0)
Lunch:  Potluck! I actually brought something this time.  Since I evidently have no shame I made my potluck dish at Heather's using all her ingredients.  It was purple quinoa. I think it's delicious but I think some people are scared of purple food so I'll be eating this all week long, which I'm totally OK with. ($0)
Grocery Store: I hear vegetables are good for me so I had to go buy some and steel cut oats. ($7.15)
Dinner: There was A LOT of potluck food so that covered this meal too.  ($0)
Weekly total: $10.56

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Cleaning out the fride some.

This morning when I got up the fridge was open and nothing was all that cold,  I smelled my milk but milk always smells bad so I might die.
Breakfast: Breakfast burrito. I'm a big fan of these but haven't mastered the art of timing a scrambling an egg and getting the other ingredients warm without using the microwave.  ($0)
Lunch: The rest of the Indian pineapple dish and some gallo pinto. ($0)
Dinner: I went to Heather's and we made some breakfast casserole, she feeds me a lot. ($0)

Friday, February 3, 2012

Big Spender

Breakfast: I opened some beans and made myself a breakfast burrito. ($0)
Lunch: I was out with my roommate and we were going to the movies so I requested we go to McDonald's first.  The Shamrock Shake has arrived. ($3.41)
Dinner: I went to Morgan's for dinner, we made pizza which means a lot of veggies on some crust. But she did teach me how to make crust with only flour, water and yeast so now I can make pizzaish things without buying TJ's crusts.  ($0)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

pear chutney vs. just plain pears

Breakfast: Back to oatmeal, pecans and raisins. ($0)
Lunch: I could live on quesadillas so my sister recommended that I mix it up by adding things.  One of her suggestions was pear chutney.  I don't have that but I do have pears so I chopped up one of those.  Then, as a side, I had some mystery pineapple Indian sweet dish leftover from the potluck.  ($0)
Snack: In class someone brought leftover lemon pound cake from some event I missed. ($0)
Dinner/Snack #2: I have unending classes on Thursdays so I had apple sauce and a granola bar. ($0)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Studying

Breakfast: I finished my ham along with an egg toast and gouda. Tomorrow I'll have to branch out again ($0)
Lunch: This semester I actually have classes that require me to do work regularly outside of the classroom.  Today I went to Starbucks and read for 6 hours, during that 6 hours I bought one of their wraps because they were only $2, I still have gift cards so ($0)
Dinner: At 9:30 I started finishing(?) my reading for tomorrow and had some oatmeal and Ovaltine. ($0)