The veggies are back! The veggies are back!

Full Belly Farm has been on hiatus for the past three weeks, and while they certainly deserve a rest after providing such amazing produce week after week, all year long to over 1000 CSA members, I've been certainly missing my veggie box! I was so excited to pick up our veggies this morning that I squealed a bit when I saw the week's yummy variety, which included:

Cauliflower
Carrots
Salad mix
Leeks
Mandarin oranges
Rutabagas
Tokyo turnips
Butternut squash

It's like Christmas with root vegetables. The Palo Alto Farmer's Market is closed for the winter, so I'm picking up the box at Flea Street Cafe, and there is just a miniature booth of Full Belly goodies - broccoli, kale, root veggies galore, wheat berries, almond butter, dried herbs. So much good stuff! I picked up a bunch of dill and a bunch of cilantro for $2, happy to see the fresh bundles of yummy herbs. ($2 is my current spending for the week. Last week, I spent less than $50 on food, mostly for chicken soup and orange juice!)

***

I weighed myself this morning and was 281 lb., for a total of 30.6 lb. lost. I'm updating my goals and current weight loss for the first time in months. I had a bit of a gain, and a set back in my weight loss, and was embarassed to update with higher numbers. I have to get over that and update whether the scale moves up or down, and being pregnant, I anticipate it moving up in the coming months at a reasonable pace. I'm going to keep track, though, so I don't allow myself to get out of control.

I'm also adjusting my goals. I'm expecting to gain weight during my pregnancy, but my doctor has said that it's okay for me to lose as long as I'm eating enough for the baby to grow at a healthy rate. I would like to end my pregnancy no more than 15 lb. from where I started it. I gained 31 lb. with my first pregnancy, when I ate whatever I cared to eat and made no attempts to exercise, so I think that 15 is reasonable while I'm being careful about what I'm eating and am continuing to exercise.

***

Jax is feeling much better and is bouncing off the walls while I'm recouperating from my chest cold. I'm still sick, but I'm not feeling quite as much like an elephant is sitting on my chest, and I can breathe through my nose again, so things are improving.

Reasons to love the farmer's market, in addition to great produce

I'm reminded again this morning why I love the farmer's market. Not only is there a dazzling array of tasty, fresh, locally grown, seasonal produce, fish, tofu, sausage, nuts, oils and vinegars, cheeses, and breads, but today, vegan butternut squash tamales (yummy!), an accordian player, a small band, a man making animals out of rubber bands, and a Draft Gore stand with a petition to draft Al Gore to run for president. I discovered that cornmeal can be purchased from Full Belly Farm and ginger will be sold next year from the woman who grows all the yummy Asian produce. Yep, it's enough to make a gal like me weak in the knees. The Palo Alto farmer's market runs through early December, and then I'll have to find new Saturday morning entertainment.

This morning, I picked up a pound of snapper for tomorrow night's dinner, Snapper Veracruz; smoked cheddar cheese, dried cranberry beans, Glaum eggs (certified humane), a couple of yellow bell peppers, cilantro and green onions, and 10 pounds of "Sweet September" peaches to freeze for pancakes, smoothies, and oatmeal this winter. I also bought one heirloom Red Delicious apple, which was indeed delicious and resembled the glossy, mealy store-bought variety in name only. I spent about $45. So far this month, I think I'm up to about $90, including milk (Organic Valley from California) and soy milk purchased at Costco last week.

The CSA box this week includes:

Basil
Green beans
Red Russian Kale
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Acorn squash
Corn

Farmer's Market Finds

I was excited to be back at the farmer's market this morning after three weeks away for classes. I spent $20 today for peanuts from C. Farm in Sanger, fresh cranberry beans from Full Belly Farm (aren't those gorgeous?), Brussels sprouts on a stalk from Green Oaks Creek Farm, Red Flame Grapes, and corn on the cob. We're going to eat well this week!

I'll probably spend an extra $15 on milk and eggs, but this will be a low-spend grocery week overall. My budget for September is up to $347.24, well under my budget of $520 (based on the USDA Thrifty Food Plan in August.) I've been including my mother in law in my monthly budget, but she is not eating here as frequently as expected and I'm bringing my budget back down to include just me, Mr.M, and 2 year old Jax, $421.85 per month. I expect October to be well under this amount.

Today's CSA box includes:

Basil
Eggplant
Red Russian Kale
Onions
Gypsy or Flamingo Peppers
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Surprise Melon

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast at the Farmer's Market

20 oz. Watermelon juice (6 Points - OUCH!)

Corn tortilla (1 Point)

2 T. queso fresco (3 Points)

beans, cabbage, salsa

Lunch

2 c. milk

orange

Dinner

Quinoa picadillo in acorn squash boats

Corn on the cob, 1 t. olive oil

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 10

WPA points available: 29

Activity points today: 4 (Walk Away the Pounds 3 miles video)

Activity points this week: 4

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines

1. Fruits and veggies - 5+

2. Whole grains - quinoa

3. Milk - yes

4. Healthy oil - 2

5. Protein - yes

6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes

7. Water - 8+

8. Multivitamin - yes

Goal Accomplished!

Beef Provencal, new potatoes with thyme, mustard glazed carrots, originally uploaded by momaste.

I weighed in today, since I'm in an all day class tomorrow, and I was thrilled with my results: I lost 2.6 lb. this week, bringing me down to 32.4 lb. I reached my goal of 31 lb. by September 23, and hit my 10%. I'm jump-up-and-down excited and motivated to keep working at it!

My next goal is 50 lb. gone by Thanksgiving, and if I continue at my current pace I'll make that goal, too.

***

Between school, babysitting, and family obligations, I have not been fantastic about keeping up the daily menus, and that has been such a wonderful tool for me to stay on plan, so I'm committing to post the daily menu for the next week. This week I was on plan, packed my lunches and ate my yummy freezer dinners, and just neglected to write it down.

On Wednesday, I made Beef Provencal (pictured above) in the pressure cooker from the Lorna Sass cookbook "Pressured Cook." The roast was marinated overnight in red wine with onions, carrots, thyme, and anchovies (it doesn't taste fishy at all.) It came out so, so tender and made delicious leftovers. Next time, I'll roast the potatoes for more flavorful brown bits, but overall it was a great dinner, and done from start to finish in under an hour. Have I mentioned how I love my pressure cooker?

***

I went to the Grocery Outlet in Redwood City this week and spent $40. I bought 6 loaves of Alvarado Street Bakery bread at $1.50 each!! I've been spending upward of $4 a loaf for it, so I bought a bunch and socked it away in the freezer. For Jax's birthday on Sunday, I'm making a variety of finger sandwiches, a veggie tray, and cupcakes, so a loaf or two of the bread will go for party food.

I also bought organic crackers and organic chocolate soy milk for Jax, canned Muir Glen tomatoes (grown locally, industrial organic), and a block of locally grown organic Monterey Jack cheese.

If you take a trip to the Grocery Outlet, you'll find the organic packaged food on the shelves above the freezer section. They also have frozen organics - Amy's dinners and pizzas, frozen veggies, and occasionally meat substitutes like Morningstar - at great prices. You just have to watch the expiration dates.

My September food total is up to $312.24.

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
Non-fat latte - not local, bought at Printer's Cafe in Palo Alto, an independent coffee shop

Lunch
Chickpeas with eggplant-tahini sauce and spinach (1 Point) - Chickpeas from Phipps Country Store, eggplant from Full Belly Farm, local, organic spinach, tahini is organic but not local
Cantaloupe - Full Belly Farm

Dinner
Leftover pot roast - Chileno beef, with Frog's Leap wine and Full Belly Farm onions
New potatoes - Full Belly Farm
Carrots sauteed in olive oil- Earthbound Organics carrots (local, organic, but industrial - I usually try to stick with small farms), Hare Hollow olive oil

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 1
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 2 (Walk Away the Pounds video)
Activity points this week: 2

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - None today
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - 2
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

For the Freezer: In Progress!

I'm taking a break from cooking and cooking to tell you how it's going! So far, I have completed and packaged the sweet and sour lentils, un-stuffed cabbage, chicken cacciatore, and beef picadillo with quinoa. Meatball chili with pumpkin is in the crock pot right now. This evening, I'll finish the mushroom-barley soup, and will prep the stuff to go in the pot roast and chickpeas, which I'll cook in the morning. The shephard's pie will be the pot roast and gravy with extra veggies and a mashed potato topping, and I can make the mashed potatoes while the pot roast is finishing up in the crockpot tomorrow evening.

Right now, there are 8 meals packaged in the fridge. When I finish, there will be between 16-20 meals ready for me to defrost and enjoy when I don't feel like cooking. There will be no excuses for eating junk!

We went to Costco, Country Sun, and the California Street (Palo Alto) farmer's market this morning to get everything I need to cook more than a dozen dinners. I spent just under $80 and got eggs, milk, bread, spices, a jar of smoked ketchup made in Calistoga, and lots and lots of yummy local, organic veggies. I also spent about $40 last week for milk, eggs, salad fixings, and crackers. My total for the month is up to $272.24.

Daily Menu for September 2

I spent the afternoon yesterday disassembling the 7 chickens I bought from Soul Food Farm. I broke them down into thighs and drumsticks, wings, and boneless skinless chicken breasts, then vacuum sealed them into meal sized portions.

I separated the carcasses from the heads and feet and made stock with the carcasses. There was enough stock for tonight's soup (with two extra batches of soup socked away in the freezer) and an extra quart of stock, plus meat off the bones for the soup and another meal. Tomorrow I'll be making more stock from the heads and feet. Last time, I did them together and was really grossed out picking the meat from the bones and coming upon the beaks and toenails, so I kept them separate this time and will just discard them once the stock is done. That should make another two quarts of stock for later use, always nice to have on hand.

My freezer now houses enough chicken, trimmed and labelled, for about 15 meals, plus 2 cups of cooked meat, two quarts of soup and a quart of stock. Since the chicken is somehow heartier than conventional chickens, a little goes a long way in flavoring a dish and I just don't need as much to feel satisfied. We had roast chicken at my mom's house the other night (and it was so good!), one of the Soul Food Farms chickens, and between four adults and a toddler only ate less than half of the chicken. Our same family of four would frequently eat the whole conventional chicken in one sitting.

***

I bought milk, limes, avocados, corn tortillas, and hamburger buns at Sigona's Farmer's Market for $17.24, bringing September's total up to $152.24. Milk is more expensive at Sigona's than at Country Sun, but I didn't want to make a second stop.

***

I slept in (YAY!) and so I didn't have breakfast.

Lunch
Barley and grilled veggie salad (leftovers from dinner)
olive oil and vinegar dressing from Hare Hollow
1 oz. Feta cheese from Spring Hill Cheese (3 Points)
leftover tomato salad
1 c. milk


Dinner
Tortilla soup (3 Points for tortilla)
Includes chicken and chicken stock from Soul Food Farm, onions, garlic, and tomatoes from Full Belly Farm, cilantro and green onion from C. Farm, jalapeno from my front yard, olive oil from Hare Hollow, and tortillas and avocado from Sigona's Farmer's Market
carrots (local, left over from last week)
watermelon from Full Belly Farm

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 6
WPA points available: 31
Activity points today: 3 (30 minute Walk Away the Pounds video)
Activity points this week: 6

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - bulgur
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - chicken
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Eat Local Challenge, weigh in, and daily menu for September 1

I will spend September participating in the Eat Local Challenge. As part of this challenge, I will continue to buy, prepare, photograph, and eat locally, sustainably grown foods, and will blog all about it. I'm commiting to posting my daily menu every day for the month of September. I'll also try my hand at canning, freezing, and dehydrating the local produce available now so that I have it in the winter.

The exceptions: I will eat spices and condiments like soy sauce that are already in my pantry, grains already in my pantry, and will buy the ingredients for my son's birthday cake that aren't locally produced. All are organic and fair trade (chocolate for the cake) and were (or will be) purchased at a locally owned store.

I'll do it on the USDA's Thrifty Plan budget (currently $132.30 a week for my family), not part of the Eat Local Challenge but an ongoing challenge for myself. I hope to lose an additional 8 lb. this month.

***

Budget Update

As I anticipated, August was an outliar in the budget. I prepaid for 6 months of grains and a full year of produce through CSAs, bringing the total to a whopping $1056.78. Not including the CSA renewals, my total was a much more reasonable $321.53, well under the $519.13 a month that I am alloted on the Thrifty Budget.

The plus side of this outlay of cash is that my food bill for the rest of the year be significantly lower, with both fresh produce and grains paid for in advance.

***

For my first act in the Eat Local Challenge, today I am disassembling 7 local, pastured chickens from Soul Food Farm, packaging and freezing them, and making a big pot of stock, also to be frozen for future use. The chickens cost me $97.00, the first expenditure for this month's budget. I also bought a dozen pastured eggs for $5.

***
Today's Full Belly Farm CSA box includes:

Eggplant
Grapes
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Peaches
Summer squash
Peppers
Melon

At the farmer's market, I spent $32 and bought garlic chevre (goat cheese), cilantro, green onion, fresh peanuts (I haven't ever seen local peanuts!), olive oil, and LOTS of red peppers to roast and freeze.

Including the chickens, I'm up to $135 for September's food.

***

Another Saturday morning, another weigh in! This week, the scale showed a lost of 2.8 lb., for a total of 29.2 gone. I'm well on my way to the goal of 30 lb. by September 23.

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
Melon from Full Belly Farm
2 c. milk from Clover Stornetta Farms

Lunch
2 eggs
1/4 oz. cheese (.5 Points)
apple

Dinner
Grilled eggplant stacks with goat cheese and balsamic reduction (2 Points) including eggplant from Full Belly Farm, red peppers from Happy Quail, vinegar from Hare Hollow, wine from Frog's Leap, and garlic chevre (goat cheese) from Spring Hill Cheese
Bulgur (locally purchased but not produced) with homemade chicken stock, lemon juice and lemon zest from the tree across the street, and lemon olive oil from St. Helena Olive Oil Company and a bit of fresh thyme
Grilled corn on the cob
A glass of wine from Frog's Leap

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 4.5
WPA points available: 33.5
Activity points today: 3 (30 minute Walk Away the Pounds video)
Activity points this week: 3

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - bulgur
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - eggs
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Sick and whiny: why I missed Weight Watchers and flew threw the farmer's market

I started sniffling yesterday afternoon and by the evening, full blown cold had set in. I woke up this morning with a sinus headache, sniffles, aches, sneezes, and a sore throat, and decided to stay in bed for as much extra rest as I could manage while Mr.M took Jax to swim class. Still sniffly, I made my way out to grocery shop so we have the food to make a week of menus and aren't tempted to eat out instead. I have to stop that habit in its tracks if I want to continue along losing weight! On my home scale (which is routinely the same as the Weight Watcher's scale), I'm up 1.4 lb. this week. Hopefully next week will drop that and more. Perhaps a sore throat will come in handy after all, haha.

Jax came shopping with me after swim class, and he seemed to enjoy the market. Usually he's home with Dad, and I wish I'd brought him on a morning when I didn't feel so awful! I picked up the CSA box from Full Belly, visited briefly with Ariel from Green Oaks Creek, and shared a basket of strawberries on the lawn, listening to music for a few minutes before heading off to Country Sun for staple grains and dairy. I spent $67.96 at Country Sun on several pounds of each:

Lentils
Whole wheat pasta
Soba (buckwheat) noodles
Bulgur
Wheat Berries
Whole wheat Couscous
Short grain brown rice

And:
Cumin seeds
String cheese for Jax
2 gallons of milk from Clover
a quart of yogurt from Wallaby
2 mineral waters (from Calistoga so still local)
and a fruit leather for Jax to eat in the cart

So while there are no kabobs tonight, as I neglected to stop by the meat booth, we can still have couscous, tzatziki, and grilled vegetables.

I ate past the "sigh" and loved every bite!

Mr.M and I returned from our three-day Napa/Sonoma getaway last night refreshed, just how one wants to return from a few days away from work, home, and child in one of the most gorgeous, serene destinations in the country. We ate well, drank well, and spent an entire afternoon napping; it was lovely.

Wednesday:
We had a very loose itinerary. After dropping off Jax at my parents' house, we had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. In the rush to get everything done, we hadn't had breakfast and I was quite hungry. I ordered a shrimp salad with whole beans and cheese on the side. I used salsa as the dressing, added beans and just a sprinkle of cheese, avoided the shell and chips, and it was a satisfying lunch. I would order that again, even without shrimp as the beans gave it enough protein and plenty of fiber for keeping me full for a while.

St. Helena Olive Oil Company was the first stop in wine country. We tasted a variety of olive oils, vinegars, mustards, and dips, all delicious and many made on site. I particularly liked the lemon olive oil, with a crisp lemon bite and fruity olive flavor, and brought a bottle home for salads.

Our next stop was at one of the two wineries on our itinerary, Frog's Leap. (We never made it to the second!) We were too late for a tour but spent half an hour chatting with Megan, a friendly administrator who gets to work in the sales room one day a week. She told us about the organic, sustainable practices that the winery employs and gave us samples of the Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. We're not big wine drinkers, but we really enjoyed it and bought half a dozen bottles. The tours were booked for the next few days, but Megan took our number to let us know if there was a cancellation, and sure enough she was able to get squeeze us into a tour the next morning.

We drove up to Calistoga where we stayed at the Calistoga Inn. It's a quaint, European style hotel (shared bathrooms) over a restaurant and pub. We walked down picturesque Lincoln Ave. (like walking in a 1950's postcard!) and stopped for dinner at All Seasons Bistro. We sharing two delicious, locally sourced meals: roasted pork loin medallions with stone fruit chutney (melt-in-your-mouth tender) and a glass of chardonnay, and Sonoma duck duo - seared breast and leg confit - with pan juices and Provencal vegetables (and bacon! yum!) and a glass of petit syrah. For dessert, s'mores with homemade graham cracker, homemade marshmallow, and a decadent espresso-chocolate ice cream. We "mmmm"-ed all through dinner! The waiter recommended the wines to us (as I said, we're not big wine drinkers and wouldn't have known where to start) and they complimented the meals quite nicely.

We spent the evening in the pub at the Calistoga Inn listening to a local band and drinking excellent beer, brewed on site. We tried the Kolsch, Porter, and a guest India Pale Ale from a microbrewery in Eureka. I also enjoyed a few mojitos. The bar staff was friendly and atmosphere was great for sharing company with a few locals and a pair of Swedish college boys on a whirlwind US tour.

Thursday:



We were back at Frog's Leap for the tour first thing Thursday morning, which in Napa means 10:30 am. (Nothing is open in the valley before 10 am!) Rachel led the tour, and she had so much energy and enthusiasm that it was hard not to be excited with her about the winery. The organic, sustainable winery utilizes dry farming methods (no irrigation, no fertilizers, and no pesticides), solar panels to cover all of its electricity, and is home to 5 acres of organic orchards and vegetable gardens which adds natural biodiversity and encourages beneficial insects throughout the property. Their 200 acres of vineyards boast grapevines with 22 feet deep root systems; industry standard is a mere 2 feet. Having such deep roots help the grapes retain water in the soil and withstand root pests, which only live in the top two feet of soil. They plant cover crops off season as nitrogen fixers and to add nutrients to the soil. (Who knew I was so interested in soil?!)

The barn is one of 5 original red barns in the county, restored with 80% of its original boards and 20% reclaimed wood. The main house was also built with reclaimed wood, geothermal heating and cooling, and a variety of green building methods. We were encouraged to pick fruit and vegetables from their garden, and living local enough to use it, we brought home two full bags of apples, peaches, and peppers. I'll be freezing peaches, drying apples, and roasting peppers this weekend!



And, of course, the wine was fantastic. We found the tour fascinating and would highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. The tour is free, and we tasted five wonderful wines. As wine novices, we also learned quite a bit about what to look for in different types of wines and how they are produced.

We ate a packed lunch of black-bean and wheat berry salad with fresh veggies and apples picked at Frog's Leap, and then went back to our room for a short nap that turned into a long nap. The second winery that we planned to visit was snoozed through.

For dinner, we visited The Girl and The Fig. This was another amazing meal. We started with a cheese and fruit sampler (left to right): cow's milk Three Sisters Serena, goat's milk Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog, and sheep's milk Bellwether Farm's Pepato. All three are California cheeses, and they were delicious! We especially liked the sheep's milk cheese, studded with peppercorns. They were served with apples, nuts, fig chutney, and fig cakes.



We both had heirloom tomato soup with basil and saffron, and for our entrees, Mr.M tried the grass fed flatiron steak with pommes frites and I had the daily special, herb-crusted halibut with saffron Israeli couscous and spinach, sauteed baby squash, and a red-pepper sauce. It was beautiful, colorful, and tasted spectacular. The fish was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside; the couscous had that warm, rich saffron flavor, and the sauce complimented both. Mr.M's steak was equally delicious and very tender. For dessert, I enjoyed a small scoop of chocolate orange sorbet, fig and port ice cream, and hazelnut gelato. I had the "wine flight" with my meal - three tastes of wine, one with the soup, one with the entree, and a port with the dessert. I didn't write down what they were, unfortunately, but they were tasty!




Friday:
Friday morning we headed down to Napa to visit Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food, and The Arts. They offer cooking demonstrations (we attended one featuring tomatoes), wine tastings, and regular classes in addition to their ongoing exhibits, Forks in the Road about the American food experience and Hungry Planet, a fascinating photo series documenting what families eat for an entire week in countries around the world, based on the book of the same name by Peter Menzel. It is a beautiful building and the grounds house several acres of edible gardens. We ate lunch at Julia's Kitchen inside the Copia, which offered a number of the garden's fruits and vegetables on their menu.

For lunch, I had the portobello mushroom wellington with eggplant puree, asparagus, and tomatoes. It was almost too pretty to eat, and tasted as good as it looked! The pastry was flaky and the sauce had a creamy texture but tangy, savory flavor that was just delightful.



After the Copia, we picked up Jax and came home. It was so nice to just spend time with Mr.M alone, no work, no baby, no worries for a few days, and we had fun just being together.

***

I was sure that I gained weight as I indulged in all of these amazing meals, eating the bread, desserts, and delectable sauces but when I went to Weight Watchers this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to have lost .4 lb.! Sweet!

***

At the farmer's market after Weight Watchers, I renewed my CSA box a year in advance. Add $686 to my monthly total and my budget is blown out of the water, but broken down it's just $58 a month for fresh, local, organic produce delivered to me. You really can't beat that. By paying a year in advance, I save a dollar a week. Since summer is the busy season for our family business, and the time of year when I have a little extra cushion in the budget, it was worth it to pay upfront and not have to worry about coming up with it in the winter, when the budget is tighter by necessity.

Today's box includes:
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
cantaloupe
honeyloupe
peppers
potatoes
tomatoes

This will be a tasty week! I also spent $24 on Pacific snapper for dinner tonight, cheese and butter from Spring Hill, onions, and Glaum eggs. I still need milk, rice, and yogurt, which will bring the total closer to $44 for this week's groceries, plus the CSA payment.

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
apple
2 slices Alvarado Street Bakery toast and 1 t. Spring Hill scallion-lemon butter (3 Points)

Lunch
red lentil soup with tomatoes and potatoes
1 oz. cheese (3 Points)
peach

Dinner
more red lentil soup (yummy!)

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 6
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 8 (The Firm video)
Activity points this week: 8

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - whole wheat bread
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (fish)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

12 week progress report

I've now been on program for 12 weeks. I've tried Weight Watchers a dozen or more times, lost 15-20 lb., and then quit and gained that back plus more. This is the longest I've ever stuck to the program and also the most weight I've ever lost, and I'm continuing to feel motivated and on track. This time is different: cutting out the junk food, the processed, chemical, fake stuff, and caring for the first time about where the food comes from has made such a difference not only in my weight loss but in how I am looking at food altogether.

In the past twelve weeks, I've lost:
26 pounds
32.5 inches
30 points on my cholesterol
two pant sizes (from 28 to 24) and two shirt sizes (from 26 to 22)

In its place, I've gained:
endurance!
the ability to climb a flight of stairs without getting winded, walk a mile without taking a break, and finish the 55 minute FIRM exercise DVD (whew, that last one was tough)
a passion for dried beans and whole grains

I'm feeling so motivated to continue, and am thrilled with my progress so far. This is just the beginning!

***

I went to the farmer's market this morning and picked up my CSA box from Full Belly Farm. In it this week:

Basil
Bi Color Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Canary Melon
Cantaloupe Melon
Onion
Heirloom tomato

At the market, I also bought the longest celery I've ever seen, a head of cauliflower, green onions, silken tofu, a variety of colorful peppers and a jar of local smoked paprika, and a small ham. I spent $35 today toward this week's food. Yesterday I went to the grocery outlet and spent $18, mostly stocking up on local (Sebastapol), organic applesauce on sale for $1.50 a jar. I also hit Costco for Gardenburgers (not local, but they're easy for Jax and he loves them,) local, organic carrots, local mushrooms, and olive oil (not local, but organic.) I spent under $35. This week's food expense is up to $88.00. I'll need more milk and eggs later in the week, and will probably pick up some picnic fixings on our trip to Napa, so it will probably hit the weekly budgetted amount at that point.

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
Baked oatmeal
2 c. milk

Lunch
Melon Chicken Salad (2 Points for the dressing, no walnuts)

Dinner
Grilled pork with balsamic reduction (from TLC Ranch)
Roasted eggplant and cauliflower with 1 t. oil (from Full Belly Farm and Green Oaks Creek Farm and Retreat
Tomatoes with salt and pepper (from Full Belly Farm)
Wheatberries with 1 t. olive oil and lemon (from Full Belly Farm)

Dessert
4 oatmeal cookies (12 Points)
milk

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 14
WPA points available: 30
Activity points today: 9 (5 for walking at a leisurely pace for 70 minutes; 4 for 1/2 of The Firm Aerobic Body Shaping - and I'm still sore from Thursday!)
Activity points this week: 13

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - oatmeal, brown rice
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (chicken, pork)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Daily Menu for August 5

I got a call last night from Pietro, my fishmonger, to let me know that a salmon was in and I could pick it up this morning. Hooray! I picked up the 7.5 lb. salmon, gutted but still with head, tail, fins and such, and it is ready for dismemberment in my fridge. I'm going to cut it into fillets and vacuum seal those for later in the year when fresh salmon isn't available. The head and bones will be saved for fish stock, except for the cheeks, a delicacy, which will be eaten on their own!

I spent $55 on salmon, and picked up a few more veggies for an additional $7.25. That brings my food expenditure up to $135.82 this week, or $315.82 including the grain CSA. This is a heavy week on food expenses, but the next few months will be lighter because of it. Everything evens out in the end.

***

Daily Menu
EDITED for accuracy!

Breakfast
2 slices California Style whole grain toast from Alvarado Street Bakery (2 Points)
1 t. butter from Spring Hill Cheese (1 Point)

Lunch
2 Soul Food Farm eggs
about a cup of zucchini from the neighbor
1 slice toast with 1/2 t. butter (1.5 Points)

Dinner
Grilled stuffed pasilla peppers (stuffed with fresh corn, zucchini, black beans, and grilled tomatoes) - The peppers are from the Menlo Park farmer's market, black beans from Phipps, and the corn and tomatoes are from Full Belly Farm
1 T. sharp cheddar from Spring Hill Cheese (1.5 Points)
Corn on the cob, plain
2 c. milk
bulgur

Snack
pita chips - 12 points OUCH! I don't normally snack, but I picked up a bag of pita chips after craving crunchy chips for a few days and thinking pita would be healthier. It was 12 points for the bag, which I polished off in one sitting. Yikes! Good thing I earned Activity points, but I can't make that a habit.

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 18 (not worth it!! Stupid pita chips...)
WPA points available: 20
Activity points today: 6 (The Firm video - ouch!)
Activity points this week: 9

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - whole grain bread, bulgur
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (eggs, beans)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Fruits of our neighbors

Mr.M and Jax went on a walk last night and brought home a bag full of goodies. It seems that they stopped to chat with each neighbor with a fruiting tree, told them about our quest to eat local foods, and were given as much as they could carry. They brought home apples, oranges, lemons, a big grapefruit, and mouths smeared with blackberry (they don't travel well in the company of bigger fruit!) The blackberry bush's owner said we were welcome back, so I'll be back to get a batch to freeze. Same goes for apples - applesauce is coming our way with these sweet, tart beauties.

What is growing in your neighborhood? Most of the tree-owners we've encountered are happy to give fruits away from their trees and it never hurts to ask if you could enjoy a few. It doesn't get much more local than that!

***

I took off what was gained last week, and then some, so I'm feeling good about today's weigh in. I'm now down 24 lb. in 11 weeks and making strides toward my goal of 10%/31 lb. by September 23. My BMI, still well within the obese range, is down 4 points.

***

The Weight Watchers leader substite I didn't like (see the June 22 entry) was back again. She started the meeting by saying she'd gained 5 pounds and the scales must be off. Well, I lost 3.8 lb and am counting on them being right! Then she goes on to talk about how she started out SO fat at 170 lb. and how did she let herself get so big, and talking to a new woman about how it's good that she started WW before really getting heavy. Um, HELLO!? I'm starting out at 311 lb. and my GOAL is 165. I'll be THRILLED, jumping up and down and hugging anyone who will let me, when I reach 170 and even then it will take more than a year of hard work to get there. I almost left in the middle of the meeting, but I wanted to tell her how discouraging that was. She talked again about how she doesn't exercise, but she has heard it can help. Our regular leader is at a bowling tournament and she said the regular leader was "almost fanatical" about exercise. WHAT?

After the meeting, I told her that I found talking about the weight in numbers really discouraging, since she was feeling so horrible about being at my goal weight. She said that's not what she meant, and I'm taller and she has smaller bone structure besides (taller by two inches and who can see my bone structure under all this padding?), and that she was eating unhealthy and not at a good weight for her. I said she should say she was eating unhealthy and was uncomfortable at her weight instead of saying how terrible 170 is. I'm still feeling discouraged and will be mentioning it to my regular leader next week. (I find my regular leader inspiring and incredibly helpful. She has lost 140 lb. and I can identify with her.)

***

Budget

I've been eating primarily local, organic, CORE foods and doing it on the USDA's Thrifty Plan for cost of food at home - just about $92 a week for my family. I went over a few weeks and under a few weeks, but my average is right about $90 for the past 6 weeks. We're adding an eater to our family, as I'm cooking lunch and dinner for my mother in law (for here or to go) in exchange for childcare when I go back to school next month. She eats here frequently anyway, but now it's a bit more of a formal arrangement and I'm adding her into our cost of food. With that addition, my weekly budget is now $119.80. Thank goodness for all the free fruits, since I bought only $73.57 this week so far.

This week, I've spent:

$26.00 for two chickens and a dozen eggs at Soul Food Farms
$33.57 for bread, polenta, yogurt, milk, applesauce, spices, spaghetti, dried tomatoes, feta cheese, a bottle of Bragg's Liquid Aminos, and an apple bar for Jax at Country Sun
$14.00 for two blocks of smoked sharp cheddar from Spring Hill Cheese

I also sent in $180.00 for the Grain CSA payment. It has been a bad couple of weeks for fishing so the whole salmon isn't in quite yet, but that will be here soon adding to our monthly budget. Also, I'll be renewing my produce CSA box at the end of the month, adding another $185.00 to the month expenditures.

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
1 slice California Style whole grain toast from Alvarado Street Bakery (1 Point)
1/2 t. butter from Spring Hill Cheese (yummmm!), 1 t. Strawberry Rhubarb jelly from Phipps Country Store (1 Point)
1 c. plain fat free Wallaby yogurt
1/4 c. steel cut oatmeal
2 apricots

Lunch
leftover Chicken cacciatore with whole wheat pasta and 1 t. olive oil
Apple from a neighbor's yard

Dinner
We ate at Fresh Choice. I had a bowl of pho noodles (1 Point for the noodles), a huge salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a brownie (3 Points).

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 6
WPA points available: 32
Activity points today: 3 (Walking)
Activity points this week: 3

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, whole grain bread
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (chicken)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Beans, Beans, the musical fruit...

Yesterday, we drove out to the coast for lunch in Half Moon Bay (I had halibut and double veggies) and down to Pescadero for beans, of all things. I'd found Phipps Country Store online and was excited to check out their locally grown, heirloom varieties, and I was not disappointed. (I got a camera for my birthday, and what did I take pictures of? Beans, of course!)

The store itself is adorably quaint, with old appliances given a new life as display cases - a century old Maytag washer houses peanuts, for example. The dry bean section held more variety than I've seen in one place, and more varieties than I've seen, period! Many of them are grown on site. Orle, the friendly gentleman working in at the counter, suggested Gigantes, a huge white bean that is good for salads, and Green Flagiolets, a small, immature bean that doesn't need to soak. I also bought some gorgeous Jacob's Cattle Beans, Red Calypsos, and Buckskin Beans. I just stocked up on lentils or I would have bought more there - they had quite a variety, including whole lentils (as opposed to the more common split lentils you would see in the supermarket or bulk bins) and I was told they're grown in Lodi, so here's my local lentil source! Black garbanzo beans were another interesting find. I bought a jar of strawberry-rhubarb jam as well.

They also have a pick-your-own berry farm, a small area with farm animals, and a great greenhouse-type room with plants and birds. We saw a friendly cockatoo (he and Jax said "hello" back and forth for quite a while!), lovebirds, parakeets, quail, pigeons, pheasants, and chickens, plus a bunny. The whole place was just great for someone like me, interested in local foods, but also a nice pit stop for fresh food if you're ever in the area and want a picnic.

I spent $19.83 on beans and jam, and I'll definitely be back the next time I need beans!


***

Today's weigh in was great, with a 4.8 lb. loss this week, bringing my total down to 23 lb. gone in 9 weeks. My goal of 30 lb. by September 23 is well underway. I think I'll meet that by mid-August at the current rate.

Today's meeting topic was exercise, and just another kick in the pants to stay on track exercising! That is the easier place for me to falter, and it can be easy to talk myself out of it even though I feel so good after. My plan is to exercise 4 days this week, earning 16 Activity Points.

***

The farmer's market is in full swing, with fruits and veggies in great abundance and variety! My CSA box includes:

Blue Lake Green Beans
Sweet white corn
Basil
Eggplant
Melon
Torpedo onion (a torpedo-shaped red onion)
Potatoes
Mixed heirloom tomatoes (so pretty!)

I also picked up a few zucchinis, grapes, strawberries, bell peppers, and more tofu from Hodo Soy, spending $15.00 on colorful, nutritious produce. I'll be making grilled eggplant stacks again tonight (see the July 15 entry for the recipe), since my produce box gave me eggplants and it was such a delicious way to use them!

***

Between the beans and produce, my total spending on food for the week is a whopping $34.83. We'll need more milk later in the week, and still have lots of leftovers from last week, so it will be a low-budget week. I seem to run every other week higher, and the whole salmon is coming in next week so that will bring my food bill up! :)

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
Non-fat latte
Strawberries

Lunch
Chili
1 oz. grated smoked sharp cheddar from Spring Hill Jersey Cheese (this stuff is AMAZING - such a deep, rich, smoky flavor that a little goes a long way! (3 PT)
Whole wheat couscous

Dinner
Grilled eggplant stacks (1/2 oz. goat cheese and sauce - 2 PT)
Corn on the cob
Tomato-basil salad

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 5
WPA points available: 34
Activity points today: 4
Activity points this week: 4

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+ (it's a veggie-heavy day!)
2. Whole grains - couscous
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (beef and beans in chili, milk and cheese)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

The Bounty in the Neighbor's Yard

It's an abundant time of year for fresh fruits and vegetables, and our neighborhood has its own unused bounty sadly falling onto the sidewalks. On my walk with Jax this week, we discovered a plum tree whose fruit is littering the yard and sidewalk, lemons, oranges, and apples (not yet ripe), and a big rosemary bush. The lemons have been offered to us by their kind owners (and our occasional babysitter) and today I asked to pick some of the ripe, juicy plums, coming home with a nice sized bag that are already half eaten. This week, I'll ask about the oranges and rosemary, and I'll go back for more plums! I'd love to find a bay tree in the neighborhood; I'll have to keep an eye out on future walks!

One of our neighbors has chickens and a lovely garden, supplying some of her neighbors with occasional eggs. Another neighbor grows zucchini by the bushel and it is a regular late-summer gift to all of his neighbors. At the end of the street, a small garden is growing between the street and sidewalk, with staked tomatoes, strawberries, and squash. Our suburban street is flush with fresh, flavorful, foods!

My garden plans have been sadly neglected, but I'm more inspired to start with late season seeds and join the grow-my-own club. There is an event scheduled at Common Ground in Palo Alto called the Edible Landscaping tour, described as a self-guided tour to

Learn what motivates your neighbors to grow their own food! Discover how folks weave edible plants into both garden beds and the landscape! Meet the gardeners and get inspired by the special features of their gardens!

I'll be joining just to see what else is growing in our neighborhood that I don't even know is edible!

***

Today's weigh in showed a drop of 1.6 lb., for a total of 18.2 lost. Next week should bring me to the 20 lb. mark. At the meeting today, our leader Jennifer started a travelling food journal. A different member takes the journal each week and tracks what they eat that week, passing it along at the end of their week for someone new. I thought it was a really neat idea, and a good way to get new ideas. I took it for the first week, and hopefully I can take a look at the end of the book to see what other people have been eating. I'm a food voyeur! :)

I did my shopping after Weight Watchers and made up for my very inexpensive shopping week last week! I didn't end up buying any more milk last week, so my total was only $17.45. This week, I needed more lentils, beans, oatmeal, milk, yogurt, a few spices, and of course produce, plus a few incidentals. I asked the buyer at Country Sun where the lentils and black beans come from, but she couldn't say specifically, only "back east". Many of the bulk bins are local, including Lundberg Farms rice, locally grown nuts and such.

I spent $51.50 at Country Sun, $25 at the farmer's market (including Spring Hill smoked sharp cheddar and a piece of snapper), and another $42 at the Grocery Outlet, where I bought 12-grain bread by Vital Vittles, whole wheat pitas by Soli's Bakery, corn tortillas by another local company, and a case of canned vegetable stock (not local), case of canned organic tomatoes (not local), two blocks of organic cheese from Petaluma (and only $2.99 a lb!) and a jar of pickles for Mr.M. He likes Clausen pickles and only Clausen pickles, but I rarely buy them.

Yesterday, I bought eggs (local and organic) and Garden burgers for the boy-o (not local) at Costco for $12.98. My food expenses for the week thus add up to $131.48. Tomorrow, I'm buying more produce to can and freeze, and I ordered another whole salmon, coming in next week; I'm also sending in a check for the grain CSA, so it will be another pricy week but the food will be eaten for several months with what is being spent for the next few weeks.


This week's produce box included
Basil
Blue lake green beans
Nantes carrots
White sweet corn
Two small melons (a watermelon and a cantaloupe)
White Lady peaches (YUMMY!!)
Heirloom tomatoes



***
Daily Menu
Breakfast:
nonfat latte
peach

Lunch:
Split pea soup
1 c. milk
3 plums

Dinner:
Grilled Eggplant Stacks with goat cheese (3 Points)
Small piece of grilled snapper
Corn on the cob
2 t. olive oil
bulgur

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 3
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 4
Activity points this week: 4

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - bulgur
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Mr.M, Jax and I went to the new Palo Alto farmer's market on California St. after church yesterday. It's a cute little market with a lot more baked goods and prepared foods (including relishes, pickles, oils and vinegars, etc.) and fewer produce stands than the Mountain View or downtown Palo Alto markets. They also had meat from a pastured ranch in Paso Robles, outside of our local range but still wonderful to see.

There was also the 1st edition food guide being handed out from the Buy Fresh, Buy Local campaign by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, listing various food growers and distributers throughout the Bay Area. It is fantastic! I ate it up (harhar) and was thrilled to find local producers of dry beans, a staple I've up til now been unable to find locally, and chickens, goats, lamb, sheep, and pork. My copy is already dog-eared and written all over, and I may have to pick up another one since this one is sure to be well loved.

I bought organic pastured eggs ($4.25), strawberries ($5), and milk at Country Sun ($5.99) bringing my weekly food expenses up to $17.49. I'll need more milk later in the week, but otherwise we're going through the stuff in the fridge and pantry this week. My total should be under $25.00.

Next week and again in August, I'm planning on preserving some of the wonderful summer fruits and veggies. I bought a vacuum food sealer to freeze produce and will also do some canning. In addition to freezing a variety of blanched veggies and fruits, I'm going to do some pickling and preserving for the first time. I found a recipe for fig and caramelized onion preserves that looks very tasty, but I don't think we've hit fig season (or figs just aren't that popular around here) since I'm not seeing them in abundance quite yet.

Next month will be a tomato canning adventure and hopefully I'll be able to can enough to keep us through the winter without having to resort to the mealy storebought "fresh" tomatoes or commercially processed canned. I'd also like to try to make my own ketchup and tomato chutney, both recipes I remember my mom making when I was a kid. Fresh ketchup has such a different texture than the storebought variety and has such great tomato flavor that I'm excited to try it again and introduce it to my family.

***

On the Weight Watchers front, I used all my weekly points (plus some, probably) on nachos and beer last night. It was not my brightest move, but it's done and I have the rest of the week to eat on track and make up for the garlic cheese, tortilla chip, and Sam Adams indiscretion.

***
I am making this recipe for dinner. I found the it at US Wellness Meats, a grassfed beef online store. I'll report back how the recipe worked for me.

Eye of Round Crock Pot Roast

Ingredients
2 pound eye of round
Salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 whole clove (optional)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Rub roast with salt and pepper. Make small slits in roast and insert slices of garlic. Put 1 sliced onion in bottom of crock-pot. Place roast on top of onion and add other ingredients. Cover and cook on low for about 10 hours.

To make a thicker gravy remove roast from pot. Blend 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water to form a smooth paste. Set on high and pour in paste. Stir well and let come to a boil (about 15 minutes) until thickened.

***

Daily Menu

Breakfast
Potato pancakes (mashed plain potatoes, egg, grated squash, grated carrot, salt, pepper, and seasonings, pan cooked in 1 t. olive oil.)

Lunch
Egg salad
Strawberries
Carrot sticks
2 c. milk

Dinner
Pot roast
Carrots & Celery
bulgur (I had potatoes for breakfast, and they're a once-a-day food)


WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 0
WPA points available: 0
Activity points today: 4
Activity points this week: 4

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - bulgur
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

As predicted, I gained a pound this week with all the celebration foods. Back on track with fewer distractions, this week will hopefully make up for last week!

My food budget last week hovered at $170 including party foods, so more than I anticipated spending but still not horrible. The budget this week is quite small, though, to make up for the overspending last week. This week, so far I've spent a whopping $2.25 (a bunch of kale and 3 artichokes) plus my pre-paid produce box. I'll need milk and eggs, but am mostly set with leftovers from last week and the freezer stock.

Here's what my CSA box included this week (we ate the corn last night)
Corn
Cucumbers
Edamame
Potatoes
Summer Squash
Peaches

This week's menu:
Sunday - Veggie burgers, whole wheat couscous, edamame-green bean salad, grilled peaches
Monday - Crockpot Pot roast with carrots and potatoes,
Tuesday - Bean and barley soup, steamed artichokes
Wednesday - Whole wheat pasta with white beans and zucchini
Thursday - Dhal (lentils), brown rice, Swiss Chard, cucumber salad
Friday - Tofu stirfry

Daily Menu
Breakfast
Shredded wheat
milk
peach

Lunch
Lentil soup
Carrots
milk

Dinner
Veggie burger
whole wheat couscous
edamame-green bean salad
grilled peaches (YUM!)

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 0
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 4
Activity points this week: 4

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - shredded wheat, couscous
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Weigh in, Budget Update, Daily Menu for June 30, and a Non-Scale Vicory

Today's weigh in was great - another 2 lb. gone, for a total of 17.6 gone in 6 weeks. Hooray!

I did my grocery shopping after Weight Watchers and spent $97.15 for the week, over my Thrifty Plan allotment by $5.00. I'll probably spend more tomorrow. We're hosting a Fourth of July party and party food obviously costs a bit more than your standard weekly menu, so I anticipate a higher budget this week. I bought fruits and veggies for a variety of CORE salads for the barbecue - the Mexican cole slaw, quinoa and black bean salad, grilled corn on the cob, and a fruit salad in a hollowed out watermelon. People are bringing their own meats to grill. We are also buying beer for the party, which will throw me way over budget! Our personal weekly menu, outside of the barbecue, is closer to $75 and won't change much.

***

I was attending a wedding in Pacifica today with my mom and we stopped at the Princeton Seafood Company (blogged about a few weeks back as well) for a healthy lunch on the way, not expecting to find much in the way of Weight Watchers friendly dining at the wedding. We split a fresh salmon salad (I dressed mine with lemon juice) and I had a cup of artichoke soup (all CORE ingredients.) As anticipated, the wedding had nothing that would work on my plan, and I'm very pleased that we thought ahead to eat so I wasn't there, hungry, with a buffet full of off-plan foods.

During the reception, my cutie 3-year-old nephew (son of the bride) was unaccompanied while the bridal party was doing bridal party things, so I helped him through the buffet and fed him lunch, then chased him for the next two hours or so. That kid has ENERGY, and wasn't at all interested in sitting still! At cake time, there was no one to cut the cake, and I volunteered to cut the cake - it's one of the random skills leftover from being a bride myself. Because I was staying busy, no one noticed that I didn't eat at the buffet or have any cake, and I was satisfied from lunch. I avoided the buffet line and the cake, having just one bite of my mom's cake. Hooray for this HUGE non-scale victory for me!

We stopped at Joy Meadow restaurant on the way home and had a nice, on program dinner. All I have to count for the day is the fortune cooke.

***

Daily Menu:

I ate out every meal today, and I was pleased with my choices. I don't know about the healthy oils, and dairy will be a midnight snack, but the rest of the 8 healthy guidelines were covered. Tomorrow we're attending a barbecue at a friend's house, and I plan to eat ahead and stay occupied, since the strategy worked well for me today!

Breakfast:
Plum


Lunch:
1 c. artichoke soup
about 2 c. green salad
1/2 hard boiled egg
about 3 ounces of salmon

Dinner:
Nepal Loaf (a bakede-burger type cake with brown rice, tofu, veggies, and a mushroom gravy made without flour)
about 1/2 c. brown rice
about 1/2 c. mixed veggies
fortune cookie (2 Points)

Snack:
2 c. milk


WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 2
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 3 (chasing my nephew!)
Activity points this week: 3

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5
2. Whole grains - brown rice
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - no
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

CORE on a budget

Inspired by the Washington Post article, "How Far can your Dollar Stretch" by Sally Squires I'm challenging myself to feed my family this week on the USDA's Thrifty Plan for Food at Home. The USDA has four budgets for food at home, and the Thrifty Plan is the lowest of these budgets; it is also the amount that food stamps are based on. My family'd budget is $91.95 a week (based on two adults and one toddler for the chart from May, most recent available.) I'm still committed to locally grown, organic foods and I'm doing it with a dollar figure in mind. I've been averaging $100 a week since starting Weight Watchers, so this dollar figure isn't such a stretch. My goal here is to show that eating well doesn't have to cost a fortune. Most of us can eat a variety of delicious, filling, organic whole foods and not break the bank.

My family is very fortunate, let me say right up front. We are not on food stamps, and our income adequately covers our expenses (although with a self-employed dad and stay-at-home-mom, some months are tighter than others!) We have access to local, organic foods at a reasonable price, reasonably close to our home. For many, this is a luxury that simply isn't available.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet while receiving food stamps or living on a minimal food budget is understandably difficult. None of my vendors accept food stamps - not the Farmer's Market (although some Farmer's Markets are now accepting food stamps, a wonderful step in the right direction), not the rancher from whom I bought our split quarter of pastured beef, not my local natural foods store, etc.

I have the advantage of time: time to research food choices, make meal plans, and cook from scratch so very, very little of our food is prepared/processed. I am gaining an education in healthy food choices, which has changed how I shop. My family doesn't grumble too much at the many inexpensive vegetarian meals that are served. I also have a vehicle so I am able to shop at a variety of sources. Lacking any of these can make a significant difference for someone struggling to get by. It can be done, but with obstacles.

This week's menu includes:
Muesli and Shredded wheat with fruit for breakfasts
Egg salad and leftovers for lunches
Lentil tacos with Mexican coleslaw
Huevos Rancheros on brown rice with green beans
Salmon cakes with couscous and beets
Tofu stirfry with wheatberries
Crockpot chili and baked potato
Chana masala (Indian curried garbanzo beans) with bulgur and zucchini
Chicken and rice with carrots

Today I did most of the shopping for the week, everything but the CSA box, a few extra veggies, and eggs from the farmer's market on Saturday. Everything is organic and bought at a local natural foods store that isn't known for being inexpensive, but carries many local brands. If I really needed to stretch a dollar, I would have to shop elsewhere. Here's what I bought:

2 qts. fat free plain yogurt - $6.99 (not local - the Strauss yogurt I normally buy was out of stock, so I bought a different variety this week)
1 pt. whole plain yogurt - $2.79 (for Jax; local)
1 gallon fat free milk - $5.99 (local)
1 gallon whole milk - $5.99 (for Jax; local)
1 lb. tofu - $2.19 (local)
Canola oil - $8.99 (not local)
Jar of ginger - $2.19 (not local)
24 oz. Applesauce - $2.99 (local)
1/4 lb. oat bran - $.38 (not local)
Shredded Wheat - $5.39 (M's request; local producer)
$43.89

From Webb Ranch Farm Produce Stand:
2 peaches, 3 HUGE beets, a half-pint of raspberries, and 1 lb. cherries - $8.35

My CSA box costs $14.50 per week, paid in advance, and includes:
apricots (again!)
green beans
cabbage
carrots
white corn
potatoes
squash

I still need eggs ($2.50), bell peppers, jalapenos, and oranges (about $8) from the farmer's market. If I include the cost of foods I have on hand in the pantry or freezer and plan to use this week, I'm right about at budget - 1 lb. ground beef $5, 1/3 a chicken $3, and 6 oz. salmon $3.75, corn tortillas $.99, plus a bunch of beans and grains, probably under $4. I'm not including the spices and condiments on hand.

That puts my total for a week of groceries at $93.98, including meats and grains on hand, or $77.24 spent on food this week.