Okay, let me just say that this whole $21 a week/food stamp "diet" would have been easier if I had no family. Of course, I love my family. But last week, I bought the daughter and friends bakery cupcakes (which did not fit the $21 a week budget) for her birthday. Then, four days into the project, I spent a weekend with extended family.
On the upside, I bought NO groceries. They took me out to dinner Friday night (thanks Uncle Russ), took me to lunch on Saturday (thanks Aunt Joan) and out to dinner on Sunday (thank you Uncle Bob). And there were potato chips on the table (I rarely buy them, because I will eat half the bag if they are easily available), and a six pack of Pepsi--16 oz cans.
Plus, being in the car for 16 hours over the course of the week-end lead to the inevitable snacking. Bought a soda as I left Tacoma. Bought a latte going over the pass. And a cookie. And a slice of pizza. On the way back I had a 16 oz soda (furnished by my aunt), a small bag of popcorn, coffee, a latte, and a slice of pizza.
Crap. So much for my good intentions.
Came back today, spent the afternoon at the office and then went grocery shopping. Last week, taking into account Pam's concerns about my weight and health, I used the handy dandy machine they have at Fred Meyers to find out what I could about my health. I repeated that exercise today:
Weight: 169.2 lbs
BMI: 25
Blood Pressure: 114/73
Okay, so I lost weight? Like, three pounds. In a week. Without trying.
Today's grocery shopping was not as fun as last week, because I ran out of a household staple--olive oil. I love cooking with extra virgin olive oil, and resolved to pick a small, inexpensive bottle of the stuff. The store brand was the cheapest--but there were three varieties of the stuff: Italian (with notes of grass, buttery with a peppery finish), Spanish (with bright high notes, herbal overtones and a peppery finish) or California (notes of grass with a buttery finish). When did buying olive oil become something akin to buying wine? I love the buttery finish, but the California style, while a store brand, is $1 a bottle more than the Italian (which was the cheapest of the three). I'm a girl on a budget, so the Italian variety it is.
2% Milk: $3.79
Mushrooms: $1.99
Mushrooms: $1.99
Hlsr links: $3.99
Lettuce, Shredded: .98 cents
Spinach: $1.67
Apples: (1.82 lbs @.98 per pound) $1.78
Bananas: (.84 lbs @ .64 per pound) .54 cents
Cabbage: (1.24 lbs @ .89 per pound) $1.10
Potatoes: (2.76 lbs @ .49 per pound) $1.35
Olive Oil: $5.99
TOTAL: $25.17
This works largely because I have left over oranges, bread, eggs, sweet potatoes and carrots from last week. No, the mushrooms being posted twice is not a typo. I ran out of mushrooms last week, and don't want it to happen again.
The good news is that the links (beef brat links) will last for a couple of weeks--I typically use one or two in a pot of soup that makes several servings. And I should not have to buy olive oil again during this experiment.
But I love bananas--I had been eating one a day before this experiment started, and this week, I will be reduced to two. I miss them.
Dinner tonight: Yep, sauted spinach and a baked sweet potato. Back to the basics. Which I love--but which will get boring very soon.
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