Another reason to like summer
Aug. 29th, 2007 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Fresh veggies are just about the best thing about summer. Maybe the fresh fruit and berries beat the veggies, but not by much.
I have become a rabbit of late. I've been eating almost nothing but veggies, mostly raw. My gazpacho was a success, I might add, despite the absence of fresh dill. I am a little out of sorts with my body, which has decided to *gain* weight on an almost exclusively-veggie diet (go figure), but the joy I am getting out of the fruits and veggies pretty much cancels out any minor vexation on my part.
I am currently experimenting with veggie smoothies. I have been having tofu and fruit smoothies for breakfast on and off for a few months now, and the results have been invariably delicious, so I decided to branch out into vegetables and see if I couldn't simplify my lunch prep. Right now I just blended a bunch of celery, spinach, a banana, carrot juice, and half a cup of (very yummy organic) vanilla yogurt. It's not bad, but I've shoved it in the freezer, testing out a theory that it will be delicious when properly chilled. I may make it with ice cubes next time. Then again, I may find a combination I like better.
My coworker printed out a bunch of veggie smoothie recipes yesterday, and I'm using those as a basis for my own experimentation. If nothing else, working with a weight-and-nutrition-obsessed girl has made me more aware of what I'm putting in my mouth. I was a little dismayed at *just* how bad Tim Horton's stuff is, especially the muffins and Timbits. It makes me a little sad, but I have decided that I'm not going to deprive myself if I really want something: I'll just stop making a habit of going every day and simply go for a treat, or if I go more regularly, I'll just stick to a coffee, which is my main reason for going anyway. It'll cost less in the long run, anyway.
Whatever benighted person said that it was cheap to eat well on a regular basis was sadly deluded, I must say. Sure, if you're eating nothing but canned and dry food, then it's cheap. The minute you get into fresh produce the prices skyrocket. I honestly don't know how people with reduced incomes manage. Even when I was earning my lowest salary, which wasn't minimum wage, I found it hard to both pay my bills and eat healthy and fresh things.
Ah well. At least now I can buy a $3 bottle of carrot juice and not worry how the hell I'm going to pay rent. It's been nearly a year since I've been financially solvent, and I'm still not used to the feeling. I still boggle every time I see money in my bank account at the end of the month. It's not a ton of money, but it's not a negative amount, which is something in and of itself.
I have become a rabbit of late. I've been eating almost nothing but veggies, mostly raw. My gazpacho was a success, I might add, despite the absence of fresh dill. I am a little out of sorts with my body, which has decided to *gain* weight on an almost exclusively-veggie diet (go figure), but the joy I am getting out of the fruits and veggies pretty much cancels out any minor vexation on my part.
I am currently experimenting with veggie smoothies. I have been having tofu and fruit smoothies for breakfast on and off for a few months now, and the results have been invariably delicious, so I decided to branch out into vegetables and see if I couldn't simplify my lunch prep. Right now I just blended a bunch of celery, spinach, a banana, carrot juice, and half a cup of (very yummy organic) vanilla yogurt. It's not bad, but I've shoved it in the freezer, testing out a theory that it will be delicious when properly chilled. I may make it with ice cubes next time. Then again, I may find a combination I like better.
My coworker printed out a bunch of veggie smoothie recipes yesterday, and I'm using those as a basis for my own experimentation. If nothing else, working with a weight-and-nutrition-obsessed girl has made me more aware of what I'm putting in my mouth. I was a little dismayed at *just* how bad Tim Horton's stuff is, especially the muffins and Timbits. It makes me a little sad, but I have decided that I'm not going to deprive myself if I really want something: I'll just stop making a habit of going every day and simply go for a treat, or if I go more regularly, I'll just stick to a coffee, which is my main reason for going anyway. It'll cost less in the long run, anyway.
Whatever benighted person said that it was cheap to eat well on a regular basis was sadly deluded, I must say. Sure, if you're eating nothing but canned and dry food, then it's cheap. The minute you get into fresh produce the prices skyrocket. I honestly don't know how people with reduced incomes manage. Even when I was earning my lowest salary, which wasn't minimum wage, I found it hard to both pay my bills and eat healthy and fresh things.
Ah well. At least now I can buy a $3 bottle of carrot juice and not worry how the hell I'm going to pay rent. It's been nearly a year since I've been financially solvent, and I'm still not used to the feeling. I still boggle every time I see money in my bank account at the end of the month. It's not a ton of money, but it's not a negative amount, which is something in and of itself.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 08:38 pm (UTC)I made stuffed tomatoes tonight that were delicious. They included:
1. a "splurge" bag of basmati and wild rice - 2E
2. a small container of salad shrimp in water - 1.19E
3. 4 large tomatoes - maybe 1.5E
4. a very small zucchini - maybe .75E
spices
The tomatoes, the zucchini, and the fresh basil I used actually came from my garden, so I'm estimating prices. And the spices we had in the kitchen, but then again, I have 3/4 of the bag of my rice left over.
The meal fed two people to absolutely stuffed, was really good, and had some left over for right around 5 Euros.
Now you're right that that is still a lot more than ramen noodles or mac and cheese boxes, but I've seen TV shows saying that lower income families are becoming obese because they can't afford to eat healthily and instead eat at McDonalds. And that just blows my mind. 5E buys one meal at McDonalds, if you don't get an expensive meal, and it doesn't taste nearly as good.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-29 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 12:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 08:39 am (UTC)