on a lighter note
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| Mon, 04-20-2009 - 10:07am |
Four days into my "food stamp diet", still on track, but getting a bit tired of beans and rice and pasta and sauce. Dipped into some of this week's budget and made a loaf of banana bread, using the over-ripe, on-sale bananas. Came out pretty good:
5 large bananas $1.22
2 eggs $0.58
1 stick butter $0.99
3/4 cup sugar and 2 cups wholewheat flour $1.00 (estimate)
1 tsp. baking soda (count this as a freebie)
So the total is $3.79. The recipe said 12 servings, realistically I could get 8 servings from it. Not bad at $0.47 per slice; I have known to pay $3.29 a slice at the local health food store ...
The other thing I did over the weekend was forage. There is a place you could find wild asparagus. They taste slightly stronger than cultivated ones. Managed to get some good shoots. Also went to a friend's yard (he does not use any chemicals) and picked some young dandelion leaves for a salad. Theoretically the asparagus and dandelion are both free, but I think I spent closed to $4 on gas.

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I don't believe you can buy plants with food stamps. I have successfully grown green onions before from just using the top (for cooking), leaving an inch or so of green, and stick the white part with roots into the soil. Another thing is people living in crowded housing projects do not necessarily have land for a garden, and containers and potting soil are expensive.
Um, the menu is more interesting this morning. Is it because we had a "normal" person instead of some prima donna celebrity chef? ;-) There is blog on the New York Times saying how these experts burn and mess up food, all covered up with a swirl of the camera, and set up unrealistic expectations, and can be very discouraging for the average home cook.
http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/tv-cooking-vs-real-cooking/?scp=2&sq=cooking%20show&st=cse
Plants to grow the spices?
"I have started: cilantro, oregano, basil, thyme and rosmary in my seed starter trays. We have wild mints out there in the yard going nuts, we grow garlic and onions (so much for garlic powders), dill and chives".
"I think someone could do a complete herb garden with pots for about $10 easy, and have some to share with others".
Um, lets to the math here. $0.89 per seed package (not counting tax), and we have cilantro, oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, dill and chives. (I am not figuring in the wild mint, garlic and onions). 7 x $0.89 is $6.23, just for the seeds. $10 - $6.23 = $3.77. Do tell me where I could get started trays, pots and potting soil to grow seven kinds of herbs for around $3.77.
Do tell me where I could get started trays, pots and potting soil to grow seven kinds of herbs for around $3.77.
HOW ABOUT FREE, keep your $3.77!
You have obviously never worked with some of the truly low-income population. Where do you get a shovel? Dirt in many poorer neighborhoods are highly contaminated with benzene, PCB, etc. How do they know seeds are on sale? And how do they get there? Ten neighbors in a project getting together? Has it occurred to you that your neighbor could be shot dead before "harvest"?
What I wanted to strike home is yes, I agree with you, there are always those with superhuman willpower who succeed against all odds. My skin-care lady grew up in south side Chicago, came from a single-parent family, one of her siblings is in jail for drug related charges. But she has her own business, and charges some $90 for an half-hour makeup session. Some of her clients are TV anchor women.
What I am trying to do here is not throw phrases around such as "you cannot teach motivation", or "when there is a will, there is a way". I like to explore ways to motivate the unmotivated, and help those with even the tiniest sliver of will to find their way.
I may sound like a broken record here, but like it or not, you are paying for the health care costs of "those people", too.
I rest my case.
I guess I thinking more on the line of the people in my community.
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
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