A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures #3

In an effort to eat healthier I have a serving of vegetables topped with low fat cheese and a sunny side up egg for breakfast.  Usually it's accompanied by a cup of espresso from our new cappuccino maker.

My husband's mom stopped in at Los Olivos to buy these ginormous strawberries from the local farm.  They were huge, delicious and juicy.  I am ruined for all other strawberries.  Half a flat eaten in less than a week.

Dolphin Bay in Artesia is a Taiwanese cafe that serves food and boba type drinks.  This is the spicy popcorn chicken over pork topped rice.  The veggies were delicious and the other side is a steamed egg that is so popular in Chinese cuisine.

This is my other favorite breakfast that is a cinch to whip up.  It's a portabella mushroom seared on both sides, low fat swiss and an egg over easy with a bunch of grapes.  Yum.

Original Thai BBQ is one of the best values in Thai food in the neighborhood.  Above is the Beef Panang which is all high quality beef and sauce unlike the typical Thai place that uses more potato in the dish.

My favorite aspect of Thai food are these fat rice noodles.  Heck, they're my favorite in Chinese food too.  these are the Drunken Noodles which I assume is drunk because of the Rice Wine.

Tom Yum Soup is yummy as always!

A local Asian Seafood Buffet, aptly named... wait for it... Asian Buffet serves sea snails, fresh oysters, shrimp cocktail, fresh alaskan crab legs.  Really and amazing seafood value!

A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures #2

99 Ranch makes these lunches to go for about $5.  This was roasted duck with rice and baby bok choy.  Actually, is was all the vegetables in the dish, a third of the rice and a fourth of the duck.  My brother ate the rest.

This was my dinner the other night when I was fending for myself.  Mixed greens, sauteed shrimp, softened tomatoes and blue cheese sprinkled on top.  Delicious and so flavorful no dressing was necessary.  Plus it literally took me 10 minutes to prepare. WIN!
Sorry for the awful background.  We're renovating our house right now so I have little light and no furniture in the dining room.

Previously mentioned Love Letter is definitely DH's comfort food.  Here is the Spicy Garlic Chicken which is deep fried and then coated in a sugary hot sauce.  So bad for your body but so good on the palate. That is pickled radish in the background, you know the stuff you find at Korean restaurants that's delicious with salt and pepper?  Word.

For my friend's birthday we took her to Larchmont Grill in Los Angeles.  It was delicious.  This was the apple tart that had a thin crust and very fresh baked apples. This is not the kind of apple dessert you want for people who love pie crusts though.  Beware.

Larchmont Grill is a Hancock Park bungalow renovated into a 2 story restaurant.  The decor, location and architecture results in an ambiance that is usually only found in someone's well appointed home.  We were seated next to the fire place and I loved the hearth.  I will probably steal this very nice idea.

My friend had the petite filet which she said was amazingly delicious.  I think it came with roasted mashed potatoes and crimini mushrooms or something like that. That little dish of oil and green on the side.  That's the topping for the artisan bread they bring out.  It's herbal crack. Supposedly it has 30 different ingredients.  Maybe crack is one of them.

DH had the Lobster Pot Pie.  Why?  Because he loves pot pie and hates the hard work that goes into eating a lobster fresh out the steamer despite the fact that it's his favorite crustacean.  It was really beautifully presented but the potatoes were underdone and the sauce was too soup and not enough stew-like texture for him.

I had the braised short ribs over roasted mashed potatoes.  It was delicious even though this dimly lit picture is awful.  I'd say this was better than the Club 33 braised short ribs except  there was no Disney magic.

We started with the Mac and Cheese, something I had heard great things about.  Among the many cheeses found in the small cast iron pan, there's Velveeta cheese in it which tells me this place is not about putting on airs and snubbing anything because of its stigmas.  If it's good and works well in a dish, forget the critics who get hung up on names.  This is some great Mac and Cheese!

DH and I went to Sushi Gallery after shopping for the aforementioned birthday girl's present.  It's a tiny little shop with great prices and fresh fish.  Pictured is the Wahoo White (FREAKING AMAZING), Salmon and Masago.  All very well done.  DH said his piece of salmon was frozen though.  Mine was just pleasantly cold.

Sushi Gallery's salad.  It's topped with the typical sushi restaurant salad dressing but the best part was the added masago and pickled something.  I forget.  Bad Blogger Leah!

A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures

At the Ostrich Farm in Solvang I picked up this Emu egg to bring home to my egg loving family.   Here it's pictured. It's equivalent to 8-10 regular eggs.

On St. Patrick's day, to celebrate my married Irish roots, we met up with friends at the Crab Pot in Alamitos Bay where the Corned Beef and Cabbage was $1 a plate, green beer $2 a cup and Guiness for $3 a bottle.

My family went to China without me 2 years ago.  They came back with tales of Xiao Long Bao, the Shanghai Steamed Dumplings that come with a signature broth held in the thin packaging of dumpling skin.  Canaan Restaurant in Cerritos, a Taiwanese place, is one of 2 restaurants in my city that offer it.  My brother and sister said it was comparable to the Chinese version, just less greasy.

My brother insisted on getting what they thought was a crispy chicken dish: Black Pepper chicken.  It was neither crispy nor spicy.  And quite honestly, it was overshadowed by the Typhoon Soft-shell Crab below.

This was delicious.  Deep fried with an airy batter, crispy with onion, chili deliciousness.  A whole plate for only $12.95.  A steal I tell you!  The only problem was that the tender nature of the crab and the large amount of batter made it hard to distinguish what was flour and what was crab.  Plus, no roe :(

A Weekend Trip To Solvang: Stolpman Winery

My first experience with Stolpman was over at the Main Street Wine Cellar in Seal Beach for a Meetup.com Wine get together.  The father-son duo presented their wines in a most charismatic way that made me ache for a trip up to checkout the Central Coast again.  That was a year ago and aside from what I remember about the Family that owns this winery, I remember this mind blowing Sangiovese that showed me of what Italian wines should taste like.  Yes, I am talking to you Chianti.

We drank both bottles that we purchased at that Seal Beach tasting and foolishly missed each subsequent opportunity to buy more as they became available at MAWL and Winestyles. But no more, we made sure that we stopped into the Stolpman Tasting Room during this trip to pick up a bottle.

Our tasting was run by this local photographer whose work focuses on the Central Coast.  He also teaches photography and really opened my eyes to some of the new techniques available to DSLR photographers.

But again, I'm here to talk about the wine.

2008 Sauvignon Blanc.  This was really crisp and clean and smelled of citrus peel.  It was light on the palate with hints of cherry.  Nice for a white but not really my thing.  Retails for $22.

La Coppa Blanc.  Forgive me for not getting the year.  It was honeyed and apricot on the nose.  Creamy and delicate with a subtle finish.  A surprising and much welcome sharp, brief acidic peak. I also didn't get the retail price.  It was not listed on the tasting menu either :(

2009 Sangiovese.  This is what I'm takling about!  Can I just call this the fan favorite?  It's plum on the nose, tannic balanced with a citrusy pomegranate flavor with a clean finish. So easy to drink I can't imagine anyone turning their nose up to this.  Retails for $36.

You're going to sense a theme here.  Stolpman focuses on the 2 California varietals that I like the most, Sangiovese and Syrah.  The interesting thing about this tasting was that we were given 2 tastes of each bottle.  One opened that day, the other left over from the night before.  It gave us a sense of how the wine will age but also how dramatically different the Syrahs develop from one day to the next.



2007 Estate Syrah - 91 Point - Robert Parker. This was surprisingly fruit forward folowed with a smokey spicy middle and a long mild finish.  Stolpman does a great job of creating the complex flavors that makes every sip feel like a journey.  Retails for $34. This could be my new favorite.

2006 Hilltops Syrah - 92 Point - Robert Parker for the Wine Advocate.  Ok, so this is a bit of an exclusive Syrah.  The grapes are harvested only from the top 2 blocks of vines on the vineyard.  This results in grapes that get the best of the sun and the coldest of the nights which any farmer knows makes for sweet delicious grapes that ferment well into complexity that Stolpman is so good at creating.  It's hot and smokey with dark berries, honey and flowers on the nose.  Then it's tart and citrusy on the back end and finishes with a long lingering feel. Retails for $45.

2005 La Coppa Syrah.  Lots of wineries make something like a value brand.  It's usually highly drinkable for the range of palates from the least experienced to the most discerning.  I think this is Stolpman's version.  It's got all the great aspects of an easy drinking Syrah.  The chocolate, cherry and vanilla nose.  Light peppery flavor slightly overshadowed by being extremely brightly fruit forward ending with a clean finish.  Solid, predictable and a good example of the varietal.  Retails for $19.

2007 La Croce.  This is a Sangiovese Syrah hybrid.  Say what?!  I know right, it's like they called me and asked me "Hey Leah, I heard you're coming to town and we wanted to make something you have to blog about!"  And blog I am. Hot and spicy nose, chocolately and smokey mouth feel and unmistakably musty like the outdoors.  Full bodied with a long delicious finish. Retails for $66.

Alright oenophiles, that's all for this trip.  I don't know how some of you champs get all wined up going from tasting room to tasting room in Los Olivos but you're my hero!  I was tired after the 2 tastings, headed to the Ostrich Farm then Anderson's for Split Pea Soup and headed back to Home Sweet Home.

A Weekend Trip To Solvang: Fess Parker Winery

I'm no stranger to the Central Coast.  In fact, in my past life working finance in school construction at least a couple time a month I would hop on a Cessna to Santa Maria to meet with clients. I got to try the wonders of Santa Maria Tri-Tip and the fantastic Mexican food that rivals the best places in Los Angeles County.  Stops into San Luis Obispo were my great, as were the blips of time in Santa Barbara wineries.  My favorite was always the little Dutch town of Solvang.

Lucky for me my husband's family feels the same love for this out-of-the-way, blast-from-the-past city and they bought a gorgeous vacation home right on the historic block down by Hans Christian Andersen Park.  We took out first trip to the new digs this past weekend and came back happier and more relaxed than we've been in months.

Pictures of the jaunt can be found here.  What I really want to talk about is the wine.

We drove out to Los Olivos to pick up some sandwiches and head over to Fess Parker Winery for a picnic. 

The roads in this town are amazing.  You drive along and all of a sudden you're hit with a view of the entire valley of green surrounded with the bluest of clear skies.

Then you get to where you're going and find that along with the rockin' scenery the wine is top notch.

In the course of my Fess Parker experience I learned that savvy businessman Fess had it written in the contract that he got a portion of the sales from coonskin caps, rifles and other paraphernalia related to the Davy Crockett  franchise.  Walt Disney and Co. assuming the show wouldn't run for too long agreed.  Now the Parker empire includes a Doubletree formerly known as the Red Lion and this amazing winery (pictured with what I think is a grape mill) .

Over at Fess Parker's I had the pleasure of tasting the following:


2007 Chardonnay "Ashley" - 93 Point - Wine Enthusiast.  I found this to have a peachy peary creamy buttery nose but tasting of mildly tart green apple citrus hybrids. It's not too oakey and has a nice clean finish.  Probably great with seafood but fantastic with sharp cheeses. Retails for $30.

2008 Viognier "Santa Barbara County."  This was a really honeyed and vanilla nose with a sweet acidic front, full bodied mouth feel with a touch of stone fruit. This was favorite for one of us in the group who also loves brut champagne.  Retails for $24.

2007 Pinot Noir Pommard Clone - 92 Point - Wine Enthusiast.   Reds are my favorite but I find Pinot Noirs so finicky of a grape that it's hard to find a good one. This was a chocolately, cherry nose with a tart front but clean and balanced tannins.  Minerals and mildly herbaceous flavors in the backdrop.  Too young right now but will probably benefit from aging. Retails for $58.

2006 Pinot Noir "Bien Nacido Vineyard." Again, you'll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm.  This had a mocha and woody nose with a berry front and a long finish. Retails for $55. 

2006 Syrah "American Tradition Reserve" - 90 Point - Robert Parker.  Did you know that Syrahs are my favorite?  It's such an easy grape to work with that it's rare to fine one that is just out and out bad.  Plus, it's an easy grape to grow resulting in some of the best red wine values on the market.  This bottle was my favorite with a cherry, vanilla berry nose followed with a deep fruit and tannin balance finishing long and dry.  Yum.  Retails for $35.

2006 Syrah "Rodney's Vineyard" - 93 Point - The Wine Advocate.  I was a little over-tasted by this time.  It's my fault, I don't spit.  I know you're supposed to but geez, why?!  This had a mildly musty nose with a savory almost meaty plum and apricot front.  Very full bodied and complex with a pleasant mid length finish.  Retails for $45.

Next stop on this Central Coast booze trip, one of my favorites, Stolpman Wineries.

Saturday Morning Rain Is Falling

Last Saturday DH and I were supposed to walk to the Farmer's Market until nature intervened and we went to Jack's for breakfast instead.

Biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and eggs.

No, I am not a farmer. Yes, I did give DH the bacon like a dutiful wife. No, I still couldn't finish even half of all this food.

3 Foods You Should Try Despite What You've Heard

I was reading this insane article by Dave Lieberman on OC Weekly that literally made me tear up a little over the sad state of foodie affairs in Southern California.  Did you know there are still people who refuse to try Toro?  But what did I expect from Orange County, where one of the famed Housewives actually spit out Foie Gras.  Say what?!  Don't waste that gold!

So without further ado, I suggest that everyone in Southern California try the following foods regardless of negative stigma, texture or "icky factor."

1. Sea Urchin Roe (a.k.a. Uni). (Image Courtesy of http://bradyoshiro.com)  The easiest way to try this delicacy is to head to an upscale sushi restaurant.  Yes, this will give you Mad sushi credibility with the chefs so don't disappoint them by spitting it out.

The most hardcore way is to head to somewhere like Quality Seafood in Redondo Beach and have it right out of the carcass. The fish monger will gut the sea urchin and leave the roe in the spine moving body for you eat out of the nature provided bowl.  It is awesomely weird and people will gawk. Don't worry, it's already dead and it can't feel anything no matter how it moves.

Good Sea Urchin tastes fresh, like sea water, but buttery sweet like foie gras.  It is an experience in out-there textures and subtle flavors.

And please, for the love of all that is good in this world, don't dip it in soy sauce or wasabi in a restaurant.  Yes, I'm talking to you Guy-Who-Mixes-His-Wasabi-In-His-Soy-Sauce.  You are ruining it!

2. Foie Gras.  (Image Courtesy of http://forkyou.files.wordpress.com)Were you a little lost when I mentioned foie gras of the sea when talking about Sea Urchin? Imagine something that has the mineral taste of liver muted with the most fantastically rich fatty flavor that rivals truffles.  Oh, does that disgust you?

Well then you're one of those people that won't miss it when California outlaws the production and sale of foie gras in the state.  Unlike me who will be a little cry baby and make all her future Las Vegas trips about fatty goose liver missions.

Foie gras is made by force feeding a duck or goose until it's liver becomes engorged and delicious.  Typically it's most commonly available as a pate.

I don't think that pate de foie is a good example of what amazing flavor high quality foie gras is about.  For the best experience, head to a french restaurant that does a seared foie accompanied with the right accouterments like rhubarbs whose tartness perfect juxtaposes against the fattiness of the liver.

3. Tomalley of female crustacean.  (Image Courtesy of http://lizziee.files.wordpress.com) Ok, so I have to make a disclaimer to not actually eat the yellow green liver stuff inside the heads of crustaceans because in some areas the level of toxins are too high to be consumed.  But I have a pretty good fish monger who knows where the crab comes from and whether or not that particular animal is safe.

What I am getting and do absolutely love is the roe found in the head of most crustaceans.  It's milky, salty goodness with a slight crunch factor only found in the little eggs of tasty sea creatures.

The easiest way?  Head over to your local Asian market with fish steaming and frying services, like 99 Ranch, have them pick out a female and steam it for you.  Take home and enjoy.

The tastiest way?  Find an Asian seafood market and restaurant.  My local favorite is Tan Cang on Bolsa in Garden Grove, CA.  Order it salt, pepper and jalapeno wok fried style with extra roe.  Yes, they will actually add in more roe sacks so that the ratio of roe to meat is even more delectable!

Oh man, these are so delicious everyone in the world should have some not just Southern California!  What are some of your favorite not-so-popular foods?

Paris Baguette

For my mom's birthday we purchased this strawberry cream cake from a bakery down the street from us.

kohlrabi

A large bin of kohlrabi from the exotic vegetable vendor at our local farmer's market.

Love Letter Salad

My husband's favorite pizza place is the Korean restaurant Love Letter. He usually orders to go but when you eat in they bring out a mixed cabbage salad topped with thousand island and siracha and a dabble of corn which has unlimited refills. Like so many things that look disgusting, it is so delicious.

Food Resolutions vs. Food Trends

Around this time of year as people are flocking to the gym to make good on their New Year's Resolutions, making promises to go vegetarian, vegan, localvore, etc. I've been thinking about Food-Life balance.

I mean, as an all cuisines loving foodie of course I need to watch my weight. That foie gras is not doing any favors to my figure. But how can I suppress my adventurous hunger without feeling like my diet is some kind of opressing dictator to be embraced rather than overthrown? We can't all be lovable 6 foot something travel show host Anthony Bourdain with what seems like a heaven sent metabolism.

Like Mr. Bourdain, however, I do have conflicting feelings about these food resolutions/trends that have become so ubiquitous in today's society in the name of health and beauty, especially in my Southern California Orange County/Los Angeles habitat. For instance, I have been vegetarian and vegan for periods of time in my life. My verdict? Great feeling, hot looking, less joyful.

You see, there is something deeply satisfying about the luxuries afforded by a no holds barred, try anything attitude towards food. My current diet? The EVERYTHINGvore. My husband now jokes that he can't take me to the zoo in fear that I'll wonder how I can get my hands on a delicious zebra steak. (I have no idea what zebra tastes like, I just know I haven't had it.)

But each of the aforementioned dietary choices have their own draw, things to learn and implement, adjustments for a better foodie lifestyle:

Vegetarianism: Veggies are good for you! Those purple artichokes aren't scary, they're Mother Nature's gift to your tastebuds! (I am talking to you Andrew Zimmern.) In the vegetarian based cultures in Asia you can find that lacking meat does not mean lacking flavors.

Love veggies for the flavors they actually impart, let them be the star instead of just the side dish every once and a while. A good place to start: Falafel anyone?

My vegetarian resolution is to make sure regardless of what I eat a 5 vegetable daily minimum will give me the benefits of the lifestyle without having to give up that sesos taco I've been thinking about all day.

Veganism: Vegans for one reason or another avoid eggs, dairy and other animal based byproducts. I believe the idea is that they might be questionable to your health or that the method of processing is inhumane to the animals the products come from.

Actually, I have a hard time with Veganism. I believe in survival of the fittest species. I don't feed bad for the blade of grass in the fields getting trampled on before eaten by a cow and I don't care that veal can't move and is being force fed milk.

The benefit of going Vegan is that you focus on the real ingredients that you're injesting. You would be surprised the amount of animal products found in what seem to be vegetable dishes in the food industry. Veganism forces you to eat as naturally as possible, as pure of ingredients as available and the most humane products.

My vegan resolution is to veer towards more natural ingredients and more humane producers of my animal products whenever possible. It doesn't hurt that grass fed meat is supposed to be much higher in Omega-3s and taste than it's corn-fed counterparts.

Raw Food: This is a fascinating trend where people trade in their stoves for a dehydrator. Needless to say, this is an extreme of veganism that has picked up steam because it's nearly impossible to be fat on this diet. Plus there's an element of spirituality that springs up when you have such control over your base food cravings that you can survive off vegetables, fruits and nuts alone.

I can't deny that many fruits and vegetables are most nutritious in their unadulterated forms. I'd take a raw untouched cherry over any cherry byproducts any day. Don't ask me to eat raw potatoes though, everyone knows they're better slathered in miscellaneous dairy products.

I have "Gone Raw" for a day or two here and there, even tried juicing in lieu of eating for about a week (which in fact is the fastest way EVER to drop lbs before a major event), and the real benefit is a retraining of one's tastebuds to pick up on the nuances of nature's pure flavors. The natural sweetness of fresh carrots, the unreal texture of a mushroom accompanied with an almost animal protien like flavor, the peppery goodness of freshly picked arugula. All these things once you taste them on the enlightened raw foodie tongue give you a deeper understanding of everday untouched ingredients. That's a great thing.

My Raw resolution is to try fruits and vegetables raw before tossing them into a heat source whenever possible as long as it doesn't kill me.

2005 Chateau de la Meuliere Premieres Cotes de Bourdeaux

Lately I've been obsessed with buying 2005 Bordeaux. I went to Bevmo! after a particularly successful afternoon of recruiting corporate partners for American Cancer Society and perused their reds finding 4 kinds of 2005 Bordeaux that were under $20 a bottle!

Josh and I had spent most of the day focused on a house we were going to put an offer in on. By the time the evening rolled around we found out that someone had bit over our offer and the ask price and were going to put 60% down. That beats our 20% and we were bummed.

Despite the somber occasion, we decided we would bring out the cheapest of the newly purchased Bourdeaux.

2005 Chateau de la Meuliere Premieres Cotes de Bourdeaux.

Here are the tasting notes:

Color: Deep purple, nice legs, consistent coloring.

Nose: Chocolatey, cherries, cinnamon spice, metered alcohol, pepper.

Taste: Charcoal, dirt, subtle finish, dry, very drinkable, low alcohol flavor, coffee.

Paired:

I usually have a plethora of cheese in my fridge so I thought I'd try each kind out paired with the bottle.

Irish blarney: Creamy, oily, almost waxy. Not a good combination.

Goat cheese: Creamy, tangy, starchy. Citrusy. Very delicious combination.

Port Salut: Creamy, heightens the acidity of the wine; that's new. Very good balance of creaminess and acidity. Mellows an already mellow finish.

Irish Shannon: Fruity, oily, salty, delicious with the bourdeux. Makes the Bordeaux more floral and the cheese creamier.

Sage Cheese: Sage almost onioney and garlicky, sharp finish. Aromatic, but the wine kills the flavor of the cheese. Heightens the acidity of the wine. Not a good combination.

Buttermilk Blue: Makes the wine smell sweeter. Tangy, sharp, creamy, pungent. Mellow and creamier than other blues. Makes wine smell like caramel.

Overall, the bottle began easy to drink, over time it became less pleasant. The Bordeaux lacked complexity and character. We will be keeping the second bottle we bought for another 5-14 years in hopes that it will age well. It seems that the maturity range for this particular vintage is 2012-2035

Foodie Gifts

My Christmas gifts this year are bought, and to be honest, I don't know that unless I had really planned ahead, that I would have been at all interested in doing homemade gifts. Actually, I don't really like giving people the same things because it seems to denote that I *thought* less about them. Except in the case of me giving all my friends tickets to booze cruises. In that case, I was thinking *a lot* about them. Lol.

I have realized, however, that premaking homemade foodie gifts for friends and family to give them for host gifts and birthdays might be pretty worthwhile. Here are a few ideas I'm throwing around:

1. Limoncello. Yes, this goes back to my boozy friends, but hey, they have good taste and I'm sure would love a little homemade limoncello.

2. Homemade marshmallows w/ hot cocoa. Use a special valrhona chocolate for the cocoa and some tahitian vanilla for the mashmallows and you've got a gourmet gift guranteed to impress some people!

3. Chocolat liquer. Also a delicious treat. I personally think it's better than the standard bottle of Patron we've all been passing around. Lol.

4. Herb gardens in beautiful containers. What foodie wouldn't want their very own herbies? Get a beautiful container, add rocks on the bottom for drainage, add soil and some herbs at varying heights and voila! You could even take some of the pretty herb plants multiplying in your garden!

There are a few critical things that you might think of doing to kick these gifts up a notch like personalized labels, decorative bottles (go vintage if you can) and jars, and a high quality ribbon.

$3ADDP: You Can Do It Too!

When talking to people about this project, and in my own experiences, it seems that the most difficult part really is the record keeping. The minutiae of tracking calories and cost is a bit much for most people so I think going forward for the project, I'll be posting recipes instead. You don't really care what I ate for the day, what you probably care about was how I made it and how you can do the same.

Though I do already have some recipes up, you might want to ease into this project yourself, especially if you're looking at doing this for the long term. Here are a handful of things I would suggest for you to start saving now and eating healthy!

1. Cook all your meals at home. Yes, eventually you might be able to swing a quick an easy meal out ala Ten Ten Chinese Food Restaurant, but cooking your meals at home prepares you for the time commitment of actually cooking! Once you make this part of your routine, it will make is significantly easier.

2. Plan out your meals, especially if you have a family. I would plan for 4 meals a day because as I started to eat the smaller portions I saw that I got hungry every 3-4 hours and that a snack was usually necessary. Use the local supermarket advertisements to see what's on sale for the week and plan your meals around it. This is particularly important because you'll need to start mentally tracking where you can buy what for cheapest.

3. Only buy enough food to eat for one week of perishables. I found during this project that I was buying more food than I needed and as a result as things got on the older side I was less inclined to eat it. Once you plan out your meals though, you'll know exactly what you really need and will be less likely to eat more of it because you know it's already planned for.

4. Buy pantry items in bulk when it's at it's lowest price. For instance, I went to Big Lots and saw Annie's Organic Salad Dressing on sale for $0.80. No, they weren't about to expire or anything, it just so happens that they overproduced a handful of their flavors like Pomegranate Vinaigrette and Garlic Asiago, which is good for me because I love both flavors! I picked up 4. Same goes for anything else that won't go bad before you get a chance to use your whole stock.

5. Make one day a week your serious prep day. If you are planning on making bread or pizza dough or crockpot meals, prep it all on one day. It'll make cooking every meal everyday less daunting.

$3ADDP: MIA days

I have to apologize, Dear Readers, for being MIA for almost a week! I recently picked up the Event Chair position for American Cancer Society's local Relay For Life and have been attending meetings between having an all out catastrophic work week. As a result of these factors beyond my control, though I have been spending less than $3 a Day on food, actually, I've been spending near nothing on food, because it has been free food almost all week.

The meals I have been making, however, have been all less than $1 per person which got me to thinking about how I've come to a point where I can normally just wing it. I realized that as long as you could follow along the guidelines below, you should be able to eat for the most inexpensive way possible.

1. Buy things as cheap as possible. I recommend starting at the 99 cent store, Big Lots, Farmer's Markets, 99 Ranch and then Food 4 Less.

2. Use only the cheapest, leanest meats. This is typically chicken breast, lean pork and low fat ground beef. Almost any dish, with the exception of seafood, can be altered to use one of these meat sources in lieu of a more expensive cut or type of meat.

3. Use only 4 oz of animal protein per day per person. Yes, portion control is so VERY important, not only to the budget aspect, but for the health aspect.

4. Use bean based dishes often and with variety. There are so many different legumes that can be used that are not only healthy, but very filling and extremely cheap.

5. Use a high fiber carbohydrate at every meal. By this I mean brown rice, whole wheat bread, wheat noodles, etc. Carbohydrates are not only very inexpensive, but when using high fiber options will guarantee you something that will keep you full longer and keep you healthy!

$3ADDP: Day 10 and 11

Sorry for lagging a bit behind by these updates. Life has gotten in the way of writing but not of the project.

I do have to say that I ate out quite a bit the past few days so I'm unclear on calories BUT I can provide you with prices and where to go:

Day 10: Skipped breakfast and had a bean and cheese with lettuce burrito from a local Mexican food place. $2.00. Alternatively, I could have gone to Taco Nazo, now known as Senor Baja, and had 2 - $1.00 fish tacos filled to the brim with cabbage and fish. What's my point? Mexican food places can be your friends! For dinner I had about $0.50 worth of Brie Mashed potatoes leftover from thanksgiving. I'll post the recipe for that soon because it was a huge hit. Total for the day ($2.50) but a very unhealthy day. I vowed to do better tomorrow by getting in more veggies and prepping for the rest of the week.

Day 11: A local authentic Chinese restaurant, Ten Ten, has single dishes you can buy to eat with rice for less than $2.00 a togo container. I picked up a napa cabbage and mushroom dish that was enough to split and share with my mom. I had a bowl of rice to go along with it bringing my lunch to $1.25. When I came home I had the last of the mashed potatoes, which I'll estimate to be about $0.50 and a homemade croissant sandwich which came out to $0.93 making my day total $2.38.

All of this doesn't matter though because for the days I was off the diet my digestive system really made me pay for it. I'm actually feeling the effects of the overload of bad food immediately after I eat it.

In Japan, they recommend eating only until you're 80% full because your body is late to register when it's actually full, so when you stop eating at 80% your body is really 100% full. So when you eat until you're stuffed, you could be well into 150% full which is just a waste of food.

Speaking of Japan, I need to find some way to work some raw seafood into this project. I hear a local supermarket has 12 raw oysters for $6.00! I could swing a $1.00 for 2 oysters for my protien for the day. Woo hoo!

Keepin in Cheap in California,

Leah

$3ADDP: Day 9.5

Hello Dear Readers, I have been on hiatus since the 26th because of Thanksgiving and my trip to Las Vegas. I am hopping back on this wagon tomorrow.

I'm doing a Day 9.5 post today because since taking a break from the $3ADDP I found a few interesting things that carried over into good habits.

1. For the drive to Vegas I packed leftovers in the form of sandwiches and miscellaneous fruit for my brother, sister and mother to eat. I found that if I prepared the food ahead of time and said nothing about what a cost savings it would be to eat the leftovers, they all ate it. In fact, the first day in Vegas we didn't buy any food at all because they were all so happy eating healthy leftovers and fruit.

2. While I was gone Hubby ordered himself a pizza, a pizza he automatically packed for himself to take to lunch on Monday. It seems that if I get him used to the idea of expecting to eat home packed meals, he'll follow through with it on his own most of the time.

3. I ate less in general. Normally, at one of my sister's softball tournaments I would be raiding the snack bar under the pretense of supporting whatever league was hosting the tournament but during this trip I focused more on finding healthy and cheap food alternatives in smaller quantities. I didn't eat just to eat. And when we went to brunch buffets I just simply wasn't able to eat more than a plate of food. In fact, the full plates of food I did it didn't sit well with me because it was too much.

4. I get a buzz a lot faster. The complementary cocktails throughout the strip had me feeling tingling a little faster than normal and though the drinks weren't strong, my body gave me negative feedback on the effects quickly also. I didn't end up drinking very much at all.

So here I am, prepping for the next 20 days of eating on $3 a day and totally excited about it!

$3ADDP: Day 9

Today I went to volunteer setting up for Thanksgiving dinner at a Church in Long Beach. I was moved by the outpouring of support in the form of volunteers and donations. With the help of over 100 selfless individuals, the church will be able to serve over 200 people for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

I thought about how much money was actually spent by the people that donated and realized that if we all just spent a little less on food ourselves, we could easily provide so much to others. There are people who do it everyday.

Starting tomorrow I will be taking a break from the $3 a Day Diet Project until Monday. For Thanksgiving $3 a day will be impossible to track and on Friday I am leaving for Las Vegas to support my sister at her softball tournament. I will probably build up a Vegas Food blog series off the visit but I know it won't be for $3 a day.

Today Josh already started his Thanksgiving festivities at work so he started his hiatus today.

I had Ramen ($0.17 - 400 calories), Vietnamese meatballs ($0.50 - 100 calories), spinach ($0.25 - 10 calories) for lunch. I snacked on a free food at the church while helping out which I'm not going to count in value but probably amounted to 200 calories. for dinner I had a piece of chicken off Josh's takeout and a baked potato with sour cream. I estimate all that to come out to $2.00. $1.00 for the piece of chicken and a homemmade baked potato from my mom's thanksgiving supplies. It's probably and overestimation but who cares? The calories should come in around 275 calories for dinner.

Leah: $2.82 for 985 calories.

Signing off headed to turkey and vegas debauchery.

$3ADDP: Green Beans and Ground Chicken

I don't know if there are many vegetables as man friendly as green beans. I mean, Tony Roma's and TGI Fridays each have their own man friendly version of these delicious little green sticks. And have you ever have black bean green beans at any Chinese restaurant? Yum.

I had a bag of green beans I bought for $1 at the farmers market that were going to go bad if I didn't cook them very soon. So I took a few of my favorite flavor makers, namely garlic onions and jalepenos and made a little ditty that really made the hubby happy.

Ingredients

1/2	onion ($0.08)
1/4	teaspoon garlic ($0.06)
2	chili peppers ($0.08)
2	lb green beans ($1.00)
1/2	lb ground chicken ($0.50)
2	teaspoon soy sauce ($0.06)
1	teaspoon mirin ($0.08)
1/2	teaspoon sesame oil ($0.03)
1	salt and pepper ($0.02)

Directions

1. Parboil green beans.
   
   
2. Pour sesame oil into a skillet.
   
   
3. Dice onion and chili peppers, I used jalepenos, and mince garlic. Add to the oil and lightly brown.
   
   
4. Add ground chicken to the skillet along with soy sauce, mirin, salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is done. It won't brown but it should crumble and turn from pink to a brownish color.
   
   
5. Add the drained green beans and coat the green beans with the mixture.

Makes 4 servings ($0.26).

$3ADDP: Day 8

Ok, it's official, most of my friends and family think I'm just being weird by subjecting myself to a project like this. What's the point they ask despite the fact that I explain it to them. Then they say that they couldn't do it.

But the reality is that it's not that hard. There are a few challenges here and there which include:

1. Having the foresight to make sure that we're packing the meals that we'll need to eat away from home. Lately, Josh has been working a lot of overtime so I've been having to remember to pack his lunch and dinner for work. Today, I forgot to pack his dinner. He's going to have to pick up a $1 burger or something.

2. Lots of cooking. Seriously, I'm cooking almost everyday which didn't seem like it would be a big deal to me because I cooked often before, but the challenge of having to cook in order to eat is kind of wearing me down. Most processed foods, even canned foods, are too high in cost and too low in nutritional value to be included.

3. Temptation. In my family, food is how you show love so this is really more about my mother. I see my family almost everyday and though my mom knows about this project, she insists on offering me food. I'll take a few bites here and there to appease her or to tell her the food is good but then it'll throw off my totals for the day.

But aside from the challenges there are huge benefits! I used to watch the Real Housewives of New York and Bethanny, of Bethannybakes.com, was one of the women. Her goal was to democratize health the way that Martha Stewart did democratize homemaking. I was really inspired by that, but how do you democratize something if it costs people more to do it than to not do it?

I feel the same way about going Green. Sure, going green is a good idea, but it'll only work if it's less expensive for the masses to do it. Someday, someone is going to have to explain to me how it's possible that things cost more when you're trying to conserve more and reuse more. Hello?! Other than antiques, I don't understand why something recycled should cost more than something new. Save Mother Earth and don't put a "luxury" price tag on things that are good for the environment.

I digress, one of the benefits, aside from losing a few lbs and eating healthier, happened today when I got a message from someone telling me how inspiring this blog is and I thought I'd take the time to thank her publicly because it's feedback like that message that makes me feel like I'm doing something that can really help others.

Speaking of helping others, tomorrow night I'm heading over to help prepare Thanksgiving Dinner for 200 or so people in need in Long Beach. This project has made me feel a little more altruistic.

I spent a ton of time today helping my mom prep for Thanksgiving so I ended up having dinner at her place and eating junk at Sam's club when we went shopping there. I had kind of a crummy food day and busted my budget because most of my food was eaten outside what I actually packed for myself. :(

It's raining here today, heavily, which is unusual in southern California and all I want is a peppermint hot cocoa from Starbucks to sip on while I watch the water fall. I'll figure out how to make one of those soon within my budget.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.17 - 170 calories), Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh Only.

Lunch: Black Beans ($0.33 - 170 calories), salsa ($0.25 - 30 calories), 4 tortillas ($0.12 - 220 calories), 1/10 serving of chicken with cajun rice ($0.12 - 52 calories) - Josh only. Spinach ($0.25 - 10 calories), Vietnamese ham ($0.20 - 50 calories), egg ($0.17 - 70 calories), unfried Ramen that I found at 99 ranch ($0.17 - 350 calories) - Leah Only.

Snack: Junk from Sam's club - 4 bites pepperoni pizza ($0.25 - 80 calories), 1/5 a hot dog ($0.26 - 62 calories), 5 bites of a flatbread wrap ($0.75 - 100 calories) - Leah Only.

Dinner: White rice ($0.25 - 200 calories), 1/2 portion of a $2.00 side dish from Ten Ten ($1.00 -200 calories). Josh also had a Turkey Sandwich at work for free but I assume this busts his $3.00 a day budget.

Josh: $2.57 plus the turkey so the calories are a ???. Would have been 1052.

Leah: $3.30 - 1122 calories

Wishing for some pepperminty chocolately goodness,

Leah

$3ADDP: Napa Cabbage Salad

I was trying to find a salad that would go well with the soba noodles I made for my husband's lunch. I had some leftover napa cabbage and thought about how delicious a tangy dressing would be with some tomatoes, onions and spicy jalepenos. Turns out that it tasted like Korean banchan and he loved it!

I used some of the leftover salad and soba sauce to put on a tofu dish eaten for dinner. I'll post that quick recipe another day.


Ingredients

4	oz Napa Cabbage ($0.25)
2	Tomatoes ($0.33)
1/2	Onion ($0.08)
2	chili peppers ($0.08)
2	oz rice wine vinegar ($0.25)

Directions

Slice the napa cabage, tomatoes, onions and chili peppers into thin skilvers. Toss in 2 oz. of rice wine vinegar or sushi seasoning sauce.