2018 A New Year and A New Me

Hello everyone!

It's almost Christmas and then comes that time of year again: New Years Resolutions!!!

I've decided that this is the year I'm going to simplify and downsize my life.

Over the past few years I've lost about 90 lbs (hurrah!) and as a result my clothes no longer fit. I've been slowly going through my closet and giving away the nice clothes and turning the hole-filled ones into rags.

But recently I realized I need to go through more than just my clothing. I was going through my food-stash (what I call my vegan section of the family pantry) and I realized that I have a ton of food I really need to eat before it expires and a lot of duplicate items (I guess I went overboard with hurricane preparations this year).

So, starting this January, I'm going to try "shopping my pantry" AKA not buying stuff at the store unless I really really really need it. I've given myself a food budget for the month of $60 to cover the cost of fresh foods like lettuce and cucumbers, and the inevitable dining out experience, but other than that I'll be eating food from my pantry.

I'm going to make a comprehensive list of foods later, but just to give you an idea of what I've got a bunch of, here's a little preview list:

• snack sausages (24! I went a little crazy ordering them)
• seitan mix (never been opened)
• cacao nibs (used once for a recipe)
• several boxes of vegan bouillon cubes
• instant Jjajamgmeon (past the best by date, but still good)
• complete cookies, peanut butter flavor (12 pack!)
• 10 packs of vegan jerky from various brands
• rice (basmati, sushi, local long grain)
• noodles (rice, mung bean, kelp, black bean, spaghetti)
... The list keeps growing.

I think this is not only totally doable, but totally necessary. I need to start minimizing unnecessary spending and focus on giving back top the community. I'm planning to give more to my church this year and also to other local organizations like the food bank. This is a great way to make sure I have a bit more "spending money".

I plan to post more on this blog as well since I didn't post much this year. Have any of you ever shopped your pantry? Let's start a trend!

Comments

Tempeh Protein Noodles

I have been making large batches of food and eating them throughout the week to cut down on my time spent cooking on a daily basis. This is something I made the other day and love! Ingredients 1 package Edamame mung bean noodles 1 package black bean noodles 1 package Tempeh 1/3 cup textured vegetable protein 1/4 cup powdered peanut butter 2 tbsp Sesame seeds 2 tbsp kimchi 1 tbsp Chili oil 3 tbsp soy sauce 3 tbsp Bragg's liquid aminos 1.5 tbsp Sriracha Directions • Cook noodles according to package directions and drain. • in the same pot, mix the noodles with the other ingredients (it works best if you add the powdered peanut butter and tvp first so they are easier to mix once you add the liquids. • Serve with extra sriracha for a spicier dish, or add a fruit salad for some sweetness to contrast with the spicy saltiness. Makes 8 servings at about 310 calories

The Two Towers Marathon

Day two of the marathon started early! I woke up two hours earlier than I normally do to get everything in the oven and on the stove. I put all the food for the entire day in the oven at the beginning... Don't do that! Wait until after the second movie is finished to put in the food for the third our it will dry out! I am a huge fan of Edoras/ Rohan/ Everything To Do With This Movie, so I was super excited to begin! The Two Towers started off with salt... Not the best way to begin the day, but we soon washed it down with lembas! This was my favorite of the lembas recipes, but it got tough in the fridge and dry when toasted again. Make this the day you wish to eat it! The Orcish "medicine" we used was Hot Chocolate from @spiceandtea that I won in a giveaway in December... It was much better than whatever Merry drank! The iconic "meat's back on the menu, boys!" scene was filled with yummy foods! @noe...

Fellowship Of The Ring Eat-athon

Fellowship Of The Ring Eat-athon, Part One! (We are pacing ourselves with small portions... It's the reason for the half apples or cupcakes!) We begin with a hobbit chomping into a cake! We started by eating half of a vanilla cranberry cupcake! And there's a number of times tea is made in the Hobbiton, so go ahead and make a whole pot (we drank this lovely Earl Grey blend from @adagioteas fandom blends) Bilbo Baggins turns 111! So we eat the other half of the cupcake! Merry eats an apple to look nonchalant while stealing fireworks with Pippin. After seeing some elves in the forest, Sam can't sleep on the hard ground and eats some bread in the middle of the night... My kind of hobbit! Then, as we make it to Bree, we see Peter Jackson take a huge bite out of a carrot... We had baby carrots😂 Pippin's infamous Second Breakfast scene gives us another opportunity to eat an apple! ...

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