Demise of the sweater. Hunger.

I finished the sweater-thing.

And my face of awesomeness and joy quickly faded as I realized that it did not fit me, and absolutely would not fit Jon.

The sleeves were too long.  It was too tight.  It was shedding like crazy.  I must have known all along that it wasn't going to work, but I was just too stubborn to admit it and so I made myself finish it.  Jon was really nice about the whole thing.  He told me stories about how he had to take apart art pieces, and nothing is forever.  I threw it down on the living room floor and stared at it for a while before stashing it in the basement for the night.

Yesterday, I unraveled the whole thing.

It took me nearly an hour just to pull all of that yarn out.

It is done.  My mistake was not paying attention to common sense, and gauge.  Now I am knitting Jon a pair of convertible mittens.  They are quite nice.  Jon made a couple of maple wood buttons for them.  The good news is that I now have enough of this yarn to make a bajillion pairs of mittens!

In other news, it snowed.  AGAIN.  I love snow.  I do not love how it keeps pushing back Jon's work season.  And keeps our funds extremely low.  Here is another Day of Food, reflecting our situation (Jon needed extra because he is working).

Breakfast:

Bacon- 1 pack of bacon can last all week for protein needs!

Jon also had French toast

Lunch:

Jon had leftover chicken soup

I had a free sample organic protein drink mix

Dinner:

Leftover chicken soup, stretched out with beans

Homemade bread

I'm soaking some chick peas to make hummus tomorrow, too.  Some days, you're just hungry.  Is it really better to eat a little food well, or eat more junk food?

Things will get better.  It is hard when translating payments come 45-60 days after invoice and it just keeps snowing.

My tomato seeds started to germinate.  Spring is coming.

Jon's sweater!

I am almost done with Jon's sweater.  Aghh!!!!  I have been working on this project for over a year, on and off, and the moment finally came when the sleeves were ready to connect to the body.

So close!  So many cables!

I'm also working on a massive translation project.  And I'm planning on making Ginger Monkey Bread later, which is a favorite!

And I might as well throw in another day of food:

Breakfast:

Anadama bread with black and blueberry jam
Scottish breakfast tea with raw milk

Snack:

Cape Cod potato chips.

Lunch:

Anadama bread pb+j
Leftover home fries (organic potatoes from Co-op)

Dinner:
Whole wheat pizza with homemade mozzarella, tomato sauce, and organic sausage from the Co-op
Ginger Monkey Bread =)

Today's food isn't the most healthy, but I'm busy translating.  Which reminds, me I need to get that yeast proofing and get back to work!

Day of food #3 and the secret to the best whole wheat bread ever

Day #3 of food!

Breakfast:
Coffee with raw milk
Leftover cinnamon buns, made from a GF Bob's Red Mill Mix that time I was going gluten-free.  Not bad at all, even when I cut the butter and sugar in half!

Lunch:
Organic potatoes broiled in duck fat.
Organic spinach salad
Homemade chocolate pudding, from 85% chocolate and raw milk, free range egg

Dinner:
Turkey stew with broth made from Thanksgiving turkey skin and bones, organic potatoes and carrots, dehydrated onions and tomatoes from the garden, organic black beans, curry
Whole wheat bread, hot out of the oven
More chocolate pudding!

And the secret to the best whole wheat bread ever is...oat flour!  I got it for cheap from the bulk bins at the co-op.  Substituting 1 cup of oat flour for 1 cup of all-purpose flour in recipes that use both ap and whole wheat flours makes the bread a little lighter in texture, rise higher, and it gives a bit more fiber.  I'm not sure if it would work for every recipe, but I encourage you to try it out sometime and see how it works for you!

By the way, if you are interested in buying a fleece from my awesome friend Julie, she is selling them here.

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Another day of eating

Day 2

Its Monday.  And its New Year's Eve.  What are we up to?  Being awesome and falling asleep on the couch.  [insert obvious being poor meme].

Here's what we are eating today- note the lack of most festive foods/holiday treats because that stuff is just too expensive to buy and I haven't had any time to bake.  Food from my previous post may not have its source labeled.

Breakfast:

Bacon, eggs, toast, and homemade jam

Snack:

Roasted peanuts from Christmas

Lunch:

Leftover pork tenderloin sandwiches (from Christmas, gotta use that up!)

Dinner:

Olives and cheese from the Co-op

Homemade chicken soup (chicken leftover from previous post)

Bread

Chocolate bar from Co-op

Eggnog =)

This is a simple, typical day for us.  Every single time that we eat meat with bones, I save those bones to make soup.  It is a little tedious, but stretching out meat this way saves so much money.  You'd be surprised how good the flavor of the broth it.  

Happy New Year, and be safe!

What we eat: how we eat organically/sustainably for next to nothing

What we eat.

Day 1

I"m starting this on a Friday.  'Cause I like Fridays.  I'm spending the day catching up on knitting Jon's sweater...a task that I've sadly put off for a long time.  I'm also making whole wheat bread (recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book).  I thought that it might be a good idea to record what we eat for a week, with recipes, notes, and advice.  Eating on a budget is difficult, and eating well is even harder.  I hope that this list might help others to stretch out meals creatively as well as help me see where we might be lacking in our diet.  I won't be posting every day, but I hope to give a good picture here of what we eat!

(Jon's parents sent us back after Christmas with a ton of food, things that we don't normally have)

Breakfast:

Bacon from Our Place Farm in Loudon, NH (trade for labor at Kelly Corner Farm)

Local eggs from the local Blue Seal (trade for labor at Kelly Corner Farm)

Homemade maple oat bread from last week

Organic tea from Ocean State Job Lot

Coffee from Co-op with raw milk
Organic banana

Lunch:

Leftover pork tenderloin sandwiches, with pork from Jon's parents, same bread, and kale

Homemade caramel cream pie, made last night from the Better H&G Cook Book (raw milk, local eggs, turbinado sugar, etc.)

Strawberries from Jon's parents

Snack:
Homemade bread and homemade blackberry blueberry jam

Dinner:

Olives and cheese from the Co-op

Roasted chicken (trade for labor at Kelly Corner Farm) with mushrooms (from Jon's parents)

Boiled cabbage, potatoes and carrots (organic carrots and potatoes from Co-op, cabbage from Jon's parents)

Stonyfield caramel ice cream from Co-op, on sale

Whole wheat bread, warm from the oven
Organic eggnog from Co-op