Hello and Happy Wednesday!!! I have had a few readers comment that they enjoy seeing my grocery cart, so today I thought it would be a great day to do so. If you are a recent follower to my blog, you will notice that I like to share different topics from time to time, but it is my main goal in this blog to keep my focus related to mental health. I want us to all know that we can live for the moment and learn how to heal and manage our mental illnesses, every day.
And for this moment, let’s talk about groceries!
My grocery shopping definitely has shrunk over the years. From being a single mom of 4 little ones to now it is just 16 year old son and me. I remember how it used to be hard for me to shop for fewer people, but now I think I have figured it out, though it will be quite strange when someday I shop for just myself.
Today was the first day that I had a little longer list and I didn’t use one of the store scooters. I am slowly but surely healing from a couple of surgeries and it felt good to be able to get through the store on 2 feet! (Though I was really pooped and in a lot of pain by the time I got done!)
I thought I would show you this pic first. I do enjoy drinking hot tea in the evening when it is cold outside, but I laughed when I got home and looked again at the two I picked. I was about midway through the store in the tea aisle and getting pretty sore… it looks like I was feeling tired and a bit stressed! But I really do love both flavors, especially the Honey Vanilla Chamomile; I put a bit of honey in the tea and it tastes so yummy! Sometimes if I have a big cup of tea, I put one bag of each variety for a perfect combo of Celestial Seasonings.
I bought a pork roast (only $6.75 and 4 lbs) and I wouldl like to make posole. Have you ever cooked posole before or eaten it? It is Pozole is a hearty Mexican stew traditionally made with pork, hominy and has either a red or green color depending on the chiles used for the soup base and is soooooo good. I found this recipe below that I am going to try. I’ll let you know how it goes. Recipe courtesy of BudgetBytes:
30 MINUTE POSOLE
This quick 30 Minute Posole has intense slow cooked flavor thanks to an enchilada sauce base and leftover pulled pork.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 small yellow onion $0.14
- 2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil $0.04
- 2 Tbsp flour $0.02
- 2 Tbsp mild chili powder* $0.30
- 3 oz. tomato paste $0.33
- 1/2 tsp cumin $0.05
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder $0.05
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional) $0.03
- 3/4 tsp salt $0.03
- 2 cups water $0.00
- 3 cups chicken broth** $0.38
- 4 oz. can chopped green chiles $0.87
- 15 oz. can hominy $1.09
- 1.5 cups shredded pork, chicken, or beef (pre-cooked) $2.04
- 1 fresh lime $0.33
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro $0.85
INSTRUCTIONS
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Finely dice the onion, then add it to a large soup pot along with the canola oil. Sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until it is tender and transparent. Add the flour and chili powder and continue to sauté for two minutes more. The mixture will be fairly dry, so stir continuously to prevent burning.
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Add 2 cups water, tomato paste, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt to the pot. Whisk the ingredients together until the tomato paste is dissolved. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer, at which point it will thicken.
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Finally, add the chicken broth, shredded meat, diced chiles, and hominy (drained). Stir to combine and then heat through (about 10 minutes).
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Cut the lime into wedges and roughly chop the cilantro. Top each bowl with chopped cilantro and a wedge of lime to squeeze over top.
My son loves these Jennie-O turkey burgers – cooks them right up and slaps them on the buns (I think the dogs got half of burger he couldn’t finish). Bananas are one of my go-to’s every morning and also if I need a bit of a snack. Those peppers looked so tasty at the store and $1.49/each I couldn’t pass up to slice up for snack (and maybe to add some to the posole along with the onions) The Coffeemate vanilla creamer I just can’t give up!!
And why would I need to give up my creamer, you ask? Well, I am trying really hard to take dairy out of my diet (for the moment, anyway). I have read that dairy is a big contributor to inflammation. I have osteoarthritis along with some kind of severe piriformis muscle I can’t get rid of, so I am trying to reduce my dairy intake. I tried removing dairy and gluten a couple of years ago, but I just couldn’t stick with it.
Here is the rest of my shopping. For my dairy free options I have really been enjoying almond milk in my coffee and cereal. As you can see I have a Silk dairy free yogurt that I am going to try. My biggest issue is ice cream. Ohhhh I love ice cream!!! I have tried almond milk ice cream which is pretty good, but it’s really expensive (hmmm I guess the ice cream already made it into the freezer!! Mint chocolate chip, my favorite.). Cheese is a tough one, so I am just trying to keep it out of the house except what my son uses on his sandwiches. My daughter makes “overnight oatmeal,” for her and her husband, so I will give it a go with the oats, frozen berries and peanut butter powder and yogurt. I love the Private Selection brand from Kroger – their coffee pods (on the right) were $4.00 off this week!!! I think I got a box of 12 for $1.79. It looks like some posole ingredients in the pic and vanilla wafers for my son. All in all, a good shopping trip.
I hope you enjoy taking a peek into my grocery bags. I think I have mentioned before that it’s interesting how I like to watch vlogs about people’s shopping “hauls,” so I decided to write about mine. If you have any questions about the products or if you have any thoughts on the whole anti-inflammatory diet, please please let me know.
And again, for those of you that have just started following my blog and this one is a bit different, I guess I want to show that those of us with mental illness can lead very normal days and it feels good when we can see the positives of daily living because we know hard difficult the difficult days can be.
Take Care
Jenny
Featured image: unsplash-logoBrooke Cagle