Tag: #groceries

Grocery Trip Peek-a-Boo!!

Grocery Trip Peek-a-Boo!!

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!)

TeaI 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.

 Total Cost $6.55 recipe / $1.09 serving
 Prep Time 5 minutes
 Cook Time 25 minutes
 Total Time 30 minutes
 Servings  (1.33 cups each)

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Finally, add the chicken broth, shredded meat, diced chiles, and hominy (drained). Stir to combine and then heat through (about 10 minutes).
  4. 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.

IMG_2453My 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.

IMG_2451Here 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

Groceries and Self-Care

Groceries and Self-Care

Hello!  Do you love watching unboxing videos?  How about watching vloggers trying out the latest beauty products or tasty foods?  Do you enjoy reading reviews about a blogger’s favorite recipe that include pictures?  I can say YES to all of those!! I don’t know why it is; do I enjoy taking a peek into someone elses life? I think that may be part of it but there is this feeling that someone is letting us in that feels like a gift they are sharing with their readers/viewers.

I went grocery shopping yesterday.. I know the last time I shared my “food haul,” readers enjoyed seeing what my shopping day was like, so I thought I would do so again. I am so thankful to have my son help me. I am still having to use a scooter through the store, so having him follow me with a cart and loading and unloading the cart is soooo very helpful.

What did I get today?

food 3

Shhhh..you don’t see t hose M&Ms do you? haha I have them in a drawer in my bedroom now for a little sweet treat that teenage boys can’t find!  We are all eating a lot of eggs and sandwiches recently thus the two 18 packs of eggs, lunchmeat, sliced cheese and pickles. The coffee was buy one get one free which is a deal! Probably not the best tasting roast, but when I add my vanilla creamer it all tastes good.

I have this ground sausage which along with the spinach I bought will be part of a recipe that I may try tonight or tomorrow:

 

 

BACON AND SPINACH PASTA WITH PARMESAN

Bacon and Spinach Pasta with Parmesan is a quick and flavorful weeknight dinner that only requires a few ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

  • 6oz bacon (1/2 12 oz. pkg)
  • 1small onion
  • 2cups chicken broth
  • 1/2lb pasta
  • 1/4lb 3-4 cups fresh spinach
  • 1/3cup grated Parmesan

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cut the bacon across the strips into one-inch pieces. Sauté the bacon in a large skillet until it is brown and crispy (no extra fat needed). Remove the browned bacon to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Carefully pour the fat off into a separate bowl, leaving about one tablespoon in the skillet.
  2. While the bacon cooks, dice the onion. Once the bacon is removed and the fat is drained from the skillet, add the diced onions and sauté until they are soft and transparent. Allow the moisture from the onions to dissolve some of the browned bits off of the bottom of the skillet.
  3. Add two cups of chicken broth to the skillet and dissolve off any remaining browned bits of bacon drippings from the bottom of the skillet.
  4. Finally, add the uncooked pasta to the skillet, place a lid on top, and let the skillet come to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, give it a quick stir, turn the heat down to low, and let simmer for 10 minutes with the lid in place. Give the skillet a stir to loosen the pasta from the bottom every few minutes or so, replacing the lid quickly each time. After 10 minutes the pasta should be tender and most of the broth absorbed. There should be a little bit of thick, saucy broth remaining in the bottom of the skillet.
  5. Add the fresh spinach to the skillet and stir until it has wilted into the pasta. Turn off the heat, add the cooked bacon back to the skillet, sprinkle the Parmesan over top, stir to combine, and then serve

Yum! Doesn’t that sound good and easy?  The recipe does call for bacon, but I found this sausage at the store on sale and decided to give it a try. Bacon can be so expensive these days. I think sausage is a good alternative – they are both pork, right?

What else did we buy?  I have not tried the Michael Angelo’s veggie lasagna before, but thepicture sure makes it look good. My son wants to cook stir fry in the next night or two so he went off to the produce section and made his picks. As you can see I have bagged spinach and awesome looking parmesan cheese for the recipe above. The steamed clams for $2.99? definitely an impulse buy so we shall see how they taste.  And I have become so enamored with almond milk! I love the taste and how low the calorie content. I’m trying to cut way back on my dairy, so drinking almond milk helps.

I mentioned self-care in my title. We all know that self care is important and those of us with mental illnesses it is even more critical. I have talked about self care in past blogs, but I wanted to share with you something  I buy myself every month. This may not be what we traditionally believe of as self care, but this little treat that comes in the mail makes me happy and that I am treating myself to a gift and products that I can use to care for myself.

Have you heard of an Ipsy glam bag?  If you enjoy skin care or beauty, then is is a great $10 a month to spend to treat yourself ($10 total including shipping). Every month a bright pink shiny delievery bag arrives in your mail box and in it a cute or stylish bag with a variety of 5 products related to skincare or beauty.  Here is what mine looked like this for January:

IMG_2350

I know this little Ipsy bag bay not be for everyone, but for me treating myself is important. When I my self esteem is faltering, or I just don’t feel that great, know that it is ok to have a little something sent TO me, FROM me, every month is a positive in managing my mental health.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s blog. It’s a little different from recent topics, but shaking up my blogs  at times is good for me, and I hope for you.

Take Care

Jenny

 

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Go Grocery Shopping with Me!!!!

Go Grocery Shopping with Me!!!!

For today I am asked to show you what’s in my refrigerator – EEK!!!!! NOOOOOO!!!! Let’s just say my fridge needs a thorough cleaning and I am not quite wanting to show it to you. So instead I thought I would take you to the grocery store with me, or rather show you what I bought on today’s outing.

It was nice to get outside. The weather here is unusually warm and so a trip to the store with my son was a good thing. I still can’t get used to cruising around the store on one of those scooters. My eye level is so thrown off that I can’t seem to shop correctly. Let’s just hope I don’t HAVE to get used to it – that here soon I will be able to walk once again. So I scootered around, hoping that the battery wouldn’t die and with my son’s help,  picked out a few things from the store.

It’s funny how my shopping has changed over the years. I have 4 children, 2 who are out of the house, one that is almost out and my youngest who is home with me for at least a couple more years. Grocery shopping is  something I have always enjoyed doing. I know, that sounds crazy, but when I was married and my kids were little, I could leave the kids with their dad and spend my time shopping for a family of 6 and take my time. To this day, grocery shopping offers some peace and yes, a bit of stress reduction. I always go when I know I am not in a rush. I guess it’s a tool in my my toolbox for positive mental health.

So yes, my shopping has changed from TONS of food to just small amounts once maybe twice a week. I think back to the huge cartfuls of food and wow, I should have been stressed!!! So today was just a small trip with few items:

fruit.JPG

 

Yum! I like having fresh fruit in the house. Bananas are always a necessity and this time of year little cutie oranges are sooo tasty. Fuji apples happen to be both mine and my son’s favorite, and today a couple of avocados as well. I like having toast and smushing avocado and spreading it on the toast with some salt and pepper. Tasty and healthy.

 

 

 

 

candle pic.JPG

 

Here are just a few non food items. I always like to have a candle lit in winter time and this tropical fruit one smells so good. Time to stock up on deoderant, and this is the hair gel that my son has found that he really likes (for under $10) L’Oreal Out of Bed Texturizer , and you can find it on Amazon for under $5.00!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

food on oven

 

Here is most everything else that we bought today. I think a gallon of milk and a half gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream was already put away. We enjoy making breakfast burritos, sometimes for dinner as well; eggs, sausage, tortillas, cheese and it tastes so good and is so easy. I don’t really have any dinner type food, but I know our freezer has raviolis, chicken breasts, ground beef and veggies.  And as you can see, cookies, orange chicken, cottage cheese and tortilla chips round up the shopping adventure.

 

 

What do you shop for?  Are you making any health resolutions or changing your eating habits now that we are into 2018?  I don’t feel like I eat UN-healthy. Could I eat better?  Of course. But to be perfectly honest I do treat myself more often right now during my recuperation. It’s rather depressing to not be able to walk without a walker or really go anywhere, so a special sweet treat makes the a day a little brighter.

Do you enjoy any of the items I purchased today?  Let me know!

Jenny