The Grocery Game: Day 7 and Day 8

Yep ~ it's getting down and dirty 'round here.  Can you feel it?  Did you sense the shift in the solar system as my world sped up and began spinning?

It's one thing to be ready for a non-intensive food prep weekend ~ quite another to be waylaid by life circumstances and the attempt to keep up with the mayhem.  However, the pre-planning and prep I had accomplished last week certainly aided when time pressed and I had to think fast on my feet today!

Yesterday, Sunday, was supposed to be a typical day.  It wasn't.  We began with toast and peanut butter . . . and that's about the last I remember.  LOL

We were invited to an impromptu lunch with friends, which turned into a four hour long visit, which meant meeting other neighbors, which meant I had a fresh satsuma orange, plucked right off the tree!  I also came home with some great garden goodies, but that's a post for another time.

The clock ticked on, and a task soon loomed large on the horizon, so a quick tortilla and Red Pepper Hummus was the ticket to keep me going until nightfall.  I once again attempted to make Gil's Ultimate Popcorn - only to discover that we were slap out of popcorn kernels!  (Yes, I cried.)

Today wasn't much of an improvement . . . the day began with an oversleep, I don't even remember having coffee, let alone breakfast!  By lunchtime, which was actually about 2 pm, the only thing I could wrap my brain around was a delicious Tuna Sandwich.

I whipped one up in short order, and inhaled it.  Keller joined me, but he decided to nibble on his.  :)  But that's not all . . .

Did You Notice Last Week Was 99.9% Gluten Free?

The only exception being a flour tortilla, for which a corn tortilla can be substituted, there were NO boxed gluten free products, no expensive, fancy preparations.  Just wholesome, close-to-the-harvest-as-we-could-get foods, prepared with love.

Now that's pretty cool.

You have to admit.  :)

I had found a particular Peanut Butter cookie recipe that appealed to me (saying a lot, as I already have a #1 Peanut Butter cookie recipe!) I decided I had enough time to try it out, and get supper made before the clock would strike again, and I'd have to be gone.

So I pulled the ingredients, and began mixing away.  While I eschew gluten free pre-packaged products for the most part (particularly in a $300 food budget month!), I do say that the one item I will readily have on hand is a multi-purpose gluten free flour.  Bob's Red Mill brand is my favorite.  I have made my own, and will make my own . . . but GF flour is very handy both in pre-planning and in a pinch.  It is just simply a make-sense item.

For instance, even though these cookies are made with flour, you could substitute GF flour easily with very good results.

This batch was the trial run of the new recipe, so they were made as written, and they are very, very good.

But they still don't take my first place.  :)

Just about the time these beauties came out of the oven, I realized I'd computed the time wrong . . . and I had to leave:  PRONTO!  :eek!:

No time for another cookie sheet of cookies to be baked . . . No time for stir fry . . . however, if I were to employ Mr. New and Shiny ~

I would still be able to prepare lunches for the rest of Gil's work-week.

Therefore, it was definitely time to pull MRNS into service!

The result was a quick throw together of lentils and garbanzos - you know, the ones we prepped last week?  Yep . . . tossed into the pot, stirred, put on high, and off I went, with nary a care in the world.

When I returned home?  The house smelled wonderful, and the concoction was finished . . . ready to be portioned and frozen, in ziplocks, in the same manner as all the other legumes from last week.

When the GilGuy arrives home, he'll have a tasty meal waiting for him:

For his lunches, likewise.

What did I end up having for supper, you ask?

Well, another Tuna Sandwich, of course.  :)

All told, the day's meals came in under the $5 mark, with the can of tuna being the highest priced item, at $2.38.

While I didn't feed a crowd today, I could have.  I would have tossed another green salad to go with the sandwich (well, with the lentils, too, for that matter!) and pared the pineapple sitting in the fridge for a tasty side/desert.  Or ~ I could've sliced some apples, or made a quick broccoli salad.

Lots of protein and dietary fiber floating around today . . .calcium and iron are really stocked in the Lentils - and plenty of Vitamins A and C . . . just an all round wholesome food day, once again, even on the fly, even though things didn't go as planned.

Now as for those cookies . . .  LOL

Tuna Salad, Gil's Lentils, Peanut Butter Cookie #2 - The Grocery Game, Day 8