Food Before and After Photos

[summerset 5,265]

Sunday brunch.

Tofu scramble with rye bread. coffee, figs and papaya not pictured.

[summerset 5,265]

Sate ramen (cleaning out shelves again) - got a bit too oily so I might adjust the amount of sate paste but in general it had a pleasant taste.

[Tomo 1,191]

Speaking of noodles. I made a roasted eggplant konjac noodles stir fry dish in spicy garlic sauce. I first roasted one eggplant (114 cal) and then stir fried it with the konjac noodles (10 calories, zero carbs), spicy garlic sauce (25 cal) garlic, onions, a splash of chinkiang vinegar and soy sauce. I didn't eat it all but it was great as leftovers too.

[summerset 5,265]

Hmmmmm, eggplant sounds good. Haven't made them in a while.... 🤔

I'm going to roast a zucchini this evening and maybe cook up some sticky rice in the rice cooker. I have like a truckload of uncooked rice at home. (project shelf- and fridge-cleaning will take a while to accomplish)

[summerset 5,265]

Mock chicken with an Asian vegetable mix out of the fridge and some of that sate paste. Red rice can't be seen.

[sillykitty 10,774]

Has anyone else tried these low carb Buns from Aldi?

They were indistinguishable to me from regular (cheap) buns.

Had a meal of pulled pork sandwich, potato salad, coleslaw and cucumber salad

And inspired by @Starwarsandcupcakes, I calculated what this meal cost

Taking a soap box tangent here, but I think this is a good example of why fast food is so popular.
This same volume of food to fill me up, I could have had a Taco Bell taco, for approximately the same cost. But for the homemade meal, I had to actively shop for deals, and spending the time planning & cooking. It is often so much more economical for people are pressed for both time and money to go through a drive though or pick up a pizza.

Edited September 12, 2022 by sillykitty

[Starwarsandcupcakes 2,046]

5 hours ago, sillykitty said:

And inspired by @Starwarsandcupcakes, I calculated what this meal cost

Man, am I ever jealous of some of your food prices. $.25 cucumbers and $1/lb jalapeños?! Cheapest cucumbers around here are $.69 and jalapeños are $1.50/lb minimum. $.25 cucumbers would save me almost $5 a week! (We eat A LOT of cucumbers around here.)

I know for me it’s more economical to shop and make meals at home. With 4 kids, 2 of them teenagers, eating out is expensive and not as nutritious most of the time. Sure, my kids still eat junk food but when an average McDonald’s kids meal is $3.50, it adds up quick.

[GreenTealael 25,336]

45 minutes ago, Starwarsandcupcakes said:

I know for me it’s more economical to shop and make meals at home. With 4 kids, 2 of them teenagers, eating out is expensive and not as nutritious most of the time

I definitely hate dining out with my kids. They want 8 course meals while I just want a dessert 🤣

[Starwarsandcupcakes 2,046]

Speaking of grocery shopping-

This week sales were items I usually buy a lot of so I spent $138US instead of my ideal budget of $110. I saved $144US with sales, multiple pickup order promos (4 pickup orders saved me an extra $20!), and coupons. The chef boyardee is purely for when kids need fed and I have low functioning days.

Oh, the meal plan for this week (which I dated for tomorrow 🤦‍♀️) And my kids have already eaten 1/2 a container of grapes, 4 apples and a mandarin orange. 😒

[Starwarsandcupcakes 2,046]

3 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

I definitely hate dining out with my kids. They want 8 course meals while I just want a dessert 🤣

Honestly I’m the same. That or soup!

[sillykitty 10,774]

2 hours ago, Starwarsandcupcakes said:

Man, am I ever jealous of some of your food prices. $.25 cucumbers and $1/lb jalapeños?! Cheapest cucumbers around here are $.69 and jalapeños are $1.50/lb minimum. $.25 cucumbers would save me almost $5 a week! (We eat A LOT of cucumbers around here.)

I know for me it’s more economical to shop and make meals at home. With 4 kids, 2 of them teenagers, eating out is expensive and not as nutritious most of the time. Sure, my kids still eat junk food but when an average McDonald’s kids meal is $3.50, it adds up quick.

You're going to be really mad that I was wrong and the jalapenos were $0.50/lb 😂

SoCal is lucky to have the most competitive grocers in the country. But if you have an Aldi in your area, they're always the lowest priced in any market. Prices vary regionally for meat/produce/eggs/milk, but everything else is the same price nationally.

But yeah, the cost gap between home made food and fast food is much greater when it's a family to feed and not just one person with bariatric portions. In my example it's a $.30 gap between my pulled pork meal and a Taco Bell taco. But it would be multiple times that for a family with normal size stomachs. I just did the spreadsheet and was annoyed that I saved so little for inveting so much time. 😂

So today I decided to save my labor and get a sandwich 😋

 

[Starwarsandcupcakes 2,046]

@sillykitty, I just checked my local Aldi ad and both the grapes and cherry tomatoes (organic) I bought were cheaper at the stores I go them at. The peppers would’ve been cheaper but only by a penny. Every once in a while I also find great produce deals on Amazon Fresh. I wish prices weren’t so variable when it came to meat/dairy/produce across the US.

On that Aldi note though, if I ever visit the UK I’m shopping at Tesco because they price match Aldi prices in their stores.

[sillykitty 10,774]

3 hours ago, Starwarsandcupcakes said:

@sillykitty, I just checked my local Aldi ad and both the grapes and cherry tomatoes (organic) I bought were cheaper at the stores I go them at. The peppers would’ve been cheaper but only by a penny. Every once in a while I also find great produce deals on Amazon Fresh. I wish prices weren’t so variable when it came to meat/dairy/produce across the US.

On that Aldi note though, if I ever visit the UK I’m shopping at Tesco because they price match Aldi prices in their stores.

SoCal has by far the best produce prices in the country. It's a combo of being close to growing areas and ports for importation, and the large number of ethnic markets which affordable produce is key for their consumers.

[summerset 5,265]

Best before dates are just big, evil lies. The cleaning-out continues: veg bratwurst currywurst style with onions and mushrooms, sweet soy sauce and lavash bread.

[GreenTealael 25,336]

Friends! I’m so excited. I found the ridiculously good vegan dessert mix again. They were marked down to $1.28 a box. So I bought them all. Each box allegedly has 13-16 servings. Now my vegan daughter should be all set until February (when they expire or so they say… 🤣 @summerset)

Edited September 13, 2022 by GreenTealael