Forage Fridays!

So I think everyone who opted in to this new challenge have either forgotten or are willfully ignoring its existence.  I have some stores of food I have collected and want to use them up, so I came up with the idea of Forage Fridays!  I thought it would be an interesting endeavor to see what is available in the wild each week and then try to make a meal from it.  I will for the most part use only what I have foraged, with the exception of salt (I do not feel like driving 9 hours to get to the ocean, I am sure one of our upcoming trips will get me much closer and I'll harvest some then.)

You should, of course, consult with a professional if you are looking to forage in your own area and not take any of my accounts or descriptions as canon.

What I found;

1) Mulberries.  A friend mentioned these were fruiting a few days ago, and it was my first stop on my tour of the woods.

2) Clover Flours.  In all varieties these edible flowers taste like green beans.  Go ahead try one, you'll be surprised!

3) Wild Garlic & Onions.  Your nose knows when you've got the right plant or a look-alike.  Always smell them as sometimes poisonous doppelgangers will grow nearby!  Garlic grows all around our place, I spotted some wild onion while walking in the woods.

4) Common Burdock.  We used to call these 'elephant ears' when we were kids.  I was pretty sure they were also known as 'Stadul weed' because I had only ever seen them in our yard while we were growing up. 

5) Wild Strawberries.  I had wandered through the woods nearby in hopes of finding some chantrelle mushrooms (which I hope grow in the woods near me.)  I found none, but did spot a few patches of wild strawberries.  They were scattered and I only got a handful but if necessity dictated I am sure I could gather more.

What's coming soon: I saw a few wild grape vines with green fruit on them, hopefully it will ripen in the next week or two.

 The sumac horns aren't quite red enough to harvest for drinks yet, hopefully next week they will.  I also spotted a blackberry bush, it looked a few weeks away from being ready.

The Meal:

For the past few memorial day parties I have been making a Slovak dish called 'Rabbit with Mushrooms.'  I thought I would try to recreate it with whatever I found.  The biggest problem being I don't have any good stores of fat.  Small game animals tend to be lean.  

To sum up, I took the back half of a rabbit (I don't want to use a whole rabbit on one meal, especially since I'm eating it alone.  Hopefully I'll have friends along with me in the future.)  and some blanched and frozen dryad's saddle mushrooms from the freezer and added them to my day's forage.

The process ended up being a bit convoluted, I would have done it differently in hindsight (and may very well do that next time.)  The broth ended up being very good, though I hadn't added any salt to it which it needs.  Everything in the rabbit dish tasted ok, but there is a lot of chewing and eating it became a bit arduous.  I was worried that the garlic would be overpowering but it was pretty good, especially since there wasn't any salt in it.  I ate about a third of this plate, the rest I will probably dissect and turn into a soup.

The berries (both strawberries and mulberries) were added to some maple sugar, a dash of cattail flour, and some black walnuts.  Though not as photogenic these were awesome.  I literally licked the bowl clean.

As for the Dryad's saddle, which is now out of season, Here is a photo and my notes from foraging a month or so ago;

Not really knowing what I was doing at the start, I carried 29lbs of mushrooms home.  Many of these weren't suitable for eating, which I found out later (but did not waste.)  

They are distinctive as they look like the feathers of a pheasant, and the big ones grow to look like bicycle seats.  They grow on dead wood in spring (the same time as morels, a mushroom I have never actually seen.)  They smell like watermelon rind.  It is distinctive.

So what to look for?  I found pretty much everything larger than 6" diameter weren't any good, when they get older they get really tough.  If you like chewing on tires you can ignore this part and just take them all.  Some of the smaller ones are tough as well, so don't just think the 'baby' ones are the onese to take.  The easiest way to tell if you have a good one or not is to scrape the pores off the bottom.  If they come off easily you'll probably have a good mushroom.  If they don't you can leave it behind.  The flesh should also cut easily, think about the difficulty of chopping up a mushroom you buy from the store (maybe a little more, but if you have to saw through it you've definitely got one that is too tough.)  You want to scrape the pores off before eating.  

Out of my 29lbs i had about 4.5lbs that were still tender enough.  I cut them into slices and blanched them for 2 minutes, then froze them.  I have since unthawed about half and used them, they are just fine.

The big ones that were too tough got cut into chunks and left in the crock pot overnight (over a series of several nights, there was a lot.)  No water was added.  The mushrooms can then be wrung out and the remaining broth has a very good flavor.

Wrapping Up Month One - What's in Your Fridge? New Recipes; and Other Comments

This is what I have prepped/left over for the final day of month 1 - Top shelf: fruit salad (pineapple, mango, kiwi and blueberries), and sweet potato & kale hash (4 small plates which I will heat in the oven and top each with a fried egg). Bottom shelf: 2 pieces jerk cod (marinating to bake tomorrow) which will be served with pineapple mango salsa (middle container), chopped salad consisting of lettuce, carrots, green onion, kale and broccoli (right) and a bag of rainbow carrots (peaking out in the back).  There is nothing left in the drawers which my family calls "rotters" and just some condiments and beverages in the door.

New recipes for the month: fish baked with pineapple, coconut oil, salt and pepper (salmon & Mahi Mahi), jerk cod with pineapple mango salsa, and sweet potato & kale hash.

This was a short month but could possibly be the most costly. I'm on a fitness plan and trying to find the right balance of food so I'm not hungry. I splurged this month on prepared kale chips, protein powder, and other things. I have a new strategy/shopping list for month 2 so I expect that my budgeting will improve with a plan.  Do I at least get the clean fridge award??

Stretching Out Meals for the Week

As part of my meal preparation yesterday, I was able to stretch out 1 serving into 3-4 by adding ingredients that I had in the fridge/pantry (these have been weighed and will be added into my total expenses).

The first meal was baked oatmeal. I started with just under 2/3 cup of oatmeal, about 1 serving, and stretched it out to 3 - 1 1/4 cup servings. I remembered a recipe that I previously made from the Eat for Health book by Dr. Fuhrman. I started by putting the oatmeal in an 8x8 baking dish with a cup of water and 3 dates. I sprinkled a little coriander on top and baked at 350 degrees until the water was absorbed (approximately 30 min.). I chopped up 1 1/2 bananas and grated 3 apples in the blender and sprinkled them with cinnamon. I added the fruit with a little more water and baked until the fruit was soft. Once done, I sprinkled the top with  1 1/2 TBS ground flax.  This recipe is very versatile and will work well with many other combinations of dried, frozen or fresh fruit as well as nuts, seeds and nut butters.

The second meal was pumpkin curry with lentils. I started with one serving of frozen pumpkin curry (prepared by Kathy) and turned it into 4 - 1 cup servings each served over 1/2 cup rice. I cooked 1 cup of lentils until they were soft. When the lentils were finished, I drained the excess water and added 2 chopped roma tomatoes, raisins and curry powder and cooked it until the tomatoes were soft. I added the thawed pumpkin curry and cooked it for a few more minutes and then topped it with chopped green onions. This is another recipe that can have many variations by adding other vegetables or beans, although its not very common to have a extra package of pumpkin curry in the freezer (except if you're the Jacksons with 20+).

Day 10, we still won't win.

Despite individual meal cost being low, our food bills continue to rise.  Unexpected Birthday expenses this week totalled $50, bringing our running total to $174.30, nearly 2 months of our initial budget in just 10 days.

I've made some pretty successful dishes this week.  I've gotten used to pulling chicken legs apart to remove

all the tendons, and have made chicken parm (pictured), pretzel crusted chicken, chicken and dumplings, bbq ribs, pizza, and lots of pierogies.  I saved all the bones and leftover bits from the chicken legs I used, 6 of them made a very good quart of chicken noodle soup.  All of the meals have been satisfying, nay, downright normal.  It is nice to enjoy meals made of ingredients you can recognize, no trisodium megaphosphate or whatever else you see on the side of boxes.

I can't say I really miss any foods.  Cooking does take up a good deal of time but the crockpot and items prepared last sunday do help to keep cooking times minimal.

The sandwich to the left shows the return of an old challenge favorite - Apocalyps Bacon.  I call this sandiwch the ABLT.  This incarnation is chicken skin, stripped from the legs I prepared earler in the week, fried crisp in a pan.  The tomatoes on the ABLT (and the chick parm for that matter) are runted leftovers from my mom's garden.  I gathered them the last day before she went on vacation, which was 3 days before the first killer frost.  I've kept them in the garage and then the back hall when the garage got too cold, letting them slowly ripen.  I'm amazed that I still have a few good ones left!

There has only been one real failure so far (aside from our balooned expenses.)  I tried to make beef barley soup from what was left in the crockpot when I made ribs last week, and I added too much barley.  The barley doesn't have a great consistency either.  It is just sitting in the refrigerator now, thouch I can't quite bring myself to throw it out.

Mini Challenge Wrap Up

For dinner this evening, I made potato pancakes from the two remaining potatoes, one egg, chives from the garden and margarine.  I also used the last two pieces of bread and the last two pieces of cheese to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

All I have left is:

And 15 cents that I didn't use.
I'm thinking this is not the most nutritious way to eat.  Lots of "white" food (potatoes, white bread, oatmeal, bananas, eggs, pasta).  I look forward to having the harvest from my expanded garden to eat for health and savings during the next challenge.

Final Round - Fight!

Sooo much food for breakfast this morning.  I had 1 egg, oats, a banana, and hashbrowns, plus coffee.  My coffee made it pretty far.  I made 6 16-oz cups of coffee from the 2 packets in the mail plus the chicory root.  I still had an egg left so I made it for Jessica.  I am stuffed.

For lunch, I was SET UPON BY THIEVES!!! Actually it was just Jessica.  She ate all my bologna.  She did offer to go buy me more, but I accept that thieves took some of my food and challenge on.  I had beans, a baked potato with margarine and chives, and the rest of my pasta from the other night.

Dinner was buttered noodles, fries, creamed corn, and 2 pieces of toast.  I used all the margarine. I in fact used nearly everything, save a surplus of navy beans and some ranch dressing.  I shared my potato salad, eggs, and (unwillingly) bologna, and still had enough food to make it through this mini challenge.

Final thoughts?  I think $1.50/person/day is a good starting point for our big challenge.  I think $1.50/day would have been easier if it was over a longer time period, where bulk buys of more goods could be incorporated (and I can justify a can of coffee.)

Day 5 - Did I mention the carrot?

Well - we made it to day 5. I don't think I mentioned the bonus carrot.  While at the grocery store on Wednesday, shopping for a birthday treat for a friend in a nursing home, I looked over the produce section and spotted bulk carrots.  So, I carefully picked out a small carrot to be certain I didn't go over the 31 cents I had remaining in my budget.  The carrot rang up at 16 cents WOOO HOOOO!!!  Carrot in my salad today.

Yesterday's menu changed a little as I worked in the garden for most of the late afternoon and evening.  For lunch, I ate tuna mac casserole and a baked potato.  Supper was two scrambled eggs and two pieces of toast.  I drank lots of mint tea, both iced and hot as I made a futile attempt at ridding the herb garden of the roving take-over mint.  (I also have mint in a large pot in my garden.)  I didn't have my salad yesterday so that means more lettuce and tomatoes for today's salad.
For breakfast this morning, I ate the last banana and the rest of the oats.  Along with the carrot, I have the supplemental dandelion greens, about 10 cherry tomatoes cut into thirds, the small head of purple and green lettuce and the remaining ranch dressing, I have a pretty nice salad for lunch.  I'll also be taking one of my two remaining eggs (hard-boiled) and the rest of the tuna mac casserole in addition to the salad.  Supper will consist of some combination of my remaining stores which are two potatoes, two pieces of bread, one egg, margarine and 4 pieces of cheese.  That's it!  Almost at the finish line.  I'll be posting my final thoughts on the challenge.

A Message From Day 4

Breakfast; oats, hash browns, banana coffee.

Lunch was a little late today, I had an extra piece of bread from my missed meal yesterday so I made half my hot bologna into a sandwich.  'Bean salad' has turned into just beans, I haven't done anything with them other than cook them.  I shared my potato salad with our worker, Mike, who has been helping me move cabinets for the last 2 (and probably for the next 2) days.

Looking at my menu plan, I still have pasta left from yesterday, I don't have any macaroni salad left.  I have the things needed to make macaroni salad if I feel like it. (macaroni salad was my 'snack' scheduled for today.)

As of yesterday the basswood has finally exploded into green - the young leaves are quite edible.  They have a very 'green' taste.  I picked some this morning for my chef's salad tonight.

I have everything I planned for tomorrow, and also have 1 extra hard boiled egg, uncooked macaroni, 1 extra potato in the form of french fries (I made 2 potatoes into fries) and copious amounts of navy beans.  I might just bake up some of those fries to go with dinner tonight.

I will probably have food left over when the mini-challenge is over.  I would be really good at making ends meet as a poor person, which is probably exactly the reason I am not a poor person.

Mini-Challenge - Day 4

Last night, after my dinner of two scrambled eggs and toast, I had a snack of one banana and two pieces of cheese.
For breakfast today, I had a bowl of oatmeal with a banana.  For lunch I'm planning to have a salad (similar to yesterday's salad), along with macaroni, tuna casserole.  Dinner will probably be a baked potato with chives and either grilled cheese or an egg sandwich.

Stuffed on Day 3

I understand that to make this challenge appealing and possible for most people, the creators had to make it seem like it was going to be difficult.  It is not.

If this were a true poverty challenge, you would have to source and secure the food one day before the challenge starts, and you have to do it on foot.  Oh, and $3.50 would go to rent for the hovel you live in on the equator, so you'd have $4 instead of $7.50.

Our ability to search sales flyers and drive to multiple locations to get our groceries for this challenge have made it, quite frankly, too easy.

I did a few substitutions on the menu; last night I had to take my dinner with me so I swapped the baked potato out for some potato salad.  This cascaded into my not wanting potato salad for lunch today, so I instead had macaroni salad.  This will not leave me enough macaroni salad for tomorrow, but I have more potato salad left.

More importantly, I did not eat lunch today.  I was out at a site taking cabinets apart and didn't get back until 6PM.  Having missed lunch I had double food for dinner!  I immediately ate the rest of the mac salad and the hard boiled egg when I got back.  Next I fried up the bologna that was supposed to be on my lunch sandwich, made 2 pieces of garlic bread instead of 1, and had a nice salad of dandelion greens and wild onions.  Add to that the pasta and creamed corn and I am absolutely stuffed!  I actually have probably half a pound of pasta left, and I simply can't eat any more.

Do I crave things?  A little.  No more than anyone who goes on a regimented diet for any period of time.  I am certainly not hungry though, nor am I dissatisfied with my culinary variety.

Day 3 - 1/2 way through

No pictures today.  Just a brief update on the menu.  For breakfast, I had a bowl of oatmeal with banana slices.  While rummaging through my kitchen cabinet this morning, I found an old foil packet of honey from a fast food store.  I added the packet to my oatmeal.  It was a little too sweet.
For lunch I'll have a salad similar to yesterday's lunch time salad and the tuna macaroni casserole.  I'll probably take one potato to work.  In case I need a snack, I'll have a baked potato.
Supper will be two scrambled eggs with chives and two slices of toast.

At the end of today, my challenge inventory will include:
     4 eggs
     3 potatoes
     8 slices of cheese
     1 small head of lettuce
     12 cherry tomatoes
     3 bananas
     1 cup of oats
     1 1/4 sticks of margarine
     4 slices of white bread
     small amount of ranch dressing
     2 servings of tuna macaroni casserole

I might even end the week with a couple items left over - and under budget.
A friend of mine told me that a local chain store has peanut butter for $2.99 with a $2.99 rebate at the register.  I think I'll check it out.
   

It's all coming back to me now . . .

As a child, I absolutely LOVED spending time with my grandmother.  She always "spoiled" me and we had so many fun adventures together.  I always felt loved, appreciated and nurtured when I was with her.
As I picked the dandelion greens from my garden today, I had a flash back of weekends at grandma's house.  The yard around her little house was always well kept and weed free.  She had a little garden at the side of the house.  However, most of the borders around the front and back lawn were planted with beautiful flowers.  The lawn was absolutely weed and dandelion free.  If a dandelion did pop up, she got out there with her gloves and her garden tools and made certain to get every last bit of the root out of that lawn.  She warned me not to touch the dandelions with my bare hands because, if I did, I would certainly wet the bed that night.  The memory of Grandma's warning brought a smile to my face and a warm feeling to my heart.
If grandma was watching me today, she certainly would have scolded me.  For not only did I touch the dandelions with my bare hands, but I ate them as well.  I picked a good amount of dandelions to supplement the lettuce I had purchased.

Grandma, if you are listening or reading this, I just want to let you know that dandelions are used not only as a food, but for medicinal qualities as well.  The book, The Complete Woman's Herbal, states that "Dandelion, particularly the leaves, is an effective diuretic, useful in water retention, cellulite, urinary infections and prostate problems. . . . While diuretic drugs leach potassium from the body, dandelion has a high potassium content, replacing that lost through increased urination."  So Grandma, I guess you were partially correct but I am enjoying the dandelions anyway, as well as the fond memories of times shared with you.
For breakfast this morning, I enjoyed two pieces of french toast using one egg and some of the margarine.  I topped the french toast with one sliced banana.

For lunch, I enjoyed my salad of lettuce, dandelion greens, tomatoes, chives and a small amount of ranch dressing.  In addition, I ate 1/5 of the macaroni, tuna casserole I made yesterday.

For dinner this evening, I used two of my potatoes and one egg to make some yummy potato pancakes.

I am getting used to drinking tap water.  However, since the coffee at work is free to me, I am enjoying a couple cups a day.  I am not working on Thursday, so I guess I'll be having some mint tea that day.
Side note:  the Woman's Herbal states that dandelion is also known as "fairy clock."  See, there are still fairies in my garden.

Mini-Challenge Day 2

The only variant from my menu yesterday - I forgot to eat my cream corn at lunch.  I had it at lunch today along with a salad of dandelion greens and wild onions.

Dinner was a huge amount of pasta last night.  I don't feel that I am at all being deprived in calories or nutrition.

I think it is easier to eat with this limited budget than it is in regular life, and improving my diet as well. It forced me to meal plan to consume an equal amount of the foods I could afford.  I am eating a lot more greens than I normally do too.

Mini Challenge Food List

Following is a list of the foods I've chosen for the mini challenge and the cost for each:
     $.55 for 1/3 of 18 oz oatmeal (split with Sharon and Mark) total cost $1.64 - 2 for one sale
     $.44 for 1/3 of 18 bananas (split with Sharon and Mark) total cost $1.32 @ $.27 per pound
     $.88 for 1 pound of elbow macaroni
     $.69 for one can tuna packed in water (last minute change - I originally had spaghetti sauce on my list but decided instead to make a tuna and mac dish)
     $.50 for small container cherry tomatoes (good sale)
     $.40 for 1/2 pound margarine (I usually don't eat margarine)
     $.50 for 1/2 container of small Lettuce heads (split with Sharon) total cost $1.00
     $.43 for 1/2 loaf of bread (split with Mark) total cost $.85
     $.85 for 10 eggs (split with Sharon and Mark)
     $.88 for cheese - 14 slices remaining (sold 2 slices to Mark)
     $.83 for 1/3 of 10 pound bag of potatoes- 7 potatoes each (split with Sharon and Mark)
     $.25 for 1/4 of bottle of ranch dressing (shared with Mark)
Total is $7.18
Monday's menu:   Breakfast - Oatmeal and bananas   Lunch - grilled cheese   Supper - 1/6 of casserole made with tuna, macaroni, chives (from my garden), 4 slices of cheese, and sliced cherry tomatoes) along with a salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes and ranch dressing  Snack - hard boiled egg.
I haven't planned the menus for the rest of the week so I'll be posting as I go.

Mini Challenge Meals

This is 1/5 of what I will be eating for the next 5 days.  Starting at the bottom left and moving clockwise we have breakfast (banana and porridge), lunch (quiche and salad), snack (10 celery sticks), and dinner (baked potato and white bean chili).  Not bad for $1.50!

The Last Supper

Turkey, baked potato, pea pods, applesauce, crackers, freezer pickles, and breaded polenta.

It was all pretty good. Thus the challenge concludes.

I will be posting some final thoughts in a few days, and I plan to post a few challenge inspired projects here. Thank you all for your support and interest in our little project here. I am sure we all learned something, and as soon as I figure out what it is I'll let you know!

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.2

Day 36

This will be my final day in the competition, and pictured here are my first two meals of the day.

I had 4 eggs and 5oz of turkey as my only protein foods left in stores this morning. I crushed one of the eggs trying to get it unstuck from the carton. I ate two, and made a batch of crackers with the remaining one. Lunch used half my turkey, and the other half will go to dinner tonight. All my beans were eaten a few days ago.

The proverbial wind in my sails has really left since I won. I hardly ever thought about 'cheating' and eating non-challenge foods when it was a competition; for the past two days I just crave all the little snack foods - chips, little debbies, pizza rolls, you get the idea. Of course my food variety is dwindling, and that may contribute, but more than that I feel like, 'Why am I still doing this?'

I didn't have any real motivation to make it to the 37th day - that was my Mom's idea. I don't really care. I initially though that I would make it into the low 40's (I think I originally calculated 42 days.) Once I decided I wasn't going to deprive myself of food for the sake of winning, that number dwindled.

The reasons I continued are; a) I thought winning by taking my 'party day' on the day my Mom finished was poor form; b) I had perishable stores that needed eaten; c) I still had good protein foods available, and d) once I am finished, I don't plan to take on another enterprise like this for at least a year.

Enough about me, more about the food!

Breakfast; 2 eggs, applesauce, bran cereal with grape jelly. This was my Mom's blackberry applesauce. It is quite the delight. The eggs were of a questionable quality.

Lunch; skillet fried breaded turkey, pea pods, half a baked potato, peaches, crackers and tomato sauce. Bread crumbs don't stick very well when you don't have egg whites or something else to bind the breadcrumbs to it. As for the peaches, which I have never mentioned before; I went to make the mini pies yesterday. I decided to put some of the summer squash in them, but when I opened my last jar of summer squash they turned into peaches! Guess I should read the labels on stuff.

Day 35, I just deleted my entire post again

Breakfast; eggs, bran cereal, applesauce, grape juice. That was the last of the milk

Lunch; 4 turkey mini-pies, crackers and tomato sauce.

Dinner; 2 mini-pies, vegetable soup with turkey added, apricot glazed carrots.

Protein stores consist of 2 portions of turkey and 4 eggs. It will all be over soon!

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.2

Day 33

Breakfast; eggs, breaded polenta, apples, polenta with grape jelly. This jelly is fantastic.

Lunch; fish Friday! Last one, as I have no more fish. I had a little bit of turkey left over from yesterday too. Half a potato, green beans, grape juice, and crackers.

Dinner; slightly burned soybeans, crackers, green beans, and freezer pickles. I milled the bran and the rest of the corn I had. I got 2-1/4lbs of flour from the bran and 1lb cornmeal. Now I have some grains to get me through the last days of the competition.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.2

Day 32

Breakfast; polenta with grape butter, apples, eggs.

Lunch; turkey and noodles with garlic sauce, green beans, 1/2 baked potato, 2 tomatillos. A bit of milk and a bit of water, garlic, flour, and salt made up the sauce. This was a good meal.

Dinner; 2 eggs, bran breaded polenta, tomatillos. Lunch was very late today, and dinner came only 3 hours later. I snacked out on a bag of watermelon later in the evening.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.2