Thinking about food

These days I feel like all I do is think about FOOD.  What food to buy from the store, what food to eat for dinner, what food to bake, food nutrition (or lack thereof), cooking with foods I've never eaten before, researching new food recipes, and on and on.  I have bought groceries, meal planned and cooked in the past, but about 90% of the things I'm making are new to me so it is always on my mind.  Here are some food thoughts:

1.  Why is it soooo expensive?  There are only two of us and we've already spent $450 on groceries this month.  That doesn't even count what I need to pick up from the store today!  I am trying to buy healthier stuff and I have been buying new ingredients, such as coconut oil, which I haven't had in the house before.  Hopefully I'll figure out a way to eat health AND stay on budget because this is nuts!

2. Why do I want to order a big, greasy pizza instead of eat the healthy leftovers in the fridge?  We ordered Papa John's about a month ago and that is the last time I had pizza.  Micah never craves pizza so it is easy for him to say we should just eat the leftovers.  I ate pizza almost every day in Italy and it was sooo good.  I did make pizza a few weeks ago, but it did not even come close to the stuff I want to eat....

3. On the topic of unhealthy food, why do I want frozen yogurt (with tons of cholately toppings) and donuts all of the time?  Since Micah and I are going to be in ABQ for all of November for IVF stuff, yesterday we were talking about going to a different donut shop in ABQ every Saturday morning.  Wow.  Probably not what the doctor ordered for IVF but doesn't that sound delish!?!

4.  One of the most exciting things I learned on Dr. Oz was that you can make popcorn in the microwave using the cheap, bulk popcorn and a brown paper bag.  Just put 1/4 cup of the kernels in the bag, fold it over once, put the microwave on high for about 2 minutes (or until kernels are done popping) and it's done!  Add whatever toppings you want and you have a cheap version of microwave popcorn.  I can't believe I lived for almost 30 years without knowing that you could do that!

5. Best kitchen items that I lived without until a couple of months ago: salad spinner and rice cooker.  I think I bought them both the first week I was back from my trip and they have both been used non-stop ever since.  We have been eating a lot of fresh greens so the salad spinner is always in the fridge, and the rice cooker has endless uses (I've been making brown rice, quinoa and steel cut oatmeal but I know I'm not even close to using it to it's full potential).

6. On Friday I decided to do the self-cleaner thing on the oven.  I don't know how it got so dirty (summer roommate maybe?).  I decided I was going to cook a couple of things Friday afternoon to stock up for the weekend, but when I went to turn the stove and oven on neither worked!  I tried the circuit breaker, I talked to the landlord, I googled, but nothing worked.  Frustrated, I threw a bunch of veggies into the crockpot and made soup.  When Micah got home I told him about the incident and he pulled the oven out from the wall, unplugged it for a few minutes, plugged it back in and it worked.  How frustrating that it was that easy of a fix!  But, I did realize that I am able to cook without recipes now!  I literally throw some veggies, potatoes, quinoa, vegetable broth, water and spices in the crockpot and I have to say that it turned out just fine :).  I'm pretty excited that I don't have to follow recipes exactly anymore to make something edible.

7.  On Saturday I was feeling pretty crummy.  I think it was related to my flu shot as I felt perfectly fine on Sunday, but nevertheless I was pretty worthless on Saturday.  Micah took off for a few hours in the afternoon and I thought I would stay home and read on the couch.  But then I started thinking about things I could make and next thing I knew it was two hours later and I had made beer bread, whole wheat banana muffins, chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies AND cleaned up all of the dishes!  Micah came home and was shocked to see me laying on the couch with my book and all of the food in the kitchen :).  I guess I am getting a little better at the housewife thing.

8.  I really enjoy a good lemon drop martini and several years ago Micah and I worked hard to perfect a homemade version as you can pay up to $10 at a bar and you can make them at home for much, much less.  Our recipe for one serving is: 1 fresh squeezed lemon, 2 fresh squeezed limes, 1-2 heaping tablespoons of Baker's superfine sugar, 1.5 oz of citrus vodka (your choice depending on cost).  Add it all to a shaker full of ice, pour it in a sugar rimmed glass and enjoy :).  Lately we've also been adding a splash of raspberry liquor.  Yum - I want one now but I guess it isn't even 1:00 p.m. so it's a bit early AND we are out of vodka as we used the last of it on Friday night.  Before you go thinking we went crazy, I think we had about 3 ounces left so we each had one drink, but it was really good, especially since we're both hoping this will be my last chance before I get pregnant.

Raspberry lemon drop on the left, regular on the right.

I hope I didn't make you all too hungry!  I'm curious - what is everyone's grocery budget?  Are we out of control?  I think Micah eats about twice as much as me so does anyone have any tricks to keep their husband's appetites under control (and within a budget?)!