The Perfect Snack

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I had a plan this week to tell you about my very first foray into the world of crockpot-tery, because this week Jesse borrowed me (OMG did I just write that?  That is some serious Midwest rubbing off on my subconscious…) his to experiment with, and for dinner on Tuesday, I made us mole pulled pork tacos, wild rice pilaf, and buttermilk cilantro slaw.


And while I will tell you about that at some point, I realized this week is no time for deep blogging.  It’s one of the busiest work weeks of my entire year, and I already have my plate full.  


But, I wanted to take a moment and tell you about how good it feels to listen to your body.  I spent most of Tuesday, which is technically my day off, at the shop prepping for this weekend.  By the time I was on my way back home, a slow, rainy drive that included a detour to downtown Portland to pick up our incredible raffle basketI was ravenous.  


I started plotting my snack attack at stop lights so I’d be 100% prepared when I got home.  It was 4:00, too late for a serious snack, but too far from dinner to just have a handful of salt & pepper potato chips.  I was contemplating peanut butter on toast, but as soon as I had that thought, I felt my stomach frown from the inside, and remembered that for some reason, Gluten & I haven’t been getting along lately.





I wouldn’t even go so far as to call myself gluten intolerant, but every once in awhile, I just need to take a break; even the wheatiest, grainiest of whole grain isn’t doing me any favors, and my body reminds me of this as soon as I even have a thought about it (with the exception of pasta salads, for some bizarre reason.  I could eat these every meal of every day and still be psyched).  





But the peanut butter…now we’re getting somewhere.  I suddenly had a flashback to String Summit last summer, when my friend Andrea broke out a bunch of celery and started making ants on a log for everyone, just because.





In case you’ve forgotten, ants on a log are the perfect balance of goopy, crunchy, sweet, salty, satiating, and refreshing.


I’d better stock up on celery until my body decides to let Gluten back in the house, because in a snack world devoid of satisfying crunch, this is kinda perfection.



Did I just blog about ants on a log?  Yep, I went there.


How are we doing on groceries this month?  Well, I had to do this week’s shopping on Monday, as per the usual, so technically that was still in February, but I’m counting it as part of March.  So in February, thanks to some serious frugality, I came out about $7 ahead!


Here’s where we’re at now:


New Seasons 2/27
Thompson raisins: $0.99
Dried ancho chiles: $0.68
Dozen eggs: $2.89
Red leaf lettuce: $1.50
Green cabbage: $2.83
Yellow onions: $1.03
1 lb. strawberries: $3.99 — how are these coming from Cali in February??! No arguments here.
Baby red potatoes: $2.89
Shallots: $1.35
Garlic: $1.26
Bunch radishes: $1.49
Collard greens: $2.49
Pork stew meat: $9.02
TOTAL: $32.36
REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $117.64


Trader Joe’s 2/27
Raisin Bran: $2.79
Cottage cheese: $1.99
Sundried tomatoes: $1.99
Olive oil: $5.99
TOTAL: $12.76
REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $104.88


Fred Meyer 2/27
1/2 gallon milk: $2.99
Chicken sausage: $4.99
Cucumber: $0.50
Deli turkey meat: $2.50
TOTAL: $10.98
REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $93.90




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