What I Ate on Food Stamps: Week 3

If you missed this week's grocery haul, be sure to click here and see what we were working with.

Before we get into what I ate, I'd like to take a moment to rant about bread. 

I love bread as much as the next guy -- probably more, if we're being honest -- but seeing as how I am only one person, when I buy a loaf of bread, I have to plan my entire week around that loaf of bread. One person eating 20 units of the exact same thing in seven days is no easy feat. Think about it. Eggs are sold in increments of six because a reasonable human being could eat one thing six times in seven days (especially if two or three of them were hidden in, say, brownies). Plenty of perishables are sold in sixes (beer), eights (burger buns), tens (sliced cheese), even dozens (doughnuts). But only sliced bread is like "Oh, you'd like some toast? How about nineteen more?" It's ridiculous. In fact, I'd like to propose a friend-finder or dating app that syncs with your grocery list to minimize food waste. Imagine it! You could get a phone notification that's like "Sam is also buying paprika. Would you like to meet?" It's the future, people! You saw it here first.

Anywho.

Here's what my bread-having butt ate this week.

 

Breakfasts

Most of my breakfasts were, you guessed it, bread-based. I ate avocado toast most mornings. 

Pro Tip: If you buy the little guacamole cups, you can have avocado toast on demand without having to toy with fate over the ripeness of avocados. Also, they keep for several weeks, so you've got taco nights covered too.

 

Lunches

I may have mentioned that I purchased bread this week. As such, my lunches were either chickpea salad sandwiches or leftovers. 

My favorite chickpea salad recipe is from Oh She Glows.

When I ran out of chickpea salad, I had instant ramen with peanut butter and sriracha.

 

Dinners

On Sunday, I tried a recipe for Penne Arrabbiata. I used crushed tomatoes rather than whole tomatoes, doubled the red pepper flakes, and opted for protein penne. It was awesome! I even ate the leftovers on Monday. Definitely a keeper.

On Tuesday, I had sloppy joes and tater tots. If you didn't know, sloppy joe mix freezes really well, so if you're only one person, you can stretch out the contents of a can over several meals.

Wednesday night was spicy lentil wraps from "Hot for Food All Day," which is possibly my favorite cookbook of all time. Everything I've tried so far has been awesome, and I've made several of the recipes multiple times since I got the book for Christmas. Highly recommend.

On Thursday, in honor of the first day of spring, I made this pesto sauce. Since pine nuts are at a price point similar to custom yachts these days, I whizzed some sunflower seeds instead. Still tasty! I also added chicken strips for protein and baked a batch of garlic rolls.

On Friday, my Polish roommate made carbs for dinner -- specifically vegan haluski, apple slices, and fried potatoes. I added some chicken nuggets and a leftover garlic roll. Yes, I am aware this meal is in gross violation of "eat the rainbow" wisdom.

Monochromatic or not, this meal was quite tasty. If you've never had haluski, it's worth giving a try. It sounds weird as heck, but all the butter makes it worth it. Here's the lowdown:

Melt a shitload of butter. Add a shitload of sliced onions. Fry until soft. Stir buttered onions and a shitload of sauerkraut into cooked ribbon noodles. Top with a shitload of pepper. Eat with apple slices. 

Finally, since it wouldn't be an adequate week otherwise, I had tacos on Saturday. I used the tortillas and shredded cabbage from the left over from the lentil wraps.

Bonus!

I also made a gallon of iced tea this week with some tea bags that were hiding in the back of the cupboard. I still use this method for making my tea, but I only used 1/3 cup of sugar for the gallon. Alas, I can no longer use youthful pep to burn off ridiculous amounts of sugar.