What I Ate in a Day #32 (Back to Normal Version)

Some of the things I learned from my low spend adventure were surprising to me. When I answered my cravings in early September, they turned out to focus on produce more than I would have expected. So I thought I would show you just what that looked like.

For breakfast, I had a big fruit salad with seeds (clementines, blackberries, cherries, blueberries, kiwi, and red seedless grapes with sesame seeds, chia seeds, and hemp seeds), a spiced blue butterfly pea flower soy latte, and a slice of homemade upside down plum cake. The oven could finally be turned on, because the weather cooled for a night (although heat was following), but I still wanted that freshness. This was so satisfying! Extravagant? Maybe. But worth it. I had two slices of the cake, which is made primarily of oats and nuts and fruit (more on that later), and I added a big spoon of chocolate tahini to my bowl of fruit after I'd eaten half of it.

I'm not a total spendthrift, so I took advantage of the Labor Day weekend sales here, and had a veggie (mushroom and lentil) burger and sweet potato puffs with spicy ketchup on the side for lunch. The burger was a store brand patty, pretty typical in texture and flavor, but it was really nice because I haven't had a burger like that in a long time. I usually get beefy versions of veggie burgers these days, but this had a nostalgic quality, like the veggie burgers I used to get in college sometimes. I topped it with romaine, a slice of beefsteak tomato, red onion, some non-dairy cheese, and vegan mayo. It was delightful, as well as affordable.

I had a few squares of chocolate to follow this. I'd eaten up all of my chocolate over my low spend month, and chocolate is one of life's necessities for me. This dark chocolate bar with chocolate chip cookies in a dark chocolate truffle center was really good. The chocolate itself was smooth and creamy, and the cookies provided a wonderful crunch amidst the soft truffle part.

The clearest indication of my desperation for produce is that I wanted this soup for dinner and felt no need to have any other courses. This is beet greens soup from the recipe at Mother Would Know. I made it as written, except that I used ground allspice instead of allspice berries, and I added some of the salt earlier than the recipe directs so it would have a chance to infuse the veggies. The soup is beautiful from all the colors (photos do not do this justice), and the taste was amazing, too. It's an unusual recipe in that it uses such a vast quantity of fresh dill and parsley--1/2 cup minced up is quite hefty--but it gives it a good flavor without having to use veggie broth. The soup is flavored from the herbs, allspice, a bay leaf, the veggies, garlic, some tomato paste, and some soy sauce, as well as salt and pepper, which all cooks down into a pot of deliciousness. The recipe author did not mislead me. It was said to be a bit tiresome to cut everything up, and it was. But I was rewarded, so I didn't mind spending some time on the weekend doing that.

I had my soup with some garlic toast, made from whole grain-and-seed bread I am now choosing to spring for because I like it better than the cheaper sort and even though it costs a few dollars more per loaf, having what I love makes such a difference in my life.

Not pictured, I also had herbal tea, a multivitamin, an algae-based DHA supplement, and some iced seltzer.

There are things I will continue to do to save money--I'll make pizza sauce out of tomato sauce and tomato paste and dried seasonings, and I'll make soup from random bits around, and I'll make dumplings when I want something bready and don't have the bread around (or just because)--but I've also learned that there are some worthwhile splurges. I've decided to get the bread and soy milk I like best in spite of the cost, because I can afford it, for example. But I've also found, much to my surprise, that I don't really long for meat substitutes so much as I just want fruit and veggies. So if I'm going to be extravagant at the grocery store, it's going to be in the produce section.

Okay, maybe that's not a surprise. I am known for my "ALL THE VEGGIES" cravings. But can you really blame me? Veggies are awesome.

In any case, I am grateful I had that August challenge, and grateful, too, to have moved on into September to find the joy of a larger budget now that I've gotten through the hard month. So here's to beet greens, fresh dill, a big bowl of fruit, fancy chocolate, and making it through.