The Joli Times

It's a wrap!

2008-08-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

POTLUCK with COMMUNITY

High Five and Time to GRUB! We did it!

Thanks for checking in on our 30 day experiment.

The best way to view this blog is to start on day one and follow along.

Enjoy!

The Buck Stops Here, Looking back at it all!

2008-08-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

photo by Gabriel Fenoy

We did it with $2 dollars left over.

Our Blog book is in the works.....

Lettuce, Live, & Learn.......

2008-08-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

Photo by Gabriel Fenoy ( COURIER photo)

Juicy Birthday to YOU!

2008-08-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today Aleli turned................. bigger years old! It was to be the juiciest birthday to date!

Juicy surprises await just inside this news wrapped box......

While Aleli, Kai, Eden and Julian slept, James and Keoni ventured across college campuses to pluck the first golden fruits of the morning. This sumptuous birthday breakfast spread was lovingly baked, grated, browned, hand squeezed and cooked by James while the birthday girl slept. We awoke to oatmeal covered in baked sweetened peaches & milk, homemade hash browns with a pepper from our backyard, a lovely omelet and the freshest hand squeezed orange juice. What a great way to start a birthday!

After a tasty breakfast and some afternoon gift giving, we made plans to visit the gorgeous, fruit tree rich home of some old friends of the family. Rick and Kristie Smith live just north of us by less than a mile and enjoy a life that is heavy with fruits. Their half acre historical property has well over a dozen fruit trees and other edibles. This includes a variety of lemons, tangelos, grapefruits, oranges, persimmons (so pretty they have inspired art!), avocado, grapes, raspberries, tomatoes, herbs, etc. This is absolutely beautiful land. Anyway, they had invited us to pick as many lemons as we wanted. In the 11 years they've lived there, they have NEVER been able to consume all the fruit that their yard produces. And they told us in all that time they've never bought any citrus, avocado or persimmon either ................ they just didn't need to.......ever! We could take a truck load and they wouldn't feel the loss! So it was off to the Smith's.........

We were greeted at the gate by Kristie who immediately welcomed us into her kitchen and offered us some fresh baked cookies. One of the first things we noticed was her collection of vintage glass citrus juicers hanging in two of her kitchen windows. They looked like jewels glistening in the sun. Very cool.

Kristie gave us a quick tour of her charming and well appointed home and then it was off to the gardens. We walked the grounds as she shared some of the history of the place and, more importantly, the history of the trees. She knew these trees. Watched their growth and changes. She ate from these trees. Kristie explained about the different seasonal changes she observed in the fruits and the leaves. She sounded like a poet at times. Her favorite tree is the persimmon tree you can see from her great big windows. There was a vibrant oil pastel still life she had created of these persimmons hanging in her breakfast room. She makes a favorite steamed pudding every year from these fruits that people rave about.

Keoni gives Baby Juju a leg up to pick the low hanging fruits that are just inches from his finger tips. Julian hasn't picked much tree fruit until today. Most of it was too far out of reach. He was mesmerized.

Just across from the kitchen window Keoni spots a bounty of heavy, ripe grapefruits. An audible "oooooo" escapes his lips.

These grapefruits would later be devoured whole and juiced into a wonderful disappearing beverage within hours of bringing them home. Sooo good.... I can not tell you!!!!

More "oooooo"s and "aaaaaaah"s as our young adventurer discovers there really are avocados WAY up there. They are looking good, but it will be a couple more months before they are truly ready for the eating. Then there will be a few months of an avocado glut and the cycle will continue. For now, he waits and wonders.

James gathers some of the lemons he picked into our bags. There were so many different varieties.... some very sweet, some slightly pear shaped, some with smooth skin, some with rumply skin and then some very classic looking lemons. The smell of both the lemons and the branches was intoxicating. James actually ate a whole lemon standing right under the tree.... it was that sweet!

Julian and Eden inspect the fruits under the shade of a tree. Each of them picked their fair share. We really must stop picking fruit at high noon..... it's sooo hot!

Even with the bags and bags and baskets of fruit we picked, we barely put a dent in the tree's supply. It really boggles the mind how much fruit can come from just one tree!

No joke......... we couldn't fit all the fruit in the sink for washing....... when life gives you this many lemons, you fill the bath tub THEN make lemonade!

More pix and text coming to this posting...... stay tuned..............

Sticking to Carrots.....

2008-08-27T21:45:00.001-07:00

These organic carrots were a $1 a bag.

It only takes a few minites to create carrot sticks that could run up to $3 a bag.

Some after dinner accounting to see how much green is left.

The tally of the Georges reveal $14 to go for 3 more days. One of those being a B-day.

"we can do it, yes we can, we can do it, with a pan"

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2008-08-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

Peaches & Potato Salad.....

2008-08-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

A coworker offers up some home picked peaches

boiled potatoes that were strained, mixed, and seasoned with salt & pepper.

Step 2: Add hard boiled eggs

Step 3: add sweet pickles

Step 4: now with pickles sliced and mustard added

Step 5: add desired amount of Real Mayo and mix it all up.

Final Step: Get Julian approval!

Orange you glad I said free

2008-08-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

What to do with our substantial orange boodle from yesterday? The choice was obvious! Juice it. We made the best fresh squeezed orange juice this side of anywhere to kick off our day of freebies.

It's all smiles and sunlight as we break into the first round of nature's bounty.

Baby Juju gets the first taste of this perfect beverage.

All part of a complete breakfast. Box of organic granola on sale = $2.

This fruit was posilootly bursting with juice!

The kids toast to the day ahead.

If you can't eat like a rock star..... eat WITH one! Our friend Ray Collins of the Mothers of Invention ( Frank Zappa, Ray Collins, the 60's.... you remember ) shares and shares alike.

In the late morning, we made our way into the village on foot. We had plans for some corporate freebies and some tree exploration. Just as we entered the village, we bumped into our friend Ray. He was enjoying a gorgeous hunk of watermelon in his car parked under the shade of a tree. He had just been to the farmer's market. He asked if we liked watermelon since he had received a free watermelon with the purchase of a new variety. There was no way he was going to finish it all....... that's a humongous piece of fruit! He then mentioned that the watermelon was....................... yellow. Ok. Alright. Ok, so it's yellow. That could be edible. We are always up for an adventure so we accepted his offer. He found a water source, washed up the melon and cut great big slices with his pocket knife. We all stood on the street corner on the hottest day of the summer, sucking down juicy yellow melon and catching up with each other. Now that was an unexpected freebie and a great visit with a cool guy. (we would see him later in the day with another unexpected freebie...). Thanks Ray.

Next destination was Jamba Juice to redeem a free breakfast smoothie with a coupon we were given. Before Jamba we wanted to stop by next door at Le Pain Quotidien for one of their outrageous organic macaroons. It's was only a $1.10 and well within budget. The restaurant was taking a survey that day and offering a FREE baguette, and a FREE jute bag to every patron who completed a survey. We're noticing a lot more PQ bags around town.

Eden turns in a completed survey that mom filled out and takes a yummy Belgian brownie sample to go.

Keoni wants in on the photo too, but really just wanted a brownie sample as well...

Here we have an expired coupon for a free yogurt smoothie. Would they take it?.....

Julian couldn't wait to crack into that Le Pain Quotidien baguette. He seizes the day as the rest of us are distracted at the Jamba Juice counter with negotiating old promotionals.

Success! It's hard to say no to a troop of cute thirsty kids! Houston we have lift off.

What's more, they had a bunch of full sized baked goods that needed to go out as samples. Woohoo! Free smoothies, cookies and sweet loafs! Yummmm!

The kids take their pick.

Mmmmmm, we love smoothies! So good on a hot day, especially if you've just walked a couple miles in the noon day sun.

In the evening, we drove to James brother Shawn's house for dinner. We had a delicious dinner of turkey burritos, complete with beans, CHEESE!, rice, grilled eggplant and tasty roasted peppers grown from their garden. We enjoyed their hospitality and visited with Shawn, our sister in law (Elyse), niece (Lauren), nephew (Zach) and James sister ( "JJ" ). The food was delicious! The kids were thrilled to have a wide array of beverages offered. We enjoyed even more great big chunks of watermelon for dessert. We love this fruit! Thanks guys!

After dinner Aleli sat in the studio while Shawn took video and photos using his light polarizer and the rest of the gang hung out watching recordings of the Olympic opening ceremonies. Shawn has invented this amazing light polarizer and needed a subject to photograph for a demo to put on his new website. So what better way to eat for free than to barter. (for some of the evenings pictures and to check out his revolutionary invention visit http://motionlightdesign.com/Images.html )

I'm a Pickin', I'm a Grinnin'

2008-08-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today's activities included some afternoon pickin'. We are finding that a lot of our leisure time is directly related to our experiment. Pulling apart giant sunflowers to get the seeds, harvesting fruit, gardening, and much more... The kids "DIG" it!

Palm -o- Granite

We found out later that this pomegranate should be harvested later in the year. They should be red and almost bursting out of their skins before picking.

on to oranges......

and acrobats

and Olympics!

Julian takes his pickin' and runs....

and keeps running......

Move over oranges, make some room for baby....

Kai volunteers to carry the basket. With a big grunt, he estimated the weight at 20 pounds!

Such a treat to see this undisturbed nest. We left this orange for the birds. This was a great opportunity to teach the kids about respecting nature and honoring balance.

In the evening we diced up some tomatoes from the garden and grilled up some turkey that we purchased on a 2 for 1 offer. Some organic corn from our mega Costco bag gets cooked up (Indian style) add some butter and brown. We wash it down with the best glass of orange juice on the planet earth!

Feed A Cold, Starve A Blog!

2008-08-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

As you all may have noticed, it's been pretty quite around here. The experiment is going full steam ahead, we're all eating well and things are looking financially solid (check out our cash pot on the side bar)! However, the blog itself has been on the back burner a bit while Mama Jolicoeur recovers from her cold. James has taken care of everything in the meanwhile ( double duty: work, kids and cooking up a storm! ). Aleli is on the mend though so life will be coming back into balance soon...... stay tuned.

Amongst the living again, Aleli brews up....... what else?..... oatmeal for breakfast! She basks in the morning sun and breathes deep the healing steam that swirled from our daily gruel.

Julian signs the word "more" for his morning porridge refill. Smart baby! A "please sir, may I have some more" moment if ever we saw one!

Beans and rice dinner by candlelight.............. not exactly romantic, but very economical and tasty!

Thought for the day:

Our meals would be quite limited were it not for all the community gardens available to us. It's time to change the landscape of this country a bit we think. Find out more about community gardens, how to plan one and where to find them at http://www.communitygarden.org/

Making Banana Pancakes, Pretend Like It's The Weekend, Yeah!

2008-08-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

We started the day with international flair. We brewed some left over, organic, fair-trade, bird friendly Cuban coffee that we brought back to the US from our vacation to Vancouver, BC Canada a couple of months ago. We prefer to use our french press for single servings to save on grains and make a really solid cup of java.

PAIN PERDU

Here we have some day old brioche that makes the most amazing French toast.

These were acquired from Le Pain Quotidien.

sliced brioche, dipped in egg and milk batter with a dash of cinnamon, griddled to perfection!

Banana pancakes made on the fly, the brioche were gone in 60 seconds!

Apples. Good for humans..............

......and many others!

Friends dropped in to share "THE best donuts in the world!" with us. There was actual crispness to the bite in these peaches. They really were good!

All the makings of our $2.50 dinner.

We kicked it up a notch by doctoring our inexpensive store bought sauce with some home grown goodness. Onion, tomatoes, garlic...............BAM!

FOOD FAIRE: You Win Some You Lose Some......

2008-08-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

Afternoon Activity includes sampling at the El Roble Food Tasting Festival.

So the other day we spent a whopping $18 dollars (3 days worth) at Winco market. However, the trip will probably cost us $518 in all ($500 deductible for crunching rental car into pole). More reason to economize! With that, here are some step by step photos of a meal that cost around $3. James learned how to make these Spanish Omlettes (aka: Torilla de Patatas) while on international work camps in France. Here is our variation of the omlette a la hot dog. Still risky even with these cheap ingredients because one wrong move can create more of an inedible bomblette than an omlette.

Store bought bag-o-potatoes seasoned with rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt

roast them in the oven and figure out what to do with them later....

oh yeah, these were cut with an apple corer slicer!

Ingredients from our BIG splurge the night before. Meat ( turkey franks ) Cheese, potatoes, eggs, some garlic and a whole lot of imagination...

Get started by cracking eggs....

Chop some hot dogs and brown them in a pan.

Mix meat (can use any meat for this) and potatoes in a skillet.

skillet should be non stick or use enough oil to prevent sticking.

Stir everything a few times and spread out ingredients

Get ready to do a little dance and make a little flip when it all looks like this...

Place a flat plate over omelet and turn upside down

Then slide back into pan to cook the bottom that was just the top...

Voila! with all the fixin's

Appetizer Turkey Hot Dog Bites on a Stick

No tooth picks, no worries, a few broken dry spaghetti sticks do the trick!

The boys battle it out for the few last drops of hot sauce

Eden is content to have one of her favorite ingredients:

CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!

The thoughs of baby Jujube in response to his siblings

"can you all just be civilized please!" "geeeeeee wiz for reals!"

Not a Zippity Day.....

2008-08-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

When life gives you lemons....

2008-08-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

Life did give us lemons. Lots and lots of them. These lemons were so ripe that some of the seeds inside were starting to sprout. When life gives you lemon seed sprouts, add dirt, water and just stir.

A lemon bath.

Ok, so life didn't give us lemons..... our neighbors did. They acquired them from the tree of a friends house while helping them move. Here, John poses with some fully grown lemons in front of OUR lemon tree........ if you look really close, you'll see that ours have a way to go until they are ready for a bath of their own.

We wasted no time in getting those lemons to the chopping block . While making our breakfast of oatmeal and cantaloupe slices we also managed to SQUEEZE in some lemonade preparation.

We decided the best way to preserve all the excess juice was to freeze the squeeze ice cube style for single serve use later.

Keoni and his sugary elixir...... all the necessary ingredients for:

The Best Lemonade Ever

1 3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. lemon juice

8 c. water

* In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup of the water. Bring to boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled. Remove seeds from lemon juice, but leave pulp. In a pitcher, stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups of water. Mmmmmmm!

The neighbors also brought us this GIGANTIC sunflower head from their Dad's house. Thanks again!

This flower head was super spiky. Not as fun as the last one. But somehow, we are still motivated to pick the thing clean. Food is like that.

Yup. We love our little Tonka truck. The kids made backing up sounds the whole time... beep, beep, beep.

Feeling totally inspired by the green smoothies workshop of this week, James pulls together as many free ingredients as he can find into our little smoothie maker. Apples, beets, sorrel, frozen grapes, lemonade and a little hope. Those beets really do give it color!

Lookin' good! Turns out though, that our little smoothie maker that (almost) could, is NOT a Vitamix. Our smoothies had to be....... well....... chewed a little bit. But the flavor was great!

It's that time again kids! What time?....... TOFU TIME! Yeah!

This soy curd basically takes on the flavor of whatever you put it with.... so marinating takes under an hour. At less than a dollar a pound, this is our go to protein source of choice.

Aleli tried out a new recipe which we later adjusted to taste a bit. The book said it could be used as a taco filling as well, but we had it over brown rice. To the above left: this is what bad tofu looks like. This block was accidentally frozen on the top shelf of our fridge then defrosted, frozen, and so forth till it looked like one giant brittle, punky sea sponge thingy........ not pretty! Good thing we had a couple pounds of good tofu on hand.

After dinner, we popped up some kettle corn for the road and headed out to the park for some live Reggae from the Upstream Boys. We had a blast dancing around in the half dark, meeting up with friends and munching on homemade snackies.

On a tip from a work friend, we drove out a town over to a store called WinCo. It was suppose to be a little like Costco but without the membership cards. We had never been before, but were told that there were great deals to be had. So we wanted to investigate for ourselves. There were carts for days and the biggest Jug-O-Corn Oil we've ever seen. Kai almost slips a disc just trying to pick it up. That's a lot of corn!!!!! We also found Mac-n-Cheese for .50 cents a box and Koolaid packets for .10 cents a piece (the best prices we've seen on those items to date).

Aleli and the kids check out while James bags up our purchase for the day. We came in with $18 (three days worth) and spent just under that.

Exhale. We stayed in budget and on task in that huge maze of food and products...... a herculean task sometimes with lots of tired kids. These groceries should help round out our meals for the next few days. It's always fun trying out new places as well. Learning, always learning.

Open Mosque Day

2008-08-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

We found an insert in the Claremont Courier that was promoting Open Mosque Day. This whole experience has connected us closer to our community. This was the 5th annual "Open Mosque Day" for Southern California and held on Sunday, the 17th. The Open Mosque Day seeks to enhance understanding and perpetuate peace among people across all faiths. Later in the day we would go for a visit, but first........ adventures in rice.

What a way to start the morning. Aleli was washing some fruit for breakfast when she heard this distinctive.... um, ....."ricey" sound. So much for child proof locks on the pantry. Our little explorer cracked into a gorgeous stash of wild rice and was splashing around in it like it was a wading pool. That's one dinner we won't be making soon. He was enjoying himself so much it was hard to play the part of the responsible parent and break up all this joyous abandon. We eventually found a happy medium between play and structure.

Jujubee is a responsible little guy and so after some fun with rice he helped Mommy clean up his food mess with his very own monkey broom. Good job Juju!

With all the cleaning done, it was time for some cartoons, a snuggle on Mommy's lap and a mid morning snack.

Lunch rolled around quickly and we made use of whatever we had in the fridge. Aleli was in the mood for breakfast food and Julian wanted peanut buttery goodness. Easily done on the cheap.

Julian is a good eater and great mealtime company with that big juicy grin!

The afternoon flew by and it was time to head across town to the Mosque. We read that there would be "ethnic cuisine" available and so the late afternoon was our time to go.

Here's the flyer we found inserted in the paper right on the page of the article about us. Maybe there really are no accidents.

James called this one, "The Money Shot"

This is not asking a lot, except when your budget is a dollar a day, then it's everything!

We loved the warm hospitality, the wonderful displays, the beautiful people, and the oh so tasty cuisine while visiting our local Mosque for the first time.

This is an old middle eastern lunch pail that was on display. I've seen modern versions of this. You can store multiple courses in the different compartments. Good design!

There was so much food offered. And it was all so flavorful, abundant and lovingly prepared.

There were recipes available for most of the dishes. We liked how different the spellings and pronunciations were from what we are familiar with. Many of the women shared the subtle changes made to each recipe from place to place. It was a real education in regional cuisine!

These tasty stuffed grape leaves, or dolmas, were of particular interest to us since we have so many grape leaves at our disposal. We asked if you had to use the canned grape leaves that are prepared for several months in a brine or if one could use fresh leaves. We were delighted to find that the fresh leaves are preferred by many. You simply place them very quickly into boiling water to soften and slightly wilt them before stuffing them. Learn something new every day. The woman at this mosque were beautiful and gracious. They shared so much about their cuisine with us and were so patient, generous and open.

Eggplant! Eggplant! Yeeees! The first ingredient is eggplant. Now THAT we have! Can we find some cheap tahini anywhere? This recipe rocked the house! We are going to try to include it in our kitchen back at home as soon as possible.

This was sooo good. We absolutely stuffed our faces. There was more than enough to go around.

Authentic Arabic coffee infused with Hale. With so much spice in it, this very strong coffee was almost more like a tea than anything else. Every region serves it up a little differently. Some serve it with dates or date cakes but no sugar and others use sugar but no dates or "hale" (spices). Anyway you make it this was really good!

The coffee is served on this ornate platter and poured into these tiny little glass cups. Super strong brew, but very, very delicious.

A few of the women wanted to do henna designs on Aleli's hands. Aleli was eager to spend some more time talking with them as well. James and the baby were ready to go by then. We were assured it wouldn't take long. A mother of four carefully applied this herbal paste to Aleli's hands as the two of them talked about what it is like raising four children. Other women joined in with more discussion of recipes and religion. Once the design was complete it was suppose to dry for "30 minutes" and then be brushed off to expose the stain underneath. This meant that Aleli couldn't really hold tired baby or even really navigate simple tasks for a while. Eventually the half hour passed and the paste was flicked off to reveal................ a really light design. We would later learn that the henna really should have stayed in place for several hours. Henna hands............... not really designed for mothers of four. It was, however a wonderful cultural experience from start to finish. We are glad we went!

A great big thanks to the mosque for a delicious feast and to the women for their generosity of spirit and gift of time!

Blended Family Smoothies

2008-08-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

We started the day with free fresh fruit from local fruit trees and the morning paper. We liked today's paper. It was wonderful. The cover was ..... eye catching somehow. Holy smokes! It was US! (sweeet!)

http://www.claremont-courier.com/

The Courier put us on the cover and gave us a full spread feature spot in color in the middle. We had a fun time a few days ago picking fruit with and cooking for the journalist and photographer so it was nice to finally see the finished product.

However, we must mention that while we are a family, we are also a blended family ( like a really good smoothie! ). It was probably our own oversight that all our last names appeared as Jolicoeur. Aleli is the mom of the three older kids, Kai, Keoni and Eden, and James is their step dad. Their last name starts with a D. Little Julian ("Jujubee") is the baby of both Aleli and James and so shares the Jolicoeur name.The reporter is already posting a correction on that but we thought it might be worth mentioning here too.

It was another hot So. Cal. day and so Daddy and Bebe share a nice (free) juice pouch slushie on the kitchen floor. That spoon went back and forth until every last drop of slushie had disappeared. Such a beautiful Daddy/ Son moment.

Aaah, the finer things in life!

The paper stated that "luxuries such as cheese, frozen yogurt and meat are pretty much off the menu". Although that's been pretty much true, just something about seeing it in print made us want to take it up as a challenge. In no time at all we found an old promotional coupon for a small business in town...... they had already changed the name of their shop but were the same company selling the same delicious product. Would they still honor the coupon? Even if the name on the coupon was different than the name on their sign?........

Look what's back on the menu.

Yes.... a four letter F word that's actually good for you to say with gusto.

The girl at the counter said that if we wanted any toppings they would cost "just" .94 cents...... plain frozen yogurt it is then!

Tastes even better when it's free.

Everybody digs in as we share the shade of this tree in a nearby courtyard. We smile to know that even on a dollar a day we can enjoy the occasional luxury.

We had a little time to spare in the afternoon following our frozen yogurt excursion and James was curious about some concord grape vines in town that a friend had mentioned to him the other day. So we went off in pursuit of the fruit of these vines. We drove past some in a park (maybe we'll revisit them later) and headed toward a private residence in the village. Aleli had noticed this vine months ago swirling in and out of a picket fence long before it had leaves and fruit bursting out of it.

And there they were. Bunches and bunches of them. Healthy and gorgeous... ripening in the afternoon sun.

This was not, however, a community garden. This was a home. Would we be brave enough to ask our first stranger for free food? So far, we have gotten produce from our own garden, our friends garden and community gardens. We have even found some unclaimed trees in back alley ways just lousy with fruit. But this would be our first stranger.

Aleli summoned up a little courage, walked through the grape covered gate and approached the door. A nice young man by the name of Rich answered and tried to figure out who the heck was standing in front of him and why. Aleli made her inquiry and explained a bit about our project. Rich shared that there were 9 fruit trees on the property and that those were actually two varieties of grape that had been in his family for many many years. They did look very well attended to! We chatted for a minute about all this talk of food shortages and Rich said," people could just grow their own". We are experiencing that as a theme in all of this as well. How would our diet look these last two weeks without all the homegrown food? If you think your picket fence would look good this way too, our local Food Not Lawns is just starting up their own website. http://www.claremontfoodnotlawns.com/ Its content is growing daily and is a great place to start venturing into edible landscapes. I'm told mid- August is a great time to start planting a fall garden.

Rich offered us not just as many grapes as we'd like but also expressed regret that his peaches weren't ready to give yet. We have to note that one of the major gifts of this experiment has been our new understanding of community. It is stunning and refreshing to see first hand how generous strangers and neighbors can be. Most people want to be involved in a good thing. Isn't that great!

Hee, hee ... we drive off with our goods feeling divine!

Back at home it was time to get ready for a green smoothie workshop and potluck happening across town. All we needed to do for the smoothie workshop was to bring a cup for tasting. But what could we bring that was cheap for the potluck? Or better yet, what could we bring that was free? Lightening bolt......... ZUCCHINI! We have zucchini coming out of our ears! We purchased .50 cents of garlic at the market. James sauteed it all to perfection with some corn, free tomatoes, oil and fresh garden herbs. Problem solved.

Heading out the door with our yummy potluck dish. I wish you all had smellivision! This was mmmm, mmmm good.

Mary Beth shares the secret to the healthiest smoothies on the planet.

Fun and informative, she blends away!

Aleli and Julian watch and listen as she adds beets for color into an otherwise very green smoothie. Kids of all ages were lined up with their cups ready for a sample of each concoction Mary Beth dared to make.

With standing room only, Julian gets the best seat in the house on Papa J's shoulders as the group of 25-30 people follow along with the recipes.

Our Vita mix goddess whips up the most delicious sludge on the block. The colors are otherworldly but most of the 8 or so recipes were quite tasty! Here is one of our favorite recipes from the workshop

Blend well:

1/2 bunch spinach

4 apples

1/2 whole lime with peel

1 banana

2 cups water ( or fruit juice)

Yields: 1 quart smoothie

Now on to the potluck .......

There was plenty to go around for everyone. James and Juju sit for a quick snapshot before joining the group for some lively conversation and some good eats.

Some of the offerings.

One of the gorgeous moms, Allison, with her baby strapped to her back serves up a dish of some yummy vegetarian cuisine.

These raw vegan tarts to the left were the hit of the night. Such an abundance. We left stuffed! Ironically, we also left the party with a giant zucchini from our friend Juanita's garden. Good thing we like this summer squash as much as we do cause we can't seem to shake it!

Body Ecology Raw Rustic Mushroom Tart

Cultured Almond Cheese:

1 cup almonds

2 TBSPs coconut kefir

2 TBSPs chives

1/2 tsp sea salt

* Soak almonds for 8 hours. Rinse them well and puree in the food processor into a smooth paste. Mix well in a bowl with the coconut kefir. Cover bowl with a towel and allow to ferment on your counter top for 12 hours. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Tart Shell:

1 cup sunflower seeds soaked

2 TBPSs ground flax seeds

1 cup peeled and cubed kabocha squash

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP olive oil

* Puree sunflower seeds in a food processor. Set aside. Puree squash in the processor. Set aside. Grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder and put in a mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients and mix well with your hands until everything is thoroughly combined. Push into a tart pan with a removable bottom - about 4 inches in diameter. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 5 hours and remove from shell. Finish dehydrating for about another 8 hours or so. This recipe should make about 5 tarts.

Marinated Mushroom, Bell Pepper and Onion Topping:

5 sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 red bell pepper thinly sliced

1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup olive oil or pumpkin seed oil

1 tsp salt

1 clove garlic minced

1 TBSPs rosemary very finely chopped without stems

1 dropper full liquid stevia

* Mix everything in a bowl until all the vegetables are evenly coated. Spread onto a solid dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 1 hour or until vegetables are wilted and slightly crisp looking.

To Assemble Tart:

* Spread a thin layer of the cheese on the bottom of the finished shell. Spoon some of the mushroom mixture on top. May be served immediately or warmed up in the dehydrator before serving. Soooo delectable!

Checking In:

What we've spent so far: $112.40

So since our last check in we spent another $13.05. That brings the grand total to $ 112.40. By Tuesday, August 19 we will be right on track financially if we don't spend any more. Easy enough.

Hot off the French Press

2008-08-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

Wake up sleepy head! It's time for free joe. A single serve coffee packet from one of our summer hotel stays worked out great in our french press.

Aleli (aka "Sunrise Medusa") starts the morning line up of baked apple on piping hot oatmeal.

Free apples from the elementary school community garden are an ideal match for our .07 cent a serving meal. A little half and half plus some cinnamon........ all I can say is this dish says yes to me!

So free lunch does exist after all. And this is what it looks like. Kelly, a food worker for the school system, says that the city has offered a grant for this service for the second year now. It's called "seamless summer". It's great for all the workers since they don't have to seek temporary summer employment and great for the 50 or so kids they serve each day per location. It turns out they also serve up breakfast every morning for free. Pop tarts and cereal and muffins. Who knew?

These free lunches get served in the park adjacent to the school. It's a great setting for food, conversation and fun. This city park fills their wading pool just in time to enjoy a good cool down with lunch. The boys hang out pool side with their free chow.

Everyone takes in the easy setting.

The anatomy of a free lunch. Up close and personal we see that sometimes you get what you pay for. And sometimes you luck out. The other ....customers.... told us that the turkey sandwiches were the best and that you could make a pretty decent frozen treat with the chocolate milk. Most of the lunches were just fine, but there were a couple rough spots here and there. We'll let the pictures do the talkin' this time. Look nice and close now.

Since the park was next to the school, and we were still buzzing from our apple find of yesterday, we headed back to the school gardens with our basket.

Inside the apple tree.

Notice all the fruit rot on the ground. A worker walked by to make sure every one was safe while climbing and to press the point that the principal welcomes all to pick freely. The kids found and explored this holey pumpkin on a nearby table. We all learned that rollie polies eat pumpkin. Never knew that before!

We also found some great big wild mushrooms growing in the parking lot, but, not being able to identify them, left them on the ground. One of Aleli's favorite websites for learning about and growing edible and medicinal mushrooms is http://www.fungi.com/. Also, if you've got a half hour to spare one day and would like to know how mushrooms could help save the planet, click on this link http://fungi.com/mycotech/index.html and watch the two videos of the genius mycologist, Paul Stamets. He is on the cutting edge of his field. (Stick through the first several minutes, it gets more and more interesting as it progresses!)

Here is the washing station the school has set up for kids to wash their community garden fruits and veggies. We are quite impressed with the great care this school has taken to make everything kid centered, clean, safe and nourishing.

Kayland, above, enjoys some fresh grapes by the mural in the lunch area of campus where squash and other edibles climb out toward the tables. Kayland and her brothers, Dion and Karon, helped us pick apples and we helped them pick grapes and sunflower seeds. Thanks guys! Really sweet kids!

Here are some of the fruit trees the third graders have planted just outside the classroom doors. EVERY school in America should do this! It is childsplay, science, and P.E. all rolled into one.

In all the excitement over getting to the free lunch on time, we sorta locked the keys in the car. Ooopsy. All turned out well though. Within minutes a triple A service (AAA) was able to free our keys and we were back on the road.

On our way home we spotted two of our favorite locals chatting on a city bench in front of the Grille. James urged Aleli to offer them some fresh fruit from our basket. She was ready to get out of the sun, but can rarely resist these two lovely people when she comes across them in town. As we chatted about local gardens and the origins of these fruits, a total stranger came up to Aleli to ask her if he could buy one of her apples that she was selling. He was shocked to find that they were not in fact for sale. Mind boggling to any modern consumer no doubt! We all made a new friend with the singer from Alabama (Ben), and traded secrets about where the best hidden fruit trees were in town. Ray, above, accepted Aleli's offer of free freshly picked fruit..... but got two for the price of one...... at first. He chose two apples that were stuck together on a tiny branch, but, being a good and fair soul, traded them for a store bought "tentation" apple that he literally pulled from his ( iconic ) straw hat. We gave his apple a mini patty pan squash hat so it would look like him. teehee. We love Ray! You'll probably be seeing him again in the days to follow.

In the evening our three oldest left for a weekend with some family. So it was just Papa, Mama and Baby J at home for a movie and simple pasta dinner. We celebrated the half way mark with of this experiment with a small glass of heart healthy $1.99 wine ( yes..... it WAS Charles Shaw Merlot aka "two buck chuck" for those of you wondering.....and not half bad at that ). We rarely drink wine and found it interesting that a bottle was less expensive than most beverages in the whole store including grape juice. Makes you wonder?? We then took a quick venture into town to take in some live music.

Today's meals came to a total of $4.85

More "pressing" matters:

Tomorrow an article about our experiment comes out in the Claremont Courier. Keep an eye out for it. We'll post a link. There is a photo gallery on the link, but the article will be in the actual paper for a few days before it makes its way onto the website. Make sure to pick up a copy if you get the chance.

http://www.claremont-courier.com/

Tomorrow we'll be "checking in" again to keep you up to date on what we've spent so far and what we've learned....... Pressing on

An apple a day keeps the teacher away!

2008-08-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Someone was hungry. Hmmm, but how to start the day.... Our old friend oatmeal arrived on the scene just in time to help wake up our groggy troops.

Shake the feathers from your hair my pretties. It's breakfast time. Good thing everyone likes this particular breakfast of champions.....( sorry Wheaties) we have at least 7 more pounds of this lovely grain to go. We can do it.

Super charged and ready to go, our little guy catches the true spirit of community by offering his good buddy a bit of sippy cup refreshment on a hot summer's day. Our experiment is paying off already!

In the last few days we heard tell of free kids lunches. In a few locations in our town there's suppose to be free lunch for kids 1-18 years throughout the summer. Kids eat free, adult admission is $2. We tracked down these whereabouts and Papa J headed out with the three older kids while Mom put the baby down for his nap. We had plans to feed the kids this way and Aleli and James would eat leftovers. On the way there the kids spotted an awesome new fresh juice and smoothie shop offering free samples and discounts as part of their opening. Today we could only participate in the sampling, but you can bet we'll be back in a few weeks to support this business and enjoy the fruits of their...... well, fruit!

Juice-O-Rama shares some healthy, SA-WEET flavorful tasters.

Inside JuiceOrama we love that you can also buy some locally grown, organic produce from Amy's Farm. http://www.amysfarm.com/ This farm gives educational tours to kids and grown ups and is a wonderful place to start venturing into food production and/or local food sourcing if you're from these parts. This shop is headed in a really good direction. Hope it does well!

Anyway, the kids got a lesson in punctuality this afternoon. You can miss a really good thing if you're not paying attention to the details. They arrived about an hour and a half too late! No free lunch today.

Click on the calander below to see what we missed:

Where's the beef?

This location just happened to be the kids old elementary school (we've recently moved a couple miles away in town and they'll have a new school this fall). It just so happens as well that they have their own veggie garden that was planted by the students last school year. The third graders have planted dozens of fruit trees all over campus. Again. ABUNDANCE! Last year the principal gave repeat invitations to school families and community members to come and pick food from the garden...... otherwise it will just rot. It was time for more picking.

We bump into our old neighbor and friend in the garden and he asked," where did that fruit come from?". He was pointed in the direction of the ripe fruit and we took this picture of him leaving with these juicy riches. Good finds.

Found an old discarded box and started loading it up with anything that tasted good. These funky beetles inside the grapes above, didn't make the cut.

Our girl went looking for her old teacher. It was a summer day and her teacher was away. She missed her "sssoooo much"! No teacher. Just mint , grapes and perfect granny smith apples. Maybe next time.

James found this apple in the cuff of his jeans on the way out of the garden. The grounds looked somewhat like the apple orchard on our cover page above. Fruit dropping everywhere! This little treat just jumped right out at him!

With no free lunch after all, there was a call home to boil some water.

So it was mac-n-cheese with unbelievably fresh apple slices back at home for the fam. We'll try again another day for the free lunch. Mark that calender.

Grocery Shopping 101:

Excursions to the supermarket these days have been few and far between. Prior to this experiment we would sometimes go to the store 1 or 2 times a day and it wasn't odd to visit a Vons, Trader Joes, and Sprouts Market all in one day. We typically spend between $200 and $325 a week as well. When we shop now we make the most of it. Using club card discounts and coupons is the way to go. Also, look closely at what you are getting for your buck. The price tags below show the cost of an item in ounces. To make the dollar stretch it makes cents to get more ounces per penny. For example, there were some convenient individual packs of Kraft Microwavable Mac & Cheese. The cost per ounce was around 40 cents. We compared that to a 5 pack of regular Kraft Mac & Cheese that weighed in at around 11 cents an ounce. But wait there's less or more depending on your perspective. A generic pack of mac & cheese was closer to 10 cents an ounce (wow, we're actually comparing ounces now!) Would the kids know the difference between the Kraft brand or the Springfield variety. James was standing in front of the pasta isle contemplating a 7 cents savings ( remember to check the serving sizes too) and wanting to make a kid friendly decision. Is this one really the cheesiest?.......... wait what's this? On the flip side of the Kraft 5 pack was a coupon for $2.50 off a 10 pack of Capri Sun 100% juices. All I had to do was purchase the 5 pack of Kraft to be able to use that coupon. The Capri Sun was $2.99 and the store will double up to $1. Decision made!

5 pack Mac & Cheese = $3.99

Capri Sun 100% juice = $4.79

Club card price and doubled coupon that make the juice FREE = PRICELESS!

We tried to go back one more time a few days later for the same deal and the club price for the 5 pack mac & cheese had already gone up to $4.99. That's $1 that could have gone towards..........beans. While at the store we did find a good price on a 14 pack of extra large tortilla's. ( see tag above ) These tortillas were 8.5 cents per ounce and stretched over two meals and were even used to make homemade cinnamon crisps.

And now a word on beans. See this photo below, that's a thrift store find on a kitchen utility that should make it's way into a few meals down the road, or later in the day! These things take cooking to a whole new level by slow cooking, retaining vitamins, and making a house smell delicious all day.

All of this fruit harvesting for survival business has made us way more conscious of the earth. So recycling down at the market suddenly seemed like the best of all possible post lunch activities. It's just left us with more to ponder about waste and necessity and what not. And it also gave us almost 15 bucks! We of course would not add that to our food budget, but it was a moment of connecting the issues of food, waste and the environment.

While at the market there was the opportunity to get a treat for the family using some coupon skills. These Tofutti Cuties were purchased using a coupon printed on-line. This was the only purchase for the day. = $2.39. Lots of places are doubling their coupons again. Check around to see what might have changed at your local supermarkets.

Dinner had been slowly simmering in the Crock Pot most of the afternoon. The smells were positively distracting, so we headed out to the patio for an activity. The kids wanted to plant those Food Not Lawn carrot seeds Mary Beth had gifted them and we also found some good basil seeds that were ready from our own garden. There were some spaces left open in the garden from things we have recently eaten. So we just added seeds, soil, water and a little trust. We'll see what sprouts in the next week or two....

We wasted no time in figuring out what to do with those apples. Some sugar, cinnamon, a little butter and heat would be the beginning of a love affair.

Simmering ever so slowly............. mmmmmmmmmmmm

Wish you could smell this fresh out of the oven!

DINNER

2nd Day Rice & Slow Cooked Pinto Beans

The basics are oh so good slow cooked and properly seasoned!

Baked Apples with Cinnamon & Sugar

EVERY ONE'S favorite! Even a neighbor had to try it and gave it high marks! You'll all be seeing variations of this dish again! The perfect end to a busy day.

Daily Check Out:

$2.39 in Purchase

$3.60 in consumption

TOTAL = $ 5.99 ( a penny in the +)

Be well!

{{{The Jolicoeurs}}}

Extra, extra! Read all about it! 'Matos, Zooks and Eggplants. Oh my!

2008-08-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

Millions of American kids can't be wrong. PB&J........good.

Today was to be a day of extras.

Aleli's friend, Laura, stops by with a basket full of fresh picked extras from her garden. We also had a few EXTRA courious people stop by today to see what this experiment was all about. We hope to report more on that later.

We get filtered water from a Glacier water machine. The price of water went up an EXTRA 5 cents this week. Tap Water anyone?

Getting ready to pre soak pinto beans. We need to start measuring to make sure that everything evens out, no room for EXTRA ounces these days. Or is there?

And the sun poured in like butterscotch......

2008-08-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

The sun DID pour in like butterscotch and stuck to all our senses. Or is it stuckdeded? Whatever. It was a beautiful morning and breakfast was leftover butternut squash (still fantastic a day later) and rice with some brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon and a modest splash of milk. Although we ate every meal, we had some technical difficulties in photographing each. With all the money we're saving on food, you'd think we could splurge on some back up batteries. Even the rechargeables are exhausted!

An audible "eeuw" from James at the idea of this meal.... a total mmmmmm from Baby upon actually chowin' it down. Can't please all the people all the time.

Lunch was nothing but leftovers, leftovers, leftovers. It was time to catch up an all the gosh forsaken leftovers! They were actually edible though and we looked forward to a freshly made pasta dinner with extra basil for our basil lovin' kids. Kettle corn is the new black. We popped up another batch for the whole family this time. Definitely a new favorite. Meals today cost in total about $2.15. Maybe we can catch up sooner than later, budget wise.

The real shocker in all of this is that WE have waste. We are actually generating waste. There is food left over....... enough to spoil. There is weird science in the back of our fridge. In these "recessionary" times with all this talk of world food shortages and us playing with this dollar a day set up...... there is waste. Somewhere someone in this world is watching their child go very hungry...... and here we are throwing out what could have gone into a human belly. Somehow, we've got to find solutions for all this. Businesses must thrive AND individuals must eat. How do we get there.... as a world family? How can everyone make a buck AND cover the basics? Many questions occurred to us on leftovers day. We already knew there is abundance. But this is ridiculous. This experiment/ experience gets more textured by the day.

Here's what's poppin'

2008-08-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

We started the day with some free day old muffins and a little cold cereal with milk. The kids had plans with some friends in town for a pizza lunch and a game of Risk at their house. James ate lunch for free at work. So lunch at home was a simple and free leftover bowl of soup, potato wedges and apple juice. These were all end of the day cast offs from a restaurant ( good enough to eat, not fit to sell) and so lunch cost us nothing. Even the apple juice was at expiration date and therefor free....................and it was organic........bonus!

White bean soup. Even better the next day!

A couple days ago we brought our neighbors some free leftover baked goods . And today they brought us this homemade chocolate zucchini bread. It was divine! We saw the baby drop a crumb, a teeny, tiny crumb, while he was eating it. He bent down and, using his best fine motor skills, retrieved the crumb and gobbled it up before we could intercept this rather unhygienic practice. Anyway, it was THAT good. We'll post the recipe once we get it from the neighbors.

Cooing bite by bite.

Everyone gets lost in the zucchini laden moment. Such a treat.

Dinner time was fast approaching and the fridge held all the promise of a Tex Mex meal. We put on a pot of brown Jasmine rice, browned some ground turkey, added corn, black beans,tomatillo, tomato, onion, garlic and other seasonings. We smothered another butternut squash with a little oil, butter and brown sugar and placed it in the oven. These summer days are perfect for dining outside. So we enjoyed our southwestern grub out on the patio with some more nearly expired apple juice. Our 12 year old in particular was a big fan of this could-be-burrito-filling meal. Dinner cost about $3.25 with plenty of rice, etc leftover for tomorrow. We had a little monetary jiggle room since most of the days eats were free again.

I heart butternut squash!

The 12 year old goes back for seconds.

The perfect food.....now if only we had a solar oven to bake it all in. Too hot to cook!!!!

After an evening swim, we tucked the fantastic four into bed and settled in for a monday munchies and movie night ("Triple M")...... just us big kids. James shook up some sweet and salty kettle corn. The kernels and recipe were a gift from one of Aleli's five brothers. The sugar, oil, and salt came from our pantry. The shaking was provided by James. The movie, Juno, was a loan from our friends. Man, who doesn't love popcorn and a good movie with the one you love!

James shakes it like a Polaroid picture.

Next time we make this maybe we'll watch King Corn. teehee! ;) http://kingcorn.net/

Kettle Corn

1 cup popping corn

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup sugar

* In a pot with lid, get the oil super hot. Add the sugar. Shake a bit to blend. The second the sugar and oil start to caramelize, add the kernels of popping corn. Cover and shake over the burner until last kernel pops. Promptly remove from heat and salt to taste. Let cool and then break it up. Enjoy. For best results use a nice jumbo variety of popcorn.

Check in tomorrow to see what's poppin' ...........

The best things in life are free

2008-08-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today we got our feet back on the ground financially with very simple meals. It was cheap cereal for breakfast, egg and bean burrito for lunch with leftover grapefruit slices and birthday cake, it was to be chili mac for dinner with some sliced veggies. Simple. Affordable.

But the best parts of the day came to us absolutely gratis. We all needed to let our hair down after yesterdays busy, hot rush. In the late morning as we were doing some organizing in the house, the doorbell rang. It was our neighbors with a huge juicy plate of sliced watermelon. They bought it very afford ably, but it was a 14 pound monster. The three of them couldn't eat it alone. So we had a short but juicy sweet visit with them, all the while enjoying the quintessential taste of summer. The plate was empty by the time we thought to take a picture.

The next simple pleasure was a sliced cucumber (free from our Food Not Lawns friends) at dinner time. It was crisp and sweet and perfect all on its own. It was the first thing to disappear that night. There was a race to the last slice.

Chili mac, sliced cucumber, zucchini spears and a cool evening.

And finally, we enjoyed the group effort of removing the sunflower seeds from that big sunflower head we brought home days ago. It had been propped up on an old wood slat of our fence, drying in the sun since Friday. We were all eager to see what sunflower seeds were like straight from the source.

Before washing and roasting we had some fun with the non industrial reality of these home grown sunflowers. It's so hard not to play with your food!

Birthday on a budget, eat your heart out!

2008-08-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Homemade heart cake with spice cabinet sprinkles and edible garden flowers

much, much, more to come........

a close up on the organic edible flowers a la escargot!

Ok, ok, ok..... so it wasn't exactly a buck for this birthday. But we did pretty dang good. Aleli whipped up a .97 cent cake mix and baked half of it into a heart shaped cake and the other half became cupcakes. She decorated the baked goodies with only half a tub of $1.27 frosting and used some leftover sprinkles and garden flowers to decorate it. We are still snacking on leftover cake today. We drank about three quarts of Kool aid (.70 cents worth) from a canister that cost $2.79 for 12 quarts. (Aleli would later learn that the more economical way to buy Kool aid is in the little packets. Who knew. The beverages in her childhood had flavors with fruit names....... "red flavor" isn't something she had much experience with.) There were free grapefruit wedges sprinkled with sugar. And we finally cracked out some of that frozen cookie dough we made for fresh baked choco oatmeal cookies. Our big splurge came with make your own ice cream ingredients. We used $2.89 of half and half plus about 1/2 cup sugar and some vanilla extract in an activity/ treat for the kids. All in all, let's call it a nice even $8. Good thing we ate a lot of freebies the rest of the day.

The kids shake it pool side.

Single-serve Ziploc Ice cream

1 cup half and half (or cream)

2 TBSP sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

* Fill a gallon size Ziploc bag about half full of ice. Add a dash of salt. In a separate sandwich size Ziploc bag, add the half and half, sugar and vanilla. Seal the sandwich Ziploc bag thoroughly and place it inside the large ice filled bag. Seal the large bag and shake it vigorously for about five minutes or until ingredients have thickened to their ice creamiest state. MMmmmm! Enjoy right out of the bag. You can include add ins like crushed peanut butter cups, chocolate syrup or fresh berries once the ice cream is fully churned. Or enjoy it as our kids did, milkshake style, if you want to churn it a little less. Either way, it's delicious and fun! A great cool down on a hot summer day!

Kids decorate their own loot bags before an afternoon dunk in the pool.

Fun on the cheap is WORK!

Time to CHECK IN:

What we've spent so far : $99.35

So we sat down at the table after a hectic day of party planning, sun, baking, hosting and what not to see how we were doing money wise. Soooo glad we were sitting because after realizing we were missing a receipt or two and that cards, not cash were used for those purchases....... adjustments had to be made to the money bag. We were at first stunned to discover that in this, the first third of our experiment, we had used up $99.35!!! What?!! How on earth did this happen? We still have like 20 days to go and only $80.65 to go on. That's more like $4 a day. And we have eaten sooo much free food too. Then we realized that expenditure did not equal consumption. Aaaah..... exhale. That's right. We still have 8 pounds of pasta, 9 pounds of pinto beans, 7 pounds of brown rice, 3.5 pounds of tofu, 8 pounds of oatmeal, almost 2 gallons of milk, a fridge drawer full of produce, enough ramen to sicken a small army of kids, etc, etc, etc. We purchased a lot of items up front so that we would have plenty of offerings on hand. oh yeah. We had almost forgotten our own strategy. Money can do that some times. Now it's time to dig deep and just eat what we've got..... not a popular modern habit in any sense, but it's go time now!

What we've learned:

Wow. Going into this we brought our theories of food culture and what might happen. We thought this would have alot to do with economics and recipes, easy tips, and extra family time spent slow cooking together. The whole topic of food is a lasagna of meaning, custom, significance, ritual. There are many, many layers. As each day has come and gone it has brought its' lessons though. This has really put us in touch with a visceral sense of poverty. But even with what we've experienced, we've had it so easy. The world's poor don't necessarily have a stockpile of food staples, cash and a variety of food and vendor options. They don't necessarily have neighbors dropping in with treats and resources. They don't necessarily have the luxury of creativity at the end of their hard days work....... enough creative thinking to put it all together. There is survival. The only stress we've felt is the stress of change...... not of deep hunger, need or even starvation. We actually see resources and abundance all around. That's a very different experience. We still can only imagine.

We've learned we are gonna need to menu plan. Actually do the sitting down and figuring out in advance part. We've gotta make these next 20 or so days squeeze a bit tighter if we are going to make it. We can't shop so loosely...... have to communicate EVERY purchase. It's kind of annoying actually. We're use to pretty much buying what we feel like, when we feel like it. A soy chai latte here a frappacino there..... you know the drill....... price has been the second consideration. We've gotta use everything we have on hand. Period. No more buying until absolutely needed. We've learned that if you're going to be cooking a lot more, you'd better be prepared to buy a lot more dish soap. We've learned ramen costs the same per serving as regular pasta, dang it! Next time we get a great idea to do something like this.... NO RAMEN. Not necessary. Ramen as cheap.... a myth. Painful learning curves.

We learned not to overcook the poor man's crab cake, that a microscopic snail can find its' way onto the violet on a birthday cake, that a vibrant child can virtually blow our budget on the first day out by over "cinnamoning" free toast and that meals are best spent among friends and family. We've learned that the Beatles got it right....... you do get by with a little help from your friends! We've learned we live in an amazing community and that peoples minds and imaginations are thriving, active.

We've learned that Mama Nature still works. The earth is still fertile, alive and sharing her gifts. The sun still ripens a tomato better than any gas in a factory could ever hope to, and even in wild places there are edibles to be savored (like lamb's quarters and young dandelion greens and nettles smoothies!). We've learned that we have a lot more to learn.

Ate / Ate / Ate

2008-08-08T21:33:00.001-07:00

And so the day started with Malto Meal and maple syrup. We know one thing for sure..... baby is NOT allergic to this breakfast of champions. He ate about 4 baby bowls worth, all the while making mmmmmm, yummy noises and checking out other diners' bowls for alms. That boy LOVES the stuff!

After a quick wardrobe change for baby who was covered head to toe in warm cereal, we headed out to the magical and nutrient dense dwellings of our friends' veggie filled yard. These two are a major part of the leadership for the local chapter of Food Not Lawns. http://www.foodnotlawns.com/ The thriving edible landscape you see in their homey rental below was once just a blank and sterile lawn. Many seeds and a bunch of love later, the land has given up her fruits for all to enjoy.

Kids do their best not to giggle during our American Gothic shot as they prepare to pick green beans and other edibles.

They sent us home with this huge sunflower head that is full of yummy seeds. The head needs to dry out in the sun for a few more days and then the seeds will be ready to eat.

The kids get lessons in seed saving from the dynamic Marybeth. A dry method of carrot seed harvesting first and then a wet method of canteloupe seed saving next. We'll be planting those healthy seeds in the spring. What a great teacher she is! And a fantastic drummer!..... we went to see her band perform in a popular village square later in the evening. Those girls can JAM!

Child's play! This wise puppet reminds us that money doesn't grow on trees, but food still does!

With harvesting done we ventured in doors and out of the hot noon sun for some special smoothies and sliced canteloupe. Mary Beth whipped up some unbelievably good nettles (that's right..... fresh stinging nettles you can DRINK!) and deep garden greens smoothies while we enjoyed some fine banjo playing and mandolin moments in the parlor with Todd and the dog.

Eggplant, beets, garlic, butternut, zucchini, squash, oranges, grapefruit, green beans, fennel, tarragon, chard, carrots, tomato, new zealand spinach, tomatillo, sunflower and cucumber. All in a days work.

Deeply contented by the sense of community and nurture we enjoyed, we brought home, washed and made plans for some of the days finds. Recieve our warmest thanks and appreciation for your generosity, hospitality, and friendship. Every town should have a Todd and Mary Beth!

Now, what to cook for lunch and dinner?....

Regrettably, we would not be enjoying many of the fruits of our labor for lunch. We opened the biggest can of tuna known to man yesterday and we absolutely musn't allow it to go to waste. So it was tuna sandwiches with some chopped veggies for lunch. We did share a ripe juicy grapefruit or two, family style, from our noon harvest. Sooo juicy. Sooo good.

One beautiful and necessary summer ciesta later and it was time to prepare dinner. And what should be on the menu for tonight? Why what else? The poor man's crab cake! Yes dear ones, it was tuna all over again. However, when you add heat and fry it, it brings all sorts of neighbors out of their houses and down the lane. This was to be our second community meal of the day.

Some tuna, an egg, breadcrumbs and some fresh garden herbs in a pan with oil and little noses come sniffing round the corner. This cute neighbor friend asked," What is that? Are you making fish sticks?". "Nope.", said Aleli, "it's fish cakes". She stayed for dinner. And who should appear at our door moments later? The lovely and sweet neighbor, Sam with her sidekick Ezra...... and a dish of disappearing homemade pizza! This is that warm and funny neighbor we mentioned a few days ago who made us those scrumptious waffles for breakfast. James baked one of the butternut squash we picked in the yummiest way. Hey, it's an impromtu dinner party..... al fresco! The dollar would stretch.

Dressed for a sultry southern California evening we relax, enjoy the company and see what this "fish cake" jazz is all about. A few adjustments and next time they'll be just right. And, oooh yeah......... you bet your bippy there'll be a next time.......... plenty more tuna to go. Yikes.

The butternut squash was the hit of the night. Both James and mother nature know about food!

Fresh sunflowers and zinnia from Todd and Mary Beth's adorn our simple gathering.

Tomorrow is a big day! We will be "checking in". We'll give our weekly accounting of what we spent, what we learned, and our favorite moments. We'll be doing this every Saturday through the end of our experiment. Look for "check ins" on the 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th. But more importantly than that, a special little girl turns 6 tomorrow. Now how to do a birthday on a buck. We............... shall.................... see.........................

Those who don't remember the pasta are doomed to reheat it!

2008-08-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

It was a veritable pasta-fest these last two days. Wednesday night we cooked a simple whole wheat pasta (1 lb for .99 cents @ Trader Joe's), some olive oil, half a can of kidney beans (about .30 cents worth) and some locally harvested summer veggies and herbs ( free from our garden and the public gardens). The only other cost, and the most important ingredient, GARLIC, was the last of our inexpensive supply. The kids keep claiming they don't like garlic... or tomatoes for that matter, but every single time we make pasta with garlic chopped rustically, more like a veggie than a spice, they absolutely devour it! Last night was no exception. We enjoyed free fresh fruits from the gardens and a small glass of organic grape juice lightly diluted to stretch (Newman's Own from Costco around .50cents worth).

Kids lend a helping hand. Youngins can be involved on almost all levels of food prep.

Here is the only evidence of James afternoon garden splurge. A juicy deep crimson colored heirloom tomato with cracked pepper, sea salt, an edible flower (high in vitamin C) and a sprig of fresh sweet basil, olive oil, and a splash of balsamic. This "Black Krim" variety we grow is super succulent and a rare delight... wish they were more prolific!

That, however, is yesterdays news. Today was another poignant reminder that we are in fact having an ADVENTURE with food. We know that food truly can be medicine. It has healing properties if you prescribe the right thing for what ails ya ......... but it can also take a more poisonous and sinister place in your system as we once again experienced this evening. For any individuals with food allergies I'm sure you understand the severity of this next bite. A couple months ago baby Juju had a serious allergic reaction to split pea soup. After a trip to the E.R. and a prescription for the wonderful, stupid and miraculous "Epipen Jr." (it's a love/ hate thing we have going on), we were left shaken but confident in our ability to keep split peas off the grocery list (it's not like every American kid has them in their lunchbox every day at school..... easy enough). We discovered today however, during our delicious, nutritious free lunch of lentil soup and baguette that it's time to 86 another legume! Stat! Farewell my yummy bean of the past. We loved you well little lentil. (weep, sob, sniff)

Baby with his first line of defense..... pre-measured children's liquid Benadryl.

Hives, scratching, puffy neck, rubbing pink swollen watery eyes are all signs that cropped up within seconds of his first few spoonfuls of the dreaded legume. The above photo is post Benadryl and he started showing signs of recovery. No Epipen Jr or E.R. trip today. Whew!

With baby back on his feet and parents by his side we searched the garden beds for basil for tonight's homemade pesto. While breaking bread we gave thanks for our health, baby's safety and the healing power of a shared meal.

National Night Out!

2008-08-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a lotto ticket from Grandma and a Night Out celebration with our local police department we were able to have some free meals on Tuesday. The morning started out with oatmeal, eggs, and dry cereal snacking. We have been pricing some gallons of milk and have not yet milked the cow, hence the dry cereal snacking.

Lunch consisted of some smiley top ramen , frozen grapes, and egg salad sandwiches from an easy recipe. Boil eggs for 10 mins and then chill in refrigerator. Add some mayo & pepper to the chilled egg and spread on some toast. Bebe "JuJuBee" pulled the top off and ate it tartine style. Takes after his dad!

Also, a way to make ramen NOT disgusting if you have a couple more dimes to invest in it is to omit the seasoning packet, cook it in the pot with the water and some chopped bok choy, a splash of tamari sauce, a little sesame oil, some chicken or tofu if you're vegetarian and a little fresh ginger or garlic. It almost tastes like food even! Every college student should know that before leaving home.

Today we received a package from Grandma Frankie who lives in Oregon. There were four envelopes with puzzle pieces for the kids to work on a puzzle together.... each had a part of the whole picture. She also sent a winning California lotto ticket that was redeemable for a few tickets.( Actually, with a closer look at the ticket we realized it was a $12 winner.) We were asked to redeem the ticket and get one more for grandma, one for James, and one for Aleli. She was in the mood to play games through the mail.... very fun. At the gas station James stood in line behind a guy contemplating the purchase of a $4 pack of cigarettes. This gave him some time to think about purchasing his one ticket as instructed by grandma. Also, we were not obligated to use the winnings towards more tickets according to the California Lottery. Getting more tickets was hard to swallow while thinking about the 4 boxes of cereal we had back at "the ranch" with no milk. He could not leave the station without milk! There was a lotto dispensing machine (18 and older please) in the station. We got grandma her portion in tickets, and got a few for Aleli and James as grandma wanted. With $4 left James decided to get a gallon of milk at $3.99. The funny thing was that some of the lotto tickets available were promoting Real California Milk from happy cows. If you have ever driven up interstate 99 (way past Bakersfield) and seen the massive cows on cows on more cows on cow....em, stuff you would have to wonder how happy these animals really are. Leaving the gas station with a penny in change (what better to scratch the tickets with) James caught a glimpse of the current price for a gallon of gas = $3.99. That was the same price we paid for the gallon of milk. It made for an interesting conversation with one of the boys on the walk home. We had a laugh at home when James recounted the whole experience.

That evening we headed out doors for a free movie in the park sponsored by our local police department. On the menu, FREE IN -n- OUT BURGER! Today we give thanks to the COW. Enjoy the photos:

Green Bingo, 888, and one cow ticket for grandma. Milk, penny, and other tickets aquired happily for family.

Gallon of GAS, Gallon of MILK: = $3.99

Here we have two wonderful community members who were selling ice cream to support some local non profits. They were also promoting the Shoes That Fit organization. http://www.shoesthatfit.org/ Unfortunately the $2 frozen snicker bar was off the budget. We plan to purchase a back pack and pair of shoes for a child in need after our experiment since we'll be saving some dough on food this month.

I Spy A&W Root Beer!

(Oh yes, and by the way, it turns out we are total liars. We said going into this that our great big pepsi sign in the background was the only soda, etc you were likely to see this month....... well, it turns out, that if you're hungry enough and people are just handing it out for free........ you just might drink it. Strange, but true.)

JuJuBee thinking: "wait this stuff is FREE" what?????

JuJuBee: "I have to tell someone about this"

"Hello....... Wimpy"?

"Get over here ASAP, Free burgers, I repeat Free burgers"!

Beans, beans the wonderful fruit

2008-08-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

The word of the day is BEANS! Here are some images and moments from yesterday, August 4.

For both lunch and dinner we had two variations of leftover beans. Above is Aleli's reheat of the night before. James totally kicked it up a notch last night though by adding cheese and other savory ingredients, and by starting it all off with these awesome fried cinnamon/ sugar tortilla triangles.Mmmmmm, sooo good! Quite delectable! Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of his dinner. Aleli was feeling downright cranky, hungry, tired, covered in prickly pear thorns (ouwie!James fingers were a pin cushion too) and unphotogenic. No pictures, please. Word to the wise: Changing your diet overnight can also change your outlook! Alot!

Anyway, the three older kids and Aleli went romping through more public veggie gardens yesterday as well. Here are their finds and some pix to enjoy. Look for the teeny lizard that crawled onto the mustard greens sign in the pic with boy and blackberries. Adorable little reptile!

I gather!

2008-08-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an active day for all. I was so busy, climbing trees, dining with neighbors and gathering the fruits of the earth, that I didn't get a chance to post my two cents. It was a great relief to see my sweet love, James, up on his feet again and starting to eat! Produce could not have returned to the picture at a better time. Oooh, to have something ripe and fresh again that you can really savor with all your senses...... it was FRUIT and VEGGIE TIME. (I started the hunt for produce that afternoon in our own garden with the tomatoes, onion and edible flowers pictured to the left....that is a days worth this time of year)

Upon hearing of James illness, our wonderful neighbor, Sam, invited us to a waffle breakfast at her house with her adorable baby Ezra. I wasn't sure if it exactly fit the guidelines of our experiment but she comes from a background ( as do I ) where you bring food to the sick. So we accepted her generous and delicious offer. Homemade Belgian waffles covered in fresh fruit and syrup with a wonderfully nutritious acai drink (Mona Vie) to go with it. The food and company were deeply good! Thanks Sam!

The kids and I were only in the mood for light grazing around lunchtime, since our breakfast was closer to brunch. So we had bits of free restaurant baked goods and some yogurt. James came home from work ( yes, he WORKED the day after being that sick!! ) and went out to the store for all the goods shown below. A word about shopping bags. We use cloth shopping bags about 70% of the time. The other 30% we just plain forget to take them out of the trunk. A tip: after unloading your groceries, hang your cloth bags on the doorknob of the front/or garage door that leads to your car and you will always have bags in your car when you need them. Anyway, I think when James walked in the door with all those boxes of ..... em, cereal.... the kids made their peace with this whole experiment. They thought, they might be deprived or something throughout the coming weeks. What they didn't know is that they will probably never see this much sugar again in their childhoods! Either way, it was time to visit the organic gardens at the colleges.

We had soaked some pinto beans for our traditional beans and rice dinner, but I really wanted some peppers to go with it. Down in the garden, not far off from the chicken yard, I spotted some gorgeous figs. While in the belly of the fig tree, I also picked these grapes (pictured above in the canopy of fig leaves) that were positively dripping from the vine that danced in and out of the fence surrounding both the fig tree and the gardens themselves. There were so many earthly delights that begged to be enjoyed. We found a fertility statue amongst some squash, a few ripe raspberries we devoured along the pathways, a pumpkin patch wildly inter planted with edible flower and amaranth and herbs. Our ten year old HAD TO HAVE this one strawberry that was just an inch beyond reach. I was his anchor, and he got it. Sweet success!

Now what did I come here for again? Oh yeah. A pepper. And there it was, hiding safely under a swatch of tomato plants just under the giant sunflower by the gate. Who's a tasty little pepper? You are! Yes you are!

The days harvest included some purple basil, a fine zucchini, figs, grapes (we froze some for later.... mmmmmmm), bell pepper, jalapeno, green onion, strawberry, and nibbles here and there along the path like raspberries, chard and herbs. Getting lost in a garden is good for the soul! Maybe even as good as a morsel of fine chocolate. I'll take both, thanks!

My favorite moment of the day? When this tiny hand magically appeared in the finished photograph above! That little hand stayed in the bowl until most of those grapes were gone, gone, gone!

Live well,
{{{Aleli}}}

Some hunt, some gather, some coupon shop at Vons!

2008-08-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, time to add my 2 cents to the pot today. I just want to put on record that food cost yesterday for James was zero dinero! I might have picked up a food poisoning “bug” somewhere along our mis-adventures in food. Yesterday was very rare for me as I was rather ill and could not hold down my cookies so basically I did not eat anything until 2am. I found a bowl of leftover pesto bowtie pasta in the fridge and that was it. Aleli, the love of my life took great care of me and made sure to keep the steam going on the blog. I have to make one correction to her posting. I was a vegetarian off and on for about 6 years, maybe 1 year in total! As a vegetarian I would eat McDonalds French fries from time to time (see quote of the day). Anyway, starving myself came naturally for me while being sick on Saturday. At first I thought I was experiencing some type of healing sickness. That’s where you change your diet overnight and feel terrible the next few days for doing it. I’ve had a few of those experiences. I’ve gone 7 days on a juice fast once and there was a stretch of time when I drank gallons of carrot juice. Papa Lee J thought I was coming down with jaundice when my skin started turning orange. That’s a nibble of food history for me. I also was a service manager at a grocery store and know a thing or two about coupons. CHECK this OUT!

That's a 65% savings!!!!!!!

Back in the day while working for the supermarkets you could find shoppers with over a $100 in groceries and getting that down to $10 with coupons. I can even remember a few times when the store had to pay the customer. Today we took advantage of a few Vons Super Saver Coupons that should really help breakfast for next week. Unfortunately the best deals are usually the products that are sugar loaded. As a kid I use to put sugar on my frosted flakes and I turned out ok. Sugar loaded cereals are not usually a part of our breakfast of champions these days. However, getting a $4.79 box of Kix for $1.50 comes out to about 14 cents a serving. That works well within our budget and General Mills claims that these cereals are a good source of Calcium and Vitamin D. Kid-Tested, Mother-yet-to-be-Approved.

A few other Supermarket tips: Check on the dates behind the products that are faced towards the front. Sometimes moving a few products aside to reach back an item or two can get you fresher product by 3 to 5 days. And never feel obligated to buy the 2 for $3.00 specials. Most often you can get just the 1 for $1.50.

Calcium and Vitamin D, It must be good for you!

Day Two aka Peace, Love and Tomato Soup!

2008-08-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

So today the tab came to a whopping $5.35! Breakfast was nothing more than a few huge gourmet blueberry and apple muffins we ate on the run to a free movie viewing in the morning at the local indie film theatre. These we acquired for free last night as end of the day left overs from a sustainably minded restaurant. Ditto lunch! Lunch was a perfect bowl of tomato soup garnished with fresh basil from our garden and paired with a gourmet cheese muffin. All saved from what is sometimes thrown out. Many restaurants around the country that cook fresh daily have some amount of wasted food by days end. Ask for it before it is just thrown out..... unless you are prepared to dive for it ( I'll pass, thanks ). Sometimes they say yes and sometimes they say no. Having said that, there are still no free lunches though! Our girl was in desperate need of some yogurt. So we caved and spent the 50 cents on that for her! Totally worth the price of admission though just to see that banana flavored yogurt mustache stretched across the center of her face! Love that kid!

We snacked on some of yesterdays saved free samples from the ribbon cutting and popped a couple of free vitamin samples from a new health food store in town too. Dinner was simple again. With some herby eggs on leftover rice and some pesto pasta ( an absolute favorite of the ten year old!). A bit of frozen peanut butter cup for a dessert, some juice and everyone was stuffed. Although we are omnivores now (James and Aleli were vegetarian for about 6 or 7 years each), we tend to eat meat very sparingly anyway. So these mainly vegetarian meals are regularly featured guests at our table.

It's absolutely wild how differently we are eating when cost is the primary concern! We would love to eat as healthily as possible during all of this as well. But if it weren't for the fact that we have simple tools at our disposal like a stove, a fridge, and a group budget, it is doubtful that we could eat for a dollar a day at all. How do the worlds homeless do it?!!!! We normally have a far wider range of options at any given meal, more fresh produce, and more organic offerings. Free samples and finds have really stretched what is possible..... even just in the first two days. As we start to forage in local gardens we hope the meals will be cured of their bad case of "the beige" ( grain on grain on, oh yeah, more grain ).

Which leads us into our Thought of the Day:

Well, it's more than one simple little thought actually. It's an article by one of Aleli's favorite great minds right now, Frances Moore Lappe. She is the author of several books, articles and movements, including the well known/loved Diet for a Small Planet. She continually dispels the myth of scarcity as the reason for the worlds hunger and "shortage" issues. There is in fact more than enough to go around! We've already begun to see that there is abundance everywhere...... especially in this country. Anyway, please read and enjoy the article on the link below from this amazing thinker, visionary and humanitarian. You'll be glad you did!

Click the link http://www.progressive.org/mag/lappe0708

Perhaps tomorrow, we'll visit the farm together............ until then, as the Iranian proverb goes:

"Eat little, sleep sound."

One, two, three.... GO

2008-08-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

Happy August all and welcome to our first day of fun with food. Before we share some points of the day though, we'll tell you a bit about our little experiment.

Most months this year our family of six has conducted some unofficial life experiment. One month we went without television, another month we expressed a daily gratitude, etc. In all our brainstorming, we somehow thought it might be interesting to attempt to eat for a dollar a day per person. Food is just that basic common thread among ALL living things and so there are limitless possibilities to learn, explore and understand.We agreed that there would be no dumpster diving and that we will tap into every resource available to OUR family. We realize not every family would have the exact same resources at their disposal, but most US cities are abundant with untapped goods. Enough about that for now.

Sticking with the classics for breakfast day one.

DAY 1

Our first day was definitely a learning day. We started by using what we had on hand along with some staples we had purchased especially for this quest. Nothing should go to waste. MMMmmmm, mmmmm goood oatmeal! Goes down smooth with brown sugar, maple syrup, raisins, cinnamon butter and milk. Although one serving costs us about .07 cents per person before all the comfort fixins', we still came in at around $1 for the entire family meal, complete with a shared grapefruit, some free toast (day old restaurant bread) and a tall glass of crystal clear water.

No hat, no spoon.... no service!

Lunch at home with Aleli and the kids was a simple pasta with pesto and some tomato from our patio garden (nicknamed the food jungle). Lunch for five cost about $2.25. James ate a little something at work for free. By this point the kids were already craving sweets. So we whipped up some chocolate chip oatmeal cookie dough to freeze (Pillsbury log style) with the promise that we would use it only when absolutely necessary. For the moment, licking the bowl and spoon was enough.

Stalling with cookie dough. Baby absolutely LOVED all the mixing, pouring, tasting and chatting that are integral to cookie "doughing".

Bonding and sugar, both deeply important in the baking world.

Things were looking...... "absolutely necessary" by snack time! Fortunately James walked in the door with some oooh so lovely Belgian brownie samples from a ribbon cutting ceremony that was just starting at a new shopping center in the heart of our village. The plan was to go there in the early evening and enjoy as much free food as possible right around dinner time. And that's just what we did! The free Jamba Juice smoothies, Coldstone icecream cakes, gourmet burgers and fries (blanched in duck fat and absurdly tasty!) from a new pub, italian osteria cookies, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf teas, organic breads, macaroons and other snackies completely hit the spot. We even came away with a pack of sugarless gum for each kid, courtesy of the new dentist in town. There was hardly any mention of "what's for dinner?" (even from the 10 year old growing one) after that free glut of random yumminess. Thank you corporate America!

The girl enjoys the first "fruits" of our scavange. Not giant scissors in the background.

After walking the lively, music filled streets of our corner of the world (Friday night Art Walk), we headed home for a simple light meal of brown rice, grilled corn and a sprinkling of cheese. Wash it all down nicely with organic grape icey ( a classy way to water down any juice. The kids think it's special.) Dinner came to about $1.50 with plenty of rice to spare for tomorrow's breakfast or maybe even some rice pudding in the near future.

After dinner James did a quick pick up of leftovers from a restaurant soup pot and bread shelf. Plenty for tommorow's lunch perhaps.

In the next couple of days we'll be harvesting some fresh fruits and veggies for free from organic gardens at our local colleges and maybe some zucchini from a friend"s yard. Unfortunately, I think we may have missed our opportunity for 10 bunches of free grapes from our local "freecycle" yahoo group. We'll check in the morning to see if there are any still available. For today, please enjoy the food for thought video when you get the chance. It's totally worth the time for a bit of inspiration! LOVE that Dervaes family!

Peace, Love and Abundance!