Mint Toothpaste and Cashews

That's what LP always accuses me of using to concoct hodgepodge meals. I'm one of those people who can't stand to buy groceries unless the cupboards and fridge are nearly bare. I hate letting food sit at the back of a shelf or go bad in the refrigerator. Unless I have a hankering to make a specific recipe, I try to use what I've got sitting around. Comes from having frugal parents, I suppose. And it does help me to stretch my grocery budget.

Yesterday was definitely one of those Mint Toothpaste and Cashew Hodgepodge kind of meals. What you're looking at here is leftover wild rice with black beans, tomato, sauteed red onion, spinach and radicchio, with a dollop of creme fraiche on top and cracked black pepper. It was pretty good except for the radicchio. Cooking it just made it bitter. It's obviously better left raw. You can't see the beans or the rice so it actually looks more appetizing in the photo, I think.

I just finished off some of the last of the cereal and soymilk this morning. Still oatmeal left to eat.... but the rest of my meals are going to be odd like this!

On another note, it looks like we're finally getting to autumn-like weather in Los Angeles! I love the street where I park for work. Real deciduous trees! I go out of my way to crunch through the leaves!

Healthy Food and Houseplants

The LP is back from visiting family for Thanksgiving. I picked him up from LAX late Saturday night/ early Sunday morning. It's almost silly how much I missed him. It was only a week, but LP vowed that we would never again spend our holidays apart. Time with the family is nice, but we're a family too, so no matter where we go to celebrate a holiday, we should spend that time together. 

I had to work yesterday lunch, but I got out at a decent time and we went out for pizza, beer, and gelato for one last splurge before we spend the rest of the month eating healthy and frugal. I don't really get the idea behind pigging out all through December, only to beat yourself up after the New Year. Now is the time for better eating. Although... I may make some exceptions for cupcakes. :-)

No work today, so I slept in. Here's today's healthy lunch:

Homemade hummus with rice/nut crackers and a Spinach and Radicchio Salad. I tossed in some dried cranberries, toasted pecans, and bleu cheese. It's very similar to what I made for Thanksgiving, except that I didn't have any Asian pears. I sauteed some red onions in olive oil before adding them to the salad to help wilt the spinach a little bit. The dressing is my own concoction of apple cider vinegar, oil, and pepper. So good!

As I took pictures of my lunch by the window, I couldn't help myself and took some of our houseplants, too! We don't have the greenest thumbs, but we try.  We've got a couple of avocado trees growing that we started ourselves from pits. LP has been trying this for years and there's been some losses along the way. But these current guys seem to be doing pretty well. My pride and joy is my Philodendron. These are about the easiest plants to grow because they are nearly impossible to kill. I've had this one (middle) for about 3 or 4 years and it's just exploded recently. Philly sits on top of a speaker and its tendrils nearly reach the floor! The last plant... I call it a Polka Dot plant. It used to be a lot taller, but it got sort of weedy looking and couldn't support itself. After some research, I discovered that these plants have to be cut back. So I chopped the whole thing down to little nubs and it's really thriving now! I'm just glad I didn't kill it!

I realize that plant talk may be about the most boring subject in the world for some people, so I apologize. But we don't have any pets aside from my sad little goldfish, so we really obsess over our plants instead. We really need a dog.