Hey, Miss J!

Time: 9:39pm.

Date: Today (August 13, 2022)

I came across something on the website of bon appètit. I love food, but for the life of me, I have no idea exactly how I found the website. I want to say my medication is messing with my memory, but I’m starting to consider that it might be something else.

The title was so shocking that I decided to read the article. Part of me in the back of my brain started screaming to not read. To not look.

What was the title?

I’ll mention it here so you can read the article yourself if interested. It’s called: “How a 27-Year-Old Consultant Eats on $225K/Year in Washington, D.C.” In teeny tiny letters, it also said: “And how much she spends in a week—making an Americano every morning and dining out every night.”

I worried that I’d feel depressed. Especially when I read that she made $5K per paycheck after all deductions and taxes. That’s more than I spend in a month by far.

Oh, by the way, I have no income. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that. I earn nothing per month.

Zilch. Zerooo.

At first, I was all like: “Naw man, I wanna turn away from this! This is going to make me so sad!” Yet, my inner masochist propelled me forward.

There was something interesting I read about her food expenses, not including the $4K she spends for monthly bills, including a huge mortgage.  

The top level with the food stuff looked like this:

• Week’s total: $1,033.17
• Restaurant and café totals: $996.42
• Groceries total: $36.75

Huh?

She also mentioned that making Beef Bourguignonne took her 7 ½ hours to cook. I’m uncertain if that recipe has anything in common with Julia Child’s take or the tweaks others have done on the recipe, but I do know that preparation is extremely important before you begin cooking.

I’m used to standing (or sitting because my stool has me elevated to nearly my normal standing height) for quite some time depending on what I want to cook. Though I’ve never taken that long for a single meal. In the past when I was less sick, I would do a 3-in-3. Three dishes cooked/baked in 3 hours. Two recipes I had needed to go into a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven, one for 2 hours, the other for 1 ½ hours.

You know what I did, right? I prepped the first one that would need 2 hours, then spent almost 25 minutes in preparation and mixing just in time for the second one to go in. Both dishes came out at the same time, and I was also cooking two different dishes on the stovetop.

My granddad and I had leftovers for over a month. We could easily mix up the different foods. I really enjoyed cooking for him. It was one of the main reasons I learned how to cook.

Aside from eating too. Takeout is not good on a regular basis at all. Nor is eating out.

The places this young lady ate at sounded fantastic, but I honestly didn’t understand what some of the foods she mentioned might have looked like, smelled or tasted like.

Then, I started feeling sad – which I expected, but not due to the money. It was all due to the food and places she could go to. I’m immune-compromised so it’s not safe for me to go out to eat.

I also can’t afford it, but yeah…

Then, I figured I could maybe study and figure out what sorts of meals she had while out and make a ‘budget’ friendly version for myself.

Years ago, I used to make Spanish Paella fairly regularly. For me to have 12 servings, I ended up spending $75 in ingredients. For one dish.

Can I make Spanish Paella for less than $75? We’ll have to see one day.

That won’t be this week though. If I do, I’ll make sure to list where I sourced my ingredients and the cost maybe?

IDK.

But I was inspired again by reading about all of her food, so mixed together a few things I had in the pantry.

A friend of mine regularly hands me these massive bags of low sodium / low salt canned or prepacked food (like peanut butter and cereal. Umm… separately, not together.) I had a pack of pasta that’s like “Easy Mac”, with the included power cheese packet. I grabbed some 1% milk, a can of low sodium corn and a can of low sodium spinach. I used some Country Crock butter and some powdered parmesan cheese. Those last two items I actually paid for myself.

Here’s my weird recipe – of what I have no idea.

• 1 box “Easy Mac” w/ powdered cheese
  • Use ½ packet of powdered cheese.
  • Store second ½ for some other day.
• 1 can (15.25 oz) low sodium corn
• 1 can (15.25 oz) low sodium spinach
• 2 tablespoons Country Crock
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 4 tsp Kraft Parmesan Romano
• Seasonings (Where I have fun) all to taste.
  • Cracked black pepper
  • Smoked paprika
  • Garlic powder
  • Ginger powder
  • Basil
  • Powdered cloves

The meal that resulted from that almost completely filled one of my 7 cup containers. So, I’ll be sharing it with a friend of mine tomorrow.

At the end, I felt very glad that I’d read the article.

Thank you, Miss, for sharing how your week goes!

Her robata tenderloin sounded intriguing. All I need might be a miniature charcoal grill to fix it.

And the meat of course.

That will need to wait though, as I was just able to get some Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap… one of my most favorite soaps ever. I use it all over, even in my hair if the mood hits me.

The soap is insanely helpful if you have dry and itchy skin. It’s also listed to help with eczema and psoriasis and dandruff.

I’m currently waiting on a HR monitor watch too. Since my heartrate is averaging in the mid to upper 90s with me just sitting, I’ll need to use extreme care if I can exercise.

For now, I’m off!

And I think I’ll grab another bowl of (I don’t know what it was, but it was tasty!)

TaTa!

~J. Lyst