Shopping with Friends

Yesterday after work, my friend Laura and I went to Earth Fare in Noblesville. It was time for me to stock up on some essentials and some treats. I got Wholesome Sweeteners Evaporated Cane Juice Organic Sugar that I was talking about in a previous post about sugar. We will see how it bakes in a bit. On the sugar treat, I found some drinking chocolate mix. It is called Silly Cow Farms All Natural Hot Chocolate. It was the most economically friendly and climate friendly of my options.

I also got some multicolored carrots (for the life of me I cannot figure out why carrots are not at the farmers market, can anyone fill me in?). I also got cheese, but I am going to eat it more as a delicacy instead of a condiment. Think of it this way, I may have a tablespoon of cheese every few days. Makes me appreciate it more, since I love cheese.

I also treated myself to some Trader's Point Creamery Raspberry Yogurt. If you have never tried their yogurt, you should. It is amazing, especially on oatmeal. (One of the only ways I can get myself to eat oatmeal.)

On another note, I go to the dietitian tomorrow, so we shall see what happen.

Why I Like Kale

From WebMD.com

Kale. As of a few months ago, I had never eaten it. It was one of those perceived icky bitter greens that I would never want to touch (yes I can be a picky eater at times). By now I have had kale chips and a spinach kale soup. So why is kale good for you? Maybe I can convince you to try it!

1. It is high in vitamins. Vitamins C and K in particular. Vitamin C is good for immune system (think orange juice and other citrus) and vitamin K helps in bone health, preventing blood clotting, and may protect you against some cancers.
2. Calcium. There is more calcium per calorie in kale then there is in milk. We all know calcium is good for your bones.
3. Kale can also help detox your body and keep your liver healthy.
4. It is full of fiber.
5. One cup is about 35 calories, and you can get more than a daily serving of Vitamin C, K, and A in that cup.
6. It can help lower cholesterol and heart disease.
7. It is available a lot of the year, even into the fall and early winter.

I feel like I need to make a disclaimer that I am not a medical professional and you will reap the benefits along with a healthy diet (especially #2, 3, and 6). I love how kale chips taste, and this makes me feel even better when I snack on them.

What other superfoods do you know of?

Resources:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4408/Top-10-Health-Benefits-of-Eating-Kale.html

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-truth-about-kale

A Shifting Mentaility

First thing this morning I went to the Minnetrista Farmer's Market. This trip is starting to become part of my schedule. Mentally, my perceptions of the farmer's market is starting to change. I am planning what to get, focusing on the farmer's market as my main source of food. This week I got beets and kale, I could have gotten potatoes, but I already have some and want to use them before they go bad.

Yes I found kale, I did two laps around the market until I found the vendor selling it of a cooler. One pound cost me $2. All of it has already been made into chips, which I have been enjoying all afternoon. This would be a great way to get your kids to eat their greens.

The Farmer's market is no longer a novelty for me. It is where my food comes from. I have talked with friends and family how they view the market, and it is a special occasion for them. May if they are cooking a special dinner on Saturday they will go to the market for some of the ingredients. I wish the mentality, at least for the summer, would switch to one that relied on the market for fruits and veggies. They taste better and are cheaper then a lot of retail stores.

I think that shopping at farmers' markets will continue after my project is done. How often do you buy food directly from the farmer?

Sometime You Need Something Sweet

So by the end of today I was just starting to feel tired and craving sugar. My first thought to remedy this with just to eat some straight sugar on a spoon. A spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down. Not that I need any medicine.

Hearing the wisdom of my many mothers in my head, I decided to be a bit more productive my sugar consumption. I made 44 sugar cookies instead. So far tonight I've eaten five. I am having a large glass of milk with them, makes them healthier I think. They only cost eight cents per cookie. The generic recipe I found the bit too buttery but I can deal with it.

I think I will make peanut butter cookies next time, or ones with chocolate (but that could get really expensive). With the peanut butter I could get some protein in the cookies, that could make them "healthier".

What is your favorite treat her food that picks you up?

Food Spoilage is No More

Update: I have been putting all of my perishable food into the Still Tasty App. I feel much more confident that I will not have food spoiling on me anymore. It even sends me notifications when the food is about to expire.

I am also getting motivation to use my food before it expires (since I now know the time crunch). For instance tonight I baked beets, therefore when I want to eat them I will just have to microwave the container (much quicker). It should last 3-5 days in my fridge.

Here is another piece of good news. I am going to a nutritionist appointment next week to have a dietitian evaluate what I have eating so far. This should help me make sure I am eating a balanced diet. With this information it will also make is easier for me to take this experiment to the end of the semester.

R.I.P. Kale

This morning I got up and started fixing breakfast. I grabbed some biscuits and humus from the fridge when I noticed an odd smell. Something sweet but slightly off. I managed to narrow it down to the veggie drawer, so I pulled it out and set it to the side. It contained broccoli, carrots, and kale. The first two smelled fine, but the kale... was interesting. I decided that fresh air would do it good, so I left it out of the fridge until this evening when I thought it may be a good idea to check on it. What do I see? This:

The kale that used to be a luscious green is now a yellow color.

Now why am I bringing this up. It is a learning opportunity for me to learn about the expiration of fruits and veggies. According to the website Still Tasty, kale can last 5-7 days in the refrigerator (which I was on the tale end of) or 10-12 months in the freezer. Wow! I bought this kale back on September 16th (8 days ago). Moral of the story is use your kale quickly or freeze it.

So what about the other fruit and veggies that I have in my fridge?

• beets - 2 weeks fridge, 12-18 months freezer
• carrots - 3-4 weeks fridge, 12-18 months freezer
• broccoli - 3-5 days fridge, 12-18 months freezer
• apples (not in the fridge) - 1-3 days pantry, 3-4 weeks fridge, 10-12 months freezer 
• note: I leave my apples sitting out for at least a week before they start being questionable
• cantaloupe (cut up) - 3-4 days fridge, 10-12 months freezer

The site also gives information on how to prepare the foods for  the refrigerator or freezing so that they will last the longest. They also have an iPhone app for $1.99. I think it might be worth trying out. It also looks like I will have lots of cantaloupe and broccoli tomorrow before they go bad. I also want to get kale from the market, but I will cook it into chips (which will hopefully last longer, at least I will eat them quicker).

Do you have any food saving tips? How far would you go with something that was "going bad"?

Energy and its Costs

As promised, today's post is going to be on calories. I have been concerned that I have not been getting enough calories while on this diet. I have not been monitoring them for the duration so far. So today I used a website called myfitnesspal.com to estimate how many calories I have been eating in the past week. I am shocked at the results. I averaged 1566 calories and 54 grams of protein  per day. I thought I was around 1,000 calories a day.

I discussed yesterday that I should be having 40-60 grams of protein a day and I was between 32 and 70 each day, so I am actually fine. I did have a bean or meat dish everyday (that certainly helps). My lowest calorie intake was 1,222 and the highest is 1,945.

Let's refer to some science to see if these number are alright. I am going to use the USDA's myplate.gov to figure this out. How many calories should I have? According to the chart I need to be having around 2,000 calories, and that is if I am not physically active (which I am, I biked 5 miles round trip to class today).

So why was I wondering about calories in the first place? I feel my diet is out of whack in the proportions of things. I am also considering ending my experiment early at 6 or 8 weeks as I am worried about heath risks and honestly I am sick of calculating how much everything costs every day. What do you think

The Cost of Things

So far, it seems that this project is pretty cost effective. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am between $30 and $40 a week or around $5 a day. This seems to be proving my point that eating organic and healthy is possible on a college student's diet. There are two factors I am neglecting so far; meat/protein and calories. I will tackle the calorie issue tomorrow, so tonight we will talk about meat.

Since the beginning of this project I do not think I have been getting enough protein. For someone my size, I need 40-60 grams of protein a day. (Just take your weight in pounds and multiply by 0.37). I had been incorporating eggs and milk into my diet, but with each egg having 6g and milk having 8g per cup, I would need to eat a lot of them to meet my requirements.

What about meat you ask? To follow the confines of my project (not processed, preferred GMO free, antibiotic free, hormone free, free range, grass fed), meat is expensive. Meaning about $7 a pound for most cuts of chicken or for ground beef. Knowing protein is a problem, I purchased 3 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts and 1.2 lbs of ground beef from Becker Farms at the farmers market yesterday. This cost about $33, about the same that I would spend on an entire week!!

Right now the meat is in my freezer as I devise how to incorporate it into well rounded dishes. That will make the meat/protein stretch longer then just making a hamburger out of it. What ideas do you have? I am considering something with a crockpot that can cook all day.

Invasion of the Beans!

So today I finally have protein, in the bean form anyway (meat is coming tomorrow, stay tuned). My friend Emily came over this afternoon to teach me how to make hummus and lentil soup.

We first went to Meijer where I got some ingredients. Lentils, garbanzo beans, a lemon, and Tahini. This is the first time I have purchased Tahini, it is mechanized ground up sesame seeds. It is a component in the hummus.

The hummus

• 2 cans of garbanzo beans......$3.18
• 1/2 juiced lemon.....................$0.40
• 1/4 cup tahini..........................$0.71
• 1 tsp garlic..............................$0.14
• 1/8 tsp salt.........................$0.00075 

Total is $4.43 and it is $0.37 per 1/4 cup serving. Emily said I could put it on veggies or bread or just eat it plain. So far I have had it with scrambled eggs and plain. There is at least 4 grams of protein per serving.

Now onto the lentil soup. It has more ingredients so I will list them and give you the total cost. The ingredients are: onion, carrots, olive oil, potatoes, garbanzo beans, lemon juice, water, lentils, garlic powder, thyme, cilantro, parsley, basil, and salt. It cost $7.19. With 14 servings of 1 cup each, they cost $0.51 per serving.


Here is the soup before I blended it:

Here is the after. I blended it because I prefer my food to have a smooth even texture.

Tomorrow I am going to the Farmer's market. I want to get meat and veggies and apples. Any other recommendations?

Bakin' Old Fashioned Biscuits

Today I decided to try a new biscuit recipe out of my oldest cookbook. We used this at Conner Prairie in our 1886 Liberty Corner site. The book is Tried and Approved. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping. Complied from Original Recipes. The quote on the front of the book says, "Bad dinners go hand and hand with total depravity, while a properly fed man is already half saved." This cookbook was originally published in 1877 and is chocked full of interesting and good recipes. For example, have you ever wanted to make Coffee Jelly, Boiled Beef Tongue, Celery Soup, or Butter Taffy this is the book for you.

Concerning biscuits, there are 7 different types listed. I opted to try the South Carolina Biscuit, contributed by Mrs. Colonel Moore. Here is the recipe, it may be different than you are used to.

A bit different, isn't it. I figured out that enough flour is 10-11 cups. This recipe made a LOT of biscuits, 27 to be exact. 

One note to make is to use a blender or soften the butter before putting it in, cutting while mixing does not really work. Oh and next time I would add more than 1 Tbsp baking powder, as they did not rise much. 

I cooked each batch at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Hopefully these biscuits will last me a week. What is your oldest favorite recipe?

Ewww....Yuck... Food Waste.

After some cooking, I got into a cleaning mood today. Thought it was fair time I clean out my fridge, see what had sunk into the depths after one month. Here is what I found...

These are not roles, they are lemons!!
foodengineeringmag.com

• old cabbage
• boiled beets gone gelatinous slimy
• vegetable mush
• cucumber gone yellow

I have to admit, some of these things have been in my fridge for over a month. Why, you ask? Well honestly I forgot about the cabbage, cucumber, and beets. The vegetable medley was just kinda gross and not palatable with the eggplant. I am not very good at forcing myself to eat something I do not like. I am keeping a running tally of how much food waste is costing me. So far it is approximately $17.62 lost in throwing away food whether from spoilage or bad cooking. This is 6% of my total spending on food. I am not sure if that is good or bad. 

Now I am more aware I need to try to eat things I do not like. I am also being careful of food spoilage, as I do not want to make myself sick. That is one issue of having no preservatives, food spoils much faster. Do you have any recommendations to keep food longer?

Savory Sweet Potatoes

ISo, I have been trying new recipes today. This one comes from the blog Our Savory Life. I came across this recipe through a google search, trying to find something to do with the sweet potatoes I bought a few days ago from Meijer.

Cooking garlic.

The recipe is pretty simple to make.

• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 1/2 Tbsp thyme
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic cooked down in 1 Tbsp. olive oil

It probably took me 20 minutes (I forgot to time it). It was also really easy to mix all the ingredients in.

Now the important question: how did it taste? Savory, but still sweet. The thyme gave it good flavor and I actually did not taste the garlic. I have 3 servings made, each costing $1.07. I think that is pretty good, however this is not a main dish. There is no protein involved, so it makes an expensive side dish.

What do you like to do with sweet potatoes?

The Price of Money

So far in my project, I have been preoccupied with how much I am spending. It is one of the goals of this project to live off of a college budget for food. From some brief inquiry on Google, college students can average $100 to $300 a month on groceries. So far I have spent $271.49 on food (this does include starting with a bare kitchen). Of food I have consumed, I am averaging $4.67 per day. This means on average $32.70 per week or approximately $130 per month.

I think in this first month that it is possible to survive on organic whole non processed food while keeping a strict budget. The key word here is survive. In the next weeks, I am still going to tally everything I eat as detailed as ever, but I am going to start incorporating in more expensive items, such as meat (yes Jenny, I will eat meat). I need to focus on creating a balanced diet now, which requires more expensive fats, oils, and protein. This means my expenses will go up and I hope to still stay under $200 a month.

On a side note, here at Ball State, students in the resident halls have meal plans. They come in 10, 14, 18, or 21 meals a week. Consider a student that plans to eat all their meals on campus (21 meals). The breakfast swipe is worth $4.45 (note this is almost as much that I spend per day on average), lunch is worth $7.85, and dinner is worth $7.85. That means the student is spending at least $20.15 per day. I say at least, because as a former meal plan user I tended to go over my allotted swipe and would use my dining plus (extra money allotted by the meal plan) to pay for it. Back to calculations, the student spends $141.05 (how much I spend in a month) per week, and $564.20 per month. I am saving 75% on my food by making it myself. Given the example I gave was the extreme one, I would still be saving money compared to the 10 meal plan.

How do you save money when you cook?

Defining Processed Food

So today I made my own first batch of kale chips. A little too salty but that will be easily fixed the next time. I also had rice and beans for dinner, with some saved for later. They taste briny. I guess that is because I got canned kidney beans (only beans and salt). I thought they would be easier to cook (less time). I am still learning how to cook them properly.

On that note, I need to define the processed food that I am avoiding. 

The USDA defines processed food as “any food other than a raw agricultural commodity and includes any raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing, such as canning, cooking, freezing, dehydration, or milling.”

I have discovered that even the organic flour that I buy is considered processed by this definition. I cannot afford to harvest my own wheat and grind it into flour. I have been doing a lot of thought this week of how to redefine and solidify my definition of processed so that I am not over limiting myself.

I am allowing whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, milk, meat etc. I am also going to allow products that are made of only whole ingredients. This includes canned beans (beans and salt), cheese (milk, enzymes, and salt) and other such products. Does that make sense? I am eliminating things that should not be there such as chemical preservatives and additives. I am also going to avoid products that have more than 5 ingredients (even if they are all whole) as that defeats the purpose of this project.

Learned Something New - Kale Chips

This morning/afternoon I went over to my friend Elise's apartment. We made crêpes to celebrate her birthday and afterwards she offered to teach me how to make kale chips.

Her recipe:

• grease pan with olive oil
• rip kale into 2 inch pieces
• sprinkle olive oil onto kale pieces
• add salt
• bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes

This is the first time that I have had kale chips, and I have to admit they were pretty tasty. Maybe I can get some kale from the farmer's market on Wednesday. It will help add some variety to my diet.

I Made a Mistake

So I alluded earlier that stuff went down after my DC trip. No, it is not that bad, but in hindsight I am thinking I should have not been as liberal with allowing myself to eat processed food on the trip. The problem is, now I crave processed food. It is like starting over. To be honest I am losing my motivation to continue this diet (I am not saying I will quit, but it is getting hard).

Here are the issues I am having:

• I want to eat multi ingredient foods. Not just boiled beets or carrots.
• I want my food to be quick and easy when needed.
• I want sweets such as ice cream.
• I miss having flavor!! Food should make you drool and not be bland.
• I need calories and fruits and veggies are just not very calorie dense.

Tonight I went out to dinner with two dear friends of mine. Yes I broke my rules, and to be honest I did not care. It was worth not having to stress about the content of my food. I think that is a major thing I am learning, you should not have to stress about where your food is coming from and how much it costs, it takes away the joy of eating. Breaking my "rules" was a mistake, but it is making me decide that I need to define them more clearly both for myself and you my reader. So stay tuned for rule related posts.

Starting tomorrow, I will officially be back on the bandwagon regarding eating non processed food. By telling you, it will hold me accountable. I appreciate any advice you have regarding the concerns I have so far. I do not mean to complain, but I see this as an opportunity to grow and learn from others.

DC Overview

First, I apologize for the lack of posts the past few days. When a squirrel chews through your cable cord, the Internet tends to not want to work. Today is the first day since I got back from DC (Wednesday night) that I have had reliable internet. Huzzah!

Anyway, back to my overview of DC. It was a great trip. I actually really enjoyed being to eat what I wanted instead of being restricted to my diet. I tried to post some of what I eat, so you should check out those posts.

I did find by day 4, I was feeling bloated and sick. The food still tasted great and fulfilled the cravings I was having, but I just did not feel well. I spent most of Thursday curled up feeling ill and sleeping. Friday was better, however my appetite was not back. I felt ok today, however the cravings for sweet and salty have not gone away. Stay tuned to some revelations in that area in the next post.

Overall, it was nice to take a break from my project, almost to nice.

Favorite Place in DC: The USDA

My favorite part if this week was the visit to the USDA. Honestly I thought it was not going to be very cool and I was satisfied seeing the garden and a part of the building on Monday evening. But I agreed to visit.

Propaganda poster form 1914-1918 in the exhibit.

So why was it so cool?

First there was a good amount of exhibits going over the history if the USDA. The walls were covered with old posters and propaganda. I actually did not have as much time to look at these as I wanted because I spent so much time talking to the lady who worked there. She was so thrilled to have visitors (they don't get many through there) and it was even better that we were interested in science and agriculture.

I got some pamphlets, magazine, and other free goodies to study when we get back. Let me know if you would like to see them.

I am also impressed how kind they were, the people at the USDA. I think it is good to remember that they are people to, so the department is not a heartless, faceless entity.

DC Day 2: Better Food

Breakfast

What did I eat today? Well for breakfast we had a free buffet at the hotel. I had a waffle with cream cheese and some apple juice. I opted to not have the fake maple syrup that had nothing from a tree in it.

Lunch

For lunch as a group we went to Potbelly's. It is a sandwich shop. I got a mushroom and cheese sandwich on wheat and a banana smoothie. Honestly the sandwich as bland and tasted like cardboard. (I am really starting to appreciate my own cooking.) the smoothie was good, more like banana ice cream but good. 

In comparison to my other two meals, dinner was awesome! A group of us went into Chinatown to Chop't Creative Salad Co. You made your own salad, picking out the ingredients that you wanted and they chopped it together. I got romaine with bacon, carrots, edamame, and cheese. It was refreshing and healthy! 

Dinner

We decided to get desert at a frozen yogurt place. Chocolate and cake batter with chocolate chips and sprinkles was a good way to end my day. I think today was pretty successful in the food area. Here is to a good tomorrow!!

DC Day 1: Traveling

 Today I had breakfast at home, granola and milk.

For lunch we stopped in Ohio at a Blimpie. I got a turkey and provolone on wheat sandwich and lays original chips. The sandwich was ok but very filing. I had an interesting revelation with the chips. My favorite part of them was the crunch. Not the salt or fat content. They seemed to greasy. I did not even finish the small bag. 

I had two insomnia cookies for a snack and Panda Express for dinner. Not the greatest choice but it was the only economical option closest to DC. I really did not want to pay over $10 for dinner. Right now I am craving water, apples, and carrots. 

Hopefully tomorrow will bring healthier choices. 

Change of Plans

As some of you know, I am traveling to Washington DC for the next four days. I will be putting my thesis on hold, at least the full blown restrictions. I am still going to try to eat less processed food, but I want to keep expenses in mind. I may blog while I am there, but expect a fullupdate once I return.

I anticipate limitations in my options in food as well as all food being more expensive. The main goal is to have fun and to not get sick.

Any recommendations of where or what I should try to eat?

Is Your Food Real??

My friend Laura sent me an interesting article to read, Fake Foods You are Eating. This also goes along with some articles I read in my seminar today about processed food and salt. This article opens with "Cheese faking is as art nearly as popular as cheesemaking". Oh yikes! I would encourage you to read the article then come back and finish this blog post.

My initial reactions:

• Yes fake cheese should be called "embalmed cheese", at least that would be a deterrent from eating it.
• There is no vanilla in Nilla Wafers :(. That makes me sad.
• No milk in the cream in oreos and chocolate is the last ingredient in the cookie? I wonder what they would taste like made out of real ingredients.
• My sister and I had a peanut butter debate a few days ago when she had sugarless peanut butter for the first time. The verdict: she did not like it because there was nothing ot mask the peanut flavor (she is not fond of nuts).
• There is chocolate milk sold that contains no milk!!

It still surprises me what can qualify as food but yet, it does not contain really food items. Which food on this list surprises/disgusts you the most?

Update: 3 Weeks In

So people have started asking "How are you doing?" or "Is the project hard?" etc. So I thought an update was appropriate as I am over 1/6 of the way through.

So what are my impressions? Well, I find by cutting out processed food, I am forced to eat a lot healthier. For once I do not have junk food to snack on, instead I have apples, carrots, and from a recent shopping trip, strawberries!!  If I get hungry, typically it will be 30 minutes until a meal or snack is put together. For example, today I made rice, but I had to cook it for 30 minutes on the stove top. No instant food here.

On that note, I am really really really missing convenience when it comes to food. Currently, I need to wake up earlier to make breakfast and pack my lunch for later. Coming home, I need to set aside at least 1 hour for dinner (cooking and eating). On a college schedule, that is a lot of precious time that could be spent doing homework or sleeping. I may be saving money by cooking everything from scratch, but it takes more time. So I guess what it comes down to is what is more valuable, time or money?

Another interesting change is that I have lost weight. About 5 lbs so far. This is unintentional but a side effect of eating healthier food. My food is also less calorie dense then processed food. Which leads to how I have been feeling today, Hungry. Ironically, the more I eat, the hungrier I feel. I am not sure if this will continue or go away.

I hope I get a routine down, that I can cook food in bulk ahead of time to spend less time cooking every day. I also want to learn to cook more things and to cook with people. So if you ever want to come over and cook with me, let me know!!

Am I Hungry or Not?

So I was one of those kids who just ate whenever. I never really paid attention to "feeling" hungry or recognizing that sensation. Now I hear people say to only eat when you are hungry and to be honest I do not feel hunger pangs or have my stomach growl very often. So today I decided to do some research of what other signs your body gives you that you are actually needing nourishment.

I started with WebMD to research:
You have a hunger hormone in your blood called ghrelin. It helps transmit the "I'm hungry" signal from the empty stomach to the brain. Similar nerve endings signal the brain when you are full, but they take up to 20 minutes to complete their mission.

Another site, self.com (which I am uncertain how reputable it is), states feeling of hunger, emptiness in the stomach, and inability to focus. Another possibility is if you are thirsty and feeling weak.

For me, I typically feel light headed (unable to focus) along with a headache and thirst.

Isn't it interesting how our bodies can notify us that we are hungry in different ways?

Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/really-hungry
http://www.self.com/blogs/flash/2012/01/how-to-know-if-youre-really-hu.html

The Zucchini Ran Away!!

My awesome sister helping me cook!!

Today was baking and cooking day. Thankfully I had my family to help me. My mom paid for the food and ingredients. I think this is pretty typical for the parents to feed their children when they come home from school and to send leftovers back with them.

French Bread

First I started making french bread. It has over two and a half hours of rise time alone, so I wanted to get it started early. While this was rising I started the chicken noodle soup. I use a recipe my friend Jamie created, and it has always been amazing. As a shortcut my mom got a rotisserie chicken from Earth Fare, eliminating the step of cooking the chicken. Yes this means it is more processed, but it was free to me.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I was able to take the chicken and vacuum seal it into 8 packages of two cups each. They are now in the freezer and should last me a few weeks or months (I say the shorter time because it is so yummy!).

Packaged Soup!

So, about the zucchini, this evening I decided to make zucchini bread with the zucchini I bought yesterday at the market here in town. One problem, we could not find the zucchini. Anywhere! We looked in every cabinet to no avail. I eventually had to go to Marsh to get two more. After that, the recipe I used is written for a higher altitude, so my sister helped me adjust it. I also decided to change from bread to muffins, as it is easier to portion control with muffins. The end result...42 zucchini muffins.

Muffins oh my!

End result:

• 8 servings of chicken noodle soup
• 1 1/2 loaves of french bread
• 40 zucchini muffins (my family ate two)

Any other ideas for things that I can make and freeze in bulk?