This month, I’m off to slow start because I was eating the remaining food I had bought from January. Then, I caught a stomach bug so I’ve been reduced to eating bread, soup, and ginger ale.

I’ll be trying to maintain this challenge, but for now, I’m more determined to get healthy again.

Anyways, I’ll do my best to keep more regularly updates. But until next time, eat well and eat healthy!

I’ve been to this place twice for dinner and both times were amazing! The food, the service, the ambiance…it’s a rare find for a mid-priced restaurant. The highlights were the Bendaberg ginger beer, the pork belly appetizer, and the desserts. The menu features comfort foods with an Asian twist. I’d love to go back and taste the rest of the menu.

I heard about their homemade mac and cheese, and personally, I’m not a fan. It’s thick, creamy, but it lacks that cheddar-flavor that I love. Then again, I have yet to try the lunch version of the mac & cheese, which I believe to be the one people are taking about. Personally, if you love mac & cheese…try the version at Luna Park because it’s flavorful, hearty, and cheesy.

By the way, if you’re a ginger ale/ginger beer fan, get Bendaberg’s Ginger Beer. It’s refreshingly crisp with a nice ginger kick. I’ve been searching for great ginger beer and this brand is one of my top picks!

Anyways, here are some photos from Nook.

Bendaberg Ginger Beer

Mussel Pan Roast

Pot Roast

Herb Roasted Pork Chop

Nook Bistro
11628 Santa Monica Blvd #9
Los Angeles, CA 90025
at Barry, between Barrington and Federal

That’s my dinner and it was mighty tasty!

Lemon pepper salmon with steamed spinach and black eyed peas with brown rice…you can’t say it’s NOT healthy! The wild salmon which had a deeper color, richer taste, and retained more of its juices than farmed salmon.

Why don’t people just buy wild? I know, we over-fish our seas, but if I eat one package of salmon every couple of months, it can’t be too much. If I made sure the fishermen I purchased from were practicing sustainable fishing methods, I wouldn’t be ruining the environment right?

Plus, it’s not as harmful to the environment as buying beef. I’m seriously thinking of eating beef only when I eat out…but not for home-cooked meals. It’s easier to find grass-fed well-raised beef in a restaurant than questioning my supermarket.

But anyways, it’s good to have salmon every once in a while because it would be special whenever I eat it.

As for the challenge, I’m doing well, I made pound cake for breakfast and it fills me up right away. Since it’s all rainy and dreary, I baked some cranberry walnut cookies with cinnamon and nutmeg to spice it up. They were so comforting! Now, I’m out of butter, so no more baked goods for the rest of the month.

Posted in food stamp challenge Tagged: farmed, lemon pepper, salmon, steamed spinach, sustainable fishing, wild ]]> http://foodiexpress.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/lemon-pepper-salmon/feed/ 0 mywakingmemories salmon1 http://foodiexpress.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/salmon-week/ http://foodiexpress.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/salmon-week/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:27:18 +0000 mywakingmemories http://foodiexpress.wordpress.com/?p=556 Continue reading →]]> Over the weekend, I made pound cake that turned out quite nice. I set aside 1/3 for a friend, 1/3 in the freezer, and 1/3 in the fridge…so nothing will be wasted. I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and bought enough food for 2 weeks. So far, the challenge is manageable, but I have to keep reminding myself that it’s easier to feed one person than an entire family of 4 on this type of budget. Still, at least I know that I fare well on my own.

Groceries for the Third and Fourth Weeks

Here’s the list:

• 3 lb bag of Russet potatoes -6 potatoes ($1.69)
• 2 shallots ($1.49)
• 2 lb bag of Gala apples – 8 apples ($2.49)
• 1 dozen large eggs ($1.49)
• 2 large organic red bell peppers (2.99)
• Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon – .97 lb at $10.99/lb ($10.66)

Total Amount Spent: $20.81
Amount Remaining: $5.20

The plan is to use up my remaining ingredients from last week and combine it with this week’s supply so I can have a variety of meals and still be healthy. The salmon was the most expensive purchase because I wanted it wild, which tastes a million times better than farmed salmon and it has a deeper color to it as well. I separated it into 3 pieces (2 in freezer, 1 in fridge) to make sure I don’t waste it.

With the remaining  money, I’m thinking of getting yogurt, milk, and ginger. I’m not quite sure I want to use up everything in case I need something later…but we’ll see how things go.

To be honest, I fell off the wagon a bit because I had the first week without meat, except eggs and I was craving meat like mad! So I went to my freezer and pulled out potstickers, pizza, and orange chicken from Trader Joe’s and survived the second week. I’m not fit to be a complete vegetarian, so I need to switch up my menu plan a bit to make sure I add meat into my diet.

I have some food left but not much. I have oatmeal, 1 can of corn, coconut milk, half a bag of spinach (I froze it), some leftover roasted vegetables (eggplant, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, and barley) and a couple of eggs. Since I ate frozen food last week, I’m taking $10 off my current budget to account for the pulled reserves. That leaves me with $26.01 to last me two weeks. I’m pretty sure I can pull it off and eat some wild salmon! I’ll put up the list of what I purchased soon.

The  Dinner Menu Plan

• Thai Green Curry – vegetarian style with coconut rice
• Lemon Pepper Salmon with coconut milk infused roasted potatoes and black eyed peas
• Salmon Teriyaki with sauteed spinach and rice

I only got to eat out once and it was at Mozza Pizzeria…you can read my review on Yelp.

Fried potatoes from Mozza Pizzeria

Btw, I finally got around to watching Food, Inc. and it’s very similar to Future of Food. It definitely makes me evaluate how I purchase my food and where it comes from. Also, I’ve been watching all the episodes from Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie and the rest of the world seems to have the right idea.

I gotta start buying less processed junk and better organic foods. It may not be the most efficient way to buy groceries or the cheapest, but it’s better for me and for the environment overall. When I talk to the farmers at the farmer’s market, at least I’ll know where the food comes from and how long it takes for them to harvest it and have it fully matured.

I never knew why tomatoes didn’t taste like how I remembered when I was young. But now I know that they’re picked when they’re green and artificially ripened with ethylene gas. So obviously, it doesn’t have that full-bodied tomato taste that you’d get from a naturally ripened tomato.

Just something to ponder.