Second day

The remains of Paul's 3 lb loaf. Good crust and crumb for cheap all purpose flour.


Paul worked from home today, so he didn't have to make coffee arrangements or eat a big breakfast, as he usually does before biking to work. He did miss feeding his muse the endless cups of coffee which inspire him when he is doing serious writing. This evening was our tap dancing lesson, so we eat when we get home, about 8. We are hot and full of water after dancing, so we never feel very hungry. Breakfast was toast and peanut butter, lunch was bread and cheese for me, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Paul. Dinner was bean soup, bread and butter, and cinnamon cookies.

Recipe for bean soup (The pound of beans I soaked and cooked yesterday ended up being 6 cups)
3 Cups beans and their liquid, about 4 Cups. Add water if necessary.
1/3 pound smoked sausage, sliced thin
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Save out 1/2 cup of the beans. Put everything else in a covered pot and simmer for about an hour. Fish out the sausage and puree the soup with an immersible blender. Add the reserved beans and the sausage, remove the bay leaf, and serve with plenty of black pepper. Add salt to your own portion, to keep the beans from getting hard. We had enough soup left over for Paul to take for lunch later this week.

Things I learned today: Processed food is really sweet. Bean soup is way nicer with a potato in it. I miss unlmited milk drinking.
Marilyn

When checking out food stamp allocations today I foundout that it varies wildly state to state. If we did the Ohio amount, Marilyn and I would have had nearly $71 for the week as opposed to $42. That would have made a significant difference but one would still have to be thoughtful about purchases and menu planning.

I also saw the Oregon Governor's shopping list ... he scored 10lb of potatoes for $.99 Wow. But he had no coffee.

Paul