I'm almost a little disappointed how easy it was. I wanted this month to be a test of my endurance, a chance to reach down deep and see what I'm made of. Instead, I just found out it was pretty easy. No fan fair, no hot air. Not even from the beans.
Tomorrow is the last day of our #99Centember experiment, where we ate only from the 99 Cent Store for all of September. It wasn't that radical, it wasn't difficult. I thought I'd have some serious Trader Joe's detoxing to do, but when I wandered in TJ''s to use the bathroom this week, I wasn't compelled to buy a thing. I was just highly amused to see that pumpkin is getting into everything. The walk to the bathroom included at least 30 items spotted with pumpkin in them. Oh my gourd, it's a bit much.
We ate well this month, no starvation issues. My husband picked up so much food at the beginning of the month, I hardly needed to shop much at all. While fresh greens were probably lacking a bit in our diet this month, it wasn't the 99 Cent Store's fault, they have a pretty good selection of fresh vegetables. The grapes were amazing, and the red peppers were delish. We ate carrots, cauliflower, Romaine lettuce, onions, potatoes, beets, fresh corn, tomatoes and more. While not exactly an oasis of farm-to-fork freshness, it was not a food desert one bit.
If beans and more beans are good for the heart, our hearts are very happy right now. Between canned and dried, we ate lotsa legumes! We had Bean Chili, Bean Soup, Soupy Bean Chili, Beany Chili Soup and a few more Bean Bonanzas. Right now I have the last bean dish of the month, Crockpot Curry Chickpeas, bubbling away. You can't beat beans on price, so I'll be curious when Ernst does the grand total tomorrow to see how much this food experiment cost us. Then I'll reveal what's on tap for October!
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| Pumpkin Soup, from our garden, Cheap, orange and yummy. And not beans. |
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| A simple and easy salad. Romaine, beets and chickpeas. Which are beans. |
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| One of the many Bean Soups! This one was loaded with tomatoes, carrots, onions and red bell peppers. |
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| The Free Garden Ratatouille that seemed to last for.e.ver. |
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| And the pumpkin just got into everything. Pumpkin Smoothies! |
