The sun will come up---in about seven hours. It's "Tomorrow!" already.

[vanillafluffy]

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. What am I going to do? Well, Disney World is right out. I can't afford that shit, even if it's a "mere" 50 miles away. At the moment, my checking account balance is entirely to the right of the decimal, I have a like amount in my wallet, and payday isn't til Friday (and I need to be damn stingy with that).

So, the time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things---like the current value of aluminum cans. I have one bagzilla full (50G) plus another 30G or so I need to consolidate. Not sure what that is in pounds, or, as I said, the current going rate, but I'm guesstimating at least $5 worth, maybe a bit more, and that goes a surprisingly long way at the shiny new Aldi's up the road.

So, my plan is, to gather up my cans, take them to the recycler, nip into Aldi's on the way back---location, location, location!---and commence to cleaning up my kitchen so I can cook in it. I've done nothing but dump dishes in the sink since before I left to housesit in JUNE, so it's an unholy mess. Okay, I may have taken out some trash and done a cursory chucking out of the science projects in the fridge, but the countertops and sink are dreadful.

Monday I cruised through Aldi's with Kat, having liberated a handful of change from my fast-dwindling piggy bank---got a 69-cent box of crackers, a $2 bag of shredded cheddar cheese and a pound of ground turkey for $1.19. With tax, it was something like $4.05, and such a nice, CLEAN store!

(Not like the local Save-A-Lot which was an A&P originally, about a million years ago when I first landed here. It's been about three different things in the interim, including closed down for a couple years, and it's depressing. Back when I was out of work before I started the medical billing job, HWSNBN decreed that economy was to be the watchword of our lives and we'd shop there, even if it did have a funky smell and some really inbred-looking customers.*)

I have some taco seasoning and shells from the food pantry run with BC---that, with the ground turkey, should get me a couple of meals, and depending on my haul from the cans, I may be able to add some sour cream (under $1) and a bag of potatoes ($2.49)---although that'll depend on whether anything else looks like an irresistable bargain. I saw a really interesting variety of stuff---this may actually be fun. pwcorgigirl, any suggestions?

Cans, cleaning, cooking---no commuting! Yay! (At least while I catch my breath....)

===========================================

* Which is not to insinuate that all SAL stores are nasty OR that all of the customers that shop at this particular store are members of family trees that don't branch a lot. We saw some really scary specimens, though.

Comments

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

There's always the holy trinity of kidney beans, diced tomatoes and corn topped with a little of the cheese or beans with some taco seasoning and tomatoes served over a baked potato.

I go to two SAL stores and one is a lot like what you described. The other is so clean I was amazed at the difference. Aldi is heaven for the frugal shopper -- what a fabulous place!

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

I was surprised by the selection---the frozen items especially. And the meat prices were really good as well as looking good.

The trinity is much like the bean jumble recipe I got from AI, only her version uses a jar of salsa and adds a can of black beans. I tend to used diced tomatoes anyway, because it's something I keep in my pantry. Salsa, not so much.

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

Are any of the churches in your area running a garden ministry this summer? The Methodist church here that's right in downtown has a place set up for people with excess garden produce to drop it off for those in need of food. It's a wonderful idea because every gardener goofs and plants too much of one thing, so it keeps food from going to waste.

I need to check my ever-fertile cucumber vines and take a few by.

[ang5fam.livejournal.com]

Our local Save-A-Lot is exactly as you described! I was a customer there after hubby had his transplant and I had 3 children to feed on less than $70 per week. Often times, patrons were being arrested while I shopped. Really creeped me out.
Aldi is entirely different and the chain is based in Germany- my sis shopped there when she lived in Hamburg. Hence, the thriftiness and cleanliness. Low overhead as well. Their Mexican section offers low cost beans, tomatoes with chopped green chilis and tortillas. We have that at least once a week.
I am in the midst of writing a cook book for newlyweds /single folks and would be glad to share some of the recipes with you. Tell me what you abhore and I'll work around it.
I also make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce once a week for about $2 so all you need is pasta--our family makes 2-3 meals out of it but you could get at least 5. I freeze it in portions so you can add meat when thawed or eat it plain. Be glad to show you how.
I have tons of ideas!!! My husband says I can make a silk purse dinner out of a sow's ear.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

You and pwcorgigirl (See comment above) ought to get acquainted. Her ambition is to have her own thrifty cooking show on cable.

I do not eat green peas. I was force-feed them as a child, and since then, I am obsessive about avoiding them. If I catch a chinese restaurant putting them in their fried rice, that's all she wrote---I won't go back.

I think iceburg lettuce is an abomination. It has no taste, no character and the nutritional value of cellophane.

I don't care for any of the "A" vegetables: artichokes, asparagus and avocados all leave me cold, and no, I don't like guacamole.

Beets and brussels sprouts, meh. I *do* eat broccoli, not very enthusiastically, but I *will* eat it.

Enthusiastic yes to celery, carrots, cucumbers, corn.

Ditto green beans are good, and tomatoes, and mushrooms and onions and shallots. All good!

Because my parents were into stir-fry before stir-fry was in, I also have an appreciation for things like bok choi/chinese cabbage and bean sprouts and snow peas and OMG, water chestnuts. I love that crunch they add to a dish. Do you know the China Garden buffet at Byrd Plaza? They do a beef and mushroom dish that has water chestnuts in it, along with some carrot chips---love it!

I need to get into the habit of cooking portioning and freezing. At the moment, my freezer isn't looking very well-filled....

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I used to live in a part of Calif. that was nothing but shrimpy little towns, some of which were so small they didn't even have a zip code and some of the people there looked like Beavis and Butthead. I couldn't wait to GTFO.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

These must be their east coast cousins.

[socialhermit.livejournal.com]

Check your mailbox next week (like Wednesday-ish) for something from me.

Just sayin'.

;-)

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

An early birthday card? I know you're in some dire straights yourself, girlfriend---I hope it's not something extravagant! (And I don't think JDM would fit in my mailbox---he'd have to come up and ring the bell.)

[socialhermit.livejournal.com]

If I could figure out a way to ship JDM to you, I'd totally do that...

No worries, though. You'll just have to be surprised. :-)

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

Thanks, sweetie! It's lovely to have happy mail to look forward to!

[ladyjane]

*hugs*
There are few things in the work-world worse than a job that tries to siphon bits of your soul away. It sounds like today (yesterday?) was the first day in a long time when you could really breathe.

A word of cauation on kicking the caffeine. Take it from someone who's been there -- don't try to stop all at once. You'll wind up irritable, moody and with a massive headache. Start off easy and do half decaf/half regular or switch off between the two. Depending on how bad your 'habit' is, do that for at least a week before cutting the cafeine completely.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

I've decaffeinated so many times---! My secret is Excedrin, the headache remedy with caffeine. So far, I've been without since...Monday afternoon? Yeah, Monday. Had some Excedrin as needed yesterday, er, Tuesday. None Wednesday, and in the wee hours of Thursday, so far I'm okay. I'd worked my way up to 2+ liters a day, which even I think is excessive, and with the money crunch that's about to decend on me, I can't afford that! On the other hand, if I go out to lunch with my mama, sure I'll have a glass of sweet tea with lemon! We go out once a week, I don't think that's so bad....

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

Wow! I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do when/if something like this happens to me. I feel like I would just curl up in the fetal position and give up. I'm impressed that your facing it with guts and humor.

And you have my full sympathy for going through caffeine detox in the midst of it all. Luckily my most recent detox has held for over a month, although the sugar has gone kerfluey this week. (I'm blaming it on the cold. Something about being sick makes me crave sweet and knocks out my reistance.)

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweetie---if I didn't have a sense of humor, I'd've done myself in AGES ago. (And some very DARK ages they were, too....) But yeah, after the last couple of weeks of "Will they or won't they?", I'm just glad that it's freaking over.

I can do the caffeine detox, not happily, but do-able. Sugar? I'd kill someone. Send me the cake without the file. Make it devil's food. I'm gonna need all the cheering-up chocolate I can get when I'm Big Trixie's bitch in the Big House.

[sbjb.livejournal.com]

Well, Disney World is right out. I can't afford that shit, even if it's a "mere" 50 miles away.

Keep in mind, if you can swing the gas, lunch, and parking, admission's free on your birthday.

and such a nice, CLEAN store

My first reaction, when I saw the Aldi on Barnes the first time: "Oooh! It's a toy grocery store! It's so cuuuuute!" ::grin::

But the prices are outstanding. It's my first stop on grocery days; my chest freezer, she is overflowing. I has fish!

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

admission's free on your birthday

Yeah, but I really don't feel comfortable schlepping all the way to Orlando in my aged car. If anything were to happen to it, I'd be 57 varieties of screwed.


Oooh! It's a toy grocery store! It's so cuuuuute!

Heehee! That about sums it up! I'm still finding things that look interesting---I didn't notice the fish, but I'm sure I will eventually. My bad tho'---I got a bag of their trail mix and have already scarfed the whole thing.