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Sunday, October 21, 2012

A Day at the Food Bank



                                                                      Whole Foods? !!!

Yes, I go to food banks. No, I don't eat all the food. Sugary cereals and crackers and chips go to someone who gives me what she does not like. Sometimes, I get meat or a bottle of black olives for Sugar Pops. Works for me and her. The hens like the cans of corn. Hens give me eggs, so it's a fair trade since I never buy chicken food. I like the cans of tuna, packs of chicken--hen, leg/thighs--and cans of chicken.

Yesterday was particularly good. $50 value in this box.


                                                  You don't have to ask me twice!



I will
 
 
YUM!
 
Contents:
 
*two tote bags on each side of the box, made from 80% recycled bottles
*allegro coffee.vintage 2010
  Use by 15Jan11...is it still good?
*Dolcetto Wafer Rolls Petite Cafe Mocha, wafer pillows filled with luscious cream
*Expresso Beans, five covered in chocolate
The whole bag is powder! ???
*Cranberry Orange Tango--nut confection made of walnuts, almonds, pecans, dried cranberries, orange oil (eaten)
*Cranberry Blood Orange Tea round, black tea bag
*la parisienne Coutour Cocoa, 64% cocoa
*Numi Organic Tea
*Zelda's Sweet Shoppe Biscotti Bites (eaten)
*Dryden and Palmer caramel flavor Gourmet Coffee and Tea Sweeteners
 
I don't drink coffee or tea at all, no way, not ever. So, you can see how much of this I will enjoy. I do know coffee and tea drinkers. The biscotti bites are gone, the nut confections are going fast. The hot cocoa and the wafer rolls are doomed.
 
This would be better if it weren't so old. The tea and coffee may not be good anymore.
 
Besides the $50 gift box above I received:
 
sugary cereal
saltines
chips
2 lbs pasta
1 lb dried pinto beans
about ten cans of food (applesauce, spaghetti, dried beans, crushed tomatoes, peaches, corn, green beans)
2 small lunch box containers of peaches
a very long jerky stick
6 lbs of sweet potatoes
10 lbs of apples.
2 Chicken Alfredo Macaroni Grill boxed dinners
2 Chicken Piccata Macaroni Grill boxed dinners
Wishbone Light Balsam and Basil dressing--light
1 lb white rice (will not eat)
loaf white bread--will not eat
 
A pound of ground Seattle's Best coffee just expired in June 2012. I suppose it is still good. Exbf will tell me if it is good when he drinks it.
 
There was a 16" artisan pizza. This is instead of meat! Aaack! I ate two pieces for dinner on Saturday, two pieces for dinner today, and exbf and I will have a piece each tomorrow for lunch. It had lots of cheese and and was solid with pepperoni. I don't eat pepperoni, so exbf can have all the pepperoni.
 
The boxed dinner, Romano's Macaroni Grill Chicken Piccata, will be good, just not prepared the way the box says. I use chicken I cook, a little of the packets and only a small portion angel hair pasta.
I buy things like this, but I will eat part of it. In the box:
*Chablis Cooking Wine with Lemon Juice
*Seasoned flour
* Piccata Sauce Seasoning
*Angel Hair Pasta
 
Then, as I was led in to save my soul (grrrrrr), a man was my mentor...lol. I had to walk a long way, all the way to the back of the room. I was sort of whimpering that this was too far to walk and that I hurt. The guy was very nice and asked me if I injured my knee. I answered with my litany: "last vertebrae sitting on bone, two herniated discs, L5 our of place, torn rotator cuff and torn meniscus. And, if I lost weight, I would hurt less."
 
"I can help you lose weight." I did a double-take at his eagerness, lack of pomposity, but very kind and interested in helping my body.
 
"I am a doctor."
 
I think my mouth fell open. So, he spent 20 minutes talking to me about carbs, how I should focus on meat, cheese, and eggs. Now, everyone who ever talked about their losing weight left these off! He told me to eat no more than 100 grams of carbohydrates each day, and he would promise me I would lose weight.
 
My friend was pacing, about to have a stroke because I was taking too long.
 
He recommended the Atkins or Weight Watchers diet. I never do diets, just try to eat right. Obviously, I am not even doing what I think is right, so I will count carbs.
 
He told me to take D3, Flaxseed, and Glucosamine Chondroitan and MSM to help my joints, even the ones that need surgery. I have D3 for the hens. GC is on the shelf. I bought flax seed oil in capsules before the night was over.
 
Yes, he is a doctor. My soul will be just fine. It is my body that concerns me. He asked me if I had been baptized and if I went to church. He had a few things to say to encourage me to go to church anywhere, not just there. Now, that is my kind of guy.
 
I traded lots of things with my friend who rode with me. She will take the junk for her extended family, all of whom are diabetic. As for me, I take the good and try to do better. I will feel like a ship without a rudder without scales to weigh myself.
 
Your turn
Have you ever tried any of the Whole Foods treats? I have never even been in Whole Foods.
 
 

 

14 comments:

  1. We have two Whole Foods within two hours of our farm, one West and one East. I like things like the powdered carob, but a lot of the food is what I would consider weird food. I like my foods plain. I like eggs with perhaps a little home grown chives added. I like meat with a little bit of horseradish. When things like chocolate get mixed in with oranges or cranberries or nuts then those are too many flavors for me. The stores do very well because not everyone eats like a baby, as I do. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jane,
    I, too, am a fan of few flavors mixed together. I don't even like nuts in my chocolate. Nuts interfere with my chocolate enjoyment! And, I really like nuts, just plain. I even prefer them without salt.

    My best friend and I agreed that omelets were not good. We like everything in them, just figures our eggs were ruined now. We thought that same thing of many foods--why did they ruin it with this?

    I guess we babies can eat plain and be happy. I can happily eat chicken or beef with no seasoning at all. I don't, but would not feel deprived without salt.

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  3. Yes Linda, I am content to chew my plain carrots, my plain cabbage, plain chicken and plain beef. I make a very plain beef stew with new potatoes, carrots, onions, and peas but that is as exotic as I really care to get. The newest Mexican restaurant in our county saw me once, to get a treat for my husband and the kids before my husband made a business trip to Mexico, but I could not eat things like jalapenos. Perhaps I should get myself a little box of baby cereal !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jane, does this mean you're a plain Jane? Ba-dum-ching!

      Of course, I can see from your photo that nothing could be further from the truth.

      Delete
  4. Jane,
    I love rice baby cereal!

    I make a vegetable soup with beef. When people hear I use not salt or pepper, they are upset. But, it is good. I tried Summer Savory after a friend made soup that way. I love the taste and smell of SS.

    The only time I go to a Mexican restaurant is when people I am with want to go there. Then, I am lost because I don't know what anything is.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't shop at Whole Foods--I get my vegetables from a CSA and I don't eat a lot of meat. The coffee is likely safe but may have lost some flavor/freshness.

    I tagged you, just FYI: http://feralhomemaking.blogspot.com/2012/10/tag-im-it.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have never been to a Whole Foods, either. My daughter can test the coffee.

      I will check it out. Thanks.

      Delete
  6. Linda, I'd say it was perfectly providential that the good doctor was voluntering at the foodbank!

    I take D3 and glucosemine for MS and freshly ground flax seed for cholesterol (was able to stop taking cholesterol medication a year ago).

    And it's amazing to me how nutrients cross over and heal (or relieve) multiple problems.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I asked about flax seed and he told me I could not eat enough to get what I need, to go get the capsules.

    I had the D3 for the hens. I believe I get enough Omega3 from their eggs since they eat lots of grass. But, I will take it anyway! In the last year, I have slacked off on taking the GC. That is amazing about the lowered cholesterol.

    So far (knock on wood) I don't have high blood pressure, diabetes, or cholesterol problems!

    I was so amazed the doctor was there. He would never have mentioned health, but my remarks and mentioning my weight seemed to open the door he was straining at.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm just the opposite! I like BIG BOLD flavors. I adore Indian food and of course Mexican. My family is from the south (Arkansas) so I like cornbread and beans too!

    I have never been in a Whole Foods either. There is not one near me. We do have a chain called Sprouts which is a combination health food store and produce market. We also have Trader Joe's and most recently Fresh and Easy has opened stores in this area.

    I will be very interested to hear how your pain responds to GC, the D3 and Flax seeds. My dr also suggested taking GC and I have just begun to take them each day. My hips do feel better but I think it is too soon to attribute the change to the GC. A friend has done the weight watchers diet with good success. My best friend goes on a crazy version of the Adkins diet that includes some sort of crazy supplement/drug that she orders from overseas. It must be illegal for import as the DEA confiscated her order one time!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Janet,
    I can put it this way, I love the simple, pedestrian taste of food. However, sometimes I step off the pedestrian path to ride a food roller coaster--horseradish, hot pepper jelly, can't think what else.

    I really hate Mexican, Indian, Thai food. I only eat Moo Goo Gain Pan at Chinese restaurants.However, I eat hot and sour soup only and the hot sauce that makes other people weep. I can eat it by the spoonfuls as I dip my spring rolls.

    Yes, it's all so contradictory. I ate Greek food and swelled up like a pumpkin face. My face was so huge, I could not see my ears! It was horrendous. I eat and like Greek food occasionally, but something went horribly wrong that time.

    I had slacked off on the GC, but took it for years. The first time I took it for right knee, in three days all pain was gone. My hens eggs have plenty of Omega3, but The hen's D3 will be consumed. I did get a huge bottle of flaxseed capsules. Yesterday, I was exhausted and forgot about them. I am going to fill the pill trays with them, so I won't wonder if I took them or not!

    I am very leery of supplements, so I won't be getting any from overseas. Illegal? confiscated? Wow!

    In the last three days, I have consumed fewer carbs, but cannot promise it is under 100 grams. Improving gradually may be the way I go instead of all the way at first.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Linda, growing up here in San Diego we had wonderful Mexican friends. Maria is absolutely the best cook! In a lot of ways a better cook than my mother! Authentic Mexican food is wonderful!!!!! but the stuff that they try to pass off as Mexican at Taco Bell or El Torito is absolutely horrible. I don't eat that type of Mexican either. In fact I'm not a fan of the style they call Tex-Mex either.

    It is very interesting that you eat some spicy-hot items. These days the hot sauce called Sriracha is hugely popular. Have you ever tried it? At first taste it is HOT & garlicky on second taste you want a third taste .....

    Email me at janetgreenwell@gmail.com with your email address and I'll send you a photo of me the time I had an allergic reaction. You think yours looked bad ....just wait till you see mine!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Janet,
    When we went to Mexico, we ate back in the states at a real Mexican restaurant, small, mom/pop place. I asked for samples of lots of things, telling the woman to charge me what it was worth to her, that I had never had real Mexican food. Then, she told me what all it was. We did not stay long because ex was afraid of Mexicans. He was stupid. I could speak Spanish, so I felt confident. I did specify nothing hot. No, no Tex-Mex!

    Some blazing condiments do not hurt. Others I can feel coursing through my bloodstream, making my blood pressure rise and making extremely nauseous.

    I emailed you.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Linda! I love shopping at Whole Foods, but it's a long way, about an hour and twenty minutes, from here. So we don't go there often. I buy some of my vitamins, using their store brand, and when I drank coffee, I bought their brand. I also buy some of their organic veggies, frozen fruit, and nuts. They have a wide assortment of cheeses, that I rarely buy. I don't purchase any of the things pictured above.

    That was good advice the doctor gave you! I hope your knees will get better and you won't have to have surgery! I recently started taking MSM and my finger joints haven't been hurting! Could be the ticket! Blessings from Bama!

    ReplyDelete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.