The Real Food Cart 3/10/24
Image description: slices of green onions on top of spicy mayo, pork patties, mushrooms, edamame and zucchini on a blue plate. fork to the side.
Highlighted Meal of the Week
Won-ton inspired pork patties with zucchini and mushrooms
Cost of the meal for two: $6.97 and for a single serving: $3.49.
Charles and I ate many delicious meals this week, with one exception. On Tuesday, the night of the two readings at Club Saw (one I hosted and the other where I put on my poetesse hat), we grabbed a quick bite in the Rideau Centre food court.
Once in a while, I cheat by having a high-carb-blood-sugar level raising meal because I need something quick and easy and convenient. I just didn’t have time to take a long dinner break and I needed something fast that would tide me over until late. So I had an A&W teen burger. It tasted like cardboard. Charles had a Grandpa burger, fries and a drink. The whole thing costed us $28, which is equivalent for us to three of our homemade dinners for two. So it wasn’t worth it.
I have to say sometimes people feel sorry for me for not being able to eat everything I want, but I actually *do* eat everything I want. It’s when I revert to what I refer to as “non-mindful eating” or eating without careful consideration that I end up eating something I don’t want.
I seem to remember teen burgers tasting better, back in the old days, when we got them in the 70s. I just don’t think the lack of quality is worth the expense, and certainly not worth cheating with. I can’t believe how often I used to eat this type of food and not realize how terrible it was. There’s simply no substitution for making one’s own meals. I recognize how fortunate we are to be able to do this. The time we spend together preparing meals is such a lovely and enriching experience.
But let’s return to the good, homemade meal, the won-ton inspired pork patties. The spicy mayo consisted of mayonnaise and gochujang. We roasted the mushrooms in garlic salt and sesame oil. We pan-fried the edamame and zucchini in the garlic salt and sesame oil. The pork patties contained panko bread crumbs, soy sauce, whites of green onions finely chopped and ginger garlic puree. The meatballs were grilled and then cooked in a hoisin, ginger garlic puree and water, giving a flavour that was reminiscent of the won-ton dish on Chinese restaurant menus. My blood sugar level for this meal was 6.2, a good number! I can’t have won tons, because they are high in carbs, so this was a great replacement.
This Week’s Cart
Stores considered this week were Metro.ca, Walmart, Massine’s, Isabella Loblaws, Kowloon and Farm Boy, which are within walking distance, Real Canadian Superstore, Metro Rideau and Food Basics, which are accessible to us by public transit.
If we could get the cheapest price at all the stores, the total amount would be $147.90.
By combining delivery from Walmart, and a few strolls to local stores, Charles has obtained a price of $156.30 for this week’s shopping list, only six percent higher than the cheapest price if we could shop all the stores.
Each store on its own will cost a shopper anywhere from nineteen to thirty-nine percent more or an extra $57.23. Any store that provided less than twenty-eight of the thirty items we were looking for was disqualified.
Resources: saving money & wasting less food
Friends share their own experiences with food and saving money. Here are a few recent recommendations from friends and stuff I’ve happened upon myself in my research; if you’ve tried any of these, or have any other recommendations, please let me know. With our dietary issues, it’s not easy to use such services as produce delivery, but perhaps these might work for you or someone you know.
5 anti-food-waste apps to reduce food waste and save money
fighting food waste by sharing restaurants and stores with food that’s close to expiry or about to go bad. app-based.
one-stop marketplace for savings and deals.
Instagram-based view of family meal deals via flyers.
access to coupons and flyers
produce delivery service
produce delivery service with a focus on produce that is usually thrown away due to its imperfect appearance.
Weekly Flyers in Ottawa: Stromanker on ottawa/r
Taking over from Donovan Burey, who used to give a run down of the best deals in Ottawa-Gatineau stores.
Aid
Mutual Aid Chickens at Kind Space
Monthly drop offs of chickens thanks to Thriving Creek Farm.
I’m not currently seeing this on the Kind Space site, but keep an eye out for it.
The Pantry is a supplemental food bank and snack bar aimed towards countering food insecurity in the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community.
The pantry accepts physical donations of non and semi-perishable items that can be kept in a pantry.
Centretown Community Food Centre
Food banks and community food programs in the Champlain Health region.
Tips
Hyder Owainati, 16 ways to save money when grocery shopping, RateHub.ca, 2024.
Thanksgiving
The food-based holiday is happening soon (October 14, 2024 in Canada; Thursday, November 28, 2024 in USA).
Consider donating to your local food bank.
I wish you nutritious, delicious and affordable meals, lingering conversations with loved ones, joy and whimsy.
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