I’m not sure if I had ever been to a DG Market before yesterday. I was having fun riding around, like I often do, and was in Selma, North Carolina. I intentionally took a straight street that went through a long neighborhood and then started to “head out of town.” I was a DG Market on the next road over, to my left, but surprisingly to me, there was no road or street that let me go to my left. I even passed a large church on my right, and I thought it strange that for such a large church it was odd to not have easy access from multiple streets.

Eventually, the road I was on came to a Y intersection and I was able to turn back toward Selma. I finally made it to DG Market and turned in. I wanted to explore the food offerings that they had, and maybe even buy some “low sodium” cheap beans if they had any. “Cheap” is a relative term, but for me currently a cheap can of beans should cost less than $1. I’ve bought a few slightly more expensive cans, but that’s just because I wanted another store’s brand of beans or low sodium beans in my collection. *I don’t really have a collection. Maybe a loose collection, that I might reference to compare quantities of sodium, carbs and/or sugars, but nothing formal. There are some low sodium canned goods at Target that are a little more expensive, but that may be because they label them “Organic.”

I was disappointed.

As I walked about the grocery section, which was rather large, I quickly noted that “there are food deserts, and there are food deserts.” And this DG Market was a food desert lacking healthy foods. Want “bad for you” cereal choices, yep, they got lots of that. Large selection of candies, and soft drinks. I don’t think I saw any “low sodium” options in their canned goods. If there was an IGA or Food Lion a couple of miles from here, I would pass this store every time and go for the gold.

They did have a large refrigerated section. I’m spoiled by LIDL’s cheap milk prices. Even Food Lion and Walmart have good prices on milk. *The one thing that they all “get you on” is the price of Half-n-Half or like “coffee creamer” prices. You pay more for a quart of creamer than you do for a half gallon of milk, and that is in FL, HT, Walmart, IGA. I think LIDL’s price on a half gallon of 2% Milk is currently $1.77. That reminds me, I think I still have a photo of two items I bought at a LIDL in Havelock, North Carolina several years ago. I took the picture because the milk was cheaper than the jar of pickles I purchased. Now that I look at it, it’s obvious that LIDL was getting people into the store with cheap milk prices – $1.10 for a gallon of regular milk, wow! **That LIDL closed eventually and is a nice empty building when I pass through periodically.

If I were a poor person, I might be able to eat pretty well on $5 at day by shopping at LIDL and Aldi’s each day. Say I was lacking refrigeration, it could still be affordable to buy a cheap half gallon of milk, drink a good portion either for breakfast or lunch and then feed my pet the rest, or throw it out each day.

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Let’s explore this concept in a little more detail.

I came across an even more stringent problem online. Someone asked to eat for a week on $5 total. I have done my best below, but don’t think that is possible. I was thinking that you wouldn’t be able to cook, or refrigerate your meals, and might not have access to water or a pot or pan, or plate or bowl. But I still offered one alternative to make a cheap soup, and buy some bread. This still exceeded the $5 limit.

Yes, we need a little money, but not an irrational amount. *I just came back from a website that was discussing on eating for $5 a week. I think that would be stretching it, but $5 a day would be very dooable, and even nutritionally viable.

One big problem is transportation. How do we get from the median near a traffic light where we’ve been panhandling, to the nearest LIDL or Aldi’s? And then are we going to eat in the grocery store parking lot, or find some shade nearby?

Condiments that don’t need to be refrigerated:

• Yellow mustard
• Ketchup
• Hot sauce
• Honey

I wouldn’t have thought of that one, honey has an almost indefinite shelf life. Oh, and Inglehoffer’s Creamy Horseradish sauce has a “shelf stable” life. I like to mix it with yellow mustard and add a little sweetener (honey if I could).

Spices

• S&P
• Cinnamon
• Garlic powder ? Target
• Cumin powder ? Target

Although peanut butter isn’t a condiment, it doesn’t need refrigeration. **Okay, so you can’t heat up your bread in the microwave before you slather on a little peanut butter, and maybe a little honey. Live with it.

Buy a loaf of freshly baked grained bread at LIDL and slice it. *I haven’t learned how to use their slicing machine yet. You don’t need a lot of bread each day, but maybe a sandwich for lunch and/or dinner. Yellow mustard doesn’t need refrigeration, so that’s a one time purchase that might last a month or more.

Am I going to buy a $.79 container of plain Greek yogurt to go with my fresh berries? Oh, oh, the berries should last at least two days, shouldn’t they? I have seen some strawberries start to go bad later that day, without refrigeration.

Buy an avocado.

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Let me see if I can explain the parameters for this project. I have a homeless person who was given $5 for food for a week. That may be their self limitation. They said they wanted to get enough food to eat for a week. They don’t have a kitchen in which to prepare or cook, or refrigerate their food. *Can you make a no cook soup, that has good flavor?

That is why I’ve chosen several “already cooked’ items: canned chicken, black beans (or cannellini), whole kernel corn, diced tomatoes with green chilis.

The Fajita Seasoning is an attempt to flavor the soup, without having to buy small jars of individual spices, and possibly some homemade salsa. **I am currently missing a sweet onion, which I think almost is a necessity. ***I have not listed a raw sweet potato, but recently I sliced one, and realized how pleasing the mild sweetness of each uncooked slice was.

If I use the Black Beans, I can add a half can to the soup and half of the can can become refried beans (without the frying). Part of the Fajita Seasoning can go into the salsa, and maybe the refried beans. *Okay, if you make the refried beans out of the Black Beans, then the soup is going to look entirely different. The yellow corn and the diced red tomatoes would probably make the Black Beans pop.

*Oh, and I’ve been spoiled the last two days by eating lunch from the IGA buffet in Erwin, North Carolina. I’ve bought a perfectly ripe avocado there both days, for 99 cents each. **The avocados have been perfect for 3 or 4 meals. They are perfect in color & texture, not hard at all. These spoil me for all those other avocados that are either not ripe at all or way too ripe and that’s why I bought an extra avocado yesterday to take for home the next day. ***Just do a search for “avocado cemetery” to see my comments on the recurring problem of getting a ripe avocado, just when you need it.

The salad bar was perfect also, but the Ken’s Honey Mustard and Ranch dressings probably made the salad even more delicious. I added: romaine & freesia lettuce, sliced cucumber, raisins, cauliflower and broccoli florets, bacon bits, Spanish olives with pimentos, green bell pepper and some red onion. After I fixed my salad, I went over to the wings bar and I chose three different BBQ chicken wings from the other counter. I could not believe how delicious it all was together. The first day off the charts, and the second day a close second.

Both days, the total cost was less than $8. *Yesterday the total was about $10 but I also bought an extra 99 cents avocado for home. I think the extra cost was because the chicken wings were actually larger, with more meat on them. I think if I forego the chicken wings, and just get the chicken included on the salad bar, with the avocado, I might be able to eat for about $6 – minus drink… and I brought Bill’s Drink Mix one day, and one of those $1 drinks from Wegman’s another.

Salad Ingredients: Frisée & Romaine lettuce, sliced cucumber, green bell pepper, red onion, raisins, bacon bits, broccoli & cauliflower florets, spanish olives w/ pimentos, boiled egg.

I drove a short distance from the IGA down to a small park that has a covered picnic area with tables, and there is an outdoor basketball court behind the shelter.

But recall, one parameter is to see if a totally uncooked soup can be delicious, cold. *It wasn’t a bad soup cold, but most soups are meant to be heated first, even if they are eaten cold. I am heating it after adding various (non-street person ) items: garlic powder, turmeric, more cumin, and fenugreek and some GV chicken broth.

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“Never Fried, Refried Beans”

So I drained the can of Black Beans and used a little over half to make my “Never Fried, Refried Beans.” These were low-sodium so they did need salt, but I also added some of the Fajita Seasoning and ground black pepper to these. The salt & seasoning make these very palatable. *I’m thinking about adding some chopped cilantro.

“Homemade Salsa” (the pared down version)

I’m going to use half of the can of “Hot Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies” to make this salsa. Some lime juice & chopped cilantro. This is where I definitely think some chopped sweet onion would be essential. I like hot, but was surprised at how hot these diced tomatoes were. Still, no need to add hot sauce to these and the black beans and avocado help cool it.

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*Creative thievery is required. Find some packets of sugar or sweetener to add to both the soup and the salsa. Salt and pepper packets, Equal & sugar.

Oh, I was surprised to find large loaves (some sliced) of freshly baked bread, both French baguette & Italian. I now have a reason to buy a small jar of peanut butter. Protein & carbs. If I were to slip in one or two containers of plain Greek yogurt, for a breakfast item or dessert, maybe with fruit cocktail fruits, could a little of that yogurt be satisfying as a substitute for sour cream? Half the lime juice into the soup, and half into the salsa. The cilantro also into the soup and into the salsa.

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I forgot about the food section at Dollar Tree. For $1.25 you can get a large can of pineapple. *Hmmn, crushed pineapple added to a 79 cents container of plain Greek yogurt from LIDL? They do have canned mangoes sometimes too.

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When I was a young boy, and only once, my mom, a single mom, ran out of money before the end of the month, and her next pay check. And, we were out of food. She had me get in the back of our car, a 1960s 2 door beige Chevy looking for any change that I could find. Not sure why there was change on the floor, in the back seat, but I did find some. We lived on one corner of a major highway and there was a small store across the street from us. This was before there were convenience stores, but this little store had a gas pump, maybe two in front, and it had assorted foods. There were two things my mom bought (or may have had me buy). I bought a box of Saltine Crackers and a glass bottle of French’s Yellow Mustard. We ate mustard on crackers, and I have loved the combination ever since.

I said this only happened once. I don’t ever recall us running short of funds, or food, the rest of my life. Eventually she would buy a Singer Zig Zag sewing machine and learn how to sew her own outfits for work. She was a Clerk Typist for over 40 years, mostly aboard Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. She would buy a brand new 1964.5 Ford Mustang, Prairie Bronze 2+2. And then for my Senior year in high school she bought me a brand new 1971 Pontiac LeMans blue with a white top. I drove that car my whole Senior year, and apparently she provided the money for all the gas too… and my clothes, and any other items I might want, or need. When I started my Freshman year at Carolina (Chapel Hill) she took the LeMans and drove it to her work because they did not allow Freshmen to have a car on campus.

So that’s how I came up with the four food necessities that might feed you for a week for $5 or less. A slice of bread, with mustard and a slice of bologna. A slice of bread with peanut butter spread on it. A slice of bread with yellow mustard. If I weren’t a Type 2 diabetic, I would try to get a couple of packets of sugar to add to the mustard (my version of honey mustard) or something to sweeten the peanut butter. Maybe even snag a small container or two of jelly or jam. It doesn’t take much jam to make a one slice PB&J sandwich.

If you absolutely can’t keep the bologna cool, then buy two cans of Pork & Beans. That would have to be one meal for each can, with no refrigeration. You could also change half of the beans’ flavor by mixing in some yellow mustard.

You’ll need a “John Wayne” to open your cans of beans, tomatoes, or corn. The small collanders are to wash the liquid off of beans. Plastic eating utensils.

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Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Snack

This will become my entry into various articles regarding the tomato, and tomatoes. I drove up to Raleigh and eventually the State Farmers’ Market. I only visited two stands, “Ronnie Moore’s” and “Lee’s.” Moore’s had several peppers, and a bunch of tomatoes, and I saw a tomato that I hadn’t seen before, “Phil’s One” and I bought several nodules.

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AI described “Phil’s One” as a “… whimsical tomato evoking the wild tomatoes of Central America was developed by French tomato breeder Philippe Rommens. The irregular yellow fruits vary in size but generally measure 3 ½ to 4 inches across. The plants are short and bushy yet require support due to the abundance of fruit.” *I tried a nodule later, with a little salt and wasn’t impressed by the flavor.

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• Spicy Black Bean and Tomato Soup
• Mayocoba Beans, Tomatoes & Seasoning Meat
• Jalapeno Pork, Tomato Chutney & Guacamole.
• The Best Stewed Tomatoes…
• Tomatoes from Ken Chappell’s
• Tomatopalooza 2012
• Grilled Flank Steak With Tomatoes, Red Onion and Balsamic
• Sweet Tomatoes – Cary, NC
• Pork Chop Sandwich

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Jacquelin Sharpe had gone into labor with Jackson Cooper Sharpe the day I was heading up to Tomatopalozza 2012. Ray called me as I was in Raleigh, near the Crabtree Valley Mall. She gave birth the next day. Jackson Cooper just had his 13th birthday.

The “Sweet Bites” were a popular grape tomato sold for several years at various groceries including Walmart, Food Lion and Harris Teeter. They were a green house tomato from Canada. They had a great tomato flavor, and were my favorites, just ahead of Campari tomatoes. I contacted the Canadian company, which never replied as to why they had discontinued selling these delicious tomatoes. The little yellow tomatoes that I bought in Asheville had great tomato flavor, and an almost florescent flesh.

The Hunts Fire Roasted Tomatoes in a can are my “go to” tomatoes that I use in my homemade salsa, soups and other dishes that need flavored diced tomatoes.

My Zucchini, Shrimp & Kielbasa dish needs just a few small red tomatoes to give it just the right flavor. Not enough to make it a tomato dish, but enough to make a pinkish broth.

The Cossack Pineapple were a small, paper covered (like a tomatillo or China berry) fruit that actually tasted like a pineapple. I tried these at Tomatopalooza 2012. It was a loosely thrown together event of people that liked growing various types of tomatoes. As I recall, they weren’t well organized and didn’t have a plan for chopping up the various tomatoes so that people could sample the ones they wanted. *I began to think of ways to make the event more fluid, such as getting salt, pepper, plastic utensils & mayo packets from a source like Burger King or Hardees. The “Tomato Man” whom I had seen at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh at least once, was at this event, but I think the number of people attending overwhelmed some of the leadership, who didn’t continue the event the next year.

I just asked the AI if there was still a “Tomatopalooza” Event in North Carolina or when was the last one and it’s reply: “… it appears the large-scale annual event known as Tomatopalooza™ in the Raleigh-Durham area is no longer running. The organizers decided to take a break due to challenges with planning and resources. The last one was likely in 2012. ” I just recalled that I bought an event shirt that year. Nothing special looking, but still.

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Wegmans has some good flavored grape tomatoes, both red & yellow. One of them is called “Flavor Bombs” but you can’t always rely on them being available.

I was driving in Goldsboro, North Carolina yesterday and I saw a simple sign on a pole: Sheetz / Diesel. There was nothing else on the sign, and I laughed and said to myself, “Sheetz Diesel, well that’s good, but when they Sheetz Propane, let me know because I need some for my grill. It’s almost the 4th of July.

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After lunch, I drove over to the SJAB air field to see if any planes were taking off or landing and they were. There were a few other people stopped along this “dead end” farm road. Depending upon the time of year, and the crops that are being grown, you can either see all the activity, or the tall corn will block your view.

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I’ve done the lunch at Longhorn, and then SJAB view routine quite a few times, but as I was leaving this time, I decided to turn down a country road heading further east, with the idea of looping back around to Hwy. 70 to come back by Wilber’s and then back in Goldsboro, and finally to the Wayne County Library.

I had probably driven a couple of miles on this road when I looked ahead and saw what appeared to be an automobile accident. It was a white car, and I could see what appeared to be bits of a car strewn on the highway. I just stopped as another car drove up to the accident. I finally decided to turn around rather than drive through the mess. I flashed my lights and turned on my flashers periodically as I saw vehicles coming toward me. I ended up taking the next road up and “hopefully” back toward the accident, but not blocked. Sure enough, I saw a fire engine with it’s emergency lights flashing and as I neared it, there was a fireman standing by the back corner of the engine, directing traffic. I waited and he motioned me on after several other cars came from the other direction.

I passed near a new white automobile that had major damage to it’s passenger side front grill. But as I passed by, I looked over across a ditch into the woods and there was a severely damaged smaller blue automobile. I would imagine that whomever was in the blue car probably suffered the greater injuries.

This is where the accident occurred, and there were many more vehicles and people when I came through the accident scene. The firetruck had an “El-Roy” on it.

After I got on Hwy. 70 heading back to Goldsboro, I noted the El-Roy Fire Department, probably where the firetruck had come from.

On the way to lunch, a car passed in front of me and I noticed the carrier on the top. But, it was just the shape of the storage container that intrigued me. I thought that would be a great shape for an e-foil. You could sit on it and straddle it with your feet resting on some kind of stirrups on each side. I know this would add too much weight for the e-foil to easily lift off of the water. I saw the carrier from the side, and then was never able to get up beside the car to take an image of it length-wise. It had an organic shape. When I zoomed in on the carrier I saw the company name as YAKIMA.

There is a nice, private community in town, which has a LLL. I didn’t note the “private” sign the first few times I stopped by the Little Lending Library, so I ignore it. If they want to “press charges” and stop me from visiting, okay. But I left a copy of “A Cook’s Tour of the Azalea Coast” cook book that I had gotten some time ago. I figured this was the type of neighborhood that might appreciate this.

I drove back to the Wayne County Library. I looked through a couple of magazines and one had an extensive article of using AI for various functions.

On my way back to Fayetteville, I stopped in the Wilson Store near Spivey’s Corner. I had never been in this store and wanted to see what it was like. I was surprised. It was much more than a mom-n-pops country store. At the front were several coolers and glass display fridges stocked with various soft drinks. But I walked around the corner and there began a well stocked hardware and agriculture supply store.

There were brand new hammers, shovels, hoes, post hole diggers and then I turned another corner and headed back into the depths of the store. There was an assortment of different sized cables, and ropes. They had marked the concrete floor with distances. I didn’t note how long, but probably more than 100 feet in length. There were nails, screws, bolts & nuts, PVC piping and connectors in bins. I even saw and picked up a PVC check valve, which reminded me of the RAM pump I built about 1984 while in Alabama. There was a plumbing section, and an automotive or small engine section, which took on the aroma of a car engine, or maybe a lawn mower, but I didn’t see any lawn equipment.

They did have several easy chairs up front near the cash register and several gentlemen were sitting in them, one on the phone, one seemingly catatonic, and a black gentleman that smiled as I walked past him. There was a younger woman at the register talking to someone.

This was what I would consider a well stocked hardware store. No need to drive all the way to Goldsboro, Clinton, Fayetteville or Dunn to get most of the things you might need.

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I just realized that the above entry about Wilson’s Store was the perfect “lead in” for me to mention that I just “bummed” a bolt cutter and a saw from Jeff. I’m glad he asked if I wanted the saw also, because it has helped me cut up an old chair so that I can easily get rid of it. I have an old La-Z-Boy easy chair that began to disintegrate, after years of use. The wooden braces beneath the chair splintered, but all the rest of the chair is still “rock solid.” The bolt cutters helped me remove the wire bracing on the bottom of the chair, and the saw is making it easy work of cutting through, I’m guessing the “oak” frame.

I was in a Publix, or maybe it was a Harris Teeter grocery store a few months ago. If it was Publix, I was looking for some Roadrunner Raspberry ice cream and I found a store manager who was busy changing out product labels. My search for ice cream was briefly interrupted by a discussion of how much time, and effort was spent by store clerks in changing out these pricing labels. I think I have a picture of one of these electronic labels that I saw somewhere (not necessarily a grocery store). Now that I look at the label, and the boxes of “Matzo Ball & Soup Mix” that it represents, I was in some grocery store.

I was in LIDL today and finally noticed all their Electronic Shelf Labels. There was an electronic label laying on a display for Mrs. Field’s cookies. I flipped it over and took a picture of the label so that I could try to determine the company and what the name for this specific label might be. (Solum and Newton).

I thought they were just putting these out, but when I asked the check out girl, she said they had had these labels for about 4 months. How did I not “see” these labels? I took several photos of their labels and later did a google search and the company (industry leader) is probably Solum. Oh my! You can use up to 7 different primary colors, and even display things like QR codes, or make these labels interactive. Apparently, the customer can place an order and pay at the label. (I think I got that right.)

Apparently the Newton System requires at least one Gateway (at about $300 per gateway) which uses 2.4 GHz proprietary wireless protocol to communicate with the ESL. The ESL’s in bulk cost from $5 – $10 per ESL, but you can buy a 20 pack of ESLs for about $17 each. There is also a $500 annual fee for setup and software maintenance.

There are less expensive alternatives, which do not use wireless connections. The gateway-free, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth e-ink display options that you can use without expensive infrastructure or recurring fees. LilyGo, Waveshare, Inkplate and M5Paper are possible options.

If I’ve already suggested this elsewhere, sorry. You can actually display a bar code or QR code on one of the ESLs and that would allow someone to scan the QR code and possibly go to a web site with further info.

NOTE: What if the wireless connection is blocked by hackers? Or, the connection is lost and all the labels go blank? What would a grocery like Publix do if all 25K labels suddenly went blank? Is that possible? I think I saw that the batteries for these labels will last two years. How much time would it take to change out the batteries in 25K worth of labels? [end NOTE]

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Several years ago I had the idea of using QR codes to label storage boxes for home goods. One box might contain dental care products such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, dental pics, etc. Another box might be hair care products including combs & brushes.

I printed out several large QR codes and placed them on the ends of these plastic storage “shoeboxes.” But shortly, I came to realize that the QR code means nothing to a human being who is looking for an item, and doesn’t want to have to pull out their phone to scan a QR code on each box to reference a web page with the info about what is stored in that specific box.

It would be productive to have both a QR code pointing to a specific web page that could be updated with copious amounts of info regarding the inventory of each box, but you also need to put the words on that same label: [ DENTAL HYGIENE: toothpaste – toothbrushes – floss – dental picks ].

I just had a mental image of some photos I took of these storage boxes with the various items in each box. I possibly could use an AI to look at each picture of the contents and then list those items for me, so that I could print a label with those items & QR code.

Not sure why I’ve been doing this with my phone and AI, but I’ve taken multiple photos of items in grocery stores, and then had the AI generate a text list of those items with their assigned prices. It works pretty well and quickly give a fairly accurate list (if the photo is not blurry or the items are not too far away from the camera. I’ve done the cheeses at a local IGA, and wines at the Publix, and I think I did spices at a Walmart across town. *And I seem to recall showing a librarian at the Library near Lillington that I could quickly take a photo of a row of books on a shelf and then it would generate a list with book titles and their Dewey Decimal Number (they use a different identifier now).

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If you are taking pictures of a great many items, then you might take two pictures at slightly different angles. That way the AI can more accurately guess at things that aren’t completely clear, or may not be unviewable from one angle, or in shadow. AI does not handle blurry well. And it often can’t zoom in a detailed photo, even though we can. You have to make sure the text is clear and viewable for the AI to read it.

If I were wanting to track pricing for many store goods, this would be an easy way to take a photo of the shelves, and let the AI quickly generate a text list of the items and their prices, that could be pulled into a database easily. You could then have one person for each of the major groceries in your area walk through photographing the current inventory and then post to a single site with everything up to date for that day and maybe only a few hours old.

I uploaded the image of the cheese section to the AI and here is what it quickly generated:

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Okay, this image is very clear! It’s a cheese aisle, predominantly shredded and block cheese. I can read most of the product names and prices.

Here’s the breakdown of the items and their prices:

Top Shelf (Partial View):

• Kraft Shredded Cheese (Various): Prices are $2.98 each.
• Borden Shredded Cheese: Price is $2.98.

Second Shelf from Top:

• Kraft Cream Cheese (Looks like Creamy Melt): Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Mild Cheddar: Price is $2.98.
• Kraft Shredded Colby Jack: Price is $2.98.
• Kraft Shredded Mozzarella: Price is $2.98.
• Signature Shredded Mozzarella & Monterey Jack Blend: Price is $2.58 (or 2 for $5.00).
• Signature Shredded Italian Blend: Price is $2.58 (or 2 for $5.00).
• Borden Thick Cut Ultimate Pizza Blend: Price is $2.98.
• Borden Mild Cheddar (Shredded, bottom right): Price $2.98.

Third Shelf from Top:

• Kraft Shredded Mozzarella: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Mexican Blend: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Mild Cheddar: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Colby Jack: Price is $2.58.
• Signature Shredded Mozzarella & Monterey Jack Blend: Price is $2.58 (or 2 for $5.00).
• Signature Shredded Italian Blend: Price is $2.58 (or 2 for $5.00).
• Borden Thick Cut Ultimate Pizza Blend: Price is $2.98.
• Borden Mild Cheddar (Shredded, bottom right): Price $2.98.

Fourth Shelf from Top:

• Kraft Shredded Mozzarella: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Sharp Cheddar: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Mexican Style (looks like) or Triple Cheddar: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Colby Jack: Price is $2.58.
• Signature Shredded American Blend: Price is $2.58 (or 2 for $5.00).
• Borden Shredded (Orange bag, likely Cheddar or Mexican): Price is $2.98.
• Borden Shredded (Yellow bag, likely Cheddar): Price is $2.98.

Bottom Shelf:

• Kraft Shredded Pizza Cheese: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Sharp Cheddar: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Cheddar Jack: Price is $2.58.
• Kraft Shredded Mild Cheddar: Price is $2.58.
• Signature Shredded Cheddar Blend: Price is $2.98.
• Borden Shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack (2 for $6.00): Individual price is $3.35.
• Borden Shredded (Various): Prices are $2.98 or $3.35.

It appears many of the Kraft and Signature brand shredded cheeses are on sale for $2.58 each, or 2 for $5.00. The Borden products are generally priced at $2.98 or $3.35 (or 2 for $6.00).

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Unfortunately for this test, I didn’t realize that ALL the cheese was basically on sale for the same price.

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• European Butter
  • Has slightly more fat content than U.S. butter.
• Grass Fed
  • Might refer to cattle that are raised outside and allowed to munch on grass and therefore the butter made from their milk is healthier.
• Greek Yogurt
  • Greek Yogurt is filtered or strained to remove much of the liquid whey, making it more nutrient dense.
  • Because of the straining process there are less sugars and carbohydrates, especially for “plain” yogurt.
• Low Glycemic
  • “Low glycemic” refers to foods that have a low score on the glycemic index (GI). The GI is a ranking system (from 0 to 100) that measures how quickly the carbohydrates in a food raise your blood sugar (glucose) levels after you eat it.
  • Examples of Low GI Foods: Most non-starchy vegetables (broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes), many fruits (apples, berries, oranges), legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas), whole grains (oats, barley, quinoa), some dairy products (milk, plain yogurt), nuts and seeds, lean proteins (meat, poultry, fish, eggs – which have a GI of zero as they contain little to no carbohydrates).
  • Choosing low GI foods can be beneficial for: Managing blood sugar levels, weight management, and reducing risk of chronic diseases, such at type 2 diabetes.
• Non GMO
  • “Non-GMO” stands for “non-genetically modified organisms.” A food product labeled as non-GMO, means that its ingredients have not been altered in a laboratory using genetic engineering techniques.
• Pasture Raised
  • Might refer to chickens that are left outdoors to feed. Supposedly more healthy for us.
• Resistant Starch
  • Resistant starch doesn’t break down into sugar as it passes through your system.
  • Beans (pinto, black, fava, kidney, white beans, baked beans), lentils, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), and peas (especially green peas) and some nuts such as cashews and peanuts.
• Sprouted Grains Bread
  • Theses are the breads made from sprouted grains, which are supposed to be more nutrient dense., instead of wheat.
  • They have a lower GI, and because of the break down of of some of the starches into simpler sugars and complex carbohydrates, there are less of these to raise blood sugar.
  • There is increased fiber content which controls blood sugar because it slows down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates.
• With the Mother
  • When you see “with the mother” on a vinegar label, it means it’s a living product with the beneficial bacteria that made the vinegar still present. It’s the murky “gunk” that settles to the bottom of a vinegar bottle.
    • Producing vinegar is a two step fermentation process. You need to start with sugar which is first turned into alcohol. Then add “the mother” to it to the alcohol, and the mother will turn the alcohol into vinegar. This process takes several weeks to complete.

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One reason to eat healthy, a story. Many years ago a favorite cousin of mine, and I decided to pay a visit to a distant cousin of mine (a closer relative to her) who was now in a nursing home, having suffered the effects of diabetes over the years.

It was a sunny afternoon in Wilmington, North Carolina, when we arrived at the nursing home. This home was located between two one way streets, each going the opposite direction.

We went into the facility and found the sick cousin’s room and walked in. He was awake, sitting up in his bed, but we found he could not talk. I’m not sure if that was caused by the diabetes or some other disease. But, this is what I will always remember, unless I go nuts before I die.

He had no hands or feet. I do not recall how far up his arms and legs the amputations had gone, but the negative effects of diabetes had required that the doctors amputate his diseased limbs. Now, here was a man, laying in bed, unable to talk, or feed himself, or even go to the bathroom on his own. And the thing that I recall was the look on his face. I can only describe it as the look a puppy dog might give you asking for help. “Please help me,” begging for relief. And neither my favorite cousin, nor I could help him. What a helpless feeling for all three of us.

Of several images in my life of important events, I recall this one more often that I would like. So, please take my very unpleasant experience as one of your reasons for eating healthy, and if you have diabetes, or type 2 diabetes (the precursor to “full blown” diabetes), pay attention to what you eat… and keep all your limbs in working order.

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OBITUARY (from the Brunswick Beacon, November 25, 1992):

MAURICE HARLEE KELLUM Maurice Harlee “Smiley” Kellum of Leland, died Nov. 18 in New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington. He was retired from Kenan Transport Company. The funeral was Nov. 20 in Andrews Mortuary’s Market Street Chapel, Wilmington, by the Rev. Wilbur Teachey and the Rev. S.L. Doty. Burial was in Gracelawn Memorial Park. He was born in Hubert on Feb. 27, 1919, the son of the late Luther Warlick and Edna Williams Kellum. Kellum was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church. He was a World War II veteran of the Pacific Theatre. Survivors include his wife, Lida Elsie Lewis Kellum of the home; two daughters, Patricia Ann Kellum and Amanda L. Maggard, both of Leland; his brother, Garland W. Kellum of Woodstock, Ala.; his sister, Daisy Sullivan of Winnabow; and a granddaughter. Memorials may be made to Leland Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 234, Leland, N.C. 28451, or to Trinity United Methodist Church, Wilmington, N.C.

St. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

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BOOKS

• Reader’s Digest Magic Foods for Better Blood Sugar (2007)
  • (A cheap used book, but great read on paying attention to the foods that hurt & help blood sugar, and even includes a simple test to see how well you are eating well regarding blood sugar.)
• Living Well with Diabetes : Manage It. Reverse It. Use It To Your Advantage (August, 2021 – Munson)
• Managing Type 2 Diabetes for Dummies (2018 – American Diabetes Association)
• The Complete Diabetes Cookbook (Americas Test Kitchen)

ONLINE & STREAMING

• Diabetes Food Hub (ADA)
• Living with Diabetes Type 2 (ADA)

VIDEOS

• Top 15 DIABETIC Friendly Foods To Eat In 2025
  • (YouTube video. Entertaining speaker.)
• Top 18 Scientifically Proven Foods for Diabetics
• These 10 Foods Lower Blood Sugar Naturally & Fast

AI

I find that my favorite AI is extremely helpful in making various recipes “more diabetic friendly.” I can take a picture of a recipe in an old cookbook. Upload the pic to my AI and ask it to list the items it sees and the quantities. It is usually pretty good at this translation of an image of text, to actual text that I can paste into a word processing document or a web page, or even an online recipe program. I can also ask the AI to suggest ways to “make this recipe more diabetic friendly.” Once it makes the suggestions, I can agree or disagree, and tweak the recipe even further, either adding other ingredients or removing some. I can also ask the AI to convert the number of servings to maybe just two helpings (since I don’t want a bunch of left overs in the fridge). And the AI can guesstimate the nutritional values for the recipe such as calories per serving, and sodium/carbs/sugars, etc.

• ChatGPT
• Gemini

MyFitnessPal

My Fitness Pal is an online tool (basic features are free, extra features require a subscription). I use this online app for two main things: I record the foods I either have eaten (for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Snacks) or plan to eat each day. By being able to add foods & meals I plan to eat, I can try to provide a changing meal rotation that doesn’t bore me, and that also takes into account that I need to eat the “left overs” at some time in the future.

Once you start recording your meals, it quickly becomes obvious that you only have 21 meals in a week, and you have limited snacks. If you eat out somewhere, that is one less meal to prepare, or possibly some left overs that will need to be thrown out later, because you just can’t eat everything you prepare.

When adding foods to a meal, I can search for foods that others have already added to the database, or I can add a recipe with the exact ingredients I have chosen. e.g. I could add a recipe that I’ve copied from an old cookbook, and had my AI help me make it “more diabetic friendly.”

Oh, I also record my “resting blood sugar level” each morning, and my weight. My Fitness Pal generates a pretty little line graph for each of these items and it helps me see if I am going in the right direction over time.

FOODS

• Fruits
  • Fruits Ranked for Type 2 Diabetes
• Nuts
  • “9 Best Nuts for People With Diabetes” (Cleveland Clinic)
• Sprouts
  • Bean Sprouting
  • Sprout Guide (Alphabetized + Grouped by Benefits)
  • Sulforaphane

I’m watching the movie, based on the Agatha Christie novel, “Murder on the Orient Express.” I’ve watched this version (2017 – Branagh/Dench/Depp/Pfeiffer/Cruz) several times but this is the first time I’ve recognized two actors. *Re-reading an earlier note, I had realized previously, that Boynton was in this film.

It started just now in that I recognized Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. I’ve enjoyed him in several seasons of “the Lincoln Lawyer.”

Then paying more attention, I just recognized Lucy Boynton. I think I first became aware of her when she played in another Christie story, “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” Boynton reminds me of a better looking, Kate Beckinsale. [Boynton / Beckinsale]

• Murder on the Orient Express (1974 – Finney/Bergman/Widmark/Connery/Gielgud)
• Murder on the Orient Express (2010 – Suchet/Atkins/Chastain/Bonneville/Jones)
• Murder on the Orient Express (2017 – Branagh/Dench/Depp/Pfeiffer/Cruz)

I’m rewatching an old Philip Marlowe “detective” movie, “The Lady in the Lake.” Robert Montgomery is playing Marlowe, and this is the movie where much of it is seen from the perspective of Marlowe. I guess you could call it a “Marlowe Cam.”

*Robert Montgomery was the father of Elizabeth Montgomery, who played the witch, Samantha Stevens in “Bewitched.” *And I just finished watching a beautiful, young woman, Elizabeth Montgomery, in the movie, “Johnny Cool” who was played by Henry Silva. **Henry Silva being the bad guy who betrayed the American soldiers in “the Manchurian Candidate.” I guess I would classify “Johnny Cool” as a “film noir.” But, I also recall Elizabeth Montgomery in an episode of the “Twilight Zone” in which she played opposite Charles Bronson.

“Bewitched” was probably loosely based on “Bell, Book & Candle.” There may have been more than one of those movies (without me checking online). Seems Jimmy Stewart and “the blonde” Kim Novak, did the later version and I think Veronica Lake (an early goddess) played the original. **Of course Stewart and Novak played against each other in Hitchcock’s “Vertigo.”

So in part of the banter between Marlowe and “the woman” (played by Audrey Totter) he says, “Why eat? You’re only gonna get hungry again.” I caught it, and thought it funny.

Now Fredric March played the President in “Seven Days in May,” which is a classic movie I like to watch, and rewatch. Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, and an assortment of well known supporting actors. I like Andrew Duggan when I see him, and Edmund O’Brien, but there are a bunch more familiar faces.

This reminded me of a film, that I only saw the ending of, but thought that I would like to watch the whole thing at a later time… as opposed to looking at it at an earlier time. “The List of Adrian Messenger” from 1963 had an all star cast: Kirk Douglas, George C. Scott, Dana Wynter, and cameos by Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra & Tony Curtis. I only caught the ending where several well-known actors peeled off heavy make-up to reveal themselves.

Every once in a while I will find an old movie and as I watch it, more and more actors & actresses that I am familiar with will show up, in really small parts, or even uncredited roles. *Not small films, but with many actors in each: “12 Angry Men,” “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

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For several years when my office was on the top floor in the H.L. Cook Building we (several offices along the same hall) had a problem with the acoustics. The ceiling was extremely high, the walls were made of a smooth cubicle material, and the floors were hard and smooth but the ceiling was a standard “drop” ceiling. People on the other side of the building could be carrying on a normal conversation at a communal table, and it sounded like they were just outside my office wall. The sound bounced off all those smooth surfaces. I tried to come up with cheap ways to block the sound.

I once thought you might drop several dowels from the ceiling and hang a towel from the dowel. The thought was that the towel material would muffle the sound. I still think of that problem when I see some kind of hanging item from a commercial drop ceiling. That is why I took pictures of two ceiling hangings.

I included the picture of the blood glucose meter batteries that I bought from Batteries R Us. There is a little icon of a hand with a finger pointing up, which actually means press this with your finger to cause the batteries to pop up for replacement.

I wanted to be reminded that Dollar Tree has the Sharpie Permanent Markers, which I use to label cans and other groceries that need to be dated for use.

I think the picture of the cheap milk was at LIDL’s.

The thick cut pork chops from Lee’s Fresh Market near Benson, NC are always delicious, and almost always below $2 a pound, so two really big chops have been less than $4 repeatedly. If I ever came in and they were $3 a pound, I probably wouldn’t buy them, although that would be a deal. *I do the London Broil for the chops, which is HI heat in the oven for about 20 minutes, and then flip for about 5. They always seem to be cooked through, yet moist.

I diced some fresh okra, and a little onion, and dropped in a few roasted garlic cloves, and sauteed them in a pan with a little olive oil and some bacon grease. I drained the liquid from a can of sliced beets, and added back some Balsamic vinegar, some red wine vinegar, some sweetener, a little salt, and then added a few of the pickled peppadews and the red pearl peppers. To the squash casserole I topped it with some crumbled vegetable chips, which included some yellow squash, zucchini and an okra chip. Another really good meal, and for some reason it even seems that the “Light of God” was shining upon the squash casserole on the plate. *I took two pictures of the same plate, but the highlighted area wasn’t in the other picture.

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The day before I drove down to Jacksonville/Hubert/Swansboro I drove over to Benson, to Lee’s Fresh Market, and bought four packages of thick cut pork chops, two to a package. The price was $1.89 a pound, but here’s the clincher. There was a large sticker on each package, “Buy One, Get One Free.” Wow! That’s why I bought four packages. I kept one, and ended up giving three to Ray (one for Mary Ann).

I’m not sure how they make money, because I’ve always seemed to have paid less than $2 per pound for these thick cut pork chops, and they are always delicious. I use the London Broil method, HI heat in the oven for about 20 minutes, turn them over, uncovered for about 5, and they are done. Cooked thru, but moist on the inside, and with a little char on at least one side. I cover the chops with tin foil for the twenty minutes, and oddly, to me, they brown on the down side, next to the bottom of the pan.

I like the Sanderson Farms chicken livers and gizzards. I’m not sure if I have ever bought them from anywhere else but Carlie “C” IGA. The Wayne Sanderson Farms headquarters is located in Oakwood, Georgia, but it has regional processing plants in various states and there is one north of Lumberton, in St. Pauls, North Carolina.

I had to cook them, because if I leave them in the refrigerator past a few days they may start to smell, or I imagine they start to smell and I throw them out just in case. *I guess chicken livers and gizzards fit in the same category, for me, as avocados and English cucumbers. They are all relatively cheap, and I treat them as such, ignoring them often until they have reached the point of rot and I throw them away. No telling how much money has been wasted on these items in my life time. Can you imagine someone walking along pulling out $2.50 and just throwing it in the trash without thinking every so often? Well, in essence, that’s what I do with these.

Avocados are difficult to buy. If you wait until the day you want or need one, then all the stores have “rock hard” unripe avocados. Or you can be in a store and reach for an avocado to find it is extremely “smushy” and you know it is either already brown on the inside or will be by tomorrow. I don’t buy smushy, and often don’t buy rock hard in the hopes that in several days I will have a need of it. Elsewhere I’ve written about the analogy of having an avocado cemetery much like Arlington in Washington, DC.

Carly “C”s doesn’t always carry the Sanderson Farms brand, but I saw some a few days ago and bought a package of gizzards. My mind kept coming back to, “I’ve got to cook these before they spoil,” so I pulled them out yesterday, tore open the package and cut them all into smaller chunks.

Originally I was just going to boil the gizzards and the onions, no rice (although that is a delicious combo, but the rice is bad for my blood sugar levels). But then I started to add other things and I had things that I had bought, but never used in any recipe before. And, because I had half an avocado, I even scooped the flesh out and added it to the broth. Now that was a bold move. Avocado with chicken gizzards? I was surprised that the avocado did not break down completely. And later, I realized it had been a brilliant move. The soothing cooling fattiness of the avocado, floating in this murky greenish peppery, spicy hot stew was a perfect choice.

“THE MURK”

I must have been in a green mood because I added three odd ingredients two of which had a Hispanic influence and one that had a Thai leaning. The cilantro paste and the basil paste had a dark green tint, and the black pepper sauce was a murky dark brown.

• chicken livers, (can be left out for a veggie soup)
• Polska Beef Kielbasa (another alternative meat)
• onion,
• chicken broth,
• lentils,
• avocado, (absolutely necessary),
• bay leaf,
• cilantro leaves (chopped – optional),
• basil paste,
• cilantro paste,
• black pepper sauce,
• jalapeno,
• okra, diced (optional, but good flavor),
• chickpeas (optional, but I think would look neat floating the the dark green murk).
• cumin (ground),
• garlic (powder),
• fenugreek seed,
• turmeric (ground – optional),
• cayenne (ground – optional),
• bacon fat (not necessary, but good flavor),
• avocado oil (optional).
• S&P

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Yeah, this turned out really well. A pleasing, spicy, peppery hot, savory lentil soup with chunks of chicken gizzards floating amongst the dollops of avocado. I didn’t add too many lentils as I often do, which kept this soup brothy, but I did add both red and brown lentils. I don’t have a problem with adding red, brown, green or black lentils in a mix because I always cook them until they are all tender, and it doesn’t matter to me that some may have “broken down” by the time the rest are fully cooked. Lentils have an “earthy” flavor. *I probably could have even added carrots or used cannellini beans instead of the lentils in this gizzard stew. The white beans would have looked neat floating in the murky dark green liquid.

I visualized the white beans in the green liquid not as cannellini beans, but as a dish I made several years ago using “Lady Cream Peas” and mixing them in with green split peas. The green split peas broke down into a bright green broth, but the Lady Cream Peas stayed whole, and each whitish bean was floating in a sea of bright green.

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[06/21/25]: I just made this again and it is delicious. I am going to call it “the Murk.” This time I left out the chicken gizzards, but I did put in a couple of small tomatoes, diced. I also added some diced okra, but did not think to add the garbanzo beans. I think they would look and taste good in the murky green broth. Also, I think chopped cilantro leaves would look and taste good in this. I’m already using the cilantro paste, so we know the flavors work.

I don’t see how this can’t be “diabetic friendly” even with some bacon grease.

Why do I think that the avocado is absolutely necessary? Well, the cool, creamy, fat of an avocado contrasts well with the spicy (peppery) hottness. I’ve made the simple “Chicken, Chipotle, Avocado” Soup for several years and I was always interested in how the avocado went so well with the hot chipotle peppers.

The foods I look to, to be “diabetic friendly, mostly:”

• BEANS, GRAINS & PEAS
  • Black Beans (low sodium)
    • Hummus
    • Refried Beans
  • Black Eyed Peas
  • Chickpeas-Garbanzo Beans (low sodium)
    • Hummus
  • Green Beans
  • Green Peas
    • Garden
    • Split
  • Lentils
  • Quiona
  • Pinto Beans (low sodium) LIDL
    • Refried Beans (homemade)
  • Sesame Seeds
• BREAD, CEREAL & PASTA
  • Blue Corn (Taco Shells, Tortilla Chips)
  • Polenta WAL
  • Rye (seeded) WEG
  • Sourdough
    • Loaf & English Muffins PUBLIX
    • Loaf LIDL
  • Sprouted Grain Bread
    • “Knock Your Sprouts Off” ALDI’s
    • “Ezekiel 4:9” WEG
• DAIRY
  • Cheese
    • White American WEG
  • Milk 2% LIDL, FL, WAL
  • Yogurt (Greek, Plain) HT
• DRINKS & JUICES
  • Coffee
    • Breakfast Blend WAL
    • Hazelnut, Starbucks – WAL
  • Cranberry WAL
  • Flavor Packets
    • Pomegranate – Lemonade GV WAL
    • Tea w/ Lemon GV WAL
  • Orange Juice LIDL, IGA
  • Tea
    • Constant Comment (Bigelow) HT
    • Earl Gray (Bigelow)
    • Raspberry Royale (Bigelow) WEG
    • Scottish Breakfast (Taylors)
• FLAVORINGS, HERBS & SPICES
  • Cayenne (ground)
  • Cinnamon (ground, stick)
  • Cumin (ground, whole)
  • Dulse
  • Fenugreek (ground)
  • Garlic (ground, raw)
  • Horseradish (creamed)
  • Indian Long Pepper AMZ
  • Mustard (ground, brown, yellow)
  • Red Pepper Flakes
  • Soy Sauce
  • Spicy Chili Crisp WAL
  • Sweeteners
    • Agave Nectar WEG, AMZ
    • Coconut Sugar WAL
    • Equal WAL
    • Stevia (liquid, powder)
  • Toasted Sesame Oil
  • Turmeric (ground)
  • Vinegar
    • Apple Cider
    • Balsamic
    • Red Wine
    • Rice Wine
  • Wasabi/Soy Powder AMZ
• FRUIT
  • Apples
    • Gala (fried) WAL
  • Avocado
    • Guacamole
    • Sliced
  • Blackberries LIDL
  • Blueberries
  • Cranberries (homemade sauce w/sweetener instead of sugar – use in plain Greek yogurt)
  • Dates
  • Grapes
    • Raisins
  • Lemons
  • Limes
  • Olives
    • Black
    • Castelvetrano
    • Green
    • Kalamata
  • Oranges
  • Peaches CHAPP
  • Pineapple (canned) $T
  • Plums
    • Prunes SPROUTS
    • Raw
  • Raspberries LIDL
  • Strawberries
• MEAT
  • Beef
    • Ground (80%/20%)
    • Polska Beef Kielbasa LIDL
    • Steak
  • Chicken
    • Rotisserie (whole) HT
    • Tenders/Thighs
  • Fish & Seafood
    • Clams (chopped – canned) WAL
    • Cod HT
      • Filet
    • Scallops
      • Bay
    • Shrimp
      • Frozen HT, PUBLIX
    • Tilapia
      • Baked
    • Tuna (canned) WAL
  • Lamb
    • Round Bone PUBLIX
  • Pork
    • Chops LEES
    • Sausage
    • Souse (Pender’s) PATE’S
• NUTS
  • Almonds
  • Cashews FL
  • Peanuts
    • Peanut Butter WAL
  • Pumpkin Seeds FL
  • Walnuts PUBLIX
• OILS
  • Avocado
  • Coconut
  • Olive WAL
  • Walnut
• VEGETABLES
  • Asparagus (steamed)
  • Beets (pickled)
  • Broccoli (raw, steamed)
  • Carrots (raw, steamed)
  • Cauliflower (raw, steamed)
  • Celery WAL, FL
  • Cilantro (green leafy) WAL
  • Corn
    • On the Cob WAL, PATE’S, FL
    • Whole Kernel (low sodium)
  • Cucumber (raw, pickled)fv
    • English
  • Eggplant
  • Konjac
    • Zero Pasta HT
  • Lettuce
    • Romaine
  • Mushrooms (stems)
  • Okra PATE’S
    • Fried
    • Soup
  • Onion
    • Sweet
    • White/Yellow
  • Pepper
    • Aji Dulce (mild with flavor) COMP
    • Jalapeno (hot with flavor)
    • Poblano (mild heat with flavor)
    • Sweet Bell (color of is G/Y/O/R – from left to right they become more mature and sweeter) FL, WAL
  • Spinach
    • Creamed (frozen) FL
    • Raw (salad)
  • Squash
    • White Patty Pan
    • Yellow
    • Zucchini
  • Stir Fry Veggies (bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, water chestnuts) WAL
  • Tomatoes
    • Diced (low sodium – chutney, salsa, spaghetti sauce) LIDL
    • Diced w/ Green Chilis (low sodium) LIDL

Chinese Stir Fry

• Chicken|Pork|Shrimp
• Onion
• Bell Pepper (Sweet Y/O/R)
• Carrots
• Pineapple Chunks
• Stir Fry Veggies
• Sesame Seeds
• Spicy Chili Crisp
• Sweetener (Equal/Agave Nectar)
• Toasted Sesame Oil
• Wonton Strips

Mexican – Latin Themed Meal

• Black Beans & Quinoa
  • As an option to refried beans as a base for the Mexican themed meal, I found a recipe for “Black Beans & Quinoa.”  This recipe takes about 25 minutes to prepare and includes the following:  quinoa, black beans, cilantro (leafy), whole kernel corn, cumin (ground), chicken stock and S&P.  This base is very flavorful and works well with salsa and guacamole.  Just add some Blue Corn Tortilla Chips, or add the other items in a Blue Corn Taco shell. *You could also add chicken to this.
• Guacamole
  • Avocado
  • Cilantro (green leafy)
  • Cumin (ground or whole)
  • Tomatillo (optional)
• Refried Beans
  • I pretty quickly realized that if you wanted to control the amount of sodium (salt) in your “refried beans” you would need to buy low sodium beans and make the refried beans yourself.  This is super easy.  Pintos are the classic bean, but I prefer Black Beans.  *Puree 2/3s of a can of beans, and then mix the whole & pureed beans on the stove top, mashing some of the whole beans to get a “rough chop.”  Avocado oil or even water work well, and a smidge of bacon grease might even provide extra flavor.
• Salsa
  • Bell Pepper (Sweet, Y/O/R)
  • Cilantro (green leafy)
  • Cumin (ground or whole seed)
  • Sweet Onion
  • Tomatoes (Diced Fire Roasted/Garlic)
  • Green Chilies Diced (gv WAL)
• Ground Beef & Diced Tomatoes w/ Chilies
  • As an option to salsa, this is cooked.  Brown ground beef, dice some onion, colorful bell pepper, jalapeno or poblano, diced tomatoes w/ green chilies, add cilantro and season with garlic powder and ground cumin.
• Pollo Sofrito
  • Shred some chicken tenders, dice some onion, colorful bell peppers, jalapeno or poblano, diced tomatoes w/ green chilies, add cilantro and season with garlic powder and ground cumin.

Adding other types of peppers (hot or other flavors – aji, jalapeno, poblano, Trinidad perfume, biquinho) to the salsa offer variety.  The Aji Dulce is a mild pepper with some flavor. I’ve bought it at Compare Foods (a Hispanic grocery chain). Add some Blue Corn Tortilla Chips, or combine the other items in a Blue Corn Taco shell.  Warm the shell first in the microwave.

Black Beans & Quinoa

A few ingredients and easy to follow steps to make this perfect every time. The quinoa cooks for 20 minutes and if done according to the recipe, it is tender and moist without being watery right at 20 minutes. If you use frozen corn, you have to give that about 5 extra minutes to heat through at the end, and the black beans and cilantro don’t need any extra cooking time. This is just a good base for salsa and guacamole.

I mentioned adding chicken to this, and you might buy a rotisserie chicken at Harris Teeter and shred part of it and mix it into the Black Beans & Quinoa. Recall that a whole rotisserie chicken, for about $8 is an excellent deal. You could make about 5 good meals out of this one chicken, and then use the carcass to make homemade chicken stock. Recall also that you save and freeze the following for making stock (beef, chicken, pork): onion, carrots & celery.

Whether you make your own stock, or buy it at the store, stock flavors beans and soups so much better than just water, and homemade stock usually adds even more flavor.

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Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans

Hummus (made from ground chickpeas, black beans, navy or cannellini beans) can be the foundation for a vegetarian meal. Cut up various veggies for dipping in hummus: sweet, colorful bell pepper, onion, carrots, celery. I also like Smoked Oysters & olives with hummus, and maybe even raw diced okra.

• Hummus
  • Garbanzo Beans / Chickpeas (pureed)
  • Tahani
  • Garlic (raw, roasted or powdered)
  • Cumin (ground & whole seeds)
  • Lemon/Lime Juice
  • Olive oil
  • Water
  • Salt (if needed)
• Roasted Chickpea Snack
  • Rinse canned chickpeas and dry
  • Cumin (ground)
  • Garlic (ground)