Weekly Fresh Food Haul March 29 2023

 

Weekly Haul of 3/29/2023

Small bag of grapes, one orange, two gala apples, radishes, one avocado, one cucumber, two sweet potatoes, frozen spinach, frozen cauliflower and a head of lettuce.

The key to these fresh fruits and vegetables not going bad is to eat them in a timely manner. So I will start incorporating them into my meals tonight and every day until they are consumed. If you plan on throwing them into a draw and not pulling them back out for 5-7 days then it would be better to wait four or five more days before you purchase them. 

This is enough to last me about seven full days and it will stay fresh the entire time. I will focus on the fresh raw foods first and the frozen are for backup and to get me through to the next weeks grocery haul if I end up consuming all of my fresh foods before that time.

Healthy is not expensive!!

Grapes $1.38 for one pound

Two Sweet Potatoes $1.27 for both

Orange was $0.88 cents

Radishes were $1.78

Cucumber $0.78 cents

Frozen bag of spinach, 12 ounces, $1.12

Avocado was 0.78cents

frozen cauliflower (12 ounce bag) $0.98cents

I also bought an 18ct carton of eggs $2.72

Carton of Unsweetened Almond Milk $2.44

All of this only totals $14.13 and the frozen spinach will most likely last several weeks to a month. The eggs will last two weeks. The frozen cauliflower will last me two to three meals. The radishes and lettuce will last more than seven days if kept dry and in the vegetable drawer. I still have some fresh celery in the crisper drawer from last week and it has not ruined. Hoping to make some cream of celery soup this week and use some of it with an apple to make a celery apple salad.

I still have enough spaghetti squash left from last weeks haul and today I'm going to brown some ground beef and a bit of frozen mixed vegetables with the spaghetti squash for supper tonight to finish that off.

I already had some chicken breast in the freezer and other meats and seafood. But with the fresh weekly foods only costing around $15 or less I can afford to replace those foods as needed.

Your fresh food haul may look different then mine. However it looks I hope you will consider incorporating more fresh foods into your daily (every day) diet.

All of these foods are #glutenfree #dairyfree #soyfree #grainfree and #nightshadefree 

Gluten Free Alternatives To Cornstarch and Flour as a Thickener

 You want to make a sauce or gravy or thicken a soup or stew. Use to you would just grab a couple tablespoons of flour, traditional wheat flour. Since going gluten free you may have turned to cornstarch since the rice flour and other gluten free flours are much on making a roux.

Now, you have progressed your diet to avoiding grains which would include cornstarch. The first suggestion made is always arrowroot but not all of us are pleased with the gelatinous texture you can end up with when using arrowroot. For this reason we wanted to look at Tapioca Starch.

What is tapioca starch?

A: Tapioca is made by extracting the starch from the roots of the Cassava plant.

What is arrowroot?

A: Arrowroot is made from the roots of a plant called the Maranta Arundinacea. 

Both Arrowroot and Tapioca are gluten free and fine to use.

Some things to know:

Most people agree that arrowroot works well to make things like glazes and as a thickener for fruit desserts but can turn slimy and weird when trying to thicken a meat sauce or anything with dairy. Arrowroot seems to be the better choice for acidic liquids.

I have read in multiple sites that your best practice with arrowroot is to add it at the very end of cooking.

Tapioca on the other hand is my goto starch/flour for thickening gravy and savory meat sauces. If you avoid gluten but not dairy, tapioca is your goto thickener.

Both tapioca and arrowroot use the same principle to avoid lumps: always mix with a bit of cold water first before adding slowly to your hot mixture.

Frozen Strawberry Recall March 2023

 

Frozen strawberries sold at Costco, Trader Joe's, recalled after hepatitis A outbreak

"Frozen organic strawberries sold at stores across the U.S., including Costco, Aldi and Trader Joe's, have been recalled over the product's potential link to an outbreak of hepatitis A infections in Washington state."

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/18/1164557863/strawberry-recall-fda-costco-trader-joes-aldi 

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Back Exercises Really Can Ease Pain

 Here are five easy back exercise that really can ease lower back pain for most people. The trick is to perform these daily and first thing in the morning before you start moving throughout your day.

One thing I like most about all of these exercises is that you have to get on the floor. As we age, and especially for those of us with limitations, inflammation and arthritis it is important to know you can continue to get yourself back up off the floor without the assistance of another person if need be. It is important to retain full body movement as much as possible, and that includes getting down on the floor and getting back up. If this is something you find difficult to do I encourage you to start practicing. You will be amazed at how resilient the body is.

Before doing any of these yoga poses I like to suggest first doing a few stretching exercises like toe touches. Only, when you are touching the toes stay there and hold that pose for a count of eight. If you are stiff, you should feel the stretch in the lower back and possibly in the backs of the legs.

After the count of eight, reach for the ceiling for a count of eight like the pose below. Repeat this toe touch exercise four or five times before doing the back exercises above.

The first back exercise, PLANK is easy on those who have pain in their wrist. It is okay to do some variation of this yoga pose if you need to for your own comfort and needs. This pose is great for your entire body and can also increase strength and stamina. Hold the pose for as long as is comfortable for you. As you do this pose daily, it will become easier and you will be able to do it longer. 

The second back exercise, BACK ARCH, is very important, and it is my opinion if you are pressed for time and can only do one exercise choose this one. It will do more to ease your lower back pain than almost any other. I would still suggest at least a few toe touches for stretching purposes first.

Swimming is a great exercise for the entire body and if this is something you can incorporate into your life I encourage you to do so.

BIRD DOG is an excellent exercise for the lower back. It not only stretches but strengthens.

Then we come to the fifth and last exercise, TABLE AND CHILD POSE. If you have bad knees and find this difficult, use a thick gymnastics mat, not a flat thin yoga mat but a thick exercise mat or, try doing this exercise on your bed. Below I have included the link to just the sort of mat so that you can get an idea of what to do look for. Often times you can find one in your local retail stores: 

Thick Yoga Mat: https://amzn.to/3JSYtZY