It’s already 4:00 and we have yet to do anything other than eat, shop and workout!! Where has the day gone.
At 12:30 we decided to go to the gym (which had just opened) to get a workout in. Matt doesn’t get to lift weights as much anymore now that he bikes to work as his daily exercise, so he likes the chance to go on the weekends. We decided to combine the gym trip with a grocery shop afterwards.
At the gym I discovered there are now new Stepmills. They are brand new, but I was not a fan of the new handrails. I know better than to put my weight into them, but I like to hold on for balance, and these are just too far down for me! I’m too little 🙁 Where are the kid-sized stepmills please!? I’m sure I’ll get used to them. So I did 30 minutes there, then 10 on the stat bike and 10 doing upper body weights.
Then we hit up the grocery store. I had the time to arrange everything for a photo today:
Mostly produce, a few canned goods and milk + yogurts for Matt. The Jif is for a peanut butter tasting I am doing on my palm oil presentation on Wednesday 🙂 We also got some saltines to serve with it that I forgot to photograph. All of this came to $43.95. We found some good sales today! Our “meat of the week” is turkey from the freezer. I find that meats make the grocery bill go up so much that one of my biggest reasons for not eating more meat is the cost. If it were as cheap as a tin of sardines or package of tofu, I would buy it more. I know you can find meat in bulk that is cheap, but then you have to mess with packaging it and freezing it and that’s just a pain!
I did find this tin of crab meat when I was looking through the sardines. At $2.99, I decided to give it a try. Perhaps a single crabcake for lunch one day this week?
I really like this brand of sardines too. This is the one in dill-mustard sauce I made for Kelsey on Wednesday. They were on sale for $1 each and the flavor is good. I just wish they didn’t have to come wrapped in unnecessary plastic!
So for lunch we broke into one of the sardines tins. The tomato basil flavor. I couldn’t taste the tomato much because we packed it with veggies and Matt added mayo. We split the can and made this salad. I took a photo so you could see that they are indeed little fish. DON’T BE SCARED!!!!!!!!! Just put them in a bowl and mash. I was going to take a photo of the insides for you, but it was too gross for even ME to look at so I just kept mashing.
The salad had green pepper, carrot, mustard, mayo and salt and pepper.
All mashed up!
Served with these DA-LICIOUS multigrain saltines! I had about 15 of them from start to finish.
And this fruited arugula salad dressed in honey, EVOO and almonds
Bear Tales
OK, now for the funniest story of the century. Matt left his camera at Kate + Nate’s on Friday night and they left for Raleigh to visit family on Saturday morning. Kate came over to return the camera today and here’s what we found:
The Berenstain Bears in Hillsborough!!!!!!!!!! (<— my hometown)
INCLUDING……. MY PARENTS’ FRONT STEPS!!!!!!!!! Those sneaky little bears – how did they find it!?!?!?
And then we found them reading their favorite blogs –
Papa Bear loves Brew + Bake (especially while drinking a bear beer)
Mama Bear loves KERF (especially with some rolled oats)
And Sister Bear is a big fan of Bites + Bowls!!!!! She also likes to paint her claws…
Silly bears!
Last but not least, Gilbs made an appearance!
Kelsey finally got her Spongebob recap up – including a pic of us!
Today is the 1 year Quitiversary of Gena’s last cigarette. She wrote a beautiful blog post about it today, and kindly mentioned the back-and-forth emails we shared as she struggled with cravings. The piece is wonderfully written: The Quitiversary.
Off to try to get something done on this lazy Sunday!
Hannah says
aw I love the bears! How adorable!
Run Sarah says
Too funny – I used to love the Bernstein bear books!
Jaclyn says
Haha I think that is the best adventures of Berenstein bears yet! 😀
Heather says
Sounds like a successful shopping trip! Grocery shopping and exercising always seem to make the time fly by. Doing both can create a time warp 😉
Love the two salads for lunch. I had a similar Salmon Vegetable Dip Salad with homemade pita chips for lunch. Guess it’s just a fishy day 😀 !
HILARIOUS with the bears. Man, I used to love those books and shows!
Runeatrepeat says
I am still talking myself up to trying sardines…but the final bowl looks good 🙂
Snake says
Wooden Nickel! I’ve been there! And your parents’ house, too, I guess.
I buy way too much meat. My weekly bill is usually $70 -$80. But I don’t care. I loooooove the meats.
-Snake
Lisa D says
I looooooooove stepmills! At least your gym has some. my old one has two and my new one has none(not that I could use it right now anyways bc of my knee). I used to just go up and down the stairs in my 16 story apt. Also a great workout! Can’t wait to hear about the palm oil presentation-but I prefer my PB alllllll natural!
Lisa says
What cute bear pics! Thanks for posting, they made me smile.
Nate says
It’s amazing what a family of bears can find with an iPhone and a Garmin.
VeggieGirl says
BERENSTAIN BEARS!!!!!!!!!!! I used to love those books 😀
KLM says
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHalarious!!!!!!!! I heart kate + nate!! I need to go to teeter + buy those sardines ASAP!!!!
Priyanka says
The bear pics are so cute! I have never tried sardines before but looking at the picture of your meal I definitely need to give it a try!
Kiersten says
I remember how much more money my grocery bill used to be before going vegan. Meat/seafood is so expensive! Especially at Harris Teeter.
Gilbert is so cute. He looks like he’s posing for the camera.
Elizabeth says
Those bears are a busy bunch huh? 😉
Congrats Gena! Well done!!
BethT says
I allllllmost bought some sardines today to try….but remain(ed) scared.
Maybe next time.
Gena says
Thanks so much for the shout, K! xxoo
Sarah (lovINmytummy) says
I thought this was “Kath Eats REAL FOOD.” Sardines and saltines do not qualify.
Christine says
I have always been too afraid to try sardines. If I try them in the near future, I blame you!! 🙂
Michelle Hisae says
Gena’s post was so great. She tells her story very well – I was captivated.
I’ve never had sardines out of the can, but my mom loves them. I’ll have to try this recipe of yours- it looks delish!
Kori (All Things B.) says
Kath- your grocery haul is impressive and the money you guys save is awesome! I’m inspired to drop my $60 weekly budget even lower! The pic is like a rainbow!
ashley says
hi! i heard about your website on tv and i’m hooked! i have 3 kids under the age of 5 and have packed on the lbs with each pregnancy. at 26 i am now 172lbs after my last baby (born 12-2-08) my normal before i had kids was around 135. i’m 5’6″ so that suits me well. i would love to get back to that. i have been counting calories for the last 3 weeks and have dropped 11lbs so far. i am inspired by your blog to continue and try new foods. i will be stopping by daily for new recipie ideas and reading your blog.. thank you so much for opening my eyes.
Help Meghan Run says
I love the bears!! So adorable. And you might have convinced me to try sardines… :/
Check out my blog as I run with Team in Training and raise money for blood cancers!
www. HelpMeghanRun .com
Kerri says
That salad is gorgeous! Those bears sure no where to hang out.
Bec says
what a yummy lunch! Those photos are hilarious 🙂
Leah @ Simply Fabulous Now says
Hilarious post about the bears! Too funny!
I am not a fan of sardines. My Dad makes sandwiches with them! ick!! But I LOVE crab meat!!
Lauren says
I’m curious to see how your crabcake turns out – I attempted crabcakes with canned crab with subpar results. I bet you’ll make it work 🙂
Mara @ What's For Dinner? says
HOW CUTE!!!
I’m one of the weirdos who grew up eating sardines… oil packed with chopped sweet onion and a little Worcestershire sauce on a toasted english muffin…mmm
Shannon says
You do know that the harvesting for palm oil is the number one cause of the nearly extinct orangutans, right?
Biz319 says
I’ve bought that canned crab before and its not bad for crab salad and mini crab cakes – great price too!
Love the bears – too cute!
K says
I love those crazy bears! How fun!!
Angie says
Great shopping trip! I need to learn a few tricks from you. The bears are awesome! Nate reminds me of a couple of my old friends that I don’t get to see much now! What a fun guy!
Alison says
Cute bears! Great job on a budget-friendly shopping trip.
Mom says
Kate and Nate and Bears, I am so sorry we missed you! I have jars of honey left over from Kath and Matt’s wedding reception (favors.) I could have given one to each of the bears and they would have had such fun dipping their paws into them. Next time!
Barbara
Emily W. says
OMG! I remember those little bears! I used to love that series!!
Jenn (eating bender) says
Ahh I used to love the Berenstain Bears! That is hilarious. I especially love the pictures of them reading their favorite blogs 🙂 That combined with Matt’s post while you were in Africa that showed bears pushing each other down the stairs just makes me smile.
Meghan (Making Love In the Kitchen) says
I love the Berenstein bears. back in the day when I was a camp counsellor my campers used to tell me I looked like sister bear. So cute!
And that salad! I long for local berries.
thepinkpeppercorn says
Those bears are hilarious!!!! hahahaa. Too cute 🙂
Peanut butter tasting????!!!! mmmmm
Sarah (Tales of Expansion) says
i don’t know where the day has gone, either!
you found GREAT deals. i’m so impressed! the sardines scare me a teeeeeeeny bit, but i think i can handle them mashed if i keep my eyes closed during the mashing. i will give it a go!
the bear tales are priceless. kate and nate are hilarious. and that little gilbert! i only met him for a moment, but now i kind of miss him …
Emily says
eat, shop, workout? if i could do nothing else i would be happy 🙂
love the bears!
Kath says
Sarah (lovINmytummy),
Sardines are REAL!!!
ashley ,
Welcome!!
Shannon ,
Yes, I am well aware of that. It’s partly what our presentation is on.
Kath
Sally says
I’m so glad kiwi is available at the grocery stores now! It makes such a nice snack or addition to salads, right?
Susan says
Hey, those sardines are from my province (New Brunswick), a place called Black’s Harbour about a couple hours from where I live. Have you tried their canned herring? It’s my favourite!
Erin says
LOL at those bears popping up everywhere!
Courtney says
Hi there!
Love your blog. Oatmeal is such a wonderful food and working with college students (I am the RD for East Carolina Unviersity in Greenville NC) you have to come up with awesome ways to eat whole grains. Thanks for the ideas!
Keep up the good work and good luck with your internship! It will be challenging but well work the credential!