Day 8, Month 2 The Diabetic Food Stamp Project

I had no appetite upon waking. The duck did me in.

Duck, which is high in fat is slow to digest, and while I was never uncomfortable it took a little time for me to have an appetite.

When it returned I had some ham salad, crackers and pomegranate with coffee.

The crackers were from a sample pack I got at a food show. They had been in my backpack for a long time and were a little broken but really good. Mary's gone crackers gluten free flax. High in fiber.

Coffee .20 (two cup day)
Ham 1.00 (this is from the ham I cured)
Mayo .10
Pomegranate .50
Total 1.80
Carbs 40 grams

Wow...I spent those coins without even thinking about it.

I am making congee. It is the simplest of soups and like Stone Soup most anything can be thrown in.

Keep in mind I have bean soup, and beef broth and cabbage soup in the freezer yet I still make another soup.

It is because I have some rice left over from last night and in Congee it dissolves giving you very few carbs per serving. It is also one of the most comforting of comfort foods. Any scrap around the house can be thrown in.

My favorite congee is with salted duck eggs but at 3.49 for 6 of them I did not purchase any yesterday.

I may have to learn to cure my own eggs. If any of you readers want to learn . It takes time so they won't be ready for today.

I got more kosher salt (I have now spent my held back 7.50 for January on seasonings)and boiled up 4 cups of water with one cup of salt and a few star anise, added a shot of vinegar and have eggs curing. I only have to wait a month.

By the time I had done all this my tiny bit of rice .04 and water had cooked down into a thick soup base. I added .40 worth of sliced cherry tomatoes, .25 frozen spinach and the 12 remaining meatballs .72. I seasoned with fish sauce and thyme and wow it was a good little pot of soup.

At 1.41 for the pot it comes to .28 a serving. I had two servings for lunch. It was warming and satisfying on a cold snowy day.

Soup .56
Iced tea .03
Total .59
Carbs 10 grams

I finally went out into the cold snowy day to head to the gym. I went to the Y 3 blocks from here.

It is still a dump, but not as much of a dump as it was 4 years ago. For a snowy day it was okay in a pinch.

When I got home I was suddenly ravenous and I was cold. I wanted soup. Yes, soup again.

I heated the broth leftover from my Chinese lunch and scrounged around...chopped steak, yes seared and added. Big bunch of spinach, yea..just cut and added. Those Asian noodles that are not too many carbs, absolutely.

The result

A massive bowl filled with some of the best soup I have ever made.

It was not inexpensive.
Noodles .35
Spinach .79
Beef 1.40
Total 2.54
Carbs 28 grams

So how did I do?

Day Total 4.93 with the carry over I had 5.97 so I still have 1.04 to carry into tomorrow.

However my calories were too low 1,078.

I was not very active, which turns out to be a good thing. I see why they always say to eat soup if you want to lose weight. It is VERY satisfying for few calories.