Soon you’ll be able to order pulled pork sandwiches with Maximum/Minimum sauce from various locations all over Seattle.

MAXIMUS SAUCE
Everything plus the kitchen sink, this sauce has a wash of beer cooked down with a six-pepper blend that’s just this side of dangerous. Is it that good? Yes.

MINIMUS SAUCE
Rich and tangy, sweet and salty, Minimus rests on the well-balanced edge of tamarind, honey and molasses. Apply liberally.

Part of the Sugar Mountain brand (which includes the ever tasty Beecher’s Handmade Cheese), this soon-to-open mobile kitchen is starting to catch the attention of Foodies everywhere. Eat All About It posted this photo of the funky truck, affectionately named the Pigstream, a week ago. Besides pulled pork sandwiches, the truck will also serve up veggie sandwiches and veggie chips. Sandwiches will cost $6.

The truck will be found starting June 1st at the corner of 2nd and Pike in the daytime, and likely cruising around at night serving the bar rush.

It’s Friday and so far it’s looking pretty grey; if you’re near Wallingford, why not perk up your day with a visit to Trophy Cupcakes?

Every day the bakery produces nine different flavors of fresh cupcakes–five standard flavors which are available every day and an even wider variety through which they cycle throughout the week. (I highly recommend the peanut butter & jelly cupcake.) Today, Trophy is celebrating “Maria Hines Day” in honor of their award-winning neighbor by putting up a special display to recognize the Tilth chef’s achievement. As an added bonus, they’re paying tribute to Chef Hines’ love of peanut butter and strawberry by offering lemon strawberry minis (one of the tastiest cupcakes in all of Seattle) and chocolate peanut butter minis for $1.25.

4:00 PM – Richelle Mead: Vampire Academy Book 3: Shadow Kiss
UW Bookstore, U-District
Richelle Mead’s youth-focused urban fantasy series stars a teenage dhamphir (half-human, half-vampire) training to become a guardian of a Moroi, a full-blooded vampire. In Shadow Kiss, Rose—our heroine—is assigned the task of guarding someone, but not her good friend, a Moroi royal named Lissa. This causes her behavior to become erratic, and leads to ghostly visions. [Source: UW Bookstore]
[LINK]

6:00 PM – People Eating and Giving: 826 Seattle – Fundraiser
Palace Ballroom
This is the inaugural year of People Eating and Giving and features Dave Eggers (bestselling author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and What is the What and founder of 826 National), Stewart Stern (Oscar-nominated screenwriter of films such as Rebel Without A Cause and Rachel, Rachel), Teri Hein (Executive Director of 826 Seattle and author of Atomic Farmgirl), Karen Finneyfrock (spoken-word artist, Mistress of Ceremony and Paddle Master), and select 826 Seattle students. [Source: Beats me…826 probably]
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Erica Bauermeister: The School of Essential Ingredients
Santoro Books
Debut novel: “Eight students gather in Lillian’s Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class. It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen as Chef Lillian, a woman whose connection with food is both soulful and exacting, helps them to create dishes whose flavor and techniques expand beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of her students’ lives.” [Source: GE Putnam's Sons]
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Naomi Shihab Nye: Seattle Arts & Lectures Poetry Series
Benaroya Hall, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, $10-$35
Naomi Shihab Nye’s mixed heritage–her father is Palestinian, her mother is American–shapes the subjects of her poetry. She is the author of numerous books of poems, including You and Yours and Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, a collection of new and selected poems about the Middle East. She is also the editor of numerous anthologies for children. Nye has traveled extensively, including to the Middle East and Asia to promote goodwill through the arts. [Source: Seattle Arts & Lectures]
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Richard Mason: Natural Elements
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Mason reads and signs the first American publication of his second novel. Mason has lived in South Africa, London, and Scotland; his eclectic background is reflected in his work.
[LINK]

If you’re in the food world, you’ve probably heard this (unless you spent the past couple of hours under a rock). Maria Hines, chef and owner of Tilth Restaurant in Wallingford, won the 2009 Best Chef Northwest award. This was her third year nominated, but her first win. Not only did she win, but she was also invited to cook for the reception after the awards ceremony.

Hines is quoted in the press release as saying: “Big thanks to my crew at Tilth and a very special thanks to my wife for letting me put a lien on the house for Tilth,” said Hines. “I promise we’ll pay it off soon now, honey.”

Tilth was the second restaurant in the country to be certified organic by Oregon Tilth. Tilth has a shiny new website, so go check it out.

Congratulations to Chef Hines!

Washington asparagus has arrived in local grocery stores. I found a great deal on it at Uwajimaya: 4.5lbs for $5. if you find it for cheaper, let me know!

This is likely my final post on Seattle Metblogs regarding the Hunger Challenge. It’s been a pretty good week.

A friend left this comment earlier and I wanted to address it in full here.

I personally think using any kind of kitchen machine is cheating. If we are doing this hunger challenge to bring attention to low income families and their eating dilemmas, I wouldn’t expect most of them to have such machines or the will to want to make such foods.

I disagree with this assessment for a variety of reasons. First off, used pasta makers can be found for fairly cheap. I’ve also seen many kitchen machines for free on Freecycle and or for cheap on local Craigslist posts.

Second, not everyone currently on food stamps have always been poor. With the downturn in the economy, visits to area food banks and applications for food stamps have increased, showing the need from many who previously did not need these services. My household for example, has the funds right now to buy kitchen appliances with cash, but if say my husband was laid off and neither of us could find work for a year, we would still have our kitchen appliances (if we hadn’t sold them for food).

Third, just because someone is poor doesn’t mean they do not have the inclination to cook. Consider this: many in the cooking industry do not pull in large salaries, but maybe they just love to cook so much that they make it happen at home. There are also those who are going to school and working only part time (or receiving unemployment) who are eligible for food stamps.

I think there are many different types of people who can be considered poor, due to different circumstances. Those living in poverty very well likely have not always lived in poverty. All in all, these are a few of the reasons why I do not consider it cheating to use kitchen appliances during a hunger challenge.

We’re heading into the 5th and final day of the Hunger Challenge here and we’re still under our $60 budget. Today’s dinner consisted of homemade pasta (1 cup flour, 1 egg) and cheater’s spaghetti sauce. We use cheater’s spaghetti sauce when tomatoes are out of season; start by sauteing onion, garlic, broccoli (stems and crown), bell pepper, and zucchini, a teaspoon of thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Add jar of sauce (I found a jar of organic sauce at Madison Market for $2.89) and simmer down. Add water. Simmer down. Repeat. As it reduces, it gains a complexity that the regular jar of sauce does not have on it’s own.

Homemade pasta is so cheap, coming it at under $0.35 for 4 servings. It requires a pasta maker though, as well as the time to produce it. It is so easy to grab packaged pasta at the store that I almost picked up a pack (we have enough left in our budget to afford it) but we had the flour and the egg on hand anyway.

When we are not taking this Challenge, we normally attempt to adhere to a diet that is predominantly vegetarian. It saves money and also can be healthier in many respects. Our diet this week can be compared to the vegetarian food pyramid, though we did have bacon and turkey sausage in small portions on a few days.

Overall, this challenge really helped us get back on the “bandwagon”, so to speak, for a healthier diet. One of the biggest fears I had going into this was the chance that I would get really cranky. When I don’t eat right, my blood sugar tanks, and I get a bit irrational. The term I have heard is “hangry”. Earlier I did write a letter to my stomach, but it was mostly in good humor. Usually if I don’t take a snack or eat a healthy breakfast, I will grab something at one of the numerous cafe’s on the UW campus or just head to a restaurant for lunch. I haven’t been able to do this all week and I didn’t have a single instance of being “hangry”.

Lastly, I have been browsing my favorite food sites looking for the very first thing I am going to make on Saturday after the challenge has ended. It’s currently a cross between Lemon Cake or grilled cheese sandwiches w/ a bowl of tomato soup.

Be sure to check out the week’s worth of blog roundups and other information related to the Hunger Challenge here.

We just wrapped up our third day of the Hunger Challenge with a fantastic stir fry. Here’s how I made it without the need for fancy preservative-packed specialty sauces:

• 1/2 package firm tofu, drained
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon safflower oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 crown broccoli w/ stem, cut into bite-size pieces (yes, including the stem)
• 1/2 zucchini, chopped
• 3 oz sugar snap peas
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup brown rice

In a small container, mix soy sauce, sugar, and 1 clove garlic. Add cubed tofu, cover with lid, and let marinate for an hour, occasionally flipping the container.

In a medium size sauce pan, add rice and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and ignore for 20 minutes.

In a hot wok, add safflower oil and heat. Add onion and saute for one minute. Add carrot, garlic, and jalapeno. After a minute, add broccoli stems, followed by broccoli, sugar snap peas, and zucchini. Saute until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add tofu and marinade mixture, saute until vegetables are coated and tofu is heated through. Serve over hot rice.

Happily, I feel better about using a wider variety of vegetables today. For breakfast, we had an egg, a pear, and a slice of bread. Lunch was leftover red beans and rice (which has gained a nice zesty flavor from sitting in the fridge due to the hot Italian turkey sausage). For snack, I had an orange. Fruit, vegetables, carbs, and protein. I think we did fairly well today.

The last two breakfasts this week will consist of (rolled) oatmeal. Not very imaginative, but good for us. We have a bit of fruit for snacks. Lunch will be leftovers. Dinner either Thursday or Friday will be spaghetti with homemade pasta (using our last egg and a cup of flour), marinara sauce, and the rest of the vegetables we didn’t use in the stir fry (broccoli, yellow onion, garlic, zucchini, and red bell pepper).

Total spent so far is a whopping $54.50. That leaves us with $5.50. I was thinking I could pick up some cheese to use in a salad with the spaghetti. We have one small pear left, so maybe I can afford a wedge of blue cheese. We only have oil, salt, and pepper to make salad dressing with, so I’ll likely skip the dressing entirely (which is what I typically do anyway).

I am curious how much everyone typically spends on their weekly groceries. On a good week, we average about $100 (including alcohol) for our household of 2, though we occasionally feed friends. I tend to try out new recipes fairly often and we do love our cheese, so some weeks we blow the budget. My husband mentioned yesterday that he heard of a woman who can feed her family of 4 on $800 a year, I believe using coupons and very careful planning. That is $15 a week. *whistles*

Day #2 has gone rather well. For breakfast, we had an egg, a small slice of homemade bread, most of a piece of bacon, and 1/3 of an orange. Light breakfast, but we had an unanticipated guest last night who stayed over, so we shared our meager breakfast with her. Our goal today was to try to incorporate some fruit and more vegetables into our diet. For snack, we had an orange, and for lunch we had leftover red beans and rice (which actually turned out more like jambalaya and was very tasty!). For dinner, I whipped up yet another lentil dish: Megadarra. Megadarra is the ultimate cheap and healthy food: 1 cup lentils, 1 cup brown rice, 2 cloves garlic, salt, pepper, and 2 whole caramelized onions, cooked separately and then baked in the oven. We served this with a spoonful of Greek yogurt over a bed of freshly washed lettuce leaves. We are going to split a pear for dessert in a bit.

One of the rules for this challenge is to not accept free food from friends and family. When I went to my volunteer job today (I volunteer 5 hours a week at a local women’s shelter), it turned out to be volunteer appreciation week. I accepted a slice of cake. I know it is not a huge transgression, but I felt that it somehow violated this rule. My husband broke down and partook in the free coffee at Microsoft. I also slipped and bought a cup of coffee at school today for a dollar, which I am adding to our $60 budget.

Here is the current breakdown of food. We have just under $28 left for the week, which gives me some leeway to pick up a few more vegetables and some tofu for tomorrow’s stir fry. For lunch tomorrow, one of us will have leftover lentils from Monday and the other will have leftover red beans and rice. Thursday, I think we’ll have leftover Megadarra for lunch and I’m still thinking of ideas for Thursday’s dinner: maybe a simple winter squash soup with some of the Greek yogurt.

All in all, we have so far thus avoided buying packaged or prepared foods, and overall we are eating fairly consistent with the way we normally eat. Our portion sizes are a bit smaller, we are more mindful of random snacking, and I am planning our meals a bit more than normal. I believe we’re going to pull this off with enough money left to buy a beer at the end of the week.

Today started out earlier than normal when I woke up an hour before my alarm and immediately panicked over what we would have for lunch. I haven’t done all of our grocery shopping yet, and only made a loaf of no-knead bread yesterday in advance. Using what I had on hand, I put together a simple lentil soup (enough for 4 servings if we add rice & zucchini to the leftovers) in 30 minutes. Here’s the breakdown of today’s meals: (more…)