you don't even know me

it's true, i'm a different girl now.

100% different.

and i know many of you never ever EVER thought this day would come...

but it has...

even if it might only be temporary.

but really, who knows?!?!


I BUY PRODUCE.

i haven't told many people, not knowing how long it would really last. but it's been going on long enough now that i feel i can share the news. i, carrie hillier, have been buying fresh produce since arriving in california over a month ago.

it first started when i went to safeway and had a breakdown. the food prices were outrageous. i talked to carolyn and my mom for support (grocery shopping is so traumatizing these days whereas it used to be the highlight of my life) and advice on what items SHOULD cost. according to carolyn, the food here is about double or triple the cost in colorado and according to mom, produce is about the same price or cheaper than it is in georgia.

so i used to not buy produce because it cost so much more than the easy tasty prepared and packaged foods, but now that doesn't apply so i have altered my grocery shopping accordingly. i spend at least six (but no more than ten) dollars on fruits and veggies per shopping trip and then another fifty or sixty dollars at walmart (aka my own personal version of hell). --some day i might devote an entire post to how much i LOATHE walmart-- then i call it a day.

the first few times i was going to safeway for produce and then walmart for everything else (not having a super walmart, this walmart provides a whole 3 or 4 aisles of food options) but then i discovered milk pail!


milk pail is like an indoor open air market with a farmers market feel so it's actually really fun to shop at. sometimes the prices are scribbled on pieces of torn cardboard or something ghetto like that. i normally get tomatoes, mushrooms, and a bell pepper for my breakfast burritos. i always get a number of pears since i've totally been on a pear kick recently and eat a few a week. and other than that it just depends what's on sale. sometimes sugar peas or a cucumber to eat with ranch. sometimes apples or peaches to send with chris to school. normally bananas because they're so cheap and easy and i've been loving banana sandwiches lately too.

and i normally try to find something new or different too. plutots have been my favorite (they're a hybrid of something but they look like a mini plum and taste super sweet). and this week it was a pomegranate. i haven't eaten it get so we'll see how that goes.

six or te n dollars buys a lot of produce and my goal is to eat it all before it goes bad so it gives me something to work towards. i do this best by accessorizing. instead of plain cottage cheese i'll eat it with a chopped up peach. bananas go on sandwiches, cucumber, tomato, carrot, goes on salads (and yes i've bought lettuce too... which i'm normally opposed to) or sandwiches or ranch, pears are my late night snack, etc.

to prove it

saturday evening i was bored, so i made a pasta salad (from a box... don't let your imagination get too carried away). wasn't ever in the mood to eat it until tonight. i put some in a bowl, added lettuce, ranch, grated carrots, peas (those were actually frozen) and wedges of a roma tomato. (i would have added boiled egg but didn't have one ready, avacado but wanted to save it for a rainy day... or tomorrow, and chicken chunks, grated cheese, crushed up bacon (i actually didn't have any bacon) but thought maybe it was getting a little to big for a one person dinner. still, instead of an average carb and fat meal, i snuck in lettuce, tomato, carrots, and peas... making it healthier, beefier (in a veggie sort of way) and cheaper (since i used less of my boxed pasta salad.

here's the hard evidence...

maybe it would have looked a little more appealing if i had taken the picture before i had eaten half of it (trust me, it started BIG) but you can tell from my eagerness that it was really just that good. anyways, my computer is being retarded and has made this the biggest ordeal ever so we're gonna call it good. 

but believe me. 

i'm a totally different person.