soupervan’s return + money challenge progress

Image taken from yelp!

My favorite food truck has returned to my [and y’know, everyone else’s] life[/lives]! To say that I was thrilled about this would be an understatement. However, it posed a slight problem for me because they returned right in the middle of my money ban. :/

But! Fear not! I have a provisional clause dedicated towards my Soupervan fund, so it is a-okay. :O I enacted it last Friday and Luke joined me there. I had their newest sandwich (Tuscan Mushroom with Chicken — roasted garlic cannellini spread, grilled portabella slices, cherry tomatoes, white truffle oil, mesclun greens with balsamic reduction in a whole wheat wrap). We had to wait through an entire bus ride and a long walk around the entire building to find a room to sit in to eat (first world problems, I know), but it was delicious and well worth the wait. :]

They also have a new chili (ancho turkey chili) and two new soups (tomato basil bisque + creamy mushroom soup) that I’m looking forward to trying! <3 I’m so glad that they’re back! :D! Dominic also made me/Luke cannolis because he’s full of awesome.

I’m kinda sad that the apple nachos are gone, but they’re working on a new dessert with some kind of winter fruit soon. <3

Here’s a super random and simple tip for if you…
a) …bought 2 loaves of bread because it was cheaper than getting just one/you can’t get to supermarkets very often
b) …can’t finish 2 loaves of bread before one of them loaves starts to spoil ._.

You will need…
-sandwich bags
-a toaster

I usually keep one loaf out and freeze the other loaf (stick a couple pieces of bread into each bag) and when you’ve finished off your first loaf, just toast the slices you want and you’re good to go! Hooray for food not going to waste!

In other news (if you’re at all interested in how my non-spending is going), I still have:

• 2 boxes of cereal, 36 flour tortillas, 1 loaf of bread (currently frozen), 1 bag of quinoa, -1/2 bag oatmeal, 30 lb. rice, 6 packages of pasta
• 1 family-sized can of diced tomatoes, 14 cans of corn, 6 cans of green beans (if anyone could tell me a recipe using canned green beans that’s not a casserole, I’d be wildly grateful)
• 1.6 containers of soy milk (nooooo ;_; )
• 4 cans of salmon, 8 cans of chicken, 1 family-sized can of garbanzo beans, 2 cans black beans
• 2 lbs. frozen strawberries, small bag of frozen veggies, 3 packages frozen dumplings
• 5 servings of ground beef (currently frozen), 3 servings of chicken (currently frozen)
• lots of random protein/energy/power bars, chocolate, bags of peanuts, snacks from all the plane rides last semester, giant bag of trail mix
• 15 cans of soup
• 3 cans of pineapples, 1 giant jar of applesauce
• various baking supplies

This, my friends, is why I should not be spending money until I finish it all. I’ve found that my baking/food projects garner a lot of interest from friends in my program and introduces variety in my life because I can trade my creations for other people’s foods. Several have also told me that they will totally buy the ingredients for whatever I want to make, so long as they get to have some. This is pretty effing awesome news to me. :O

I will be trading my strawberry swirl cheesecake bars (recipe coming soon!) for BBQ fall-off-the-bone beef ribs next week!