I moved across the country with a man who wears a Flamingo shirt.

10603740_10152659332423834_8604206480436967020_n

The buffalo, however, stayed right where he was in South Dakota.

The feeling of freedom is hard to describe. Right now I am young and the world is my oyster. Once I felt that college diploma in my hand, I knew there was nothing holding me down in Rhode Island. It was time to go exploring this big, bad globe. Only, there was a boy I really liked, so he joined. Our trip was incredible. We saw a whole lot of this beautiful country (America- yes, it really is beautiful).

1465934_10152659331578834_7896552287590506986_o
 
 
 
10609528_10152659330363834_6447438028469539029_n

 How’s this for some true American Food??

 
10628460_10152659356033834_1285307443483345095_n

And now, we are trying on a different coast.

We are both serving with Americorps in Tacoma, WA, and though we get to share a tiny, one room apartment (but hallelujah, big kitchen!), we make next to nothing. We have both gone through the terrifying (though for me, should be familiar) process of applying for SNAP benefits, and have been really trying hard to make our food budget work. This year is going to be the ultimate struggle for me as a foodie, but I am excited too, because I think I can rise to the challenge. Whether is saving vegetable scraps and freezing them to make broth, picking lavender, rosemary, wild blackberries, and apples, or doubling our benefits at the Farmer’s Market, we are making the best of it. So far, I love this city and all it has to offer me- and maybe living on a budget doesn’t have to be bland. With that being said, it is looking like this blog will shift gears a little bit, to be more focused on cheap, affordable, easy, and healthy recipes.

I want to leave with a link to an amazing free cookbook (the PDF is free!) which emcompasses all of these aspects. Leanne Brown studied Food Systems at NYU and thinks people should have good food every day. She created a cookbook “Good and Cheap” which is is a collection of recipes for people with limited incomes, particularly those on a $4/day food stamps budgets. And it is awesome! Here is the link to the PDF

 https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf

or you can visit her website http://www.leannebrown.com

Let the taste of my new life begin.