BIG DAY

Today is a big day in my life.  It’s huge.  It’s wonderful.  It’s one of the best days of the year.

Why, you might be asking?

No, it’s not my birthday, anniversary or Christmas.

It is the day that BIG BROTHER 12 PREMIERES!

Since the American version began in 2000, I have not missed a season.  The only season I didn’t watch was the one they had in the winter when the writer’s strike was going on.  Something about watching BB when it was snowing out just didn’t feel right.  For me, summer is now epitomized by spending three nights a week on my couch, in front of the tube, watching other people’s drama.  It drives my husband nuts, although every year – amidst his complaints – he ends up getting sucked into the drama too.  It is magnetic that way!

So please, bear with me, if this journal becomes less about frugality and healthy living and more about the televised antics of reality star wannabes

To kick off this most glorious day, I had yet another Barley Bowl!

I could get used to this.

• 3/4 cup cooked pearl barley, cooled in the fridge
• 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
• 4 strawberries, sliced
• 2 apricots, sliced
• 1 giant spoonful of peanut butter
• Sprinkle of cinnamon

Almost exactly the same as yesterday’s, minus blueberries.

Why is nut butter so powerful?

Also: why doesn’t my iPhone camera have a zoom lens?

I am now going to pretend to work when all I can think about is the drama-filled summer to come!

Sugar Crisp Reinvented

Remember this cereal?

Source of picture

It’s the first thing I thought of when I cooked up some barley last night for breakfast this morning.  Once cooked, barley looks just like a non-puffed version of Sugar Crisp!

See?

I searched the Internet high and low (well, really, I gave up after 2 minutes because if the Internet can’t give me what I want in 2 minutes flat, I give up.  I’m the MTV generation after all!) but I couldn’t find out if Sugar Crisp really IS made of barley.  I am going to pretend that it is.

But, yes!  I cooked up some barley last night for today’s breakfast.  I bought organic barley in bulk from the Big Carrot on Friday with the intention of using some as a breakfast cereal.  I had seen it featured as a breakfast item on Peanut Butter Fingers and it always looked really tasty.  I am here to confirm that it is!

For one cup of cooked pearl barley (the type with the hull removed) here are some stats:

• 193 calories
• 0.7 grams of fat
• 6 grams of fibre
• 3.5 grams of protein
• 12% of your RDA of iron

Pretty good, eh?  What makes it even better is that it has a great texture!  It is dense and chewy which is the way I like my food   I love my bulgur and quinoa (you know I do!), but this grain is particularly satisfying.

I cooked up 1/2 cup of barley with 1.5 cups of water.  I let it simmer on the stove until the barley absorbed the water which took about 20 minutes.  I just put it in some tupperware, put it in the fridge, and scooped out 3/4 of a cup this morning.  And this is what I made:

Ta da!

• 3/4 cup cooked pearl barley
• 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
• 2 sliced apricots
• 4 sliced strawberries
• Small handful of blueberries
• 1 spoonful of peanut butter
• Sprinkle of cinnamon

Loved this!  I guess I used about 5 or 10 cents worth of barley for this breakfast, too, which makes it very – you guessed it – FRUGAL