After I did my big chest freezer inventory, I took a half an hour to sit down and work out a meal plan based on the meats and some of the frozen and garden vegetables I have here. While I did not include it in the below meal plan, I also buy seasonal fruit or pick it. For example, watermelon and cherries are in season and cheap right now. Also, right now in the back yard garden I have ripe strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. So while I might jot it down on the meal list, I usually don't. We just pick whatever it is that is ready from the yard or what needs to be used up in the fridge to add to the meal. It just varies so much there is little point in adding it to the plan.

So here is what I have been eating and will be eating soon. I thought it might give other people some ideas, especially in this time of eating more at home due to the pandemic. We save a lot of money by meal planning, making sure we properly use up what we buy or harvest, and cooking from scratch.

Day One:
Japanese Chicken Curry (potatoes, carrots, seasonings)
Rice
Salad (from the garden)

Day Two:
Meatloaf (Hamburger, Italian Sausage, ground turkey, lamb, eggs, cheese, rice crumbs, onions, seasonings)
Baked Potatoes
Broccoli

Day Three:
Steelhead Trout with Herbed Garlic Butter
Corn on the Cob
Green Beans (Home canned)

Day Four:
Beef Chuck Roast
Baked Potatoes
French Cut Green Beans (Home canned)
Watermelon

Day Five:
Chicken Stir fry (broccoli, cauliflower, onions (freezer), bell peppers (freezer), carrots, celery, snow peas (garden)
Rice
Watermelon

Day Six:
Grilled Ribeye Steaks
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Grilled Zucchini (garden)
Grilled Snow Peas (garden)

Day Seven:
Basil Pesto Chicken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HViMJzRlkzI
Leftover Grilled Veggies
Roasted Italian Herbed Potatoes

Day Eight:
Salmon (caught last season and frozen)
Broccoli
Baked Potatoes

Day Nine:
BBQ Pork Ribs
Fried Potatoes
Green Beans (Home canned)

Day Ten:
Spot Prawns (caught earlier this season and frozen)
Corn on the Cob
Zucchini (garden)

Day Eleven:
Chicken Schawarma
Gluten Free Naan Bread
Tzatziki Sauce
Cole Slaw

Day Twelve:
Gluten Free Jovial Brown Rice Spaghetti
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Zucchini Shreds (frozen, last year's garden) and Home Grown Home Canned Tomatoes
Gluten Free Meatballs (same ingredients as my meatloaf but with different cheeses)
Salad (garden)

Day Thirteen:
Homemade Gluten Free Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, and onions
Leftover Spaghetti Sauce for the Sauce
Salad (garden)

Day Fourteen:
Pork Shoulder Roast
Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Gluten Free Gravy
Green Beans

I've been getting so bored with my food. It's mostly because I don't feel like putting the effort in. We've been eating a rotation of about 4 different meals and I really need to snap out of this and get some variety back into our diets. I have the food, just not the usual inventiveness or energy to look through all my recipes. I'm wondering if this is just a sort of quarantine depression? I mean it's not full blown, but it is slightly worse than seasonal. I usually delight in cooking.

But maybe it is also that I am so tired of the limitations on my daughter's food. I don't want to be making two different meals so I've kind of been avoiding that type of food that she can't or won't eat. Tonight for dinner we had pancakes and ham, but her pancakes had to be gluten free, so while it wasn't making two different meals, we did have to make the gluten free ones first so we could use the griddle without a wash in between.

I think I will just have to buck up and do it or make her a bunch of freezer meals and us some of the foods she can't eat, like fajitas and tacos and jerk chicken.

I really shouldn't be complaining right now because we have food and we have an income and it's not like in the old days when women had to cook 3 meals a day. I do have some help from my son and sometimes my husband and I only need to make dinner, not lunches or breakfasts. I miss takeout and I miss the store's deli department more than I should. We are all losing weight though without those things.

DS had a telemedicine appointment today about a new medication. I sat in on it with him at his request. It was so nice to see a new face! He is the doctor for the whole family and he asked after all of our health at the end of the appointment and whether we were taking our vitamins A, C, D, and E, which we are. He also asked me about how often I was using the nebulizer even though it wasn't my appointment.

Tomorrow I am going to try to get out in the garden, weather permitting. I haven't been outside since Thursday and that is probably contributing to my closed in feelings.

I am debating on whether or not to cancel our rescheduled vacation that is mid-May. We are trying to cancel our gym membership, but their voicemail is full and so far no response to email. They charged us for April even though they won't be open at all during April. I know it is an autopay, but they should have stopped those when they know darn well they won't be open the whole month. We are not on a contract. I might end up disputing it if we can't get through to them.

Although below is my plan for the week, with Mom's surgery and us unsure what day she is coming home for sure, things may get swapped around so that an easier meal is made that day. And there is the very real possibility that exhaustion may lead to one or two nights of take out. I hope not, though, because I feel much better when I cook myself. We do have two gluten free options for restaurants, though, so at least there is that.

I am trying to find other restaurants that have good options, too. I mean I know that any place that serves, steak, baked potato, and a veg is okay, but that gets pricey when feeding four people. We do have a gluten free burger place (beef, chicken, or turkey), although they do serve wheat buns as well, and a Polynesian place that does not use wheat flour. But I hope to avoid that. I am going to need as much nutrition as possible while taking on my mom's care. Plus it is always cheaper.

Monday:
Chicken Rotini Alfredo (brown rice rotini)
Green Beans
Bananas

Tuesday:
Five Spice Chicken Stir-fry with broccoli, carrots, celery, and onions
Rice
Blueberries

Wednesday:
Gluten Free Pancakes
Ham
Cucumbers
Apples

Thursday:
Beef Chuck Roast
Baked Potatoes
Broccoli
Oranges

Friday:
Black Pepper Chicken (onions, celery)
Rice
Home Canned Pears

Saturday:
Gluten Free Pizza
Salad
Canned pineapple

Sunday:
Salmon
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans
Home Canned Nectarines

It has been snowing for the past 4 days and it has been bitter cold. Today is a little warmer, but we got down to 17 degrees F, which is darn cold for here. We've had the furnace at 75 just to feel like it is 68 at the far end of the house from the furnace. We are all wearing layers inside. I have on a long-sleeved shirt with a short sleeved shirt on over it and then a long sweater over that, heavy sweats and heavy socks. I just think about how much it would be if we hadn't had the insulation replaced under our part of the house last month. I wish we'd put plastic on the windows when I wanted to, but it got put off.

The gas bill will be high this month. Electric will be a little higher, too, because we are using the space heater in the rabbit shed to keep the water bottles from freezing. And I know my mom has been using her space heater, too. And we did have Christmas lights on for 3 weeks.

DH has been able to get out and go to work. We had about 8 to 10 inches of snow and they haven't done a great job about plowing the roads. But he is used to driving in the snow due to all the years of working in Alaska. DH has been authorized to do 10 hours of overtime a week for next week and the week after that. He could have some this week, but he has a cold and isn't sure he is up for it. He's barely managing to get in his 8 hours a day at the moment. Hopefully next week he will be better and he can take full advantage of it.

The extra money would come in handy because I would like to get an electric grain mill and the one I am looking at costs $263 if I want the attachment for small grains like millet, and I do. It's a big upfront investment, but it is a whole lot cheaper to buy rice and grind it into flour than to continue to buy rice flour at high prices. Even with a bulk source it still isn't anywhere as cheap as just buying the different rices to make sweet rice flour, white rice flour, and brown rice flour, so it will eventually pay for itself. Pretty quickly, too, within the year. And as far as I can tell millet only comes in grain form, not flour form so if I want millet flour I have to grind it myself. Sorghum flour I will still have to buy in bulk unless I can find a source of the grain itself, but I can deal with that.

Also both the husband the son need new belts and the son needs new farm boots. There should be some overtime money after that to throw at the mom loan or at the EF. I haven't decided quite yet. Of course, I won't count on it until he's worked it, but tentatively that's the plan.

On my weight loss goal I have lost 5.4 pounds since starting to eat right again. Today is day 4. I am tracking my calories and food with my fitbit. I am doing about 20 minutes of exercise a day. I will be working up to 30. I lost all of my stamina when I was in bed for 3 weeks and have been working at getting it back for the last week. They are careful exercises from my physical therapy time, ones that work with my rheumatoid arthritis and not against it.

DH said the IRA went over $10K today, so that was a nice milestone that happened. I have been anxiously awaiting that moment so I am glad it finally got here.

I've been kind of lazy about planning my meals out this week. Mostly I've just been taking meat out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge and then deciding what I am going to cook based on what has thawed out and then figuring out what is going to go with it. I usually like to plan better than that, but I'm still not up to snuff after being so sick for so long. I guess whatever gets homemade food on the table instead of takeout works, right?

Tonight I made meatloaf for dinner and roasted potatoes, bell peppers, and onions, with a bag of steamed broccoli on the side. It was my first time using gluten free bread crumbs. I didn't notice any difference in flavor at all, so that is nice. It didn't quite hold together as well as usual, but that might be down to the fact I only used 3 eggs instead of 4 and had an extra pound of meat in the mix, so I probably should have actually used five eggs for a five pound meatloaf (leftovers for lunches). Everything tasted great, though, even if it was a little messy to eat.

Well, I think that about wraps it up for today. If you all could pray for me that I start sleeping better, I'd appreciate it. Too many restless nights are running me down.

Monday:
Garlic Herb Baked Chicken
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Oranges

Tuesday:
Beef Stew with potatoes, carrots, celery, and parsnips
Broccoli
Apples

Wednesday:
Chicken Stir Fry with broccoli, carrots, celery, cauliflower, cabbage
Rice
Oranges

Thursday:
Sirloin Steaks
Baked Potatoes
Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Apples

Friday:
DH's work Christmas party
Baron of Beef
Roasted Red Potatoes
Green Beans with Almonds
There are lots of other choices, but none of them appeal to me. The kids will fend for themselves.

Saturday:
Bacon Cheeseburgers
French Fries
Cole Slaw
Oranges

Sunday:
Pork Roast smothered in Onions
Butternut Squash
Green Beans
Apples

Day One:
Pork chops smothered in onions
Baked potatoes
Salad

Day Two:
Carne Asada
Pico de Gallo
Stir-fried cabbage, onions, bell peppers, and carrot shreds

Day Three:
Chicken Fajitas
Leftover stir-fried veggies

Day Four:
Chili
Baked Potatoes
Broccoli

Day Five:
Beef Stew with potatoes, carrots, and parsnips
Salad

Day Six:
Homemade pizza with pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, and onions
Salad

Day Seven:
Chicken Shawarma
Naan bread
Tzatziki
Stir-fried cabbage and onions

Last night my son helped me to inventory 3 of our freezers, the mini chest freezer, the spare fridge freezer, and the tall upright we split with my mother. We do have a massive chest freezer in the garage and our main fridge freezer we still need to go through, but the big one is mostly meat and butter and I have a rough idea what is in there, since I have it divided up in compartments, two of chicken, 1 of beef, 1 of pork,1 of lamb, 1 of vegetables, 1 butter, and 1 of fruit. The main fridge freezer is a big mess, but is mostly not meal making food. It is ice, ice cream, fruit bars, dumplings, fish nuggets, and more the quick fend for yourself foods I get for the kids. And lots of ice packs. That one really just needs to be reorganized.

I made room for turkeys by restacking and tidying up, although we did throw some stuff out. It was from 2014, 2016, and 2017 respectively, and at the bottom of the mini-chest freezer. I am going to buy 3, one for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas, and one for Passover. This is the only time of year Trader Joe's carries the organic turkeys, so I plan ahead. We can't afford the fresh off the farm ones anymore, but I still want to be sure my food isn't raised on soy or GMO corn, so I budget for the TJ turkeys which aren't as expensive, but are still much more than standard.

I also had more homemade premade meals than I thought. There was 3 mac and cheese, 6 chicken mac and cheese, 2 mini meatloaves (serves 2), 7 Alfredo chicken (no noodles), 1 baked penné (serves 2) and one pork roast dinner with potatoes and gravy. There was also a bag of cooked sausage crumbles for making breakfast burritos, skillet scrambles, and egg bakes, 1 package of seasoned shwarma chicken ready to be dumped into the crockpot or pressure cooker and 1 package of beef carnitas the same. I didn't realize I had any of those left. I need to make up more. I wish I had known because we spent a lot of money eating out the last 3 weeks and there could have been more easy at home meals if the freezers had been organized.

How much money did I waste on out to eat food, you might ask? We spent $566.97 on eating out the last 3 weeks. I was sick and I was (and am) in the middle of a flare for my two lovely autoimmune diseases, but I really still have to make the effort to cook. I feel a little better today so I am going to try to get some more freezer meals made up after we go grocery shopping. Although the shopping may wipe me out. I will get DS and DH to help with making premade meals.

Dinner tonight is already planned as sausage, peppers, and onions, all of which I found in the freezers last night. I like to do something very easy after expending so much energy shopping. I have to pace myself. It's just the way of it when you are dealing with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. I can't do all of what I did before, but if I pace myself and plan ahead, I can do more than I have been doing.

I did find a lot of things I was planning to buy, like bagged bell peppers and onions, roasted potatoes, and a bunch of ground meat (beef, lamb, turkey, chicken) that I was going to buy to make meatloaves and meatballs for the freezer and now I don't have to. And 3 packages of sausage links for breakfasts, too. That means there is the money to buy the 3 turkeys.

I've got my meals planned out until Sunday and then I need to sit down and do a meal plan for the next week. I don't think I posted a meal plan this week because I didn't make one.

Dinner on Saturday will be steaks, roasted potatoes, and a cabbage stir-fry. Dinner on Sunday will be onion smothered pork chops, baked potatoes, and broccoli. I do have apples if anyone wants fruit. At least I feel like the cold is mostly over and I can actually feel up to cooking again.

I forgot to post my meal plan on Monday. As usual, I am free to switch things around as the whim strikes me, but since we've already had the first 3 meals on this list I may just go in order. Who knows? I think for the rest of this month I am going to be cooking a lot from the pantry and freezers. I am hoping to stick to just buying bread, milk, lettuce, and a few other fresh veggies or fruits. I don't need any regular meat since the freezer is well stocked now.

However, the reason I want to not buy much regular food with the grocery budget this month is so I can buy several organic turkeys while Trader Joe's has them available. One for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas, and one for Easter. I also want to buy lots of potatoes while on sale for the holiday, because I'm down to only 8 pints of canned potatoes and we love making baked potato soup using canned potatoes, it is just such a major short cut for me. I'd like to can at least 120 pounds of potatoes, even though I will likely only be able to do 7 quarts per day. We will save so much money this way.

Day One:
Baked Ziti with Meatballs
Salad

Day Two:
Tacos

Day Three:
Pork Roast smothered in Candy sweet onions
Acorn Squash
Green Beans

Day Four:
Sirloin Steaks
Fried Potatoes
Broccoli

Day Five:
Beef Stew with Potatoes, Carrots, and Parsnips
Salad

Day Six:
Homemade Pizza with pepperoni, ham, sausage, bell peppers, and onions
Cole Slaw

Day Seven:
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Cole Slaw

This week will be a little different, since we will be eating on the road for two dinners (possibly just one). I am getting low on pork, but it is always on sale so we will be able to buy some on Friday before the scheduled Sunday dinner. I've got a good stock of chicken and chuck roasts. I'll be looking for sales on sirloin steak and pork when the ads come out tomorrow, so I can plan this payday's shopping trip accordingly.

Monday:
Spaghetti with Seasoned Ground Beef
Salad

Tuesday:
Probably Chik-fil-a since DH and DD both want to go there. I've never been so might do something else if I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of chicken sandwiches or nuggets. Maybe Taco Time so I can get a salad. Or just pack a sandwich and salad.

Wednesday:
I'm not sure if we will be home or not. So probably Taco Time/Wendy's if we are still on the road and if not we will make burgers and fries at home.

Thursday:
Baked Chicken
Roasted Potatoes
Green Beans

Friday:
Beef Stew with Potatoes and Carrots
Broccoli

Saturday:
Homemade Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, onions, bell peppers, and ham
Salad

Sunday:
Pork Shoulder Roast
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Broccoli

I am back on the meal planning band wagon after being sick. We ate out too much again while I wasn't feeling up to things because of my cold. Part of my problem is when I am sick, if I haven't planned what to make, I am too tired to figure stuff out. If I have a plan, I can at least not have that task to deal with. It seems like such a small thing, but mentally it is huge when you don't feel well.

Day One:
Carne Asada soft tacos
Pico de gallo
Salad

Day Two:
Baked Chicken
Corn on the Cob
Broccoli

Day Three:
Meatloaf
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans

Day Four:
Beef Chuck Roast
Acorn Squash
Broccoli

Day Five:
Spaghetti with Zucchini
Meatballs
Cole Slaw

Day Six:
Sirloin Steaks
Roasted Potatoes and Bell Peppers
Green Beans

Day Seven:
Pork Shoulder Roast
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Cole Slaw

I am working out my meal planning and my shopping list for the next two weeks. It's payday so it is shopping day. The sales are really crap this week, but I've got a lot of meat in the last two weeks that were on terrific sales. So I think my focus is going to be on getting some codfish, breakfast meats, fruits and vegetables. We want to go out to the u-pick apple place and pick up some apples on Saturday.

We really like the Hempler's breakfast sausage so I am going to stock up on that for the freezer. All of the frozen brands seem to have TBHQ or TBX in them and that makes 3 out of 4 of us react badly. And we might go to the farm on Saturday to get bacon as well. Nothing compares to their bacon and we can put down a down payment on a turkey for Thanksgiving while we are there. I have ham.

I do need to get a few of the 4 packs of broccoli steamer bags from Costco now that they are carrying them again, some strawberry jam, and some prosciutto.

I'd also like to get a couple acorn squash. I've been craving it and I didn't grow any this year. If the farm stand is still open I'd like to get a garlic braid, too. I want to plant some garlic this fall. Last year I didn't make it out there in time and missed the garlic. I could order it, but theirs is so good and keeps for about 9 months.

I really need to do a freezer inventory. That always helps with meal planning, and not buying stuff we don't need.

So I've been asked a couple times now, what I eat for breakfast and lunch, since I usually only post my dinner meal plans. Just this once I will post my other meals, too, but it does get kind of repetitive. Lately I've been making up a batch chorizo sausage and then I use about a 1/2 cup at a time until it is gone. I just warm it up in the skillet and then scramble a couple eggs into it. DS has some sometimes, too.

I also eat a lot of chef salads for lunches. Everyone sort of fends for themselves for the first two meals of the day, so this is what I eat for my meals. Tomorrow is pizza.

Monday--

Breakfast--Chroizo con Heuvoes, roasted daikon with parmesan

Lunch: Chicken and Bell pepper strips

Dinner: Penné Pasta with Chicken sausage and broccoli

Tuesday--

Breakfast: Chorizo con Heuvoes, cucumber slices

Lunch: Steak and bell pepper strips

Dinner: Chicken Fajitas with pico de gallo

Wednesday--

Breakfast: Chroizo con Huevoes, Fried Zucchini rounds

Lunch: Chef Salad

Dinner: Beef pot roast, mashed potatoes, and Normandy vegetables

Thursday--

Breakfast: Omelet with bell peppers, ham, and cheese

Lunch: Chef Salad

Dinner: Lamb Chops, leftover mashed potatoes, and green beans

Friday--

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, bacon, and cucumber slices

Lunch: Salmon patties, Fried Zucchini Rounds

Dinner: Pork Steaks with onions, baked potatoes, and broccoli

Saturday--

Breakfast: Sausage patties and zucchini/egg patties

Lunch: Chef Salad

Dinner: BBQ chicken wings, baked potatoes, and Normandy vegetables

Sunday--

Breakfast: Ham steak and cucumber slices

Lunch: Hamburger patty with cheese and dill pickle spears

Dinner: Pork roast with onions, carrots, and potatoes, and green beans

I have still been working away at using up the food in the inside freezers and planning my meals around that. I still have lots of frozen zucchini that I am working my way through and lots of packages of sausage so I will incorporate that into one meal this week. I do throw a handful of the zucchini into my baked omelet a few times a week for breakfast.

I am working my way through all the ground turkey as well, so there will be a couple of meals using that this week. I actually used some in Saturday's spaghetti, too. I think after this week I will have used up all the ground turkey, which has been in the freezer at least 3 months and it doesn't seem to last as long in the freezer as beef or pork.

Sunday:
Beef pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Leftover Normandy vegetables

Tuesday:
Turkey Tacos
Pico de gallo

Wednesday:
Turkey/Beef Meatloaf
Leftover mashed potatoes and gravy
Green Beans

Thursday:
Chicken Fajitas
Salad

Friday:
Penné Pasta with Zucchini and Sausage

Saturday:
Homemade Pizza
Homemade pull apart bread

My meal plan is heavily based upon what is in the freezers, at least as far as meat goes, for the next two weeks. I am hoping that I will only need to buy eggs, milk, bread, produce, tortillas, cheese, sausage, and ham, and that I will be able to keep the expenses down doing that. If there is a tremendous sale on something, like .99/lb, then I might buy meat, but I am going to try to avoid it. I just don't like passing up .99/lb pork roast.

I might do it for four weeks. It really depends on how much of the freezer I clear out. I wouldn't really call this an eat from the pantry challenge, since I will be buying stuff, but maybe an eat from the freezer challenge. I meant to post this yesterday.

Day One:
Beef pot roast
Baked potatoes
Normandy Vegetables
Oranges

Day Two:
Chili
Baked potatoes
Normandy Vegetables
Oranges

Day Three:
Baked Potato Soup with Bacon
Green Beans
Canned Pears

Day Four:
Hospital Food (we will be eating at the Virginia Mason cafeteria for dinner this night or possibly the hotel restaurant)

Day Five:
Pizza
Salad
Canned pineapple
(Whether or not the pizza is homemade depends on when we get home from Seattle. It might be take away, but if we get home at least by two I'll make it from scratch.)

Day Six:
BBQ Chicken Legs
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans
Oranges

Day Seven:
Lamb Chops
Fried Potatoes
Normandy Vegetables
Canned Pears

Day Eight:
Pork Roast
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans
Oranges

Day Nine:
Meat Loaf
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Normandy Vegetables
Oranges

Day Ten:
Penné Pasta with Sausage and Zucchini
Canned Pears

Day Eleven:
Beef Steaks
Herbed potatoes
Normandy Vegetables
Oranges

Day Twelve:
Chicken Enchiladas
Rice
Green Beans
Canned Pineapple

Day Thirteen:
Chicken Quesadillas
Rice
Pico de gallo
Salad

Day Fourteen:
Carne Asada Tacos
Rice
Pico de gallo
Salad

I took DD to the dentist today. She had to get the webbing clipped on that part of your mouth where the lower lip connects to the gum. It was starting to pull down the gum line on her two lower front teeth too far. It could have eventually exposed the roots of the teeth and she might have lost them due to them not being stable anymore. It was just a quick snip and a couple of stitches.

I am not sure how much it will cost us. Probably $50 for the co-pay, but they didn't collect anything while we were there. I wish our previous dentist had brought this up before. The new guy seems a little more on the ball. I mean, when he pointed it out to me, you could really see where the damage was being caused, it is an obvious thing that a dentist should have noticed before this. Unless maybe it wasn't as obvious and just got really bad in the last year.

I did actually break my no take out rule. I bought my daughter two milkshakes because she wasn't allowed to eat solids for the rest of the day and she wanted something cold to numb it. I really didn't want to go to the grocery store because it was raining hard, so we went to DQ.

I also spent $27.33 on prescriptions today, including a numbing mouth wash from the dentist for her. That came out of the medical account, though.

We still have not heard anything from the gyno's surgery scheduler. Hopefully we will hear from them this week. I know the doctor wasn't in her office for the last two weeks, but everyone was supposed to be back on Monday. The insurance company was probably pretty much closed down between Christmas and New Year's as well. If I don't hear from them by Friday I'll give a call on Monday.

I am still waiting to get a bill from DS's sleep study. It looks like it will be around $400 based on what the insurance company sent me for what they covered, but I'd like to get the bill so that it can be taken care of. The insurance statement only came on Monday. Everyone is behind because of the holidays, I think.

Mom called her insurance company today and has a claim number we can use. We will take the truck in soon to get an estimate and then schedule repairs. Fortunately, the damage is just cosmetic except for the bumper and while the license plate is dented in badly, it is still readable. We will leave that until we get new plates. Washington state requires new license plate numbers every 5 years (and they wonder why we are running out of numbers on our plates. They used to just be six digits and now they are seven because of this rule. Well, actually, we better make sure a new plate would even be attachable. I'll mention that to DH so he can mention it to the repair guy.

I did change my meal plan tonight since DD can't eat solids, to penné pasta with chicken sausage, since she can't eat the chicken sausage or tomatoes. I have a ton of sausage in the freezer that used to be something she could eat, but she can't anymore.

Oh, Alliecat79, this was a super easy Instant Pot meal. Just take two pints of diced tomatoes with their juice and add them to your pot, then dump in a box of penné pasta, then put in two jars of spaghetti sauce covering the pasta. Put an inch of water in each jar, put the lid on, shake up, and then dump the contents into the pot. Between that and the tomato juice there is enough liquid to make the steam so adding more is not necessary. Cut up some sausage links and put on top. On the manual setting, set the time for 12 minutes. Do a quick release when done and then stir it all up. That's it. (Sometimes I throw in a couple handfuls of frozen zucchini, too). Oh, and make sure you spray the liner pot with olive oil before you start. It makes clean up much easier.

I have a goal of no eating out for the next two weeks and then will hopefully continue that for the whole month. I'll take it one step at a time, though, and the first step was planning out all the meals for the next two weeks. Part of me wanted to do the eat from the pantry challenge that some of my youtube buddies are doing, but part of me did not want to add that on top of my recovery. I am still weak from that illness and still very tired. I don't think I should make things extra difficult at the moment so I'm not.

I will need to pick up a few items at the start of week two, like plain Greek yogurt and dill for the Tzatziki sauce, more organic iceberg lettuce, and more potatoes. I usually only buy 13 pounds of potatoes a week, because that is all that will fit in the storage bin and since we eat a lot of potatoes, that usually doesn't make it the full two weeks. It might make it ten days, but sometimes only a week. It depends on whether or not I make hashbrowns or potatoes O'Brien for breakfast or not.

We don't eat much in the way of bread, and two of us can't eat beans or lectins (inflammation for me, gasteropaeresis for my daughter), so potatoes are one of our main carbs around here, along with rice, and sweet potatoes, with the occasional pasta.

Day One:
Chicken and Green Beans Stir-fry (has onions)
Rice
Home Canned Pears

Day Two:
Ribeye Steaks
Baked Potatoes
Broccoli
Canned Pineapple

Day Three:
Spaghetti with Ground Beef
Salad
Oranges

Day Four:
Pork Carnitas
Cole Slaw
Apples

Day Five:
Air-Fried Chicken Legs
Roasted Potatoes, Bell Peppers, and Onions
Green Beans
Oranges

Day Six:
Chicken Tater Tot Casserole
Broccoli
Home Canned Nectarines

Day Seven:
Beef Pot Roast
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Broccoli
Oranges

Day Eight:
Homemade Pizza with Pepperoni, Sausage, Ham, Yellow Onions, Bell Peppers, and Spinach
Cole Slaw
Canned Pineapple

Day Nine:
Pork Roast
Baked Potatoes
Home Canned Pears

Day Ten:
Chicken Zucchini Alfredo Bake
Apples

Day Eleven:
Fried Codfish
Fried Potatoes
Cole Slaw
Home Canned Nectarines

Day Twelve:
Chicken Shawarma
Homemade Pita Bread
Homemade Tzatziki
Cole Slaw
Home Canned Pears

Day Thirteen:
Cheeseburgers with Homemade Buns
French Fries
Salad
Oranges

Day Fourteen:
Sausage with Bell Peppers and Onions
Salad
Apples

So DH's end of year bonus will be $1600 in cash, but that is before taxes, so not sure what it will be afterwards. Bonuses get taxed weirdly, I believe at 25%, so we'll only see $1200 of that, though some of it will come back in our tax refund. He will also get 1 percent of all wages earned put into his 401K with 100% matching, since we haven't hit 5% of income on our own yet. That will only be based on his earned wages since becoming a permanent employee, and he became one in July, I think.

His last paycheck says he has earned $37,192.50 since becoming a permanent employee, and it is probably going to be calculated after Friday's paycheck. So we should end up with something over $800 extra into the 401K. Nice little chunk of change. It's been a few years since DH has worked with a company that did bonuses. If it is calculated after the last paycheck of the month than it will be closer to $1000.

My cold seems to have moved up into my head now. After driving yesterday I decided I don't want to drive today in the storm we are having. I thought I was ready to drive yesterday, but I had trouble focusing and ended up running a red light. Thankfully it was at an empty intersection and no cops were around. That is the first time in my life I have run a red light. So clearly I am not clear-headed enough to drive yet. I will wait until Thursday before I try again assuming the cold continues to vacate the premises and I am not a dizzy-headed mess.

Tonight for dinner I am making beef pot roast in the Instant Pot, steamed potatoes in the Power Cooker XL, and broccoli in the microwave. No baby-sitting, no fuss, very little mess. It is nice having two electric pressure cookers when I don't have a stove. It makes things much easier for me.

I hope I am with it enough by Friday to do the banking and the grocery shopping. We are getting low on some items and with DH heading out to MIL's after work to work on cleaning out her attic and garage, he isn't able to do the shopping either. I'm making due, but it would be nice to have fresh greens again. I have enough potatoes, carrots, and plenty of onions to last the rest of the week, and I have canned green beans, and there are oranges and apples, so we won't go without. But it isn't salad. I might have cabbage, though. I could do cole slaw instead if I do.

I have a ton of canned, frozen, and freeze dried foods, but sometimes you just want that fresh produce factor in the middle of winter. We are getting low on bread and milk, though I think it will just make it to Friday. I am meal planning carefully, but I think we will pull it off okay.

I made up another two week meal plan to go with my two week shopping plan. I also made my plan based on what I have on hand and what is available in the garden right now. There is a good chicken sale this week so we will be having a lot of chicken stir-fries. There is also shrimp and cod on sale and pot roasts. I will buy two extra for later in the month as I can't beat $3.99/lb on those.

Day One:
Beef Pot Roast
Baked Potatoes
Roasted Zucchini
Fresh Plums (from the garden)

Day Two:
5 Spice Chicken Stir-fry with Vegetables
Rice
Fresh Plums

Day Three:
Chinese Pepper Steak
Rice
Fresh Plums

Day Four:
Char Sui
Herbed Potatoes
Green Beans
Cantaloupe

Day Five:
Baked Chicken
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Broccoli
Cantaloupe

Day Six:
Sirloin Steaks
Jamaican Stir-fried Cabbage
Roasted Potatoes
Pears

Day Seven:
Garlic Chicken and Green Beans Stir-fry
Sweet Potatoes
Pears

Day Eight:
Spaghetti with Meatballs
Garlic Bread
Salad
Apples

Day Nine:
BBQ Meatloaf
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Canned Pineapple

Day Ten:
Homemade Pizza
Cole Slaw
Fresh Plums

Day Eleven:
Tacos
Canned Pineapple

Day Twelve:
Penne Pasta with Sausage, Zucchini, and Tomatoes
Fresh Plums

Day Thirteen:
Fish and Chips
Cole Slaw
Pears

Day Fourteen:
Shrimp Scampi
Vegetable Skewers
Roasted Root Vegetables

I think I am really going to like this two week meal planning/shopping business. I just have to plan really well, but if we can stay out of the grocery store I can definitely see the savings adding up. I think next time I will do an even better job, but I am just happy I came under budget and will still be able to have some pretty delicious, varied, spectacular meals.

Day One:
Chicken Fajitas
Tortillas

Day Two
Sirloin Steak
Roasted Potatoes
Zucchini (garden)

Day Three
Teriyaki/BBQ chicken wings (Instant Pot)
Fried Potatoes
Green beans (garden)

Day Four
Chicken Shawarma
Pita Bread
Tzatziki Sauce
Cole slaw

Day Five
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Garlic Toast
Salad

Day Six
Shrimp Scampi (Instant Pot)
Garlic Toast
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans (garden)

Day Seven
Beef Kabobs
Veggie Kabobs

Day Eight
Chicken Fettucine Alfredo (Instant Pot)
Broccoli

Day Nine
Sausage
Bell Peppers and Onions
Potatoes
All cooked together in the Instant Pot

Day Ten
Cheeseburgers
French Fries
Salad

Day Eleven
Beef Cross Rib Roast
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans (garden)

Day Twelve
Penne Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Zucchini
All cooked together in the Instant Pot

Day Thirteen
Chicken Shawarma
Pita Bread
Tzatziki
Zucchini (garden)

Day Fourteen
Fried Chicken
Fried Potatoes and Peppers
Zucchini (garden)

I'm starting to get a nice supply of vegetables from the garden and should have enough to do the veggies from five dinners from it this week. We may get sick of zucchini, but that usually doesn't happen until the end of the summer. Besides one day it will be in sauce, one day it will be baked, and one day it will be fried, so that should be good variation. I am just happy the broccoli survived the aphids.

Day One:
Pork Chops with Onions and Bell Peppers
Corn on the Cob
Broccoli (from the garden!)

Day Two:
Baked Chicken
Fried Potatoes
Baked Zucchini

Day Three:
Spaghetti (w/Zucchini in the Sauce)
Meatballs
Cole Slaw

Day Four:
Chicken Shawarma (so loving this!)
Pita Bread
Tzatziki Sauce
Fried Zucchini (from the garden!)

Day Five:
Tacos (lettuce from the garden!)

Day Six:
Chili over Baked Potatoes

Day Seven:
Ham
Baked Potato Soup
Green Beans

I do find life and sticking to a budget, especially the grocery budget, goes so much better with a meal plan in place. I may or may not make these in order. I don't always stick to my days, but I do tend to stick to what's on my list, although sometimes I will swap the sides around. If I get lazy one day or my RA flares up and I am exhausted, my possible sub out meal will be Belgian waffles and ham and cucumber slices. It's an easy one that DS or DD can make if I can't.

Monday:
Fried Chicken
Corn on the cob
Broccoli
Cherries

Tuesday:
Beef rump roast
Baked sweet potatoes
Green beans
Cherries

Wednesday:
Enchiladas
Spanish Rice
Cole Slaw
Canned pineapple

Thursday:
Chicken Shawarma
Homemade pita bread
Homemade Tzatziki sauce
Cole Slaw
Canned pears

Friday:
Pork steaks
Fried potatoes
Green beans
Watermelon

Saturday:
Homemade pizza with sweet yellow onions, bell peppers, fresh basil, pepperoni, sausage, and ham
Cole slaw
Watermelon

Sunday:
Picnic Ham
Mashed potatoes and ham gravy
Green beans
Watermelon

We have a variety of fruit right now, strawberries, cherries, oranges, apples, and bananas, so I'm not assigning fruits to any one night. Everyone will take a serving of fruit of their choice with each dinner. The Chicken Alfredo was a new recipe and made in the Instant Pot. We actually had that for dinner tonight, since today is day one. It was a hit. I'm glad because it was super simple.

Day One:
Chicken Fettucine Alfredo

Day Two:
Homemade Pizza with pepperoni, ham, sausage, sweet yellow onions, and bell peppers
Cole slaw

Day Three:
Beef Stew with potatoes, carrots, and celery
Cole slaw

Day Four:
Pork steaks
Fried Potatoes
Roasted Zucchini and Summer Squash

Day Five:
Meatloaf
Potatoes and gravy
Broccoli/Caulifower

Day Six:
Shrimp Kabobs
Onion and Bell Pepper Kabobs

Day Seven:
Tacos

Here are my menus for dinner starting tonight. I don't necessarily make these in the order I've listed. While I like having a plan in place for the week because it allows me to stick to the grocery budget, I don't particularly like being tied down every single night of the week, so I just check off whichever meal I make and then the next day choose from the list. Sometimes I go in order and sometimes I don't.

It gives me a little more freedom if I don't feel like making something more intensive that night and want to make an easier one off the list, without completely flying by the seat of my pants. I also have a couple of back up meals I can always rotate in if I don't feel good for ease of making by someone else. One is pancakes and ham and the other is tacos, though tacos are super easy even when I don't feel well if I make them in the electric pressure cooker. No baby-sitting after the initial browning stage.

Day One:
Homemade chili using all freeze dried foods (has veggies in it, shredded cheese on top)
Baked Potatoes

Day Two:
Brined apricot rabbit legs
Fried potatoes
Green beans

Day Three:
Fried chicken
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Broccoli/Cauliflower

Day Four:
Chicken Stir-fry (lots of veggies)
Rice

Day Five:
Homemade pizza with turkey ham, pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, and onions
Salad (from the garden)

Day Six:
Beef stew (potatoes, carrots, celery, onions)
Salad (from the garden)

Day Seven:
Spaghetti with Meatballs
Garlic Bread
Salad

If SavingAdvice logs me out one more time I am going to scream. It shouldn't do it every five minutes. I wish they would fix the blogs, already. So many things are broken here.

I built my meal plan mostly around things we have on hand this week and then made my grocery list based on what I need to fill into the meal plan, what I need to add for lunches, and then a few staples I need. The grocery budget will be set at $175 a week for now and the household budget, which includes things like toilet paper, personal care items, Ziplocs, and detergent, will be set at $50 a week. Once I go shopping I will list what I got and how much I actually spent.

Day One:
Tacos (everything on hand for this)
Canned Pineapples (on hand)

Day Two:
Chicken Wings (on hand)
Fried Potatoes with bell peppers and onions
Cole slaw (all ingredients on hand)
Canned Pears (on hand)

Day Three:
Lamb Kabobs (lamb roast in the freezer)
Veggie Kabobs of purple onions and bell peppers

Day Four:
Turkey Legs (in the freezer)
Mashed Potatoes and Homemade Gravy
Canned Green Beans (on hand)
Sugared Strawberries (in the freezer)

Day Five:
BBQ Pork Steaks (in the freezer) smothered in onions
Baked Potaoes
Cole slaw (ingredients on hand)
Sugared Strawberries (in the freezer)

Day Six:
Spaghetti with one jar of Vodka sauce and one jar of marinara sauce (all in the cupboard)
Chicken Meatballs
Salad (lettuce from the garden)

Day Seven:
Shrimp Kabobs (big bag of shrimp in the freezer)
Veggie Kabobs of purple onions and bell pepeprs

I built my meal plan mostly around things we have on hand this week and then made my grocery list based on what I need to fill into the meal plan, what I need to add for lunches, and then a few staples I need. The grocery budget will be set at $175 a week for now and the household budget, which includes things like toilet paper, personal care items, Ziplocs, and detergent, will be set at $50 a week. Once I go shopping I will list what I got and how much I actually spent.

Day One:
Tacos (everything on hand for this)
Canned Pineapples (on hand)

Day Two:
Chicken Wings (on hand)
Fried Potatoes with bell peppers and onions
Cole slaw (all ingredients on hand)
Canned Pears (on hand)

Day Three:
Lamb Kaboabs (lamb roast in the freezer)
Veggie Kabobs of purple onions and bell peppers

Day Four:
Turkey Legs (in the freezer)
Mashed Potatoes and Homemade Gravy
Canned Green Beans (on hand)
Sugared Strawberries (in the freezer)

Day Five:
BBQ Pork Steaks (in the freezer) smothered in onions
Baked Potaoes
Cole slaw (ingredients on hand)
Sugared Strawberries (in the freezer)

Day Six:
Spaghetti with one jar of Vodka sauce and one jar of marinara sauce (all in the cupboard)
Chicken Meatballs
Salad (lettuce from the garden)

Day Seven:
Shrimp Kabobs (big bag of shrimp in the freezer)
Veggie Kabobs of purple onions and bell pepeprs

I made another great meal tonight. My new focus on not eating out (i.e. hemorrhaging money through the drive thru window) is paying off, but I don't think it would be going so well without the electric pressure cooker. I did my potatoes in there, tonight. All I did was quarter some baby reds, toss them with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley, put a cup of water in the pressure cooker, put in the steamer basket, and pressure cook them for 10 minutes. They were delicious and yet so easy and tasty. I've found out I can make mashed potatoes in there, too, which will be quite a boon.

Then I made up some Morrocan spice rub and rubbed down some chicken legs with it and cooked them in the Nuwave oven. Chicken legs only take 30 minutes in the Nuwave. The chicken was pretty good, but I think it needed salt in addition to the rub. Next time I will do that since I have quite a bit of the rub left. There was enough chicken left over that I can make some chicken soup tomorrow.

I did spend some money today as I was in need of ground cloves, coriander, and cinnamon. Cloves are expensive, but fortunately a little goes a long way so it lasts much longer than my other spices. So $35 on spices.

I'm going to have to spring for a package of goat butter pretty soon. That's $11 for 8 ounces, but it lasts me a long time. I don't use it too often, I just like it on the rare occasions I actually make toast, which is only once or twice a month, usually. I am the only one who eats it. Well, I will make sure I do a complete check through of the freezers first, just in case I have one squirreled away in there, but I'm pretty sure I don't. I usually only buy one at a time. It's not a stock up item.

DH built me some new pantry storage shelves, so I am in the process of filling them and rearranging some of my other food supplies. Right now I have long-term storage mixed in with the working pantry, which is a pain in the neck. This should get that straightened out.

I need to work on the garden this weekend as well. It is time to get lettuce, spinach, green onions, kale, chard, and radishes going. There is some volunteer spinach coming up, but I need to transplant it, because it is not where I want it. I hope it stops raining long enough for me to do that. It cleared up this afternoon so I am hoping the weather holds and I am feeling up to it.

Today I finally made it to Costco. I've been sick for about 3 weeks, so this was the first day I really felt capable of doing a shopping trip. I ended up spending $325, but bought toilet paper, batteries, and vitamins, which always drives up the cost of a Costco trip. I did get quite a few staples, though. I had to buy some diced tomatoes for the first time in two years. I hope this is a good tomato year in the garden, because I need to can like crazy.

After that I went to the dollar tree and bought a case of soup, a case of mini-ravioli, and a couple boxes of sandwich bags. I spent $26 there.

Then we went to the regular grocery store to pick up bread, hot dogs, and milk. I don't like Costco bread choices or their milk. But they had a ton of turkey on sale. They usually do after any big holiday. This was legs and wings, so I bought all they had. They did have white meat, too, but we don't care for that. I spent $120 there.

I made up some of the turkey tonight in the pressure cooker and froze the rest. I seasoned it with garlic salt, granulated onion, and pepper. It was fantastic and just falling off the bone tender. I only put 2 cups of water in with it, but it made a bunch of broth. I ended up with 1 quart of broth. I saved it and will use it to make rice tomorrow. I'm going to do an arroz con pollo dish, but with turkey instead of chicken for dinner tomorrow.

I saved the bones and will make bone broth with them tomorrow or the next day. I threw them in the freezer, just in case life doesn't go to plan, so that they won't get lost in the fridge for a week and be unusable. I hope to get five or six quarts out of it to can. I am low on broth again, since I've been using a lot of it the last three weeks. It is so much easier to make in the pressure cooker than in the crock pot or on the stove.

I hope I continue to feel better. I got so behind on everything when I could barely get out of bed. Yesterday was the first day I showered in 6 days I was so bad. Thank heavens for baby wipes.

I have gotten away from meal planning lately and I do think it is a big factor on why we are getting too much take out, so I am going to get back to it. If I hadn't gotten my Power Pressure Cooker for my birthday I think we'd be getting even more take out. That thing makes it so easy to cook. I couldn't afford the Instant Pot that I wanted, but I could afford the 8 quart Power cooker that I got.

So far I've been quite happy with the decision and Instant Pot recipes are easily converted. I do want to get some of the inserts, though, so I'm saving up for those. I also do want to get the $400 Instant Pot one day, but that day is not going to be any time soon.

I think at least four meals a week are being cooked in the pressure cooker. Sometimes the full meal or sometimes I'll make baked potatoes or some other vegetable in the Nuwave oven. These two products alone have really simplified my life, not having an actual oven or stove to cook on. The electric skillet and the crock pot get some use as well, but the first two are my go to machines right now. Well, that and the microwave for steamer bags or canned veggies.

Discovering I can make spaghetti and other pastas in the pressure cooker has just simplified my life so much. Not to mention cooking a roast in less than an hour. Or a lava cake using Swerve instead of sugar. Anyway, I hope making a meal plan again will snap me out of some of the bad habits I have fallen back into.

Sunday:
Spaghetti and Meatballs (PC)
Salad

Monday:
Rabbit Stir-fry
Stir-fried Rice

Tuesday:
Enchiladas (Freezer Meal)
Cole Slaw

Wednesday:
Pork Roast (PC)
Fried Potatoes
Broccoli and Cauliflower

Thursday:
Chicken Fajitas (Crockpot Freezer Meal)

Friday:
Air-fried Duck Breast (NW)
Fried Potatoes
Broccoli/Cauliflower

Saturday:
BBQ Pork Chops (PC)
Baked Potatoes (NW)
Brussels Sprouts

Sunday:
Lamb Roast (PC)
Baked Potatoes (NW)
Green Beans

Well, I did it. I got my hair cut to my collarbone. It was a foot or so of hair taken off. I had it thinned and layered and the curls are just crazy bouncy now. I am very happy with it. I can't remember being this happy with a haircut in a couple of decades. It is easy to care for and simple to style, though it takes more time than just braiding it or putting it up in pony tail. It just looks so nice that I don't care if it takes me an extra 10 minutes to curl it around my face.

Mom is home from the hospital and doing very well. She is only taking Tylenol for the pain and hasn't needed anything else. She is getting around very well and able to do much for herself. I am so happy. This is way easier than the shoulder surgery or the knee surgery.

We had quite a lot of overtime on the paycheck yesterday. As quickly as it comes in it is gone.

$255.00 Tithe
_474.36 AMEX (in full)
__56.61 Garbage (2 months)
_876.93 BoA Visa (in full)
_124.75 BoA MC (in full)
1000.00 Citi Visa (not in full, but not due until 4/3)
-----------
$2782.65 Total Money Out

This is over the amount of the paycheck. Mom and MIL both reimbursed us for stuff we bought for them so we had an extra $310 in checking from that.

As for Murphy, DH got a flat tire. He got a piece of metal in the tire. He's down at the shop now seeing about the repair. I don't know how much it will cost or if it will cost anything. Tire shops are weird that way. Sometimes they fix flats for free, depending on how bad the damage is. I am hoping we won't have to get new tires. This is on his father's truck that we technically have inherited, but we haven't taken the title to it yet. MIL is going to pay off the loan on it when the life insurance money comes in, but it hasn't yet. After that, we will take ownership of it.

If we have to buy new tires we will buy them from Costco. Still the cheapest place for tires I've ever found and good quality ones, too. I have loved the ones they put on the van. They drive very well. But I sure hope that expense is not one we have to shell out for right now.

DD's bed broke. The box spring and the frame collapsed. It's an old bed, a hand me down from my mother. We can't afford a new bed now. MIL has a bed we can take, but it has to be excavated first. She has so much junk in that room. The bed is covered with it and the path to the bed is covered with it. FIL was a real pack rat and MIL still is.

So after the tire is repaired, DH and DS will take the truck out to MIL's and try to get the bed out.

DD's surgery is scheduled for the 9th of April. We have to have $300 paid before then. Her deductible is $500. She's met some of it, and will meet some more with the pre-op appointment so $300 is what they reckon will be left to meet. The doctor's portion of the surgery itself costs $5449, but we won't have to pay all of that. The surgery center is supposed to get me a quote on their portion. I don't know about the doctor who administers the anesthesia. I believe our out of pocket is capped at $3000 per person. It might be $5000, though.

We still haven't been able to get the HSA to issue a corrected form. I think at this point we are just going to put the proper amount on the taxes and keep our fingers crossed that no on notices that proper form isn't there. And if we ever have an HSA again, it won't be there because they really don't know how to pull their heads out and do their jobs.

Otherwise, still muddling along. Still thinking I need to make up a meal plan, but still not doing it. I ended up throwing out a lot of veg and leftovers this week and so I really need to get back on top of the food waste issue. I kind of really let things go for a couple of weeks. I need to not do that, because is just wastes so much money. Some went to the ducks, some to the compost, and few things had to be binned.

I have been watching a show this week called Eat Well for Less. It is British. I found a couple of episodes on youtube and a few others elsewhere. It's a really good show. It focuses on fixing a family's food budget. It deals with brand addiction, food waste, picky eating, shopping without checking the pantry and fridge first, everyone eating different meals instead of the same meal, all of that stuff.

I found it very informative. And it gave me the incentive I needed to try to get my act back together again. I've got all my veggies that were left after cleaning the fridge prepped and ready to go so that it can get used up this week and not wasted. I am going to plan my meals around that when I finally sit down and make my meal plan tonight.

I don't need to buy any meat this week. I may need to buy salad greens and bananas, but I may hold off on the bananas because we have plenty of oranges and apples. I'd like some blackberries, though. Oh, I've got some freeze-dried ones. Those will do nicely. We have freeze-dried bananas, too, if it comes to that.

I've been working on a comprehensive list of what I am going to grow, can, dehydrate, freeze, and purchase this year for food. The freeze-dried list is for long-term food storage as we are working on building a 1 year supply for four people. It might take us more than one year to build that supply, though. Some people might think that is nuts, but you know, we did not need to worry about food at all for the ten months DH was unemployed and I really liked that. Of course, if DH's job doesn't last past mid-March, then buying all of the freeze-dried food will be put on hold.

The other is food for the year and in the case of green beans, some extra. We had a bad bean year last year all over the county because of the weather being irregular and I didn't plant any last year, either. Fortunately, I had canned enough in 2015 and 2016 to have plenty for 2017, but we are running low and it is one of my go-to veggies, so I plan to do extra.

What I plan to can:

Green beans--156 quarts (half cut, half French-style)
Yukon gold potatoes--104 quarts
Diced Tomatoes--52 pints
Radishes--7 pints
Parsnips--28 pints
Carrots--52 pints
Celery--52 pints
Italian Plums--14 quarts (more if tree produces more)
Pears--102 quarts
Strawberry Jelly--24 pints
Bumbleberry Jelly--6 half-pints
Dandelion Jelly--6 pints
Apricots--24 pints
Blueberry Pie Filling--14 quarts
Apple Pie Filling--7 quarts
Peaches--28 quarts
Rabbit--52 quarts
Chicken--52 pints
Beef Chunks--52 quarts
Salmon--21 pints or 42 half-pints
Ham--14 half-pints
Ground Beef--30 pints
Lamb--7 quarts
Beef broth--21 quarts
Turkey/Chicken broth--52 quarts
Rabbit Broth--52 quarts
Onion Stock--21 quarts

What I plan to freeze:
Gold Rush Zucchini--40 packages
Onions--30 packages sliced
Bell Peppers--52 packages sliced
Poblanos--1 gallon, diced
Jalapenos--2 gallons, diced
Snow peas--25 packages
1/2 a beef
1 whole hog
1 whole lamb
30 whole chickens
2 whole turkeys
120 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
80 pounds ground turkey (1 lb packages)
200 pounds of rabbit meat

Dehydrating Plan:
1 quart sweet basil
1 pint Thai basil
1 pint sage
1 quart powdered oregano
4 quarts diced garlic (will make powder as needed from this)
4 quarts diced ginger (will make powder as needed from this)
1/2 pint of thyme
1 pint of marjoram
1 pint of rosemary
1 quart Italian parsley
1 quart curly parsley
1 pint cilantro
2 quarts bee balm petals
2 quarts bee balm leaves
2 quarts calendula petals
2 quarts whole calendula flowers
2 quarts Echinacea
2 quarts yarrow
2 quarts comfrey
1 pint celery powder
2 quarts celery leaves
2 quarts raspberry leaves

Freeze Dried Food Plan:

6 #10 cans of sausage crumbles
6 #10 cans of ground beef crumbles
12 #10 cans of small diced beef
6 #10 cans of chicken dices
24 #10 cans of onion dices
6 #10 cans of mixed bell peppers
6 #10 cans of white flour
6 #10 cans of whole wheat flour
6 #10 cans of celery
6 #10 cans of carrot dices
6 #10 cans of yogurt bites (pomegranate and black cherry)
6 #10 cans of instant white rice
6 #10 cans of instant brown rice
6 #10 cans of pure cane sugar
6 #10 cans of brown sugar
2 pantry cans of Instant dry yeast
6 #10 cans of potato dices

I am debating on whether or not I will grow squash or not, other than zucchini. It takes up a lot of space and is very cheap to buy, so probably not.