Basing a lot of my meals this week on using up meat in the freezer to make room for upcoming harvests and the possibility of getting a half a beef in December (the latest the ranch has them available until Spring). I want to make a goal of not buying any meat at the grocery store at least until August. I don't see any reason we need to do that, based on supplies on hand.

Wednesday:
Cheatloaf
Green beans
Nectarines

Thursday:
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Coleslaw

Friday:
Tacos
Strawberries

Saturday:
Roasted chicken
Baked potatoes
Broccoli
Nectarines

Sunday:
Crockpot roast beef
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Strawberries
Green beans

Monday:
Pork chops
Fried potatoes
Watermelon
Cole slaw

Tuesday:
Leftover mish-mash and if no leftovers (ha!), then toasted ham and cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup

I think after this week I will be ready to start incorporating rabbit into our meals. I figured it would take me a couple of weeks to get over growing and slaughtering our own mean and I'm feeling about there now. Apparently this is a very common phenomenon in people who have never really farmed or raised livestock for food before.

An earlier post reminded me to do this. I am taking major advantage of the local strawberry season and the cheap watermelons coming up from California. Wednesday's chicken will also go into Thursday's casserole and I will make Saturday's soup from the chicken carcass. I really hope I like the casserole. It is a new recipe. If I like it, it will be good for making rabbit leftovers into something else, too.

Tuesday:
Meatloaf
Green beans
Canned corn
Strawberries

Wednesday:
Whole chicken roasted with oregano and basil
Roasted potatoes and carrots
Roasted broccoli and cauliflower
Watermelon

Thursday:
Italian Chicken Casserole
Cole slaw
Strawberries

Friday:
Beef stir-fry with yellow, red, and orange bell peppers, and onions
Watermelon

Saturday:
Homemade chicken noodle soup
Toasted ham and cheese sandwiches on homemade bread
Strawberries

Sunday:
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Stir-fried green beans
Homemade blueberry cornbread muffins with homemade apricot jam

Monday:
Bacon cheeseburgers on homemade buns
Homemade French fries
Cole slaw
Strawberries

I'm cooking this week with an eye towards increasing freezer space. I will be roasting a chicken to use for lunches this week along with the leftover ham I cooked overnight. Ultimately I'll need to have enough space in the freezer for 6 whole rabbits that will likely dress out at 4 pounds each or about the size of a large whole chicken.

I also will make chicken stock with the remains of the chicken so I can freeze it in pints. One of my favorite ways to cook rabbit is in the crockpot with a pint of chicken broth made from our free range, organic chicken bones. I am almost out. I just have 2 pints left.

Anyway, here are the dinner meals planned for the week.

Monday:
Ham and potato soup
Green beans
Bananas

Tuesday:
Tacos (both crisp and soft tortilla shells)
Watermelon

Wednesday:
Salmon
Asparagus
Cantaloupe

Thursday:
Homemade pizza (onions, ham, pepper strips, pepperoni)
Cole slaw

Friday:
Pork chops
Fried potatoes
Cole slaw
Strawberries

Saturday:
Beef and broccoli stir-fry
Pineapple

Sunday:
Crockpot beef chuck roast
Blueberry corn bread muffins
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Broccoli/cauliflower

I am very much utilizing the fact that strawberries are in season this week. Technically they are not in season yet here, that'll be another two to three weeks, so I'm a little outside of my local foodshed. But California is at least on my west coast foodshed and I'll do an awful lot for fresh strawberries. Except, apparently, get them planted yet again this year.

Honestly I haven't been very good about getting my veggies and fruits in the local foodshed the past few months. I think I just had some major weariness trying after winter ended. It is nice to try to be more sustainable and ethical in my food choices, but sometimes you really just want the darn pineapple from Hawaii.

I am, at least, keeping my meats inside my local foodshed, which is the most important part of it to me. I haven't had meat from more than 30 miles away in over a year, I know exactly where it has been raised, how it has been treated, and by what farmer. That makes me happy. If my organic carrots come from Cali than so be it.

Anyway...

Monday:
Roast chicken
Roast potatoes and carrots
Baked asparagus
Strawberries

Tuesday:
Chicken enchiladas
Salad
Bananas

Wednesday:
Baked salmon
Green beans
Oranges
Fried potatoes (from leftover roasted)

Thursday:
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Cole slaw
Strawberries

Friday:
Meatball sandwiches
Cole slaw
Pineapple

Saturday:
Homemade pizza (ham, onions, bell peppers)
Green beans
Bananas

Sunday:
Barbecued chicken
Broccoli/cauliflower/corn/asparagus baked in foil packets

Tuesday:
Barbecue chicken (I'm totally cheating with this. I am grilling boneless skinless thighs on the George Foreman grill and then pouring barbecue sauce on top of them. It's easy and fast and I'm definitely into that this week after spending the long weekend with a stomach virus.
Pineapple
Baked potatoes (in the microwave, again, a time saver)
Green beans

Wednesday:
Homemde pizza (yellow bell pepper strips, yellow onions, ham)
Pineapple
Cole slaw

Thursday:
Beef Ribs
Baked potatoes
Broccoli/cauliflower

Friday:
Bacon cheeseburgers
Fried potatoes (from leftover baked)
Cole slaw

Saturday:
Grilled pork chops
Watermelon
Fried potatoes (from leftover baked)
Salad

Sunday:
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Drop biscuits with choice of homemade jams
Broccoli/cauliflower

Monday:
Tropical Chicken Stir-fry
Blueberry cornbread muffins

Goodness, it's practically Tuesday. I used to be very good at posting these every Sunday. Oh, well. I guess I'll just post Tuesday through Monday this week instead. I am trying a few new recipes out as well as using a couple standbys this week. It kind of felt like we were getting into a rut so I wanted to change things up.

I'm trying two new recipes from the Owlhaven blog and the good California (organic) strawberries are in, so will be using those a good bit this week.

Tuesday--
Homemade Pizza (pepperoni, ham, onions, and peppers)
Cole slaw
Pineapple

Wednesday--
Thai Beef Chard Wraps

Monday--
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Salad
Strawberries

Tuesday--
Pork chops
Fried potatoes
Applesauce
Broccoli

Wednesday--
Beef stir-fry (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, green beans, bean sprouts)
Oranges

Thursday--
Homeamde pizza (pepperoni, ham, onions, bell pepper strips)
Salad

Friday--
Barbecue chicken
Pineapple
Coleslaw

Saturday--
Bacon cheeseburgers
Cucumber slices or homemade pickles
Homemade French fries

Sunday--
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Blueberry cornbread muffins
Green beans

I have managed to get all of my spreadsheets updated, closing out April, creating and filling in the first bills from May, and updating my EF/Holding Tank spreadsheet. My checkbook is balanced and it seems there will be a slight surplus of money even before we hit the extra payday for the month on the 31st. I plan to divide it between the Emergency Fund, the Appliance Fund, and the College Fund.

The slight surplus is because we won't be going to the farm this month, so that $300 I usually spend will not be spent. I need to work on using up the food that is our freezer because in about two weeks I am going to need that space for our butchered rabbits. So this week's meal plans will be based on using up that meat.

Monday--
Lamb chops
Fried potatoes
Green Beans
Bananas

Tuesday--
Tacos
Oranges

Wednesday--
Open face meatball sandwiches
Cole slaw
Grapes

Thursday--
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Broccoli/Cauliflower

Friday--
Beef stir-fry
Oranges

Saturday--
Bacon cheeseburgers
Homemade Fries
Bananas

Sunday--
Roasted Duck
Baked potatoes
Green beans
Drop biscuits with choice of jam

The wing of the house we live in is connected to the main house by two steps. They are very big steps, one foot deep by four feet long. Last night I managed to miss the top step and went sprawling forward at a 45 degree angle. I put my hands out to stop myself against the furnace closet doors and that did slow me down for a second, but then I went all the way down onto my knees and managed to end up on my elbows, too, somehow.

It took me five minutes to get myself together. I had to scoot on my butt to the bathroom because I had hurt my hands and knees enough I couldn't crawl and I couldn't push myself off the floor. I had to use my forearms on the bathtub to leverage myself back up.

I had to sleep on my back last night because I couldn't sleep on either arm and when I'd roll in my sleep I'd wake up from it. This morning my elbows have black bruises and my knees are very blue. Even the heels of my hands are bruised. Thankfully I can walk okay today except it hurts to climb the stairs. The part ofthe knees I hit was just under the knee caps, not on them, thank goodness. My hands are a bit sore, but not as bad as last night or even this morning. My neck and shoulders were stiff. I jarred myself good. It's the elbows that are the worst, though.

I am going to go sit in the hot tub at the health club tomorrow. I don't dare take a bath because getting up out of it might be impossible, even with handicapped grab bars, since my hands don't want to grip right. I can type okay, so I don't think it's more than bruising. I don't think any of it is more than bruising and muscle strain.

I went and got a massage today ($90) and it made a big difference in my functionality the rest of the day. I really wanted to work in the garden this weekend. Not sure what I can do because there will be no sitting on my knees, but I might be able to use a shovel to get the bigger weeds out. This will be the first dry weekend in ages and I really wanted to make use of it. I don't want to just lay around all weekend because I think that will make it worse, not better. At least my back is okay.

I need to do a payday post, but I haven't gotten my stuff together yet. I have food in the crockpot so no matter the temptation to eat out to take it easy on myself, the smell of the food cooking is preventing that. I did switch out my menu plan days though so I could have the ease of cooking a roast today. The nice thing about having plans for several meals is that when life throws you a curve ball like this you can adjust accordingly. So I did.

I am heading back towards eating Paleo again, so the starches in my menu plan are mainly for the kids. I think I have basically given up trying to get my meal plan posted on Sundays. Ah, well. I suppose it really doesn't matter what day I post it so long as I follow it, right? That's the way to save money on the grocery budget.

Since I have been slacking so much lately and having so much takeaway, I challenged myself to get through the whole week without eating out. Day one has gone okay, but it's usually Friday and Saturday that I have the real trouble with.

Monday--
Oven baked chicken
Cole slaw
Oranges

Tuesday--
Low carb meatloaf
Cole slaw
Bananas

Wednesday--
Pork chops
Fried potatoes
Salad
Oranges
Green beans

Thursday--
Beef stir-fry
Bananas

Friday--
Tacos
Oranges

Saturday--
Bacon Cheeseburgers
Homemade sweet potato fries
Cole slaw

Sunday--
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Broccoli/cauliflower
Blueberry cornbread muffins

Maybe I should switch my menu plan posting to Mondays as I've missed Sunday's the past 3 weeks running now! Anyway, this week is mostly chicken based. I had a couple of whole chickens in the freezer and would like to clear out some of the things that are taking up the most space.

Monday--
Crockpot chicken (saved the broth)
Microwave baked potatoes
Canned green beans
Canned pineapple
(Yes a lazy kind of day!) I froze 4 cups of shredded chicken to use on Friday

Tuesday--
Bananas
TexMex Chicken and Rice
(Recipe is simple. 4 cups cooked rice, 1 large jar of homemade or storebought salsa, 2 cups of shredded chicken. Stir together and heat through in microwave).

Wednesday--
Homemade pizza (pepperoni, ham, onions, bell pepper strips)
Cole slaw

Thursday--
Chicken Noodle Soup (made with saved broth, carrots and celery and leftover chicken)
Cole slaw
Oranges

Friday--
Chicken Enchiladas
Chips and Salsa
Salad

Saturday--
Toasted ham and cheese sandwiches
Homemade French Fries
Oranges

Sunday--
Blueberry cornbread muffins
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Broccoli and cauliflower

I'm really not on my game this month. Well, last night was tacos and oranges.

Tuesday:
Chili
Chips and salsa

Wednesday:
Pork chops
Fried potatoes
Applesauce
Cole slaw

Thursday:
Homemade pizza (pepperoni, ham, onions, bell pepper strips)
Cole slaw

Friday:
Beef stir-fry
Pineapple

Saturday:
Pasta Pizza Bake
Cole slaw

Sunday:
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Cole slaw
Drop biscuits and choice of homemade jams.

Monday:
Chili or soup
Fruit Salad
Greens

Tuesday:
Steak
Broccoli/cauliflower
Oranges

Wednesday:
Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Meatballs
Cole slaw
Grapes

Thursday:
Tropical Chicken Stir-fry
Pineapple

Friday:
Homemade pizza (pepperoni, ham, onion, bell peppers)
Cole slaw

Saturday:
Tacos
Oranges

Sunday:
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Broccoli/cauliflower
Drop biscuits with choice of homemade jams

I forgot to make up a meal plan yesterday, so did it this afternoon instead. I've got leftover picnic ham and leftover Cornish game hens so will be using those up this week. I am hoping to get down to the ranch this weekend to buy some beef. We haven't been since January, I think.

Monday:
Quesadillas (game hen meat, cheddar cheese, tortillas)
Cole slaw
Oranges
Carrots

Tuesday:
Hot ham sandwiches with provolone (on rosemary bread)
Cole slaw
Oranges
Homemade oven fries

Wednesday:
Enchiladas made with leftover game hen meat
Chips and salsa
Baby spinach and romaine salad

Thursday:
Homemade pizza (pepperoni, picnic ham, bell pepper strips, yellow onion)
Cole slaw

Friday:
Tacos
Canned pineapple

Saturday:
Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Meatballs (ground pork and ground beef)
Cole slaw

Sunday:
Roasted duck
Roasted carrots and potatoes
Drop biscuits with choice of homemade jams
Baby spinach and romaine salad

DH is being given the opportunity to work one, maybe two weeks of overtime for them to do some catch up stuff and it will really help our budget out. One full week would mean $3625 and two full weeks would be $7250. That would allow us to get the rest of vacation paid off without having to dip into the emergency fund at all. Two weeks of overtime would mean I could actually get the special stacking rabbit cages that I want for expanding our rabbitry and throw a little money at the EF.

It would be nice to have a clean slate again. Vacation was worth it, and I don't regret it, but I didn't like the idea of it being May or June to get the balance on the card back to zero.

I'll miss DH, but financially it is the best move for us right now.

----------

I forgot to mention I bought a great little cookbook magazine at the store yesterday. It's Taste of Home and is one of those digest sized ones that are like recipe cards that was at the checkout and is for easy ground beef. It had at least ten recipes in it that the kids would eat. I always consider it worth it if I walk away with one recipe, so I was thrilled by this one. I will have to make a few substitions since we don't really use processed foods, but most of the ones the kids would eat didn't use those ingredients anyway.

I can't wait to try making these, starting with the Pizza Noodle Bake and the Florentine Meatballs and the Baked Spaghetti. Yum. Since meat prices are going up so much right now, we'll be eating more hamburger and so the variety in all of these recipes will really help out.

They had picnic hams on sale for $1.19 a pound for the butt portion, which will fit in my crockpot quite easily. The had the shank portion for .99 a pound, which has to be made in the oven because of its size. I ended up picking up a couple for now of the smaller but more expensive of the two. I know that after Easter they will have a massive sale on these hams and I should be able to get 20 for less than a $1 per pound and freeze them for use throughout the year. I did that last year and I think we ate our last ham from the sales two weeks ago.

I had gone to the store looking for a chuck roast but the only one they had had a price jacked up for Easter. I'll get some next Saturday when I go to the ranch. They keep their prices steady.

Most of these menues revolve around eating down the freezer and the stuff in the pantry. If I'm going to try to get a half a beef I need my freezer to be close to empty. I can still store the hams in the under fridge freezer with a few other things.

Monday--

Picnic ham made in the crockpot (they are on sale right now)
Green beans
Oranges

Tuesday--

Leftover hot ham sandwiches on rosemary bread with provolone
Broccoli/Cauliflower
Strawberries

Wednesday--

Spaghetti and meatballs made with ground pork and ground beef
Oranges
Baby spinach salad

Thursday--

Homemade pizza with pepperoni, ham, onions, and bell peppers on it, mozzarella cheese and leftover homemade spaghetti sauce

Friday--

Roasted Duck
Baked sweet potatoes
Broccoli/cauliflower

Saturday--
Crockpot chicken
Carrots
Pineapple
Green beans

Sunday--
Crockpot beef chuck roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Drop bicuits with choice of homemade jam
Broccoli/cauliflower

Oh, I can't believe I forgot to do this. I am a scatterbrain this week!

Monday--
Leftover spaghetti (for the kids) and hamburger
Cole slaw
Pineapple

Tuesday--
Homemade pizza (for the kids) with sausage, onion, and orange bell pepper strips
For me, sausage, onions, and bell pepper strips
Oranges
Cole slaw

Wednesday--
Oven baked chicken
Baked potatoes (for the kids)
Broccoli/cauliflower
Smoothies from fruit in the freezer

Thursday--
Cheeseburgers (no bun for me)
Grilled onions
Broccoli/cauliflower
Bananas

Friday--
Fried Rabbit
Mashed potatoes and gravy (for the kids)
Green beans
Oranges

Saturday--
Pork chops
Fried potatoes (for the kids)
Pear sauce
Salad

Sunday--
Roasted chicken
Baked sweet potatoes
Kale
Bananas

DH and I went grocery shopping this morning at the food co-op. I'm skipping going to the ranch this pay cycle, so I bought quite a bit more fish than usual, some rabbit, duck, sausage and a roast. I also stocked up on extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil, and lots of veggies. I spent $153 on groceryies.

Because I am leaning towards Paleo eating this week (which means no cheese for flavoring), I bought some more flavorful foods. Also no grains and no starches, except carrots one night. The only oils I will be using are E.V.O.O. and walnut oil. I am seriously going to miss butter, but I need to give this diet an honest test run.

Anyway here's the plan for the week:

Monday:
Rabbit fried in olive oil
Cole slaw
Bananas

Tuesday:
Pan-fried cod
Cole slaw
Oranges

Wednesday:
Oven baked salmon
Broccoli/cauliflower
Pineapple

Thursday:
Roast Duck
Salad
Oranges

Friday:
Pork chops
Pear sauce
Cole slaw

Saturday:
Baked Codfish with a homemade mayo garlic sauce
Cole slaw
Bananas

Sunday:
Beef chuck pot roast
Broccoli/cauliflower
Carrots
Oranges

It does feel weird not to inlude pasta, bread, rice, or potatoes. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Because of my just under the borderline test for diabetes I am only eating one fruit a day. I want to make sure my insulin levels stay under control so that I don't have to worry about one day having to take it artificially.

Just got a denial of medical services from Aetna. Seems that they in their infinite wisdom don't want to pay for a sleep study for me, despite the fact that two doctors highly suspect I have sleep apnea. Of course Aetna knows all. /sarc. Well, I was going to call on Monday anyway and talk to the sleep doctor's office.

Apparently there are several hoops we will have to jump through to try to get them to reconsider. Aetna's just moved up the Evil Empire List list to second, right under the middle school that allowed my son to be assaulted so badly it took him 6 months to recover from the brain injury, and above Bank of America.

I don't know why Aetna cares so much anyway. We will still have to pay for it out of pocket because of our $2500 deductible. It's not like they'll be out any money. But if they approve it, it would at least count towards our deductible.

----------

I've started back on a diet today. I'm quitting soda cold turkey...well except I took a caffeine pill so I don't go through withdrawal. Despite everything else in my diet being pretty much unprocessed, the Pepsi Throwback habit was getting out of hand.

I am aiming towards the Paleo diet. I did a test this week and didn't drink any milk. Last night I had milk and within 20 minutes my throat hurt and my nose was stuffing up. That will make it much easier for me to give up dairy. Grains I could always give or take.

So for the next week I will eat nothing but lean meats, fish, eggs, leafy greens, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and other non-starchy vegetables, walnuts and fresh fruit (but not too much fruit). I will cook only with olive oil. And all dairy will be eliminated. I will miss cheese and butter.

It will be hard giving up homemade pizza but with the crust being a grain and the topping being cheese and processed meats it's not going to be a choice for menu planning.

Honey is okay in small amounts and since mayo is made with egg, oil, lemon juice, a bit of mustard (I'll use my own homemade), and some salt, I should be able to make my cole slaw dressing just fine. I'll just have to use olive oil for the oil instead of canola.

I went in to the dentist today to have my second crown started. This was on the other side of my mouth, but also the six year old molar. This tooth had a gigantic silver amalgam filling in it which is now gone. I am glad. I never liked having metal in my mouth and this was an old, old filling from before they talked about getting mercury poisoning from them. It feels like he gave me enough anesthetic to put down a small horse, but he still had to stop in the middle and give me another one. It is supposed to wear off somewhere around 7 or 8 p.m.

Anyway, the temporary crown is on now and I go back for the permanent one on March 7nth. Hopefully I am making sense here, as I am on a pretty powerful pain med, so if this rambles more than usual, that is why.

While I was there I finished paying off the first crown, $233.90 and I have the paper with what will likely be our portion for this one, $665.35. Not as much as the first one as we had less dental benefits left for 2012 as I had a porcelain filling to replace a cracked silver one and a sealent earlier that year. This probably uses all my dental benefits for the year (except for cleanings), but the dentist says everything is in great shape now and I shouldn't need anymore work done.

I talked to them about maybe getting the gap between my front teeth fixed. I never used to have one, but over the past five years it has gradually gotten bigger. They may be able to just fix it cosmetically with veneers or I may have to go to an orthodontist and get an appliance or something like Invisalign. I don't want to do actual metal braces. I know how much they hurt my daughter. I have a low pain threshhold in my mouth even though I have a very high one everywhere else. But the gap does bug me. I had perfectly straight teeth up until it started moving.

I'll need to have DH check and see if our insurance covers orthodontia. Otherwise I will have to save up for it. I know veneers can cost about $900 per tooth if we go that route.

----------

I cashed out at Swagbucks again yesterday for a $5 Amazon gift card.

----------

I added the AMEX cash back and my coin jar savings and the weekly $10 autotransfer I've had set up for years to the Emergency Fund, a total of $136, making the total in it now $2981.35. That leaves me with $18.65 to come up with to meet my February goal of $3000 in the EF. Next Thursday will be another $10 autotransfer, so that will leave me with $8.65 to scrounge up. I am so close.

----------

DH and I are still working on our meal plan for Disneyland. I think we are going to pack along a cheap crockpot. That way we can put a roast or a chicken in when we leave in the morning and have it ready for us when we come back at dinner time. Despite the condos having full kitchens they don't have crockpots, which I really think they should. It makes a lot of sense to have one in a place that caters to Disneyland goers. I will also pick up some of those crockpot bags to make it easy to clean. Usually I consider those a waste of money, but in this situation I'll splurge for them.

I am a bit outside my 100 mile food shed this week with both fresh pineapple and fresh kiwi, but not outside my West Coast food shed with the Cali oranges and orange bell peppers. We've been fighting sniffles for two weeks here, so a big boost of vitamin C was in the cards. And everything was on sale, so didn't bite the budget too badly. I may not be terribly seasonal on anything but oranges with the fruit but the veggies are in season except the canned green beans.

I still have frozen prunes, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, not to mention six kinds of jelly from summer, but some days you just want to go a little more tropical. I will be planting far more peppers this year to freeze and hope to be getting a couple of cold hardy kiwis once we move. They can grow in Seattle so I think they will grow here okay. If I ever have a greenhouse I will try to grow pineapple bushes and some miniature citrus trees, but those are still pretty unlikely to thrive here.

Anyway on to the food:

Monday--
Homemade pizza with homemade sauce, mozzarealla, orange bell pepper strips, ham, onions, and pepperoni
Pineapple

Tuesday--
Oven baked chicken
Baked potatoes
Cole slaw
Pineapple

Wednesday--
Braided chili loaf
Cole slaw
Oranges

Thursday--
Spaghetti with Meatballs
Green beans
Oranges

Friday--
Baked Wild Pacific Salmon
Broccoli/cauliflower
Carrots
Homemade sweet potato fries

Saturday--
Bacon cheese burgers
Homemade French Fries
Kiwi fruit
Cole slaw

Sunday--
Roast Duck
Roasted potatoes and carrots
Broccoli/cauliflower
Drop biscuits with choice of homemade jam

I've got a lot of appointments this week, so I'm going to try to make dinners on the easier side of things. I need to bake today, though, both bread and rolls.

Monday--
Grilled pork chops
Fried potatoes
Canned green beans
Pear sauce

Tuesday--
Homemade pizza (ham, onions, bell pepper strips
Birthday cake

Wednesday--
Bacon cheeseburgers
Homemade fries
Cole slaw
Pineapple

Thursday--
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Canned corn
Salad

Friday--
Chicken
Sweet potatoes
Cole slaw

Saturday--
Braided chili loaf
Sweet potatoes
Cole slaw

Sunday--
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Drop biscuits with choice of homemade jams
Canned green beans

Lunches this week are ham and spinach salads or wraps, chili, or meatloaf slices.

Breakfasts this week are lamb sausage and eggs, cucumber slices, and for DS pancakes and/or hashbrowns as well. He's almost 13 and the teenage boy appetite has now hit. Last week he was doing two pancakes, 2 eggs, half a plate of hashbrowns, and cucumber slices. I think he's visibly grown in the last 2 weeks!

This week should be another week of not needing to pick up anything else at the grocery store.

Monday:
Wild caught sockeye salmon
Broccoli and cauliflower
Oranges

Tuesday:
Fried chicken
Fried potatoes
Fried salad (no, not really, just checking to see if anyone is paying attention!)
Canned pineapple

Wednesday:
Pork chops
Homemade pear sauce
Green beans

Thursday:
Tropical chicken stir-fry
Pineapple
Coleslaw

Friday:
Homemade fish and chips
Cole slaw
Bananas

Saturday:
Homemade pizza (ham, onions, bell pepper strips)
Cole slaw
Oranges

Sunday:
Beef chuck pot roast
Baked sweet potatoes
Cole slaw
Drop biscuits with choice of homemade jam

Lunches this week will be meatloaf and coleslaw or leftover chicken salads or quesadillas.

Breakfasts this week will be sausage and eggs or bacon and eggs, with pancakes for DS and cucumber slices for all of us.

I am glad I copy my entries every time before trying to post them, because this week SA has been eating my posts alive, its favorite comment being the one that says "Our records show that you are already logged in as yourself." And I'm like, No Duh, every time it does that. So if I'm logged in as myself, than what is your problem, you goofy computer program? /vent

Some days I wonder why I even bother to make a meal plan, when I end up making pizza 3 times a week lately. I had planned to make Bolgogi (Korean stir-fry), which should be a relatively easy new recipe for me. But I didn't. Maybe my day was thrown off because my mother had a procedure done and had to be there at 6:30. And I had to take DD to school at 7 and then pick Mom up at 7:40 which turned more like 8:30 because she takes so long to come out of anesthetic. I was dragging by the time we got home and pretty much dragged all day, so when it came time to make dinner I had no interest in making a new recipe.

Instead I took the easy way and dumped dough ingredients into the bread machine. All told it takes about 4 minutes of hands-on time to make a pizza. I always have toppings in the fridge, either ham or pepperoni or sausage or ground beef. I always have cheese. I always have onions and bell pepper strips (frozen). I always have tomato sauce and basil and oregano. So when I am feeling particularly tired (or lazy) or don't want to think it seems to be my go to dinner.

At least it is good pizza. One of my tricks is to rub the dough (and my hands) with extra virgin olive oil before pushing it out on the pizza pan. I think it makes a big difference in not only the flavor of the dough, but in making a crisp crust. Also the crust never sticks to the pan when I do this.

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I received a $5 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks today. That makes my total $85. I should get one more in by the end of the month.

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I scheduled a doctor's appointment with a new doctor. I decided to try to find someone who wouldn't put me on a waiting list just to make an appointment. This doctor I will be able to see on Thursday and he's in my PPO.

It's not a female like I wanted, but I didn't find anything negative on him on the web and he's young enough that I shouldn't have to worry about finding a new doctor again in my lifetime if I like him.

I went ahead and scheduled a physical. It's been a few years. I need to make out a list of my medications and dosages and see if I can find my copy of my blood work results from December so he won't order extra.

I also need to sit down and list all my surgeries. I can't even remember how many I've had. 7 or 8 since 2003, at least five before that. The last one was in 2011. When I make out lists like that, I realize how lucky I am to be alive and doing relatively well now.

I think my insurance covers physicals without having met the deductible, so hopefully there will be no out of pocket expense for this visit.

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I have physical therapy tomorrow so that is $90. I have thought about cancelling because I don't feel well, but that might just be the course of today and being so tired.

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I almost lost a shoe today to the mud pit that is the chicken yard. It can stop raining any time now. I need to buy a pair of Wellies. Even the boards we've put down to walk through the mud are sinking in it. Rain is better than frozen because it's warmer, but frozen is better than rain if you are trying to walk across the ground. I'm ready for summer. Really, really ready. At least we will be in Cali for a week in March. That will help with my cold season blahs.

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On the bright side of things, my knee hasn't hurt all week. And I am back to walking down stairs one foot per step instead of two footing it. Still a little slow and I still like to be within grabbing distance, but it feels almost normal at the moment.

Some days I wonder why I even bother to make a meal plan, when I end up making pizza 3 times a week lately. I had planned to make Bolgogi (Korean stir-fry), which should be a relatively easy new recipe for me. But I didn't. Maybe my day was thrown off because my mother had a procedure done and had to be there at 6:30. And I had to take DD to school at 7 and then pick Mom up at 7:40 which turned more like 8:30 because she takes so long to come out of anesthetic. I was dragging by the time we got home and pretty much dragged all day, so when it came time to make dinner I had no interest in making a new recipe.

Instead I took the easy way and dumped dough ingredients into the bread machine. All told it takes about 4 minutes of hands-on time to make a pizza. I always have toppings in the fridge, either ham or pepperoni or sausage or ground beef. I always have cheese. I always have onions and bell pepper strips (frozen). I always have tomato sauce and basil and oregano. So when I am feeling particularly tired (or lazy) or don't want to think it seems to be my go to dinner.

At least it is good pizza. One of my tricks is to rub the dough (and my hands) with extra virgin olive oil before pushing it out on the pizza pan. I think it makes a big difference in not only the flavor of the dough, but in making a crisp crust. Also the crust never sticks to the pan when I do this.

----------

I received a $5 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks today. That makes my total $85. I should get one more in by the end of the month.

----------

I scheduled a doctor's appointment with a new doctor. I decided to try to find someone who wouldn't put me on a waiting list just to make an appointment. This doctor I will be able to see on Thursday and he's in my PPO.

It's not a female like I wanted, but I didn't find anything negative on him on the web and he's young enough that I shouldn't have to worry about finding a new doctor again in my lifetime if I like him.

I went ahead and scheduled a physical. It's been a few years. I need to make out a list of my medications and dosages and see if I can find my copy of my blood work results from December so he won't order extra.

I also need to sit down and list all my surgeries. I can't even remember how many I've had. 7 or 8 since 2003, at least five before that. The last one was in 2011. When I make out lists like that, I realize how lucky I am to be alive and doing relatively well now.

I think my insurance covers physicals without having met the deductible, so hopefully there will be no out of pocket expense for this visit.

----------

I have physical therapy tomorrow so that is $90. I have thought about cancelling because I don't feel well, but that might just be the course of today and being so tired.

----------

I almost lost a shoe today to the mud pit that is the chicken yard. It can stop raining any time now. I need to buy a pair of Wellies. Even the boards we've put down to walk through the mud are sinking in it. Rain is better than frozen because it's warmer, but frozen is better than rain if you are trying to walk across the ground. I'm ready for summer. Really, really ready. At least we will be in Cali for a week in March. That will help with my cold season blahs.

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On the bright side of things, my knee hasn't hurt all week. And I am back to walking down stairs one foot per step instead of two footing it. Still a little slow and I still like to be within grabbing distance, but it feels almost normal at the moment.

I am back to purchasing my produce now that the garden is finally dead as can be. I find myself really resenting the price of organic broccoli, but that just gives me the motivation to plant more next year and freeze it myself (as opposed to letting mother nature do it). I am using broccoli more as an ingredient than as a main dish. In other words it is part of a stir-fry with many other veggies, instead of just a helping of broccoli. It helps spread the cost of it and cauliflower out.

At least cabbage, even organic cabbage is still cheap. And I'm pretty easy about eating coleslaw. I could probably eat it every day, especially when organic lettuce is $2.49 a head. I am going to plant lettuce early this year. I'm going to chance it in pots mid-March and then just bring it in at night if it threatens to freeze.

I've been on an oranges kick lately, but they are in season so that's not bad. I did get a case of pineapple for some variety, though. I always freeze the pineapple juice that is leftover in one or two of my Popsicle molds. They are nice to have when sore throat weather hits. Or else I will use it in stir-fries instead of honey to sweeten the dish.

Well, anyway, here's the food plan for the week:

Monday--
Lasagna
Green beans
Oranges

Tuesday--
Bolgogi
Pineapple

Wednesday--
Roast chicken
Baked potatoes
Coleslaw
Oranges

Thursday--
Ethiopian Sloppy Joes on whole wheat tortillas
Coleslaw
Pineapple

Friday--
Chicken enchiladas with homemade sauce
Green beans
Bananas

Saturday--
Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Meatballs
Coleslaw
Oranges

Sunday--
Beef chuck pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Green beans
Oranges

Breakfasts this week will be sausages and eggs or toast and eggs.

Lunches this week will be leftover lasagna and low carb meatloaf.

I've got a few things in my freezer I want to use up this week, a duck and some steaks. I also have quite a bit of cabbage so cole slaw or cooked shreds will be heavy in the menus this week. Also we have 8 dozen eggs in the fridge right now, so that will play into my menus as well. And the only fruit I have on hand is oranges and one can of pears, so not a lot of variety on that count.

Monday--
Grilled steaks
Fried potatoes
Cole slaw
Oranges

Tuesday--
Pancakes
Scrambled Eggs
Lightly fried cabbage and onion shreds
Oranges

Wednesday--
Fried rabbit
Baked potatoes
Green Beans
Oranges

Thursday--
Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Beef and pork meatballs
Garlic bread
Cole slaw

Friday--
Pizza with leftover spaghetti sauce, shredded leftover meatballs, pepperoni, onions, and (frozen) bell pepper strips
Salad

Saturday--
Lamb de provence patties
Fried potatoes
Cole slaw
Oranges

Sunday--
Roasted duck
Baked potatoes and carrots
Broccoli
Oranges

Breakfast this week will be omelets, sausage, bacon, pancakes. Lunches will be meatloaf, crockpotted turkey, turkey quesadillas, and shredded cabbage or salad.

Using up freezer supplies this week.

Monday--
Roasting 2 chickens (packaging the meat on one for the freezer)
Baked potatoes (making extra baked potatoes)
Green beans
Oranges

Tuesday--
Calzones (chicken, homemade spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, onions, bell pepper strips, cheese)
Cole slaw

Wednesday--
Chicken enchiladas (homemade sauce)
Cole slaw
Oranges

Thursday--
Baked potato soup (using extra made on Monday and bacon is the protein in the soup)
Salad
Oranges

Friday--
Bacon cheeseburgers with homemade buns
Homemade French fries
Cole slaw

Saturday--
Pizza (tomato sauce, homemade sausage, onions, bell pepper strips)
Cole slaw

Sunday--
Beef pot roast
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Green beans
Drop bisucits with choice of homemade jams

Lunches this week will be low carb meatloaf, chicken quesadillas, salads or cole slaw and any of the leftover stir-fry I made last night.

Breakfast this week will be pancakes and eggs for DS, sausage and cabbage or cucumbers for Me and DD

The broccoli finally kicked it in the 27 degree F freeze we had Friday night. The kohlrabi survived and I picked it.

We got 10 eggs today. Go, chickens.

In relation to talking about how hard it is for people to find a job in a previous post...my husband's work is hiring. They had hired a guy for this one position and he was to start working on Friday. He never showed up. He never even called to say what happened. DH found out through the grapevine that he'd accepted another job with another company.

I find it totally unacceptable that a person would accept a job and then not call to say they were taking another job instead. It is highly unprofessional and this industry remembers things, so he could easily have shot himself in the foot. Also, it's like a slap in the face to all of the people who are out there desperately looking for work to be so arrogant as to not even bother to call. On the bright side, financially anyway, it looks like DH may get more extra weeks if they don't find someone.

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Disneyland parkhopper tickets went up by a huge amount. It was $235 per person for a five day parkhopper and now it is $290. That's a difference of about $400 for the 7 of us. I'll be watching in case there are sales. They do sometimes have them. We won't be buying until the end of February.

With that jump in prices we will definitely be eating most of our meals in the condo. I figure we can get by with about $300 in groceries for 8 days for the four of us. I have no idea what organics and all natural foods will cost in Anaheim so I'm budgeting high. I am not risking DS's allergies by buying chemically laden foods.

DH and I are working on meal plans. I will be having some kind of meat (sausage, bacon, ham) and vegetables (probably cukes or cabbage) for breakfast and everyone else will do pancakes and eggs or french toast and bacon, ham, or sausage. We'll have sandwich and salad fixings for lunches. I'm thinking a beef roast and either chicken or turkey for meats unless they have actual deli meats without additives and corn syrup solids.

We get one free breakfast at the park for our magic morning. We want to eat BBQ one day at the ranch if it is open, we want to get Monte Cristo sandwiches once (possibly twice), and there's a great Italian place at CA that serves wonderful lasagna. I want skewers from the Bengal Barbecue, DH and I are thinking about just doing Blue Bayou for the two of us on our anniversary because of the expense. And we are thinking maybe either Mickey Mouse waffles or pancakes one day. We have requests for getting ice cream at the Carnation Cafe at least once, churros at least once, and one of the big turkey legs (split amongst two) and corn on the cob. I haven't set a budget yet for that, but I will be looking up prices at mouseplanet to see what I'm looking at.

We did find out we could reserve seating for the Colors show with the $15.99 dinner instead of with the $45 dinner and DH is supposed to find out about reserve seating for Fantasmic and the fireworks show as I am well past my days of sitting on the concrete for 2 hours to get a good seat. Plus with my knee I'd never get up again.

Boy, big vacations are expensive. But it is worth it to give this experience to our kids, our nieces and DH's sister.

Still feeling kind of drug under (I am getting better, though) so the meals this week are going to be pretty simple. I just don't have the energy to go all out. Yeah, I know. Simple for me can still be pretty complicated when I make almost everything from scratch. (I have premade meatballs and premade sauce that I froze the last time I made spaghetti and meatballs, so the first two days are not as difficult as they might appear).

Monday--
Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Lamb and pork meatballs
Broccoli

Tuesday--
Meatball sandwiches
Cole slaw
Oranges

Wednesday--
Herb roasted chicken
Baked potatoes
Broccoli
Hoem canned pears

Thursday--
Tropical Chicken Stir-fry (broccoli, carrots, onions, celery)
Canned pineapple

Friday--
Homemade pizza (sausage, tomatoes, onions, bell pepper strips)
Cole slaw

Saturday--
Bacon cheeseburgers on homemade buns
Homemade french fries
Cole slaw

Sunday--
Wild-caught salmon
Broccoli
Baked potatoes
Oranges

Lunches this week will be low carb meatloaf and leftover chicken (wraps, salads, quesadillas). Breakfasts will consist of pancakes and eggs (DS), and sausages and cucumbers (DD, Me). DH is gone until the 23rd so work is providing his meals.

We are out of pot roast so no Sunday pot roasts until I can drive out to the farm again, which probably won't be until the 12th or the 19th. It depends on how much extra taxes are taken out of the 11th's paycheck. The drive to the farm is not worth it unless I pick up $300 worth of meat at a time. We haven't been since we picked up our turkey in November so supplies are running low. Still I have a lot of frozen wild salmon and cod and some chicken in the freezer so we'll cope without beef and pork for a while if we need to, or I can venture to the food co-op if need be as they have some sustainable organic meats.