We do the same here ChefSam -- most of the time *I* don't know what day it is -- so how does the biscuit dough know to curl up and die on time?

I only bought them to make monkey bread anyway -- and that's a quick throw-together -- so I may just encourage my 11 year old tonight and make them up real quick. If they look ok once I get in, we'll use them... I just get nervous when it says "USE" by (which these do) as opposed to "sell by". I've had food poisoning enough in my life to be happily paranoid.

Tonight (tada!) we didn't order out. I started looking for what to do, hubby wanted to know what dinner was and after my looking at a few website suggestions and discussing with him what he felt like -- we ended up making... sloppy-joe type pizzas... tortilla, layer of cheddar, tortilla baked, then topped with ground beef + manwich sauce and a lil more cheddar cheese and re-baked. I'll let you know how they turn out if we don't die from botulism monkey bread lol.

I can't thank you guys enough -- just having someone hold me accountable really makes a difference. I looked at that phone Striving... a lot tonight lol. I kept hearing your "put down the phone, you can do this" - and wow was it hard to listen, but I did manage it. Dinner, at home - sounds reasonably tasty (no veggies, but ya gotta start somewhere) -- and it didn't cost us $50 for dinner.. (ok granted, this isn't going to taste like the Outback either, but you take the good with the bad...) So far, they look (and smell) delicious... and there's leftover beef + manwich to have over rice as lunch on Thursday for the adults at least, so that's one less meal to sweat.

Tomorrow we have a homeschool field trip first thing in the morning, so as we'll be nice and far away at lunch time I'm assuming we'll eat out (no bread for sandwiches, let me just dry the tears lol) -- BUT before we leave in the morning, I'll make sure to throw something (ANYTHING) in the crock pot so dinner is here and waiting when we get home... I'm thinking of doing a quick brown on the sausages and throwing them in with some sauce and some onions on low for the day... and then slice them and serve them over pasta since we're out of bread. Then again, we do have those crescent rolls...

We'll see how motivated I feel in a bit (right now, this truly took DRAGGING myself into the kitchen, but I do feel world's better now having done so...)

Thanks again!

Mischieva, striving is right....do not order out. Everyone made some great suggestions to you. You made an interesting comment about the food not being outback. Make a deal with yourself that for every dinner you eat in, you will have saved $x amount of money and take and put that in a jar. Do the same with breakfast and lunch and watch how fast it grows. And it will grow quickly because you said you are still shopping and throwing out the food. Promise yourself a certain reward and use the money that way, even if it is a trip to outback. I was buying coffee every morning for the drive and so I went and bought everything I needed at home. I set the timer before bed so it is brewed in the morning. With the money I saved(about $3 a day) I promised myself my favorite dinner out once a month....sushi! And the extra that is left is growing for a vacation that I will take next year-Don't know where yet, but it will be easy to pay for it!!

Look at some of these women's magazines too.....you can use their meal plan for a month and just follow what they suggest for dinners. It is generally healthy food and easy on the budget and offers variety too. I think doing some planning of meals would make you stop and think twice before going out to eat, I know when I don't have anything planned, it is easier to want to not stay at home....

As far as food ideas, here are some of my ideas.....

When we were kids, one of our favorite meals was real simple. We would take the cresecent dough rectangle(2 dough pieces), smoosh(a very fancy technical term!) the dotted line together and put a hotdog inside it. The hotdog would be sliced open and we would put some cooked bacon, onion and cheese) in it, then wrap it up, sealing all edges and bake it. We would have this with a salad. easy fast and the kids can make it with your supervision. I still love this even though I am 51, even though I rarely make it!!

We would also have pizza night. Buy bread dough and let it rise and use that as your crust on a cookie sheet. If you want to let everyone do individual meals, do the dinner rolls, but this involves more cleanup which I would recommend avoiding. Chop up all the ingredients and put them on bowls on the counter. Cover the dough with tomato sauce and cheese and let everyone build their own "part" of the pizza.

Use the crockpot as much as possible. Take the chicken breasts, put a layer of uncooked rice on the bottom(1 cup) then put a can of cream of something soup mixed with a can of milk over it.Put the chicken on top and cover with veggies and cook on low.

The chorizo is great for red beans and rice....chop it up and cook like ground beef, put in crock pot with several cans of kidney beans and onions and garlic. let simmer all day. spoon over white rice and serve with a salad and crusty bread.....this is well rounded source of protein, not high in fat, not lots of meat and the beans are healthy.

A pork butt roast can be put in the crock pot and cooked with water, onions and garlic all day. come home, drain off the liquid, shred the meat and mix with a bottle of your favorite bbq sauce. You can have pulled pork sandwiches for dinner and then put the meat on a salad for lunch the next day.

Mac and cheese was popular in our house too, but we put in water packed tuna, sauteed onions, peppers and garlic and covered with grated cheese for a quick main dish.

easy lasagna....take the spaghetti sauce you are making(or buy some bottled) along with uncooked ramen noodles(I use a knife to split the layers of dry noodles) and the ricotta.....layer it and cover with whatever cheese you want on top. My friends laughed at me when i made it this way, but it was fast, not too noodly, and they ate every bit of it.

can you still cook out? that could be another easy option with minimal cleanup.

another thing to think about-how about some heavy duty throw away plates and silverware....picnic style eating and minimal cleanup. One of the best parts of eating out for me was that I had no cleanup to do(I love to cook but am not as fond of the cleanup part of the job!)

Look for the easy meals right now and get everyone to help.

You will be having these feelings about your dad for a long time and you need to go through them so you can heal. Would it help to put together a memories album with your kids....pictures and stories and comments like the ones you made above? these memories are precious treasures and by putting them on paper, it may make it easier to cope knowing that you can look at them whenever you want. I lost both my folks (when i was 17 and then 21) over 30 yrs ago and don't have a lot of those kind of things to look back on, and over time you will forget some of the little quirks. It would also be a wonderful legacy to pass on to your kids letting them know how wonderful he was and all the fun quirky and considerate things he did in his life. Many hugs, love and prayers to you in your time of need. Do lean on your family for the support they can give you right now and don't be afraid to cry either.


sorry to be so long winded

Mischieva, you ROCK GIRL! Put your hands up in the air and do a victory dance while humming the tune of "ROCKY". Does that show my age? You did it and should feel good about your progress.

You did it! One meal down. I hope you're able to start your sausages before you leave the house, that would make your second dinner very easy.

Since you're out, what's for lunch.

I'm very proud of you for not touching that phone. By the Way, did everyone like your dinner?

Well we opted out of the monkey bread (just to be safe) -- none of us really need the extra calories anyway... so last night was a no-dessert --probably the way most meals should turn out.

As far as dinner, I can say it was spectacular -- but I CAN say that everyone ate it -- which -- to be brutally honest is something we don't even get in restaurants all that often, so a true bonus. Looking ahead, I wouldn't make it again as I did (I felt the Manwich overtook the entire thing, couldn't taste the cheese at all) -- but will definitely do the cheese quesadilla bottom again, just next time I'll brown some ground beef, add my own taco seasoning and a bit of salsa, then cheese and jalapenos for a "stuffed nacho" kinda thing... I'll keep you posted on how that turns out.

Beaglelady - thank you so so much for all the ideas... I'll be jotting down some notes later on - you provided so many good suggestions. I'm going to go shopping today for a couple items (specifically hotdogs to use up the crescent rolls I have - I love your idea with the bacon cheese and onion) -- and some bread so I can do grilled cheese sandwiches either tonight or tomorrow... we have so much american cheese here it's actually pretty comical (one of those things I'm apparently usually convinced we're out of -- which we never actually ARE out of)...

Striving: we opted out of the field trip today as my daughter was complaining of a sore throat last night and hubby was achy as while I was redoing the fridge, he was out moving boxes in the garage -- so we'll be home today, no excuses not to eat in... just still unsure "what" is on the menu for lunch and dinner... thinking when I'm out I'll get some good buns and do the sausage sandwiches tonight after all...

The good news: the fridge looks great, we can find the food and actually eat at home - and while I handled it - my garage looks pretty great now too. The bad news: hubby brought most of the boxes from the garage inside to be sorted through (yeah, it's even worse than it sounds) - so I have about 30 new boxes of "stuff" to go through over the next couple days before I can reclaim my house -- but once it's done, it's done - extras will be donated and we can finally put "Oh, that's probably still in a box in the garage somewhere" behind us once and for all.

Wish me luck (and if you don't hear from me again, send out a search party! LOL)

Thanks again for all the support... truly it helps more than you know..
Tracey

(Oh - and as a sidenote - breakfast today: oatmeal. We all ate.)

Mischieva,
I wondering if part of your malaise has to do with the contents of the diet. (Congrats BTW on making dinner last night.)

I'm seeing you talk a lot about cheese and very fatty meats (bacon, sausage, hot dogs etc.) Are you also eating lean meats( white meat chicken, pork loin), fish or better yet, lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains? If you make a large salad twice a week, you can keep it in the fridge and just pull some out of the bag when you need it. For 15 minutes that it takes to chop everything up once, you have easy meals on hand.

Salads don't have to be boring. Use a variety of lettuces and spinach, toasted nuts, diced apples, red cabbage, chopped vegetables. I like to put fresh mozzarella in mine rather than meat but some diced white meat grilled chicken isn't bad either. Make it colorful and interesting.

Foods that contain a lot of fat and sodium make our bodies feel leaden and out of energy. Are you drinking enough water and fresh juice rather than sodas?

Yeah oatmeal for the family.

What did you have for lunch? I had leftover taco's with a pear.

Dinner is up in the air. However, in my family, it's wacky Wednesday. This means that we'll be eating breakfast for dinner. I'm thinking omelettes with a side salad, toast and orange slices.

I've done the tortilla stuffed with cheese then baked with another tortilla on top. I've added the spiced beef with taco seasonings on top and then add your favorite toppings. Usually it's lettuce, tomatoes, olives and salsa. I then cut into wedges and make appetizer sized portions. This is very satisfying on it's own or when paired with a soup, it's phenomenal.

ChefSam -- yep, I imagine at least part of my issue is what I eat... normally we're a bit more "chicken" and a lot less red meats and all the processed stuff -- but because of the... apathy I'll call it -- I'm not choosing anything other than what hubby likes (in the mindset of --nothing right now makes me particularly happy -- so I should at least make him happy since he's doing so much to help out because I've been so... absent lately) -- so while we're normally a bit better (and by a bit, I mean probably 2x a week for beef/sausages kinda foods, probably 2x a week of seafood, fish, shrimp -- something to that affect -- probably 1x a week for a pasta-thing - and the rest is chicken... still definitely not great at any time though) -- veggies are something we (yeah I know, don't lecture me too much) lol make the kids eat, but avoid personally. I do like salads, but only when they're suitably unhealth-ied by a boatload of blue cheese dressing or something similar. I fight with myself all the time when it comes to food -- what I want, what I LIKE -- as opposed to what I should eat - what's good for me. When I'm feeling good (happy, not stressed) -- I make some pretty ok choices (ie: I eat like I make the kids eat, grilled chicken, steamed broccoli and the like) -- but when I'm feeling not so good (stress, grief, whatever...) -- I go to comfort food (and if it's good for me, it isn't comforting.)

YES the diet needs to improve -- don't worry, that's next on my list of things to tackle once I get past the restaurant portion of my anxiety (and Striving -- if you must know, lol we went out for lunch -- buffalo wings... yeah yeah I know!) -- See the accountability is good, but only when *I* do good, this post feels entirely like going to confession lol.

Dinner tonight is going to be bacon & egg sandwiches...

And I promise ChefSam - once the load of junk we have on hand is gone, the food selections will improve -- right now there isn't even a scrap of fresh fruit or veg in the house - and no matter HOW bad off I am, that's an anomaly for us.

I am already weaning out of soda -- went from a 3-5 a day habit -- to having not had one in about a week now. Switched briefly to unsweetened iced tea (which I also like) - but I don't need the caffeine, so as of 3 days ago I'm down to "ice water" to drink. Nope, I probably don't drink enough (yes confession!) -- but I'm working on it...

Thanks again for caring and for checking up on me...

{{{{Hugs}}}} Good on you Michieva for coming on-line regularly. All your GONer friends care and wish to be helpful to you and your family.
Like Striving, our DKs look forward to breakfast for dinner! Lay slices of bread in a casserole, sprinkle cooked meat [deli ham or whatever is at hand], 1.5 C shredded cheese [or cheese slices], 1/2 C. Spanish or green onion, diced, 1 egg per person beaten into 2 C milk pour over & bake 325, 45 min.

If the oven's on... bake apples, cored & cavity filled with brown sugar/cinnamon mix, 3T water in bottom of bake dish. It's important for DKs to learn to cook. How many meals can they make using Kraft Dinner [generic for pasta & cheese] as a base?

WHILE macaroni cooks, combine creme soup, canned mushrooms, diced onion, ham, 2T flour added to pkg cheese creates Quiche. Dump pasta in oven proof dish, add 6 beaten eggs + mixture & bake. Add shredded Swiss cheese over top if available.
ADD cheese pkg. to sour creme, 2 cans shrimp [1 lb fresh boil], mix into cooked pasta & cheese
COMBINE can creme of anything soup, milk & cooked ground beef, bell pepper, cooked [fz] veg. into Kraft dinner
ADD cooked ground meat, 1C pecans, 1 can ea. tomatoes, tomato sauce,+ preferred veggies
TRY cooked sausage + 1C BBQ sauce & canned or fresh tomato
SALAMI, chopped celery, carrot, bell pepper & sweet pickle mixed with 1/2 C ea. Catalina & Salad dressing [mayo].
TEX-Mex adds kernel corn & spices

Voila! the kids can cook

Well, Mischieve I must Know! LOL! Confession is great for the soul. It allows us to see where we can improve and asking for support to help us achieve where we want to be.

What was for breakfast? We add french toast and oj.

What are your plans for the day? What are your meal options for today?

I don't drink enough water either. I love diet soda and have increased my consumption of them. I need to quit this habit. So you help me with this and I'll help where I can.

At my house tonight we're having chicken and rice casserole, sugar peas and baked pumpkin.