Here's the link to Feb, part 2...

Feb Meal Planning, part 2

I didn't do as well with February as I'd hoped with planning. I was trying to coordinate with DS a few days at a time. I think I'll have to plan a whole month's worth of meals to make it work.

I have a really hard time planning daily meals in advance. I usually plan the weekly meals based on what was on sale that week or what I already have in the freezer that had been purchased on sale.

Today:

Brunch: Bread rolls with chicken cold cuts; bananas
Dinner: Chili/lemon roast chicken, cucumber salad, corn; oatmeal cookies

Tomorrow:
B'fast: yogurt, cereal
Lunch: leftovers from tonight's dinner; bananas
Dinner: leftover roast chicken, sauted green beans, rice; strawberries

Dinner: Chili/lemon roast chicken

bless, have you posted the recipe for this?

thanx

mary

If I can stay out of the stores today, I'll have made my February goal of $300 for groceries, health & beauty, and household expenses. This includes a special meal and dessert for Valentines Day and dessert for 48. I'm very excited.

I was very tired yesterday after making dessert for 48 for DH's colleagues. DH said he would take me out for steak. I normally don't enjoy steak, but it sounded so good. However, I knew it would throw my February budget out of the window, so I said no, like an adult. I made chicken sausages with baked beans and grapes. It wasn't fancy, but it was food that I had on hand. I'm excited about this victory.

Simplicity, what about coordinating for a whole week at a time? Perhaps on Sunday evening, or Friday morning? (Basically, just before the day you want to take care of any needed shopping.) With my family, I know it helps if I do the pre-planning, figuring out how many "short meal" days we have, and how many evenings we're all home, etc. Then I can get input on what sorts of foods they want within those categories, and within my budget for the week.

GOOOOOO STriving!!! Excellent work keeping under your budget this month!! Also, excellent work on choosing to use what is in the house. It sounds tasty to me.

*****

I need to plan a bit of a stock-up for this week, and do a two-week shopping trip by mid-week. We're low on some staples, and need a few specialty items to help me break out of a food rut and, quite frankly, a bit of a depression. Nothing serious enough to see a doctor about, and I know the root cause, so it's just something to work through. Interesting food is something that nourishes my heart, as well as my body, so making sure I have supplies on hand for things that really appeal will be helpful there.

EC: Here's a hug, whether or not you wanted it. Maybe a piece of good chocolate as a treat would help?

I can understand why you might be feeling low. Sometimes I sit by a window when the sun is shining through. The warmth tends to lift my spirits a bit. (I tend to run cold in winter, though.)

Mary, no, I haven't posted a recipe since I don't have a recipe to post! I just roasted the chicken with salt, chili powder, fresh lemon, etc. I was too lazy to cut up the chicken to make a curry and DD complains that regular roast chicken is too bland, so I put a lot of spices before I roast the chicken.

Striving: You did great! Except for getting too tired making dessert for 48. Aren't you supposed to rest and take it easy?

Elizabeth: May your cupboards overflow with all what you need to prepare what appeals to you. (((HUGS)))

****************

I did part of my quarterly stocking up, yesterday. I figured it was close enough to March - a day or 2 early was OK! Afterwards, I re-organized my pantry cabinet. My sustainable pantry build-up is coming along quite nicely.

I've decided to lower my grocery budget to $200 for a month. In my religion, we are starting the season of "hardships". So we're going to a bare bones budget and becoming better stewards of our riches.

This shouldn't be too hard. Remind me of that, when I'm tired of cooking, and don't have any exciting things in my pantry, LOL!

The curry-spiced baked chicken sounds lovely, Bless! I think I could manage doing that, actually...

Hugs appreciated. It's all just emotional stuff to do with my brother being ill, and objectively, I'm doing fine. It's just helpful to identify the root cause, so I can decide how much weight to give the emotions. In this case, sitting around being low won't do any good, so I'm going to choose to DO things, including food.

DD-14 has a chocolate cake in the oven. She's awesome.

Striving, I think that will be a very neat exercise with the budget. It will absolutely push the creativity, but also push the boundary on feeling gratitude, and recognizing our abundance. Perfect thing to explore and experience this time of year!

(Perfectly delightful treat thing is to take an apple, grate it, and mix it together with some (1/4 cup or so) ground toasted almonds, drizzle of honey, bit of cinnamon, and dash of lemon juice. Charoset is typically served at Passover seders, but we like to nibble it at various times during the year. Quite cheap, and very pleasant to the tastebuds.)

DD just brought me tea... a reminder that I really ought to go eat something. Hee hee... the upside of grief, right? All is well.