Friday, February 28, 2014

Dinner 2/28

I love my crock pot. We have a great relationship. I just got home from work about 45 minutes ago. I took out our one package of bone in pork chops, put them in the crock pot. I added the remaining can of cream of mushroom soup, 6 peeled and chunked carrots, a sliced onion.....I will make the last of the pasta that my kids opened the other day.

pork chops
mushroom gravy covered pasta
carrots
a small salad.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Change of plans...

I was going to make ham and cheese omelettes...well, I got the ham out of the package and it had a FUNKY FUNKY smell. It went into the trash can. I am not taking any chances with food poisoning.

I had one pizza crust mix in the pantry. I found a few other lurking items in the fridge. I still had the provolone, parmesean, and edam cheese hanging out. I had a can of crushed tomato in the pantry.

So, we had a small pizza. It's not done yet, it gets better.....

AND....I had a lb of ground turkey in the fridge. I used two eggs, some milk, ground pepper, garlic, onion powder, basil, parsley, and ground turkey to make party meatballs. I used a teaspoon to measure out the meat balls and baked them in the oven.

I had some strawberry jelly and a small amount of BBQ sauce in the fridge. I mixed them both together and put them over the meatballs when they came out of the oven. I called them party meatballs.

Home made cheese pizza and party meatballs for dinner. It was way better than the eggs I was going to make.

It's time for a cup of tea before I get ready for work tonight.

Overtime....who does it and who doesn't??

Our work does a strict 12 hour shift, with your schedule put out 4 weeks in advance. The staff get the choice of picking their schedule and bidding on what they want. It usually gets approved and if it, then the schedule is tweaked to give everyone a chance at their own choices. It's a balance of skill mix, charge nurses, and staff nurses. I'm a staff nurse.

I was doing a major amount of overtime in the fall, up until the beginning of January. I did accept one night of overtime two weeks ago.

I just accepted tonight as a staff RN and accepted critical need pay (this is 10 dollars extra an hour in addition to your original pay). I also work Fri, SAt, Sun night shift. It will bring me to four nights in a row, 12 hour shifts.

My pay check will thank me, as will my savings account.

So, I had to do it....

My hound dog is 12 years old. She has a heart murmur and now has a prescription for medication (enalapril two times a day). When we went to the vet last week, we did two chest xrays, and found that her heart is enlarged, and her liver is enlarged. Well, I paid big bucks last week out of my checking account for the exam and diagnostics. Her liver function is elevated also.

I took two hundred dollars out of my emergency fund last night to get her to the Boyce Animal Hospital this morning for her liver ultrasound. The vet told me that it would cost anywhere from 50 dollars to 150. They could not give me an exact cost.

This brings my total in my emergency fund to 3600 as of this morning. I put gas in the car to get us to the hospital (it's in another town). If the test doesn't cost a total of 150 dollars, I'm going to put the remainder back into my account.

We are hoping it's a back up of blood in her vascular system related to her murmur, and not cancer. If it's cancer, then we are not going to treat it. We are going to keep her quality of life intact, promote pain relief, and comfort.

If it's the congestion, we will give medications to relieve it.

Updated meals

New month, New meals


Feb 1st: We are having a two day celebration for a birthday. We had Chipolte and foot massages. It's my birthday and we had a great time.

Feb 2: It's my birthday for real. We are going to take the five of us to a Japanese Steak house. Any left overs will be brought home.The left overs came home and they are waiting for the five of us for lunch. 

Superbowl Partybirthday cake, oven baked BBQ chicken wings, pepperoni/cheese/crackers
Left over cake, chicken wings are in the fridge. The left over crackers are on the counter for picking at. 

Feb 3: pork chops, potatoes, carrots, onion, cream of mushroom soup in crock pot. A small salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, and french dressing will go with it.  Any left overs will be put towards lunches for those who are home tomorrow. 

Feb 4th: Bean soup, using up lurking items. There's one serving left. 

Feb 5th: Taco salads for the adults, tacos for the kids. There's enough taco fixings for one serving, maybe a kid lunch. 

Feb 6th: Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, green beans

Feb 7th:Chick Fil A ###

Feb 8th: Take out pizza ###

Feb 9th: Chicken Fajitias with fixings ####

Feb 10th: Keilbasa, homemade mac and cheese

Feb 11th: Turkey soup, salad

Feb 12th: Crackers, cheese, pepperoni plate.

Feb 13th: Homemade pizza

Feb 14th: bbq pork chops, salad, stuffing, steamed veggies

Feb 15th: What ever the kids could find.

Feb 16th: crock pot chicken thighs, carrots, potato, onions

Feb 17th: steamed broccoli, hot dogs, fried potatoes

Feb 18th: cabbage rolls

Feb 19th: waffles

Feb 20th: bean soup, bbq chicken sandwiches

Feb 21: Chili

Feb 22: Frozen ravioli topped with sauce

Feb 23: take out pizza. I paid big bucks for it. I was tired and didn't want to cook. 

Feb 24th: baked chicken thighs, sliced onion//potatoes, broccoli, steamed corn, salad

Feb 25th: Chicken soup

Feb 26th: Left over chicken soup

Feb 27th: Ham and cheese omelettes 


#### indicates that my husband bought the dinner supplies....did not come out of my grocery budget. 

Please see the daily postings if interested. 

What's been cooking????

2/26 We had some left over chicken soup with rice. I made it the day before and we didn't finish it. So, it was on the menu plan for last night. There's nothing left and the kids, husband loved it.

2/27 Hoping to clear out some of the lurking in the fridge, we are going to have omelets. I have about ten eggs that are from last month, a bit of lunch meat (ham, that needs to go), and some lurking cheese that isn't getting eaten as fast as it normally does. So, I'm going to make ham and cheese omelettes for the five of us. It's a quick and easy meal with little prep work and fills hungry bellies.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

2/25 dinner

We had one chicken thigh left over from last night's dinner, along with some drippings from the chicken. The drippings went into the crock pot, and I cut the meat off the chicken thigh bone. It went into the crock pot. I took out five small containers of turkey stock, five carrots, one small onion, and five potatoes. I peeled everything, and placed it in the crock pot with two bouillon cubes. It's going to be a half a crock pot of chicken soup. I may add some long grain rice to it.


I also had one chicken breast in the freezer. I thought about adding this to the crock pot, but the kids have been complaining lately. I took the chicken breast, sliced it into three layered pieces, and then diced it into small bites. I took an egg, some milk, and seasoned breadcrumbs. I soaked the chicken in the egg mixture, and rolled it into the breadcrumbs for home made chicken nuggets for the children. They will be having long grain steamed rice to go with it.

A small salad will also be served.

Monday, February 24, 2014

2/24 dinner

baked chicken thighs
sliced onion//potatoes
broccoli
steamed corn
salad


The chicken is seasoned with celery salt, onion and garlic powder, pepper, poultry seasoning and baked in the oven with sliced onion and potato. I'm going to warm up the last of the broccoli, some corn for the kids, and make a small salad. We have french dressing for the salad. That's dinner folks.

What ever is left from the chicken thighs will be made into a soup broth for the freezer.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Dinner 2/22 and 2/23

My girls and son went to see a movie last night. I have to work this weekend.  My husband and I made the package of frozen ravioli for dinner. We had that before I went to work. I had brought to work for my lunch the last of the chili, some raisins, oranges, and blueberries.

I just woke up for work tonight. I asked my husband to order pizza. Little Ceaser's have five dollar pizzas. We got two cheese and a pepperoni. I'm tired.

Friday, February 21, 2014

2/21 dinner

My husband made chili. He used a the following items:

the rest of the red/yellow peppers I had in the freezer.
one whole onion
two cloves of garlic
2 lb ground turkey
2 cans light kidney beans
one large can of crushed tomato
2 small cans of tomato sauce
paprika
chili powder

We topped our chili with a little it of cheese. OMG YUMMY!!!

New month, New meals

New Month, New meals


Feb 1st: We are having a two day celebration for a birthday. We had Chipolte and foot massages. It's my birthday and we had a great time.

Feb 2: It's my birthday for real. We are going to take the five of us to a Japanese Steak house. Any left overs will be brought home.The left overs came home and they are waiting for the five of us for lunch. 

Superbowl Partybirthday cake, oven baked BBQ chicken wings, pepperoni/cheese/crackers
Left over cake, chicken wings are in the fridge. The left over crackers are on the counter for picking at. 

Feb 3: pork chops, potatoes, carrots, onion, cream of mushroom soup in crock pot. A small salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, and french dressing will go with it.  Any left overs will be put towards lunches for those who are home tomorrow. 

Feb 4th: Bean soup, using up lurking items. There's one serving left. 

Feb 5th: Taco salads for the adults, tacos for the kids. There's enough taco fixings for one serving, maybe a kid lunch. 

Feb 6th: Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, green beans

Feb 7th:Chick Fil A ###

Feb 8th: Take out pizza ###

Feb 9th: Chicken Fajitias with fixings ####

Feb 10th: Keilbasa, homemade mac and cheese

Feb 11th: Turkey soup, salad

Feb 12th: Crackers, cheese, pepperoni plate.

Feb 13th: Homemade pizza

Feb 14th: bbq pork chops, salad, stuffing, steamed veggies

Feb 15th: What ever the kids could find.

Feb 16th: crock pot chicken thighs, carrots, potato, onions

Feb 17th: steamed broccoli, hot dogs, fried potatoes

Feb 18th: cabbage rolls

Feb 19th: waffles

Feb 20th: bean soup, bbq chicken sandwiches

#### indicates that my husband bought the dinner supplies....did not come out of my grocery budget. 

Please see the daily postings if interested. 

Aldi

I have a grocery limit of 300 dollars a month for the five of us, two dogs, and two cats. It includes everything we could use, groceries, HBA, pet food, pet litter, etc etc. I spent 170 earlier in the month to provide meals, etc for those who were going to be home.

I spent 76.77 yesterday at Aldi. It beings my total to 246.77 out of 300.00 for the month. I won't be going to the store hopefully now, at least until March 6th. I listed this grocery run, along with everything else I have at the house. We have some vet bills that are going to be very costly, and my electric bill and water bill went up for March. I'm hoping for spring to come, so we can shut off the heat.

1 dozen eggs
2 gallons of skim milk
veggie oil
one hot chocolate mix
4 lb carrots
4 lb apples, oranges
1 box generic fruit rounds
1 box generic honey nut cheerios
1 box of strawberry mini wheats
powdered milk
microwave popcorn
1 jar spaghetti sauce
vanilla extract
box of saltines
raisins
thin spaghetti 2 lb
10 pounds potatoes
24 flour tortillas
2 lb ground turkey
4 quart ice cream for the kids
lettuce
2 loaves of bread
4 tomatoes
parsley
asparagus frozen
blueberries 1 small container
chicken quarters 4 lb
48 bottles of water



February's Pantry Items.


We are a family of five, with my staff nurse position in ICU as the means of income. I support a family of five, one kid who works part time, two teens in high school, a husband, two cats and two dogs. 

** items are opened and partially gone.

Pantry:

2 boxes of oatmeal**

1 box hot chocolate**

cream of wheat**
2 bread stick mix
1 container of olive oil**
salt**
baking powder**
brown sugar
powdered sugar**
bread crumbs**
popcorn kernels**
pancake syrup**
1 lone can of  tomato soup
yeast**
2 cans of cream of chicken
1 can of mushroom soup 
peanut butter**

a lb of pasta
some sugar**
1 pizza mix
3 lb rice**
tea bags**

several cans of crushed tomato
1 1/2 lb pinto beans
several cans of mushrooms
several cans of chicken noodle soup
grape jelly**
strawberry jelly**
flour**

Left overs:

Fruit Bowl:
3 lb onion**
10 lb potatoes**
celery**
garlic**


Open Condiments:
Ketchup**
mustard**
mayo**
bbq sauce**

Fridge Items:
Parmesan cheese **
2 half gallons of juice**
several lbs of cheese**
sliced cheese**

10 eggs**

1 salad dressing**

turkey lunch meat**
butter**
1 gallon of milk**

Freezer offerings:
1 package of frozen ravioli
2 lb of 85% ground beef
3 lb ground turkey
one package of pork chops
two packages of chicken thighs
colored peppers (red, yellow, orange)**


Frozen Veggies:

5 lb corn opened**
2.5 lb peas
2.5 lb broccoli opened**
2.5 lb green beans**
1 lb mixed veggies

1 lb squash

Hidden Surprises:
one container of beef veggie stock
3 quart mason jar of ham stock
four containers of chicken stock
roast/carrots/potatoes
7 cups of turkey broth


Spices:
lots!!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

2/20 dinner

I have three servings of bean soup in the freezer that I made a while ago. I also have two small containers of bbq chicken that I made about a month ago. I took both of these out for dinner tonight.

The soup will be heated up and served with crackers. If the kids want, they can have some shredded BBQ sandwiches. I will heat up the chicken, serve on bread, and have some fruit with it.

I will end up eating the chicken and fruit. I don't know which my husband will choose.

What a day....STRESSFUL!!

I had a feeling that it was going to be a stressful day. It's pay day for one, vet appointment for the new dog, and to get my older dog a few chest xrays for her murmur, pay bills, get to the grocery store, make a dinner plan...have to deal with finances is not how I want to start my day.

I paid some of March's monthly bills, the well fargo A that I send 300 dollars to religously every two weeks (my snow ball payment), paid the electric, water bill, cell phone, car insurance, and even had some cash left over for the vet visit.

We got to the vet and had the new dog checked out. The well visit was a free service through the SPCA. He is only 1 to 2 years old, the SPCA told us that he was four. He had his few vaccinations at the SPCA prior to us adopting him. He had his heart worn test, and preventive meds ($$$$$).

He goes back to the vet on MArch 6th for a booster distempter shot (looking at 60 dollars total).

Sadie went to the vet for her chest xrays. She has a grade 4 murmur. They did heart worm test and prevention, a prescription for her murmur, and a chemistry panel and liver enzymes. She has an enlarged left ventricule, and a enlarged liver.

She goes to the animal hospital on Feb 27th for a liver ultrasound (total out the door for this at the end of the month, 150 dollars).

It gets worse.....

I paid the vet 592 dollars today for all their vet care.

Jackson needs to get fixed. The vet is going to charge me 350 dollars. I can't afford that. So, I called the SPCA to see if they have any assistance. They offered to get me an appointment with their nueter clinic. They can take JAckson on the 17th of March and neuter him. They are going to charge me 45 dollars.

I took their offer and made the appointment for then. It needs to be done, but I can't afford to dish out 350 dollars to get his snipping done.


I know that some folks will say, it's just a dog, why do all this to them. Well, I love my animals and believe that they need proper medical care and vaccinations. I don't believe in prolonging any life with torturous procedures. The liver ultrasound is needed to determine if it's just congestion related to her heart murmur, or if it's a malignancy. If it's due to the murmur, then it can be managed with medications. If it's the other, then we think about comfort and quality of life.  I am worn out, tired, and will have to deal with taking money out of my savings account for Sadie's ultrasound.

I went to Aldi. I spent 76 dollars on groceries.  I am stressed beyond belief.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Strictly pantry items...

Dinner tonight is nothing glamorous. It's down right use what we have and be thankful we have it. I have two boxes of pancake mix that are almost empty. One is from aldi that is a plain pancake mix. The other is a banana/chocolate chip from Aldi that is 3/4 gone.

I am going to put both mixes together, and use my waffle iron to make waffles for the kids tonight. We have a little syrup left that will be finished also. We have some milk or hot chocolate that the kids can have with their dinner, or bottled water.

The pancake syrup bottle and pancake mix containers will be placed into the recycling. It keeps my budget costs down, recycling keeps the environment healthier, and keeps the landfill a little better off.

It is what it is. We are using what's available and needs to be used up. Pantry and budget will be happy, bellies will be fed, and that's what's really important.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Dinner 2/18 Using what we have....

Cabbage rolls...or what I should say is cabbage casserole. It's easier to just lie everything out in layers in a baking pan and put into the oven for almost an hour. My mom used to make this with tomato soup topping, but my husband doesn't care for it with the soup. I made this earlier in January, and used chicken stock. I'm going to try to use the beef stock I made in December.


One head of cabbage
three cups of beef stock (dated 12/17/13 from the freezer)
2 cups of long grain rice (steamed)
1 lb 80/20 ground beef
2 cloves chopped garlic
three large carrots diced small
2 small onions
black pepper
parsley (almost out)

Monday, February 17, 2014

Dinner 2/17

Well, it's not the greatest meal, but I am tired, worked night shift all weekend, and needed something fast.

Steamed broccoli
fried potatoes
steamed hot dogs

New Month, New meals

New Month, New meals


Feb 1st: We are having a two day celebration for a birthday. We had Chipolte and foot massages. It's my birthday and we had a great time.

Feb 2: It's my birthday for real. We are going to take the five of us to a Japanese Steak house. Any left overs will be brought home.The left overs came home and they are waiting for the five of us for lunch. 

Superbowl Partybirthday cake, oven baked BBQ chicken wings, pepperoni/cheese/crackers
Left over cake, chicken wings are in the fridge. The left over crackers are on the counter for picking at. 

Feb 3: pork chops, potatoes, carrots, onion, cream of mushroom soup in crock pot. A small salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, and french dressing will go with it.  Any left overs will be put towards lunches for those who are home tomorrow. 

Feb 4th: Bean soup, using up lurking items. There's one serving left. 

Feb 5th: Taco salads for the adults, tacos for the kids. There's enough taco fixings for one serving, maybe a kid lunch. 

Feb 6th: Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, green beans

Feb 7th:Chick Fil A ###

Feb 8th: Take out pizza ###

Feb 9th: Chicken Fajitias with fixings ####

Feb 10th: Keilbasa, homemade mac and cheese

Feb 11th: Turkey soup, salad

Feb 12th: Crackers, cheese, pepperoni plate.

Feb 13th: Homemade pizza

Feb 14th: bbq pork chops, salad, stuffing, steamed veggies

Feb 15th: What ever the kids could find.

Feb 16th: crock pot chicken thighs, carrots, potato, onions


#### indicates that my husband bought the dinner supplies....did not come out of my grocery budget. 

Please see the daily postings if interested. 

February's Pantry Items.

We are a family of five, with my staff nurse position in ICU as the means of income. I support a family of five, one kid who works part time, two teens in high school, a husband, two cats and two dogs. 



Pantry:

3 boxes of oatmeal

1 box hot chocolate

cream of wheat
pumpkin banana pancake mix
2 bread stick mix
1 container of olive oil
salt
baking powder
brown sugar
powdered sugar
bread crumbs
popcorn kernels
pancake syrup
1 lone can of  tomato soup
yeast
2 cans of cream of chicken
1 can of mushroom soup 
raspberry jam
peanut butter

a lb of pasta
some sugar
1 pizza mix
3 lb rice
tea bags

several cans of crushed tomato
1 1/2 lb pinto beans
several cans of mushrooms
several cans of chicken noodle soup
several cans of bean soup
grape jelly
strawberry jelly
flour

Left overs:

Fruit Bowl:
3 lb onion
10 lb potatoes
carrots
celery
onions
garlic
head of cabbage

Open Condiments:
Ketchup
mustard
mayo
bbq sauce

Fridge Items:
Parmesan cheese 
4 half gallons of juice
several lbs of cheese
sliced cheese

cheddar cheese

20 eggs

1 salad dressing

turkey lunch meat
pepperoni
butter
1 gallon of milk
four loaves of bread

Freezer offerings:
1 package of frozen ravioli
3 lb hot dogs
2 lb of 85% ground beef
3 lb ground turkey
one package of pork chops
two packages of chicken thighs
colored peppers (red, yellow, orange)


Frozen Veggies:

5 lb corn opened
2.5 lb peas
2.5 lb broccoli
2.5 lb green beans
1 lb mixed veggies

1 lb squash

Hidden Surprises:
one container of beef veggie stock
3 quart mason jar of ham stock
four containers of chicken stock
roast/carrots/potatoes
7 cups of turkey broth
three cups of bean soup

Spices:
lots!!