I have decided that due to Covid-19 cases being so high in my area and the fact that I really want to save money, I will be challenging myself for the month of October to keep my grocery bill under $200 and that includes paper goods and pet needs. This should help keep me out of the stores, and to be honest, with prices going up, I am really not seeing many good deals anyway. Anyone want to join me challenging yourself to a certain grocery budget that you set for your own family? I would love to see how you do and get some encouragement to keep me on track also. 😃
I know that I have not been really consistent with my blog posting lately. There is a lot going on here in my little world including adjusting to new meds. I was finally approved for the pregabalin and I think it may be helping with the pain, although I am still in the early days of trying it. I am sleeping better once I actually fall asleep, but I am still some kind of strange night owl type person. Praying that changes too. I am also dealing with some really complex feeling due to the death of one of my former pastors who some people are eulogizing like he himself was God when I know the truth about this man and his cult like behavior and abuses of people. This is also a man who was saying that Covid-19 was just like the flu and that taking the vaccine was a part of government control, etc.. Now I will say that mandating the vaccine is something that I do not agree with, but I also believe that we all have a responsibility to not only have the wisdom to help protect ourselves and our loved one from this horrible virus, but also have to compassion to help protect others around us also. I am vaccinated, as are most of my family. I do have family and friends that are not, and that is their choice and I do not think that they should be forced to get the vaccine. Back to my point...this pastor just died from Covid-19 and from what I can ascertain from their own sermons and the words that came out of their mouths, they tried to cover up that he had it to begin with to their own congregation and now are trying to make sure that anyone outside their church does not know that he died from it. Someone on staff there, that I personally know, did tell another mutual friend of ours what he died from and when she shared that info online, she got all kinds of backlash and quickly took down her post about his passing. I am wondering how long it will be before they take down the videos where you can see him struggling with it before he "was out of town". Anyway, there is a huge part of me that wants to scream to the people that I love and are still deceived by this man that they have been duped by a wolf in sheep's clothing (my personal opinion of this man based on things he said and did to both my family and to many other families) and also recognizing that they really are mourning the death of a person that they genuinely loved and believed in. Only time will tell if they come to realize what was really going on now that they are out from under his daily influence.
Anyway, I wanted to share some of the meals that we have had within the past few months. It is just a small sampling of what we have been eating. I continue to try and use the produce from our gardens and make the most of what we have and get several meals out of things. Here we go!
Cantaloupe (we are not starting to get our own cantaloupe out of the garden) and blackberries (also from our garden). 
Pork roast with potatoes and carrots along with a side of tortellini salad. 
Tomato (from our garden) and cheese melt on homemade bread. 
Lemon Chicken Pasta with produce from our garden. 
Burgers with fried potatoes and squash from the garden. The tomato on the burger is also from our garden. 
Teriyaki noodles with leftover teriyaki steaks and veggies from the garden. 
Tamale pie from pantry and freezer items. 
Homemade pancakes to feed the hungry grandboys! 
Spicy sausage and potato hash. 
Homemade blackberry syrup with some of the blackberries from our garden. 
Open face avocado and tomato sandwich with tomatoes from our garden. 
Tuna pasta salad with cherry tomatoes from the garden. 
Swedish meatballs over egg noodles and a side of fresh from the orchard apple slices. 
Homemade cheesy potato and veggie chowder. 
Beer brats, roasted russet and sweet potato hash and a side of crisp apple slices. 
Homemade cheese lasagna. 
Homemade deli style Krab salad and avocado on the side. 
Cheesy chicken and rice bake with a side of cantaloupe from our garden.
Well I am off to get a nice hickory smoked pork loin roast in the oven, along with potatoes and carrots. I already got a feta cheese, cucumber, squash and tomato salad made with all the produce coming out of our garden. The pork roast is a pretty large one so it will be made into other meals too. Be blessed my friends, stay safe and enjoy this beautiful Fall weather!
"From the garden' seems to be a nice theme throughout this post. I'm still eating tomatoes from my garden. I picked all the green mini-slicers about 10 days ago ahead of a big rain storm. They've been ripening while sitting on a baking sheet. I roasted the first bunch and will do the same with this one.
ReplyDeleteI'm still feeling the need to add to my pantry. I am price matching again - as of last week. Sadly, the store that does the price matches now only allows two items instead of six like last year. But by price matching, I'm in fewer stores. And I'm only shopping by 8am in the mornings so not many people.
Are you still doing the commodity food distribution? Or did they stop it with cvid? I stopped going to the nonprofit grocery store but may start again since their prices on fresh veggies can't be beat.
On the plus side, I haven't had a restaurant or fast food meal since Jan2020. That's pretty good for me and I have no desire to start again.
I'll keep you in my prayers as you start this new medicine. Hope you're able to start going to sleep easier. I know for me, if I've done too much in a day, I have a very hard time going to sleep. The hospital program calls it 'wired and tired'. Same for if I am on my laptop after dinner - I have to get off it by dinner time or else I'm also wired up from that and have a hard time getting to sleep. And that's the weirdest part of CFS for me, not being able to go to sleep when I'm exhausted.
Anyway, this is getting really long, whoops.
Cheers
SJ in Vancouver BC Canada
Your meals look delicious! My grandsons always want pancakes too.
ReplyDeleteI’m weary from Covid- we are vaccinated and will get our boosters ASAP. I have an anti-vax friend who has been in the hospital almost 3 weeks with Covid and her prognosis is very iffy. It’s very sad
Lots of fruits and veggies from your garden in your meals! I have a monthly grocery budget, but, it is for groceries, only; no pet food, paper goods, other household items, etc. I had been going over the budget, on occasion as I stock up, but, I've managed to stay under budget, these last couple of months. I will join you in staying under budget in October, too. :)
ReplyDeleteHoping your new medicine works for you.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for speaking the truth. Your meals look delicious; it should not be a hardship for you to shop less since you seem well organized and well supplied.
ReplyDeleteYour meals all look absolutely delicious. You must be a very fine cook.
ReplyDeleteI disagree about the vaccine--I feel it should be mandatory, as are all the vaccines that are mandatory for school attendance. We are all responsible for herd immunity--no one gets a pass! There are fewer deaths with the vaccine than without it.