Cheap & Cheerful Suppers (with some random photos of my kitchen)

Another week of homecooked meals. Since I failed to take pictures of our meals most days of this week, I thought I'd intersperse some random glimpses of the kitchen's most used areas.

Snack central
homemade instant oatmeal and oatmeal packets
from the salvage store (10 cents/box)
a couple of packets of free pop-tarts (free with coupon)
nuts, sunflower seeds, and raisins

Friday
spaghetti with meaty tomato sauce (using fresh tomatoes, canned tomato paste, garden garlic, parsley, oregano)
steamed garden carrots

I just have to say this -- freshly dug carrots smell so wonderful when cooking. I only added a blob of butter to the finished carrots, no salt or anything else. So delicious.

I did remember to take a pic on Saturday

Saturday

refried beans

homemade flour tortilla

tomato wedges

cheddar cheese

I asked my husband to make me an extra small tortilla, so I wouldn't have to grind my teeth down to chew. I was told to be very careful with the fractured tooth, because it could fracture further and cause some serious pain. So my husband obliged and made this cute little tortilla.

the fruit bowl area
The tomatoes on the counter are ones
that need peeling and using asap.
Small bowl of garlic cloves are pieces leftover from planting
garlic this week. I planted only the large cloves and
saved the smaller ones for cooking.
Avocados are great soft foods for minimal chewing.

Sunday

tomato frittata

white rice

steamed garden carrots

One daughter is gone for the week cat-sitting. So dinner was much simpler. Fewer people to cook for means simple meals in my mind. 

I love most things about our stove.
It has an old-fashioned look to it.
However, it burned out 2 igniters way too fast.
The red pot in back is a Whirly-Pop for making popcorn.
My daughter bought this on ebay
and says it makes the best popcorn.
You have to turn the handle
the whole time the popcorn is popping.

Monday

spaghetti sauce over pasta for family, over soft and crustless bread for me

well-cooked garden mixed veggies

Tuesday's dinner

Tuesday

bean burgers, topped with homemade relish and mayo

mashed potatoes

more steamed carrots

Where we keep the flavored vinegars, cocoa mix,
sugar canister, right next to the mixing bowl.

Wednesday

homemade tomato soup

scrambled eggs

crustless soft bread for me, toasted homemade bread for family

Thursday

Thursday

ground beef cooked with onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes, garden herbs, and a slurry of cornstarch and water to make a bit of a sauce, so I could serve it over

mashed potatoes

pureed kale soup

homemade applesauce, using our blemished tree apples

As you can see, I'm on a rather soft diet. Trying not to create a larger crack in that tooth by chewing anything harder than steamed carrots. I find myself just swallowing a lot of stuff whole, like the ground beef in the spaghetti sauce. It works for me. I'm finding lots of soft things to eat -- smoothies, avocados, cream of wheat cereal, ripe bananas, soup, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes. I do eat a few other more firm foods, but in total, I've been very careful with eating.

What was on your menu this past week? Have you ever had to prepare mostly soft foods for yourself or others? What foods worked well for you?

Have a great weekend, friends!

Putting Problems in Perspective With the Help of a Dream

You all know my current problems. Well last night, in my final dream of the night, my subconscious put everything into perspective. 

A voice asked me to draw a version of myself on the wall. Which I did (and frankly, I'm a much better artist than this rendering, well maybe not "much better"). Then that voice asked me to draw a box showing how big my current problem was, which I did in red ink.

The voice asked me what the size of the box was. I replied "it's 5 feet by 5 feet." The voice asked how big (tall) I am, and is this a realistic representation of my problem? 

That's when I woke up. I'm 5'3", by the way. So I think the message that my subconscious gave me was that I was thinking my problem is almost as big as I am. In that moment, I realized I had inflated my problem significantly and allowed it to take up too much mind space. 

While I don't think we should shame ourselves out of our fears, I do think sometimes my anxious self needs to do a reassessment.

I will no doubt be somewhat anxious the day of my extraction and reasonably afraid. I've come to accept that I will not be at ease with it all. That's just how I am. It's okay to face something difficult and not be at ease with it. 

By the way, I still don't know when this will happen. My medical doctor has to clear me for this, as I have some medical issues that need addressing to ensure a successful outcome. I'll give you all a heads up before hand, and I expect I'll be offline for a few days. Or maybe not. Maybe you'll be reading some rather curious and comical posts by me in the hours following, when I'll be a bit loopy from pain killers.

Anyway, this isn't at all about frugal living. And I apologize if you were hoping for more frugal thoughts and less about my dreams. Maybe I'll have something better tomorrow. 

Until then . . .