How has prepping/cooking 2 weeks of meals on one day benefitted me?

Tonight we had the beef in BBQ sauce over homemade buns (baked yesterday) with steamed carrots, Cole slaw, and oven-roasted potato wedges (done in beef fat). Casual and tasty. Today I just had to reheat the beef, add BBQ sauce, slice and steam the carrots, and make the Cole slaw. 

Here are just a few reasons that I'm really loving having spent Monday cooking:

• When I discovered I should have started garden seeds 2 weeks ago, I had the time to quickly get some of the seeds started before serving dinner, then finished with the task after dinner.
• My daughter had her boyfriend for dinner with us. Because I'd planned our meals out in advance, I didn't have to take time to think of what to serve.
• I had extra time to pack up and ship a gift to my new great-nephew. This was no easy task, as it's framed and contains a pane of glass. (My daughter got her start in paid artwork in her teens doing letter brush. She paints the letters of a name or first initial, using flora and fauna in the letters. Even though she's moved on to illustrating books, portraiture, and commercial artwork, she occasionally gets a commission for letter brush or caricatures. I commissioned her to do my great-nephew's name in Scottish highland flora and fauna.) I wrapped and wrapped the framed artwork in bubble wrap. I think it will survive transit halfway across the US.
• A repairman arrived this afternoon to see if he could repair our stove. I had time to "babysit" him and didn't have to worry about not having time to get dinner started.
• Tonight, Wednesday, is usually one of my daughters' cooking nights. Although I took over for her (part of my personal birthday gift to my daughters, cooking for them this month), it wasn't that big of an ordeal for me. I like that I was able to do something for someone else with a fair amount of ease for me.

Yep, I think this is working out pretty well for me. We'll see how the second half of the month goes when I get there.

here's one of my daughter's letter brushes

February 2025 Grocery Spending

the frittata just before going into the oven

Last night we had the chicken, bread dressing, and gravy along with frozen mashed pumpkin and frozen broccoli with the last of the fall turnip greens. Tonight we're having the pepper, onion, and sausage frittata with tangerines, fresh tomato and avocado slices, and some of the rice that I cooked yesterday (reheated in the microwave). 

Also today, I made a batch of refrigerator roll dough for the hamburger/sandwich buns, hot dog buns, and dinner rolls. I baked 10 burger/sandwich buns this afternoon and will bake the hot dog buns and dinner rolls tomorrow or Thursday.  The dough will hold in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. I need the burger/sandwich buns for tomorrow night's dinner. We'll be five tomorrow, and I don't know if we'll be four or five the night we need the remaining burger buns. I'll freeze half of those buns after they cool.

What's on your menu for dinner tonight?

Now on to what we bought and spent this month.

Feb. 11  Walmart 1 can frozen orange juice, gallon milk, 10 lbs flour, instant coffee, frozen spinach, 2 packages turkey snack sticks, 2 lbs raisins, block of cheddar cheese, 5 lbs carrots, 3 lbs apples, 1 bundle celery, 3 lbs tangerines, 8 lbs potatoes, about .75 lb fresh green beans, 1 head cabbage, several Roma tomatoes, 4 avocados, and a bunch of bananas. Spent $66.07 I was buying some foods for Valentine's brunch and dinner today, but also replenishing our fresh and frozen produce,

Feb. 12  Town & Country I bought 1 dozen eggs plus Valentine's gifts for my husband, daughters, and son and daughter-in-law today. Spent $3.99 on food.

Feb. 21 Town & Country 3 dozen eggs @ $3.99/dozen. Spent $11.97. My daughter took me to Town & Country to buy 2 treats for me as a Valentine's gift, some dried dates and some low-sugar coconut candy bars. We swung by the egg cooler to pick up a more eggs. At this date, a dozen eggs were selling for $6,49/dozen at Fred Meyer (Kroger).

Feb. 24 WinCo frozen breakfast sausage, frozen peas, frozen spinach, frozen broccoli cuts, wedge of Parmesan cheese, block go cheddar cheese, block of mozzarella cheese, package of bacon, 1 lb Italian turkey sausage, family pack boneless/skinless chicken breasts, 10 lbs all-purpose flour, 2 cans tuna, 5 lbs carrots, 1 head cabbage, 1 bundle celery, 2 bunches bananas, 6 lbs apples, 2 lbs tangerines, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, several Roma tomatoes, 1 gallon milk, about 2 lbs bulk peanuts, about 1.5 lbs bulk raisins, about 1.66 lbs bulk salt, about .33 lb bulk powdered milk, about .5 lb bulk cornstarch, about 1 lb bulk peanut butter, and 10 lbs potatoes. Spent $97.60.

Feb. 28 Walmart My daughter picked up 1 package of uncured beef hotdogs for the family. Spent $5.23

I spent $184.86 in-person shopping this month. Also, our next beef delivery was charged to our credit card at the end of the month, an additional $359.00, for a grand total for February of $543.86. I'll try to keep March's spending low to help bring down the monthly average.