This, That, and Other Things

I think I’ve missed a few weeks in updating. I’m sorry.

Things that are stressing me out right now:

– The fact that I may not be able to work my job

-The brakes in my car are not working right so I can’t drive.

-The car needs more repairs and I can’t afford them

-Money

-My health

-Food

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My car is not safe to drive, and my job is an hour drive away. So that is a problem. My boss is super amazing and was able to put together a way for me to work from home. Kind of a save up money and get that car fixed when you can sort of thing. But then I get a letter from HR and a contract. They contract me to two weeks. Yay. I’m not sure what I’m going to do at the end of this next week. There is no way my car will be safe to drive by then.

So.

Yeah.

I’m freaking out.

The car just needs to have the brakes figured out, new tires, and a new lower control arm. I just don’t have the funds for it. At all.

I don’t know how to make up $600 in a week.

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My health is just as bad right now. I’m in pain 24/7. But because I don’t have a working car right now, and my work schedule, I can’t get to the doctors I need to see to correct the problem. The best I can do is a Saturday appointment but I need to have a way to get to the appointment. And the next available one is like three weeks away.

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The whole food thing is stressing me out, not so much due to lack of it, but more of not having enough energy to do what I want with it. I’m so tired even working from home that I just can’t do anything.

This also includes cleaning and trying to find rides so I can run errands. I don’t have the $30 a trip one way to go to the grocery store and I only really have cash for spending so getting things delivered is out of the question. And walking is kind of out of the question. My body barely allows me to go up and down the stairs on a good day.

I’m looking for some more vegetarian ideas to make as well. I want food that feels good after it’s eaten. And that has a lot of nutrition.

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I feel like I’m just running in circles. I know I need to relax a little but it feels like it never stops. And I just want to sleep.

Anyway…. That’s all for now. I’ll write a kitten update soon.

Insomnia ramblings

Well. It’s not exactly insomnia. I ended up sleeping most of the day so now I’m paying for that.

I tried to work some overtime today but my body would not stop hurting so I came back home and just slept it off. I wish I could find a good job like the one I have but have it either be closer to where I live or a work from home sort of deal. I’m not really doing good with the commute.

I have made some progress on the Village story I’m writing. Started on Part Two. I wish I had some more time to work on it. But writing feels so… it feels like I’m just going through the motions. Almost everything is feeling that way. I’m in the midst of a mental health episode that’s like wicked bad but it’s not really hurting anyone so I guess I’m okay with what’s going on.

Miss Murder Kitty is still pissed about the kitten. She’s peed on my bed again. I’ve given up on the bed and probably will just have to go without one. It’s not the worst thing in the world.

Miss Murder Kitty after she peed on my bed again.

Today I’m planning on making a pork loin in the slow cooker for me and the kids. I’m going to try to see if I can get some meat for stew as well. I only have like $10 left for the week so we’ll see.

I want to make a few other things as well but my brain is firmly set on clean mode which lets me know I’m having a manic episode. Which. Well. It’s fine. I’ll deal with it. I think I need to look into how much a cleaning person would cost. It would probably be good for me to be able to relax. I need to relax.

New Kitty and Lots of Laundry…

It’s Sunday again!

This week was busy with me working extra hours again at work. I think I need to find something to do on the side on the weekends so that I don’t have to do extra hours. It just really really tires me out. Something that I can do from home or something because I just don’t think I have the energy to go out and work a second job when I can barely do the first one.

Anyway, this week I brought home a new kitty. Miss Murder Kitty is not happy about this development and has let me know so by peeing on the bed – while I was laying in it. She’ll get over herself eventually. I hope. But I’m also so amused by how dramatic she is being. The kitten is a good boy though. He’s pressing his boundaries with her a little, but he is giving her space and is pretty much ignoring her. The dramatics are very much one sided.

Because Murder Kitty peed the bed, I had to do laundry. It took about three hours, but I managed to do the huge backlog of laundry I’d been putting off doing. I finished the five load but now have to fold and put away everything.

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Yesterday my daughter and I went grocery shopping together. She got her own groceries but also we picked out a few things for me to make for prep meals. I’ve currently got meatballs in the slow cooker with grape jelly, ketchup, and bbq sauce. I’m going to make rice to go with it and that will be dinner.

She helped me prep my lunches for this week. I have little cups made that have salami and ham in them. I bought some string cheese to go with those. There is yogurt. Crackers. Also mini packs of cookies and chocolates. Mostly healthy. Mostly nutritious. Will make the day easier by having snacks handy. Right now I end the day by eating a few Sour Patch Kids to keep up my blood sugars before I drive home. Not the best.

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I’ve only managed to write half a page this week. I know that I need to be easy on myself with this process but I wish I had more time to write. I was gone for over 14 hours a day this week and it just made for no time to do anything. I’m so tired. I’m hoping to get a little more written today but I’m not sure.

Well, that’s my update for now. Maybe will post some kitten pics later. I posted a few on my instagram. You can find me under @M_is_for_Mo.

Always busy it seems…

I spent most of my waking hours today driving around to stores to get what I needed to make my meals for this week. My daughter asked for some chili and we both wanted meatballs. I also decided to make some spaghetti sauce for the winter as well. My sauce is always different because I cook it based on what I have available to me, so sometimes it tastes better. Right now it’s too acidic so it may take longer to cook as I even out the flavor. I still have to cook up some chicken and veggies for us this week as well.

I worked some over time hours this week at my job and will be doing a lot more next week as well. The extra money is going towards my savings account that I’m trying to establish at a credit union, but they need all kinds of information from me just to be able to apply for the account. I’m hoping to have a good chunk saved up towards my $1,000 goal by the end of the month. Hopefully my body will cooperate. I’ve already missed a day due to being in so much pain I was near tears if I had to sit in one spot for more than five minutes.

Last week I wrote about a page and a half. This week I’m hoping to get a bit more done. I’m also hoping to work on some stuff for my Patreon. I’m always so tired, I think my chronic fatigue is kicking up and it’s so not a good time for it. I have a long list of things that need to be done. But I’m hoping to get at least 3 pages written this week. I really need to just sit down and write a bit while I’m on my breaks at lunch. I’m going to try to remember that this week.

I hope to have some writing to post for everyone soon. And I hope I have something more exciting to write about next week. Maybe I’ll post my meat ball recipe or something.

Stew

I made a stew for dinner as I’ve been cutting back on eating to save money. After two weeks of this, I was so hungry I was getting angry and irritable. And my muscles were starting to twitch from lack of red meat. So I took some money and decided stew would probably provide the most servings that I’d eat more than once.

I had read somewhere about using tomato paste in stew. Also to thicken with corn starch. I used veg brought from my local farm stand and the local butcher provided me with the beef. I also used sweet potatoes as they are healthier.

I usually use onion flakes instead of real onions. So today was a treat. I also seasoned with pepper, salt, paprika, and parsley. I used my slow cooker on high for three hours.

Final product. Filter curtesy of my Instagram.

It’s been so long since I’ve made a decent stew. So good. I’m freezing some for later. I’m so happy this came out good. What is something that you like to make?

Money may be tight but I still eat well

The other night I made fajitas. I was wanting tacos, but since I had onions, peppers, and precooked chicken strips, I decided on the fajita kit. I picked up sour cream and cheese. Cost maybe $5 total. I got two meals out of it. I got a bunch of yogurts at $.50 each, so I’ve been adding that with meals.

I’ve also been making sandwiches. Deli meat on store baked country bread. I’ve been cutting the meals in half and then eating it with a yogurt. I also have cut up slices of cucumber to eat with the sandwiches.

I’m working on making sure I have good nutritious meals that don’t cost a lot. I do shop at a store that’s considered pricy, but I use the store’s loyalty program and coupons. This store doubles coupons under a dollar. I also don’t buy a lot from the middle aisles. Fresh veg, meats, and dairy are my main buys. Then I usually will see what I have coupons for before I hit the middle aisles. Frozen helps as well.

But just because that works for me doesn’t mean that it works for everyone. It’s taken me years to reach being able to do this. I just know I have to eat better, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.

Yummy eggy veggie sammich

I was craving bacon hard today.

It didn’t help that I made Crack Chicken in the instant pot and I had eaten half the crumbled bacon before it was done. I had an Instacart shift today with no orders, so I was waiting around and hungry, dreaming of bacon. I was given the option of ending my shift early, so I did and went to work cooking the rest of the bacon.

I had bought a loaf of multigrain country bread at the store yesterday. It was a little pricey at $2.99, but it was fresh baked so I figured it was worth the price. This is a nice dense bread. I decided to make a veggie omelette and use the bacon and bread to make a sandwich.

I took a slice of onion, a little broccoli, and two small sweet peppers and diced them into tiny pieces. Cooked them up and threw in two beaten eggs. I added a handful of shredded cheese and let it cook up.

Two slices of bread were toasted, a layer of bacon, the veggie omelette and a smear of salsa. Sliced in half. It was delicious. And cheap.

I’m all about making yummy food and not spending too much money. The two other meals on my list for the next week or so are tacos with precooked chicken in the freezer, spaghetti sauce, and sandwiches. I have yogurt for snacks. Which is good because I’m hungry ALL the time right now.

Meatballs and pasta

I got hungry and decided to cook while I was supposed to be writing. I was really just watching tv so cooking was more productive. I had initially planned to make something with my instant pot, but ended up just using the stove top. I made the above sweet meatballs and pasta with cheese sauce. I made it a little differently than normal and it came out well.

The meatballs:

I used one package of frozen mini meatballs. I put them in my pot and added a can of tomato soup. I added about a quarter of a jar of grape jelly, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and then garlic, dried onion, red pepper flakes, and curry powder to my liking. I cooked it until it started to bubble and then lowered it to keep warm while the pasta cooked.

Pasta and cheese sauce:

I cooked the pasta according to the box and then drained and rinsed it. I put it back in the pot, added a can of cheese soup, about a quarter cup of milk, and the seasoned to my liking. It came out well. I had thought that I still had some cheese to add to it, but I couldn’t find it. It must have been eaten at some point.

The meal came out good. My pasta I used was veggie pasta so it also came with a serving of veggies! I had enough for three more meals so I added that to my collection prepped meals to eat.

Food and making it

I recently decided to buy myself an electric pressure cooker. My friends all have Instant Pots and they raved about it constantly. The thought that I could make easy, healthy food quickly won me over and I found one on sale that I could afford.

I had to wait a week for it to come in and that was a week filled with anticipation. A friend of mine also started to show me recipes that I could use in it once it came in. I then had to wait for the delivery driver to make three attempts before it was delivered. I kept missing him.

I used it the day it came in. I had country style ribs that were in the freezer that I had gotten on sale. They were still frozen but I had been told that I didn’t have to defrost the meat. I was skeptical but I threw them in anyway. I added some beef bullion and water to the bottom of it. Then I just sprinkled some salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic onto the meat. I drizzled some barbecue sauce on it. Then locked the lid, pressed the meat button and set it for 45 minutes.

The ribs came out amazing. Only 45 minutes from frozen and the meat was falling off the bone! I was so impressed. I then made pasta in the cooker, which took all of five minutes. I just poured the dry pasta in, followed by a jar of sauce. Easiest meal I’ve ever made.

Cottage Pie

I’m running low on fresh groceries and I don’t have any money even though it’s pay day. I barely made enough to cover rent, and there is not enough to cover my car payment. Or for my phone. Or to buy groceries. So I needed to think of something to make that would last a few days. My freezer does have a few packages of meats that I got on sale. This is what I decided to make with the ground turkey.

I have a Ninja Chopper, so I used it to mince up an onion, about 3 cloves of garlic, and carrots. I put that in the pan to start to cook while I defrosted the turkey. Which I added to mix and cooked up. I added salt, pepper, an Italian seasoning mix, and a little chili powder. Once it was cooked up, I drained and put into my small casserole dish. I added a cup of frozen peas and mixed that into it. A can of creamed corn was layered on top.

I made the instant mashed potatoes according to the package and layered them on top. Topped that with salt, pepper, and paprika. I let it bake for 15 minutes, took it out, and sprinkled shredded cheese on top. This one I used was a cheddar and Swiss mixture. I let that go back in the oven for 5 minutes and then took it out. Served with a side of salad.

This should be enough for a few dinners/lunches for work. I’m hoping it should last me until Christmas. I have frozen burritos that I made and froze last week for variety. I do need to think of some thing quick and easy for breakfasts.

I hope you enjoyed this peek into how I feed myself on about $100 a month.