Hi. This is going to sound like it's expensive, but once you purchase the initial pantry items it is actually budget friendly. What would you consider to be cost effective per serving? $4 ? $2 ? Cooking and eating at home is going to be cheaper no matter what, so start there. If you spend $4 per serving for 4 people that's $16 for one meal. If you do that three times a day that is going to turn out to be $48 per day. And that IS expensive. It's what most people spend current

Yes, you really can feed 2 adults and 2 children on only $40 per week. I am providing the menus for a week plus the grocery list for those menus below. What building in New York has the most stories? The public library. Feed 4 people on about $6 a day or $40 a week. This plan assumes you have a stocked pantry. Items not included in the grocery list are italicized (in the menus) so that you can shop for them if you need to do that.           Grocery list: Grains & Breads $4

Starting with these tips. 1. Buy in bulk. 2. Buy less convenience products. Avoid processed and packaged foods, including sodas, crackers, cookies, and candy 3. Plan your meals out. Not eating out, but planning them ahead, creating menus. 4. Choose plant-based protein sources like lentils, beans, and edamame. 5. Always take inventory of your fridge before going to store. 6. Only buy what’s on your list. 7. Shop sales and stock up. 8. Stop eating out for meals – cook at home!

I think I might be back on schedule here. Getting my groceries delivered on Thursday again. So here is this weeks menus: Turkey Dinner. (I had frozen turkey from Thanksgiving that I needed to use I was thinking). So stuffing, gravy and green beans with that. Instead of cranberry sauce which is loaded with corn syrup and sugar I'll be using 'warm' mixed berries. Red Lentil Chili. (The red lentils seem to cook faster so watch your pot) with corn muffins. The Tofu pu

Freckles and spots on older people's hands, often referred to as age spots or liver spots, are primarily caused by prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun, which leads to an overproduction of melanin in the skin. These spots typically appear on areas that have received the most sun exposure over the years, such as the hands, face, and arms.   So I should not get natural Vitamin D via the sun. Huh. Anything else? Ultraviolet (UV) Light: Prolonged exposure to

Trying to stick to a schedule here. On Mondays I am supposed to check emails and respond. That can be a bit tedious some days. Not complaining, just saying, I think I need a cup of something. Tea? Decaf? Plain Water? I got a Vegan recipe for BBQ Tofu, pulled pork mimic. I plan to try it out. I'll let you know how it goes. I may look for another recipe out there on the internet because the one I have requires that I make homemade BBQ sauce and also homemade BBQ rub. I guess I

Yeah well, if you are like me you have been trying but it's not been easy. Not with the utilities, not with the insurance, and not with the groceries. I am a frugal person. No doubt about that. But it's getting increasingly hard to buy food that you normally buy, to stock up when things are on sale, and to stick inside the confines of a realistic budget. I am spending more than I used to spend for sure. True, I have started buying things that I did not buy a decade ago in my

You think I should write a book? While I think it is true that I always have something to say I hesitate to think that it is an indication of a talent in authorship. I am not the writer in the family. Do you think it's possible that I could grab the talent via Osmosis? LOL How does NASA organize a party? They planet.

The Okinawa diet has gained attention worldwide for its association with longevity and vibrant health. One ingredient that often surprises newcomers to this diet is tofu. If you never thought you would eat tofu, the Okinawa diet might just change your mind. This plant-based protein plays a key role in the traditional eating habits of Okinawa, Japan, and offers many health benefits worth exploring. The Okinawa diet stands out because it emphasizes whole, minimally processed fo

Understanding Inappropriate Laughter Inappropriate laughter occurs when a person laughs in situations where it is socially or culturally unacceptable. This type of laughter can be involuntary and may not reflect the individual's true feelings about the situation. Or, they may have just found the situation downright hilarious. Several factors can lead to inappropriate laughter: Emotional Regulation: Laughter can serve as a coping mechanism to manage stress or anxiety. In tense

I finished watching NOS4A2 on Netflix and started watching a show on Paramount called The Mayor of Kingstown. Spoiler Alert and Warning!! This show is very graphic, bloody, gory, and at points even nauseating. After the third episode we almost decided to stop watching this show because of all that. If you dislike violence and cruelty, (which I do) then you may want to avoid this show, but if you can stomach it and can distinguish tv graphics from the real world with certai

I am guarding my thoughts. I am trying to ensure that my thoughts are focusing on what I want and what I like. My positive thought for today? "Everything is happening for me, not to me." I like that. I am paying attention to my 'resting face', which tends to look like a scowl, and telling myself to smile. Yes, for no reason, just smile. A little bit. For a moment. In my opinion the world is in a mess. But not my little world, my corner where I live, my section of town where

Working on trying to stick to a schedule of sorts. I have changed it a few times, AFTER printing it out of course. It being the first part of the month there are bills to pay and there is stock up to do on the inventory for the pantries. (If you read pantries as panties then you have a gnat in your eye like me. LOL ) How on earth do people really get bored? There is always so much to do. I think it's really that are tired, too tired to get up and do the stuff that needs to g

Decades of studies of happiness and emotional well-being have proven that experiencing greater happiness is within the control of almost every individual. There’s no magic cure for misery, but multiple cognitive, emotional, and physical behaviors can multiply your chances of feeling better about your life. Things Happy People Choose Not to Do They don’t dwell on setbacks or unpleasantness. Ruminating on negative thoughts crowds out space for positive thinking while also creat

I have heard it said that my office looks like a picture of one of those Hidden Object games. And they aren't wrong. I am one of those people who has trouble throwing things away. I will donate. I will refurbish, recycle, renew and reuse. But unless it's trash, I won't trash it. So consequently things stack up sometimes. To be honest, my whole house is a bit like that. Overfilled. Cluttered. Filled to the brim. Make no mistake though, it is organized, regardless of how some p

So they have turned the food pyramid upside down. What used to be a pyramid is now a...what....an upside down triangle? I do agree with some of it and think it's a good idea on those notes, but be careful of following it in it's entirety. Let me break that down to be clearer. On January 7, 2026, the U.S. government introduced a new food pyramid as part of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This marks a significant shift in federal nutrition policy, emphasizing a

Or.......how I spend a lot of my time. Gotta start the New Year out right, so I am working on a painting. I haven't talked much about my craft work in recent blogs. That's because I talk about it on another blog site that is dedicated to showing off all the craft work that I do and talking about it and showing pictures of it and it's where I sell my stuff and all that sort of thing. The painting that I am working on is of a setting in a Greek home with a view out the French d

Yup. I am in the mood for stew. I love stews. Especially when the cold weather hits, stews and chilis tend to hit my lists. So this week the menu is filled with various 'stews'. All of these are without any red meat (no beef, no pork, no lamb, etc.). There is fish, there is chicken, (white meat only) and there is chicken-apple-sausage, too. Certain recipes might ask for a copy-cat bullion, so I will provide the beef-style recipe here for your ease and convenience. Spice mi

I am a coffee lover. For sure. But because since I have gotten older and have developed mild hypertension (that's high blood pressure) I have had to cut down on how much coffee I drink in a day. Believe it when I tell you I could down a whole pot of coffee a day in past years. And, I am a tea-totaler, as they say. Anyways, these days I limit myself to only two cups of coffee per day. If I crave more I allow myself decaf. But for the most part I drink tea. All kinds of tea. My

I noticed that there is a pattern (one might call it a trend instead) of female weather presenters on television wearing 4 and 5 inch spiked heels. I had to ask myself why a person needed to wear the most uncomfortable looking shoes to talk about the weather? Well it turns out there are a couple of reasons. TV stations often have appearance guidelines meant to look “polished” or formal on camera. High heels are sometimes considered part of traditional broadcast fashion for wo