Meal plans for the rest of the month and Jeremy's eye surgery

This is my tentative plan for dinners through the end of the month. It could change if I get better ideas. I will also make banana bread, which will be good for a few breakfasts. Lunches can be leftovers or sandwiches. I will probably pick up some bananas too once the cherries run out.

Saturday: salsa and sour cream chicken, rice (Jeremy's cooking)
Sunday: chicken salad and homemade bread
Monday: chicken soup with couscous
Tuesday: crock pot Italian pasta soup
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: chicken with broccoli, rice, and pepper jack sauce

Will need to buy: lettuce, bay leaves, thyme, zucchini, broccoli, corn starch, bananas


Jeremy had the laser surgery on his left eye today. It went well. There was no pain at all. His pupil was still dilated last time I saw it, so he couldn't read, but he said he could already see better than before. They won't be able to remove the cataract from his right eye until the end of October it looks like.

Glitter. The final frontier.

Winter made this

Winter got a space ship model for her 8th grade graduation from one of her uncles. I recognize it as being from Star Trek, but that's all I got. She posted pics on Facebook the other day, noting that she had difficulty finding model paints, so it is mostly painted with nail polish. It is hard to tell from this particular shot, but it's very glittery.

I bought a couple of QFC gift cards on Raise.com recently. I found out that if they do not currently have the cards you want in stock you can set an alert and the site will email you when they get one in. I set alerts for QFC, Safeway, and Grocery Outlet, and so far I have bought around 240$ worth of QFC cards for 3% off. It's not a lot, but it's better than 0% off, and I figure we will be spending the money there either way, so I might as well shave off a few dollars where I can.

I didn't wind up with any appointments at work this morning, so I am staying home until after Jeremy's eye surgery, then I will go in from 3-7.

Starting next month I will be working 8 more hours a week at my main job, starting at 10 instead of 12. We've been able to put around 1500 a month towards paying off debt with me picking up all these extra shifts this summer, but I'm kind of wondering if I should cut way back, especially with my hours increasing Thursday through Sunday. There will be new bills coming in from Jeremy's surgeries, and I have no idea what to expect from those too. I want to try to keep the total debt as low as I can. On the other hand, I am worried about injury and/or burnout.

What we ate (and bought) 07-24-14

QFC has cherries on sale for $2.49 a pound right now. Just when I think they will not get any cheaper, they do. I have spent so much on cherries this summer, but last year I didn't buy any because I never saw them go under $4 a pound. So I blew $5.60 on another bag of cherries. And they are so worth it. I also bought a jar of salsa for $1.79, and Dreyer' s German Chocolate ice cream for $3.00. That leaves us with just over $14 to finish out the month. It will be tight, but doable.

I finally had some of the yellow split peas I made in the crock pot for lunch today. They were a little boring, but good. Just enough flavor. I cooked them with dried onion flakes, dried garlic, olive  oil, turmeric, and paprika. They bulk up a lot. One cup dried turned into 4 cups cooked.

For dinner I thawed out some pot sticker wrappers and chicken filling I had not used up, and made the rest of them.

Breakfast: vanilla latte yogurt, protein bar
Lunch: leftover yellow split peas, leftover carrots and green beans
Dinner: chicken potstickers, cherries
Snacks/desserts: German chocolate cake ice cream
Beverages: water, Crystal Light

Tomorrow Jeremy is getting laser surgery on his right eye around noon to remove some cloudiness behind the lens. He is supposed to be able to see fine with that eye right away, but just in case there are issues with that I am going with him. His other eye has a cataract, and he has basically no vision in that one right now. So if his vision is blurry enough in his right eye after surgery (his seein' eye, as he calls it) he'll effectively be blind. I'll be going in to work for a few hours after his surgery  and maybe in the morning before, if I get any bookings.

What we ate 07-22-14 and 07-23-14

I worked late on Tuesday, and I realized after leaving for work that I did not really bring enough food, so I stopped at Safeway and got a frozen burrito and a banana. I also bought a soda from the vending machine, and got a vanilla cone from McDonald's after work. I made some yellow split peas with paprika in the crock pot, which I have not tried yet, but Jeremy ate them and said they're good. I will take some for lunch with me today.

Breakfast: vanilla latte flavored yogurt, chocolate banana oatmeal bread
Lunch: bean and cheese burrito, banana
Dinner: leftover macaroni and cheese, leftover carrots and green beans
Snacks/desserts: McDonald's vanilla cone, protein bar
Beverages: 7-Up, water

Yesterday I was out of the house all day, and worked at the airport so there was no microwave. I kind of just threw whatever I could find into a bag before heading out. I got some frozen yogurt mid-day as well for $2.83, and microwaved the rest of the mac and cheese when I got home around 9:15. Menchie's has a new happy hour from noon to 2pm on weekdays.

Breakfast: lemon Greek yogurt, protein bar
Lunch: big chunk of chocolate banana oatmeal bread
Dinner: turkey sandwich with dijon mustard, Wensleydale cheese with dried fruit and sweet potato crackers
Snacks/desserts: chocolate toffee bar frozen yogurt, leftover macaroni and cheese
Beverages: water, hot chocolate

This Sunday I traded shifts with a coworker who is going on vacation next week. I am working Monday the 4th for her, and she is working for me the 27th. I also have the 28th off. Jeremy is also off and Sundays and Mondays typically, so we will be having our first two days off in a row together in quite a long time! I got a 10$ movie gift card for free with my credit card rewards, and bought another one for 20% off on Raise.com. We're thinking about seeing Sex Tape with Jason Segel. Until then, I am exhausted and getting burnt out.

What we ate 07-21-14

Yesterday afternoon Jeremy went to the hospital for a minor surgical procedure to graft a fistula in his arm for dialysis. He does not need dialysis right now, but since they take a few weeks to heal enough to be useable, they want to do it early as a precautionary measure. This is partly because one of the tests he needs to get approved for a transplant carries a small risk of completely shutting his kidneys down. If that were to happen he would need to go on dialysis right away.

The surgery went really well. He hasn't had much pain at all. Just a little bit when he rotates his wrist. He wasn't allowed to eat before the procedure at all, so he was pretty hungry when he got home. He ate some leftover cod pieces (tee hee) and macaroni and cheese. He made a sandwich, and ate some Oreos. And he asked me to pick him up a couple of double cheeseburgers at McDonald's. I spent a total of $7.07 at McDonald's and also got a double cheeseburger and a small fries for myself.

Breakfast: smoothie with frozen banana, mango, milk, and strawberry sorbet
Lunch: leftover mac and cheese
Dinner: McDonald's double cheeseburger and small fries
Snacks/desserts: Reese's peanut butter Oreos, strawberry sorbet, protein bar
Beverages: water with Mio, hot cocoa

What we ate and what we bought 07-20-14

banana bread French toast with goat milk caramel

I saw something about banana bread French toast online a while back and thought I'd give it a try. It was pretty good, but the caramel sauce was maybe a bit much. I think it would have been better plain, or with some fresh fruit. It sure stuck with me a long time. I did not get hungry at all until dinner time, which is good because I was pretty busy at work. I took a PB sandwich with me but I didn't eat it till I got done at 6:30.

I decided to cook a lot of extra food last night so we'd have some leftovers. Jeremy got a fistula graft surgery this afternoon, and I am working late on Tuesday and Thursday.

Breakfast: chocolate banana oatmeal bread French Toast with goat milk caramel
Lunch: nothing
Dinner: parmesan crusted cod, macaroni and cheese, green beans and carrots with garlic
Snacks/desserts: peanut butter sandwich, strawberry sorbet, Reese's peanut butter cup Oreos
Beverages: water, Dr Pepper Ten

same plate, different food

We went to both QFC and Grocery Outlet. Jeremy wanted more energy drinks from Grocery Outlet but sadly they were out of the ones he likes.

QFC:
4 boxes of 6 protein bars ($1.00 per box. I really cannot believe these were so cheap. I wonder if it was a pricing error?) $4.00
.45 oz cod (reduced for quick sale) $1.34
.25 oz dried onions $2.00
.71 lbs green beans $1.07

Total $8.41

Grocery Outlet:

20 oz. Diet Dr. Pepper $1.09
dried minced garlic $.99
4 pack of coffee flavored yogurt $1.29
1 qt half and half $2.49
20 oz BBQ sauce $.99
2 lbs. turkey deli meat $5.99
Lemon flavored SF energy drink $.79
Mandarin flavored SF sports drink $.50
5 Mio/Crystal Light water flavor drops ($.99 each) $4.95
2 frozen entrees ($1.99 each) $3.98
Reese's peanut butter Oreos $2.29
Pint of Haagen Dazs strawberry sorbet $1.49

Total $26.84

What we ate 07-19-14

Breakfast: chocolate banana oatmeal bread
Lunch: leftover curried chickpeas and carrots
Dinner: pizza with turkey pepperoni and green bell pepper
Snacks/desserts: none
Beverages: water, Dr. Pepper Ten

Jeremy took the leftover chicken stir fry from the previous night to work for lunch. I made some pizza crust dough and made four personal sized pizzas out of it. I froze two for later and we ate two for dinner. The sauce was made with tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and garlic, and I topped them with mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperoni, and green bell pepper strips.