Well the NO in the "no buy challenge" certainly turned out to be a challenge! Can the rest of this shortest month of the year be easier please? We have had bags of groceries find their way into our house, power surges, no gas and lots of together time due to snow and winter weather. There have been burned baked goods, an oven that is heat challenged and then compensates by cranking up the heat and burning said baked goods, we have been cleaning and de cluttering, catching up on sleep, or not, depending which side of the snoring you are on, de cluttering, eating lots of the baked goods, de cluttering, eating the baked goods, de cluttering...
I am worried however, that by the end of the month hubby and son will have joined the "NO buy witness protection program" and be eating McDonalds and pizza until I come to my "senses".
I really enjoy cooking and cooking many meals at once with a few of the same ingredients makes total sense to me and makes it easier to cook. I made a huge batch of spaghetti sauce in the crockpot and the boys really like it. I made 5 meals with this sauce: chicken cacciatore, stuffed peppers, spaghetti and meatballs, a veggie and a meat lasagna and have a bit of sauce left in the freezer. I have/had no plans to have the boys eat spaghetti sauce all week for every meal, was just making use of the sauce.
Last night was a long busy day with meetings and basketball practice until 7:30 pm. I took the veggie and meat lasagnas (made in small pans) out to get to room temp and then put in the oven when I got home. I cranked up the oven and nothing but a strong gas smell. The oven is officially dead! Well I have 2 pans of lasagna to cook, and a loaf of garlic bread and no oven. I look at our toaster oven and based on the sizes of the pans, I was able to cook the meat lasagna split the loaf of garlic bread in 1/2 and cook it side by side. That leaves me out, no room for the veggie lasagna and I have to tell you, I was really looking forward to it all day! No problem, I will just have a nuked potato and a salad. I put 2 very small potatoes in the microwave and make my salad and clean up in the kitchen a bit. The timer goes off and I leave them in until the lasagna is ready in 30 minutes with intent of just finishing up cooking them for a minute. Well I apparently forgot that I had already cooked them and set the timer for the full amount of time. The timer goes off again and I grab the potatoes and they are as hard as a rock and I can't even cut them! Lets just fast forward and know that the boys loved the lasagna and Nathan wound up with my salad and I was thinking about a Dove bar again!
Talking to hubby on the phone this am and he asks if I am trying to kill him...WHAT? He says he was up all night because of acid reflux due to the spaghetti sauce. I say that no one made him go back for seconds on the lasagna....lol. So now I still have meals in the freezer that are made with sauce and he can't eat them! Why did I decide to do this challenge again? Sheesh!
So for the rest of the month, I have to prepare meals that:
1. Can be cooked in an "Easy Bake Oven" (better check our lightbulbs to make sure we have enough)
2. Have no tomatoes and or acidity
3. Be able to put meat and veggie dishes in toaster oven at the same time
4. Pretend that we don't have 4 ready made meals in the freezer
5. Ask hubby to cook on the grill in -14 degree weather
6. Not eat out
7. Not order in
8. Make lunches fresh every day as cooking in smaller sizes, there will be no leftovers!
I am worried however, that by the end of the month hubby and son will have joined the "NO buy witness protection program" and be eating McDonalds and pizza until I come to my "senses".
How many more days in February? And where are those Dove Bars?
