catch up

So, I finally took a shower last night.

There was an evil little leak in a hot water pipe in our basement over the weekend...and it took some (8 hundred million by my count) trips to the hardware store/s, a consultation with a friend, and several days of "drying time" before the hot water was running in my home again.

The great Spring Turkey Dinner was cooked during this time, and not to gross you out, but there are a couple dishes still waiting in line for the dishwasher that was out of commission during the hot water shortage, and that "finally took a shower" statement? I could smell my own hair. ha! gross!

There have been several meals made from the turkey; hot turkey sandwiches, plain old left overs, and my favorite: turkey rice soup. It's made from the carcass (still haven't come up with a better word), so it takes forever to make soup, and doesn't yield as much broth in the end as a raw chicken may, but it is still comforting and delicious. I roughly estimated that a 1 cup serving of this soup, which had carrots, celery, spinach (!) and brown rice has about 140 calories. Half is in the fridge, the other in the freezer. Mmmm soup.

I love soup. Soup is like a dieter's secret weapon. Clear broth soup is anyway.

Tomorrow's dinner will be prepared by Sam, who is 8 going on 55 most days. Tilapia "sticks." SO far I needed to thaw the fish, get 2 pieces of whole grain to "stale" and make sure we have lemons and parsley. I have relinquished control; I trust he will not poison his brother, (or his step-dad or myself), and I will be supervising any heat or knife-related steps in process.

Today marks one full week since I grocery shopped for real, with one relief trip in the middle. At the end of the month, I will take in to account what was already here and the cost, and what I haven't used yet but purchased this month, and have a pretty good idea how much it costs to feed my family in a month, the healthiest way we can afford.