(no subject)

I can only hope that the low I had today was the bottom of this month's barrel, because I can't remember the last time I felt so helpless and overwhelmed. By dinnertime I had a splitting headache from having spent a good part of the afternoon crying uncontrollably. I was able to get dinner on the table only because I'd decided yesterday what I'd be making so I could push through the process on autopilot. I ate it only because I hadn't eaten for hours and I was pretty sure part of my problem was that I was hungry.

I do feel better this evening.

I've been roasting chickens lately and feeling really good about getting three days' worth of dinners for the whole family from one four-pound bird. I feel even better about it when the local supermarket has whole chickens on sale for 79 cents a pound, but even at $1.49 it's a bargain.

Last night was roasted chicken (stuffed with onions for flavor), mashed potatoes, homemade gravy and frozen peas and carrots. Then I picked the rest of the meat off the carcass and boiled it down for soup; the broth is in the refrigerator now in the ceramic part of the crock pot, ready to reheat tomorrow. Today I warmed up most of the leftover meat in all of the leftover gravy (and it was darn good gravy*) and served that over white rice with a side of steamed broccoli. Tomorrow what's left of the meat will go into the broth with a couple of sliced carrots and probably some egg noodles.

For the day after that I have a pot roast that was on sale; that'll go into the crock pot with carrots, potatoes, onions, some seasoned salt and a cup of water. Easiest stew ever, and the kids really love it.

I'm not really a fancy cook, but I cook plain food that tastes good. Lately I've been trying to do as much homemade stuff as possible for a couple of reasons. One, I'm here all the time so there's really no excuse to take shortcuts. Most things might take a long time in the oven or crock pot but very little prep time. I'm here anyway; might as well have a chicken in the oven. Running the oven also keeps the kitchen warmer. Bonus! Another reason is that I've been trying to pay attention to the additives in the foods I'm giving my kids. Last but certainly not least, it's really a lot less expensive to cook this way.

And yeah, that matters right now. At least my family is pretty easy to please.




( * In case anyone's interested, my recipe for chicken gravy is under the cut. Nothing fancy, but it's pretty consistently good. )

(no subject)

Today, at last, I was REALLY productive. I won't say everything is where it belongs yet, but the kids' rooms look SO MUCH better. There are still a few small boxes to sort through and put away, but it's a much smaller job. Danny was so delighted when he came home. He did his homework at his desk and played on his floor for an hour before bath time. Before he went to bed, he put everything away. That, all by itself, makes it worth the effort.

I did a slightly less thorough job in Sadie's room, but it's a good start.

Now if I could just get through the rest of the house... at least now I have a place I can look at and remind myself that it's not impossible.