When I said last week that I didn't have any advice on budgeting, this conversation made me realize that I actually have a ton of advice on cheap food. Beans and rice can do a lot. Canned tomatoes will fix up almost any leftovers into something new. Lentils and split peas are easy because they don't need to be soaked. Fresh vegetables are cheap when they're in season, but expensive the rest of the time, so buy fresh for in-season, but frozen for everything else. Spices are almost always significantly cheaper at ethnic markets. If you can find an Indian store, you can get huge bags of rice and lentils for really cheap.

In my cabinet I have dried red beans and dried black beans; I've got a dozen eggs; I will have a shit ton of (hopefully tasty) soup. I can do this. As long as I don't run out of half and half for my coffee.

{{{Nora&Tom&family}}}

smonster, you are entirely smishable when sassy.

I've got a dozen eggs;

Eggs keep me going on the cheap protein front.

A two-egg omelet can be a pretty filling one person meal.

I also recommend doing a spanish torilla, which is like an omelet/quiche over crispy potatoes. (yum)

You can add any sort of thing to that that you'd put in an omelet but it's more filling.

So: buy one potato, slice it up, cook it in a frying pan with oil, then pour the eggs and cheese/mushrooms/onions/whatever you've got into it. You do have to flip it (with a a plate) but it's easy.

Also, dropping your egg into soup will give you some easy protein. Always good to stock up on bullion when you've got cash.

Or, you know, just scrambled. But if you get tired of breakfast for dinner, there are other things to do.

It's also good in fried rice! (another good cheap food)

I do frittatas pretty frequently, but I'm out of cheese at the moment. Thanks for all the tips and encouragement, y'all. It helps so much.

This might be better for LJ but mine is read by some local peeps and I don't feel like making a new filter.

Since Sunday, I've been dealing with a situation regarding father of my coming baby. It's serious and I could fix it but he hasn't asked me too. And I know we are all better off without him in our lives at the moment. But I miss him and I believe in him.

It's like, I know you can't fix and change people, but I still want to. Which is really, really frustrating.

Yeah, that's tough. The urge to fix is always strong, but it's not always the right thing to do. Is it something that he might have the wherewithal to fix himself? If you really believe in him, what you might need to be able to do is believe in his own ability to get through his own junk.

I skipped cardio after work today in order to free up more evening time for cat-bath night. Been dreading and putting this off for weeks, but of course it was completed with a minimum of stress or injury. Now the heat is running full blast (all the way up to 70!) and the cats are alternating btween hating me for the terrible, horrible thing i did to them and purring on my lap, using my body heat to help them dry off faster. Kinda love my wet, fluffy guys right now.

He might, but likely not. And actually, I think the answer lies in something that I recently realized. My life got way better when I stopped holding on so tight and just let go.

I mean, sometimes you can't learn when everyone around you is fixing your stuff for you. And yeah, I may just have to believe that he will make it through, but not on my timeline.

Hope it resolves, Stephanie.