Laura, I would love to see your meal plan if you're willing to share.

We use our instant pot constantly. Some of that is that I make yogurt in it every week, and it's a very nice rice cooker, but the big thing is that we don't have to figure out what's for dinner in the morning, like you do with a crock pot (we've also been frustrated that, even on low, the crock pot still boils because of "food safety" or whatever. P'shaw). It definitely speeds up cooking times, but it's not a magic bullet.

I would recommend InstantPot for: 1)People who want a rice cooker, but don't want a uni-tasker 2)People who eat a lot of yogurt 3)People who have foods they would make more often if it didn't take so dang long.

We've been using MealLime, which is a (free!) meal planning app. You pick the recipes you want, then it generates the shopping list. The directions get super basic. The nice thing for us is that we have one conversation where we figure out what's on the menu for next week, and then every night, there are few or no decisions to make (e.g. "we need to make the fish tonight because those tomatoes are nearly done."). Because of our schedule and leftovers and stuff, we end up cooking off of it 2-3 times a week. I'm a little worried we're gonna get tired of their stuff, but it's been a couple months of working well so far.

I really should be much better about meal planning but I am the worst. I've been doing pretty well the past month or more making the occasional batch of muffins and freezing them, then eating that for breakfast. Proud of that at least, even if it's not super healthy (the current muffins have carrot in them, that's healthy right?). My biggest struggle though is eating when I'm not hungry. Either because I'm bored or munch, or there's something tasty that I want to keep shoving in my mouth...

Today's exciting plan has been "wake up with headache, take meds, go back to sleep for several hours, have some breakfast, contemplate returning to bed". Maybe will try to add laundry in there?

Insent, Pix.

I think the instant pot has to happen. In part because my rice cooker is shot and needs to be replaced anyway. I love yogurt so worth a try for that.

I haven't done my April plan yet pending my nutritionist appt on Wednesday. Today I had Italian wedding soup which was yum. I took some tuna steaks out to thaw and will likely grill kabobs with them and some peppers or whatever I find in the fridge.

The whole decision making thing is the worst for me. I need to have a plan. Have to check out my leftovers in the freezer for the next couple days, because not sure what the path is going to be after Wednesday.

Exciting Tuesday planned with son, DIL, and her parents. The 6 of us are doing an escape room after we do tacos and sangria. I think it should go well because we have 6 totally different brain types, IMO.

Timelies all!

Playdate went reasonably well, aside from Mr. S wanting to hold the door for his friend when he was leaving, and the friend wanting to do it himself(which led to tears).

Today was my mom's birthday, so we made a day out of it. I drove us to Memphis, treated her to birthday lunch at Queen of Sheba (a Yemeni restaurant), and took in a planetarium show at the Pink Palace Museum.

I was able to bring stuff to Rosemary at the rehab place, which while it has definite hospital-y aspects, still offers mobile residents a day room, an atrium, a patio and a library. I brought her a phone, slippers, a bathrobe, some street clothing and extra books to hold her over.

She was excited to tell me that she's now allowed to wear underwear. And forbid me to mention it on Facebook, but I can say it here. :-)

I'm glad you had a good day with her, Matt. How is she doing overall?

Woot, underwear!

One of DH's aunts died this morning. They were really close including him living with her and his uncle for a time when he was in his teens. She was quite ready to go, so mostly I feel relief for her. Also still a bit mad at her because she took care of everyone, her mother until she was 99, her husband, their child, his wife and their 4 children, extended family. She was the caretaker, but she took terrible care of herself. She had severe diabetes but ate crap all the time and just really neglected her own health. The last 25 years she spent much of her time sick and in pain and she deserved better. She and our uncle were married 51 years. RIP Aunt Nancy.

I woke up this morning, fed the cats, ate some breakfast, decided to go back to bed for a bit and slept until 3 pm. Oops.