“We can’t, Emily. We don’t have the money for that.” “Here. Take it. It’s my last dollar. That’s all I have. I literally have no more dollars.” “Your dad gets paid on Friday, you will need to wait until then.” These are statements I heard often growing up as a child and even if they, …

Being a Floridian who married a Midwesterner that attended university in Canada has provided many opportunities over the years for Andrew and I confuse each other about what we’re really talking about. The first time I referred to swim trunks as “baggies” had him wondering why he needed to wear plastic sandwich bags and the …

Veggies+day old bread+balsamic vinaigrette= Panzanella The first thing I have to say about this dish is that it’s so freakin good. The other thing I have to say is after you make it once, you will see how simple it is (you won’t even need the recipe after you make it once or twice, as …

* leftovers tonight since last week’s meals made a lot so need to finish it all up. * down to the last 3 quarts of my canned tomatoes from this past summer and I want to cry. They have been life giving for all of us this past fall and winter. Using 2 of them …

In the Midwest, winter is for cooking, eating, and decorating. Since it’s so cold and dreary out, your soul yearns for those things. When your decorating budget is $8/month though, it gets tricky. Thankfully, small houseplants are inexpensive and we have spare boards, ropes, hooks, and bowls lying around. The large empty space above the …

How’s everyone doing in the plastic bottled dressing department? Is the door of your fridge full of them, maybe they’re most all expired? It’s ok. Mine was like that, too. I would have a dinner party and buy 1 or 2 then buy another one. A few would expire so I’d throw away bottles that …

When I was a kid, my mom was pretty wary of anything that was dipped in breadcrumbs and fried. To a 5 year old, that was pretty devastating as it meant no chicken nuggets. But as an adult, I get it. It was definitely not healthy and I can now say I’m glad she didn’t …

3+ nights vegetarian 1 fish 0 takeout Using this week to do some freezer clean-out: tilapia, frozen beef, tater tots. Really enjoying panko-Parmesan crusted baked things. There is a summer panzanella salad I LOVE so will be riffing on it with some winter veggies to see if I can capture at least part of its …

We’ve all read about and been shamed into the realization that we waste too much time on our smartphones so I will spare you any more of that. But here’s the catch, have you ever put down your phone in the evenings after the chaos has been put to rest and thought, “Okay, now what?” …

3+ vegetarian meals 1 night of leftovers 0 nights of takeout (!) -Some repeats from last week that didn’t get made because there ended up being more nights of leftovers than planned. – With all of these vegetarian meals, I have been able to save some money on our monthly food budget and decided to …