1461 dinners - February 28 - March 3rd

Life feels a bit overwhelming sometimes. (Maybe all the time, lately.) There’s just so much happening in the world that staying on top of everything seems impossible—and that’s okay. Nobody can know it all, and nobody expects you to. That’s why I’m here friend, to fill you in on some things that probably flew under your radar but are worth knowing about.

Did you hear about the economic protest on February 28th? 

Sometimes, you come across an idea that makes you pause and think, This is worth trying. That’s how I felt when I first heard about the February 28th economic boycott. I have no clue who started it or how the word got around, but the concept spoke to me. The idea was to refrain from shopping, particularly at big-box stores, for a day. And if you did need to shop, you were encouraged to spend your money locally and pay in cash. Simple, right? But powerful too, especially if we keep it up!

Paying cash might feel old-school, but for small businesses, it’s a lifeline. When you pay with cash, you’re saving the shop owner from processing fees—usually around 2%-3% of every transaction—and giving them immediate access to funds. No waiting for payments to clear or worrying about chargebacks. Honestly, it’s one of the simplest ways to make a difference for the people keeping your favorite local spots alive.

I decided to take part in the boycott, even though I’ve already taken a personal stand against a few places that have rolled back their DEI efforts or otherwise aligned with policies I don’t agree with. But this wasn’t just about a protest for me. Lately, I’ve been on a mission to save more money—not just for my own peace of mind but so I can have cash on hand to support mutual aid efforts in my community. That’s when I had an idea to take it further and make it personal.

This year, for Lent, I’m setting myself a challenge. For 40 days, I’m not buying anything except the essentials. No impulse spending, no unnecessary indulgences. I’m going to cook and eat entirely from what I already have—my pantry, freezer, and even my little patio garden. The money I save will go straight to my local food bank to help them keep the lights on and the shelves stocked.

But this isn’t just about trimming my budget. Lent has always been, for me, about intentional self-sacrifice and gratitude. It’s a time to reflect on what we have and share it with others. I’ve always felt that this spirit of giving and simplifying resonates across cultures and faiths. I’m reminded of a wonderful classmate I had in high school—Eman. We used to chat about the similarities between Lent and Ramadan during Gifted class. Eman told me that during Ramadan, fasting isn’t required if you’re ill, on your period, or unwell in any way. Instead, greater emphasis is placed on acts of charity and sacrifice in other forms. She opened my eyes to a more flexible, compassionate way to approach Lenten practices, especially since my hypoglycemia makes fasting unsafe.

Now, instead of fasting, I focus on eating simpler meals and being mindful of my blessings. I often think of Eman this time of year, wondering how she’s doing and wishing her a heartfelt "Ramadan Mubarak." Even though it's been 30 years since high school and quite a few years since I've been a devoutly practicing Catholic, it’s these small connections and moments of understanding that bring meaning to me.

And friends, Lent doesn’t officially kick off until Ash Wednesday, but tomorrow is Fat Tuesday! I’m planning to celebrate with a delicious dinner—and I’m even going to attempt making beignets. Wish me luck. But come Wednesday, it’s game time. I’ll be getting my “ash in church” (as they say) and then fully leaning into this challenge of simplifying and making do with what I’ve got.

Over the weekend, I’ll be sharing little snapshots of this experiment. 

1461 Dinners - Nights 33 - 40

Have you checked the price of eggs lately? At my local Aldi, a dozen eggs is now going for $5.98. It’s mind-boggling. I still remember not too long ago buying eggs at the same store for 50 cents a dozen. Back then, it honestly felt like I was getting away with something—like those prices couldn’t possibly last. And, well, they didn’t.

Now, there’s a lot more to this than just inflation or supply chain issues. For example, here’s an interesting connection (or non-connection, depending on how you look at it). Did you know flu vaccines are commonly cultured in chicken eggs?  The FDA, in fact, was supposed to hold a meeting this week to decide on flu shot formulations for next season, where experts analyze projections and data from the prior year to figure out which flu strains are likely to cause the most trouble. This kind of decision has to happen well in advance because the selected virus strains are grown in fertilized chicken eggs. The process allows the viruses to multiply and produce enough material to turn into vaccines that, ideally, protect us all when flu season rolls around.

Now, to be clear, I’m not trying to draw a direct line between egg prices and flu vaccine production—it’s not some tangled conspiracy. But still, it’s hard not to pause and take notice of how all these things seem to be spinning together. You have soaring egg prices, flu shots being prepped in those very same eggs, and the absolute chaos caused by bird flu. It sometimes feels like we’re living in a mad science experiment.

Here’s what we do know for sure, though. Bird flu is wreaking havoc. It’s devastating bird populations, spilling over into certain mammals, and putting humans on edge. It’s also making eggs—a staple protein source that has been affordable for as long as I can remember—harder for many people to justify buying. That’s the frustrating irony. Eggs have always been one of the most accessible, low-cost sources of protein out there, and now they’re a luxury item for some households.

And then there’s what this means for vaccine production. If bird flu keeps disrupting poultry farming, we’re not just talking about pricier breakfasts. We’re talking about potential challenges in producing enough flu vaccines to meet demand in the years to come. It’s the bird flu hitting us from all sides—not just in our grocery budgets but in public health, too.

There’s no neat bow to wrap on this situation, but it’s worth paying attention to. Eggs are suddenly more than just that affordable staple for scrambled breakfasts or baking cookies. Right now, they’re at the crossroads of food security, public health, and even global challenges like disease outbreaks. It just goes to show, sometimes the simplest things—like a carton of eggs—can start to feel pretty complicated. Anyhow, there's very little to shell-abrate right now. I haven't cracked a smile or felt like yolking ever since I first saw this news. I am not saying I'm chicken but I am pretty clucking nervous right now.  (Yes, when in doubt, I make absolutely terrible puns. We are Def-Pun 2 right now. 

1461 Dinners - February 7th -19th - 1430 nights left

Have you ever had one of those stretches where every day feels like a marathon, and by the time you finally crawl into bed, every inch of your body is aching, your eyes are heavy with exhaustion—and then it hits you. It’s not just been one long day. It’s been two weeks. That kind of tired? I haven’t felt it in years, not since the newborn days. But here we are. That’s life these days. Just doing our best to survive as Ame®icans.

Lately, I’ve found that it brings me some peace to pause and look back—not to dwell, but to remind myself that I am doing things. Even when it feels like I’m barely holding it together, I can see it in the little markers of the week, like keeping track of dinners or the avalanche of things on my plate. These past couple of weeks I’ve been helping with fundraisers, sharing articles, speaking up when it matters, navigating medical stuff (and all the joys of the “healthcare system”), and driving a teenager across state lines for a volleyball tournament. It’s a lot.

And yet, here I am, still showing up. I may feel stuck some days, like fear and worry are keeping me frozen, but when I step back, I can see the truth. I’m working, parenting, staying engaged, doing what I can. It matters. I’m doing it. And probably, so are you.

February 7, Night 19 - I made tostadas by frying stale corn tortillas. This is the best example of turning a negative into a positive that I can imagine. I literally took something useless and made something delicious. 

Shallow fry corn tortillas in oil, place on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Amazing.

February 8, Night 20 - We were supposed to make a big paella dinner for my in-laws tonight, but we got sick, and rescheduled till later in the month. Did anyone eat? I have no idea. I was in bed and ill. 

February 9, Night 21 - Superbowl. Snacks were made and consumed as we watched Kendrick Lamar set absolute fire to the stage. I honestly ate more potato chips and onion dip than is polite. We also made brownies. And a frozen pizza. 

February 10, Night 22 -  Back to back to back rehearsals and practices. Pretty sure this was a drive through Mickey D's night. 

February 11, Night 23 - Gyro meatballs with naan bread, lettuce, olives, and homemade tzatziki sauce, with a side of jasmine rice. Mix ground beef or ground beef/lamb with parsley, oregano, thyme, and dill to make the meatballs, add one beaten egg and some seasoned bread crumbs. Roll in your hands to make 1-inch balls and fry in a pan until brown on all sides and cooked through. Serve on pita bread (except when the store is out of pita, then serve it on naan.) My tzatziki sauce is just chopped cucumber, greek yogurt, salt, pepper, dill, and parsley all combined. 

Gyro meatballs cook in a flash and give you the yummy Greek takeout food you want at home! 

February 12, Night 24 - Leftover meatballs served with a cup of EZ mac and cheese, my hand to god. Some nights, especially during a hostile government takeover, that's how we roll. 

February 13 Night 25 - Ramen at Dragon Bowl Z. The funniest named ramen joint, also the food is good, I had a bao bun and some edamame. I wasn't hungry because I'd had a big lunch with a friend! At a restaurant! I ate a meal with another adult out in public, and I wore a dress and we talked about all the craziness going on and I didn't feel alone. It was so nice. 

February 14, Night 26 - Chicken cacciatore from the slow cooker. Minor surgery earlier that day was successful. Nice to come home to dinner ready. 

February 15, Night 27 - Greek food at a restaurant in Savannah. Patstitsio, moussaka, saganaki, dolamades. I was in heaven. The kids were in good spirits too. We were supposed to do a big group dinner with the rest of the volleyball team and parents, but after aimlessly walking around downtown and realizing no one had even an inkling of a plan we peaced out and stumbled into this place. A good reminder, that just because the group is doing something, you're not obligated to go along with it. Your peace and your family's well-being come first. 

February 16, Night 28 -  Hamburgers from a food truck outside the Savannah Convention Center. And that's on being a sports parent. 

February 17, Night 29 - Cuban food from the local Latino grocery store, chicken legs, ribs, and slow-cooked pork. I sauteed cabbage as a side. Dinner was ready in the time it took me to check out in Spanish. Una bolsa? Si, gracias. Buenos noches. Being even the teeniest bit bilingual is a gift. 

February 18, Night 30 - Henry's Depot food hall, a restaurant called The Current. Fresh fish and chips and hush puppies. The spicy aioli dipping sauce was next level. A nice night waiting on the kid for another rehearsal, just me and the husband. I have the best guy and I don't take it for granted. We also walked around downtown Sanford for a bit and just chatted. 

February 19, Night 31 - One month into the T®ümp administration, dinner was leftover cacciatore, eaten over the stove while I cleaned the kitchen. I garnished it with the last 7 kalamata olives in a jar, which gave it puttanesca vibes. Later I made the NYT applesauce coffee cake just to make the house smell amazing. That totally worked. The cake was delicious and the house was scented like apples and spices. 

February 20, Night 32 - Making carnitas tacos tonight! And I am making fresh tortilla chips. Because fried corn is my love language. 

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1461 Dinners - Nights 16 and 17

Slowly trying to get into the groove with cooking again. 

My current goal is to lessen/eliminate food waste and go meatless and less meat for some of the meals, but hopefully not compromise protein intake and flavor. I did this frequently when we lived in the Keys and food was so expensive. I realized early on it was an easy money-saving step. Current bird flu projections make it seem like it would be a good idea, just in general, to lessen my contact with meat anyhow. 

Night 16 - I bought a 4 pack of chicken Italian sausage at Aldi's the other day without a real plan for using it. It looked good to me. I made sauteed sausage, then added an entire bag of spinach to the same pan to wilt. I served this with cubed oven-roasted potatoes (just seasoned and oiled and roasted on a pan at 375) and with sauteed mushrooms and onions. I also steamed some frozen green beans and made a green salad. I only had a couple tablespoons of mayo in my Duke's mayo jar so I threw in some ranch seasoning, a splash of milk, and some sour cream to make a quick dressing for the salad. 

Even accounting for roasting the potatoes this meal only took about 30 minutes to make. If you cut your potatoes into small enough pieces you can roast them very quickly, probably even faster in an air fryer, but I was making a LOT of potatoes, so I used my full-sized oven. 

The sausage was good, maybe a little on the salty side. There were only 4 sausages in the packet and 4 of us, but I cut the sausages into circles and there was plenty for everyone. Between the green beans, the sausage, and even spinach there was plenty of protein in the meal and it was tasty as well. 

I'm putting hemp hearts on everything these days. 

Night 17 - If you ever find yourself with stale corn tortillas, I highly recommend making your own tostada shells or chips with them. For tostadas you simply heat some oil (an inch or two in a skillet) and get your tortillas in there, allowing them to lightly brown on both sides. Place them on a paper towel-lined plate and immediately sprinkle with salt. For the tostada topping I cooked 1 pound of hamburger meat with chopped onions and bell peppers, once those were cooked through I added a can of drained black beans. I seasoned everything with taco seasoning and topped the tostadas with the meat mixture, shredded cheese, salsa, and sour cream. This took about 25 minutes altogether. I defrosted my hamburger meat in the microwave as I fried my tostada shells. When I freeze hamburger meat I place 1 pound into a quart-size baggie and smash it down to a thin even layer. Then I freeze it flat in the freezer. They defrost very easily and evenly this way, I can even cook them from frozen if I am making a crumbled application like taco meat or spaghetti sauce and time is very short.  

This was wildly delicious. Honestly, better than it should be. Tostadas are slept on.

I am writing everyone I know in Florida about the congressional races happening on April 1st. Josh Weil and Gay Valimont are running in the 6th and 1st congressional districts, respectively. Trying to get out the vote for them. 

1444 dinners to go.

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 1461 Dinners - Nights 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Volleyball Tourney Weekend took up nights 11 and 12. Dinners on the road after two absolutely win-less slogs with a sad teenager are not the most memorable. We did try to make things a little fun by stopping at Krispy Kreme (with the hot light on) and requesting the glazed donuts that were being made. Then when we got to the car we realized they gave us cold donuts. 

Like. THE LIGHT WAS ON, we asked for GLAZED. What's the issue?

Photo courtesy of Hoosier2 from TripAdvisor, who has an extensive collection of photos from every restaurant they have ever visited, apparently.

Anyhow, night 13 was a little crazy, the kid had 3 different rehearsals/practices to attend in one night. I needed to make a FAST dinner, so I took some leftover Chinese food rice from lunch one day and leftover rice and zucchini from the chicken and rice I made the other day. I sauteed chopped onion in oil with salt and pepper and then added some chopped chicken cutlets to the pan and seasoned them with a seasoning blend. I then added my leftover rices and a can of black beans. As this all heated together I added some homemade chicken broth I made the other night, just to rehydrate the rice a bit and make everything come together. Does everyone cook like this? Just emptying the refrigerator and hoping for the best?

This is the seasoning blend I've been using lately.

Night 14 I made meatloaf and I was super proud of myself for using some leftover marinara with sausage where I would normally add ketchup and stuff. It wasn't enough sauce for another serving of pasta, but it worked a treat at flavoring the loaf, along with the above spice blend and some Italian herbs. The kids and the husband ate it all up. I served it with homemade mashed potatoes, and steamed green beans. 

On night 15 we ordered food from Jason's Deli, because we had a sick kid. I've been taking care of her and ignoring my work so I needed to get caught up tonight. I try REALLY hard to have all my work done by EOD on Wednesdays so I can use the rest of the week for anything that pops up unexpectedly. And in social media management, something always pops up. 

1446 dinners left.

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1461 Dinners - Nights 9 and 10

 1449 Dinners to Go

I've been growing herbs and vegetables since this summer. Some pineapples, basil, lettuces, tomatoes, hot peppers, celery, parsley, sunflowers... I get bored too easily to grow many flowers, but I've been keeping a variegated mum alive since September. I've been adding fresh basil to everything and I recently successfully rooted a rosemary sprig a friend gave me. I dried a bunch of the rosemary she gave me just too, just to have on hand. I stored the dried rosemary in empty Bonne Maman jars I washed out. 

Dinner 10 - Our youngest was feeling sad and wanted to go out for pasta. A nostalgic brand of my youth (Fazolis) has re-opened so I got baked meatballs and salad, and they still serve unlimited free breadsticks in the dining room if you eat there. People think Breadstix in Glee was based on Olive Garden, but to me, it was clearly an homage to Fazoli's.

January 31st (Dinner 11) - a friend of mine is having a hard time, so I brought her some cold medicine and hung out doing a jigsaw puzzle with her. Then I convinced her to go to Wendy's with me for a chocolate Frosty (for her) and dinner for me. I had a chicken sandwich, some fries, and a coke.  

It's a volleyball weekend, but hopefully, I can figure out a way to eat at least one dinner at home. I actually hate going out so much, but lately, I am prioritizing tiny boosts to our mental health over cost savings analysis. Let's see how that goes.

1450 dinners to go.

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1461 Dinners - Nights 8 and 9

 Sometimes, you just want options

Night 8- I made tortellini with sausage and pepper tomato sauce the other night for the kids, and there was plenty leftover for another night, but I found myself just wanting another choice. The same night I made the tortellini and sauce I had also made a chicken and vegetable broth by cleaning out the refrigerator.

Do you do this? You discover some forgotten vegetables, rolling around in the furthest reaches of the refrigerator so you throw them in a pot with water, salt, pepper, and bay leaves and make up a quick broth? I hate wasting food so I either make broth or roasted vegetables when I discover wilting veg. I also had about half a box of chicken broth leftover from making sausages so I threw that in as well. 

 I defrosted some chicken but left it for my husband to deal with while I ran kid 2 to play rehearsal, it's far enough away that I pretty much have to sit there and wait for her rather than go home. I called Husband who was just arriving home and pitched him on a sort of arroz con pollo deal, inspired by a video Dollar Tree Dinners had just posted. 

@dollartreedinners One Pan Chicken & rice is a lifesaver for busy weeknights! Flavorful, simple, and only 6 ingredients.  This recipe is a family favorite. You will need: 4 bone in skin on chicken thighs 1 diced onion 1 & 1/2 cups of white rice 2 cups chicken stock 1 to 2 teaspoons @danosseasoning Original seasoning (plus extra for the chicken) 2 cups of frozen vegetables (Green beans, peas, or mixed vegetables) Season both sides of the chicken generously with Dan-O's Original seasoning Sear in a dry skillet over medium high heat for 4 minutes per side them remove Add diced onions to the skillet scraping up any browned bits , stir in rice and toast for 2 to 3 minutes until lightly browned. Add chicken stock, season to taste, and frozen vegetables, stir to combine. Nestle chicken back into the pan, bring to a boil, cover simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until liquid is fully absorbed (there should be no bubbles on the surface) Remove from heat and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes and enjoy! #simplemeals #danospartner #easyweeknightdinner #onepanmeals #familydinner #comfortfood #homecooking #quickdinner ♬ original sound - Dollar Tree Dinners

He seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme, then browned the bone-in skin-on chicken thighs in a heavy-bottomed skillet. When they were brown on both sides he removed them and sauteed chopped onions in the rendered fat until they softened. Then he added two sliced zucchinis to the pan, popped in a cup of long-grain white rice, added 2 cups of vegetable stock, and nestled the chicken down in the rice and vegetables. He covered the pan and let it cook for about 20 minutes. The rice was cooked through; the vegetables were soft and the chicken was moist and tender. One pan meals for the win!

Night 9 - I mailed postcards to my representatives this morning. Worked on projects for my boss all day and finally disassembled the Christmas tree. Dinner was a "choose your own adventure" of leftovers tonight, as the elder child is out of town on assignment and the younger child had back-to-back play rehearsal and volleyball practice. She ate a slice of pizza and some chicken and noodles a friend brought her in the car. 

It's amazing the kindness and thoughtfulness of children, especially compared to adults most days. Her friend knew she was coming directly from play rehearsals to practice and offered to bring her a favorite meal from the restaurant where the friend works. I love teens, by and large, they are lovely humans. 

Husband and I both attended volleyball practice and brought our laptops to finish some work, fortunately, the gym has built in work tops with chairs and power outlets for the parents. It was great to get to watch her play and catch up on some stuff so tomorrow will go smoother.

1,452 nights left.

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