Friday, February 19, 2016

Five things Friday

Taking after Carla, I'm going with the ever popular Five Things Friday. So, without further ado, here goes!


  1. I've been pondering which foods are cheaper to buy vs make. We've eliminated a ton of processed/pre-made food from our diet, but I struggle with Costco meatballs. They are relatively inexpensive, and the kids adore them. It's one of the only proteins that everyone will eat without complaint. Has anyone done a cost comparison? Or, have a great, kid-friendly meatball recipe to recommend?
  2.  I've been in a bit of a funk the past few days. I went on a long walk this morning before work, and it helped SO MUCH. Why do I forget that exercise is such a great mental & physical boost?
  3. The kids went to basketball camp this week (school is closed) & I really wish we'd decided to go skiing instead. It wouldn't have worked with our other trip & work, but it would have been great. I haven't been skiing in three years, & miss it so much!
  4. I'm making this blackened tilapia recipe tonight. I'm excited. I'd forgotten about it until I checked the cupboard & realized I had a bit of the tilapia rub left over. And, three lonely tilapia filets in the freezer. Cleaning both out with a great dinner. Win/win. Oh, and wine. ;-) M will have his with a single serving of tortellini that's somehow in the freezer. I'll have mine with edamame. The kids are having taco quesadillas, to clean out some leftover taco meat in the fridge. 
  5. I *need* to get the taxes wrapped up this weekend & ready for handing off to the accountant. It's really stressing me out not to know how much we owe, and I'm concerned, given last year's drama. I increased our withholdings substantially, but it will ultimately come down to our income, which deductions we can no longer use, and the balance of income split between equity vs income, etc. 

And with that, I'll leave you with a picture from three years ago (yesterday). My first mom/boy solo ski trip. There was only one minor incident with ski patrol. . . Nick couldn't read yet, and took the wrong turn when making his way down the mountain. Ahhh, the good old days! ;-)


4 comments:

  1. There is a great book called "Make the Bread, Buy the Butter" by Jennifer Reese - she goes through a year of making EVERYTHING from scratch and compares effort, cost, and taste and determines which things are better made at home and which things you should continue to buy. This doesn't answer your question about meatballs, but it is a good read and an eye-opener.

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    1. Ooh, I will definitely go check that out from the library! Thanks for the recommendation.

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  2. I just bought a bag of costco meatballs two weeks ago for the very first time after realizing (here anyway) that they are cheaper than me buying ground beef except when it is rock bottom pricing. We were shocked at how good they were as usually hubby likes to make and freeze our own. When the kids were younger we used to buy frozen meatballs (when we were both working 10 hours a day) and put then in a little beef broth in an oven safe pan and just cook them in the oven for 1/2 hr until the tops are a bit brown and they are well heated. We then served that with pasta choice and salad. A bit different from the usual red sauces that the kids weren't keen on. We called it naked spaghetti and meatballs. The broth keeps everything moist.

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    1. We do something similar, as not everyone loves the red sauce. We boil about a tbsp of water on the stove. Once it boils, add the meatballs & turn to low. You are basically steaming them & they stay nice & moist - no microwave required. I like mine with pasta, a diced fresh tomato & shaved parmesan. Not too bad for a 15 minute dinner.

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