Food Budget, Day 5

Today did not go as planned. I had hoped to get several projects done around the house, mainly moving my office and the laundry. Instead, I spent the morning and early afternoon laying in misery in bed with one of the worst migraines of recent history. It kept me up all night. I felt so guilty to have Nora Beth just watch TV, although she was thrilled with this situation. Sometimes you just have to do whatever is necessary to get through the day. I was able to get in with the acupuncturist this afternoon. This has been the only way I have found to get drug-free relief from the pounding in my head. Within 5 minutes of the treatment beginning I was feeling better. An hour later, no sign of a headache!

After my appointment I ran into the health food store. I picked up a few things on my list and only spent $7.10. I am at $57.10 for the week. Tomorrow I will pick up a few more things, but I still should come in under my $80 budget.

For dinner I made Jamie Oliver's 20 Minute Salmon. It was absolutely delicious. I had two small salmon fillets in the freezer. Since Lamar was not home for dinner tonight, it was the perfect amount for me and the girls. The rest of the ingredients were all staple ingredients from the pantry/freezer. There was only about 5 minutes of prep for dinner and 25 minutes in the oven. I had some leftover brown rice from last nights dinner so I toasted some pine nuts, added the rice and some dried cranberries for a simple pilaf to accompany the fish and veggies. A very tasty, healthy meal. The girls really enjoyed it.

I find that one of the easiest way to make this budget work is to have a well stocked pantry of simple, high quality ingredients. By keeping the staples on hand, meals come together easily. Food is not complicated. I will post more about this in the upcoming week.