Cheap Cheep and the Flying Dutchman

I get irked as hell when WordPress defies my ability to publish a page. I had a post all typed out, including photos, and yet it denied me the PUBLISH button, which was grayed out. It happens every time I paste in text, regardless of how innocuous. It’s infuriating as shit.

Aaaanyway….

If you’re reading me and you’re not reading my pal Dangerspouse, you’re missing out in a huge way. He’s funny, outrageously irreverent, about as politically incorrect as it gets short of supporting Trump and the Nazi Party, and did I mention funny?

In addition to his day gig as a big stah of radio, Danger is a real, honest-to-goodness chef. Like, he graduated from chef school or something. (Read his blog for the specifics, because I’m too lazy to look up all his culinary credentials. Just be aware that he’s seriously, horrendously politically incorrect, and his wife eggs him on in no uncertain terms.) So today, his post covered radio stuff and cooking. Go figure, huh?

The point being, he mentioned the creation of kakiage, which was created with a solitary chicken breast, a few veggies, and some batter. I can truly say I’ve never made or even heard of kakiage before, but making a meal with a single chicken breast and some veggies? Oh honey, I’ve stretched that chicken breast so far its rubber band broke, then I tied it together and stretched it some more. I’ve come home to a fridge so empty it echoed. I get it. And as Danger pointed out, when faced with a nigh-empty fridge, it doesn’t mean you can’t be inventive.

With that same chicken and veggies, I probably would’ve opted for curry over rice. (Hey, he didn’t say his pantry was bare, and mine virtually always contains rice and several other staples.) Or maybe a pot pie. I’ve been known to turn a piece of chicken and some veggies into some kind of soup, depending on what’s in the pantry – noodles, rice, or bread to make croutons. I’ve made chicken quesadillas, or paninis. And use of chicken breast, cheese, and tortilla doesn’t have to produce a typical Mexican quesadilla. You could combine the ingredients and sauces for an Italian twist, dipping in marinara, or an American one with ranch dressing. The pantry and imagination are your only limitations.

When I cook, I do “stage” cooking. Stage one: simple meat/poultry/fish – i.e., ham with mashed potatoes and a veggie. Bland but filling. With the leftover ham, throughout the week, I can make split pea soup, scalloped potatoes, grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, and/or a quiche. I break up the ham-fest by alternating with chicken, fish, or beef, but that ham gets worked to death. Chicken goes through a similar trajectory, albeit used sooner since it has a shorter fridge life. Quesadillas, soups, whatever. Fish is generally a one-off because there are rarely if ever leftovers, but I wouldn’t be averse to doing similar if the potential arose.

It’s not so much fancy-schmancy training. It’s being a mom on a budget and kids who are picky eaters. You learn to make everything stretch, with a minimum of repeat meals. Danger’s right – you don’t need to settle for boring.

The above photo arrived in my work email this week, whereupon the spousal unit identified himself as the “Flying Dutchman”. (I assume everyone reading here is aware my spouse is from The Netherlands, ergo the “Dutchman” part of that.) This golf cart is technically owned by a neighbor, but said neighbor has two and not enough space to store them. Plus he can’t drive both at once, and all attempts to sell the second one have come up empty. Hubby’s health is deteriorating – haven’t gone into all the gory details here, but it’s true – so now he has some wheels to help him tool through the area. This set of wheels is therefore on loan to my better half indefinitely.

My work is on the verge of exploding, so it’s doubtful I’ll be updating this blog any time soon. My time online is limited as it is, but when our “season” kicks in – and it’s starting now – it’ll be a miracle if I have any online time at all. The flip side of that is that my income should go up. International Space Station up. Between overtime and bonus bumps, I hope to bring home a pretty penny over the next few months. One of my colleagues, who’s been working there for a while, said she brought home over $3000 a week last year. That’s a WEEK, not a MONTH.  I doubt I’ll hit those echelons, because she worked some sixteen hour days, but I’m hoping to break into the range of $1000-2000 a week during the rush. Given our current living expenses, that should let us sock back some serious cash.

We know we need to do three things in the short term, most likely in this order. We plan to buy a bigger storage shed, a bigger place, and a new vehicle.

You see, my husband is a pack rat. He’s not quite to the level of the hoarders you see on TV, but only because I’m holding him back. Everything I own – and I do mean everything – fits into a 2’x4′ closet, four small drawers, and a small suitcase.

Hubby has his closet, several drawers, the second bedroom closet, the second bedroom, our shed, a neighbor’s shed, space under the deck, a 7.5′ bookcase, our lone surviving nightstand, his “office space” (translation: literally half the living room) and so on. You get the idea. A bigger storage shed would give me a little reprieve, but I want to get a place big enough I can cordon off a spot to call my own. Yes, I know it’ll be temporary, but I’ll take it.