Share recipe? So excited for your dumpling future!
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I meant to say and hadn’t: there’s an orchard about 1.5 hours from here that sells heirloom apples. They do a fruit CSA that I believe runs through winter. You might want to check with your local orchards, if any?
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I know they didn’t get to ours once because of a blocked alley (someone was moving). But we got an email when that happened! On the other hand, I don’t feel like I have to plan my drop offs bc our bin doesn’t get full and it’s right behind our house!
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I just got an email saying “sorry about the pickup delays and service disruptions, our staff has been impacted by covid, we hope to be fully staffed again by Monday.” 
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You called it! It’s a small team, I’m sure 1-2 people getting COVID takes them out 
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We can get through at least another week on the food we have, I think. So there shouldn’t be any grocery shopping this week. As long as I can cobble together something snack-like. I lack snacks. Hmph.
meal planning
- mushroom risotto
- veggie fajitas
- brown rice pasta with freezer pesto
- something involving potatoes? Patatas bravas?
- freezer meals: pumpkin chili, curried lentils.
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In a somewhat annoying twist I cannot do shopping again this weekend, grrr. I won’t send my husband to HMart alone but the Instacart shoppers for that store are usually really good. Unfortunately I cancelled my account a couple of weeks ago in a “I’ll always go in person or order from amazon” delusion 
BUT, it all worked out! I went to re-sign up today and guess what? I got instacart for free for 12 months plus a year of free grubhub+. Hah! I am a financial wizard and soon I will fill my face with dumplings.
I am especially committed to dumplings because last night we tried to go for a date and I left my purse at home so I didn’t have to carry anything…turns out all the restaurants near us are now requiring proof of vaccination to come in! We are both vexed and boosted but we didn’t have our papers with us. We ended up at Wendys after 4 failed attempts. I am owed dumplings. The scales of justice must be balanced!
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Sorry about the failed date. We ended up putting photos of both our vaxx cards (in case one person’s phone dies or whatever) on both of our phones so that we don’t get caught out without our card on us. I dislike carrying it around anyway in case of purse theft.
How did you score the free Instacart, was it a “come baaaack!” promo or something?
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Yeah, I think it was a please come back promo @Tris!
In food spending news I spent $200 on HMart delivery 
haha, but I actually expected that! I wanted to go in person but when it became clear that wasn’t possible I figured I’d bump my estimate up by $50 and that ended up being correct! In addition to a bunch of pantry things (oils, vinegars, hot sauces) I bought like 5 packs of dumpling wrappers and alllllll the instant noodles, like 5 different kinds, lol. I love instant noodles so much. Eating some kimchi noodles rn. I also splurged on some spicy squid for me, and then had to get normal groceries too (fruit, eggs, etc.). The most overpriced thing I bought was American cheese for like $6! I really want to make cheeseburgers this week though, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger.
It’s been a very expensive week in general, really high medical costs, but I payed off our cards and didn’t pull from savings. If I can put away $500 from the next paycheck all will be well! Fingers crossed, kind of nervous about making it!
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Ok y’all. We have a Korean restaurant near us and a new one opened up across town and I’m curious, but the restaurant menus online basically just have the names of the dishes. If it was the Before Times, I could talk to the server and get recommendations when ordering, but takeout squashes that avenue a bit. What are some good introductory dishes that a no seafood or spicy food eater should look for?
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A lot of Korean food that isn’t seafood still has fish paste or fish sauce in it (like kimchi) is that an issue? If not I would try Bibimbap as it really is a classic dish and it will introduce you to the essence of Korean flavor. Gimbap/Kimbap is usually not at all spicy and would be a nice appetizer or side dish. It’s usually filled with vegetables and pickles not seafood. I think that would be a great first meal. Japchae is also very safe in terms of seafood and spicy, IMO it’s not the most flavorful and doesn’t really give a full idea of what Korean food is though. Korean cuisine has lots of soups. I think any soup (kimchi stew, soft tofu soup, army stew, gamjatang) would be a good choice. I think if you literally cannot eat anything with fish (like no fish sauce or paste) authentic Korean food will be challenging, and you may be better off making something simple like tteokbokki at home, but omitting the fish from the stock and the fish cakes. I can help you find/adapt recipes if you decide to go that route! 
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Did you like the food?!? I must know
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speaking of Korean food, I bought ‘Korean meatballs’ because they were half priced, and now I’m defrosting 6 of them for dinner tonight, and I can’t decide what to have with them or what sauce to make (no rice because it is with the shadowy one). Suggestions welcome.
Also, trying to decide if 4 for the shadowy one and 2 for me is enough, or if I should do 6/3 and just have 3 left over for a lunch later.
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I always go for more when it comes to food, haha. They could be good in a soup!
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Haven’t gotten a chance to order yet. It’s been cold so we’ve been making soups at home
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Hi everyone. I had a financial discussion with Hubby yesterday. It was sobering. We do okay financially, but we both notice a bad habit that’s crept up on us…spontaneous spending - usually on credit cards. We can pay it off the end of the month, so it’s not a problem that way. But it’s hampering us from reaching our other financial goals. I am glad I cancelled the meal kit delivery service now.
I’ve done a lot of cooking since yesterday afternoon to prepare for my weeklong Zoom conference the end of the month and into February. I have 14 servings in different meals prepped and frozen. I’ll have another 14 servings frozen by tonight. I need 28 for a week’s worth of meals (2 lunches and 2 suppers per day). Most of what I’ve cooked so far is beef. I am veering off into chicken, fish and pork, with a smattering of vegetarian, next. I’m thinking soups and chowders.
Other than that, we are noticing electricity costs increasing. Our two month bill was $310 CAD. Hmm…it was actually pretty warm, so I think some of this is from increased usage in our day-to-day living. We’re going to have to keep an eye on that.
I’ve been able to purchase a GIC this month. I’m laddering them. The return on them is dreadful at the moment, but I have a feeling they’ll get better. Plus Hubby and I don’t trust the Canadian stock market right now.
Mostly our money saving mindset these days is to stay home and only go out when necessary.
I’m trying to get Hubby to focus on financial goals, but he won’t make any that are concrete, and when he does, they are like jello - moving targets with no real deadline. Then, when we don’t reach the target, I get blamed, because I’ve engaged in some spontaneous spending, not realizing said goal actually had a deadline we were supposed to be aiming for! Anyways, that’s our next big issue to deal with - Hubby’s attitude towards me in terms of finances, and our approach to setting goals and achieving them.
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soup is a great idea. I have pulled stock out of the freezer and some dried kelp buds to give it more depth of flavour.
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for safe Canadian money options - have you looked at EQ?
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Nice! I’ve never used kelp buds, only kelp! Are they those little caper-looking things or are those something else?
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they are dried squigly seaweed things that have been in our pantry for a long time, and I throw them into ramen when I remember, or when we used to have dumplings I would rehydrate them in the boiling water after the dumplings were done and then throw them into the frying pan with a bit of vinegar. I think that kelp is very thick, and this is much younger/thinner.
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