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#i already had my piece of mind with what happened with richas already
rakkuntoast · 10 months
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is this a safe place? can i just talk my ass off on how phil's hard coded isolation in the way he plays affects his kids without him wanting to. the way tallulah reacted yesterday could be just boiled down to her being so used to being catered by phil and only being in groups of max 5 people. the isolation is why she feels like people dont get her like her dad or big brother does since they spend almost all time together. but she doesnt know anything about her siblings and other islanders either thanks to the isolation
and hell i've criticized and ranted A LOT on how phil's isolation is one of his character flaws, and how him letting himself be helped by people is what will help him wind down. but i dont want people to think his parenting way is inherently wrong, he loves his kids and caters to them as much as he can, his parenting style is leagues different from the others since he has to deal with stuff alone most of the time thanks to different timezones. hell this man is always 3-4 hours earlier than most of the members, if anything he can only catch tazercraft and fit online, maybe sometimes forever, etoiles or bad if he stays a little longer
like its mostly you have to watch his pov to get how it works for him, his eggs dont really wake up unless he's there (the exception of specific cases of literally they have to wake up to stay alive or someone hasd explicit permission to wake them up when he's not online like forever does now) he doesnt really have that kind of relationship the late night crew does, he doesnt really have that support network that he can be sure his eggs can just wake up at any time and someone is gonna be there to look out for them
what they need is to hang out with more people and like lives worth of therapy, cuz they have destructive ways to cope but you'd have to deconstruct so much fucking trauma to get them out
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acutecoral · 7 months
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I have no brain for prose at the moment, because I don't think I've watched enough Cellbit to really get his mannerisms right but just a concept in my head at the moment like
Cellbit has had the urge to relapse back to what felt natural, to resort of violence, to killing. Now not in service of himself, but for the people he cares about.
His hold over those urges was admirable, but it was always bound to snap.
It started with Felps. His friend. Lost to the Federation's grasp. I'd imagine ignoring the urge was...easy then, at least with the initial idea. He had a plan, he directed his focus to infiltrating, to misleading and convincing Cucurucho that he could be trusted. It was hard. Here on the island, he had found a family, friends, people he knew and grown to care about. To push them away, and mislead them must have felt awful. Back in the war, things weren't as complicated but he wanted to do something different. He can be different.
I imagine when it failed, when he was taken back and captured, maybe there was that voice at the back of his mind. "This would have been easier if..."
But it was a constant companion for many years, and he's had practice pushing it down and refocusing his energy to other things.
Like his family, his son, the Eggs, his friends, the Order, Roier, their wedding, the campaign for the presidency. There was a lot to do, so much that needed his attention it would have been easy to just focus on the next thing and pretend that those darker thoughts wasn't there.
Then the Eggs disappeared. His son was gone, the other Eggs were gone, and no one knew what had happened. Everyone was searching for answers and they barely had the pieces to put things together. But the Federation must have been behind it, they took the Eggs last time, it was the only answer.
Then Forever was forced to take the risus potion, forced to become a twisted parody of himself that Cellbit couldn't get through to. Forced to pretend everything was okay.
And Pac...Pac whom Cellbit had seen sink to despair since Mike was lost and now pushed even further now that Richas was missing. Pac was still determined, still so willing to sacrifice himself for the smallest chance to figure out what was affecting their friend, their family and find a way to cure him.
How Cellbit must have felt the strongest urge to tear the entire Federation down to the ground, when he found himself between Forever and Pac on that bench. How difficult that must have been to ignore and push past, because he couldn't indulge in it. He had to hold strong, he had to bring them back to reality, to come back to him.
But seeing Pac whimpering, huddled and trapped and so small, so afraid in that cage...then listening to Forever's screams, directed at the memory of Cucurucho in Cellbit's place, a play by play of what led him to be drugged in the first place, how those darker urges must have reared it's head up. Did Cellbit wish he did what Forever did? Even knowing where it led? That urge to let loose, to direct his anger at something, at someone who must have knew all the answers, who were obviously playing them for fools again, who was hurting his family so deeply once more, forcing those he cared about to this state.
It must have led to sleepless nights. Frustration and anger. He must have been so tired.
An exhaustion that everyone on the island felt, but especially...Roier. His huband.
Cellbit would have never forgotten the way the Federation played with Roier and Jaiden's hopes with Bobby's life. Dashing them when they were only granted 10 minutes with their child instead of giving him back.
And now the Eggs have been ripped away again. Roier's sister was taken. Roier's son in law was gone, and for someone that already lost someone he felt responsible for, Cellbit must have seen the heavy toll it took on Roier. The dark eye bags, the way he tries to busy himself, the way that he accepted the Eggs must be dead because he can't take another heartbreak. He can't handle to have that hope they're alive dashed again. Again. Again.
Then...Bagi. That was the last straw. The one that broke the camel's back. The revelation he had a peaceful life before. He was loved, he was safe, he had a family, he had a sister...He had a past before the war, he had come from somewhere, and he was ripped away from it, those memories lost, drowned with the memory of blood and violence and survival.
Cellbit had spent so long treading water, keeping his head up, but no more. No longer. He can't afford to. He had tried playing by the bear's rules, he had tried going about it another way, but clearly it wasn't working.
It was time for a change of tactic.
...
Did killing that first worker feel like relief? Did he surprise himself with how easy it was to slip back into those old habits he had spent so long to ignore? How easy to must have been to watch, to stalk, to wait...before going for the kill?
But maybe he can tell there's a difference here now. Just a little.
These skills were ones he learned to survive. Taught by a dear, old friend. And it served him well, but now he's stepping back into the shoes of the monster, not for himself no. But for the people he loves. The people he knows have been hurt. He's doing it for them.
He will burn down the Federation even if he has to use his own body for the kindling.
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Text
"Forever?" Pac calls around the base. "Are you here?"
In the back of his mind he hears Mike laughing - they both know that Forever is somewhere within his larger base, just that Pac isn't entirely sure where. Richas had said he was here, and Pac's pretty sure the mentioned stack of paperwork isn't letting him up any time soon. Not if not even their son's begging had not dragged him away.
He twirls the vine lasso in his fingers - that's what he's here for, after all.
"Forever?"
This time, when he listens, he can hear a groan and something mumbled. It's clearly Forever, but also does not sound like him at all. Something's wrong; Pac tucks the lasso he bought to drag Forever from his work away, and heads towards the noise.
A little silly kidnapping is nothing between friends, but if there's genuinely something wrong then he needs to be ready. Mike, settled in the back of his mind, agrees - asks if he shoukd send Rocharlyson to Cellbit and come over too.
Pac declines - for now - but makes a careful approach in the direction of the noise.
He turns a corner and there Forever is, sat on the floor with a blanket over his shoulders and a giant stack of paperwork around him.
"Forever why aren't you at a desk?!" Pac says, before he can think of anything else.
One look at the paperwork shows most of it is Presidential work, but at least a few pieces look like redstone machines.
"Oh hey Pac," Forever doesn't look up. "Just fancied a change of scenary."
"You'll hurt yourself," Pac says with the certainity of someone who has done the same a thousand times before. "Do you want help carrying it back to your office?"
"Just let me…"
Forever's signature on the paperwork is lopsided at best - he reaches for another, and Pac slaps his hand away.
"Richarlyson misses you," its a low blow, but it is one. "Let's put this in your office then go see him."
"I'll put it in my office, but I need to work," Forever's face is at least appropriately pained as he says that, and the compromise came unusually fast.
It's okay, once they put the paperwork down then Pac can kidnap him and force him to see some sunlight; he leans down, and grabs a stack. Forever makes to stand up, only to lean heavily on the wall.
"Forever?" Pac's eyes fix on him immediately. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine," Forever waves a hand. "I'm fine, I just... Need to get this done."
Pac doesn't quite believe him; he begins to lower the papers back to the floor, that he might offer Forever the support of his arm.
He's not quick enough - Forever seems to gather himself, makes to stand properly, and in a blink is back on the floor, sprawled amongst the paperwork.
Pac screams in every way possible, dropping the papers to get to his friend. He hears Mike say something along their bond, but doesn't listen as he drops to his knees at Forever's side.
Already Forever is starting to come around; Pac taps his cheek for attention, and eyes flutter vaguely in his direction.
"Forever?" he asks, trying to pull him closer to awake. "Forever, you do not get to tell me you're okay."
"Pac?" Forever's voice is hazy, and its not reassuring.
"I'm here," Pac says. "Mike will be here soon - he'll do the yelling. Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"
Soon is maybe an understatement; as soon as he says that, he hears Mike's panicked yells from above. Afraid of hurting Forever's head more Pac instead tugs on their bond, a little scared himself but guiding the other half of his soul down.
He doesn't try to hide his own fear there, for all he masks it from Forever.
"Or... Now."
Mike makes much better time than Pac did, glasses slightly askew and lab coat far from clean as he storms over.
"Forever, you idiot!" He yells, before taking a breath and dropping maybe a third of his volume. "When did you last eat? Or drink something? Sleep?"
Even as Mike says all of that, he and Pac flash their own thoughts back and forth - Pac shows him how he found Forever, and what happened. Mike continues scolding as he guides Pac through checking Forever's head and spine for any damage. To their joint relief, there doesn't seem to be any.
"Where's your kitchen?" Mike ends with.
"Kitchen?" Forever screws his eyes up, the effort of thinking entirely consuming as he waves a hand in the approximate direction.
Pac and Mike share a worried thought, unbroken even as Mike hurries off in that direction.
"Forever?" Pac tries to ask more gently his time. "Does anything hurt?"
There's a pause; Forever shakes his head a bit, only to grab at it.
"I'm just a bit dizzy... it's fine," the words come too slowly, quiet and slightly slurred. "Just... A moment."
Pac tries to swallow his throat, reaching out and resting a hand on his arm, "take your time. Do you want help sitting up?"
Forever nods, and it's another terrible decision. Pac shuffles closer, helping as Forever eases himself up and against the wall. They're near one of the slight corners, and the extra wall seems to take a lot of his weight.
Once he is situated, Pac pulls his hands away. They hover, expecting to need to catch him again; thankfully it isn't true. "All good?"
The nod doesn't seem to cause too much trouble this time, though Forever's breathing still sounds a little off - forced but level, like he's counting breaths - and he still refuses to open his eyes.
Mike returns not long after; Pac feels him coming, and looks up to greet him. He's carrying some juice and some toast on one of their lab trays. The plates are Forever's and presumably clean, at least.
He kneels next to Pac, and puts the tray on the floor. He squeezes Pac's leg a little - Pac presses a little weight against his side - before picking up the juice.
"Forever," he says. "Drink this."
Forever cracks one eye open, and groans. He does, however, take the glass. Both hands are needed to hold it, and he makes use of the straw Mike put in there, but despite the slight shake he manages it fine.
After the juice, Forever is handed the toast. Pac watches as a little colour returns to his cheeks, and finds Mike relaxing too.
Now he can see that Forever simply forgot to eat anything for a while, Pac relaxes. He's done it before, Mike's done it before - he's pretty sure everyone on the island has, even if not to the point of fainting. Maybe not Etoiles - he has to be so much more careful about his blood sugar than the rest of them - but Etoiles would know how it feels none the less.
"Sorry," Forever quirks half a smile around the toast. "I must look an absolute dumbass."
"It's okay, we've all done it," Pac tilts his head a bit as he smiles back. "Mike and I have picked each other off the floor so often."
"You do," Mike confirms, taking back the cup. "I'm dumping your paperwork on Cellbit, and you're having a nap."
"Cellbit doesn't sleep either," Forever points out.
"But he's Roier's problem, not mine," Mike stands, offering Forever an arm.
It takes a little effort, but they get Forever on his feet. The query about his bed makes Mike, once again, protectively angry. Pac... declines from mentioning his own lack of one, but then he usually shares with Mike so perhaps its not so much a problem.
Pac grabs the tray, plate, and cup, ready to drop them if his hands are needed but not expecting it.
They end up setting up a bed in the corner of his sitting room - Pac has no doubt it will disappear soon enough - and sitting Forever down on it.
"Guys, I'm fine," Forever says, and he genuinely does sound better now.
Pac isn't sure, though, and Mike feels even less believing of the words.
"Nap while we make you dinner?" Pac suggests.
Forever looks between them, goes to argue, then sighs and lies down.
Pac actually looks at Mike this time, and the look is returned - Forever is definitely not okay.
I'll cook and you stay with him? Pac thinks at the other half of his soul.
Mike nods to the suggestion, and perches on the back of the couch. Pac nods back, and vanishes off towards the kitchen.
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benjamingarden · 3 years
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Monthly Meal Plan + Grocery Haul: January 2021
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  The new year has finally arrived!  I'm not sure what grocery shopping looks like in your neck of the woods now that there's yet another rise in COVID cases, but it's actually not too bad in ours.  For the most part you can select curbside pick-up or delivery if you desire.  And lately I desire.
The photo above and info below outline our monthly grocery shopping.  We will need  a few additional items: milk comes from our farmers market as does coffee for Jay (probably another $20.00 total for the month), and I may get some fresh greens in another 1-2 weeks (less then $10.00).
Our groceries for January came from BJ's and Healthy Living, a local health food store.  Typically we would also do a Hannaford order or a trip to the commissary, however, we are really well stocked on pantry and freezer items.  You'll notice there is no meat purchased.  Our freezers are fairly well stocked and we will actually be bartering with a farmer friend - our products for some of his chicken and pork, this weekend.  We are finally (FINALLY) getting eggs from the Coop Girls, and as you know, we put up a lot of veggies in the freezer from the summer garden.
I don't plan on returning to Healthy Living until March so I stocked up with that in mind.  We will probably place another BJ's order mid February-ish.
The total spent for January is anticipated to be $439.41 or just over $100.00/week.
 $269.41 (groceries already purchased) + $140.00 (bartered meat) + $30.00 (coffee, milk & greens anticipated to purchase throughout the month) = $439.41.  Our January purchases are partly for January and partly for the months to come.
Healthy Living - $174.84 (almost half of this amount is from 2 items....the dandy blend and the goji berries)
BJ's - $94.57
More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Our Groceries:
Healthy Living:
The Dandy Blend Herbal Coffee Alternative is AMAZINGLY good.  I absolutely love it for iced or hot "coffee".  It's kind of expensive and a bit of a splurge.  I purchased 2 bags which will last me through April or so.  The 14 oz bags cost $22.49 each.  I've looked on Amazon and they sell a slightly smaller (11 oz) bag for around the same price so this seems to be the best deal.
The Goji Berries are added to a trail mix (we already have the other ingredients on hand) for Jay that he eats daily.  Macular degeneration runs in his family and goji berries have been shown to help prevent this.  Plus they are high in antioxidants so we decided it was worth it regardless of whether or not it works to prevent M.D..  These bags are 8 ounces and $12.49 each.  I should have bought them at Amazon because I'm pretty sure I could have gotten them cheaper.  I'll research it and purchase them there going forward if it makes sense to do so.  The 2 bags should last him just about 2 months.
I know there are cheaper dairy alternatives then Oatly ($4.99/carton) but I really love Oatly.  I prefer the lowfat version but they were out of everything except for these 4 cartons. 
We bought 12 pounds of mixed yukon & red potatoes ($1.99/lb) and 5 pounds of sweet potatoes (I splurged and bought my FAVORITE Japanese Sweet Potatoes at $2.99/lb - I call them "cake sweet potatoes" because they are soooo sweet).  Oliver and I are on the last of the sweet potatoes that we harvested and stored in the fall.  I can't believe they are almost gone!!!  We go through a moderate amount of potatoes and only purchase them organic, and the absolute best ones we've found are at Healthy Living.  This is easily a 2 month supply of each.
I have a few apples and mandarin oranges left for fruit but Jay prefers grapes so I bought a bag of grapes ($2.99/lb) and I treated myself to a couple of grapefruit ($1.49/lb).  I typically try to only buy fruit that is $1.99 or less per pound (exception being the frozen berries & cherries), but that definitely didn't happen this month.
Que Pasa is our new favorite brand of tortilla chips.  They are organic, non-GMO, and reduced sodium.  We very rarely have chips but when we do it's tortilla for the win.  They were on sale (although I'm wondering if this is a permanent sale because they were on the same sale a few months ago when I last bought them...) at $2.99/bag.
I usually make my own bread and tortillas but I like to have a bit of each in the freezer just in case.  I've used up my freezer stash of both so I purchased a loaf of Dave's bread and a pack of limited ingredient corn tortillas and whole wheat flour tortillas for the freezer. 
BJ's:
Not shown in the photo, we also bought a bag of frozen organic sweet cherries and a bag of frozen organic blueberries (3 lb bags for $13.99/ea.).  We have 2 bags of each in the freezer already.  We each eat a 1/2 cup of a mix of the two every single day so we should be good for a couple months.  I also bought Kiwi (3 lbs for $6.49) as yet another splurge because we haven't had them in forever and one bunch of organic bananas (2 lbs for $1.59).  We've found that our very favorite bananas are organic Chiquita.  They seem to be the creamiest.  I have no idea why, but the non-organic Chiquita's and other brands organic and non-organic just aren't the same.  Strange....
I keep riced cauliflower on hand in the freezer because it's one of the cheapest ways to buy cauliflower off season.  (I roast it from frozen in the oven to use as a veggie side)  I wanted to make some buffalo cauliflower though for veggie tacos, and I need pieces instead of having it riced so I bought a bag (2 lbs for $4.29).  Jay likes cooked cauliflower with cheese sauce so he'll have that as a side a few times too. 
We eat a lot of mushrooms and BJ's seems to have the best price on them so I bought 2 which will get us through a few weeks.  (24 oz containers for $4.99/ea.)
Pom Juice was a special request by the husband.  We don't usually buy juice but he requested it last month for the first time in a long time and has been enjoying it.  (48oz bottle $8.99)  I'm running low on frozen peas and frozen corn and BJ's carries the organic at a reasonable cost (each is 4 lbs for $6.99) so I stocked up.  I'm low on carrots too and their price isn't bad (5 lbs organic for $3.99).  Also not shown is a 3-pack of frozen pizza.  We keep a couple vegan frozen pizzas and a couple meat/cheese frozen pizzas on hand all of the time for the days we need something quick.  We still have 2 of the vegan so we just stocked up on the meat version (3 pack DiGiornio $13.99).
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January's Meal Plan
My goal was to start posting our meal plans again, per request from many of you, but to also add photos of some of the meals this time around.  Unfortunately, I have yet to get in the habit of photographing dinner before it's served.  I hope to add this to the posts as I remember.
A Note About Our Meal Plans
I create monthly meal plans because it's what I've found to be easiest for me.  There may be some change but usually not much.  Changing works because I rotate the same 30+ meals so we would use the ingredients at some point over the next 30-45 days.  If we have perishables that need to be used up then that becomes priority and I may make changes to avoid food waste.
I usually make 2 separate meals - Jay and I eat completely different at this point.  He used to be willing to eat what I eat as his side but not so much anymore.  He's not a fan of whole grains and can only tolerate one type of veggie per meal.  So.....you can see that I tend to eat the same thing multiple nights because it's easy and I don't mind at all.  Where there's only one meal noted, I make a meat & cheese version for him and a vegan version for me.  Where there's no veggie side noted for him I use whatever I've got that needs using up or I select a frozen veggie.
You will notice that for Jays meals there are a few noticeable rotations.  
In general, chicken meals are Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  Pork is Tuesdays.  And Beef is Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.  This is in part due to the fact that he tells me it's illegal to serve chicken 2 days in a row.  (insert eye roll)  
Also, other then the occasional new recipe that I try, his meals rotate about every month and a half (a different rotation will show up for summer).  
Our Sundays rotate around the same 5 meals (Tamales, Tacos, Homemade Pizza, Pot Roast, and Meatballs) because it's our farmers market day which means I want something super simple to make.  I do not make the tamales, we love those by Tucson Tamale (not an affiliate link).  Around us we can find a small variety at Healthy Living.  Tucson Tamale offers meat, vegetarian, and vegan varieties and they are sooooo delicious.  They do use oil in all of their tamales so if you are completely oil-free this is unfortunately not an option for you.
Recipe Links:
If I have posted the recipe or use a recipe posted by someone else this month then I will link to it below.  If there's a meal you'd like to see the recipe for let me know!
Quick & Easy Chicken Parm
Homemade Pizza - this is the pizza dough recipe we use
Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta (Budget Bytes)
Apple & Stuffing Stuffed Pork Chops (Betty Crocker)
Oven-Baked BBQ Pork Ribs
Hamburger Potato Casserole (You Tube - The Hillbilly Kitchen)
Chicken Pot Pie Muffins (You Tube - The Hillbilly Kitchen) *I used this as a guide - I use my pie crust recipe and my pot pie recipe and bake it as muffins as shown in the vlog)
Honey Mustard Chicken (Bowl Of Delicious)
Bourbon Dijon Ham Steak (Martha Stewart - is delicious without the bourbon as well)
Mac & Cheese
Easy Weeknight Chicken Cordon Bleu
Scallops Gratin (Food Network - Ina Garten) - I use this recipe without the alcohol
Slow-Cooker Mississippi Pot Roast
Veggie Stew with Black Pepper Biscuits (vegan) (Vegan Richa)
Split Pea Soup (Vegan) (Simple Veganista)
What about you?  Do you have favorite meals that you rotate?  Do you have to cook multiple meals for different eaters?
Monthly Meal Plan + Grocery Haul: January 2021 was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)
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benjamingarden · 3 years
Text
Monthly Meal Plan + Grocery Haul: January 2021
Tumblr media Tumblr media
  The new year has finally arrived!  I'm not sure what grocery shopping looks like in your neck of the woods now that there's yet another rise in COVID cases, but it's actually not too bad in ours.  For the most part you can select curbside pick-up or delivery if you desire.  And lately I desire.
The photo above and info below outline our monthly grocery shopping.  We will need  a few additional items: milk comes from our farmers market as does coffee for Jay (probably another $20.00 total for the month), and I may get some fresh greens in another 1-2 weeks (less then $10.00).
Our groceries for January came from BJ's and Healthy Living, a local health food store.  Typically we would also do a Hannaford order or a trip to the commissary, however, we are really well stocked on pantry and freezer items.  You'll notice there is no meat purchased.  Our freezers are fairly well stocked and we will actually be bartering with a farmer friend - our products for some of his chicken and pork, this weekend.  We are finally (FINALLY) getting eggs from the Coop Girls, and as you know, we put up a lot of veggies in the freezer from the summer garden.
I don't plan on returning to Healthy Living until March so I stocked up with that in mind.  We will probably place another BJ's order mid February-ish.
The total spent for January is anticipated to be $439.41 or just over $100.00/week.
 $269.41 (groceries already purchased) + $140.00 (bartered meat) + $30.00 (coffee, milk & greens anticipated to purchase throughout the month) = $439.41.  Our January purchases are partly for January and partly for the months to come.
Healthy Living - $174.84 (almost half of this amount is from 2 items....the dandy blend and the goji berries)
BJ's - $94.57
More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Our Groceries:
Healthy Living:
The Dandy Blend Herbal Coffee Alternative is AMAZINGLY good.  I absolutely love it for iced or hot "coffee".  It's kind of expensive and a bit of a splurge.  I purchased 2 bags which will last me through April or so.  The 14 oz bags cost $22.49 each.  I've looked on Amazon and they sell a slightly smaller (11 oz) bag for around the same price so this seems to be the best deal.
The Goji Berries are added to a trail mix (we already have the other ingredients on hand) for Jay that he eats daily.  Macular degeneration runs in his family and goji berries have been shown to help prevent this.  Plus they are high in antioxidants so we decided it was worth it regardless of whether or not it works to prevent M.D..  These bags are 8 ounces and $12.49 each.  I should have bought them at Amazon because I'm pretty sure I could have gotten them cheaper.  I'll research it and purchase them there going forward if it makes sense to do so.  The 2 bags should last him just about 2 months.
I know there are cheaper dairy alternatives then Oatly ($4.99/carton) but I really love Oatly.  I prefer the lowfat version but they were out of everything except for these 4 cartons. 
We bought 12 pounds of mixed yukon & red potatoes ($1.99/lb) and 5 pounds of sweet potatoes (I splurged and bought my FAVORITE Japanese Sweet Potatoes at $2.99/lb - I call them "cake sweet potatoes" because they are soooo sweet).  Oliver and I are on the last of the sweet potatoes that we harvested and stored in the fall.  I can't believe they are almost gone!!!  We go through a moderate amount of potatoes and only purchase them organic, and the absolute best ones we've found are at Healthy Living.  This is easily a 2 month supply of each.
I have a few apples and mandarin oranges left for fruit but Jay prefers grapes so I bought a bag of grapes ($2.99/lb) and I treated myself to a couple of grapefruit ($1.49/lb).  I typically try to only buy fruit that is $1.99 or less per pound (exception being the frozen berries & cherries), but that definitely didn't happen this month.
Que Pasa is our new favorite brand of tortilla chips.  They are organic, non-GMO, and reduced sodium.  We very rarely have chips but when we do it's tortilla for the win.  They were on sale (although I'm wondering if this is a permanent sale because they were on the same sale a few months ago when I last bought them...) at $2.99/bag.
I usually make my own bread and tortillas but I like to have a bit of each in the freezer just in case.  I've used up my freezer stash of both so I purchased a loaf of Dave's bread and a pack of limited ingredient corn tortillas and whole wheat flour tortillas for the freezer. 
BJ's:
Not shown in the photo, we also bought a bag of frozen organic sweet cherries and a bag of frozen organic blueberries (3 lb bags for $13.99/ea.).  We have 2 bags of each in the freezer already.  We each eat a 1/2 cup of a mix of the two every single day so we should be good for a couple months.  I also bought Kiwi (3 lbs for $6.49) as yet another splurge because we haven't had them in forever and one bunch of organic bananas (2 lbs for $1.59).  We've found that our very favorite bananas are organic Chiquita.  They seem to be the creamiest.  I have no idea why, but the non-organic Chiquita's and other brands organic and non-organic just aren't the same.  Strange....
I keep riced cauliflower on hand in the freezer because it's one of the cheapest ways to buy cauliflower off season.  (I roast it from frozen in the oven to use as a veggie side)  I wanted to make some buffalo cauliflower though for veggie tacos, and I need pieces instead of having it riced so I bought a bag (2 lbs for $4.29).  Jay likes cooked cauliflower with cheese sauce so he'll have that as a side a few times too. 
We eat a lot of mushrooms and BJ's seems to have the best price on them so I bought 2 which will get us through a few weeks.  (24 oz containers for $4.99/ea.)
Pom Juice was a special request by the husband.  We don't usually buy juice but he requested it last month for the first time in a long time and has been enjoying it.  (48oz bottle $8.99)  I'm running low on frozen peas and frozen corn and BJ's carries the organic at a reasonable cost (each is 4 lbs for $6.99) so I stocked up.  I'm low on carrots too and their price isn't bad (5 lbs organic for $3.99).  Also not shown is a 3-pack of frozen pizza.  We keep a couple vegan frozen pizzas and a couple meat/cheese frozen pizzas on hand all of the time for the days we need something quick.  We still have 2 of the vegan so we just stocked up on the meat version (3 pack DiGiornio $13.99).
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January's Meal Plan
My goal was to start posting our meal plans again, per request from many of you, but to also add photos of some of the meals this time around.  Unfortunately, I have yet to get in the habit of photographing dinner before it's served.  I hope to add this to the posts as I remember.
A Note About Our Meal Plans
I create monthly meal plans because it's what I've found to be easiest for me.  There may be some change but usually not much.  Changing works because I rotate the same 30+ meals so we would use the ingredients at some point over the next 30-45 days.  If we have perishables that need to be used up then that becomes priority and I may make changes to avoid food waste.
I usually make 2 separate meals - Jay and I eat completely different at this point.  He used to be willing to eat what I eat as his side but not so much anymore.  He's not a fan of whole grains and can only tolerate one type of veggie per meal.  So.....you can see that I tend to eat the same thing multiple nights because it's easy and I don't mind at all.  Where there's only one meal noted, I make a meat & cheese version for him and a vegan version for me.  Where there's no veggie side noted for him I use whatever I've got that needs using up or I select a frozen veggie.
You will notice that for Jays meals there are a few noticeable rotations.  
In general, chicken meals are Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  Pork is Tuesdays.  And Beef is Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.  This is in part due to the fact that he tells me it's illegal to serve chicken 2 days in a row.  (insert eye roll)  
Also, other then the occasional new recipe that I try, his meals rotate about every month and a half (a different rotation will show up for summer).  
Our Sundays rotate around the same 5 meals (Tamales, Tacos, Homemade Pizza, Pot Roast, and Meatballs) because it's our farmers market day which means I want something super simple to make.  I do not make the tamales, we love those by Tucson Tamale (not an affiliate link).  Around us we can find a small variety at Healthy Living.  Tucson Tamale offers meat, vegetarian, and vegan varieties and they are sooooo delicious.  They do use oil in all of their tamales so if you are completely oil-free this is unfortunately not an option for you.
Recipe Links:
If I have posted the recipe or use a recipe posted by someone else this month then I will link to it below.  If there's a meal you'd like to see the recipe for let me know!
Quick & Easy Chicken Parm
Homemade Pizza - this is the pizza dough recipe we use
Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta (Budget Bytes)
Apple & Stuffing Stuffed Pork Chops (Betty Crocker)
Oven-Baked BBQ Pork Ribs
Hamburger Potato Casserole (You Tube - The Hillbilly Kitchen)
Chicken Pot Pie Muffins (You Tube - The Hillbilly Kitchen) *I used this as a guide - I use my pie crust recipe and my pot pie recipe and bake it as muffins as shown in the vlog)
Honey Mustard Chicken (Bowl Of Delicious)
Bourbon Dijon Ham Steak (Martha Stewart - is delicious without the bourbon as well)
Mac & Cheese
Easy Weeknight Chicken Cordon Bleu
Scallops Gratin (Food Network - Ina Garten) - I use this recipe without the alcohol
Slow-Cooker Mississippi Pot Roast
Veggie Stew with Black Pepper Biscuits (vegan) (Vegan Richa)
Split Pea Soup (Vegan) (Simple Veganista)
What about you?  Do you have favorite meals that you rotate?  Do you have to cook multiple meals for different eaters?
Monthly Meal Plan + Grocery Haul: January 2021 was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)
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