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writersrealmbts · 5 years ago

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Pounce

Description: Tiger!Taehyung x human!reader. You’ve been searching for the perfect hybrid companion for weeks, and when Taehyung enters your life, everything is better than you imagined.

Warnings: Not really

Posted: 05/29/2019

Tags: Hybrid Taehyung, Human Reader, Tiger Taehyung

Fluff mostly: 4,107 words

A/N: For @kpopgirlbtssvt.

Today was the day. You were determined that today would be the day you found and took home a hybrid companion. You refused to leave until you found the one that was compatible with you. The problem was that no one really jumped out at you. No one seemed interested in you, either, and they said that the best connections came from relationships that started with the hybrid as interested as the adopter. Most sniffed the air, looked at you curiously, then went back to ignoring your existence. Same as the last four shelters. You weren’t even being breed specific anymore. You stayed toward those that were adults because you didn’t want the responsibility of a child at this exact point in time. You wanted someone you could actually converse with and who wasn’t completely dependent on you. You still had work, after all, and while there were certain days of the week a hybrid was allowed to accompany their owner (you hated that word) to work (Tuesdays and Thursdays at your office), they would have to be on their own the other days of the week. You weren’t about to pay for hybrid day-care, it was more expensive than both regular daycare and puppy-daycare. The worker seemed nervous the longer it took for you two to find any potential hybrids. They had been boasting about having three or four hybrids per person that came in, and you had been skeptical given your other experiences. It was looking like they were going to be proven wrong. Three rooms later and your determination wasn’t faring as well as it had been. What if you just weren’t what a hybrid wanted? You wanted to think that you were nice, balanced, loving… “Let’s try the yard,” The worker finally said. You nodded, following them outside. There were more hybrids out here than inside, which was expected on a such a nice day. Some of the hybrids seemed to get nervous, skittering off. You looked around, waiting in place since it was important that they be able to smell you and approach you. A dog hybrid started tentatively coming over and relief started to wash over you. Then it jumped, glancing behind it and racing off. Your heart sank again. Wow. You actually were unlovable. The bushes rustled and the worker seemed to brace themselves. You frowned. Something leapt out of the bushes, past the worker and stopping in front of you. He grinned down at you, orange-striped ears flicking playfully to match the mirth in his eyes. His grin broadened and eyes became crescents. “Hi.” “Hello,” You responded, still surprised. “I’m Taehyung.” “Y/n.” He nodded. “Alright. Let’s go home.” He took your hand. “Um, what?” “Oh, sorry, I’m a tiger hybrid, and I’m your hybrid. No one else can have you, you’re my owner. Now can we go home?” His head tilted. You glanced at the worker. He looked surprised, but shrugged. “I can get the paperwork.” You nodded slowly. “Um, okay. Let’s go fill out the paperwork then. You’re okay with me being social, right? I like having friend over for games, dinner, movies…” Taehyung nodded. “Sure. I like games and movies and food. Guys?” “My closest friends are guys, mostly because they’re my neighbors. I went to highschool with some of them, and I was there when they adopted their hybrids. Oh, they have hybrids too.” “That’s okay,” He nodded. “I get along with just about all species. Mice seem a little wary of me.” You nodded. The paperwork went quickly, while Taehyung seemed to be saying goodbye to every single person in the building. But he was waiting cheerfully by the door once you were done with his suitcase, pillow, and backpack. “Ready?” You held up the papers. “Done.” “Collar?” You scrunched your nose. He sniffed and went to your jacket pocket, pulling it out and fastening it on himself after setting the pillow on the suitcase. “It’s required.” Then he grinned, his eyes disappearing. “This is a nice one, though. Thank you.” “It’s big enough?” You asked, finally looking at it. He nodded, sticking a couple fingers between it and his neck. “I like the velvet. Nice touch, very nice on the neck.” You relaxed a bit. “What do you want for dinner?” His eyes lit up. “I can choose?” “Sure.” “Anything?” “Within reason, but yeah, we can splurge tonight since it’s a special day.” He shifted. “There’s something I’ve always wanted to try.” “Okay, what?” “Venison,” He replied. You froze. “Deer?” He nodded. You slowly nodded as well. “I’ll have to look up somewhere we can buy venison. And I’ve never cooked it before, so it’ll be an adventure for both of us.” “Yay! Let’s go!” He turned toward his stuff. You held out your hand. “I can take something.” He contemplated, then handed you the pillow that seemed to have other things stuffed in it as well. “This is lightest.” You smiled and led the way out to your beater. “Not the best car, I know, but it runs and I’m saving up for a new used car.” He just shrugged. “Does the job.” You nodded, popping the trunk for him. “I figure you want this with you?” He nodded, taking it after he closed the trunk and hugging it to his chest even as he climbed into the car. You got in and buckled up, checking to make sure he was wearing his seatbelt as well before pulling out of the parking spot. “Okay, we’ll get groceries after dropping off your stuff at my apartment, that’ll give me a chance to see if I have a recipe in my cookbooks for venison so that we at least know what cut of meat we need.” “Ok. Are we sharing a room?” You blinked rapidly. “Um…well, I have the second bedroom—” “I’m a cuddler. Can’t sleep alone.” He seemed to be smiling a little. “You’re trouble, aren’t you?” He grinned. “Nope.” You laughed a little. “Where do you work?” “I’m an office manager. You can come in with me every Tuesday and Thursday.” “Really?” “Company policy. And I have my own office so if you don’t like other coworkers’ hybrids you can still be with me without them bugging you.” He bounced a bit in his seat. “Yay! Do you work on weekends?” “Every second Saturday, usually half days. Just to keep on top of everything.” He fiddled with the radio, checking out your settings, then the CD you had in the player, smiling the whole time. “Cool.” He watched the scenery go by for a while. You both listened to the CD for a couple songs before you pulled into your parking spot. “Here we are. I live on the fourth floor. The apartments there are bigger than the other floors, so while other floors have four apartments per floor, the fourth only has two. I have the smaller of the two, and the four of the guys share the other. The other two guys live below them. The three hybrids tend to congregate in the big apartment, play games and enjoy each other’s company. We can ease into it, though—” “No! That sounds perfect!” He hopped out and hurried to the trunk, handing you his pillow again as he got his suitcases. “Can we meet them today?” “Um, sure? I can text the guys and we can meet them after dinner.” He bounced a little. “Cool! Thanks.” You smiled, feeling lighthearted and happy since he seemed so happy. He slid into your apartment ahead of you and eagerly started looking around, leaving his suitcases in the entry. You chuckled and moved the suitcases out of your way so you could drop your shoes and get into the apartment. You set his pillow on one of the chairs, watching him carefully. He was currently checking out the view from your windows, and smelling the curtains. He looked carefully at your living, dining, and kitchen areas, then wandered down the halls after grabbing his pillow. He came back out a moment later and grabbed his suitcases. “I’ll keep my clothes in the guest bedroom.” You nodded. “That’s fine.” He went back to the rooms again. You went to the bookshelf and pulled all four cookbooks from the shelf, heading to the reference section to see if there were venison recipes. Looked like it was a good thing you had gone first thing in the morning to pick a hybrid. All of the recipes were calling for long cooking times. Tae was suddenly beside you, startling you momentarily, but he flashed you a smile. “Sorry. Find anything?” “They all call for long cooking times or marination, so we should hoof it. So, stew or tenderloin?” “Mmm, can we try tenderloin and turn the leftovers into stew?” You nodded. “Sure, or we can do both.” “Really?” “I mean, hopefully we like the taste of venison. If not, I’ll try to disguise the taste. Make them into tacos or mix it with beef or something.” You jotted down a list of groceries to get. You had held off getting them in case you needed to get specific foods for your hybrid, tailoring for herbivore mixes or carnivore mixes. “What veggies do you like?” He thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I’ll eat cooked carrots. And broccoli. Spinach. I like kimchi.” “Kimchi isn’t technically a vegetable, it’s just made with vegetables. What kind of kimchi?” He shrugged. You sighed. “Okay, well, I don’t know much about making kimchi, but jimin’s mom always sends him more than can eat on his own. I’ll just ask him if we can take some when he offers next time we see him.” He nodded, snuffling at your hair. You smiled. “You really aren’t shy.” He shrugged. “I like you. You smell…perfect.” “Thank you.” You sidestepped, but he seemed to anticipate it, moving with you. You peered up at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “Grocery store? Food?” He nodded, then tucked his nose into your neck, nuzzling a little before chuffing softly. You were a little surprised by the sudden move, but you were also aware that hybrids needed physical touch and affection. Especially when they’re first adopted. So you reached up and threaded your fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. He melted into your touch, arms wrapping around your waist. “Thank you for getting me out of there.” You nodded. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy being in there. I hope you’ll be happy here.” He pulled back, meeting your eyes and looking at you softly. “I will.” “Is that so?” He nodded. You reached up and smoothed his hair. “Come on. Let’s go get groceries.” He smiled, eyes closed. “Okay.” He held onto your hand and let you lead him back out of your apartment and to the car. The grocery store had his attention right away as he zeroed in on the meat department and looked over every cut of meat while you talked to the butcher about venison. While he was distracted you also got some roasts, a turkey, and some different cuts of pork since it was on sale. You practically had to drag him away from the meat isle and over into produce, but he did seem to take an interest in fruits. Strawberries especially, but also blackberries and melons. He pouted when you grabbed different vegetables, and wrestled peppers out of your grasp to put back on the pile. “I can’t do spicy food.” He growled softly, then his eyes lit up. “Watermelon!” You watched in amusement as he fawned over the large melons, sniffing and knocking on them until he found one that he deemed perfect and looked to you for permission. You nodded. He grinned and brought it over, setting it in the cart like it was a baby. The snack isle was interesting. You were good with things like peanuts and popcorn, but he was examining every single snack to carefully pick one. You sighed, going over the list you had to figure out what else you still had to grab. He would need his own shampoo and conditioner since hybrid hair/fur was different from human hair, but that was something he should pick out. You weren’t sure what he had for clothing, but you partially hoped he would be okay with maybe some basic t-shirts until you could build up your savings again. Sock and underwear. “What are you doing?” “Thinking of what you may need,” You answered, looking to see what snack he got. “Ready?” He nodded. “What else might I need?” “Well, shampoo and conditioner, soap, and I don’t know if you need any clothing. Like socks or underwear?” He nodded a little. “I need some of those.” You nodded as well. “We’ll head over and you can pick them out, then we’ll go to health and beauty and get the rest.” “Okay. Can I hold your hand?” “Well, I need both to push this cart. It seems to have a mind of its own,” You told him, a little worried since you knew it was important for him. He nodded, though, and grabbed the sleeve of your shirt at the elbow instead. “This works too.” You relaxed a bit and led the way through the store, pausing by the outdoor supplies. “Do you want any sort of…toys?” His eyes lit up and he nodded. “Is there a place to play outside?” “The roof, the other hybrids like to go up there on nice days while we’re at work, and sometimes we have picnics out there.” He grinned, but then seemed to focus. “Well, I don’t know what is already there. So let’s wait on that, and then if there’s something that I really want to play with, can we come get it?” You nodded. “Cool. Thanks, y/n.” He briefly, gently, nuzzled your cheek, then bounced on his toes a couple times before practically skipping ahead to the mens section while you trailed after, watching the aisles to see if there was anything you might want to get him eventually. And you totally didn’t stop by the pet supplies and get a huge container of catnip. Never. He came back with socks, underwear, and two packages of basic shirts, one white and one black, with a questioning look. You gestured for him to put them in the cart, then headed toward the beauty section, ducking into the hybrid specific isle and looking through the products. He was smelling each and every one, gravitating toward the colorful ones first, pacing up and down the isle. You were looking at the ingredients. “Tae, this line is all-natural.” His ears swiveled toward you and he set the bottle he was smelling back on the shelf before pouncing to the spot next to you. He looked over the containers first, then smelled the four different ones from that brand before deciding on hair products that smelled like “milk & honey” and plain-smelling bodywash, with a citrus-y facewash that he seemed really excited about. You also got him a brush, a new toothbrush (because he wasn’t sure when he last replaced it and seemed surprised when you told him that they needed to be replaced every 3-4 months), toothpaste (you were almost out and he was pickier than you were), and a bottle of lotion. “Alright, anything else you want? Candy bar? Cookies?” He grabbed a chocolate bar then pointed to a bottle of juice with huge eyes. You nodded, smiling. “Grab me one, too.” He grinned and darted toward the cooler while you started unloading groceries onto the conveyor. He came back, going to the end to load the loaded bags into the cart. He looked happy, though you hadn’t actually seen him sad or upset the whole time you had known him, which was about two and a half hours now. You seriously hoped that this would work out, you liked Taehyung so far. You just weren’t sure you could handle any surprises after seeing him like this. Which would be terrible. You’d be like all those people you criticized. But when he smiled at you, it reached his eyes, and he seemed truly content even though he barely knew you. But then again, according to your hybrid friends, hybrids could tell how they would get along with a person on smell alone. And his smile made you want to smile, and you found you already were smiling back. You took the receipt and let Taehyung push the cart out to the car. He paused, waiting for you to catch up when he noticed another hybrid. You gave him a curious look. “I still smell like the shelter, it can make other hybrids nervous if they don’t clearly see an owner,” He said softly. “Especially with my breed.” You hooked your arm in his at the elbow, bumping his arm with your head. He looked down at you and smiled, blinking slowly. The two of you passed the other hybrid and its owner without incidence. At home, Taehyung spent most of his time exploring almost every nook and cranny, drawer and cabinet in the house. Lunch consisted of sandwiches, which he seemed happy about, then you sat down with your coloring pages and pencils and started working on those while he took a shower. He came out in a t-shirt and sweats and sprawled across the couch and you, effectively stopping your coloring. You laughed a little. “Hi.” He grinned back. “Hi. Pet me.” You rolled your eyes, but obliged, sliding your fingers through his thick hair, curling behind his ears and rubbing gently. He seemed to get even heavier, eyes squinting with how big he was smiling, making soft chuffing sounds. You could get used to this. ——— Sleeping with him was probably the most noticeable change to you. You weren’t used to sleeping with someone else, much less being held by someone else. But there were other things you noticed as well. Like how he was fine with your friends and neighbors, got along great with them and had no issue with them being around you (to a certain extent, he definitely got jealous if you pet Yoongi, Hoseok, or Jungkook too much) but other men were not welcome. When he was at your work he would socialize and such, but if you were talking with a male coworker, you could be certain that Taehyung would choose that time to hug onto you. And he always sniffed you carefully on the days he didn’t go to work with you. And he seemed absolutely sullen today, refusing to even talk to you after smelling a stranger on you. He had even growled at you before telling you to take a shower and wash the smell, almost like you had cheated on him or something. Which was ridiculous since you had just had dinner with your cousin that you hadn’t seen in a while. But he didn’t let you explain, locking himself into the guest bedroom with music blaring until you finally gave up and went to bed. He didn’t come out in the morning, though you knocked and told him breakfast was ready, told him it was Tuesday and that if he wanted to come to work with you he had to get up. Told him you were leaving. And of course it was a miserable day when you wished you had had Taehyung there, especially since you ended up having to deal with HR. You chucked your purse at the chair the moment you entered the apartment, then noticed the three hybrids chilling on the couch with alarmed expressions. “Sorry,” You muttered, stalking to your bedroom to get out of the uncomfortable clothes. He slipped in, closing the door again as you glanced back. “What happened?” “Jeff from accounting.” He growled lowly. “What did he do?” “Got fired,” You answered shortly, not wanting to go through all of that again. “And now I have to change and get dinner ready because we have a guest coming over tonight.” “What?! Wait, y/n, what happened at work? Who’s coming to dinner?” You ignored him like he had ignored you for most of the day, heading to the kitchen and getting everything you needed for dinner out. “How did he get fired? What did he do to you? Who’s coming to dinner? Why are you ignoring me?” “So you know how it feels,” You muttered, aggressively swinging the blade at the watermelon to pierce the skin. “Look, I have a lot to do before our guest arrives. Why don’t you and the others go to Hobi’s place and finish your movie?” He was quiet for a minute or two, then went over to the others and whispered something. They left, but he came back in, gently taking the knife from you and continuing to cut up the watermelon so that you could work on dinner. He didn’t say another word, and neither did you. When the buzzer went off, you let your cousin in without a word, noticing a growl of uneasiness from Taehyung. You took a deep breath and composed yourself, then when there was a knock on your door, you opened it with a tired smile. “Hey, Jay.” He hugged you, then pulled away quickly when you both heard a snarl. You whipped around pushing Taehyung away from your cousin. “Taehyung, stop it!” “You invited him here?!” He glared past you. “Taehyung!” You jerked him until he looked at you. “That’s my cousin, Jay. And yes, I invited him here yesterday, which I would have told you earlier if you hadn’t been ignoring me.” All the fight drained from him. “Your…cousin?” “Yeah,” Jay confirmed, folding his arms. “My boss sent me here on business and my wife always worries about me not eating well so she asked y/n to make sure I at least had dinner yesterday and today. Yesterday was a bit last minute. Hope it didn’t mess your eating schedule up too much.” “So…you’re not dating him?” “That’s called incest, and no! Living with you is enough for me, thank you very much.” You gestured for Jay to take a seat at the table. “Water, Jay?” “Yeah.” You set a glass of water down in front of him and a glass of milk at Tae’s spot. “Sit, Tae.” Taehyung did as he was told, sitting down sullenly and was somewhat quiet all of dinner, though he really did seem excited about the stories of your childhood that Jay told. By the end of the evening the tiger had relaxed and kept turning apologetic eyes toward you. After Jay left, Taehyung attached himself to you. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t bear the thought of you dating someone else. Not when you’re—” He cut himself off, eyes going wide. You pursed your lips. Nancy had been right. Damn you, Nancy. You and your subpar brownies and your real housewives obsession. “When I’m what?” “Um, nothing, never mind—” “Taehyung, is it true that hybrids can smell their true mate?” His tail started flicking agitatedly and he was looking everywhere but you. As if he thought that you hadn’t noticed him pressing little kisses into your skin when he thought you were asleep, or the way he looked at your body, or felt your body in an ‘innocent’ way as he tried to get comfortable at night. As if you could think about another man, when there was one there every night to listen to you and talk to you and hold you safely in his arms. “Um…yeah…yeah, some can.” You folded your arms, waiting for him to look at you. He did for less than a second, then again when he realized you were waiting for him, finally holding your gaze with trepidition. You walked over to him, looking up into his eyes. “You know, you owe me an apology.” “I know, I’m so sorry, y/n.” You nodded. “I forgive you. Just, listen before you leap, okay?” “Okay,” He answered, shoulders relaxing fractionally. You went on tiptoe and pecked his lips before heading to your room. “I’m putting on pajamas. Can you turn on that show we’ve been binging?” “Yeah,” He replied, sounding winded. You smiled to yourself, not bothering to close the door as you changed. You went back out and he was sitting rigidly on the couch. You grabbed a blanket and went over, curling up next to him and covering both of you with a blanket. He gulped audibly. “Um, y/n…” “Yes?” You asked, leaning forward to set your phone on the table. “You…you’re okay with…being my perfect mate?” You nodded, keeping your gaze on the screen. “Yup.” “You don’t have any questions?” “Nope.” “You’re not at all weirded out by this?” “Nope.” “Are you sick?” “No, now shush. It’s starting.” You wiggled a little, getting more comfortable. He paused it, sliding out from under you (which earned a protesting squeak from you) and sitting on the coffee table in front of you. “Just like that?” “Just like what?” “You accept it like it’s nothing?” “Of course not. It’s everything. It’s everything we’ve been doing since you came home with me and more that we haven’t worked up to.” “How long have you known?” “Since Nancy from marketing opened her big mouth a couple weeks ago. I just assumed you’d talk to me about it eventually but when you threw that big jealousy fit I decided to end this little Irish Jig and make it abundantly clear that I know exactly what I am to you and that I’m not taking it lightly. You’re the only man in my life. The guys don’t count. They’re…the guys. You’re Tae, the tiger hybrid that pounced on my heart the moment we met and never let go.” His eyes were huge. “Was that the dramatic response you were looking for?” You asked, sitting up and forward and touching your nose to his. He slid the tip of his nose along the side of yours as he tilted his head and leaned in, kissing you properly for a moment before pulling away. His whole demeanor was more relaxed, softer and happier. “Yeah. It was.” You smiled, laughing a little. “Such a drama-king. Come cuddle now. We have so many episodes to get you through so that you’re caught up to me and we can watch the newest season.” He picked you up, chuckling as you squeaked in surprise, and sat down. He set you on his lap, kissing your cheeks and neck before settling again and hitting play. “Mine. My mate.” “Yes, yes. Your mate. Now shush, this is important information.” He settled in, tail wrapping around both of you, with a kiss to your cheek and a squinty-eyed smile. “But you’re my mate.” “And you need this information to understand—! Argh! Now we have to rewind!” “Or we could watch it tomorrow,” He said, turning the TV off. You shifted to face him better. “And what would we do now?” He pulled you closer and pressed a kiss to your lips. “Explore.”

Masterlist.

#kim taehyung #hybrid!taehyung #tiger hybrid!taehyung #kim taehyung x reader #taehyung x reader #reader x taehyung #hybrid!au #hybrid!bts #human!reader #bts fic #bts

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nightmare-deer · 5 years ago

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50 questions

tagged by @maladjustedchangeling

1. What is the colour of your hairbrush?

Black

2. Name a food you never ever eat.

Seafood in general. I have fishues

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold?

I don’t feel like I’m usually too anything. Maybe warm?

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

Watching Alice in Wonderland while doing dishes

5. What is your favourite candy bar?

I really like the Seattle Chocolate truffle bars. Overcast Sea Salt is great.

6. Have you ever been to a professional sports game?

No. I’ve been to a college game.

7. What is the last thing you said out loud?

I was meowing at my cat

8. What is your favourite ice cream?

Tillamook Oregon Strawberry Ice Cream is

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Cherry Dr Pepper

10. Do you like your wallet?

I do. It’s a bat!

11. What was the last thing you ate?

Leftover spaghetti (the person who tagged me had the same answer which made me laugh)

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

Another samey answer….no because I like thrifting and it’s cancelled. Oh. I did order underwear from Target because it’s been about a year or longer since I have, and I was kinda needing to do this before all this went down. Idk if that counts.

13. The last sporting event you watched?

The dog show on Thanksgiving? It was on NBC Sports.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

Cheese. I either buy cheese. Or air pop and add butter and either white cheddar seasoning if I have it or just that shaky “parmesan” cheese and a lil garlic powder.

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to?

My aunt

16. Ever go camping?

Yeah. More when I was a kid.

17. Do you take vitamins?

I have gummi vitamins.

18. Do you go to church every Sunday?

Not by choice. I live w my dad right now because I’m poor and have to. Haven’t had to in a bit tho because of quarantine.

19. Do you have a tan?

No. My ancestry is Celtic, English, and a lil Germanic and Scandinavian. I’m not made to tan. I burn. I do have a few freckles from childhood but I feel like I used to have more.

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza?

I love pizza. I’m actually not a big Chinese food fan because it uses a lot of veggies I don’t like such as spouts, cabbage, water chestnuts, those tiny corns. And I’m picky about meats. Usually I just get some kind of noodle dish. But I’m a weird pizza person. I’m the type of person who orders zucchini, broccoli, arugula etc. on pizza.

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?

Sometimes

22. What color socks do you usually wear?

I just get whatever socks I find at Costco. I do have some fun sandwitch socks.

23. Do you ever drive above the speed limit?

I don’t drive because I have terrible anxiety and no focus.

24. What terrifies you?

Not having control, maybe.

25. Look to your left, what do you see?

My deer calendar.

26. What chore do you hate most?

Folding laundry.

27. What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?

Steve Irwin

28. What’s your favorite soda?

Dr Pepper.

29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive?

Drive thru.

30. What is your favourite number?

31. Who’s the last person you talked to?

My dad

32. Favourite cut of beef?

I’m not a big meat eater. I don’t eat like, hunks of meat. I only buy ground beef for tacos.

33. Last song you listened to?

The last thing I listened to was the Hamilton soundtrack.

34. Last book you read?

The Modern Enneagram: Discover Who You Are and Who You Can Be by Melanie Bell

35. Favourite day of the week?

I literally can’t differentiate them

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards?

Not really.

37. How do you like your coffee?

I don’t like it. I like tea and hot chocolate and making people at starbucks make me butterbeer frappachinos.

38. Favourite pair of shoes?

I pretty much have one pair of combat boots I always wear. Plus some mary janes that look like cats for nice occasion and I pair of tall purple boots I got a goodwill and forget to wear.

39. The time you normally get up?

I’m nocturnal right now so I get up at like 2pm after staying up until 5am.

40. What do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets?

I don’t know that I have a preference.

41. How many blankets on your bed?

Usually two but I have a third close by if I get cold.

42. Describe your kitchen plates.

Black and purple and kinda square.

43. Describe your kitchen at the moment?

I just did dishes!

44. Do you have a favourite alcoholic drink?

I’m not a huge drinker but I like Mimosas a lot. I like Mike’s Lemonade and I like some hard ciders. Juicy stuff. Once a bartender made me something called a White Gummy Bear and that was good.

45. Do you play cards?

I have UNOcorns!

46. What colour is your car?

Invisible?

47. Can you change a tire?

No but I feel like I could google it.

48. Your favourite state?

I actually really love my state.

49. Favourite job you’ve had?

The library

50. How did you get your biggest scar?

I was making a couple garlic bread loaves in a convection oven. I was putting a second one in and I was not paying attention because I was watching Psych and my wrist hit the inside ceiling and I burned my wrist really badly.

tagging @andwefaeries @carnivalsofsilverfish @nymerasnightmares

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turkeyfeet8-blog · 5 years ago

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Reader Food Diary: Jennifer & Family’s Success Story

Welcome to our 2019 Reader Diary series where we are going to be sharing success stories + what people ate for a week! We are still accepting entries, and those who are featured will receive $50 in groceries from Thrive Market, 2 of my cookbooks, and a free Prepear meal planning program membership for a year. Get all the details (and share your entry with us!) on this page.

Hello! We are the Brees Bunch, and we live in Southern California. We have three children ages 17, 15, and 9. Both my husband and I work full time, but with opposite schedules. He’s a professional musician, and I’m an instructional coach. We have a lot of food concerns in our family, so we’ve been slowly introducing real food since January 2017, but really started committing to it in September of that year when our daughter was diagnosed with ADD.

My husband has Type 2 Diabetes and needs to eat lower-carb. He detests any type of seafood. My 17-year-old is a vegetarian but will eat fish occasionally. She has also been diagnosed with depression and anxiety. She has relied on heavily processed meat replacements instead of making vegetarian meals. My 9-year-old has severe ADD and functions better eating lots of healthy proteins and eliminating processed or sugary foods. My 15-year-old son has grown a foot this last year and is constantly hungry and usually turns to junk food to satisfy his hunger. And then there’s me—I’ve suffered from severe migraines for years and am always exhausted. Plus, I need to lose a significant amount of weight.

Photo Credit: Sarah Tolson

We knew what was best for our family but felt that our tight food budget and busy schedules prevented us from doing that. However, there was a point last year when we realized how much we were relying on processed food or take out for the majority of our meals. Not only were we spending way too much money, we just didn’t feel well. Our house felt tense all the time.

Success Story

One evening, as I went up to bed feeling sad and frustrated, I made the decision to commit to purchasing and preparing food that was beneficial, not harmful. I began looking for ways to do that and still stay within a strict budget. I came across the 100 Days of Real Food site and began to read and implement great ideas, like using only whole wheat products and adding fruit and veggies to every meal. I’m also a big believer in making food ahead of time and doubling recipes to have food to freeze. It was a bit slow at the beginning, and some of my family members resisted. But the benefits have been awesome.

So far…

I have lost 25 pounds from May – September 2017 (and an additional 15 lbs January 2018 to now!) and my migraines have diminished greatly!

My youngest daughter with ADD has shown increased attention after we transitioned to whole foods and cooking at home.

My husband has been able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels consistently for his diabetes.

My vegetarian daughter is able to find ways to make real food instead of always purchasing packaged, processed vegetarian items.

And, my son is able to satisfy his hunger by making snacks out of real food.

How We’ve Done It (so far)

We signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box through a local farm and shop at Costco once a month for our bulk purchases. We also purchase a large box once a month from Butcher Box, which provides meat that is humanely raised without antibiotics or hormones. Then, we plan weekly meals together as a family. I ask for suggestions for dinners and breakfasts.

Our children are responsible for packing their own lunches. It used to be extremely difficult to plan lunches, since all 3 kids like different things. I decided to give each child a weekly set amount of money to purchase lunch foods—this would include an entrée, fruit, veggies, and a snack.

We shop as a family once a week, and it has been awesome to have the kids plan, budget, and shop for their lunches. It gives them more freedom and they like trying new things. Plus, they are much more likely to eat the food they’ve chosen because it was their decision. In addition, they can use anything from the freezer or fridge if they get tired of the same lunch foods for the week. Sometimes, they will plan together and share foods.

All 3 children help my husband, and I make meals at home, and our oldest usually cooks for the family at least once a week. Our meals are usually meat or protein-based, but we have side dishes that are hearty so that our vegetarian feels satisfied. We try to plan at least one vegetarian meal each week. In January 2019, we determined as a family that our next step on our real food journey would be to eliminate any added sugar for 40 days to see if we felt any better. We decided we could use small amounts of raw organic honey or pure maple syrup if needed.

We don’t have a lot of snack food—we usually have leftover breakfast items, homemade trail mix, fresh fruit, and nut butter, or hard-boiled eggs and veggies. For treats, since we’re eliminating added sugar, we splurged on Lara bars and fruit cups (in 100% fruit juice), just for this month.

We’ve cut out buying juices and sodas over the past year, so our beverages are very simple. I drink black coffee in the morning and peppermint tea later in the day. My husband occasionally has black coffee in the morning and black unsweetened iced tea in the afternoon. Our kids usually have water or unsweetened sparkling water with dinner.

For breakfast, 2 out of the 3 will drink organic whole milk, and the other will have organic unsweetened almond milk. We recently invested in glass reusable water bottles to encourage the kids to take a water bottle to school and hydrate! I had to have a chat with my 9-year-old when I kept noticing an empty juice box in her lunchbox. One of her friends was sharing her juice with my daughter every day. We had a great conversation, and my daughter shared she wanted something more than water with her lunch. She decided that a peach herbal unsweetened iced tea or sparkling water would meet her needs.

Our food diary is mainly what I ate throughout the week, but includes at least one lunch from each child, so you can see the variety and the choices they made.

Our Food Diary

Day 1

Breakfast: Chile relleno casserole, roasted potatoes and peppers, fresh fruit. Lunch: Tomato basil soup, grilled cheese sandwiches on sourdough bread. This is a typical meal after grocery-shopping. We usually try to have something simple since we shop after church and everyone is ready to eat by the time we get home. I freeze individual soup portions for lunches or snacks at a later time. Dinner: Beef taco bowls: grass-fed beef, organic black beans, roasted street corn, sautéed peppers and onions, organic romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, sour cream, salsa. Taco bowls are great for our family since everyone can customize them to fit their needs.

Day 2

Breakfast: Broccoli-cheddar quinoa egg bites, grapefruit or mandarins. With our early mornings, breakfasts need to be ones that can be taken to go! Lunch: Homemade Protein Box: Almonds, cheese cubes, hard-boiled egg, fresh berries. During my work day, I don’t have time to eat a whole lunch so I usually pack snack-type foods that are easy to eat on the go. Dinner: Pork chops with basil cream sauce, smashed potatoes, roasted broccoli. My daughter added Parmesan cheese to the broccoli. Treat: Lara bars and mint tea. This was the first day of cutting out added sugar, so I planned ahead to have something tasty and simple as a treat.

Day 3

Breakfast: Peanut butter oatmeal: rolled oats with natural peanut butter added while cooking, plus a drizzle of pure maple syrup, topped with apple slices (this is one of my kiddos’ favorite meals). Lunch: Homemade bento box: rice, egg sushi, sautéed spinach and garlic, quick pickled cucumber and cabbage, mixed veggies (this was the lunch my 17-year old packed today) Dinner: Spicy salmon cakes with homemade tartar sauce, garlic-herb roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus, and broccoli. My youngest is still not a fan of asparagus so the broccoli was for her. However, she knows that she still needs to try items she doesn’t like, even if it’s just a bite. Treat: Homemade hot cocoa sweetened with maple syrup and fresh whipped cream, homemade triple coconut cookies. It was a cold, rainy day and we were all wanting some hot chocolate. While making dinner, I made hot chocolate with dark cocoa powder, organic whole milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and maple syrup. I used organic heavy cream and some maple syrup to make fresh whipped cream. I also made triple coconut cookies with unsweetened coconut, coconut flour, and coconut oil. They were super crumbly but tasted delicious!

Day 4

Breakfast: Rustic skillet with leftover garlic-herb potatoes, scrambled eggs, sautéed spinach, and cheddar cheese. When I make roasted veggies and potatoes for a meal the night before, I try to make extra so I can make a skillet meal for breakfast. My family gobbled up all the roasted veggies so I added some spinach this time. I made breakfast and then went upstairs to finish getting ready. I came back downstairs to take a picture, and the food was gone! Lunch: Eat out with colleagues at Panera Bread: Greek goddess salad, turkey BLT with avocado. I rarely get to have a long lunch or eat out during the work week, so this was a treat for me. One of my friends is vegan so our restaurant choices are limited. Panera is a great fit for all of us. Dinner: Whole-wheat pasta with homemade marinara sauce, Caesar salad with homemade dressing. My daughter made this meal, and the kids ate before I was able to get home from work so I didn’t get a picture of the meal. Snack: I was hungry after dinner so I had an apple from our CSA box and a square of Parmesan cheese. The kids had homemade trail mix.

Day 5

Breakfast: Homemade granola, organic plain Greek yogurt sweetened with maple syrup, topped with berries. Lunch: Whole wheat organic sandwich thins mini cheese pizzas, popcorn, sliced cucumbers, banana, and mandarin oranges. This was my youngest daughter’s lunch for the week. We use the sandwich thins to make mini pizzas since it’s less bread and they get nice and crispy. They’re good even cold from the lunchbox! Dinner: Organic teriyaki chicken over coconut rice, sautéed baby bok choy, and radishes. We received the bok choy and radishes from our CSA box. I’ve roasted radishes before but have never sautéed them. They paired nicely with the bok choy. I like the flavor and texture better sautéed rather than roasted. My vegetarian daughter had mushrooms and cashews instead of chicken.

Day 6

Breakfast: Breakfast bars: I used the leftover dough from the coconut cookies earlier in the week and added mashed banana, walnuts, and chia seeds. I pressed them in a pan and baked for 20 minutes. My kiddos had the option to top with organic Greek yogurt and berries or have a hard-boiled egg on the side. Lunch: Uncured roast beef sandwich with Havarti cheese, pesto, and pickles, on sourdough bread, side salad, kiwis, multigrain tortilla chips (this is my son’s choice for his lunches this week). Dinner: Breakfast for dinner: Green chili egg bake, green salad, bacon, sweet potato home fries. This egg bake is adapted from a diabetic cookbook. It makes a 9 x 13 size pan, and we cut it up and freeze individual portions. You can add any cheese or meat you’d like. We usually make it vegetarian, but we had family over for brunch recently and made a bacon, gruyere, and caramelized onion egg bake that tasted very close to the bacon and gruyere sous vide egg bites I sometimes splurge on at my favorite Starbucks.

Day 7

Breakfast: Leftover egg bake and fruit. Lunch: Snack box: cheese cube, seedless cucumber slices, hard-boiled egg, blueberries, kiwi slices, mandarin, cashews. Dinner: Split pea soup topped with ham, Cobb salad, cheesy biscuits made with almond flour for lower carbs. The soup is made with vegetable broth so it’s vegetarian and then we top it with ham for all the meat-eaters! I replace whole wheat flour with almond flour for the biscuits, and it holds together fairly well. If there are any leftover biscuits, I save them for breakfast or snacks.

Final Thoughts

Our journey is far from over, but I think we’ve made great progress over the last year. The next step is to add another vegetarian dinner to our weekly rotation and to plan meals more efficiently so that I can double, or triple, recipes and have much more variety in the freezer. I think my advice to any family who would like to eat real food is to tackle one small area and do it well, then move on to the next challenge. I think that every day we try something new and beneficial, we should be proud that we’re making growth toward health!

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Source: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/reader-diary-jennifer/

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citypillow2-blog · 5 years ago

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Reader Food Diary: Jennifer & Family’s Success Story

Photo Credit: Sarah Tolson

Success Story

So far…

I have lost 25 pounds from May – September 2017 (and an additional 15 lbs January 2018 to now!) and my migraines have diminished greatly!

My youngest daughter with ADD has shown increased attention after we transitioned to whole foods and cooking at home.

My husband has been able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels consistently for his diabetes.

My vegetarian daughter is able to find ways to make real food instead of always purchasing packaged, processed vegetarian items.

And, my son is able to satisfy his hunger by making snacks out of real food.

How We’ve Done It (so far)

Our food diary is mainly what I ate throughout the week, but includes at least one lunch from each child, so you can see the variety and the choices they made.

Our Food Diary

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Final Thoughts

Source: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/reader-diary-jennifer/

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elevenhoursinfront-blog · 8 years ago

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10th April 2017

I managed to sleep the whole way through to 0500. I was so happy. I needed to go for a wee which is why I woke up. The rain was dripping inside from an open window which I could also hear. I felt guilty for the guy who turns the fans off because I opened the window and his stuff was underneath getting wet. I moved his stuff and pulled the window too. Going for a wee is stupid. I have to wake myself up enough to climb off the top bunk. The ladders aren't secure onto the beds either. They're just hooked on so they slide sideways and swing outwards. Not safe at all. Then I have to scramble in the dark for my key card and it's never in the place I left it. Then go into the bright corridor, into the toilets which are even brighter. It makes my eyes water every time. The brightness wakes me up. I got back into bed and managed to fall back to sleep. I heard everyone's alarms as per normal but just turned over. Our alarm went off at 0900. Day one on our diet. We weighed and we've both put on about 8lb. Awful. I've put on almost 2 stone since June. I'm devastated. I wanted to find a slimming world out here but I don't think I could afford it. Not whilst I'm unemployed. We went down for breakfast. We gave ourselves half an hour before the breakfast closed so that we couldn't be tempted with more food. Clever huh? I went to get my bowl of muesli and there wasn't any left. Fuming! We had Weetabix instead. Steve only had 3 even though he usually has 4. He also only had 1 tablespoon of sugar which is good for him too... We went upstairs to get showered and ready. By the time we chilled out eating breakfast and sorting our shower stuff out, it was 1100. A staff member knocked on the door and said that we were late paying our bill. I completely forgot!! I remembered last night but didn't even think about it this morning. We rushed down to pay and she said that we now have a mark against our names. If we do it again, we lose our $20 deposit each. Steve laughed and I was furious. We had to pay by 1000 and it was 1100. It was a genuine mistake and it's not like we're not paying it every week... We really are beginning to hate this hostel. They just don't care about the people in it whatsoever. Mad Monkey was so much better. I received a message from Sam saying that my mums parcel had arrived!! After about 4-5 weeks, I couldn't believe it. She sent it in the post down to me, I'm so excited. We got showered and dressed - I was wearing jeans and a hoody. Anything to keep me warm. I still can't believe how cold it is here. I want to go to Cairns where it's hot but there's little work there. By 1400 we were hungry. We made tuna pasta with broccoli and carrots. Steve had tinned boneless salmon actually, which was absolutely vile. I downed milk to get rid of the taste. We made too much pasta and kept it in our Tupperware for another time. We went onto the computers to apply for jobs. I applied for loads of admin/office jobs and Steve applied for construction. I saw him looking at mining jobs but he knows he isn't allowed to do that even if it's $100,000. There's a reason the pay is so high... I emailed a recruitment company so hopefully they'll get back to me tomorrow. They'll find me work and they'll pay me. Easy as... Fingers crossed. Steve has done the same with an agency. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I was getting really angry with the wifi not working and had to stop looking for jobs. The pages weren't opening and it took over half an hour to send one email. How hard is it to get working wifi? I don't understand. Stupid, horrible hostel. By 1600, Mel was on her way home. We agreed to go to Aldi together for our weekly food shop. Coles is on our doorstep but Aldi is cheaper. Not by much, but every penny counts. Not that you get pennies here, don't forget that. We walked the 15 minutes to Aldi and it was exactly like the ones at home. Except the whole store only has 4 baskets... Trolley's are available if you have a dollar to put in the chain/box thing which we obviously didn't. I managed to find one of the four baskets surprisingly. I told Mel just to pick up one of their cooler bags and use that as a basket. It worked well. We finished our shop - $40 it cost us which isn't too bad considering there's two of us and we got beef mince, 2 chicken breasts, yoghurt, peppers and cheese which seem to be the most expensive items ($4 for ONE pepper!). Mel's lucky she's vegetarian, the price of meat is ridiculous. We don't get to eat it often. We took our shopping home (in pink Aldi bags) and sorted our food bags out. We ended up cooking a weird dinner. It was almost like a fajita mix without the wraps... I put in mince with carrots, broccoli, onion, sweet corn, beans, peppers and diced tomatoes. We had a packet of fajita mix left so we put that in with it. We were making a bulk amount so we could have it for dinner again tomorrow. I put rice on too and I've finally learnt how to cook rice properly. Normally it comes out like one big squidgy, sticky rice. Now every piece of rice is an individual. I'm so excited. If I learn anything this whole trip, it's how to cook rice. Steve managed to eat the leftover pasta from lunch as dinner was cooking... He ate every last bite of his dinner too. Dinner was really nice and we had loads left for tomorrow. We sat chatting for awhile before we washed up. By 1930, we were all sorted and off to 7-11 for a cold drink. Mel was meeting us in our room for 2000 to look at Air BnB's. We flicked through some on the laptop before realising it wasn't going to happen any time soon. May was almost fully booked up. There were only 5 properties left to book and none were "right". We found a perfect one in Southbank along the Yarra river but we can only check in June. It's ages away but it's the only option we have at the moment. We'll see what happens. Lauren came up to our room when she got home from work. She's in a sticky situation at the moment. She's got $5 left to her name and she's transferred every last English penny she has to her name. She did that so she could pay her rent Sunday just gone. She's now working and gets her first payday Tuesday but as her ABN didn't go through in time, she's going to be taxed 50% of it, leaving her with not enough to pay next weeks rent. She's considering getting a credit card or asking her dad for a loan. She wants to seem independent so I think she'll go with the credit card even though I advised not too. Her work is commission based only too. Luckily she made 3 sales today which is $100 each sale. They left our room by 2200 and steve and I got ready for bed. It's now 2300 and I'm shattered. I managed to FaceTime my mum for 20 minutes before she went into work. I really wanted to see my cat as I miss him so much. She was already out though. Next time... Steve is absolutely "starving" right now and it's begging to go to Coles for chocolate and cookies. He seems to think it's time for a treat even though he's only 8 hours into his diet.

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grad-cooking-experiments · 6 years ago

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Crockpot Hamburger Potato Soup Rationale and Results, Attempt 1

Let’s talk about what I did, why I did it, and what I’ll be doing differently for Attempt 2 (which will probably be in a month or so, I’ll be meal-prepping something different for next week).

Rationale:

I had some leftover hamburger from a casserole I had made earlier in the week, and I love potatoes. Sadly, in the making of said casserole, I used up my last can of tomatoes, which is apparently a crucial ingredient for most hamburger/potato soups. I found a recipe by the Kitchen Magpie (original here: https://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/creamy-potato-hamburger-soup/) and used it as a reference to build my own recipe.

Ingredients:

-¾ of a red onion, diced

This would have been 1 whole onion, but my selected onion had a really nasty bruise on it. I’ll use a whole onion next time but included the amount actually used so I can keep track of what I did differently.

-½ cup diced mushrooms

In part because I considerably downsized the amount of meat involved, I added mushrooms. They add protein and taste fabulous, especially sautéd with onion. They’re also considerably cheaper than most meats, pound for pound. I freaking love mushrooms, so I often add them to recipes to cut down on the meat needed.

-½ cup dry pinto beans

The original recipe I based this on called for vegetables, but I only had frozen broccoli and green beans on hand, neither of which I particularly wanted to eat in a soup with potato and hamburger. Also, beans are another good protein substitute for meat.

-1 cup browned ground beef with grease (approx. 1/3 lb)

This is probably one of the biggest changes I made (it’s like a sixth of what’s originally called for), but it’s what I had on hand, so that’s what I used.

-4 cups potatoes (use whatever kind you like, excluding sweet potatoes)

I used Yukon Gold ‘cause that’s what Aldi had when I went (I love Aldi).

-4 cups chicken bullion

You can use stock if you want to (that’s what the recipe I based this from used) but bullion as a rule is cheaper, so guess which one I have?

-1 cup milk

-2 tbsp margarine

I’m from the South? Potatoes with margarine are yummy? Considering I left the grease in from the hamburger, I have no excuse for this.

-1 tbsp garlic powder

-1 tbsp flour

I had vague hopes of a gravy-like thickening effect with the additional of this (for the science of flour+fat= happiness, check out this article: http://scienceblogs.com/chaoticutopia/2006/11/22/the-science-of-gravy/)

-1 tsp paprika

-1 tsp red pepper flakes

-½ tsp black pepper

-½ cup sour cream

I added this last for a reason. Sour cream tends to curdle in the crockpot. It did add a really nice twang to the soup (you can taste it faintly) but it does detract from the flavor.

For next time:

Margarine-I first want to apologize for the margarine. It is not a good idea. I hope no one ever tries Attempt 1, because the margarine is totally unnecessary. It’s getting X’d from the ingredients list next time.

Spiciness-Next on the X’d list is the paprika or red pepper flakes. Both aren’t really necessary, and the soup’s honestly a lil spicy. I ate it with rice to help tone it down, but I’ll probably make adjustments to fix that next time).

MORE MUSHROOM AND ONION. I just really love mushroom and onion, and they made a nice flavor addition. I’ll probably bump that up to a whole onion and 1 cup of mushrooms.

Flour- I definitely either 1) didn’t add enough flour or 2) don’t need to add it at all. Without the cheese, the soup isn’t really “creamy” per se, so I’ll probably leave it off to tone down on the carbs.

Sour cream- This needs to be added wayyyy later on. It broke down well, but I’d like to see it more dissolved in the bullion rather than curdled into tiny flecks evenly distributed. Will probably add it with 30 minutes left of cooking next time.

Meat- There are a few options here. I overall liked the amount of meat in the soup, so rather than increase the amount I used, I might want to try ground turkey next time. I usually hate ground turkey, so we’ll see if I actually do that or not.

#mealprep #foodexperimentation

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happy2bmyownboss · 5 years ago

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I had to do my grocery shopping this past weekend and our internet was DOWN! This meant that I needed to physically go into the store and push the buggy down the aisles… pure TORTURE, right? Well, maybe it doesn’t seem that bad but I have been spoiled by the Walmart Grocery Pickup.

I did survive and I posted a picture of my overflowing buggy on my Instagram that evening and had a contest for the person who could most closely guess how much I spent. The winner will be receiving a Walmart eGift card for $10.00!

Before we go any further I will let you know that this post does contain affiliate links to products and/or services that we use. If you happen to click through a link and make a purchase we may earn a teensy-weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission. This means that we can keep bringing you great recipes, ideas, and tips for FREE! Click HERE for a full disclaimer.

I did spend quite a bit more than usual as I had some freezer cooking on the schedule. My grand total ended up being $330.46! I did have to grab a couple more things on Sunday morning when I went out to grab the pizza for Ms. Bellas’s birthday party. There was no freezer cooking happening on Sunday as we spent the day celebrating with family.

Thank you, Aunt J, for the red velvet cake and the pizza! It was delicious!

Here was the plan for Monday:

My notes are a little crazy I know!

I still have a couple of meals in the fridge from the Holiday Meal Planning Made Easy With The Deck The Freezer Party! but I really wanted to get some more ready because I know things gave a tendency to get REALLY BUSY around the holidays. I think they may get even busier with our new house coming SOON and I don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen when I can be playing around with decorating our new home.

We are still adjusting to the time change around here so the past week or so has been even CRAZIER than normal. I’ve really had to work on some of the parenting techniques that I’ve been learning from Positive Parenting Solutions which have been a lifesaver during some of our roughest parenting days.

Loaded Breakfast Biscuits

The little boys wanted to help with the breakfast meals I was working on. They washed their hands and got ready to work:

It is always important to check the oven before turning it on to preheat!

I had completely forgotten that we had a stack of pizzas in there from the day before!

The first recipe we made was the loaded breakfast biscuits from over at Jamerrill’s Large Family Table. I had purchased some of her freezer bundles a while back and have tried quite a few of her recipes. Many of the recipes I have cut in half as I wanted to give them a test run first.

While I prepped the ingredients the boys worked on smushing the biscuits into the muffin pans.

I improvised and made a little bit of space on the top of some of the totes we had in the kitchen.

The assembly went rather quickly and I did some laundry as they baked. They looked amazing when they came out of the oven! Just make sure to press down the ingredients well with a spoon to get them filled.

We ended up with about 30 biscuits and some leftover sausage gravy which will be enough for five meals, six if you count the gravy. We will probably have some fruit, yogurt, or applesauce with these.

Baked Oatmeal Muffins

Next on our list was to make a BIG batch of Baked Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins.

I’m not really sure how the cheese got in the picture but we didn’t use it for the muffins. Our Kitchen Aid mixer came in really handy while making all of these meals but it could have been just a little bit BIGGER as I had to keep the guard on to prevent messes.

These smelled AMAZING while they were baking and we ended up having 42 of these yummy muffins which will be enough for about 7 breakfasts or snacks. We will probably have some fruit and/or yogurt with the muffins.

While they baked I was able to get another load of laundry swapped and hung out to dry.

Freezer PB & Js

These are very simple to make and very nice to have in the freezer for busy days. The key to not having soggy sandwiches is to make sure you spread the peanut butter thinly on both slices of bread.

You can microwave the peanut butter for a few seconds to make it easier to spread. We’ve also found that the jams spread easier than jellies.

We ended up with about 40 PB&Js and a couple of PB only sandwiches as I have one who doesn’t like PB& J. This will make at least 4 lunches which will be great for busy days or for outings. The kids usually have some fruit with their sandwiches at lunchtime.

I keep a bag in the freezer for the bread heels and leftovers so I can use them for croutons and/or crumbs.

Ham & Cheese Potato Bake

I got this recipe from one of the packs I bought from Jamerrill’s Large Family Table Sale as well but it tasted very similar to my Cheese Potatoes only with the addition of the cubed ham.

I added the leftover hashbrowns from the loaded breakfast biscuits to this as well. I probably could have used a little more ham and maybe a little less cheese. We made 3 of these pans but ate one for dinner that night. IT WAS DELICIOUS!

We will most likely eat this with some kind of veggie side dish.

While making all of these meals I was also running back and forth doing up my laundry as Monday is Mommy’s Laundry Day. I also had to keep chasing down my camera as Mr. Jacob was practicing his photography skills:

Yeah, he still needs a little practice but he kept getting better as the day went on.

Freezer Meatloaf

I needed to get some ground beef and chicken cooking so I worked on the meatloaf while this was going. I threw in a package of finely chopped mushrooms with the ground beef while it was cooking… Shhhh! Don’t tell the kids!

I made up a batch of Manly Meatloaf and divided it into 2 loaves to put in the freezer. I used some mix veggies and chopped mushrooms in it this time. These will make 2 meals plus leftover that we can eat for another meal.

We will eat these with a side of Super Yummy Caulitaters and some kind of veggie side dish.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

This is another one of Jamerrill’s recipes. It was super easy to make and looks so good!

I shredded the cooked chicken with the Kitchen Aid mixer. I then combined the rest of the ingredients together in the foil pans and may or may not have gone a little crazy with the cheese. We ended up with 2 pans of this which will be at least two meals with leftovers. These will probably be served with some green beans, a Salad and/or Quick & Easy Garlic Bread or Garlic Cheesy Bread.

Mr. Jacob had to check out all the yummy dishes:

Beef Stroganoff

This recipe was fairly easy to make. I threw the brown rice in the pressure cooker with the broth from the chicken that I had cooked earlier which made it really tasty.

I’m not sure what happened to the photo of this meal but we had 2 pans of this which will definitely be 2+ meals. We will definitely be serving these with some kind of bread and side dish.

My photographer in training did catch a few other photos during the time this was cooking:

I think he may be better with my new camera than I am!

Baked Ziti

I still had a pile of ground beef left so I made up a mega batch of Mama’s Secret Spaghetti Sauce. Other than that I pretty much stuck to Jamerrill’s recipe for the baked ziti which actually looked a lot like my recipe for Red & White Pasta only with meat in it.

By this time I was running a little low on cheese but I will add more to the pans before I bake them. We will serve these two meals with a nice helping of veggies or a Salad and/or Quick & Easy Garlic Bread or Garlic Cheesy Bread.

Here are a few more photos I found on the camera around the time I was making these:

Stuffed Shells

I’ve seen a couple of videos where Jamerrill makes her freezer meals and the stuffed shells looked like something I really wanted to try so I did!

It was a little tricky to get the hang of stuffing the shells but it went rather quickly once I got in the groove. I then added some diced tomatoes to the remaining spaghetti sauce that I had and divided it up between the pans being careful not to fill them too full because I needed a little room for some cheese, right?

I sprinkled them with some Parmesan and the rest of the shredded cheese I had on hand. I will add some more cheese before I bake them. These will be another 2+ meals when we have some hearty sides with them. I can’t wait to give them a try!

Garlic Bread

While everyone was eating dinner I pushed and finished up the last couple of items on my list. The Garlic Bread is super easy to make… so easy that the kids can do it.

We may end up adding a bit of cheese to these before we bake them to make them cheesy garlic bread.

Freezer Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

We haven’t tried the Freezer Ham & Cheese yet but I did see a video a while back about making them. They said the key to keeping the bread from getting soggy was to put cheese on both sides… that’s a lot of cheese!

We used up some cheese we had in the fridge and ended up with 16 sandwiches that will be enough for at least 2 lunches when they eat it with some fruit or veggies.

English Muffin Pizzas

Last but not least was one of the kids’ favorite meals… I thought I had posted this recipe before but maybe not. It’s super easy.

We took the English Muffins and cut them in halves. Then we spread some of the leftover spaghetti sauce on them and topped them with a little bit of cheese. (I was out of shredded cheese so I just sliced up some block mozzarella that I had in the fridge.) We then topped them with a few pepperonis.

I then put them on a large baking sheet and placed them in the freezer to flash freeze. Once frozen they will get wrapped with a little bit of wax paper and then put into baggies for the freezer. They will get baked at 350 for 10-15 minutes until hot and bubbly.

The kids love to eat these for lunch with some ranch drizzled on top.

Finishing Up

My feet were so tired last night and I was wishing that we had our new bathtub installed so that I could soak but hopefully, soon that will be a reality. I almost forgot that I also made up a cute little gift for Nanny J as it was her birthday as well:

I still have about 4 pounds of ground beef to cook and put in the freezer. I’ll try to get to that tomorrow. The cooked meat will be used to pull together some quick meals like Taco Ring, Sloppy Joes (I thought I had that recipe posted… I’ll have to look for it.), or another meal from this list HERE. I’m going to try to get a few batches of Buttermilk Biscuits in the freezer as they are great for a quick side or as a quick breakfast with some gravy, honey, or a bit of jelly.

I still have a few of the pans in the fridge outside as well because they needed to cool down and I didn’t get around to rearranging the freezers to make room today… internet issues have had me on the phone with customer service for several hours!

We’ve got quite a busy week ahead of us with hunting season starting (maybe it has already started) the guys are itching to get out in the woods. Our van needs to go have an oil change and brakes this week. We also have a couple of dentist appointments this week and we also need to take out the toilet and work on it as someone flushed part of a hanger down it… sigh. Friday night will be a dance and Saturday we had planned to go to a BIG annual dance but I’m not really sure if that will be happening or not… if it doesn’t I may have a Norwex event to go help with and I will have the kiddos in tow!

Here’s a flyer for our latest sale:

I definitely have a few things that I want to grab while they are on sale! You can also shop my current part HERE.

I know this was a long post but I wanted to get all the recipes out as I’ve had several requests for them. If I missed anything you can let me know in the comments below!

Here are just a few more pics from the day:

35+ Freezer Meals In One Day! I had to do my grocery shopping this past weekend and our internet was DOWN! This meant that I needed to physically go into the store and push the buggy down the aisles...

#norwex #norwexclean #norwexconsultant #norwexmovement #birthdays #busy schedules #food #freezer cooking #meals #recipes #square dance

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benjamingarden · 6 years ago

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A Year Of Eating Locally Challenge-Meal Plan + Food Costs: Week of July 1, 2018

If you’re just tuning in, this is our 1 year challenge in which I share our weekly meal plan as we try to eat primarily locally grown food. You will see that I often I make 2 different meals because I am primarily plant-based and my husband is not. Most of what we eat is made from scratch and any boxed, canned and/or frozen products follow the Real Food guidelines. Meal planning is my way of controlling the grocery budget (read as a LOT of dollars saved), ensuring there is no food waste for the week, as well as saving time. You can read more about meal planning here.

Read the entire series here.

Last week is a bit of a blur. J had a minor knee surgery the Friday prior so things were a tad erratic as we weren't entirely sure what to expect. The good news is, he's doing very well and back up and running. Well, not running, but you know what I mean. Actually, he is completely against running even when he hasn't had knee surgery, so that will never be a true statement. But I digress..... Raspberries are here!! Both red and black varieties, and they are sooooo good. Summer squash is up and running. Well, for the farmer's at the market they are. My 4 plants have teeny tiny squash on them. I'm sure in no time they will be the size of a baseball bat, but for now, I'll get them at the market. Cherries and peaches made their debut in the stores a couple of weeks ago. The prices have finally dropped to what I deem reasonable, so they went on the shopping list. I'm not aware of anyone local who grows cherries or peaches to sell. This week it's quite hot and very humid. Upper 90's to just over 100 degrees + high humidity = a very unhappy group here at Cobble Hill. Not one of us has an appreciation for it. The poor chickens are miserable and the dogs are bummed about not being able to hang out on the deck much. It goes without saying that the grill will be used a lot this week. Sunday was a high of 104 degrees with the heat index. Needless to say it was a HOT day to be a vendor at a farmer's market which is why I opted not to take a photo of my market veggies. That and I forgot my cute little market basket. Instead I bring you a photo of beautiful lettuce growing in the ground. On to the menu! Weekly Meal Plan:

Sunday

Breakfast - Breakfast Burritos

Lunch - PB&J Sandwiches, Kohlrabi Sticks, Cherries

Dinner - Grilled Buffalo Shrimp, Veggie Stir Fry & Rice

Monday