Contact Me

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Parsimonious Dinner; Pistachios; Fancy Sick

chicken,broccoli, sweet potatoes

My dinner cost me about $1.25. There is nowhere I can get this quality that cheaply. Okay, I did pay lots for broccoli, but exbf and I were craving fresh broccoli. We ate four meals for $5. This is only about 1/3 of a breast, plenty for me tonight. He and I ate this on Wednesday night. I made him a Tupperware divided dinner plate to take to work. I ate my helping of chicken/sweet potato/broccoli on Saturday night.

How is this parsimonious eating? The broccoli certainly doesn't live up to that description. The chicken breasts are the most expensive pieces of chicken. However, I found it on sale for $1.59/lb. and got another 5% off on Senior Day, making the chicken $1.51/lb. He had two pieces that were larger than my two pieces just because I was not craving chicken, so I did not indulge in a larger portion.

As for the sweet potato, I was given about 8 sweet potatoes that were not quite up to par. Actually, I was not sure most were salvageable. I spent lots of time cutting off really undesirable places on the sweet potatoes, peeling them, and slicing them. The labor I put into them hurt both hands, left shoulder, and back! Then, they went into a casserole in the same oven with the chicken.

The chicken had salt, pepper, red pepper I dehydrated, and Italian dried seasoning. The sweet potatoes had nothing added during cooking or on our plates. Broccoli was steamed in the microwave with no added seasoning on our plates. 

Besides cooking sweet potatoes and chicken in the same oven, I cooked six chicken breasts and have  been eating those for lunches and dinners.

Pistachios

Before dinner, I stuffed myself on pistachios, shelling them fast as I could. Inexplicably, for years I have declared I did not like pistachios. They are delicious. It is pistachio ice cream that I don't like. After dinner, several hours later, I had a piece of fudge the size of a pair of dice, maybe smaller.

I was given four pounds of pistachios. At the store, they are priced $7.98/lb.....in the shell.  That is a $32 value. Since nuts should be a part of our diet, in my opinion, between these and my shelled pecans, I am set.

Fancy
unnaturally wide stance for her on Saturday
On Friday, Fancy seemed lethargic. I chalked it up to her being a hen. It happens sometimes with them. She had lots of wind on her on Thursday and Friday, so I thought maybe she had a cold or something. Saturday, she was just standing when it was time to go to bed. Her legs were spraddled. She walked like there was something stuck halfway in and halfway out. Her backside, thigh to thigh was wider than Thelma's or Louise's backside. And, both those girls are twice her weight. sigh....

Stop here if you are squeamish!

Once I finally got her in the pen and closed the door, it was easy to catch her, not that she put up much of a fuss. Usually, she does not run from me. She was facing me when I grabbed her and tipped her bottom up. There was something hanging from her bottom, coming out but not coming out. I don't know if I squeezed it out or if it were hanging there all along.

It was dusk on a Saturday night. I could not manage a warm bath for her bottom by myself. Vets would probably not be available. It would freeze her tonight because it is so cold. Her indoor cage was not prepared. And, I was not willing to have her flopping and splashing nasty, ill-looking poop all over. If she is dead on Sunday morning, I will be so horrified.

Now, I feel like I made a very ill-informed, self-serving decision. Look at her picture. Can you see how unnaturally far apart her feet and legs are? She looks swollen from the front too. She may be in pain. 
This is me going out at 3 am to check on her in the pen. If she is dead in the Rubbermaid box, I will be wailing.


Pepper is on top.
Louise is to the front and looking left. It is still night out here!
Fancy is in the middle, sort of to the right. Pet my sick head. I did as she came closer to talk to me.
Thelma is in the back. What? I am trying to sleep if you don't mind!

All seems to be well. Goodnight. This should have been three posts instead of one long one.

Your turn
Any free salvaged fruits or vegetables out there? Do you sometimes want less meat at some meals? Raise your hand if you like pistachios. Have you had any chicken troubles like this? Have you seen one standing with feet so wide apart?

8 comments:

  1. Your chicken has a prolapsed vent. You can treat it yourself if you are not squeemish. Put on a rubber glove and slather with vaseline. Then gently push the vent back into place with your finger. Yes, your finger has to go inside.

    Keep her confined and comfortable for two to three days, preferably inside, so she does not stain by moving around. Give her plenty of water and soft food like cooked oatmeal. Keep checking her bottom regularly. It may pop out again and you can fix it again. If it does not stay put after a couple trys, there is nothing else that can be done. The sooner this is treated the better the chance of the repair working.

    Good luck!!! Let me know how it goes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope Fancy is well today....I am craving much less meat lately! I like how your pkate as so much veggies on it....thats what I call food.
    We lost our vegetable surplus place because somebody compained that they had mud on their foyer floor. So the trucks stopped delivering to them until they pave their entry way, which can't be done till spring.
    This place used to serve countless of the areas hungry and poor....and these peopke uffer because of a bit of mud......

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lorie,
    Squeamish is my name. Plus, she is going to put up a bit of fuss, and I don't think I can control her. Called vet. Waiting for an answer.

    LindaM,
    I was stunned at the beauty of our plates. Yes, more vegetables and less meat is the way it should be. I still had lots of meat on my plate.That is a shame about the loss of the vegetables over a little mud.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ack! The vet called and said it would be $100 fr an after hours call! The whole bill would be at least $165. I am just sick about this. She will have to die if I cannot fix her. This is why I do not have a cat or dog. Both died because of my lack of money. I have nothing saved for my lift chair, so cannot have my own surgery.

    Tomorrow, it will be $80. Still not doable.

    Squeamish or not, I really don't think I am physically capable. This is not a good place to be rght now.I cannot typ ad cry.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Linda, I wish I was close by. I have dealt with the vent problem a couple times and wish I could help you. It really is not as bad as you think it will be. And they actually don't fuss much - it is surprising.

    On the other hand, if you can't fix it, please don't feel guilty. These things happen with pet ownership. It is hard. Yes, grieve for your girl but don't beat yourself up.

    Praying you find an answer.

    Love and hugs,
    Lorie

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lorie,
    Thanks. My method of avoiding my profound suffering is just to never get a pet again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My profound mental suffering is because they suffer physically and die and I feel it is my fault since enough money would be the solution, and I don't have that. I think that if I had a fortune I could NOT justify spending so much on an animal when there are children who suffer. .

    ReplyDelete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.