Nothing to Eat: 25 Go-To Dishes.

I constantly struggle with feeling like I don't know what to make for dinner.  Lately, there have been a lot of days when the idea of prepping a meal made me sick or just seemed too daunting.  I have been living off of fruit and crackers for weeks.

I am TERRIBLY picky, so it really limits our meal plans.  I decided to compile a list of only the cheapest and easiest recipes I could throw together quickly and painlessly.  They're not the healthiest by any means, but remember I said CHEAP and EASY.  Pair them with the vegetable or salad of your choice for a very simple meal. This is getting posted on the side of my fridge and I'm calling it my "Nothing to Eat" list.

1. Goulash: Ground beef, elbow macaroni, spaghetti sauce, pinch of sugar
2. Spaghetti and garlic bread
3. Grilled cheese and canned soup
4. Sloppy Joes
5. Brinner (that's BReakfast for dINNER)
6. BBQ Chicken Sandwiches: 2-3 breasts in crockpot with BBQ sauce for 6-8 hrs
7. Baked potato soup
8. Buttered noodles with parmesan cheese
9. Tacos
10. Quesadillas: two tortillas buttered on outside, shredded cheese and meat of choice in middle, cook it just like a grilled cheese sandwich
11. Tortilla roll-up: Spread cream cheese and chop lunch meat, roll and slice
12. Ham and cheddar crescent roll-ups: sliced ham and shredded cheddar rolled up and baked to crescent instructions
13. Broiled tilapia parmesan (5 minute prep, 10 minutes to cook)
14. Broiled salsa tilapia: place tilapia in broiling ban, cover with salsa (and a bit of shredded cheese if you're feeling frisky), broil 10 minutes
15. Baked potatoes: top with meat, cheese, or anything you want.
16. Garlic chicken pasta: 2-4 chicken breasts cubed and pan cooked in ¼ C olive oil, 5-7 garlic cloves, add to cooked pasta, sprinkle with parmesan cheese
17. Biscuits and gravy: fried sausage, add 3C milk, 3-4T flour,  serve over biscuits of choice
18. BBQ Chicken Pizza:  store-bought pizza shell, cooked chicken breast, BBQ sauce, shredded mozzarella
19. Tortilla shell mini-pizzas
20. Sh*t on a Shingle: Ground beef with milk & flour gravy over toast. 
21. Baked Salmon
22. Chicken pot pie: 2 cans crescent roll dough, cream of chicken soup, chopped veggies, 2 cooked and diced chicken breasts, cook at 350 for 15 minutes
23. Pork chops baked with McCormick Bag n’ Season
24. Grilled paninis: your favorite sandwich buttered on the outside and grilled on the George Foreman 
25. Fried egg sandwiches: top with bacon, mayo, lettuce, tomato, or nothing at all

Please share your favorite cheap and easy recipes! I'd love to have a few more go-to's when I just don't feel like hours of prep work!

My Friends

In the last couple months, I've developed some pretty good friendships.  I just want to take a moment to thank them for being there for me.

• Peppermint Tums, thank you for always being by my side.  I take you everywhere because you always prove your worth.  You work hard and fast, and though you don't always get the job done in the nick of time, you always make things a little less painful.
• Green and white tea, you are long time friends of mine, but I never would have guessed your stomach-soothing powers.  We will be life-long friends, but I just appreciate you a little more right now.
• Soy nuts, although you are a recent addition to my inner circle of friends, I find that you are one the most effective friends at keeping my insides from coming out.  Perhaps it's your alkalizing powers or some other magical ingredient.  I don't know exactly what it is about you, soy nuts, but thank you for all you do.
• Alkalizing fruits, you know who you are. You raucous bunch of pears, apples, pineapples, bananas, and more, have recently become my best friends and certainly the most beautiful and delicious of all my friends.  Your effects are long-lasting, your flavors are delightful. Thank you for keeping me fed and giving me nutrients.

I have tried so many remedies for morning sickness, I could hardly name them all.  For a long time, I was living off the stereotypical saltines and ginger ale, but it got to a point when that was just NOT cutting it, so I did a little research, and found that, while ginger is good, ginger ale is actually very acidic and so are the crackers.  More acid in my churning stomach was not what I needed.  

Upon the recommendation of formerly and currently pregnant friends, I tried everything from Preggy Pop Drops to Sea Bands.  The results were a bit inconsistent.  I am using the Sea Bands at this very moment, and they do seem to have a soothing effect.  

I've found it strange how food aversions work.  One day something can sound incredibly disgusting and I think I'll never want to eat it again, and the next it's all I want to eat.  It can change from hour to hour.  The only things that have consistently sounded good are frozen yogurt and fruit.  I was pretty consistently craving mac and cheese until a recent... unfortunate incident... after eating some.

Being sick can take it's toll.  At first it was easy to just be grateful for it, knowing what it meant.  Weeks of vomiting and constant nausea can break even the most optimistic and grateful girl down, though.  It sure makes me wonder at my strong and amazing stepmother who was so sick with cancer for months and nary whispered a complaint.  I have certainly had a few emotional days when I just felt exasperated of being so puny. 

I am ever more grateful for my incredible husband who has done everything in his power to help me be comfortable and happy.  This has included doing more than his fair share around the house, running to the store, or running out to get me some kind of food that actually sounded good, prepping and cooking food while I stand at the doorway to the kitchen because I can't stand to look at or smell it, sleeping curled up to one side of the bed because I have to be surrounded by pillows to get comfortable, and just generally dealing with my mood swings and emotions.  God gave me such a great man!  I love him so much and there is NO doubt just how much he loves me and baby.  What a precious gift.

The Word is Out! That word is B-A-B-Y.

It's spreading like wildfire all o'er the land (err, um, the Midwest, perhaps). Team Bass is getting a tiny new member around Christmas this year.  There are just so many thoughts and emotions reeling through my mind at any given moment.

The first is "PHEW!" This was the hardest secret I've ever had to keep.  It's a huge relief and joy to openly talk about our wee little bundle.  We even waited to tell family until I was about 8 weeks along.  That was pretty tough!  

I know there are many questions people will want to ask, so let me just go ahead and address some of them right now.  

1. No, we do not yet know the gender. Feel free to make a guess!
2. Our due date was Christmas day, but has been bumped up to Christmas Eve.  We're hoping baby decides to put a little distance between his or her birthday and Christmas, because how fun will that be in a few years? (Hint: Not very.)
3. Yes, I have been feeling pretty sick. Morning sickness is no fun, but it IS a blessed reminder that baby is healthy and growing.  It gives me peace of mind when I start to worry.
4. Yes, we have names picked out.  No, we're not sharing.
5. For those of you who previously knew of our long-term infertility, no, we did not conceive this babe using any medical treatment.  We tried six months of a drug called Clomid, but never conceived.  This was a straight-up shock and miracle from our good, good God.

Does that cover the bases?  I hope so, because I know *I* would want to ask those questions! 

All this happy news was rather a shock.  We just felt hopeless on this front.  We knew it wasn't, but it was pretty bleak from our shadowed eyes.  

After the initial shock, there were even feelings of guilt. Why us? Why not one of our many other friends who are dealing with infertility who seem so much more deserving?  The only answer to that is that, truly, none of us deserve it, but we are openly accepting this precious grace from God, and praying he will pour out this gift to others who are waiting and hurting.

We know there are so many people who have been praying and hoping with and for us.  This is a testimony for all of you.  God does answer our cries.  He is good even in our darkest hour.  

Thank you, Lord, for hearing my pleas and sustaining me through the pain of waiting! Thank you, friends, for all of your love and encouragement.

For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.”

(1 Samuel 1:27-28 ESV)