Knees and Meals

Lunch this week is another batch of Udon noodle soup.  This is a seafood version with bay scallops.  I also added mushrooms and tofu for extra protein.  Some of the ladies at work have a "lunch club," where one person cooks a big meal for the group one day per week.  There are five participants.  It means each person only has to cook once.  We do the same thing in our house, only TBG and I are the sole members.  Granted this means we eat the same lunch every day for the week, but it works out well.  There's the time saving factor, the frugality factor and the convenience.  I do make these things up relying on frozen products -- especially the veggies.  I also cook with nutrition in mind.  This week, we have a lot of onions -- and boy are onions healthy for you.  Lately I've also been trying to dial back on the carbs.  There are three servings of thick rice noodles -- which will be spread over ten meals.  All the ingredients are pretty low fat too.

 Nine years ago, this little brat was my baby and nine years later, I still consider her my baby.  She has finally surpassed me in dog years and can be considered more senior.  And we both have bad knees!  We are biting the bullet and have reserved a slot with a veterinarian surgeon to do a Tibial Plateau Leveling Ostomy.  I have also been advised that the best way to deal with my orthopedic issues at this point is to do a partial knee replacement.  So now I am hoping the two procedures can coincide so I will be off work to monitor her recovery.

Being the frugalite that I am, I see making lunch as the way to save money for these types of things.  We each got a bonus for our 2016 performance that will help pay for her surgery and the money we save from not buying lunch covers my 2K deductible.

There are lots of ways to stay healthy -- and sometimes surgery is one of them.  But so is eating healthy whole foods every day.  So I don't mind spending the time and money if it means we can save for emergencies.