What's on your Thursday menu?

I'm not a big foodie, so if I have a Costco size of chicken meatballs and I open it, I keep eating it every day till I fini****
I put more thought and prep time into my icecreams than my meals!

I could not eat anything Costco size until it was gone! Ice cream is where you get your variety - so many flavors!

Mornin' All!

I woke up at 3:00 AM and couldn't get back to sleep - but I finally fell asleep again around 8:00 AM for a couple of hours. Ugh. I wish I could get back to a regular schedule - this has been going on for too long!

My sister and BIL arrive today and will be here for about 10 days. Luckily they're staying at a hotel. Having house guests for more than three or four days gets to be wearing, so I'm glad they're staying at the hotel. One of my classes was canceled today, and I think I might skip the other one. I have way too much to do. I'm behind on classes again, have to get a book read for a book discussion group on Monday, and I'm a little over halfway through the one I have to write the review on by Nov 1. Plus the FSA stuff is due tomorrow (along with DH's other insurance stuff for 2025), so I have to decide once and for all how much extra $$ we should put in there, given the hearing aid thing is unknown. We could probably spend an extra $300 or so, stocking up on OTC meds (or maybe getting another pair of glasses) - but the extra $1000 or so we'd need to cover a big chunk of a hearing aid would be hard to use up if it turns out I don't need one (and we can't carry anything over into 2026 since DH wants to retire next summer). Ugh.

QOTD: now that I'm not working, weekdays and weekends are about the same. I originally was going to say that we have more social events, like parties, on the weekends - but then again, I sometimes meet friends or have meetings over lunch on weekdays, so it's kind of a draw. Social things like lunches out and parties are always a challenge for me.

coffee with half & half

plain skyr with SF apple butter, rye crumpet with butter and apple butter (I like the apple butter, evidently!)

maybe the rest of the channa dal for lunch (there's at most a cup of it left)

protein shake or protein muffin

celeriac soup and some kind of protein

have a great day, everyone!

I love Dal. Do you make your own or buy it? Recipe if you have it, please!

I always make my own - from recipes I find on the internet. Here's the one I used for the channa dal (I've also made makhani dal several times (made with black lentils - and has cream in it (although I use half & half instead))

https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/chana-dal-recipe-chana-dal /#wprm-recipe-container-139007

I may try to make my own, but Rob isn't a fan of Indian food so I would be eating it forever! Trader Joe's has a yellow dal ready pouch I really like, but I have to doctor it up a bit.

I hate the open enrollment period. Would it help with your decision on the FSA is you consider that the real benefit is the pre tax vs post tax dollars? If you put 1k in and need it, it's going to save you x based on your tax rate because , but if you don't put it in and need it, you won't have that tax savings. Obviously, if you put it in and don't use it, then that's cost but you would have gotten the Tax break so it might not be as bad as you are thinking.

I've been less funny about it in the past because we could carry over $500 from year to year (I think it went up to $600 for 2025) - so I really didn't worry about not using it all. But with DH planning to retire this year, we can't carry any over - whatever we don't use by the end of 2025 is forfeited. My thought was that if it was under $100, I wouldn't really care - but if it was several hundred, that would be a lot. I'll calculate it out, though, now that you mention it. If the tax savings is more than what we'd lose if we had to forfeit the balance at the end of the year, it would be worth it...thanks for mentioning that - I hadn't thought of it that way.

I was thinking this would definitely make sense with an HSA, because I think you still have access to the funds you've saved in there even after you're no longer working. For an FSA, I don't think having an extra $1000 would make sense (unless you're in a really high tax bracket, I guess...). Although I could probably come out ahead at some lower level - I'll see if I can figure it out. Our tax bracket should be higher than usual this year since DH had some capital gains when our financial guy re-tooled the account he inherited from his mother - making it more appropriate for someone his age (rather than her age...) - I'll check the IRS web site and see if can guesstimate what our new bracket will be (well, if we have a new one - I don't know the ranges right off hand - but it's posted somewhere)

When I am not working, weekdays and weekends are the same. When I did work, weekends were more likely to be outdoor exercise and weekdays more likely to be the treadmill.

The book, The Shift, was really eye opening and life changing for me. It came out during the pandemic when I had time on my hands and not as many outside activities. I read it several times, also had it on the Kindle and the audio version in my car. I was pretty obsessed with finally getting the excess weight off and keeping it off.

Weigh****chers has changed their program completely and the book is a blueprint for that. I was involved in the new program from the start. It is so different from all the old taboo foods and all the guilt. Since it was online I never had to face the scale. Now I am well under goal and have no problem staying there. I eat any food I want and no longer have cravings or guilt. I eat carbs, fat, sugar, and drink real Cherry Coca Cola.

I used to go through four bottles of Diet Coke everyday and was always stocking up on it. Now a six-pack lasts well over a month. I have candy in the house and rarely touch it. I have bought pie and cake and throw it away after it sits about a wee****ouched. I finally feel free of all the guilt and craziness all those years over food choices.