We’re running low on money and low on groceries, so I had to use what I had. Thankfully, I had three boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the freezer. I also had some boil-in-bag brown rice (I can’t say enough for keeping staples in stock, guys).

I had half a jar of salsa. 

And I called it dinner.

And it was really, really good!

Butterflied chicken breasts with garlic, chili powder, pepper, and smothered in salsa, served over brown rice.

Still, I’ll be glad for payday and groceries tomorrow. :-D

There are so many things to read and look at and think about this morning. But I have to focus!

It’s grocery day. I love grocery day. I love filling up the cabinets with food and having options. I love that my family eats healthy these days (still trying to get my daughter on the veggie bandwagon, but she’s agreed to try a taste of everything I cook, so there’s that—we’ll take it!).

I’m in a good mood today. There’s promise in the air, and it feels good. 

Even the vending truck guy who parked in the middle of the one way street this morning and forced me to back around 2 curves to get out can’t take it away. :-P

Which I usually love. But today I have to take the kids, so I’m slightly intimidated. 

If you’ve ever gone grocery shopping with kids, you know it’s a little like taking monkeys for a walk through a jungle of bananas. It starts out nice enough, but halfway through you wake up lying on the ground in a lake of banana peels and can’t remember how you got there.

Going to feed them before we go. It’s important.

»The days I go to the store in one of my husband’s T-shirts and my jeans, all of the young men and women are out in droves, and I feel frumpy. The days I actually put an effort into not looking like a harried mom, only other moms and elderly people are there. I do think it’s fair to say that I was the nicest-looking one there today, which is something I don’t get to say often, and a very sad state of affairs for the rest of the shoppers.

»It’s only Greek yogurt if the brand name ends in “-os,” or at least that’s my conclusion based on the yogurt case.

»Whole wheat bread being unexpectedly on sale for $1.45 a loaf might cause me to spontaneously burst into song and/or dance.

»Soda deals suddenly get better when you stop buying sodas. This has been true for six months, but I was reminded again today. 3 12-packs for $10’s a good deal for Diet Pepsi.

»Either people are predisposed to look grouchy when grocery shopping, or they had a sample of lemons in the produce section.

»All this sunshine after three days of clouds makes me almost giddy.

»The older gentleman to whom I gave my cart when I was finished with it called me “ma’am.” I immediately thought two things: 1) It’s refreshing to see that charm and respect that we’re starting to lose even here in the South, and 2) I’m really a grown up if he’s calling me “ma’am.” When the heck did that happen?!