The ritual celebrations of the Asian and Indian holidays feature a lot of common elements, so you will see this menu work with those profiles.

This week-long menu highlights much of what is local and in season here in the place that I live and love. If you are South like me, you will find that everything is super easy to get your hands on.

This menu is designed to be a zero leftover situation. By the time you reach the end of the week, you should have been able to repurpose the earlier dishes into new meals. The shopping list is coming in at 80$ for a family of four,

Despite having 2 meats on the menu, this week is decently light. It will provide a good amount of healthy vegetables and balance it out with a dallop of indulgence, which works for me. You can’t be good all the time.

here are a lot of places in this menu where you can make easy substitutions, and also where you can clean up the fridge.

There are a lot of ways you can make substitutions here, and if you are gluten free, you’ll have to. Luckily we have a lot of great gluten free carb options, and if you want to substitute spaghetti squash for the pasta, feel free.

Ok, this assumes that you have a healthy spice cabinet. If you don’t, you are going to want to go ahead and get your dry goods flushed out.

A weeks worth of lunch and dinner for a family of four for under $75. Smart planning home economics…

I was once in conversation with a woman who was lamenting that her daughter had become a vegetarian. Now, it wasn’t the fact that her child had given up meat that was the problem. She promptly followed this declaration with an eye roll and a sigh, proclaiming that her kid was putting on weight because she was actually a “carbatarian”.

My milkshake no longer brings the boys to the yard and I gotta say, thank gods. I don’t get stared at in the store. I don’t get beeped at on the road. I don’t get hustled at the bar. The male gaze has gone on to fresher pastures and I never imagined the level of relief that brings

That night I ate the cheese, folks. I ate all the cheese and my pants didn’t give me shit for it. Which is as it should be.

Yes, Felicia, those pants make your ass look fat. Are they comfortable? Buy them anyway. And then sit around and eat some damn cake.

This, folks, is one of my worst nightmares. And let me tell you, now that he knows, it is one of the man’s as well.

Be you. Wear your skin because it is your skin. Love it, be nice to it, feed it all the good things and a few of the not good things.

Do not pretend that your vegan “cheese” is cheese. Your gluten free “biscuits” are not biscuits. Your vegan “pizza” IS NOT PIZZA

Who is a kitchen witch? This girl.

Remember, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. All you have to do is cook your best, give it some heart and don’t burn things. :-) This week should cost you about 70-75$ and can feed a family of four.

Eat the bread, people, eat all the fucking bread.

I want a time machine to go back and slap that little-girl me in the ass and say, “Enjoy it now, kiddo, because one day….one day…..”

Some women miss the waistline, or complain about their ass, me, I can handle that. Its the tits, y’all. Just…..Jesus.