Shitty Ask Lemmy

Hmm, it's pretty variable.

I don't do a breakfast at all, it's more of a brunch. I'm nauseous when I first wake up.

First meal is usually a bowl of cereal, whole milk, whatever the single serving on the side is. Sometimes it's a biscuit with a teaspoon of jelly/jam/honey/whatever, and a pat of butter. Less often, it'll be something like pancakes. It's always something carb based because that's all my stomach can handle as the first food of the day.

Then I'll do something simple towards early afternoon. A sandwich, rotating between various meats w/cheese, pb&j, that kind of thing. Usually something fruity along with. Depends on the season, but we keep something around all year, even if it's just bananas and apples. Sometimes the fruit is the sandwich, sometimes it's instead of. Now and then, I'll do up some eggs, two or three, since our hen lays more than the rest of the household will eat before they go bad.

Dinner is usually bigger. Assuming someone is able to cook that day, it's almost always going to be veggie heavy, we too damn poor for a lot of meat. There's no steady menu, we buy what's on sale, or what's available from family that farms. But it'll typically be something like a big spoon of legumes; a similar size spoon of whatever we have between corn, rice, maybe something like quinoa or potatoes, running towards the starchy end of things. Then will be the "yummy" veg. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cooked greens, okra, carrots, sweet potatoes.

Most of the yummy veg is roasted because that's what we prefer. A little olive oil, some salt and pepper, whatever herbs or spices work well with the specific veg.

The no meat days, it'll be multiple yummy veggies, sometimes a medley.

In any case, that's where I really splurge. It's going to be a heaping spoon/spatula full of those. Two if I'm really into something with a craving.

Meat days, that's typically going to be chicken unless it's a special occasion. We usually go with breast meat because it can store better without turning funky. Approximately a half breast per person. Now, most of the time, we get that from family. I've got a cousin that does chicken farming alongside his corn. They're red rangers. Not as big as some breeds, but they grow fast and do it almost entirely free range. So the pieces we eat tend to be smaller than a thigh you might get at a store. Usually around the 6 ounce range, though that's obviously variable. Each breast comes in a little under a pound most of the time, after trimming and such.

Red meat tends to be ground beef, maybe every other month or so. I make some wicked meatballs, sometimes we'll do burgers or a meatloaf. I never bother to measure much. We get our meat from a different cousin (yay for country life lol) that runs a dairy and raises a few steer for the family as a whole, so it's cheaper than buying at a store (and better tbh). Usually a pound, pound and a half at a time. Split between 4 or 6 people, two meals each, depending on what we make with it. Those meals, I couldn't tell you any measurements at all beyond that. We plate with a generous helping, but splitting it into amounts per person rather than a specific serving size.

Snack wise, I tend to not snack. But we keep fruit around, so that's usually what it'll be when I feel like having one.

Now, I do have my splurge choices. Stuff that's purely for pleasure. I keep some dark chocolate around, and I'll allow myself 2 squares a day if I want them. It isn't every day, but a few times a week. I love me some chocolate milk, and I'll have a 16oz cup once or twice a week, though I'll add a smaller cup if I'm having a pb&j. Sometimes that's a store bought, sometimes it's from syrup.

I have a ginger ale or ginger beer as needed when my stomach is extra grumpy. I keep a few bottles of bundaberg in the fridge and cork them after I pour a glass. I think they're 12 oz bottles? It's into a cocktail glass, and it usually takes about half a bottle. That might be every day, might go a few without. Rarely, it's a couple of times a day.

Now, that's the norm, the way it usually is day to day. Days that nobody is physically up to cooking, we end up having shitty freezer food because it's realistic. Chicken strips, prefab lasagna or pizza or whatever. My and my wife are both disabled, and my dad is old as fuck. So on the bad days, we feed the kid the good food and eat the cheap freezer crap as fuel. Which fucks up dietary balance (and calorie count), but it's the best we can do some days.