In a battle between my hair and dinner...

...dinner wins.

I've just realized that my scheduled appointment for partial highlights and a trim is not in the budget and will need to be canceled. I'm sure my stylist would try to persuade me otherwise, but that's the way it is. (If you don't have highlights, don't get them... The constant upkeep is a pain in the neck and a blow to the wallet.) We're tightening our belts and putting aside the debit card.

The thing is, I'd rather spend my money on good food. This week's food budget was $125; at the register, we came in at $123.15 - still quite steep, but at least we stuck to the plan and to our list. We got excellent deals on apples, bananas, and most of the veggies. The price of the broccoli and the organic, free-range chicken seemed a bit steep. We'll see if we can lower our total during next Sunday's grocery run. My goal right now is to make it through the week without going to the store again.

Tonight, I'm making dinner: baked rosemary chicken with potatoes, celery, and carrots, plus cornbread for the boys.

The cornbread is from a Bob's Red Mill mix. Just add butter or oil and eggs or flaxseed (I like the nuttiness of the flaxseed) to the mix and bake it for about half an hour. Here's what's left a day later when you share your home with an adult male and a bread-loving preschooler:

The potatoes are steaming up. I leave them in the pan on low heat for about 45 minutes until they're soft, then crank up the heat so they get crispy on the outside:

And then here are the carrots and broccoli, for extra flavor, texture, fiber, and nutrition:

I add them to the potatoes right at the very end. I like my veggies crunchy.

Last but not least, here's the chicken, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and rosemary. I made enough so that we can eat another helping for tomorrow's lunch:

Mmmm. (It was really good!)