We attended an extended family Christmas get together and were asked to bring broccoli and green beans. I prepped the broccoli florets but left the stems at home. The gathering was about 20 people so there were a lot of stalks/stems. Tonight I made Potato Broccoli Cheddar Soup with a recipe I found on the internet, using the leftover stalks in the place of florets. Years ago I discovered that broccoli stems are edible if the tough outer skins are peeled off, and tonight I found out that broccoli stalk chunks take longer to get soft than potato chunks. The soup wasn't bad and tomorrow I may add a few more ingredients to the leftovers to jazz it up a bit.
I've spent some time reading through my old posts - the earliest date back to 2008! which is almost 20 years ago now. In my last post I mentioned that Mr. H and I were at odds with how to pursue preparing for retirement. Reading my old posts that really comes through and I'm surprised how forthcoming I was about all of our differences of opinion. Some of the posts were amusing too, like how I helped fix my car using google, or Daisy's Star Wars birthday party, or cobbled grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup out of random bits of things in the fridge (something like today's soup).
As I mentioned we've kind of coasted through this past year. Early in the year I decided I needed to get with the program and track our expenses much more closely. It was eye-opening to say the least. As of November, health insurance, medical expenses, and taxes (income tax & property tax) were 51% of our expenditures. That was - disheartening. Am I really going to care if I spend 50 cents more on a can of tomatoes? Still, tracking that closely does make you aware of how you are spending money.
We will be eligible for medicare in a couple of years, but health insurance costs (20% of expenditures) are a pain point now. Mr. H is not interested in looking at other health insurance options, and I have decided to put my energy elsewhere than in trying to talk him into this. To be fair, after his last two years of doctor visits and procedures I can understand why he would not want to change insurance plans.
December 31st, 2025 at 11:41 am 1767181279
They are no cost to you. They ask you questions about the services and providers you use and research and provide options.
I doubt you need your husband’s permission to research this. You might find out you actually have a decent plan, which would put your mind more at ease - or you might find it was worth the battle.
I used a broker when I first went on Medicare, and went back this year because there were so many changes.
January 1st, 2026 at 05:43 pm 1767289435
Good job on the making of the soup; years ago Paula Deen did a program where she would knock on a door and offer to make dinner with whatever was in the pantry/freezer/fridge. I'm sure some of it was planned ahead of time, but still, it was fun to watch and I have done the same thing. I like to save money and see how creative I can be.