January. The column starts this week. My first paid writing assignment: 500 words about budget military cooking for MilSpouseLife.com. Fifty dollars. More than any amount I've earned doing something I love.
The first column is about the $50/week grocery plan. The strategy I've been using since Lejeune: shop the commissary sales, buy meat in bulk, chicken thighs over breasts, frozen vegetables when fresh is too expensive, rice and beans as the foundation of everything. The math of military cooking, broken down into weekly meal plans that feed a family of three for under fifty dollars.
I wrote it in two hours. The words came easy because I've been living this for two years — every dollar tracked, every meal planned, every trip to the commissary a strategic operation. This is not theoretical knowledge. This is Tuesday-night-in-the-kitchen knowledge. This is Donna Abernathy's legacy, quantified.
The column went live Monday morning. Three thousand views by noon. Comments: 'This is exactly what I needed.' 'I've been spending $100/week and feeling guilty.' 'My husband makes E-3 and we can't afford fresh produce — this helps.'
E-3. The same rank Ryan had when we got married. The same paycheck I budgeted against during the deployment. The same number I know in my bones because it's the number that determines everything — where you shop, what you eat, how you live.
Fifty dollars. The column pays fifty dollars. The grocery plan is for fifty dollars a week. The symmetry is almost poetic.
Caleb is walking. WALKING. Real walking, not cruising, not staggering — actual bipedal locomotion across the living room with the determination of a tiny Marine on a mission. He walks to the kitchen. He walks to the toy kitchen. He walks between them as if he's commuting. This child is already in the food industry.
Mom called and I told her about the column. Her response: 'Fifty dollars? That's not enough.'
'Mom, it's my first column.'
'Your words are worth more than fifty dollars.'
'It's not about the money.'
'Everything is about the money, Rachel. I've been cooking on a budget for thirty years. I know what fifty dollars is worth.'
She's right and she's wrong. Fifty dollars is not enough for the words. But fifty dollars is the door. And once you're through the door, you negotiate the hallway.
I made Mom's beef stir-fry tonight — the $5.50 dinner. I photographed it for next week's column.
The column is live. The baby is walking. And Donna says my words are worth more.
She's right. They are. But we start where we start.
The night my first column went live, I made the dinner that started all of this — what I’ve always called Mom’s beef stir-fry, though over two years at Lejeune it evolved into something closer to a one-pan beef and barley skillet, built around whatever the commissary had on sale. It’s the meal I photographed for the follow-up column, the one I make when I need to feel both proud and grounded at the same time. Donna Abernathy’s legacy, right there in a skillet: filling, affordable, and honest.
Beef Barley Skillet
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 cup quick-cooking barley
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Brown the beef. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it apart, until browned and no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat and set beef aside.
- Saute the vegetables. In the same skillet, add the diced onion and bell pepper. Cook over medium heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more until fragrant.
- Build the base. Return the browned beef to the skillet. Stir in the diced tomatoes (with their liquid), beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Add the barley. Bring the mixture to a boil, then stir in the quick-cooking barley. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid.
- Rest and serve. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. The skillet will thicken as it rests. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired and serve hot directly from the pan.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 370 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 620mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 197 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
