$5 a Week on Groceries

So the past few days/week has been pretty crazy. I have a cold and have been feeling really yucky for the past few days, which is never fun. Jason left for a work trip on Monday, which he will be on for 2 weeks. Then today I found out that I over drafted my checking account, which I haven't done in at least 5+ years. On the bright side, thing can only get better from here! Ah the glamourous, under paid, life of a social worker. I remember watching movies or TV shows and seeing social worker and thinking wow that would be an awesome job. And it is, most of the time. But what the TV shows and movies don't portray is that most social workers make next to nothing. I'm not complaining though. I am thankful just to have a job in an economy where so many do not.

I had fully planned on grocery shopping this week and then being sick threw me off schedule. Thankfully I didn't go or I would have over drafted my account even more. So I went shopping today after work and budgeted $10 which I plan to last me until next Friday. Meaning I spent on avergae $5 for this week and $5 for next week. The menu I made is for lunches and dinners. Lukily I have somethings in the freezer and pantry. Unfortunately I didn't go grocery shopping last week, and just picked up a few things. So this is really going to depleat what is in my panrty but I am glad that I am semi prepared and able to make 2 weeks of lunches and dinners for $10.

Here is what I bought...

A bag of potatoes, A can of corn, sour cream, 1 dozen eggs, cheese, a bag of onions, 1 container of cream, a bag of carrots, english muffins, and hummus.

Here is what I'll be eating...

Lunches: PB&J, english muffin pizza's, hummus on tortilla, left over soup, pasta, hard boiled eggs, and left overs from dinner

Dinners:

Thursday- Vegetarian chili using tomato soup and beans from the pantry, peppers and TVP from the freezer, and onions which I just bought

Friday- Ravioli with tomato cream sauce using ravioli from the freezer, sauce from my pantry, and cream which I just bought

Saturday- Corn chowder using a can of corn, potatoes, carrots, onions, and cream that I just bought.

Sunday- Crock pot curry using potatoes onions and carrots that I just bought and tomato paste, peppers, curry powder, and pea which I had already

Monday- Taco's using TVP, peppers, and tomatoes from the freezer, tortilla that I already had, sour cream that I just bought.

Tuesday- Mac and Cheese using noodles from my pantry and cheese and cream that I just bought

Wednesday- Potato soup using potatoes, onions, and cream that I just bought and faux chicken boullion that I had on hand

Thursday- Rice pilaf using rice and pea's that I have on hand and onions and carrots that I just bought

Friday- Spaghetti using noodles I had on hand and left over sauce from the ravioli.

I hope this didn't bore you too much. I just wanted to show that even when money is very tight you can still throw together tasty meals. The other life saver for me was definately shopping at aldi's. If I would have shopped anywhere else I probably would have spent 15-20 dollars for the same things. If you have an Aldi's near you and have never gone try it out!

Goodbye Vacation, Hello Real World

Jason and I just got back from San Diego on Saturday. All I can say about my trip is WOW! I LOVED San Diego! it was sunny and warm every day! I spent my days going to the beach, napping at the pool, eating sushi, and cooking Jason home cooked dinners (since he hadn't had any in a month!)

I took so many pictures but here are just a few..

This is the Hotel Del Coronado. Its a swanky historic hotel right on the beach. It was BEAUTIFUL!

This is the beach at sunset one day. I told Jason it looks like a picture off of a postcard!

This is Lake Hodges which was just created in 2002. It was neat to see a man made lake. The mountains behind it were awesome!

This is our pelican friend from the first day we went to the beach. We went to the beach in Oceanside which was very crowded but still very nice!

I think that I would move to California in a second. Although I would miss the snow and fall here! I am already excited for Western Pa fall and August isn't even over yet!

Since we've been back I have been pretty busy cleaning and just trying to get back into the groove of things. On Saturday when I got back I found this recipe on RecipeZaar that has the abbreviation OAMC after it. I was curious so I read the recipe and found out it was for the once a month cooking method. The method itself sounded pretty insense! Grocery shopping and cooking 30 meals all in one day! I don't think I would ever be able to do that. Not to mention that there are times when I enjoy cooking. But I did make several of the recipes to freeze and have on hand for time when I don't feel like cooking.

The recipes I made were Eggplant casserole, Mexican rice, and Zucchini Casserole. I'm excited to see how they turn out. I'm always nervous about freezing fod because if it doesn't turn out well then I just wasted all the ingrediants and time making that dish. Does anybody have any tips on freezing? Food that doesn't freeze well or food that does feeze well? Your tips would be greatly appreciated!

I'm in Love

After a week of having 3 dogs in my house, who by the way were all very good, my carpets were a little dingy. When moving into our house I made the mistake of picking out cream colored carpet. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER! Did I stress that enough? NEVER BUY CREAM COLORED CARPET! Its the most beautiful carpet and I abosulutely adore it. But it is SO impractical. Even with an area rug in the most high traffic area it still gets dingy and discolored looking. So I have been in the market for a rug scrubber for quite a while. I wanted something that would be easy to use and not be too bulky. I read reviews for every rug scrubber ever created and came across reviews for the little green machine. I was unimpressed. How could something so small really work? However it got amazing reviews. like 5 out of 5 reviews on every sight I read. So i went to Wal-mart and bought it. The verdict is in. I LOVE LOVE LOVE MY LITTLE GREEN MACHINE!

It cleans SO well and the fact that it is so small works out perfectly. I can easily carry it from room to room, use it on stairs, and reach in around and behind everything without having to move heavy furniture. It is obviously not going to clean the entire floor in any room (although it could if you had enough patience to clean an entire floor with a 4 inch brush!). However it is perfect for high traffic areas and pesky stains. The moment that I knew I loved the green machine was when I used on a SET IN GREASE STAIN which Jason so lovingly tracked in the house 3 months ago. I had all but given up on ever getting this stain out. On the first pass over the stain with the green machine it came out. AMAZING!

Tomorrow I am leaving for San Diego! I could not be more excited. I havent seen Jason in over a month. Luckily I have so much to do today that I will hoefully be distracted and the day will go by quickly. Ever since I moved in to my own house I always clean the entire house really well before we leave. Its a compulsion! I just remember living at home and my mom would rarely clean before we left and then we would return to a house that needed cleaned and which we really didnt want to return to. I love having the peace of mind on my way home from a trip that my house will be clean when I return.

So I am off to clean clean clean, go to the library to get a book for my flight, and possibly go shopping to find something extremely cute, comfortable, and INEXPENSIVE for the flight there. After all I havent seen Jason for a month so I have to look radient when getting off of my 4 hour flight. Ha!

Hope everybody has a great week!

Why I hate my life right now

Why I hate my life right now:

1. Saturday I went to weight watchers and lost .6 of a pound. Not even a full pound. I shouldn’t be surprised though since I ate Einstein’s the day before I weighed in!

2. Sunday I dropped my phone in a puddle of water- that’s the second phone in 5 months that has succumbed to my abuse. But to my defense neither or these incidences were my fault. Really, they weren’t!

3. Monday Jason left for San Diego… and he will be gone for 3 weeks. 3 whole weeks. Insert saddest face ever here.

So my plan for while he is gone is to eat really healthy, follow weight watchers religiously, and lose 10-15 pounds. This sounds pretty far fetched but one can only hope.

Today is the first day of my new plan and today’s lunch is… stir fry broccoli and mushrooms, roasted potatoes, and grilled brussel sprouts. Yum! Its only about 3 points for the whole meal. I find it really helps to keep me on track if I plan out my meals so here they are (feel free to skip over/quit reading this mundane-ness at any time)(and yes I totally just made up the word mundane-ness)

Monday:
Lunch- roasted potatoes, grilled brussel sprouts, stir fry broccoli and mushrooms.
Dinner- Lean cuisine and salad

Tuesday:
Lunch- Salad with tomatoes, potatoes, and broccoli and yogurt
Dinner- Vegetarian Chili

Wednesday:
Lunch- Left over chili
Dinner- More chili and some salad

Thursday:
Lunch- Salad and yogurt
Dinner- Pasta with tomatoes and basil

Friday:
Lunch- Left over pasta
Dinner- Lean cuisine

Saturday is my weigh in day. Hopefully I see more results today then I did last week!

Blog Neglect!

I have been very neglectful of my blog lately! But in my defense I have also been busy doing a whole lot of nothing in particular. But to make up for my lack of commitment to my blog I have given it a face lift. As you can see I changed the name, I think the old name reflected the mood that I generally feel (like im swimming in jello). This one is just pretty (like the new background) and so I decided to keep it after much experimentation.

So anyway... Jason has been in New York for a week now and I am slowly being depleated of life. When I was in college I took a philosophy class and my professor told us about a writing by Aristotle that said that people are just one arm and one leg and life is difficult for them. But when they meet their soul mate they become whole and life is prosperous and joyful. Well thats basically Jason and I. When he's out of town life is harder. But I have been keeping very busy! I have been going out with friends and shopping and selling stuff on craigslist (Yay for getting rid of my futon from college!) So my friend is having a party this Saturday and it has a tropical theme. I told my friend I would bring a dessert and started racking my brain for something that is 1. cheap 2. easy 3. yummy! So finally I remembered the easiest yummiest and semi cheapest dessert I know how to make...

Tropical Fruit Salsa!

You will need...

• 2 Kiwi's
• 1 Container of blueberries
• green or red grapes
• strawberries
• 1 can of dole tropical fruit medley
• 1 Tsp Brown Sugar
• Tsp of Vanilla
• 1 Lime

Drain the can of fruit medley and set juice aside. Dice all of the fruit, except bluberries (which remain whole) and put into serving bowl.

Next combine sugar vanilla and fruit juice and stir until sugar disolves. Pour mixture over fruit. Cut lime into wedges, use 2 wedges to squeeze over salsa and 2 for garnish...

And Voila Fruit Salsa!

I serve it with tortilla chips that I cut into strips sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake for 10 mins at 350 degrees. This recipe is so easy and great. Everybody always loves it when I take it to pot lucks and parties.

I have noticed that this blog has taken on a food theme. Thats mainly because I eat everyday and I really enjoy it! But soon I hope to add some posts about my house and design, upcoming trips I will be taking, things I love and am inspired by, and possibly even some daily doses of cuteness via my dogs paco and heidi. But until then I hope you enjoy the recipes!