March wrap up, and April budget

Blogging regularly is getting kind of hard. I've been going to the gym five times a week for about an hour each time, and that takes up a lot of what little free time I have. I'll keep doing what I can.

Tuesday was the last day of March. We ended the month at $463, which is $2 under budget. I made whole wheat macaroni and cheese with hot pepper jack and cheddar with Greek yogurt added to the sauce, and red and green bell peppers for dinner.

For a the Month of April our budget will be $410 because Winter will be gone for 8 days for Spring Break. Wednesday Jeremy and I went to Grocery Outlet. We spent $66. We bought another bag of whole wheat pasta, a pound of dates, sliced Monterey jack cheese, herb goat cheese, a quart of plain Greek yogurt, almond milk, whole grain tortillas, two bags of frozen turkey burgers, salsa, two small bag of sprouted whole wheat flour, some sparkling water and energy drinks, tofu, cauliflower, Oreos, two boxes of cereal and cereal bars, frozen strawberries, three dark chocolate oranges, hard boiled eggs, and some other stuff.

For dinner on Wednesday I made thin whole wheat spaghetti, tofu, bell pepper, and cauliflower sauteed in olive oil, and peanut sauce.

Thursday I had leftovers for lunch and dinner, and Jeremy and I went to the gym. We also spent $11 at Yogurtland after I got off work, and spent $18 at QFC on apples, bananas, carrots, organic whole grain bread, and bagel thins.

Breakfast: two scramble eggs with hot pepper jack in a whole grain tortilla
Lunch: leftover tofu, veggies, and noodles with peanut sauce
Dinner: leftover chicken and lung bean deal with plain Greek yogurt
Snacks/desserts: homemade cranberry apple walnut granola bars, plain frozen yogurt with strawberries and mango
Beverages: water, and lemon lime sparkling water

Getting my appetite back

Finally feeling pretty recovered from this days-long hangover. I should probably not have more than two drinks in the future. This is not the first time I have told myself that.

We are leaving super early Saturday morning for Texas, so our recent goal has been to eat up as much non-frozen leftovers and things that are close to expiring as we can. That way we have fewer dishes to wash as well. Here is what I ate Wednesday:

Breakfast: lime flavored Mediterranean yogurt, Smores cereal with milk
Lunch: banana, bagel with whipped cream cheese and smoked Turkey
Dinner: left over pasta with broccoli and garlic cheese sauce
Snacks/desserts: cupcake, molasses cookie ( purchased at the airport for $1.72)
Beverages: water

Yesterday I woke up with a massive headache. I had to walk to the King County Metro customer service center because I lost my transit card on the way home Wednesday night, and I had to have it shut off and replaced. Unfortunately whoever found it had  already used about $5 worth of the credit on it. After that I decided I needed some caffeine and something to eat to get rid of the nausea and headache I was experiencing. I had taken Aleve, which did nothing. I stopped at Starbucks for an iced coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I spent $5.69 there.

After work Jeremy met me at work and we went to the store. He said that Winter had told him we needed milk (we got a pint since we're leaving so soon), and frosting (spoiler alert: we did not need frosting). I also had a coupon loaded to my QFC card for a ten pack of free Mission soft taco tortillas. They had offered it for national taco day. So we got those too. We spent $3.28.

Breakfast: Starbucks breakfast sandwich
Lunch: frozen turkey and potato entree, strawberry flavored Greek yogurt
Dinner: cavatappi pasta with leftover turkey sausage and tomato pasta sauce
Snacks/desserts: cupcakes, last caramel apple Oreo
Beverages: iced coffee with half and half and two sugars, water

More grocery shopping + what we ate 07-06-14

I went back to QFC and got 6 more 12 oz boxes of pasta for $.49 each. That, plus what I already have, should last us 3 or 4 months. Maybe more.

We also went to Grocery Outlet today and bought:

3 frozen entrees ($1.99 each) $5.97
8 oz shredded pepper jack cheese $1.99
3.7 lb variety pack of deli meat $3.99
8 oz. chipotle chicken deli meat $1.99
8 oz. Cajun turkey deli meat $1.99
12 oz. plum preserves $1.69
dijon mustard $1.29
Wolfgang Puck four cheese pasta sauce $1.99
butter toffee Rice Krispie treat $.50
20 oz. Diet Dr. Pepper $1.09
24 oz ketchup $.99

Total $23.48

Jeremy also bought a Rock Star this morning. He's not sure how much. We'll call it $2.50.

Here's yesterday's food I ate:

Breakfast: French toast with strawberries and a banana
Lunch: turkey and havarti sandwich on a King's Hawaiian bun, cherries
Dinner: burritos with baked whiting, cabbage, and a tangy cayenne lime sauce
Snacks/desserts: cinnamon roll ice cream, cashews, M&M's cookie (my coworker gave me)
Beverages: Crystal Light, water

I don't even remember what Jeremy had yesterday other than dinner.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whiting fish. I squeezed a lime over it, sprinkled chili powder, wrapped it in foil and baked it. The filets have the skin on, and even though I removed the skin after baking it, the flavor was kind of briny. I don't mind strong tasting fish, but I'm not really a fan of the briny flavor some types of fish have. Next time I cook it I will attempt to remove the skin first, and see if that helps.

The sauce we used on the burritos was good though. Jeremy found a recipe on some forum somewhere. He thinks it may have been myfitnesspal.com. Anyway, we wound up adjusting some of the proportions, because as written it wasn't all that good. It mostly tasted like mayo, and was too thick.  Here's what we put in it after "fixing" it:

1/2 cup lite mayo
juice of one lime
3/4 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t oregano
1/8 t dill
1/8 t cumin

burrito on a cat plate

Lots o' food shopping

Today I bought groceries both at Grocery Outlet and at Uwajimaya in the International District. Here's what I bought at Grocery Outlet:

1 dozen large eggs $1.69
19 oz cashews $4.99
1 quart of organic vanilla yogurt $1.49
1 14 oz can of vegetarian baked beans $.69
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes (.79 each) $1.58
8 flour tortillas $2.59
3 7 oz boxes of tomato sauce 3/$1.00
7 oz wensleydale cheese with dried fruit $1.99
2 lbs. whiting fillets $4.99
jar of ground black pepper $.99
vanilla extract $1.49
8 oz. caraway havarti $1.99
4 oz. peppered soft goat cheese $2.49
2 2.5 lb bags frozen chicken tenderloins ($6.99 each) $13.98
1 lb sliced crimini mushrooms $1.99
sweet potato crackers $1.69
2 red bell peppers (.99 each) $1.98
48 oz vegetable oil $2.99
20 oz Diet Dr. Pepper $1.09
8 oz. reduced fat havarti $1.99
16 oz. turkey breast lunch meat $2.49
10 5 oz cans tuna (.63 each) $6.32

Total: $62.49

And what I got at Uwajimaya:

lemon fried pie $1.59
1/2 cup slivered almonds $2.39 (wish I had waited, as I went here first and there were much better deals on them at Groc Out)
soba noodles $1.59
3 packs of gyoza wrappers (.99 each) $2.97
1.08 lb lean ground beef $3.77
1.12 lb ground chicken breast $2.79
1 lb carrots $.89
2.70 lb green cabbage $2.13
5 honeycrisp apples $4.01
3 huge mangoes $2.64

Total: $24.77

Chicken taco salad recipe

I had to take a few bites first, to... make sure it wasn't poison.

We had two corn tortillas left. What can you do with two corn tortillas? Make tortilla strips. I cut them into thin strips with scissors and deep fried them. It really only takes about 30 seconds. Much longer than that and they turn brown.

Jeremy mistakenly believes that he told me he didn't want salad. So we'll just pretend that he did not use some of these components to make a sandwich instead, leaving me with too much lettuce and dressing.

4 cups of lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
4 oz chicken breast
1 t chili powder
2 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup oil
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 t chili garlic sauce
2 oz shredded cheese

Rub chicken breast with chili powder and grill or saute until cooked through. Set it aside to cool/rest. Heat up oil in a deep fryer or a small saucepan on high heat. Add tortilla strips and fry for about 30 seconds until crisp. Remove from oil promptly and place on a paper towel to soak up excess oil. Season with a dash of salt, if you want. Whisk together mayonnaise, lime juice, and chili garlic sauce in a bowl. Shred chicken into bite size pieces. Combine lettuce, chicken, cheese, tortilla strips and dressing in a large bowl and toss together. Your welcome. Nutrition info is for 1/2 of the recipe.

Mesquite chicken tacos recipe

4 oz chicken breast
1/2 cup mesquite marinade
1/4 cup dried onion
1 large Anaheim chili pepper, diced
2 oz jalapeno havarti cheese, shredded (you could also use pepper jack, or any other spicy cheese)
1 lime, quartered
3 T oil
6 corn tortillas

Marinate the chicken breast for at least a few hours. Add 1/4 cup pf water to the onions and stir. Set aside. Heat a medium or large skillet on high. Add 1 T oil. Add peppers and onions to pan and saute for a minute or two. remove the chicken from the marinade and add to the pan. Turn chicken pieces until evenly cooked. Shred or chop up the cooked chicken and mix well with peppers and onions. Turn off heat, and cover. Brown each tortilla in a teaspoon of oil. Add filling to tacos, and top with shredded cheese. Serve with lime wedges. Nutrition info is for 1 taco.

Chili cheese casserole recipe

I mean, this barely even qualifies as a recipe, but it turned out nice, so I'll post it.

2 cups chili (I used leftover vegetarian chili)
4 oz shredded cheese
4 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1 cup of chili in a small casserole dish. Top with two corn tortillas. You can cut them into strips if they fit weird. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat with a second layer of chili, tortillas, and then cheese. Cover with foil. Bake it for 30 minutes. You can also make this one ahead, and put it in the fridge until dinnertime, as I did. Nutrition info is for 1/2 the recipe.

Lots of grocery shopping today, and frozen yogurt

Jeremy and I went to Menchie's for frozen yogurt today after I got done with work. I got salted caramel and dark chocolate yogurt with brownie bites, hot fudge, whipped topping, roasted peanuts and a maraschino cherry. Jeremy got watermelon and tangerine sorbet with green grapes. The total was $10.28. It was worth every penny.

We then took a bus to the Grocery Outlet. That store is always interesting because you never know what you are going to find, so it's hard to do any sort of planning ahead. I had to exercise a lot of restraint. They always have things that I really don't need to be eating at pretty incredible prices. I did buy a bag of those Hot Pockets Snackers macaroni and cheese bites though. I looked at the nutrition info and they really weren't all that awful, so I decided to go ahead and indulge on one thing.

Here's what we got:

12 sugar free energy drinks (fifty cents each) $6.00
Hot Pockets Snackers $1.99
18 oz. Craisins $1.99
2 bags organic frozen mixed vegetables (99 cents each) $1.98
8 oz. shredded mozzarella $2.39
7 oz. Lancashire cheese $2.30
3.5 lbs pearl couscous $4.99
20 oz Diet Dr. Pepper $1.09
18 white corn tortillas $1.19
1 can diced tomatoes $.59
4 Yves veggie burger patties $1.99
3 Liberte Mediterranee yogurts $1.00
2 Liberte Greek yogurts $1.00
1 quart organic half & half $1.99
8 oz black pepper white cheddar $1.99
3 7 oz boxes of tomato sauce 3/$1.00
7 oz jalapeno havarti $1.99
Yellow bell pepper $.99
Red bell pepper $.99
1 lb cherries $3.99
1 lb strawberries $1.99
1 dozen large eggs $1.69

That comes to a total of $43.13