Cook extra

It seems like such a simple concept, but deep down, it's not. Making extra of something only for it to go bad later isn't a good way to save money. In fact just the opposite.

That's another story though.

So how can you save money when you like to make meals by the seat of your pants?

Prep the bases.

Prep the things you can use all week. For example rice week.

One day you can have fried rice, another Mexican beans and rice burritos, and bake some chicken and toss it on top of rice. 3 meals right there, all with one thing in common.

Rice.

Rice and other grains are super easy to batch make. Like tonight, I was making dinner and made some quinoa. I trippled what I was making and tossed it all in my rice cooker.

A full pot later, I now have extra for the rest of the week. Maybe even seconds if I wanted.

I can't tell you how amazing it felt to scoop a serving put and have that all leftover. I have one less thing to worry about this week.

You can too.

Things I didn't toss.

Yesterday was a day of purge. While I really wanted to throw it all away, I knee that with my new meal planing I would be using a lot of it.

Some things I kept, and plan to keep on hand:

Oatmeal
Lentils
Quinoa
Barley
Pancake mix
Stuffing mix
Padta
2 cans of soup
Pasta salad mix
Instant potatoes
Peanut butter
Pancake syrup
Frozen waffles
Frozen turkey sausage
Chicken tenderloins
Frozen veggies
Frozen chicken patties
Bread (kept in the freezer)
Fruit bars
Half dozen eggs
Package of cheese that's unopened
Tubes of crecent roll dough
Spices, and condiments.

That's a big list, bigger than I'd prefer it to be, but it looks like I have an easy start on this. I'm lucky and have plenty of food to make over the next week or more.

My plans, use what I have, and only buy what I need to finish the meals until it's gone. Then I can go shopping and really challenge myself.

A fresh start.

With my life being what it has been, my diet has been the least of my worries. However, now that things are getting better, I too wish to get better.

My depression is still a lot to handle, I have no energy and my limitless sex drive has been detrailed. I miss being me. I miss feeling good.

That's why I threw out (almost) all of my food. Everything that isn't helping me feel better, went to the trash.

I hardly ever cook and I need to start again. The only way I know how, is to hit the reset button. Tonight I will go shopping and start my new diet and life. I will be forcing myself into meal prepping.

My goals.

$10 a week and still eating healthy.

Walk with me.

Beginning meal prep!

I've finally found a few moments to start getting my life together. My first move. Meal prep. With working full time and driving about 3 hours round trip, the last thing I want to do is cook when I get home.

During my day off today I made some quick easy food so that I can come home and have food ready. Instead of stopping at McDonald's every night because they are the only thing open.

Here is what I have waiting for me for the next two days. A side of fresh raspberries. The main course is a little more complex, but still very easy, and affordable to boot!

First I made a batch of rice, roughly 1 cup total. (Before cooking ) I layered that at the bottom of my container after it had cooled. Then I cooked up some chicken in coconut oil. I used tenderloins because they were on sale and easy, you could use whatever you like. I'm sure shredded rotisserie chicken would be great here too. Then I drained and rinsed some canned corn. Again, it wad on sale, use whatever veggie you prefer. I did the same with a can of black beans.

That's it. Super simple but a fairly well rounded meal.

A step in the right direction

Whelp, work has dumped hours on me and I haven't done much the past week outside of sleeping and working. So now that the location is open, I can get back to caring for myself. That means re-banning myself from fast food. And of course get back to excersie.

Today, I was able to wake up and make myself something simple. Even better, it didn't cost me much.

Pardon my poor images, it's real food though. Haha.

So here I have a waffle, some turkey sausage, and an egg.

Total cost for this breakfast, about 50 cents. It was filling and full of protien. And butter, but that's just a personal preference.

Quick can be a good reminder.

     Something I have found that keeps me on track is anything that is quick to eat. Lately I have been neglecting myself, especially in the mornings. I've always had a problem remembering to eat something in the morning. I'm not a big morning eater and normal breakfast is just way too much for me.

     Recently, I have found a bit of magic that is getting me to eat more often in the morning. Something that is quick. If I have to cook, it won't happen. So I'm starting the habit with things like toaster strudels, frozen waffles, and bagels. I would add cereal, but I'm not a huge fan of the stuff, even as a kid I could never finish a box.

     Is it healthy for me? Probably not. Is it at least getting me into the habit? Yes. Over the past few weeks I have found myself waking up and feeling hungry. That didn't even happen in high school.

     What are some of your favorite quick meals in the morning?

Self control

Sometimes it's all about putting cheese puffs in bags because you know that you will always finish the bag. No matter what size.

I know myself well enough to know that this is the part of food prep that I can't skip. I must always portion out my food. Especially my snacks.

I don't fight the cravings, no matter how healthy I want to be, I just make sure to limit myself. And pre-portioning is what I find works best for me.

It doesn't take much, just some small resealable baggies. Toss a serving in and move on. When craving hits, not only areason they fresh, but in limited portions.

Dreams Come True

While writing has always been my actual passion it doesn't make enough for me to live off of it. At least not yet. However, something has changed. I got a promotion at work.

Why post that here?

Because it means that I will be a lot more stable. I'll also be getting 40 hours a week and that means I will have to bring myself food on a daily basis.

That means, more cooking!

It will be like back in the old days when I would post recipes all the time, and pics and actually be active and helpful and I can't wait to get back into doing that again.

Is 'bad' food better than no food?

In our current health conscious world it seems like eating a non-organic banana is a death sentence. First off, I won't go into my rant about organic, at least not today. Second, is eating 'bad' food really that bad?

If I can afford only $10 worth or groceries wouldn't it be better to buy 6 non-organic bananas instead of just 3 organic? In personally think so. More doesn't always mean better, but while you are making more healthy choices, realize that it could be worse.

Some people might argue here that said organic banana has more nutrients so you wouldn't have to eat six in a week. While that might be true or not (I'll be sure to do some more research on this at a later time!) when it comes down to it eating every day matters. Having six bananas for a week's worth of breakfast is by far better than only eating every other day.

While improving your health yes, the better the food, the better it is for you, sometimes you just have to do what's within your budget.

Don't feel bad that you can't buy organic.

Don't feel bad that you shop for whatever is in season.

Don't feel bad for buying whatever is on sale.

Don't ever feel bad about making sure that you eat. Even if it's not the best, you could be doing worse.

My First Grocery Haul

     The poverty line comes to something like only being able to spend $1.50 on food per person, per day. That’s not a lot at all. So I want to share with you all what I buy, how long it should last me, and how to make that work the best we can.

So first some simple math. $1.50 a person, for a week. Now for me, I personally work away from home for days at a time. Normally 3 days a week I don’t even see my house. So I’m going to plan for a week, even though I might not take things up with me. Some food travels better than others.

1.50x7=$10.50 per week for food.

I personally am aiming to stay right around there, give or take a bit depending on what I already have at home. I also highly recommend shopping at Aldi if you don’t already. Their selection is amazing and their prices are really hard to beat. Another tip, one I will go into more detail in future posts, is to buy what’s in season.

Here is what I got:

Blueberries .99

Navel Oranges 1.99
Blueberry Bagels 1.89

PB Crackers .89

Turkey lunch meat 4 at .49 each

Sliced Swiss Cheese 1.79

Cereal Bar 1.49

Cream Cheese .79

Total spent $11.79. So not to far off from poverty line. Let’s look at how many meals I can get out of that.

Breakfast. I already had eggs, so between those and the bagels I can have breakfast for more than 7 days. Six bagels with cream cheese and some eggs to finish up the week.

Lunch. I have enough meat for four sandwiches. I can also make grilled swiss cheese sandwiches as well for between those days. So there’s at least 7 days worth.

Snack. There is at least 7 oranges in the package I bought. I could also swap out some blueberries or some of the peanut butter crackers. The cereal bars are also great for between meals.

Dinner. Now yes, you have noticed that I have used up everything I bought already. That’s because I am lucky enough to have rice on hand, a few eggs left over, and some frozen veggies that I can easily make a weeks worth of dinners out of.

This first run wasn’t bad, I’m fairly proud of myself that I at least have breakfast and lunch now for the next week. Those are the meals I normally skip most often.  

My Diet

     I don’t believe in diets, I believe in lifestyles. Diets are temporary. I’ve learned all too well that if you want to loose weight, and keep it off, you will have to change how you live. Now this can be easy or it can be hard. I personally, have always found it hard. Not this time. I plan to watch what I eat and work on meal prepping as well as other small things that might help me stay on track this time.

Things I am wanting from my own personal diet. Some people prefer to be vegan, others not so much. I just am looking for something that works for me. I want to feel better. I don’t like to feel heavy or laggy after eating. I want to boost my energy and get myself feeling the best that I can.

I will be posting some vegan recipes, as well as vegetarian, and normal everyday recipes.  

Introduction

Kitty here, I’m going to give you some of my background today to give you an idea about where I am coming from, and how I’m starting this whole process.

I live by myself. That means the rent and bills, they all fall on me and only me. While yes I do have a girlfriend, and what a massive help she has been through all this, my bills are still at the end of the day, my problem. I currently only pay three bills. Rent. We all need a roof over our heads. Electric. That’s a need as well. And Phone. While sometimes you can get away without one, I personally use mine to pick up shifts at work and to have access to internet to check my schedule. My work only posts that online. So that’s it. I don’t have unlimited data on my phone, I have just what I need. No internet or cable at my house. Limited living. I do have access to the world wide web at my local library and at my girlfriends house. It’s might not be the best life, but it’s what I have to work with.

I currently work only one job. It is a part time job, but I am currently between moving up in the company. I am submitting applications and getting interviews for a full time position but just am not quite there yet. Instead of splitting my attention and effort between two jobs, I have personally chose to stick with the one, so I can focus right now on moving up. I’m also using that spare time to catch up on prior projects that were started with an ex who, due to medical issues, had to step away from the venture. I also love writing so in my personal time (See how I split myself already in so many ways) I work on my fiction novels. My goal is to one day be able to just write full time and have a day job ‘just for fun’.

I want to share in this blog my personal story. How I live below that poverty line, because to be honest, I’m barely making it work as it is.  

Breakfast Essentials

     For this post I'll be talking about the small packets of powder, not the full drink or any of Carnation's other various forms of this product. These are a life saver. They are quick, easy, and fairly affordable. You can get a 10 count at Walmart for around $5, making them only .50 each. Pair that with a piece of fruit and you've got a great start to your day.

     One thing that makes this stuff a winner for me, is that I can mix it with just about any liquid. Directions say to mix it with milk. That's perfectly fine. You can also mix them into smoothies if you're into that. The chocolate mix goes great with strawberries! You can also mix them into almond (or other nut or coconut milk) milk. I've even gone as far as making a mocha coffee with mine. Wasn't the greatest thing, but I wasn't feeling up to making breakfast, so it worked.

     A few other nice things to note about this product, there's no fake sugar in it. So in a world where you're trying to get healthier, that's a nice place to start. A full 5 grams of protein, with only 1/2 a gram of fat. At only 130 calories, (at least for the chocolate, be sure to read your labels!) it's a good start to your day. Especially if you are like me and just really hate morning.

     Head over to their website and check it out. All the nutrition info is there as well and all of their various products. You can even get some coupons! Click here to head over.

     Give it a try, and share your recipes down below! I'd love to hear what you come up with.

Okay, So I'm not a Vegetarian

     This is still my personal journey, and that means that I can call it whatever I want. I'm close, but not really there. And that's okay. I am working towards a healthier me, that's for sure, but things like chicken broth is hard to get rid of.

     Recently I've been looking at my personal finances and things are getting more and more difficult for me to live. Living paycheck to paycheck isn't easy, but it's something more and more of us are having to do so. I want to work towards cutting my food bills. I want to start meal prepping, and working harder towards that healthier me.

Finding New Places to eat

     Well my general fall backs are things like McDonalds, pizza, anything that's quick and easy. I'm finding out now with being a vegetarian it's getting harder to find places to eat with friends, family, and co-workers. Good news for me is that I very often find myself in the city of Chicago. They have quite a few places and I'm very excited to start trying them.

Tofu

     I'm normally very against the food item we call tofu. The thought of it and the concept just makes me sick. However, with this new vegetarian diet, it's hard to find things out at restaurants. So today when my lady decided to take me out for dinner, I had to scour the menu for something. Ramen is one of our personal favorites, and this place only had one kind without meat. It did have tofu. I swallowed hard and figured I'd give it a shot.

     I'm still no fan of it at all, but I was at least able to eat it, and it wasn't the worst thing in the world. The rest of the ramen had some spice to it, but it was still fairly good. So now because of it, I'm willing to give tofu a bit more of a chance. I still won't be eating it regularly but I'm making progress on expanding my food choices.

I broke

Whelp, I knew it was only a matter of time, I had been doing very good. 4 days and counting without meat at all. I won't call today a step back. Again, I am only doing this for myself.

Anyway, today was a long work day, on my feet all 8 hours and no break. While we were not busy, but a break just wasn't an option. So at the end of the day there was a hot food order than came in. The people never showed up to pick it up, so at the end of the night I got to take it home. It was an order of chicken tenders. It was food, I was hungry, I have no regrets. I'll eat better tomorrow.

Another personal goal for tomorrow is to try and drink more water. I know I don't do it enough, so I'm going to aim for maybe 5 glasses. We'll see how that goes.

Week One Update

     So I've been on this for almost a week now. It hasn't been to hard yet, but I do miss the convenience of a burger. I haven't been on the straight and narrow. So yes, I've had some meat throughout this time. Again, I'm doing this for me, no one else. I don't see it as cheating. My goal is to become healthier and to feel better.

     I've also started a journal for this. Basically I have to keep track of everything I eat or drink. It will help I think more further down the line. I'm also trying to eat something every 2-3 hours. It was part of a diabetic diet my mother was on years ago. Eating small portions and snacks all day to keep yourself full. So far that's been helping keep my blood sugar steady. That's a plus.

     This upcoming week, I am switching my focus more towards prior mentioned diet. I also plan to add more water to my life in forms other than coffee. I also want to start sharing some more recipes with you all.

   

Why I'm doing this

     Why I’m transitioning to vegetarianism.

     I honestly don’t need a reason at all to do anything, I would just like to be honest and share it with you all. Also I want to see how far I have come. So I’ll real quick bore you with a story and my current feelings on my own personal diet.

     While I was growing up my Dad ran his own business. It was dog training and boarding and it was really cool. My entire family worked there. Mom on her day’s off, and my after school, on weekends, on vacations. We were always busy with the business. That left no room to cook. From the age of seven until around seventeen, my diet consisted of nothing but fast food when I wasn’t at school. It was either burgers, chicken, or pizza. My dad was touchy and we only had select places we would go. Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were the only days I had home cooked food. I also grew up drinking soda. We would get off work late and go to the store and buy whatever sounded good at the time. At my max weight, I was around 220 pounds. I wasn’t happy at all.

     When my father sold the business my world changed. We started eating at home finally. I was still hooked on fast food and soda but I did manage to drop my weight down to the 175 area. That helped me a lot.

     After I got kicked out, my world changed again. I had the freedom to eat whatever I wanted and to cook anything. My father didn’t believe in spices or vegetables. Our diet up until this point had been meat, potatoes, and corn. Bread if it was a good day and sometimes mac and cheese. Every single day. This new freedom let me explore food and flavors and it’s been amazing so far. I haven’t lost any more weight but I was exchanging it for muscle.

     Now, back to the original question. Why am I doing this? Because, I am personally going through a time of growth. I have the need to feel better, physically, mentally, all around I just need to feel better. I’m also still not happy with my weight. I know I’ll never be perfect, but again, I want to feel better. I believe that this is a step in the right direction for me personally. I’m not saying it’s a perfect diet or that everyone should be on it. I’m doing this for me only and for my health. I also don’t currently eat a lot of meat anyway, but I want to get on a more balanced diet.

New Beginnings

     My heart hurts while I type this, so forgive me if things are not 100% clear. As any of you who have been following me know, my partner has been dealing with a lot of medical issues with her pancreas over the past year. It’s been hard on both of us. She currently has a tube down her nose and is in fairly poor condition overall. Because of this we have made the decision to send her back home to her family. Her aunt is home all day and can help take care of her like I cannot right now. I’m working 30 miles away from home and am trying to further my career to make sure bills are being paid. I cannot always be home with her and sometimes I am away for days on end. This also means that my focus for a lot of his blog (and cookbook) are going out the window due to lack of use.

      Yes some of it could be handy when she returns, but to be honest, we don’t know how any of this is going to go. We are taking it one day at a time.

     So while she works on getting better, I’m focusing on my health, and my writing. I’m hoping to keep up on this blog a bit more. (I know, I say that all the time, but I believe this time I will have more spare time. I’m also utilizing the scheduling feature.) I have also made a very crazy decision to transition to being 90% Vegetarian. Mostly I will no longer be eating meat, save for a few low fat choices and it will be on rare occasions. So hopefully you will be following me as I take this journey.

Cookbooks!

I never know what to tell people when they ask me what I want for christmas. This year, my wife handled it. So what did I end up with? A good haul of some great cook books. I'm so excited to try all of the new magical treats and dinners. Even better, I can't wait to share them with all of you. While I will be using those recipes as guidelines, I will also be reviewing them and showing you how to make changes so they fit in your diet. Now of course not everything can be altered. Like we can't have vegan steak. But overall I think with some creativity, we can make some really good food. So follow me through this year on a tasty adventure!