Following the meal plan

K, here's the thing. I try to follow the meal plan. I made quesadillas last night and had so much leftover I had another one for lunch today. And I switched the stir fry for tonight and it was SUPER yummy. (break: I just threw a bunch of ingredients in a marinade for the chicken and then cooked up some broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, yellow peppers, red onions and pineapple chunks. All over a BIG bed of rice. yummy! And so pretty with every color of the rainbow! Love it!)
So I have leftover rice from tonights adventure- and I still have yellow pepper left and I still haven't cooked up the ground turkey in the fridge SO instead of doing the follow dinner tomorrow night I'm doing stuffed peppers!


I'm gonna mix up the rice with some salsa, corn, and red onion and the ground beef. Saute it all together while the yellow pepper is roasting in the oven. (YUM! It matters!) Then throw the mixture in the middle of the cooked pepper- top it with some of that Monterey jack cheese I gotta use up, and throw it in the oven to melt the cheese. 


That uses up the rest of the pepper and the rice. Gotta do something w/ the rest of the turkey and the cheese (how hard can that be?). 


I have leftover stir fry for lunch tomorrow.  So the sandwich for today got boosted and the lean cuisine meal for tomorrow can wait! 


OH! And I have like 2 stalks of broccoli left, about an 1/8 of a carrot and bits of pieces of red onion that I chopped but didn't want to put in the stir fry. Of course I don't want to throw it away. I figured now is the time to a trick I've heard of for so long and never tried. Puree the leftover veggies and mix it into the spaghetti sauce. More veggies, more sauce, no waste. I just hope it tastes good so it's a win/win/win. 

I have ravioli in the fridge that I'm waiting till Fri to cook. (Next on the list...haha) and so we will try the spag sauce trick then. 


Still gotta use:
mushrooms (I do have a plan- I guess I'll cook these on Sat)
chicken (I have a plan on this too- red beans and rice burrito. This will use some tortillas too)
tortillas*
the rest of the ground turkey
All my fruit: mango, peach, strawberries


I don't want to waste a single thing!!

Crackin' Down

Okay, I gotta get serious now! I need a new car ASAP, unfortunately ASAP is...a long ways away. I need to save every last penny I can in order to afford something decent and pay off these loans. 


I suspended my Netflix account and yes I miss it, but I think I'm good to cancel it for good. (Savings: $10)


Food- I was to eat through my pantry and freezer. There's a bunch of food in my kitchen- I just need to kind of take inventory of everything in my freezer and pantry. 
Along, with this- no wasting food! I cleaned out my fridge yesterday for the first time in a very long time and was shocked by what I found in the back of there. It was gross, but it also added up to a lot of money in just waste. I know better than that! Gotta keep my eye on this and not let it happen again.


My gym membership is up at the end of this year and I can cancel that. I am kind of nervous for this because I am training for the marathon and like having a treadmill, but I can always run on the trails outside, the college track and the Rec center for free. (Saving: $30)


No clothes. I DO NOT need new clothes. In my head, I know this is true. But I like to shop. It's fun. I need to do other things that fill my free times that are still fun. (puzzles, baths...)


I did make my own laundry detergent. I don't know how much that saves me though.


I also want to get back to walking to work. I used to walk to work, but I HATE waking up early to do so. If I do walk, not only will it be better for my health, I  can save that in gas. It may be little but it can add up. 


Lower my energy bill. I've always kept my A/C at a high temp, but now that the days are cooler, I've turned it off completely.  However, I left a lamp on all day while I was at work! NOT good. I've left my fridge a jar, my kitchen light is almost always on. I need to do better. Turn EVERYTHING off! I've even unplugged all the appliances I don't use very often (i.e TV). On average, my bill is $75. Last month, it was $70 so that's better. I want it down to $65 next month.


I just gotta evaluate every purchase I make and really think, do I need this item more than I need a new car? 

Meal Planning

Dang it! I had whole plan but something happened to it didn't get saved! Now I'm trying to remember what it was...

Monday: cereal
          soup
          ravioli

Tuesday: waffles
          salad
          quesadilla

Wednesday: granola bar
          sandwich
          foil dinner

Thursday: toast w/ peanut butter
          lean cuisine
          stir fry
        
Friday: trail mix bar
          salad, strawberries
          ravioli and zucchini

Saturday: yogurt
          burrito, mango
          stuffed mushrooms

Sunday: toast
          chili, peach
          leftovers

Meal Plan:

Alrighty. I did it backwards this week, and it's already biting me in the bum. I went shopping first, and then sat down to make meal ideas out of what I got. Rookie mistake.

Monday: waffles
             fruity tortilla wrap
             soup
Tuesday: cereal
             salad
             Lean cuisine
Wednesday: smoothie
             soup
           chips & salsa
Thursday: Lara bar- carrot cake!
             burrito
             mac n cheese
Friday: Fruit and yogurt parfait
             quesadilla
             Lean cuisine
Saturday: granola bar.
             Lean cuisine
             soup

Snacks: popchips, applesauce, fruit, yogurt, celery & pb (or apples)

P.S. I really gotta take inventory of what's in my freezer! Hopefully I get to that sometime this week.