Easter is here!

Easter is here, and I am sick! Sore throat, body aches, and last but surely not the least, mother nature came at the worst time, and early. So I am quite the bundle of joy this holiday if you can imagine!
Not to worry, this will not ruin my plans for the next two days. I have prepared an appetizer that I have never done before. Actually, I'm never made an app in my life. This one was an easy one though.

My seven Layer Bean Dip

• 1 can refried beans, mixed with some Taco seasoning.
• pretty much an entire tub of sour cream
• two packets of Guac. which I would have made from scratch but I am sick and didn't care. lol
• Shredded lettuce
• cheese
• salsa

I didn't get to use a cute dish either. I'll be travel for 2 hours with this sucker to Rob's families house. I'm sticking this in a mini cooler for the trip!

Cheap Meals | Pork Chops and Gravy!

So this blog is supposed to show my readers how to save like I do. Now, I'm not the best at saving or budgeting, but I do try. I am always looking for the next bargain on food, and the next best recipe for cheaper meals. Typically I only spend about $150 on groceries a month, which includes everything... breakfast, lunches, and dinners. This is for two people though. We usually take sandwiches to lunch, which really cuts down on spending.

Tonight I made Pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, and some veggies. I'd say this meal only cost me
$3.62

Pork chops, which I bought BOGO, only cost me $2.48 a pack

Gravy mix, which I used half the bag $0.15

Green beans I bought during a sale at Kroger. $1/1lb. This was 1/2lb, $0.50

Carrots, I got on a manager's sale for $0.79 a bag, I used half the bag $0.39

Mashed Potatoes, I can't really price this since it's a box mix, but I'm sure $0.10

For the pork chops, I just mixed some BBQ sauce, honey, and brown sugar together and rubbed onto the chops and stuck them in the oven. 

In another pan I threw all the veggies in with a little bit of water and olive oil (next time not so much olive oil). I stuck these in the oven until tender. 

While these were cooking, I made my gravy and mashed potatoes on the stove.

Literally this meal took me 15 minutes to prep and cook. Super easy and Yummy yummy :)

Cheap Meal | Breakfast Dinner

The cheapest meal you can make is probably breakfast! Which is exactly what we ate tonight. Yum yum!

Eggs, ham, cheese, and toast.

Broken down I'm sure this meal cost less than $3.00

I'm trying to empty out my pantry and fridge before I go to the store again. I barely have anything left now though, so we didn't have the best breakfast, but it was still delicious.

Another cheap meal, is ramen. I tried to add some veggies and meat to it. It turned out pretty good for Ramen Noodles. Like I said, I'm emptying out my pantry right now!

(2 pkg ramen, pork, fresh green beans and carrots)

Budget Binder

My Budget Binder

I've been carrying around my planner for 3 years now, with loose papers with my budget and other goodies stuffed inside. I finally decided to make a budget binder. It includes... Monthly Budget Breakdown, Monthly Calendar (with bills written out), Monthly Food Calendar (daily menu planning), Statements that are highlighted to track my spending, Printed Receipts, and all my Cheap and Easy Meals List (along with pricing).

The breaks down of monthly bills that coincide with my pay periods.

I've shown this a couple times now throughout my blog, and I love it. I'm constantly updating it.

My Food Calendar. Of course, I need to update this now, since we are kind of over the Pork I bought at Albertson's. It isn't that good.... I'm saving it for fajitas.

The basic monthly calendar. It shows exactly when I need to pay certain bills.

I've been tracking all my receipts as well.  Only groceries though.... And my statements, which have been broken down to track my spending habits, which were awful!!

Last but not least! 

Rob and I are kind of over the healthy eating (already!) I think I just need more practice at it! 

So now, we are going to do half and half.

Here is the list of the meals that I typically make. They aren't all the healthy, but they are simple, quick to make, and cheap! I made a list of each dish, ingredients, pricing (work in progress), and final price of each dish.

Food Truck

Tonight Rob and I stopped at a Food Truck parked nearby our apartment. It's called Cajun Tailgators. You can find them at Cajuntailgators.com

Their food was pretty amazing and super spicy. Rob had the Crawfish Pistolette, I had the Gumbo with Chicken and Sausage, and then we shared Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce. 

Yummy Yummy :)

Crawfish Pistolette

Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Books!

I've been reading a ton lately, and have also started a book club with some people I work with. I've been wanting to read more about some mental disorders. I've always had a fascination with psychology and even wanted to go into it during my college years. The book that I read was based on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). It was actually pretty amazing to read, and to understand the way some people think, and how the brain really can alter peoples thought processing. I think eventually I will get the books on the other Clusters of personality disorder.

The book that we just finished for our Book Club was "Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness". This was also about brain processing, and how if you thing goes wrong up there, millions of things can change in your personality. I definitely suggest it as a good read. It also helps to open your eyes to possessions as well.

The next book we are starting in my Book Club is my pick "When Rabbit Howls". This book is about a lasy with multiple personalities. I've already read it twice and can't get enough. Now I am introducing it to a new group of people! This is definitely not like "Sybil". Apparently that book was a hoax, but I promise this one is not. It actually a pretty amazing book.

And the best for last!!! This series I have been working on for awhile. I bought the first book of the series several months back from Half Price and loved it. I immediately went and bought the second, but unfortunately only got 30 pages in and then the holidays came. No time for anything! Rob bought me the Nook for Christmas, so now I have no excuse :)

This series is by Lauren Kate. It's the Fallen Series. The second book I just finished and read in 2 DAYS!! A, because work was dead and B, it's amazing. It's such an easy read too. I've read it's kind of like Twilight, so if you were into that I guess you'd be into this. I never got into that whole scene. I thought Twilight was super retarded. But this book is amazing. It's pretty much a teen romance novel, based on Angels and Demons in battle. Pretty cool. I'm now officially on the 3rd book of the series. Apparently a movie will be coming out soon. 

Budget and Shopping

Today was pay day, and I went ahead and paid off all my bills for the rest of the month. I was left with $400 which went straight to paying off my Freedom card.  Unfortunately I still have $300 left to pay on it. $100 is from an unexpected doctor's bill from when I had my thyroid biopsy. Wah wah...

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my career lately. Even though I've only been in the banking industry for a little over a year, I really miss my Administrative position from Texas A&M University. I try to envision myself in 5-10 years and I don't like the look of me working in the bank lol. I don't see myself getting that far. I don't see myself working in the Back Offices, just because I am not the least bit interested in anything Financial, Stocks, or Investments. When I envision myself in Administrative positions, I see myself doing it for the long run. I love the Office setting, the interactions with people, and also the daily paperwork and reporting. I love being given tasks to complete. Annnnnd, I can see myself working my way up into an Executive Admin, Assist. 

Here is my interview outfit for whenever I may get one. Unfortunately everything at the mall is either see-through, or cut off at the belly button these days. I'm trying to get away from the buttoned up shirts, and mix it up a little.  So here it is.... p.s. I pulled the shirt up to the right spot, so it isn't as low as this one might be.

Yay or Nay?? Idk....

How do you make fish?!

Well, apparently there is one thing my boo hates that I cook, and that is fish! I can't ever seem to make it taste good for him. I don't mind it, I can eat pretty much anything even if it is bland :) I tried to make baked fish and chips, that didn't work out at all, then I tried to make fish with some seasoning on top. Well, Rob ate everything but the fish!! Maybe he just doesn't like fish? I'm taking it personally and won't stop until he loves it! hahah :)

Fail!!

I still haven't cooked my pork chops that I got at Albertson's on the first for a buy one get one free. I followed the recipe below (minus the cranberry sauce). It turned out amazing!! I think one of my favorites. I made mashed potatoes and green beans on the side. Amaz.

Zumba!

Zummmmbbbaa!! Since I am such a cheap person, I decided instead of taking work out classes at a gym, I could easily find them on YouTube. I know a lot of people need to go to the gym for the motivation, but I can motivate myself easy (once I get off the couch). My new favorite thing I've been doing is Zumba. I found this video on YouTube from a college where an instructor videotapes a whole hour of his workout. I've only does this 3 times, the first two I stopped at 20 minutes. Today I stopped at 35 minutes, but also did some squats and lunges earlier in the morning. I also cleaned for about two hours, which I'm sure burned a little bit of calories.  Unfortunately I haven't been in the mood to eat today so all I've had is half a can of tomato soup, and some yogurt covered raisins. 

Top Golf tonight with some old college friends, so I'm sure I'll pig out on some bad foods.

More Healthy Meals

I know I haven't been posting a lot of my healthy meals I've been making, but I'm a busy lady! We're still eating off some of the meat I bought on the 1st. It should last us until the 28th of this month. I'll just need to get some side dishes. A lot of the dishes I've been making and made on several nights, and that's another reason why I don't post daily.

The last two meals I made aren't anything special. We had "Fish and Chips" one night. I think this is the second meal I've made that Rob wouldn't eat lol. The first one was meatballs. Those were awful!!! I ate the fish and chips though. It wasn't that bad. :) Edible.....

It looks disgusting lol

This is the meal I made the other night. It's pork tenderloin, red potatoes halved, with olive oil and seasoning, and some green beans. Unfortunately they weren't fresh :(  

One package of the pork tenderloin (2 lbs) lasts me three meals, which is pretty awesome.

The potatoes were amaz. and Rob loved them!

Getting Toned!

Here is this weeks work out schedule. As of yesterday somehow I have lost 10 pounds. I am not really trying to lose weight but just tone up. I do understand to tone up I'll probably lose 10 pounds or so. I just didn't think it would happen in a matter of 3 weeks. I still sometimes eat bad. I try not to finish my plate, I always wrap up leftovers instead of leaving them out for seconds. annnnddd I am working out. Small changes, but I see the results. My belly has shrunk a little.

Don't mind the typo I didn't fix :)

Friday Night Dinner!

A couple years ago my grandma gave me a stack of Kraft Food Magazines. I haven't made anything from these magazines until lately. The first one was the Saucy Stir Fried Pork. Friday night I made a Cheesy Chicken Broccoli dish, minus the cheese. It actually was amazing, without cheese, and Rob knows how much I love my dairy. I usually our cheese on everything. 

Like most recipes, I leave out a lot of ingredients. 

I used two chicken breasts, a can of cream of chicken (light), a pack of broccoli, an 1/2 cup of the stuffing. I didn't use the cheese. I'm trying to keep this recipe healthy. Then I made some corn on the side.

 This is what my dish ended up looking like