Are you staying frugal?

What I've been eating lately:
Cashew crusted chicken w/veggies, chicken fajita salad, bbq ranch salad, maple walnut crusted salmon, pistachio crusted chicken salad, cauliflower crust for pizza.

Frugal doings lately:
> I've been rinsing and crushing all of our egg shells to use in my garden boxes in hope of deterring slugs.
> Brought home used espresso grounds from my second job to use in the blueberry bushes patch.
> Used a code several times to watch a few Redbox movies for free.
> Used up some bread that was nearing its end by making French Toast for J and D.
> Ordered a pair of prescription sunglasses for myself, as well as for J, from Zennioptical and spent only about $25 total.
> Was tempted several times to buy iced coffees but waited until I got home and made my own.
> Bought a two piece ice cube tray set that makes tiny cubes for $2.50 (was delighted to read they were made here in the USA). While this is $ spent, it beats buying bags of ice every couple of weeks.
> Bought 4 boxes of cat litter for half their normal price using manufacturer and store coupons.
> Was gifted a springtime scarf from one of my employers as a thank you for being present when the health inspector came through. She also gifted me a bottle of daiquiri mix and two mini bottles of rum.
> Bought a couple bags of dark chocolate M&M's for 50% off after Easter.
> Discovered how to use a grocery store rewards card at the gas station and saved an extra 15cents per gallon on top of the 5cents per gallon saved from a discount card.
> Arranged for my two personal days off from work. They are "use them or lose them". I will aim to go for a frugal lunch out with J the first day as he has an afternoon appointment in the nearby city. The second one I will aim to use to get my gardening rolling along.
> I swept and hand mopped the kitchen floor. Not really frugal, I guess. But it felt great to get it done! (Used a drop of $1 dish soap in the bucket of water - does that count as a frugal doing?)
> J and I bought my mother flowers for her birthday. Rather than spending an arm and leg at our local greenhouse, we were in the nearby city and stopped at a large grocery store and bought two bunches for $10 and used a vase that I already have at home.
> Doing walking videos several times per week for the past few months. It feels great to be able to do these free workouts.
> Picked up a 30 load bottle of OxiClean detergent with a "try me free" rebate sticker on it.
> Bought two 18oz boxes of Target brand Cheerios-type cereal for $1.12 ea. after coupon and cartwheel. Was sad to find the second of this coupon only after I'd returned home - half hour away from store.
> Was gifted about 2-3lbs of espresso beans from J's mom. She didn't like them. Me neither. But J does.
> Added a "Friday Freebie" coupon for a bottle of kefir to my store grocery card which I'll hopefully get to redeem in a couple of days. That particular grocer is in the nearby city. I did this for a free single serving bottle of milk about two weeks ago.

Yummy Shrimp & A New Baby

What I'm Eating: Today's Snapshot:
B> 1slice toasted Ezekiel w/egg salad, 2 coffee with h&h and sweetener
L> 2slices toasted Ezekiel w/egg salad, water
S> 1/2med roasted sweet potato, grilled shrimp skewers, sf iced coffee
Snacks> 1sf choc & caramel bar, 1 strawberry, 2 chunks cherry almond dark chocolate bar, handful pecans

Let me make my excuses right away. I have been PMS'ing for a few days now. I don't know about y'all, but my brain tells me, "FEED ME", and more specifically, "FEED ME CHOCOLATE". Also, we are in need of a little shopping to pick up some veggies and such, hence the overdose of egg salad. The sweet potato on my plate was merely scrubbed, diced and seasoned liberally with olive oil, s&p, dried rosemary and fresh minced parsley. Popped the pan into the toaster oven and in about 45mns time of about 350 degrees... perfection. The shrimp was made by mostly following Melissa Joulwan's recipe from her Well Fed cookbook. Oh my, oh my... divine. Her recipe calls for cilantro. I'm not a fan of that so I used parsley instead. I used precooked/frozen shrimp instead of fresh. (Can you tell I don't follow directions very well?) I also thought half a lime provided plenty of juice, rather than the whole one as called for. Purely divine. I was in such a food-blissed-out state after eating this meal! Just between you and I? J and I polished off the entire pound of shrimp.

What I've Seen This Week:

Yay! Gerbera Daisy still making blooms!

Couple of delicious eats!

This Cajun Jambalaya (to the left) is why I bought chicken thighs, shrimp and chorizo to begin with. Sub in cauli-rice if you like, though I limit my serving size instead. Since there was more of each of those meats than I needed, I cooked them on the grill anyway and figured that I'll decide what to make with them later. Fate had me paging through the most recent issue of Cooking Light the next day where I came across the recipe for Shrimp, Chorizo & Corn Salad, which left me with a couple of boneless/skinless grilled chicken thighs still. Coincidentally, I've been craving chicken salad and happened to have everything else on hand already, too! Yay!

You may notice my chicken salad's a little darker colored than typical. The spice used to season the chicken when I grilled it for the jambalaya blackened (No, not burnt!) and that's what affected the color. I did include some grapes... mostly because we had them in the fridge already, but also because I like a little sweet in my chicken salad - whether that be raisins, apple or pear bits. No recipe to link to, just tossed chicken, pecans, grapes, celery, green onion, mayo & sour cream together and plopped on top of chopped romaine. The grill seasoned chicken was enough seasoning.

This photo is not mine. (I scanned a part of the page in my magazine.) Though mine did look nearly the same. I did not have fresh basil or tiny tomatoes or lemon, and I only had one half-ear of corn on the cob leftover from Father's Day. Fortunately I was easily able to remedy this by using dried basil, a chopped whole tomato, a splash of lime juice and a little additional frozen corn. I'm not a big fan of shrimp so I had only two bites of this. It was good, but not good enough for me to justify eating more corn, which, of course, is a high sugar veggie. But the rest of my family thought it was fresh and good. "A" thought it probably would be extra good as a chilled salad, too.

If you set out to make one of these, the Cajun Jambalaya is awesome! (Also, it's easy to make desired substitutions, such as the sausage type/pepper variety/seasoning mix/rice...) I was thrilled to make a purchase for just the one meal I had in mind, only later to find that they easily slid into place for two more dishes. Does anyone actually set out to do this? What meals do you end up making this way?

Crockpot Chicken & Hominy Chili Recipe

Monday, 2/11/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/about 1-2Tbsp chopped leftover sweet potato & spam, 2 coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> pepperoni pizza (1 lc pita for crust)
S> parmesan chicken, salad, berries, 1clementine segment
Snacks> coffee w/h&h and stevia, 4 almonds, 1/2 green apple w/pb

Tried out Jorge's Crispy Parmesan Chicken recipe that he'd included in the email promoting The Aging Cure book.  Will make again!  Of course both stores that I shopped were out of roma tomatoes, which are my favorite, and the grape tomatoes cost more than I wanted to pay.  So I ended up with a big greenhouse grown tomato.  I then forgot to buy shallots, so I subbed in some red onion.  I also have some Panko left which I used instead of whole wheat bread crumbs-figure the amount's fairly small so it shouldn't make a whole lot of difference.  Besides, my salad didn't contain croutons like Jorge suggested in the video.  So there.

Tuesday, 2/12/2013
B> 2 fried eggs, 1/2c mixed berries, 1 coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> small chicken taco salad, 2 celery sticks w/pb
S> big pork chop, brocco-salad, 3 asparagus spears w/butter
Snacks> 1sf mini york patty, 1/2 apple w/pb, 1/2 lg sf caramel latte

Brocco-salad was only reduced sugar.  I used about half the amount called for and then added a touch of erythritol.  While I haven't kicked my fruit cravings, I've cut back to half sizes of smaller pieces of fruit. 

Wednesday, 2/13/2013
B> sf cinnamon coffee cake, 3 full strips bacon, 1/3 small pear, 1/2 sf caramel latte 
L> pepperoni pizza (1 lc pita for crust), 2celery sticks w/pb
S> Chicken & Hominy Chili
Snacks> 1sf hot chocolate w/scoop of sf vanilla ice cream, 1/2apple w/pb

 
Crockpot Chicken & Hominy Chili
(adapted from Family Circle magazine)
(made as directed=6servings=18g carbs each)
6 large bone-in, skinless chicken thighs*
1 tsp salt**
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 onion, chopped***
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 c reduced-sodium chicken broth****
1 - 15oz can hominy, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp cornmeal*****
1/2c cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish******

Spray slow-cooker with non-stick spray.  Place chicken in bottom and season with 1/2 of the salt, cumin, black pepper and oregano (reserve the other 1/2 of each).  Scatter onion, garlic, jalapeno and green pepper over chicken.  Pour broth over top.  Cover and cook on low for 10hrs. Stir in hominy, cornmeal and remaining seasonings and cook on high for an additional 15mns.  To serve, stir in cilantro.  It's suggested to serve with tortilla chips, sour cream and additional cilantro.

*We eat a lot.  I used 11 thighs.
**I omit salt.  Yuck.  What's the point if you are using reduced-sodium broth, anyway?!?
***I only had about 1/2 of a small red onion.
****We buy bouillion cubes and make broth that way.  Much cheaper.  They're not low-sodium either.  Plus I ended up using 3cups worth because I lost a lot of liquid to steaming.
*****Wanted to cut back on the carbs a tiny bit more so used 1Tbsp cornmeal.
******Cilantro... yuck.  I omitted, I'm not a fan.

My method was also different.  I fried my thighs in an electric skillet, as I'd forgotten to prep everything last night.  Added the seasonings, then the broth.  About a half hour or so before supper I added the hominy and a few bits of leftover raw green cabbage.  Very savory and just plain yummy.  Using the fryer rather than the crock also made for a drier result.  So you may decide to add extra broth.

Thursday, 2/14/2013
Cheat
Made brownies for co-workers, which, of course, I had to taste-test.  We then took family out to eat for supper at our favorite pizza/sandwich shop.

Friday, 2/15/2013
B> 2 fried eggs w/cheese & salsa, 4 strawberries, 1 coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> handful of peanuts, sliced salami, cheese curds, 1 sf homemade cappuccino
S> Chicken & Hominy Chili, roast beef, brocco-salad
Snacks> blackberries & strawberries, sf coconut chocolate bar

It was clean-the-fridge-out tonight for supper.  So if it sounds a little weird... it sort of was.  I'm pretty sure I exceeded a decent amount of berries between supper and bedtime.  It had to have been at least a cup's worth and then some.  Dang it.

Saturday, 2/16/2013
B> 1 egg/ham/cheese whole grain English muffin, 2 strawberries, 4 blackberries, 2 coffee w/h&h/stevia
L> 1/2 apple sliced, several slices salami, several slices mozzarella, small handful peanuts
S> oven fried swai, lettuce salad w/3croutons, several berries, 1/4c roasted stir-fry veggies
Snacks> few bites dark chocolate, 1 sf jolly rancher

Again, I somewhat followed one of Jorge's recipes from the before mentioned email.  He used tilapia.  I had swai.  Jorge served a risotto with it.  I had a partial bag of stir-fry vegetables and a couple baby red potatoes with eyes and sprouts to use up.  So I popped them in the oven to have alongside.  The salad was only chopped romaine and a few croutons topped with some Newman's Own dressing.  Overall, it was pretty good.  Not sure if I'd make it again.  I suspect the fact that our fish fillets were full sized has something to do with that as it looked like a lot on our plates.  Actually, it felt like a lot in our bellies, too.  Should have cut those fillets in half.  The dark chocolate is from Christmas, a bar my sister put in my stocking.  I had to have a couple of bites for research.  Yeah, that's right... research.  I won't say what kind of chocolate bar because I hope to recreate it into a lower-carb version. 

Sunday, 2/17/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/spam & cheese, 1 strawberry, 4 blackberries, couple sips coffee
L> chicken fillet on romaine w/tomato, cheese, bacon, small bunch of fries
S> chicken breast, few bits coleslaw, small serving mashed potatoes w/gravy, small bunch of fries... again
Snacks> small sf vanilla latte, few peanuts

Went shopping with family two times today.  Each time we ended up eating out and I ended up eating crap I shouldn't have.  On the bright side?  At least I didn't eat too much fruit today.  Ha ha.

Grand Opening!

I'm helping my dad open an Etsy shop.  He has more pieces in progress, but currently he is offering 3 varieties of freshwater fish that he has cut, painted and sealed himself.  The shop is called FlossieFish.  These might make a unique gift for an outdoors man for Christmas or a birthday.  Dad's been working on these for some time and while I'd suggested he look at selling them before, he has never looked into it himself as the internet and technology can be too complicated sometimes.  With winter coming and chemo keeping him indoors more, I thought now might be the time to give him a little direction.  If interested, please visit our shop below or forward the information to others who may be interested.  Thanks for looking! 
FlossieFish

Days 109-111

So the day after Christmas I returned to low-carbing.  I also weighed myself and was alarmed (well, sort of) to find I had gained 5 pounds.  Yes.  Five-freakin'-pounds!  Nothing like having to re-lose...

While I've been keeping it low-carb since the day after Christmas (Monday), I haven't bothered with recording what I've eaten.  Suffice it to say that I have gotten back to eggs for breakfast and the typical lunch and suppers that I'd been having prior to my sugar binge.  Thankfully it appears that a pound or so has moved on.  Additionally, I have been feeling ten times better than I had on the weekend.  A regular diet makes me feel so horribly, I don't know why I do it really.

It's D's (son's) birthday on Friday.  We'll be having pizza that I picked up from Walmart's deli and I'll be looking at getting him a cake tomorrow, probably from Sam's Club.  I think I'll pick up a frozen Bellatori Margarita Pizza for myself as I can eat a third of it and be within a proper s/c  range.  Not sure about the cake yet.  I'll see about getting myself an unsweetened alternative of some sort.

I still will post new recipes that I try.  Such as the Marinated Cucumbers that we had tonight with salmon patties and zucchini pancakes.  If you like them in the typical vinegar/sugar solution, you'll likely enjoy this milder alteration, too.

Marinated Cucumbers
(from Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book Of Low-Carb Recipes) 
1/3c bottled oil & vinegar salad dressing
1/4 tsp salt*
1/4 tsp celery seeds
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 large cucumber, thinly sliced (about 3.5c)*
1/2 of a sweet onion, thinly sliced into rings (about 1c)*

Combine all in a bowl, cover and chill for 4-24hrs.  

*Made as instructed, serves 6 for 5g carbs each.  I virtually omitted the salt as I only gave one quick dash.  I used 2 medium cucumbers and only about 1/4 of a not-sweet-at-all-but-hotter-than-hell onion.

Bumper-Crop Zucchini Pancakes
(from BHG Biggest Book Of Low-Carb Recipes)
4 to 5 medium zucchini (about 1.5 lbs, about 5c)*
2 eggs
3/4c all-purp. flour
1/4c grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp finely chopped onion*
1/2 tsp salt*
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Trim and shred zucchini.  Let drain of water for 15mns.  In large bowl, beat eggs with fork, stir in flour, cheese, onion, s&p, and garlic powder.  Stir in zucchini until just combined.  Grease hot griddle or skillet and spoon 1 Tbsp batter and spread it out to about a 4" circle.  Cook about 2mn on each side or until golden brown.  

*Made as instructed, serves 12 side-dish servings of two pancakes each at 8g carb per serving.  I omitted salt completely as the garlic powder offers enough saltiness.  I also only  used about 1/2 the called for amount of zucchini as it is what I had in my frozen package of shredded garden zucchini.  I had several green onions/scallions to use up in the fridge so that is what I used, white and green parts.

Day 76, 77 & Tuna Sandwich Recipe!

Grr.  Evidently I am PMS'ing.  I've been hungry, hungry, hungry.  I want fruit like mad!  And chocolate!  I'm annoyed with myself because I ate that piece of Lindt chocolate with reckless abandon.  It's a bit early yet, but thought I'd post now to head off any later snacking.  (Note to self: Didn't work.  Son made popcorn and I couldn't stop myself...)

Tempting Tuna Sandwich

pg175 of The Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise
2 (6oz) cans albacore tuna
4 Tbsp mayo
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp Heinz Dill Relish
2 tsp onion powder
S&P to taste
8 slices Ezekial
4 slices cheese of your choice
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1c spinach


Thoroughly combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.  Lay out 2 slices of bread per sandwich.  Build sandwiches by spreading the tuna mixture over the bottom slice of bread, then layering with cheese, sliced egg, spinach, and the top slice of bread.  Serve.  


*Made as directed, this has an s/c value of 1/2 according to the book.  I didn't use onion powder (had none) and I mistakenly gave everyone an entire egg to slice on to their sandwich.  But come on!  If you look at the picture in the book, there's no way that someone would get that many slices off of half an egg.

Breakfast> 1 fried egg, 4 pork sausage links, peppermint mocha coffee (s/c=2/0)
Snacks> shelled peanuts, popcorn, spearmint tea (s/c=1/2)
Lunch> 1c creamy wild rice soup, cottage cheese with bite size peach slice (s/c=5/1) 
Supper> Tempting Tuna Sandwich, cottage cheese, half slice pineapple ring (s/c=4/2)
Total s/c for today - 12/5

Sunday, Oct.20
Breakfast> scrambled eggs w/Spam & cheese, 1/4c blackberries, coffee, pumpkin bar (s/c=5/2)
Lunch> leftover artichoke chicken (s/c=1/1)
Snacks> hot chocolate, 1 Lindt dark choc. square w/pb (s/c=6/2)
Supper> Dreamfields pasta and meat sauce, asparagus, small salad (s/c=5/2)
Total s/c for today - 17/7

Day 68 & 69 Belly Fat Cure

Sunday, Nov.13
Breakfast> coffee
Lunch> chicken salad on Ezekial toast, few Pirate's Booty (s/c=6/2)
Snacks> rest of yesterday's diet orange soda, raspberry jello dessert (s/c=3/1)
Supper> 2 Simple Shrimp Tacos, few Mission tortilla triangles (s/c=5/2)

Total s/c for today - 14/5

Simple Shrimp Tacos are on page 197 of The Belly Fat Cure book.  They were okay.  Not bad, but not fantastic either.  I was going to post a photo.  But they just didn't look as good in real life as they do in Jorge's book.

I made my chicken salad with four grapes sliced into it, so the sugar's a little high.  All that's in it was canned chicken, mayo, smidge of pickle relish, sprinkle of pecans, grapes and a few dashes of black pepper.  It was so de-lish!

Saturday, Nov.12
Breakfast> whole wheat toast w/pb (s/c=6/2)
Lunch> leftover rice w/shred.pork (s/c=6/2)
Snacks> diet orange soda, hot chocolate (s/c=2/0)
Supper>couple beef franks, fried eggs
Total s/c for today - 14/4

Just like learning that what you drink in your typical diet can contribute a lot of calories to your daily load, I am learning that the same is true of sugar-free/zero-calorie drinks when it comes to total sugar or carb counts.  So, so long hot chocolate.  It was fun while it lasted.  But I think we need to slow down and see each other a little less often...  The bbq sauce in the shredded pork is too high in sugar, too.  If I actually want to taste it and have a more generous amount, I'm going to need to find an affordable alternative.

Day 60, 61 & 62 BFC

Breakfast> scrambled eggs, bacon, 1 slice Ezekial toast w/butter & jam, hot chocolate (s/c=2/1) 
Lunch> 1/2serv. Fage yogurt w/choc. flav. syrup & mini Reese's, chicken wing (s/c=3/1) 
Supper> Seaside Tacos (s/c=5/3)

The Seaside Tacos are featured on page 191 of The Belly Fat Cure book.  I made as directed with the exception of the cabbage, as green cabbage is what our store had available.  The fish also was not what brand/variety I intended to have so I went over my carbs for that meal just a little, but counted it as a whole additional serving as I should.

Oh.  I don't recommend the Fage yogurt doctored the way I did it.  I thought it was horrible and will stick with fruit or fruit preserves added to it instead.

Saturday, Nov.5
Breakfast> scrambled eggs w/ham dice & cheese, pumpkin bar, tea (s/c=1/0)
Lunch> deli chicken thigh
Supper> 2 pork carnitas, Mission tortilla chips w/salsa (s/c=2/2)
Snacks> pumpkin bar, hot chocolate  (s/c=3/1)

For the pork carnitas I used leftover shredded pork roast and put that on Mission brand white corn tortillas.  I garnished them with a sprinkle of lettuce and cheese and a dab of salsa.  Yummo!

Friday, Nov.4
Not much to post today... more of the same ol' same ol'...
Breakfast> 1 Ezekial toast with pb (s/c=3/2)
Snacks> almonds, 2 hot chocolates (s/c=5/2)
Lunch> chicken fillet (s/c=1/1)
Supper> deli chicken breast

Day 49 Belly Fat Cure

Breakfast> 1 slice wheat toast w/liversausage & cheese, coffee (s/c=4/1)
Lunch> 1 slice wheat bread w/tuna salad & cheese, leaf lettuce, 4 dice tomatoes, pickles (s/c=2/1)
Snacks> less than 1/4c raw almonds, spearmint tea, 1 square dark choc. (s/c=3/1)
Supper> 1/4c jasmine rice, shrimp stir-fry (s/c=4/2)
Total s/c for today - 13/5
 
I used the Teriyaki Dressing recipe from page 215 of The Belly Fat Cure book for my stir-fry sauce.  Otherwise I didn't really follow much of a recipe.  Frozen veggies were 5g sugar and 9g carbs for a 1c serving, which I think I had about half of.  Shrimp are counted as a 0/0, my rice was a 0/1.