Planning your meals and not wasting food

Design*sponge grocery planner

Bon Appetite 7 habits of highly effective grocery shoppers

I'm getting ready to head to Brooklyn, I have a bit of food that I brought from Ithaca but really I want to start over. I want all new spices except for the newest spices I have. I have some flour and basics, but really I just want to treat it like I'm living in Italy again. Buy food, cook it. Buy food, cook it. make left overs, have some pasta. Buy food, cook it.

I will be much more active in this job than my past jobs, so I need to account for that when bringing lunch. I also will be working in areas that will most likely not have salad bars and delis with tasty sandwiches... so I really need to make sure I bring hearty foods that keep me going. I'm a little concerned about getting bored (food wise). I may end up getting a microwave for th job site if there isn't one there, so I can eat warm food. I'll try the food thermos again but it doesn't stay HOT it ends up being just warm. Cheap foods are beans and rice... together they create a complete protein... cheaper than meat! Salads will be good too. I will be packing lunch everyday, dinner 2 days a week and a snack everyday. I'd like to go to some yoga classes, trying out different studios. With my classes 2 days a week it doesn't make sense to get an unlimited pass for any yoga studio because there are at least 2 days a week I won't be able to go. For now I'm going to try to stick to a few classes a week.

My new job starts Monday, and I have class that night. We are being fed lunch on Monday which means I don't have to figure out lunch until Tuesday. It's hard to plan a meal when I don't know when I'm moving in (Sunday night, tomorrow, hopefully). And I have nothing in the fridge :P

Cheers to a new job, moving forward and personal growth. May this be the best year yet.

Time + Skill - money = sewing projects!

Something I've been wanting to do for a long time is renew my wardrobe, to be more professional (dress for the job you want, not the job you have). If I stuck to my current wardrobe I'd look, well, unemployed. I am taking 2 classes this semester in NYC, Introduction to Graphic Design and Introduction to Construction Project Management. These classes are at two different schools, evening classes so I'll have my days to prep for the great job hunt, nay, the great career hunt of 2010. I already own a lot of fabrics and I will have a lot of time while looking for a job/ prepping for the job hunt/ taking classes to see if I want to shift gears in my career. So with all this time, and the know how of sewing (and hopefully I'll be learning more, especially about fit and making my own patterns, hello library), I am going to make my own wardrobe. For someone who is fully employed, it is way cheaper to buy clothes at the store, when they go on sale ($30 cashmere at the factory outlet store this weekend, cha-ching!)

I have already gone through most of my clothes, I have a big pile of clothes to sell for cash/ donate to charity. I still have to go through my dressy clothes. Some of these pants just aren't meant for me. I also have a box of shoes to go through. Owning cute shoes doesn't make sense if you don't wear them. Time to purge the closet/boxes!

I've been shopping looking for certain things and another problem I have is that I never seem to like anything. Clothing these days is either cut too low (pants), or not long enough (shirts), has lots of crazy crap on it (ruffles? big ass flowers? No thank you.). I like clean lines, elegant silhouettes. Do you see much of this in my wardrobe? No, because the only clothes I am aware of that have those, are designer duds, which I cannot afford, and even if I could, would rather spend my money on quality food or travel or that home down payment I'm going to start saving for... as soon as I'm employed. I promise.

Images to follow when I get moved into my new place and get started on the... great re-wardrobing of 2010!

Eating well on a downsized budget - NYTimes article

Eating well on a Downsized Budget By JANE E. BRODY, March 2, 2009

"So let’s welcome back to the American table meals made from potatoes, eggs, beans, low-fat or nonfat yogurt and milk (including reconstituted powdered milk), carrots, kale or collards, onions, bananas, apples, peanut butter, almonds, lean ground beef, chicken and turkey, along with canned or frozen corn, peas, tomatoes, broccoli and fish. For nutrient-dense beverages, Dr. Drewnowski suggests 100 percent fruit juice blends and fruit-and-vegetable juice blends."

yay, I have and have been eating most of these things!

Busy busy busy andquick and tasty shrimp fettunici alfredo

Buzz buzz buzz.

I'm moving out earlier than I thought originally, last day of work Friday May 1st, party May 2nd, Pack truck May 3rd, drive it to my mom's May 4th.

One good thing is that my mom is moving at the same time, so we are splitting the truck cost which is good. If you know someone else who is moving at the same time as you sharing the truck is a great way to save money, and have help moving your stuff!

I'm still working on a sewing project which is keeping me form really packing. This weekend will be project finishing time and next weekend I'm off to visit Ithaca, the following weekend is packing weekend and the weekend after that I'm moving! I'd better start putting my weeknight to good use.


KE and I made shrimp and fettuccine Alfredo on Seafood Wednesday - it was tasty and quick and easy.

Sautee shrimp in butter til pink, add garlic, saute for a bit.
Pour 1c half and half in and about 6 heaping Tbsp grated Parmesan. Stir cooking until it thickens. Do not boil! While that is thickening, heat water and cook pasta. Drain and put back in pot. Stir chopped fresh parsley into sauce and over noodles and serve!

We had this with asparagus. It was a tasty meal. Quick, easy and filling. Just don't forget the vegetable, or else it's not very well balanced!

Home Cooking Challenge: week 1

Bringing lunch everyday last week worked pretty well. I ate well (a lot of veggies!) and I ended the week with a slice of pizza. I managed to make breakfast all but one morning (last minute decision to go to KE's on Tuesday night didn't really have time to plan for what I was going to do for breakfast). And the purchase of pizza fridge night because I wanted to have time to work on my baby quilt project.

Now that I'm in a week without that goal, I have purchased breakfast once and lunch twice (counting today) and I miss my homemade lunches. I know where the ingredients came from (more so than from the restaurant anyhow). I did finally make chocolate chip cookies this weekend and they were phenomenal and now I am working on selling them. (They won't be up until at least this upcoming weekend however, please check again!)

Last night I went to half of the Moth show about penny pinching. The stories were entertaining, though a couple felt like a stretch for the theme. It was interesting to hear one guy's story about a Christmas without gifts. I only stayed for half because it is ridiculously cold outside right now and I have been trying to go to sleep at a reasonable hour so that I can wake up early and have "me time" before work. Returning home we were greeted by a sink of dishes left from the hotpot party on Saturday that hadn't been cleaned yet. Let me tell you peanut butter sauce left in the sink for 2 days smells horrible. After washing, twice, the smell still wasn't out. I poured some vinegar (and baking soda!) in and we'll see tonight how it smells!

Off to buy lunch and wish I'd brought it. Tonight I'm free and I plan to assemble some lunches for the rest of the week.

Time

Money is not the only thing you budget. Time is a more valuable commodity (for people who have money-I'm sure unemployed friends of mine would agree). There are 24 hours a day and you spend them how you want. The things you spend time on aren't always things you want to spend time on but through muti-tasking and prioritizing and a stitch in time to save 9, you can get the most out of your time.

My weekday time budget:

9.5 hours at work (incl. lunch)
8 hours sleeping (on average)
1.5 hours commuting (subway)

19 hours SUBTOTAL

5 hours "Me" time: shower, making dinner, waking up slowly, in the bathroom,
checking email, watching movies, sewing, planning meals and parties, etc.

24 hours TOTAL


Time saving and Multitasking tips:

• When I get a seat, I read on the subway. I have a couple magazines and some library books I'm always trying to read. Much harder when I'm on the verge of sleeping, which leads me to
• Take a cat nap on the subway, but make sure to wake up before your stop!
• Think about what you have to do while you are at work- I keep a list (digital or old school ) handy to add to because I'm always thinking about my weekend and evening projects.
• Make big meals that can spread over many meals saving time for cooking later.
• Work on projects with your sweetie. KE and I have a list of projects we want to do independently that will work well to do together such as learning to make sauces and play the guitar.
• If you can handle mornings, exercise in the morning- you start your day feeling productive and when you get home you have time to do what you want be it hobbies, movies, or making food for the week.
• Make a grocery list and stick to it! Meal planning can save you time in the longrun because you won't dawdle at the grocery store (though sometimes it is fun to get inspired by ingredients).
• Rather than feeling burdened by making food, turn it into a party. Invite friends over for a a food making party. Just make sure that you make enough marinara so everyone can take home a usable amount. If you live in a place where many people have gardens or there are a lot of U-pick places even better. Part one: picking goods, part two: making goods. You could also have parties creating your own mixes. Purchasing dried goods in bulk such as beans or flour and sugar you can make your own jars of soup and cake/cookie mix. I would make custom labels for everyone to put on their jars before the party.
• Have potluck meals, or a weekly meal with friends. This way you socialize, and still eat. You can take turns hosting/ preparing food. Or one person can host regularly and you can have potluck meals. If it's dinner, I suggest organizing a bit to make sure it is a balanced meal. Stone soup is another option- people can bring whatever soup ingredient they have and you put it in the soup, different every time!
  

Do you have any other time saving or multitasking tips to share?