This is hard

I'm trying. I took $100 cash out to last the week. I only had about $30 by yesterday. Staying at KE's doesn't help. Or even when he stays here, because I don't force myself to prepare lunch for the next day. Also the lack of a kitchen at work is frustrating because I can't bring leftovers. I splurged (sort of, it's $6 and lasts like 3 meals) on pad thai at Thai 101 on Tuesday.
This summer, living off savings, will be the true test. I can't just put stuff on the credit card because there will be no income to make sure it's paid off the next month. Also lunch is a bitch. I was enjoying bringing my lunch for the week that I actually did it.
I'm reminded of a Chinese proverb I think I read on some tea. "Failing isn't falling, it's not getting back up again" or something more eloquently written along the same line. So next week, try, try again! Meanwhile trying to be thrifty, tomorrow will be hard because it's my best friends birthday and I can't let her in her unemployed state pay for her birthday dinner! That would be blasphemous! Hopefully the whole group will chip in as has been the trend in the past however recessions make people do abnormal things.

The free exercise has been going alright. Running in the park is nice, if I can get myself up to do it. Yesterday morning? I couldn't make it happen. I'm trying again tomorrow and now I'm going to sleep so I don't leave my running buddy again! (I found a running buddy on Craiglist, I needed someone to meet so I'd feel obligated to show up! It worked better when I didn't have his phone number and therefore couldn't cancel on him!)

Next week: Home cooking challenge week 2! Which means meal planning this weekend. The goal, aside from saving money, will this time also include not buying more than I need/ can eat. Which may include more grocery store trips, but that is better than one grocery trip and a fridge full of uneaten food that has to be tossed.

Spring Cleaning!

After KE told me that he killed a cockroach with a Seventh Generation cleaning product I started thinking more about my household cleaners. I buy and use "earth friendly" products but I feel like it would be even more earth friendly to use more natural things- vinegar and baking soda are supposed to clean stuff.

We got a new stove not too long ago and my landlord said "Now you be sure to keep that clean, that's part of the security deposit." (Which my roommate later said, "is that in writing?" I hope she plans to help keep it clean :P ) I was looking at the stove that hadn't been cleaned or even wiped off since the last time I did it and decided to scrub the heck out of it.
I started by removing all the burners (this is a gas stove- I used to be afraid of them having grown up with electric and now I wonder what I'll do if we don't have gas anymore :( Maybe a fire pit) and placing them in the sink to soak for a bit just with water- to soften what gunk could be softened. Then I used my sponge to wipe off the big chunks. (like sweeping before you mop. You know that's what you're supposed to do, right!?)

I did a bit of online research and read about a baking soda and water paste 1:1. That failed miserably. The baking soda sat at the bottom of the measuring cup and when I tried to pour some out all the water on the top came out. I think it's more accurate to say a splash of water with some baking soda. So while I used a bit of this baking soda mixture poured onto the stains and then the soft yellow side of the sponge and a lot o scrubbing and fingernail scratching, i got the stove top to be pretty clean.

When I was in London staying with my friend N, he and his girlfriend had foil (shiny side up) under the burners on their stove and I was so excited by it's brilliance! Now, a mere 3 months later and I finally did it to my stove. After it was all clean and shiny, I ripped of foil sheets the length to cover each pair of burners. Pressing down I was able to mark where the burner elements are and then used my exact-o knife to cut open the tightest hole I could in the foil. (I'm an architect... precision is pretty.) Then I ripped off the foil edges that spilled out of the burner depressions for a nice tidy foil liner- which also doubles as a reflector making the stovetop even more efficient!

It's already been used since I put down the foil but now the part that gets the hottest and is most likely to having spills and mistakes get burned in is covered up and ought to be easy to clean up!

I did have to use some of my Seventh Generation all-purpose cleaning spray to get the gunk off the burners. My method is to put a paper towel over the affected area, spray cleaner fluid on it until it's soaked, let it sit for a bit, then wipe it off. The soaking really helps get out deep stains. Hopefully you were enticed rather than bored by my stovetop cleaning saga and find a way to keep yours clean (saide from washing it every time you cook... which would probably work even better!)

snack time (or post dr. visit lunch before heading to work.

Apple with chunky natural peanut butter! Yum!

I heard yesterday that I was accepted to my first choice school, which means i will in fact be living in Vermont this summer at Yestermorrow . My tuition and housing are covered but food and gas money are not. So these practices (and the blog!) shall help and extend to my summer eating activities. Hopefully I will be able to purchase a lot of fresh foods. I imagine I won't be eating a lot of meats so that I'm eating cheaper. I still need to get the scoop on the kitchen availability... and if I will be able to bake cookies there. Hm, perhaps I can go to a shop that sells things in bulk and buy just enough flour and sugar for cookies and not have extras to deal with while I'm living in a screened in cabin (my mom vetoed me staying in tent... I thought it would be fun for a summer!).

Totally unrelated: KE is awesome, he got me a whistling kettle! My previous kettle didn't whistle and I was distracted by a movie the other day and burnt it pretty badly when the water cooked off and I remembered it about halfway into my movie!

Now that I'm done with my apple snack and doctor's appointment it's time to get to work!

Happy Thursday!

So I failed to bring lunch... or eat breakfast at home

Everything bagel toasted with cream cheese and a small hot chocolate
$2.85

3 potato samosas from the Cafe Spice in Grand Central Terminal
$3.63

Celebratory bag of M&Ms (I got into my first choice grad school!)
$3.78 (Easter colors, they were cheaper than regular by 50 cents!)

$10.26 Total

All paid for with my spare change, cause I'm not taking out anymore cash until I have it to take out!

What can I make when I don't want to buy anything? OR Pantry Fun!

My freezer is pretty full. In fact, so is my pantry. I always have stuff on hand which I think comes from having parents a) who grew up post depression b) aware that we lived in an earthquake zone (emergency supply) and c) who had a Costco membership. Since beginning to live on my own I've always stocked up on food. At the end of my home cooing challenge last week I realized this may be to my detriment, at least when it comes to produce. I bought the 1# bag of mixed greens because it was cheaper than paying per weight. However if I don't use all the greens then that's money I could have not spent as the price difference wasn't that great.

The thing that has saved me through this over-purchase of produce is these green bags I got at Whole Foods that apparently advertises on TV as well (I don't really watch V... I think I'm going to sell mine). So far they have worked really well compared to produce that can barely make it to the end of the week the fruit and veggies are still fresh. I failed to put the mixed greens in one of these bags,

I am heating up a cheese and spinach filo pie from my freezer which is from Trader Joes. I was contemplating cooking something else, however my kitchen ceiling began leaking again despite having the roof recently having been replaced and the temperature not dipping below freezing all day... Well... this is not a good development.

So, assuming I have an active kitchen in the next week without a puddle in the middle of my kitchen...

Wednesday:
B: yogurt and berries and honey and granola, oh my!
L: salad (if the lettuce is still good), with smoked salmon and peas
D: with KE, ginger chicken and yam fries and broccoli

Thursday:
B: cereal and smoothie
L: Left over Moroccan Chicken Soup with couscous
D: Make dinner with Erin (tbd)

Friday:
B: cereal and milk
L: sandwich (do I have bread? Hmm... figure out)
D: Heat up left overs before food co-op shift.


I'm distracted by the dripping in the kitchen.

Need to bring lunch again...

Pret, albeit it yummy, is expensive, especially when compared to my last week of bringing homemade lunch everyday.
Today cost $9.38 for my hot chocolate, Moroccan lentil Soup and tasty fatty sweet lemon orange poppy seed muffin (that I love, Mmmmm).

Yikes, no wonder I hardly have any savings with lunch prices in midtown being so high. I'm thinking I need to bring a hot beverage container as well (That makes 3 total metal canisters on days I bring soup!). It's so cold in our office even when the heat is on. It also shuts of at 6:04pm (why, I do not know) and gets cold really quickly. The weather when I checked a bit ago was 18 F, and I'm pretty sure that's taken at ground level. I'm on the 37th floor, I need a hot beverage to keep me toasty at the end of the day!

Definitely bringing lunch tomorrow. Psht. ten dollars!

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.