My Weekend Top 10

Last weekend was so hectic with renting the U-Haul, hiring movers and having all of our big home items brought from our old house to our rental house.  It didn't feel like a weekend at all.  This weekend was much better.  It was still busy, but it was filled with things that I love to do on the weekends.  Here's my weekend top 10:

1.  Staying home-like I said before, it was just so nice not to have any set in stone plans. 

2.  Kickboxing-I take a kickboxing class on Friday nights that's mixed with plyometrics and then I take a total kickboxing class on Saturday mornings.  I LOVE kickboxing! 

3.  Spinning-I burn so many calories in one hour of spinning class!  This is what I look like when it's over!

(Kind of gross but kind of awesome too!)

4.  Making quinoa nachos with the vegan queso dip from the Post Punk Kitchen.  I did try to scale back this time on the cashews to just 1/2 cup instead of a full cup and they didn't taste the same as last time.  I also think that maybe I didn't puree the cashews long enough to make them smooth and creamy.  The consistency of the queso turned out a little bit gritty this time.  It still tastes good though. 

5.  Free avocados at Earth Fare-sometimes Earth Fare has some great coupons!  Most of the time, if you spend $5, you get something for free.  This weekend's deal was for free avocados with a $5 purchase.  You got 2 free avocados with a $5 purchase so I went back twice and ended up with 4 free organic hass avocados.  Score!

6.  Using my donut pans for the first time and making these donuts from Chocolate Covered Katie.  The donuts turned out really good but we ended up eating them more like pancakes with yogurt and sliced strawberries.  Here's a picture of the donuts before topped with yogurt and strawberries:

7.  Walking in the sunshine with R and Corny on Sunday afternoon-we had a mostly rainy weekend but there was a brief period of time on Sunday morning into the afternoon where we had some beautiful sunshine.  We took Corny to the dog park and on a walk along the river for a little while before my spinning class.  It was nice to soak up a bit of sunshine. 

8.  Going to see the movie, "J. Edgar" at the dollar movie instead of watching the Super Bowl-when I say dollar movie, I truly do mean that.  On Sundays, we can go see slightly older movies for $1.  Awesome!  So we spent $2 total to see the movie because we brought our own drinks, popcorn and snacks. 

(Even though this movie was pretty sad to me, I still really enjoyed it.)

9.  Aldi produce bargains-I just recently discovered Aldi but I am so glad I did.  Right now, we have to really watch our spending because of having our mortgage payment and the rental house payment each month.  Money is pretty tight.  I try to buy as much organic produce as possible, but right now, much of it is just not affordable for us.  Each week, Aldi has weekly produce specials and, so far, they have been pretty awesome!  This week, I stocked up on broccoli for 89 cents a package, mushrooms for 69 cents a package, grape tomatoes for 69 cents, and baby carrots for 49 cents a pound.  I bought a ton of produce! 

10.  Getting a new food scale in the mail-I left my other food scale at the other house last weekend and I knew that it might be awhile before we made it back to the other house.  I just decided to order another one online because the food scale is so important for me to have.  If I measure things out in cups, I tend to give myself way too much food.  I can't do that with the food scale.  I have had a lot of luck with the Escali model so I just decided to order one just like my other one from Amazon.  (Except this time I ordered a pretty retro green colored scale!)

(Photo source:  scalesetc.com)

Overall, it was a great weekend....just too fast.  (As always.)  It's always nice to just have some downtime.  Have a great week!

Busy, Busy

(Even though life is busy right now, we are still trying to get out and explore more of Asheville.  This picture was on the double decker bus that serves coffee and dessert.  It was super cute on the inside!)

As always, life is moving so fast these days!  To add to the already busy holiday season, we are moving this weekend!  This is very exciting because ever since we moved to Asheville, we have been living in a place we are not happy with.  Things will be quite a bit tighter financially but we decided that it was worth it for our quality of life.  So I am sure next weekend will be filled with packing and moving boxes!  The next few weeks might be filled with easy dinners like this:

(Mexi Pizza topped with fresh diced tomatoes and Follow Your Heart Vegan Sour Cream)

I decided to join the gym that I am taking classes at.  I guess they were successful with their Groupon coupon….at least with me.  I really like taking classes to mix things up.  The gym membership is pretty inexpensive as far as memberships go (about $20/month) but I did have to commit to 3 years.  Oh well….I am cheap so that will probably keep me motivated because I won’t want to lose money.  My weekly class schedule looks like this:

Monday: Rip & Ride (Cycling class mixed with cardio and strength training)

Tuesday: Boot Camp

Wednesday:  Rip & Ride

Thursday: Spinning

Saturday: Kickboxing

Sunday: Spinning

Just taking these classes alone is definitely worth the membership.  One of the instructors who is also the owner of the gym teaches most of these classes and she is TOUGH but in such a good way.  She pushes her classes really hard.  She always wants to know what your heart rate is and how many calories you have burned to make sure you are working hard!  I love it!  Sometimes I feel like I am on the Biggest Loser! 

(Ali Vincent-Season 5 Biggest Loser   Photo Source)

Speaking of Biggest Loser, Netflix recently added a lot of the seasons to watch instantly.  Yay!  We just couldn't get into season One, so we decided to skip ahead to season 5 when Ali Vincent wins.  How inspirational!  It's very interesting to watch her and many of the comments she made.  She was just so sure she was going to be the first female Biggest Loser and she was right!  She just knew.  I highly recommend watching this season.  I found it to be very motivating!

Recently, I have had a weird obsession with buying huge amounts of groceries.  I bought this basket of broccoli at the farmers market and it completely filled 2 plastic grocery bags.  Also, in the background is 6 boxes of Kashi Go Lean cereal ordered from Amazon Subscribe and Save.  It’s not in the picture, but I recently bought 10 cans of pumpkin, 6 boxes of Rapunzel vegan bouillon  and multiple cans of tomato sauce.  It’s actually not that weird because I have been scoring some awesome deals on things, but it just looks funny in the teeny tiny place we are living in right now.  Oh well…..I am all about bargains. 

Also, Weight Watchers is still going well--my weight is slowly coming back down.  My goal is to be back at the weight I was this summer right after moving to Asheville by Christmas.  We will see.  I am just going to keep working hard and see what happens. 

Anyway, I know my blog has taken the backburner right now and I am sorry for that.  Hopefully when we get settled into our new place, I will be able to start making some new recipes and posting on some things other than life being hectic! 

Recent Online Deals!

I am always looking for a bargain, but I am pretty picky about the food I buy.  I try to buy as much organic food as possible.  I know this isn’t always possible because of cost and availability, but I try to make it happen as much as I can.  I know I have mentioned how much I love Amazon Subscribe and Save before, but I thought I would just share some of my recent online deals.  I also placed an online order this weekend with Vitacost and found some pretty good deals.  I will share those too. 

Amazon deals

(Photo source: Tweetfeed.com)

-Simply Organic Vanilla Extract (Subscribe and Save)-$12.92 for 2 bottles (4 ounce bottles)

(Photo source: Kaboodle.com)

-Coffee Bean Direct Fair Trade Organic Shade Grown coffee (Subscribe and Save)-$34.73 for a 5 pound bag.  (We drink coffee like it’s going out of style!)

(Photo Source: Amazon.com)

-Country Choice Organic Multigrain Hot Cereal (Subscribe and Save)-$13.65 for a 6 pack (18 ounce containers)

(Photo Source: vt-fiddle.com)

-Organic Stevia-8 ounces-$15.95 and free shipping—I know this might not sound like a great deal, but at Trader Joe’s, organic stevia is about $10 for 1 ½ ounces. 

(Photo Source: TheThriftyCouple.com)

-Organic Olive Oil (Subscribe and Save)-$14.50 for 2 25 ½ ounce containers

Vitacost Order

(Shipping was FREE)

-Nutritional Yeast Flakes-$9.77 for 22 ounces

-Spirulina powder-$14.95 for one pound

-Other purchases included kelp flakes, chia seeds, chocolate rice protein, and vanilla plant protein (I have never used any of these products)

If I had bought these items at the nearest health food store, I would be broke as a joke.  I love how online shopping makes it affordable for me to buy good quality foods at a decent price!  I hope this helps/inspires you to check out products that you either can’t find or can’t afford and see if you can find a deal!

Books for Frugal Vegans

(Photo Source: Vegsource.com)

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about participating in the "No Buy Month" challenge.  So far, so good!  I have been utilizing the library A LOT lately!  One book I am currently reading and loving is John Robbins's The New Good Life.  It's a great book about living with less but not feeling deprived.  I haven't finished reading it yet, but so far I am really enjoying it. 

(Photo source: Amazon.com)

Vegan on the Cheap is great cookbook that focuses on inexpensive ingredients.  I have cooked a few recipes out of it, and I have really liked what I have tried.  There's also a comprehensive section at the beginning about different ways to save money on groceries.

(Photo source: VRG)

I haven't made a lot from this cookbook, but Supermarket Vegan is another cookbook that uses easy to find, inexpensive ingredients you can find at most grocery stores.  I have made one recipe that was tasty and I have made a list of others to make, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I am always on the lookout for new vegan books that will help me be frugal.  There are also lots of blogs and online articles out there that tackle the subject.  These are just a few of the books I have.

February is the "No Buy Month" Challenge!

(Photo source: The Frugalista)

A few years ago I was driving down the road listening to NPR and got inspired by Natalie McNeal—also known as “The Frugalista.”  She was talking about how the idea of “No Buy Month” started out as a news story or an experiment that she would do and then write about it during the month.  What she discovered was that she saved $400 the first time she did it!  That’s a substantial savings in one month’s time!  This was around the time we were thinking about buying a house and we knew we would have to really start budgeting our money in order for that to happen.  So, while I was listening to “The Frugalista” on NPR that day, I decided to take charge of our finances and stop senseless and unnecessary spending. 

I got inspired by being frugal!  I decided to look at where our money was going and how to shop and spend money responsibly.  I attribute this one day and this one NPR story to a lot of changes I made about spending money.  That was really when I started buying clothes at Goodwill.  I RARELY spend money on clothes at stores other than thrift stores anymore.  This is actually for a couple of reasons—reason #1 is that it saves me money.  Reason #2 is that it’s good for the environment b/c I am recycling and reason #3 is that I am not supporting sweat shops by purchasing my clothes this way.  It’s a win-win-win scenario!  However, after I started losing weight, I did start to slack off a bit.  Instead of always going to a thrift shop, I did start to go to stores like Target because I wanted to be able to try on clothes and buy new clothes in a smaller size.  I don’t do this often and I don’t feel guilty about going into Target and being able to fit into and buy a pair of size 10 jeans!  Granted, I could have done the same thing at Goodwill, but I was near a Target and it was convenient for me that day. 

When I first heard about the Frugalista that day, we already had a trip planned to NYC for the summer.  We had paid for the airplane tickets and where we were staying.  This trip was actually a bargain.  I also don’t regret spending money on travel because it’s one of my greatest joys in life.  I LOVE to travel and I would rather go without a lot of “things” to be able to spend more money on traveling.  Anyway, as I started reading the Frugalista’s blog, she talked about finding free things to do on vacation or when you are in a different city.  She also had a trip planned to NYC and decided to find all of the free and fabulous things you could do there.  There are so many!  I also did some research on this and found a lot of great things we were able to do.  Many museums have discounts and even free days.  We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art for FREE!  Yes, it was crowded, but isn’t all of NYC?!  J  I can handle a few more people to be able to get in for free!  We also did a lot of walking and using the Subway instead of taking cabs.  We saw so much of the city this way and we got a lot of exercise.  It really was an inexpensive GREAT trip and part of that was because I was so inspired by the Frugalista’s blog. 

We were able to buy a house that summer and slowly but surely, I got back into my old ways of buying too many books on Amazon and making too many senseless purchases.  But lately, I am really trying to focus again on making smart financial choices.  That is why I am taking part in the “No Buy Month” challenge.  Here’s what it will include:

-I will still buy groceries but I will work to be as frugal as possible with what I buy at the grocery store. (I plan to blog a lot more about this very soon!)

-No dining out

-No paying for entertainment

-No ordering books on Amazon (especially vegan cookbooks!)

-No shopping for clothes, shoes, kitchen gadgets, etc. (Basically, the necessities are it-that’s all I can spend money on.)

-No spending money on Valentine’s Day-we are going to figure out how to celebrate without spending any money.

-We will still pay our bills (of course). 

There are a few exceptions to the “No Buy Month” challenge:

-We are going to pay $5 a piece to see Forks Over Knives (the $5 also includes vegan dessert and tea)

-R will get her car stereo installed that she got for her birthday.

-I have a hair appt. that’s been scheduled for a long time that’s at the end of February-I may keep it and not reschedule since I have had it planned since before the “No Buy Month" Challenge.  We will see. 

So, that’s basically it in a nutshell.  How can we be frugal and fabulous?  How can we not spend money but still have a good time and not miss out on things?  That’s what February is going to be all about! 

Good Deal Alert!

I LOVE using canned pumpkin.  I use it for muffins, french toast, cookies, etc.  I love it because it's good in so many things and it's so healthy.  I also love to buy organic as much as possible.  Organic canned pumpkin can often be very expensive.  Sometimes it's $2.50-$3.00 a can for the organic kind.  But Amazon has a good deal on the Farmers Market brand of organic canned pumpkin.  It's $16.00 for 12 cans OR it's $13.60 if you do the "Subscribe and Save" option.  That makes it out to be just a little over $1 a can.  I love the "Subscribe and Save" because you automatically get 15% off the product and free shipping.  I have it set up for Amazon to send me the pumpkin every 6 months, but it's no big deal if I change my mind.  I can change how often I want them to send it, skip a shipment or just cancel the "subscription" all together without having to pay a fee.  I use "Subscribe and Save" for a lot of different things such as vegan vitamins, agave nectar, Organic Zero sweetener and vital wheat gluten.  I thought you might be interested!

Onion Project Success!

So....I am a nerd.  I own that and I even embrace it.  It's just who I am.  So this project is a little on the nerdy side, but it was a total success.  Awhile back, someone on the Weight Watchers Vegetarian Message Board mentioned prepping a bag of onions all at once and freezing them.  That way you just cry once and get it over with.  So I started doing that.  However, it still felt like a pain in the ass to me b/c it burned my eyes so bad and by the time I was finished, it was like I had just watched My Life with Michael Keaton.  So, when Rebekah asked me to pick up some goggles for her so she could swim at the gym, I decided to get some for myself to try out this little project.

Step 1:  Get some goggles

Step 2:  Get a bag of onions

Step 3:  Get other supplies ready: food processor, knife and cutting board and containers to put your onions in

Step 4:  Chop the onions into chunks, food process and put into individual containers-then freeze

That's it!  If you prepare your onions this way, it takes the hassle out of it.  You wear the goggles so you don't cry, you prep a lot of them at once and you freeze them.  You will always have onions ready to go into any recipe at any time.  Amazing!