Menu Plan Sunday

I'm going to try a different timing with my menu plan, and post it on Sundays (despite the lack of symmetry with "Monday" and "Menu" ;-), and have Monday be a fitness recap. I'll give it a whirl & see how it goes.

• Friday: orange chicken & fried rice
• Saturday: spaghetti & meatballs + garlic bread
• Sunday: one pot chicken & rice
• Monday: leftover spaghetti & meatballs
• Tuesday: tacos
• Wednesday: leftover chicken & rice
• Thursday: Thanksgiving! We have steak, scalloped potatoes, sauteed green beans with parmesan & toasted almonds & ice cream & pie. Oh, and the adults often have pomegranate martinis as part of happy hour, where the teens eat goat cheese crostini with pomegranate seeds on top. 
• Friday: chicken shawarma

What about you? What's on your menu for the week? Any fun new recipes to recommend? 

Saturday Happenings

I spent the majority of the morning working through job applications (always a treat) & getting chores done on the computer. I also finished my shopping for M (we just do a few small items) & rounded out my list of what I still need to buy. That felt nice to mark off of my to do list.

As for the rest of the day, I have a few fun things on the agenda (yoga, old coworker meet up) & then regular chores:

• Make one pot chicken & rice dish for dinner
• Call Sam (getting him to answer will be the real adventure)
• Help Nick with some college application tasks
• Review essays from student I'm mentoring
• Daily chores (language lesson, journal & meditation)
• Pay physics tutor
• Go for a walk with former coworker
• Vacuum
• Sort out flights for girls trip to Sedona in the spring

What about you? What are you up to today? A mix of chores & fun, I hope!

And, for visual interest, photo of the start of one of our hikes last weekend. Zion in the fall was incredible!

Frugal Friday

 Saving on things we buy

• Sam asked if he could join ski club in college, and wanted a season's pass for Christmas. I was able to get the college discount ($60 off) pretty easily. I also review my credit card offers regularly, and found a 20% cash back reward for the pass, which will save another $211! That is a huge savings. I've never seen the season pass credit card offer, and typically skip over the "entertainment" category of rewards, but this reminds me to explore all options. 
• I chased down our orthodontia claim with our dental insurance, and finally got a hold of someone who could help. We received a reimbursement check of $2300. 
• Noticed that the local airport was running a holiday parking sale (if you pre-book), so I was able to book advanced parking for our trip to Portland over Christmas. I saved $12 by booking early. 
• I was very close to clicking "buy" on Southwest flights for my parents to visit in April (when we are going to Spain - they will be looking after Nick - the last trip where we will need to fly anyone in for "child" care purposes!), but decided to check Alaska. Alaska hasn't been competitive vs Southwest in at least 18 months, but today they were $400 cheaper! I also assumed I'd used the wallet credit I had in my spreadsheet, but nope, I also had a $300 travel credit, which saved almost half of the cost of the flights. My parents prefer Alaska vs Southwest, so they will be thrilled. 

Earning money

• I found $81 in my Paypal account (a combination of Rakuten cash back + a survey payment), and transferred that over to my bank account. 
• I had a small gambling budget for my night in Las Vegas, and won money, which is always a really fun treat! 

Avoiding spending

• Saved around $1800 on spring club soccer fees, as Nick is playing school tennis instead. Last year he needed to do both to keep his soccer skills high enough to make the high school team, but this year is his last year of club soccer & we've just completed the fall season! We've had 2 kids in club soccer for 11 years, and then one bonus year with just Nick. It's been a lot of soccer!!!
• Chatted with the family about ways to reduce holiday spending, now that 5 of 6 "kids" are adults. We are moving into an exchange vs gifts for all, which will cut off two folks from everyone's shopping list. 

Eating what we have

• Defrosted the remaining beef & broccoli for an easy dinner this week. I tend to not use much broccoli in the first prep of the dish, knowing we will have leftovers. I then warm the beef, and add fresh broccoli & allow that to just barely steam, and then serve. It keeps the broccoli fresh, and makes the leftovers very tasty. 
• Made (an extra hungry) Nick popcorn as a pre-dinner snack. All of that school soccer is increasing his appetite.
• Made Nick various lunches from items around the house, when he was home between high school & college class. I used up the last of our bread & cheese to make him a few grilled cheese sandwiches this week.
• We had the leftover white bean & chicken sausage skillet leftovers for a dinner, and then I had the rest for lunch, along with a piece of toast and a banana. 

For others

• Hiking friend from last weekend & I previously worked for the same company. She received a very senior promotion offer from them, so I helped her negotiate the offer & come up with a list of questions, prep for the offer call. As I'd previously worked at the company as well, she appreciated having someone she could discuss it with who knew the compensation. 
• Had a call with one of the students I'm mentoring, and reviewed her college essays. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Mid week menu plan

 It's definitely been a fly by the seat of my pants menu plan this week. But, checking the freezer & going through what's available in the fridge always helps.

My friend & I did takeout on Friday night, and then a dinner out on Saturday & Sunday, so no meal planning was involved.

On Monday, I came back & had no plans, so Nick picked up takeout Greek food for the two of us, while M ate leftovers (his preference). 

I got it together yesterday, and defrosted the beef & broccoli dish, cutting up fresh broccoli to steam at the end of the warming of the beef, which made the recipe much fresher tasting. No one likes mushy broccoli.

• Wednesday - as for today, I've defrosted the white beans & sausage dish that we both really liked from last week.
• Thursday - there is taco meat in the freezer, so I'll be pulling that out & Nick will have tacos, and we will have taco salads
• Friday - I also discovered orange chicken in the freezer, so that will be the plan

I will plan a proper meal plan for next week, including Thanksgiving! What's on your Thanksgiving menu?

Zion, St. George and Las Vegas

 As I mentioned in a previous post, a friend and I met up for a very impromptu trip. We hadn't seen each other in 10 years, and it was so fabulous to catch up! It felt like no time had passed & it was so wonderful to spend time together.

We also had an absolute blast, and so many laughs that I spent chunks of the trip crying with laughter. I've missed her so much. 

We met up in Las Vegas, spent a night there, and then headed to St. George, where she has a vacation condo. We hiked one day at Snow Canyon, and another day at Zion. Zion in the fall was breathtaking. (Photos below). We also got lottery permits for Angels Landing, so we did part of that hike. I stopped where the chains drop off & there's a sheer vertical on both sides. I'm not afraid of heights, but that was a definite no for me. There are no photos anywhere near Angels Landing, because I had both of my hands very tightly wrapped around the chains! :-) 

Here's how much the trip cost:

• Flights to/from Las Vegas  = $100 seat selection fees + $485 on a gift card (pricey, as they were very last minute)
• Rental car - my friend covered this
• Hotel in Las Vegas - I used comps to cover the hotel & parking fees
• Two lunches & one dinner in Las Vegas for both of us - largely covered by comps, minus tips & drinks for the road trip to St. George = $124.76
• Two dinners in Utah =  $97.85 (I treated for one, and paid for myself for the other)
• I bought groceries & supplies for breakfast/lunches while hiking = $104.84
• Airport snacks = $12.39
• Lyfts to/from the airport (M ended up not being able to drive me) + while in Las Vegas = $151.40 (could have saved a bit by parking at the airport, but trip was very last minute!)
• Angels Landing permits - $12
• Park entrance fees = covered by my friend's park passes 
• Souvenirs at Zion (for me + Nick)  = $103.97
• Lodging in St. George = stayed at my friend's vacation condo

Total spent for 5 day trip = $1192. It worked out so well, as my friend had the condo & already had a rental car, and I was able to use the comps in Las Vegas. Overall, it was an incredible trip and one we will definitely be repeating!

Are you afraid of heights? Here's a quick overview of Angels Landing, if you're not a hiker. 

Frugal Friday

 It's definitely not going to be a frugal week here, because I'm joining a friend on a very last minute (planned this week) hiking trip. We will be staying in her condo, but the trip involves a flight & sharing the cost of a rental car, so definitely still some expenses. 

Saving on things we buy

• Uploaded a couple of digital offers at the grocery store and saved a couple of bucks. Also added the receipt to iBotta & saved another $2.50.
• Reached out to Sam's roommate's mom (she's booking his holiday travel) to coordinate their flight times. This means they can share an Uber to the airport, which will save ~$50. 

Earning money

• Transferred $22.38 from iBotta to my savings account. Not a lot, but I'd rather cash it out, as some of these programs devalue points & earnings over time. 
• Signed up for a user study and earned $75/day on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday (three hours/day). 

Avoiding spending

• The only time M could take me to the airport was several hours before my flight, so I agreed to get to the airport *very* bright & early to avoid the cost of an Uber. 

Eating what we have

• M bought oat milk at Costco, and it wasn't the regular kind. I tried it, not knowing there was a big difference, & I'm really not a fan. It's Costco, so these are two large containers. I've been using 1/2 of my preferred brand, and 1/2 of the watery Costco version, to avoid waste. I'll be happy to see the end of that second container!
• The pomegranates are absolutely fantastic right now, and they have been a delicious dessert in the evenings. 
• I went out to a goodbye brunch for a friend that's moving, and brought home leftovers. Those served as my lunch the following day. 
• I fed myself, Nick & M after the user study on Tuesday, and then Nick let me know he was having five people over for a physics study group. So, I got busy finding other things they could all eat. They finished the ramen from the pantry, and ate a bunch of chicken tenders I keep in the freezer for just such occasions. 
• We've been buying the big containers of spinach from Costco, and it's always my goal to use it up before it gets slimy. I've been looking for recipes that use it up, and so far, so good. We've only had to toss a small amount. 
• I finally used up the cranberries from the freezer to make M cranberry muffins. Bonus that I used up some expired orange juice & yogurt that needed to go as well. 

For others

• Continued volunteering for the college students I'm mentoring. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Last minute trip planning

First up, I wanted to share another recipe that we liked. I made the chicken sausage white bean skillet last night, and it was so easy & simple. Highly recommend. We followed the recipe exactly, although we did top ours with fresh basil (lots in the garden) & will likely increase the spinach next time around. It was a great fall/winter dish. 

One of my favorite things about not working over the past few months has been last minute travel. It was my goal to "say yes" to lots of opportunities (when feasible) & just enjoy catching up with lots of people. I'll do a recap at the end of the year, but I'd definitely say I've achieved this. 

On Saturday, I texted an old friend to check in, and we set up a time to talk on the phone. I hadn't spoken to her in six months, & it was so fabulous to catch up. She mentioned that she was doing a last minute trip to her vacation house in St. George (near Zion National Park) & asked if I wanted to join. We haven't seen each other in 10ish years. Yes, please!

I'm flying into Santa Ana tomorrow, she's picking me up (she's there for work), & we're driving to Las Vegas. We will have dinner & stay the night in Las Vegas, and then carry on to St. George. We plan to hike & catch up. I'm excited my hiking boots are going to get another opportunity for use! We'll do the reverse on Monday, driving back to Las Vegas & flying home. 

I found a free night at the Aria in my email, so we will stay there & have dinner. 

I'm so excited to catch up with a friend I haven't seen in forever, and hiking is always one of my top ways to spend time together. 

When was the last time you said yes to last minute plans (travel or otherwise)? I confess to being a huge planner, and not being particularly spontaneous, so this is a work in progress for me. 

Menu Plan Monday

 Another Monday has made its way back around, and it's menu planning time. 

• Friday - salmon + gyozos (discovered we had three bags in the freezer)
• Saturday - leftover garlic noodles with beef & broccoli (this recipe was great, btw)
• Sunday - Swedish meatballs (carryover from last week) 
• Monday - chicken sausage & white bean skillet
  
• Tuesday - tacos (meat from the freezer)
• Wednesday - leftover Swedish meatballs
• Thursday - leftover chicken sausage & white bean skillet
• Friday - TBD. Maybe pizza

What about you? What's on the menu for the week at your house?

Fitness recap for the week

Like everything else in life, I find it helpful to track & recap, looking for ways I can improve. My goal for November is to lose 2 lbs, & continue to build & grow my fitness, while trying to improve my flexibility. I'm always also looking to maintain balance, get plenty of sleep and manage my overall stress (important for lupus).

Here's what happened this week.

Workouts:

• Sunday -  60 minute workout class + 4 mile walk with a friend who was in town
• Monday - yoga 
• Tuesday - 60 minute workout class
• Wednesday - 7.5 mile hike 
• Thursday - 60 minute workout class + 1 hour of pickleball
• Friday - 60 minute workout class
• Saturday - 4 mile walk

Average daily steps for the week = 13,952

Average calories for the week = 1522

Weight = no change

How I feel about the week: Tuesday wasn't a great eating day. I mostly skipped dinner & had Halloween candy & wine. Surprisingly, until that point, I'd eaten almost no Halloween candy (a vast improvement over prior years), but things went off the rails a bit on Tuesday. I pulled things together & avoided candy for the rest of the week. On Monday (yoga day), my steps were crazy low, but that sort of averaged out with the long hike on Wednesday. Overall, I feel pretty good about the week, all things considered.

Goals for this week:

• Drop the average daily calories down slightly (I have a VERY low resting metabolic rate), under 1500
• Avoid sugar entirely
• Maintain everything else

What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness? Anything you want to work on? 

Saturday things

I'm so happy that my sister & her partner are visiting Sam today, on Family Weekend. We thought about going, but it's so close to Thanksgiving. 

I'm going for a walk this morning, making muffins & helping Nick with some college tasks. That's my to do list for the day.

Here are a few things that are making me happy right now:

• We are having stunning fall weather. It's going to be 70 today, and the leaves & the sunshine are *chef's kiss*. It's gorgeous & makes it really fun to be outside.
• I have amazing friends, and I've been making new friends through my workout class. I'm trying to expand my circle a bit.
• M & I are in such a good place. We always get along well, but there's something really special about having someone who deeply knows you & supports you through ups & downs. 
• DS17 made me laugh so hard yesterday. He's making posters for his cheerleading friends for their senior nights. The slogans he came up with (tied to the names) were hysterical, and he invested a lot of time in drawing pictures. He's a riot. I love how he supports his friends.
• M & I are playing a lot of rummy, and have bets going. We have to track them, because so much betting is occurring that neither of us can remember who is ahead & who "owes" who. 
• I joined a book club & am going to start reading a new book today. 

Anything you want to share that's making you happy today?

Frugal Friday

 It's Friday again! Here's a roundup of a few wins for the week. 

Saving on things we buy

• I needed a variety of pantry staples that I was out of, so decided it was a good time to hit up Safeway & use a $25 gift card I earned via Fetch. I also took the time to download two $1 off coupons in their app. I bought: stone ground mustard, Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, whipping cream, a bag of potatoes, & a bunch of celery. I spent $4.74. This was still a lot for what I got, but those pantry staples can be quite expensive, so it was a good time to use the gift card. I rarely shop at Safeway, unless they have a particularly good loss leader. I also uploaded my receipt to Fetch, saving a bit more, as they have a Safeway receipt offer.  
• With Sam at an out of state college, we've had a lot of flight expenses. Southwest is almost always quite a bit cheaper than Alaska. Costco was selling Southwest gift cards for $429.99 for a $500 gift card. I bought the limit of 5. I used my Costco credit card, which saved $43. All told, I paid $2149.95 for $2500 worth of gift cards, then minus the additional $43. 

Earning money

• Sold a pair of work pants I bought & didn't wear before I stopped working. Made $20 on eBay. One more item out of the house!
• A huge one - finally sold our extra car! This *almost* covers the cost of our property taxes, so that's a big win. 

Avoiding spending

• Charged our car for free at M's office. This is something we do weekly, but I often forget about the savings.

Eating what we have

• We've been using up peppers (purchased for fajitas during my parents visit) in salads
• Eating lots of pomegranates from our tree. They are delicious!
• Ate leftover french dip sandwich for lunch (this was from our Halloween dinner out)
• Rescued a potato soup fail by pureeing it, adding more cream & sour cream & thinning it out a bit with milk. While not exactly what I'd envisioned (my fault, I added too many other veggies), it's definitely passable. 

For others

• Very minor, but picked up some leftover trash on the pickle ball court, after we wrapped up our game. Someone else had left it behind, but it's nice to keep the courts clean for everyone. 
• I picked up glass beer bottles left behind on the soccer field. This is especially dangerous, as the bottles break, glass gets into the turf, and it can really injure the kids. 
• Continued to do calls & volunteer for my high school students. 

How about you? Any wins to share?

One week into November

 I'm trying to really focus on my goals this month, after a not so successful October. We're one week into November, and here's how things are going. 

Financial:

• Achieve savings goal. If we sell a car, that will get added on top of the savings goal.
• Mini freezer clean out:
• Eat 1/2 of the pizza in the freezer
• Use up the cranberries
• Sell the white car - yay! Sold!! 
• Sell fitness watch

Family:

• Help Nick with final college application & scholarship essay
• Sort out plans for winter break
• Finalize all travel plans for Sam -- all flights are booked. Need to sort out a shuttle. 
• One fun activity with the boys, while Sam is in town for Thanksgiving
• 2 dates with M - we played pickleball over the weekend. 

Fitness:

• 15 strength workouts - I've done a total of 4 so far. 
• Follow the No S diet 15 days & track calories daily - I've tracked my calories daily, and had two No S days. 
• Schedule MRI
• Lose 2 lbs

Personal:

• Complete daily tasks 20 times (meditate, language lesson, journal) - I've had 6 so far. 
• Get together with friends - yes, hiked, met a friend for coffee, met another friend for a walk, and pickleball with another friend today. 
• Declutter 25 items - 11/25
• Network 2x
• Continue exploring jobs. - oh yes. 
• Spend time on volunteer role - yes. 
• Come up with more structure in my daily routine

As for today, here's what's on the plan:

1. Workout class
2. Pickleball with a new friend
3. Vacuum
4. Trim some bushes in the yard
5. Work on job applications
6. Make cranberry muffins
7. Work on the menu for next week
8. Plan for the weekend
9. Daily activities (language lesson, meditate, journal)
10. Look into guitar lessons & a class at the local college
11. Call to set up MRI

What about you? How are you doing with your November goals? 

Wednesday Happenings

First of all, what is happening with recruiters? I've had three calls scheduled (this is over several months) where recruiters just don't show up. No reschedule, no cancellation email, no apology. It's so unprofessional. I get that things come up, but as someone who has interviewed hundreds of people over the course of my career, I've never bailed without notice or an email. So bizarre. Anyway, suffice it to say my interview yesterday didn't happen. I had one hilarious situation where an exec was reaching out to my LinkedIn, really wanting me to apply for a role. 1) I'd already replied. 2) the recruiter blew me off not once, but twice for a call. When I let him know about #2, he was mortified. I let him know, because clearly the recruiter was disappointing plenty of potential candidates out there.

Anyway, on to other things. 

I'm hiking with a friend this morning. We live near a nature preserve (one of my absolutely favorite parts of our location) & I have a great trail we take often. But, I found another loop of it (actually, Nick showed me a few weeks ago) that extends it a bit & ends with a gorgeous view. Maybe we will try that out.

I also didn't finish my volunteer work yesterday, so that's on the agenda for today.

And, job searching. I feel blessed that I've never had to job search like this before. I got my first job via an internship in college, and had a full time offer before I graduated. Then, when we moved to California, the company that hired M asked to interview me as well & I got an offer without trying. I swapped jobs within the first company I worked for, but that process was very easy & low risk. I do not enjoy the current job search process. I've made it to three final interviews where the company decided not to fill the role (very common right now, as companies are posting 3-4 jobs for every head count, and then seeing which they fill first & then cancelling the other roles). I'm also trying to make a bit of a pivot, industry wise, which is much harder than applying for the most logical next job from a resume perspective. Anyway, it's a lot of time & emotional energy. I have a lot of compassion for folks who are frantically job searching & are desperate to replace their income, because it's so rough out there. 

As always, plenty of yard work awaits me. And, maybe some muffin baking. Today feels like a day to make cranberry muffins (M's favorites), or, work through the glut of bananas. We're going to have to stop buying them. Nick eats maybe one a week. Definitely not enough to keep buying bunches. Maybe I'll buy the occasional solo banana at Trader Joes moving forward. 

What are you up to today? Inspire me with all of your fun or creative pursuits!