Workout Wednesday

 I had five hard workouts & one good run this week, besting my 5k time from last year, so I'll take it!

Workouts for the week:

• Monday - 45 minute elliptical workout
  
• Tuesday - Orange Theory workout class
• Wednesday - Orange Theory workout class
• Thursday - 5k run with the family
• Friday - Orange Theory workout class
• Saturday - Orange Theory workout class
• Sunday - Orange Theory workout class

Eating: Generally, there was a lot of eating & way more dessert than usual, thanks to the holiday & long weekend.

Highlights/Lowlights: I'm still snacking too much, and am trying hard to get things back under control post Thanksgiving. 

Focus for the week ahead: my goal is to brush my teeth after dinner, to hopefully avoid evening munchies. 

What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness?

Menu Plan Monday

We're working our way through some leftovers, and trying to ensure there's no food waste. I'm keeping the plan a bit loose this week, to ensure we don't have to toss any food. 

• Friday - various Thanksgiving leftovers
• Saturday - In & Out (not the plan, but we were running late from another activity)
• Sunday - Philly cheesesteaks
• Monday - chicken curry & rice
• Tuesday - grilled chicken + any leftovers, or over salads
• Wednesday -spaghetti & meatballs, or something easy, as I think Nick has a school game
• Thursday - leftovers?
• Friday - wings + spring rolls

What about you? What's on your menu this week?

Saturday Happenings

It's been a lovely long weekend so far (we've all been off work/school since Thursday), with plenty of relaxing. Nick went to a tennis clinic yesterday, & had a great time. 

I did some cooking, & made butternut squash soup, from squash we froze from the garden. It was delicious & I will definitely make it again. It was roughly based on a recipe, but I tweaked it quite a bit to get the flavor I was looking for. Yum!

I also made cranberry muffins, to use up some of the leftover cranberries. They are M's favorites, so he was thrilled to see those get added to the freezer.

As for today, here's what we're up to:

• Workout class in the morning
• Clean & wipe down the fridge
• Pick up books from a BN person
• Meet up with M's cousin's family for a mini golf outing
• Laundry
• Work on plans for the week ahead (calendar, workout classes, etc)
• Pay bills

What about you? What are you up to today?

Frugal Friday

It was a busy week, but we had some wins along the way. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used a $1 expiring Rite Aid reward, to buy the boys deodorant. They need... a lot of it!
• Used a coupon code & a reward to pick up a few Christmas gifts for the boys. The gifts are actually from my parents, but saving money is a win for everyone. 

Earning money

• Sold the last of M's jackets on eBay. As expected, it sold within a week of listing it. I only wish everything I listed sold as well. 
• Cashed out $20.75 via iBotta. We rarely buy anything that matches up with offers, so it's nice to get a bit out, even though it takes time.
• Sold a bunch of travel gift cards. Raise has been a hassle lately, but it's nice to have them gone, and the money back into the travel budget. This airline dropped a lot of routes during COVID, so the gift cards were near impossible for us to use. 
• Received a rebate from our mortgage company. They were auditing some paperwork, and realized they overcharged us for our appraisal. We bought the house in 2017, so I have no idea why this just popped. Anyway, received a check for just under $500. Unexpected money is always a fun surprise. 

Avoiding spending

• I've been trying hard to avoid random purchases. I'm doing pretty well. I did take the boys grocery shopping, and that played out as expected. ;-) 
• I didn't have any canned tomatoes (the recipe called for one with diced chiles), so I diced a few large tomatoes from the garden & added a jalapeno from the yard. It was a nice freebie replacement, although the tomatoes are really at the end of the season. 

Eating what we have

• Our meals have been the opposite of glamorous this week, but we've all been fed, and we've gotten a lot out of the freezer.
• Used all of the naan bread, in various dinners.
• Ate random leftovers for lunch, numerous times this week. I'm usually pretty hungry after a workout, so it's all good & as long as there is protein and some sort of produce with it, it all works out.  
• We managed to clean out the fridge by Friday night, which is rare! 
• Defrosted a small container of soup for an on the go lunch.
• Finished off the last of two packages of tortillas (one regular, one Keto friendly). We use shells regularly, but one of these was tucked in the back of the fridge & isn't a brand we buy. I think my parents bought them when they were here. I'm glad we discovered them before they went bad. 
• Finished off the last of a bag of pizza rolls, for a weekend teen boy lunch. 
• While doing a bit of freezer organization, discovered a few of the "eggwich" breakfast sandwiches in the freezer, and set one out for an easy breakfast.
• Defrosted an accidental package of chicken (it was attached to two packages I'd planned to defrost) & turned it into soup. The soup had the bonus points of using up the last of carrots, celery lingering in the fridge, potatoes we need to use, & two containers of chicken broth from the freezer. Wins!

For others:

• I worked a four hour shift at a food pantry, and then matched my time with work (earning them an in kind cash match).
• I also helped the food bank supervisor set up a cell phone for the volunteers
• Gave away lots of pomegranate & herbs to friends & neighbors
• Gave away a gift card to the local soccer store. I've had it in my purse for at least two years, and just never go there. I think it has around $20, and a neighbor on BN is buying a Christmas gift from the same shop. Out of my wallet, into the hands of a neighbor who will use it. Win/win. 
• Purchased an Amazon wish list via a friend, to help out a neighborhood family who is struggling right now. The wish list was a mix of basics (deodorant, toothpaste, soap, etc) & some clothing items. 
• Donated to the high school soccer team for Nick, and submitted a request for a match, thus doubling my donation.
• Gave away a bunch of other items (including in demand ski pants) on BN. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Happy Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the US! I hope it's a lovely & relaxing day, filled with family & fun. 

We rallied the troops out of bed this morning, for our traditional turkey trot. It's at a local high school, and all of the money benefits the school. 

Nick blew us all away, with a very fast finish. Sam was right behind him, M a little further back, & while I was last in my group, I finished faster than last year. The workout class I go to does at least some running at the start of each class, which I could tell helped. I'm happy with faster than last year. ;-) 

The boys are now heading to the gym. I'm going to get started on the cake. 

Have a fabulous day, everyone!

Workout Wednesday

I had a consistent set of workouts this week, and am still really enjoying Orange Theory. I was happy I found time to go, even during a really busy work week. 

Workouts for the week:

• Monday - Orange Theory workout class
• Tuesday - 90 minutes of elliptical
• Wednesday - 45 minute spin class + 1.5 mile walk on the treadmill
• Thursday - 90 minutes of elliptical
• Friday - Orange Theory workout class
• Saturday - Orange Theory workout class
• Sunday - Orange Theory workout class

Eating: I did pretty well with eating last week, but definitely still snacked during intense days.

Highlights/Lowlights: Great workouts were the highlights, snacking was the lowlight. 

Focus for the week ahead: track my calories, which I didn't do last week

How about you? How did you do with your health & fitness?

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm hoping this week will be much less stressful than last week. A girl can dream, right? I have Thursday & Friday off of work, which I'm really looking forward to. 

• Friday - wings & gyozos
• Saturday - sesame chicken + rice (really liked this recipe, and it will go into the rotation).
• Sunday - taco skillet (made into burritos for the teen). Eh, thought it needed more seasoning, & it was just "okay". Will likely not make again.  
• Monday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Tuesday - sesame chicken
• Wednesday - butternut squash soup & either baguette or homemade foccacia
• Thursday - Thanksgiving! We'll be having:
• Pomegranate martinis/cider + goat cheese crostini (happy hour)
• Steak
• Mashed potatoes
• Roasted acorn squash
• Green beans
• Chocolate cake/pumpkin pie. Nick & I are not pumpkin pie fans, and he's voted for the cake. M & Sam will have the traditional pie, with ice cream. 
• Friday - Thanksgiving leftovers (minus the steak) + chicken for protein

What about you? What are you having this week?

All of the pomegranates

 M planted a pomegranate tree when we moved in, and it's an amazing producer, now that we're on year 4+. Unfortunately, we got a lot of rain this year (well, it was super fortunate for the drought, but pomegranates do not like big swings in moisture), and many of them started to crack. 

I've picked about 4 Home Depot sized buckets of pomegranates this week. One bucket needed to be tossed, as they were split far enough that they couldn't be used. Others had just minor cracks, and the seeds inside were still protected. 

We've given lots away to friends & neighbors, and M has been busy deseeding them each evening. We all love the arils, so they've been a big hit. The tree runs off of a drip irrigation system, so it's very inexpensive & a very high ROI plant.

We'll see how far M gets into this pile tonight. We have pomegranate martinis every year on Thanksgiving, so the timing is perfect!

Saturday Happenings

This is the first Saturday in a long time without a soccer game! Sam's club season ended last weekend, and Nick injured himself at high school practice, so he'll need to miss the last two games this weekend. 

What will I do with all of this free time?! I'm giddy with the idea of nothing going on. 

Here's what's on the plan for today:

• Defrost meat for meals
• Make banana muffins
• Make a Thanksgiving shopping list
• Stop by Rite Aid & the produce stand
• Pick up a few items at the grocery store
• Go to an early workout class
• Laundry
• Sweep the garage. We could build a turf field with all of the turf in our garage. Both the club fields & school fields are made of turf, and those tiny pellets get everywhere. 
• Clean the fridge
• Organize & inventory the freezer

That's it from my end. What are you up to this weekend?

Frugal Friday

 We've been working on eating things out of the freezer, as ours became overly full very quickly! Progress is being made. We also had a bunch of late nights with work this week, & easy meals were a requirement. 

Saving on things we buy

• I picked up a few items I needed for a holiday bread I make, and earned an iBotta reward for the yeast. Planned the purchase around the 3x points offer that the grocery store had going, and while I was there, picked up the Friday Freebie. 

Earning money

• Found $.15 on the ground, at various kids sporting events. ;-) 
• Earned a bit back from Rakuten, for online purchases over the quarter. It wasn't much, but will go towards offsetting a holiday purchase. 

Avoiding spending

• It's hard to find the right items to fit the boys, at this current phase. I picked up some winter wear, and not everything fit. I returned it right away, although, I just discovered they charge a shipping return fee. Moving forward, I'll suck it up & go to *shivers*, the mall to return the items. 

Eating what we have

• I made M a cauliflower crust pizza (base purchased at Trader Joes), & used a bunch of fridge/freezer remnants to make the pizza (marinara sauce, cheese leftover from Philly cheese steaks, pepperoni from the freezer). He reports that the pizza was fantastic.
• Remembered that we still had a bit of fancy cheese leftover from my parents visit, so got that out for a Friday night "happy hour", and served it with the last of a package of crackers.
• M took all of the arils out of the pomegranate I picked. I need to bring more in. 
• I finished off the last of the chicken pesto pasta for lunch
• Made Saturday's dinner out of items on hand (burger patties + buns in the freezer)
• Remembered to defrost naan bread, for our chicken shawarma dinner. 
• Used a few freezer items for dinner one night: Trader Joes orange chicken, fried rice & edamame. It cleared out quite a bit of freezer space.

For others

• Showed Sam how to sign up for a volunteer opportunity at a food bank. Teaching the teens life skills often takes some work, the first go 'round. :)
• I am also volunteering at a food bank for four hours this week.
• Offered to take a box of corporate swag that was going to the garbage. Parsed it out, and found a charity excited to take mens dress socks, hats & all of the new tshirts. Gave away the wipe board & pen packs on Buy Nothing. Recycled the giant boxes. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Workout Wednesday

 It was a really busy & intense work week, but I still managed some good workouts in there. 

Workouts for the week

• Monday - Orange Theory
• Tuesday - 70 minutes of elliptical
• Wednesday - spinning + 2 miles of walking
• Thursday - 5.5 mile hike with a friend
• Friday - Orange Theory
• Saturday - Orange Theory
• Sunday - Orange Theory

Eating: I'm still wasting about 10% or so of my calories on unnecessary/unhealthy snacks. This needs to be improved.

Highlights/lowlights: I really struggle to avoid treats when I'm stressed at work.

Focus for the week ahead: Better eating, less snacking, continue to calorie track.

What about you? How did you do with your health this week? 

Menu Plan Monday

 Work is approaching peak crazy right now, and our freezers are overflowing. I need easy meals, that reduce our freezer inventory. 

Here's what we're planning for the week:

• Friday - Pizza x2 (cauliflower crust + regular). The regular pizza is in the freezer, and I have a cauliflower crust in the fridge & need to use it up.
• Saturday - Grilled burgers. (Beef + buns in the freezer)
• Sunday - egg roll in a bowl with quinoa (ground beef from the freezer)
• Monday - orange chicken + rice (both from the freezer, as I have a late meeting)
• Tuesday - burgers & brussel sprouts (freezer)
• Wednesday - egg roll in a bowl
• Thursday - chicken curry (freezer)
• Friday - TBD

What about you? What's on your menu this week?

Saturday Happenings

I really need the weekend, to decompress from work & try to take a mental break from all of the drama. Next week is also going to be a very intense week, and I'm doing my best not to borrow trouble & worry about next week over the weekend. I'm doing just an "okay" job at that, at the moment. 

Our freezers are both packed, so I need to also make sure we're making good progress cleaning them out, and menu plan accordingly. 

Here's what's on the agenda for today:

• I was able to switch to an early workout class, because our morning schedule changed a bit
• Sam's soccer game
• Nick's tennis tournament
• M is grilling burgers
• Costco
• Trader Joes
• See if we can fix Nick's $$$ cleats, so we can wear them tomorrow for his game
• Ensure lazy teens clean their rooms
• Laundry
• Sort out the boys phone plans

That's it from my side. What about you? What are you up to today?