Heres something that might be worth checking out. If you ever wanted to learn Japanese, Spanish, French, Hindi, German, or Mandarin Chinese - Check out LiveMocha.
Found via this slickdeals thread, where it is immensely popular. I am checking it out and will be taking courses to improve my Japanese skills. Please do let me know if you use or sign up for LiveMocha!
In other news, I got my free sample of Kashi Granola(expired) and Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons(here) yesterday. I'll probably keep the granola in my car for when I am in desperate need of a snack!
I also got my pedometer today! A few weeks ago, my roommate and I ordered pedometers from Amazon. I'll check in and let you know how having the pedometer (hopefully) makes me more conscious of how much I exercise! Apparently I walked 0.5 during the first half of my work day, I wonder how much I'll walk over a complete day.
~Katharine
PS - Sign up for a free sample of Purex laundry detergent here!
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Favorite Frugal Recipes
I make no secret of it, though you may not know, but I love food! I like expensive food, I like cheap food, I like fancy cuisine, and I like food that people turn their nose up at! Do you have a favorite frugal recipe? Most of the recipes we make at my apartment are very frugal, or close to free! My roommate and myself spend less than $30 a week on groceries, combined! Now, I know there are many bloggers who are better at this than I am, but here are some of my Favorite Frugal Recipes!
Pasta with Sauce
This is as simple as you can get! A pound of pasta and a jar or less of sauce, costs less than $4 (and closer to $2 if you buy on sale or use coupons), and makes about 8 servings! Alison has a great post on her almost free pasta sauce coming up! Estimated cost? 25 to 50 Cents a serving!
Healthy Tip: Mix frozen vegetables and shredded or ground meat in with your sauce for a fully balanced meal!
Mexican night
I was really lucky about a month ago, and acquired about 40 tortillas and mixings at the end of a club event. Tortillas freeze well, but the trick is to freeze them flat! My last 'gift' from my parents was a Costco sized container of taco seasoning which you can add to any ground or shredded meat for a great mexican meal! Buy shredded cheese when it is on sale and make a cheese quesadilla for the ultimate frugal mexican meal! A ten pack of tortillas and a pound of shredded cheese should run you about $5 total, so 50 cents a serving for quesadillas! If I have sour cream or salsa on hand, I dress my tortillas up that way, but we buy the large jars of salsa, so the cost per meal is very low.
Healthy Tip: Make vegetable tacos! Stir fry green beans, onions, thin carrot sticks, peppers, mushrooms, etc with some taco seasoning, or add to a Quesdilla!
Casserole
Casseroles are amazingly cheap, and make many servings, which can be packaged and either frozen or eaten later. My family's traditional casserole is not the most healthy though. We use leftover ham (blended into tiny crumbles), a can of Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup, refill the can with milk, and a pound of cooked pasta (spaghetti or shells). Mix it all together and add some of whatever cheese you have laying around on top for crunch, and cook @ 375 until you can't see the milk in the bottom of your casserole dish. This makes easily 8 servings for about $5, so about 63 cents a serving. It's not the most healthy, and is quite salty, but I've been thinking about adding some frozen corn for a bit of sweet.
Fried Rice
Though I don't make it very often, I really like fried rice, and this post over at Apartment Therapy is what really inspired my post today! I haven't made fried rice in ages, and it is really cheap, and a change up from what I've been making lately, so maybe I'll give it a try later this week. To be really frugal, stir fry some mixed vegetables, with some onions, garlic, and either teriyaki or soy sauce. Add in the rice, and cook until warmed through. Then make some room off to the side, and cook your egg, for a bit, and then scramble it in! Eggs are some of the cheapest and healthiest protein you can eat, according to this post at Serious Eats!
Pasta with Sauce
This is as simple as you can get! A pound of pasta and a jar or less of sauce, costs less than $4 (and closer to $2 if you buy on sale or use coupons), and makes about 8 servings! Alison has a great post on her almost free pasta sauce coming up! Estimated cost? 25 to 50 Cents a serving!
Healthy Tip: Mix frozen vegetables and shredded or ground meat in with your sauce for a fully balanced meal!
Mexican night
I was really lucky about a month ago, and acquired about 40 tortillas and mixings at the end of a club event. Tortillas freeze well, but the trick is to freeze them flat! My last 'gift' from my parents was a Costco sized container of taco seasoning which you can add to any ground or shredded meat for a great mexican meal! Buy shredded cheese when it is on sale and make a cheese quesadilla for the ultimate frugal mexican meal! A ten pack of tortillas and a pound of shredded cheese should run you about $5 total, so 50 cents a serving for quesadillas! If I have sour cream or salsa on hand, I dress my tortillas up that way, but we buy the large jars of salsa, so the cost per meal is very low.
Healthy Tip: Make vegetable tacos! Stir fry green beans, onions, thin carrot sticks, peppers, mushrooms, etc with some taco seasoning, or add to a Quesdilla!
Casserole
Casseroles are amazingly cheap, and make many servings, which can be packaged and either frozen or eaten later. My family's traditional casserole is not the most healthy though. We use leftover ham (blended into tiny crumbles), a can of Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup, refill the can with milk, and a pound of cooked pasta (spaghetti or shells). Mix it all together and add some of whatever cheese you have laying around on top for crunch, and cook @ 375 until you can't see the milk in the bottom of your casserole dish. This makes easily 8 servings for about $5, so about 63 cents a serving. It's not the most healthy, and is quite salty, but I've been thinking about adding some frozen corn for a bit of sweet.
Fried Rice
Though I don't make it very often, I really like fried rice, and this post over at Apartment Therapy is what really inspired my post today! I haven't made fried rice in ages, and it is really cheap, and a change up from what I've been making lately, so maybe I'll give it a try later this week. To be really frugal, stir fry some mixed vegetables, with some onions, garlic, and either teriyaki or soy sauce. Add in the rice, and cook until warmed through. Then make some room off to the side, and cook your egg, for a bit, and then scramble it in! Eggs are some of the cheapest and healthiest protein you can eat, according to this post at Serious Eats!
~Katharine
So what is your favorite frugal recipe?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Tracking my spending and protecting my investments
So this is goal week--essentially a huge couple of objectives including financial and health. The financial is actually something thought up by Katharine and I'm jumping on the band wagon. I'm going to be keeping track of everything I spend, every little penny (because sometimes, yes, I do spend pennies). I'll probably refine my system as I go, make up some catagories, etc. and hopefully come up with some method that will make it easy to read and maybe adopt. Also on the financial horizon, I'm expecting a house guest, my best college friend from Smith, Alla. She'll be staying for a little less than a week and I'll be trying to take some of the financial burden off my parents by buying some of the meals. I'll definitely be doing this with coupons and sales and I'm hoping to provide each meal for five/six people for about $3. Stay tuned...
A lot of health goals for this week: I'm trying to wear my retainer every night to straighten out my teeth--I hope I have the sympathy of those of you who have been through this... Also I'm going walking every morning this week, hopefully, because this week is a lot cooler. I'm walking around the neighborhood, firstly because I like to enjoy the morning weather, and secondly because it uses no energy (unlike a treadmill). When I was at college I used to work out on the elliptical, which not only ran on electricity for its general stuff, but also for the TV that was mounted on it (totally awesome, but kind of ridiculous).
I'm trying to figure out some green goals for this week, probably tending to my herbs, and I'll let you know how that goes. These storms we've been having have been pretty intense. Good luck to everyone with your projects and have a great week!
Hugs,
Alison
(Katharine says: Do you keep track of your spending? Electronically? In a notebook? What categories do you use?)
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