Small Accomplishments, Mini Quiche & Roller Derby

What do they all have in common? Not really sure but it's what has been going on in my world lately.

Last weekend the hubs got the rest of our baseboard molding installed in our living room. We still have to patch the holes and paint but all base and crown molding is now installed in the main part of the house (kitchen, living, hallway & dining). We technically still have to install moldings around the bedroom and bathroom doors (three of them) but narrower molding so I am calling this step in the project done!

Last night I made mini quiches with red bell pepper, mushroom, bacon and cheese. I did them in muffin tins. I was NOT pleased with how they turned out. Too small and even though it was cooked through it was too watery. I even cooked the veggies BEFORE I put them in the egg mixture.

The egg mixture probably needs to be increased in order to make enough fuller mini quiches for breakfast for the hubs and I each morning. That is a lot of eggs! I have not figured out the calories yet. Anyone have helpful tips on mini quiches?

Last Saturday the hubs and I went to Roller Derby for the first time. It was a friends birthday and she saved three of the front rows for us all to hang together. That night we even set an attendance record! It took me a while to get the general idea of the rules and I still don't understand everything but it was fun. The medics only had to be called out once and a girl ended up on crutches.

The local league is the Rat City Roller Girls. There are four teams; Derby Liberation Front, Grave Danger, Sockit Wenches & Throttle Rockets. They have the GREATEST names like Yoko Onoudi'nt, Georgia O'Grief, X-Khan & Betty Ford Galaxy.

Oh yeah, and their "cheerleaders" and fans take things seriously! Below Skeletora or Countes De Bodies - not really certain.

A huge Grave Danger fan. He was VERY in to it.

My SD and her friend with a member of the Throttle Rockets.

Her friend (in the hat) is in Jr. Roller Derby. I think my favorite was the Sockit Wenches. Probably because I liked their uniforms the best and they kicked some serious but in their match.

August Wrap Up & September Goals

Here is where the money fell this month.

Income - $4154.56 (paychecks) $226 (craigslist and yard sale) = $4380.56
Coffee - $100.69 (down $43.92)
Eating Out - $150.51 (up $49.86)
Groceries - $406.72 ( down $117.85)
Gas - $213.09 (up $2.16)
I started contributing to my 401(k) again as well

We put $600 in savings and then transferred it out again plus the $225 we made to buy our new flat screen TV. This was a planned expense and we have been enjoying it immensely. No CC used! Now the focus is to save.

The goals we had for August were...

• Pay off personal loan - check
• Pay off six credit cards - paid off four and then used two (explanation below)
  
• Save $525 - check (see TV above)
• Birthday gifts for niece, nephew & mom - check
• Concert tickets to Diana Krall at the winery - check (did use CC's for this purchase)
• Get hubs BMW diagnosed - check (it only cost $48 to fix)
• Track in food journal - check (did pretty well for the first time and lost 4.5 pounds in the first three weeks)

I am glad to have the major credit cards paid off but available when I need them. Even though I used two of them the balances are low and will be paid off this month. When shopping online I prefer to use credit cards as opposed to my debit card to protect my hard earned wages. Now that they are paid off, any time I use them I immediately put that amount in the budget to pay back to the card. This both avoids interest and doesn't get us in the kind of trouble we have been in before. So, items purchased on CC's.

• Diana Krall tickets
• Groceries (I forgot how much teenagers eat when they are at your house for two weeks)
• Weight Watchers sign up (will transfer to debit card and lost 4.5 pounds - yay!)
• Pre Paid Legal sign up fee (issue of the ex wife kind which has now been resolved without legal action - well, at least without expensive legal action)
• Two crackberrys (see below for explanation)

So, I have been wanting a Crack (I mean) Blackberry for at least a year. Every once in a while I get online and price them. I did that on Sunday and lo and behold they were having a buy one get one free sale (the hubs wanted one too). I thought the one I wanted would cost me $49.99. When I went in the Verizon store (cause I have to touch and play with stuff and ask load of questions) I ended up with a different one due to the 8 gig memory feature. That one was (after rebate) free! So, aside from a few accessories I spent $100 on my blackberry which will be $0 when I get the rebate of $100 in the mail. We used a credit card to pay for it cause I'm not really in the position to not have $100 while I wait for it to be returned to me.

I got the Blackberry Storm Touch Screen Smartphone. So far I like it but am frustrated with a few things. Apparently I can download my own music and use them as ringtones - having issues with that. I purchased one ringtone and it was sent to me as a text message but I have yet to be able to activate it as a ringtone. Ug!

It's great for Facebook because there is an app that's really crackberry friendly. Hard to read blogs though. GREAT for checking and answering my personal email. Of course the kids asked if they could have our old phones.

I know why they call them crackberries - they are addictive.

So goals for September....

• Pay off major CC's from August usage
  
• Save $200 - I know, small amount but I need to fulfill paying the CC's
• Follow grocery ($200), coffee ($50) and gas ($140) budget
  
• Start working out two more days a week with Wii fit and Jillian Michaels
• Drink at least four glasses of water a day
• Continue on eating at least five servings of fruits/veggies a day
• Start taking a multi vitimin
  
• Finish baseboard molding in main part of house (purchased without using CC's)
• Paint living room
• Install tile on hearth
• Finish SD's Tabi Socks for Christmas
• Complete at least five knitted ornaments
  
• Refinance condo

Created sidebars on my blog as well. Will update as needed. Here's to a great September!

Quick Easy Inexpensive Meal

I picked up a couple cookbooks at the library recently. Both by Sandra Lee of Semi Homemade fame. For those of you who have not heard of her. Her whole philosophy around cooking and food is 70/30. Mix 70% quality prepackaged foods with 30% fresh ingredients. I watched her show on the Food Network a lot when I was unemployed three years ago. I can't believe it's taken me this long to pick up one of her cookbooks!

Tonight I made cashew chicken from the Money Saving Meals cookbook. It took hardly any time at all and it was good. I bought a roasted chicken which is more than enough meat for two recipes (tomorrow night it's chicken mole), a bag of frozen stir fry veggies (also will cover both dishes), canned sauces, cashews, canned chopped tomatoes and Top Ramen. Total cost for these groceries $23.48 (already had rice for chicken mole at home). Recipe says four servings each but it makes more like six for the cashew chicken. That comes out to $2.35 per serving unless the chicken mole makes six servings then it's $1.96 per serving!

I lucked out too cause the cashew chicken recipe called for a can of waterchestnuts and the bag of frozen veggies I bought already had them in there (along with mushroom, carrot, broccoli & yellow carrot). I think next time I make this dish I will make a few substitutions.

• The stir fry sauce was a little to salty for my taste so I will substitute peanut sauce.
• Two packages of Ramen noodles were a lot (my veggies actually had a small amount of noodles included too) so I will try just one package if it's just hubby and I.
• Not as many veggies as I like so I will double the veggies next time.
  

Just the other night hubby and I went to a local restaurant that has a really good happy hour special and spent $26 (including tip). Granted our beers were $6 each (Guinness) but our appetizers were $3.50 and $4.50 each. The appetizers were really more like regular servings. Hubby got a huge burger and fries and I got a regular serving size of Rigatoni Bolognese. We were totally stuffed.

Even though the happy hour meal was a good deal for the price for eating out it just goes to show how much you can save by cooking at home. Not only that but this recipe was pretty Weight Watchers friendly. The Ramen noodles were probably the worse in the dish point wise! Also, it's a recipe I can make from memory. I don't need a cookbook to tell me how to make it again.

New Year Update

My "new year" so far seems to be going pretty well in two of the three focus areas (finances, spirit & health).

In the world of finance hubby and I are sticking to our budget in areas we normally go over. In the past Starbucks coffee and eating out have been our downfall. We are making our coffee and bringing it to work and the eating out thing went well last weekend - we just didn't. We are a little over in the fun money department due to a miscalculation. Focusing on these areas is a bit new for us so there is bound to be a few bumps in the road. As soon as hubby get's paid Friday the fun money account will be replenished. We are kicking but in the debt repayment department though. I will give a full update at the end of the month.

As I have alluded to in the past and don't normally talk about, my hubby and I are not speaking to my in laws. This is due to my MIL and her serious NPD problem. Hubby and I have been seeing a therapist to assit with the issues we have with her. She had finally agreed to go see him at the beginning of July but had not called him at all. Last night at our appointment I about fell out of my chair when our therapist told us my MIL had indeed called him and they were playing phone tag. I truly hope we can reconcile but I am somewhat guarded as normally people like her don't think they have a problem. This may seem a little extreme but believe me, if you had been through what I have been through you would understand.

In an effort to eat better and lose a few pounds I am following a "whole foods" diet. My goal is to have protein, veggies/fruit, fiber and a small amount of "good" fat in each meal. By shopping the perimeter of the store I feel I can stay away from processed foods as much as possible and when I feel the need for starches, limit them to a small side amount. I still enjoy my homemade iced coffee in the morning but am trying to get the majority of my fluids with water. Exercise has not been as much as I had intended. Tomorrow we plan to take the dog to the dog park and go walking. It's getting darker earlier so that limits the amount of time we have outside. There is always the elliptical trainer in my living room. Yesterday I even did 50 wall push ups!

Hope everyone is having a good day!

"The Plan"

Confessions of a Hoarder asked for more details on the plan I was following. If you click the link here you can read about it better than I can explain it in a blog. Small Town City Girl read up on it and made certain it was not a scam or anything like that. She is doing great on it and having wonderful success. You go girl!

What appealed to me about the plan was the use of natural less non processed foods, fresh fruits and veggies. I really did give it the good ole college try but was just not feeling very energetic on this plan. Certainly starting it after receiving a major trauma to my head may not have been the best idea and could have contributed to my less energetic state. I'm glad it works for my friend.

I may try out the book Good Calories, Bad Calories that Confessions recommended to me. Sounds like you get to eat more grains than the other plan I was on. To a certain extent I want to eat as fresh as possible but my grocery money only goes so far. For now I plan on sticking to a Weight Watchers mentality until I am fully healed.

For today hubby has gone to the movies with a friend to finally see Iron Man which I really didn't want to see. I think I am going to go play in my garden. I have some weeds to pull, want to move some plants around and plant a few more things. It's sunny out and not too warm so I think some time outside is just what the Dr. ordered! :)

Have a great day!