CVS Trip

I made a quick trip to CVS this week to use up some ECBs that were expiring. I ended up getting some toothpaste and dish soap for FREE plus I walked away with $3.50 in ECBs. Not bad at all.

You may remember that I specifically stated last month that I don't need anymore dish soap. Whoops - well it was free so whatever! I may end up donating it somewhere because I certainly won't be using it anytime in the near future.

Fight the Fat

Image by Microsoft

Faithful blog reader(s), I have unacceptable news. I recently weighed myself and found that I have gained some lbs. Yes, multiple lbs.

And seeing as how I recently spent the weekend in the Happiest Place on Earth where the primary menu items are pizza, chicken fingers, and ice cream, I am guessing that the number of lbs is even more than it was last time I checked.

Something needs to be done about this!

Quick Frugal Tip

Since I live by myself I tend to generate only a small amount of garbage each week. At most, I might fill up 1 regular sized kitchen bag.

This presents a problem when it comes to perishable garbage like chicken trimmings and produce items. If I throw it in a partially full garbage bag, I will probably take the garbage out before the bag is full. This is wasteful and results in my using more garbage bags than I need to.

So what do I do?

I freeze my perishable garbage. Yep, yep I do.

I keep a plastic bag on the bottom shelf of my freezer and fill it up with 'smelly garbage.' When my garbage bag is ready to be taken out, I take the bag out of the freezer and toss it. No mess and no smell!

Quick Declutter project

I've been working a lot on decluttering and getting rid of the random messes in my house. One thing I've noticed is that my fridge area can tend to look cluttered , even if there isn't a ton of 'stuff' there.

I do tend to put a ton of stuff on the fridge - pictures, notes, phone numbers, etc. and for some reason I have a habit of putting my cereal on top of the fridge. The basket with the lunch bag doesn't belong up there but I stashed it there at some point and never got around to taking it down.

To go along with my decluttering theme, I gave my fridge a quick makeover.


I put the cereal boxes in the pantry (where they belong!!) and put the basket and lunch bag in their proper places as well. For the magnet clutter - I got rid of some of the older pictures and moved a lot of the magnets to the side between the fridge and the wall where I can keep them until they are needed. Some of the fridge stuff is necessary/wanted but overall I think this 5-minute makeover made a huge difference!

Now I just need to keep it that way!

Menu plan, week of 1/17/11

I am still eating from the pantry so this week will focus on getting through some more pantry items! I am going to need to replenish the produce a bit to get through this week!

Dinners:
Pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs from the freezer

Lunches:
Peanut butter sandwiches
Leftovers

Breakfasts:
Muffins
Cereal

Snacks:
Fig Newtons
Fruit
Veggies

Mickey Mouse

We now interrupt this blog to bring you some exciting news. I am currently in the happiest place on earth. You may experience a slight delay in blog programming due to this development.

Please be patient. We will be back to your regularly scheduled blog as soon as possible.

New Recipe: Chicken and Dumplings

As you may remember, one of my 2011 goals is to try new recipes on a more regular basis. In the spirit of this, I made Chicken and Dumplings tonight. Holy deliciousness Batman! This may not be a diet friendly meal (there is a bit of butter in this pan) but it is definitely delicious!

I think you could probably cut out some of the butter without impacting the outcome too much.

Anyway, this will definitely be going into my rotation of go-to recipes.