March 1, 2014 - $0 spent

First day of the month and I spent $0.

Breakfast: Old Fashioned Quaker Oats w/ Craisins, latte, mandarin orange

Lunch: leftover coconut Thai noodles w/ tofu and broccoli

Dinner: homemade lentil, barley, mixed vegetable soup and homemade honey corn muffins

March 2014 Resolution- No spending except $45 for food.

I’ve debated about my March resolution for about two weeks.  I wanted to do something challenging, but still something I could succeed in keeping.   I knew I wanted to give up spending money, but with exceptions.  First, my monthly bills (rent, utilities, auto payments for cellphone, insurance, etc.) would not count.  Second, medical co-pays for office visits or medication would also be excluded.  At first I thought I would not spend money on anything other than food and beverages.  Then, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be an interesting month if I could limit the amount of money I could spend on food and beverages.  I was thinking about spending no more than $40 in cash or credit on food and beverages for the entire month.  Then I researched the poverty line and saw it was $1.50 a day and decided to increase my allowance a bit.  So, for the month of March, I will not spend cash or use my credit card on anything but $45 worth of food and beverages.  Yes, that is $45 for the entire month, not week.  (And for those wondering, it's not unusual for me to spend $20 a week on groceries.)

No, I did not hit up Costco or do a huge grocery run on February 28^th (or the last week of February for that matter). In fact, here is what my cupboards and fridge look like:

 

No, I will not count the food that currently resides in my cabinets, fridge, freezer, bar or counter top- these items I have already paid for and really don’t want to try calculating how much they cost to factor into the $45

What about St. Patty’s day?  I have some Guinness in my fridge and I have a reception that evening, so I’ll be eating and drinking well on someone else’s dime.

What about my Starbucks habit?  Since I pay with my Starbucks gift cards (which were given to me as gifts), I’m allowing myself to exclude what I spend using gift cards (of any kind) from the $45 as it is not cash, nor credit.  Look at it as my government assistance for the month.

What do I hope to gain from this experience?  A credit card bill that is significantly smaller (hopefully well below my monthly 4 digit average). AND a cleaner cabinet, fridge & freezer (look at it as a spring cleaning of sorts). 

What about my health?  Yes, I'm a vegetarian so I already have a limited diet.  I don't go to fast food joints (partially bc I can only eat their fries and also my town doesn't have a McDonald's or Burger King).  I hope to do this the healthy way and show that it is possible (maybe cheaper??)  to live off nutritious "healthy" items rather than the processed stuff.  While I know Ramen will be a dish I eat a couple times over the 30 days, it won't be a staple.  In the end I do hope that I lose some weight too.

How will I do it?

I plan to spend most of my money on fruits and veggies which will take some planning especially since here in Boston apples go for $1.99  a pound ($1.49 when on sale!) or about $.69 each at Trader Joe's.  (Yes, something I still cringe at after growing up on SoCal where the produce was WAY cheaper.)  If you do the math, I wouldn't be able to afford much after buying an apple for the day at those prices.  I'll use coupons whenever possible (which is a habit I've had for years now) and take advantage of the weekend produce market downtown where they sell spoiling or soon to spoil produce taken off grocery shelves to you at a fraction of the cost.  AND, best of all, I'll blog with photos and calculate the costs of my meals made with any of the items purchased with that $45 so you all can see what I am eating.

So here it goes my friends... 30 days +  $45 = March Resolution.

#52 & 53

Church Window and Mint M&M Cookies

Well, not having a home allowed me to bake some different holiday cookies this year with a friend instead of baking my usual family tradition Christmas cookies.

Church Window Cookies

I can't remember the last time I had one of these, probably when I was a kid.  I've never made them before, but it was pretty easy and they were so tasty.

1/2 c. butter melted with 16oz of chocolate chips until smooth and creamy.  Add a tsp of vanilla if you like, stir.  Let cool.  Once cool enough, stir in 16oz of multicolored mini marshmallows.  On wax paper, sprinkle a cup or so of flaked coconut and add half the mixture.  Using the paper, mold to create a log and wrap the log up and stick in the refrigerator to harden.    Repeat with the last half.  Once set, cut into slices and enjoy.

Mint M&Ms Chocolate Chips

 

This recipe is much like a recipe for chocolate chips only you use mint M&Ms. 

#51

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Having a cup of canned pumpkin left after making my pumpkin pancakes, I decided to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the first time.  I used the same recipe a colleague used and these turn out like cake-ies instead of cookies.

You can find the recipe here, but I also added ginger, nutmeg, all spice and ground cloves (which the recipe did not call for).  I never measure those, I just add a shake or two to the dry mix.

#49 & 50

Pumpkin Pancakes and Pumpkin Latte

Craving pancakes, I decided to make pumpkin pancakes.  From another post, you'll know that I don't have eggs on hand so I found another vegan pancake recipe.  These were really easy to make and made my kitchen smell like Thanksgiving.  

 

1 1/2 c. flour

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg & cloves

dash of allspice

in another bowl I mixed:

1 1/4 c. soymilk

a little more than 1/3 c. of canned pumpkin

1 tbsp oil

I poured the wet mixture into the dry mixture and boom! Pumpkin pancakes.  They are tasty and dense, I wish I had whipped cream to top them with, but were perfectly fine with just margarine.  This recipe came from food.com

The pumpkin latte was made with Starbucks Christmas espresso beans, soymilk with 2 tbsp of pumpkin mixed in and steamed and topped with some nutmeg and cloves.  It was okay, when I got to the end of my cup the pumpkin kind of settled.  I'll stick to making eggnog lattes from now on, I'm not big pumpkin latte fan.

#48

With the weather getting colder and me craving protein, I decided to try a new chili recipe.  In the past I made my mom's chili: black beans, kidney beans and stewed tomatoes.  What I made tonight had: 5 different canned beans (kidney, black, pinto, small red beans and cannellini), stewed tomatoes, vegetable broth, lentils and spices (chili, cumin, onion and garlic powder and cayenne).  Just as tasty as mom's, but more flavorful with the variety of beans and I did like what the lentils and spices added to a rather plain dish.  In fact, next time I'll make sure to add more spices and lentils.   

#47

Butternut Squash and Apple Casserole

Okay, is it b/c it's in a casserole dish that makes this a "casserole"? This dish is basically butternut squash and apple crisp, except the brown sugar crumb topping melted into syrup, perhaps next time I use oats and make it a true crisp.


I peeled, seeded and sliced butternut squash and apples.  Made a brown sugar crumb topping and sprinkled on the squash/apple mix in a sprayed casserole dish.  Baked at 350°, covered, for about an hour.

Too bad I didn't have ice cream to put on top when I served it.  It is tasty, the butternut squash does cut the sweetness by adding it's nuttiness to the dish.  This is one of those dishes where you say "hey, it's healthy, it has squash and apples in it" but that's just to make us feel better when the dish is loaded with sugar.  :)