Sunday Breakfast

Sunday breakfast is usually the only time we are together as a family for breakfast. We have recently started to make big breakfasts on Sunday's. I actually look forward to them during the week. Today I made, (yes I made... can you believe it!), eggs, hash browns, turkey sausage, pancakes and cut up strawberries. Usually the hubby makes Sunday breakfast. Today he was doing a lovely (stupid) baseball draft on the computer. Which he was kind enough to bring to the table to join us for breakfast. For the strawberries I used some whipped cream I just bought at Fresh and Easy. I think that was my favorite part of the meal. My 5 year old had fun dipping his strawberries in the whipped cream. I don't know what possessed me to buy the turkey sausage but I did. I think that will be the first and last time. It was a little on the dry side and did not have much flavor. Can't wait until next Sunday :)

I can't find my last receipt for F&E but when I do I will update the post with the cost.

Joel McHale Night!!!

So tonight we hit a drive through. We had planned on going out for a
nice sushi dinner but did not have enough time. Probably a good thing
because we went to the taco bell drive through and ordered off the
fresco menu and it was super cheap. I got a soft taco fresco that had
only 8 grams of fat and not very many calories. It was only $4.16 for
the two of us :). Now for Joel McHale live! So excited!!!!

Yum hummus

Today I had to work and got home around 2. So that meant lunch needed
to be quick. It was leftover lunch day. Fresh & Easy red pepper
hummus, seven foods baked pita chips multi-grain French onion and a
salad my sister made yesterday. Sooo good I will have to post the
receipe!

CPK

This week has been a busy one so far and will stay that way for a few more days. Tonight we met my friend for dinner in Los Angeles. She flew from Washington D.C. out for a business trip. We decided to go to California Pizza Kitchen mainly because I knew my 5 year old would eat cheese pizza. Every time I go there I think this will be the time I try something new. Tonight was not that night. I just love their Original BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad and the Dakota Smashed Pea and Barley Soup. You now have to ask for bread and you definitely want it with the soup. I like to get my soup first and dip buttered bread into the soup. Soooo good! I am a nut and like my chicken on the side for my salad and extra BBQ sauce. My 5 year old got kids cheese pizza and I actually don't remember what the hubby got. I was probably in my wonderful food trance so I did not notice.

By Myself...

Tonight I was home with my 5 month old. The hubby and 5 year old went to Disneyland. I had something in the fridge that I really needed to cook before I just had to throw it away. I got the Red Thai-Style Chicken Curry from Fresh & Easy for $6.99 and used one bag of the Jasmine rice from Trader Joe's that I had in the freezer. The rice is great you can microwave it for 3 minutes in the bag and it is done! The meal was intended to be for two people but I thought if I like it I could eat the rest for lunch the next day. The curry lacked the kick I thought it would have. I was hoping it would be spicier. Other that that it was great! Cheap and quick :)

Souplantation

Tonight we decided to go out for dinner as a treat. We signed up for online coupons from Souplantation so we used one of those. It is so easy, you just sign up online and the coupons are sent via email. Here is the link: http://www.souplantation.com/clubveg/

We used a buy one get one free. If you have a child and buy the child cup one time you can bring it every time after that for free!

For 2 adults and 1 five year old we only spent $18.51.

Parents Night!

Sunday my parents offered to have us over for dinner. My 5 year old had been telling me he wanted ham so my mom cooked a ham. Did he eat the ham? of course not... But the entire meal was amazing! They did ham, red roasted potatoes cooked with garlic and rosemary I believe, salad and peas. The salad had so many good things in it I can not list. The best thing was the sprouts my mom got at the farmers market on Saturday.

Wedding

Saturday we had a wedding to attend. It was a beautiful day. The ceremony was in Santa Monica and the reception was at a yacht club in marina del rey. They had a buffet (which for some reason I am not a huge fan of). The best part by far were the amazing cup cakes! They had one layer of traditional wedding cake for the cake cutting ceremony.

Fajita Night!

F&E Chicken Fajitas	$ 6.99
F&E Tortilla Chips (used a few handfuls)	$ 2.99
F&E Chipotle Salsa (used small amount)	$ 1.99
F&E 10" Burrito Tortillas (used 3)	$ 2.52
F&E Italian Salad	$ 3.99
F&E 12oz Guacamole	$ 3.99
Sour Cream	$ -
	$ 22.47

The cost of this meal seems a little high but as you can see from the photo the bag of chips will last forever! We also did not use all of the tortillas, salsa, sour cream or guacamole. We will need to have another Mexican themed night to use our leftovers. All items with the exception of the sour cream were purchased at Fresh & Easy.

My Inspiration

I was inspired by several things when putting together this blog.

1. My friend Amanda (http://twobooswhoeat.blogspot.com/) Her and her fiance go to the grocery store all the time and cook a lot of their food at home. They make the most amazing looking food! I really needed to be more consistent with that.

2. I subscribe to a blog http://www.momadvice.com/index.aspx and she has this no spend experiment. I only read the post from her very last day of the challenge and it completely motivated me. Here is a link to the post: http://www.momadvice.com/blog/2009/02/day-28-tis-final-day-of-no-spend.htm

3. The last item is probably the main motivator. My husband was laid off yesterday. We are a dual income household, we both work full time and have two young kids. We of course bought our home at probably the worst time to buy a house, December 2006. So needless to say we need to cut expenses any way we can. It is not a secret I do not like cooking. If I can get something to "heat up" that does not look or taste like I just heated it up that is what I do. I usually go to Trader Joe's or Fresh and Easy. They have really great meals that are fairly inexpensive. So I will use this blog as my motivator to want to be in the kitchen :)

Marinated Chicken

Chicken Legs 10	$ 3.39
Mesquite Marinade 1/3 Bottle	$ 0.70
Brocoli	$ 1.98
1/2 Bag Romaine Lettuce	$ 0.99
1/3 Box Sliced Mushrooms	$ 0.61
1/2 Cucumber	$ 0.49
1/3 Box Grape Tomatoes	$ 0.33
1/4 Box Mashed Potatoes	$ -
Stove Top Stuffing Small Box	$ -
	$ 8.48

For this one I used some stuff I already had in my cupboards. I used part of a box of mashed potatoes (not real I know :( but they were still pretty good!). I already had a box of Stove Top Stuffing. Everything that is listed with a price was purchased at Fresh and Easy . The salad was left over from Steak Night. The quality of the photos is not the greatest I used my iPhone to take the pics. Adam could not wait for me to take the photo as you see by the skin sitting where a chicken leg was. Best of all for this meal is left overs! We had 5 legs left, mashed potatoes, stuffing and salad. This could be tomorrows lunch :)

Pizza Night!

1/2 Jar Pizza Sauce	$ 0.68
1/3 Box Pre Sliced Mushrooms	$ 0.61
Pizza Dough	$ 1.28
1/3 Green Bell Pepper	$ 0.46
8oz Mozzarella	$ 1.25
1/2 Yellow Onion	$ 0.12
	$ 4.39

All purchased at Fresh & Easy.

We had to leave a cheese section for our 5 year old. :) It was so delicious! Fed 2 adults and 1 child for $4.39!

Here are the before pics:




After Pics:

Steak Night!

Wow a steak dinner for 2 people under $15! This was so good and we even had leftovers :)

Top Sirloin Steak	$ 6.62
Rosmary & Garlic Potatoes	$ 3.49
Green Beans	$ 1.84
1/2 Bag Romaine Lettuce	$ 0.99
1/3 Box Sliced Mushrooms	$ 0.61
1/2 Cucumber	$ 0.49
1/3 Box Grape Tomatoes	$ 0.33
	$ 14.36

Not pictured salad.

The hubby's tasty beverage:


Everything except for tasty beverage purchased at Fresh & Easy.