Market Report - April 12

I missed last week's posting, but rather than playing catch up I'm just going to go on with life.

$39
2 yellow honeydew
9 oranges
6 medium heads broccoli
3 red onions
9 lemons
10 limes
14 tangerines
6 yellow grapefruit
2 lbs globe grapes
2 lbs black seedless grapes
2 lbs jalapeno peppers
6 mango
Green grapes

Staying on track to spend $300 this month too.  It can be more of a challenge when I don't spend the time to plan a bit.  Not a lot.  I'm not a planner, but sometimes even I have to give in and write things down.  The biggest challenge I face right now is my teenager wanting stuff that's not in the plan and complaining that she's "hungry" when she had the opportunity to eat dinner.  She also doesn't want to fix anything herself right now - a bit of a princess period going on.  What she means when she says she's hungry is "fix me something because I didn't like the last thing you fixed"  It doesnt' happen.  She's the youngest of 4 and I quit being sympathetic years ago.

Another challenge that's just starting is keeping up with meals on the weekends. We have a job that requires us to be out of the house a lot and it can be difficult to plan sometimes.  I'm determined to get better at it.  A new cooler is probably going to be needed since during the hot part of the summer anything we take with us will spoil.

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

March 21 - Market Report

I spent $43 today.

Lots of goodies today

2 yellow bell peppers

3 orange bell peppers

12 roma tomatoes

green grapes (free)

4 kiwi fruits

bucket of spinach

2 boxes of clementines

4 lbs of sweet potatoes

2 lbs of globe grapes

4 lbs black grapes

9 lemons

9 limes

1 small head brocoli

24 blood oranges

2 boxes of strawberries

lime pepper

ancho powder

chives

Lime fiesta spice

some sort of salad peppers.  don't know what kind but they were only $1, so I decided to try them.  They're not spicy at all.

Then I got home and had a salad.

In addition to my market trip I spent $5 on cheese, $7 on rice and chickpeas, & $4 on feta.

This is week 8, but payday comes in the middle of the week, so I have one more market trip to get through.  Going to have to shop light next week - but that should be doable.  Right now I have $37 left for that trip.  That does put 5 trips in March, but not all months are created equal.  :-)

Planet Fitness - Day 9

The 17th was a work day for me so I'm on day 9 instead of 10.  :-)

Yesterday I gook a gym friend's advice and tried the Total Body Enhancement.  It's part of the black card membership, so why not.  I'm a bit skeptical about red light therapy, but I do love a massage and the vibration sounded like a good massage.

Basically it looks like a big, pink tanning booth.  This is about as close as I am going to get to entering a tanning booth.  this one says there is no UV light, so I was willing to give it a go.

I did have to ask someone how to use it.  Not 100% intuitive.

The lights were warm and kind of nice.  I made sure to get under extra skin since it seemed like that would be good for those areas.  The vibration was cool and I realized pretty quickly that it was forcing me to engage my core more.  The program lasted 12 min and I did get bored about 9 min in, but stuck it out.  

Leaving the booth I could tell that my abs and glutes were feeling it.  I have weak abs.  4 c-sections and a life time of avoiding sit ups will do that to a gal.  While I doubt the vibrations would be much of a workout for people with actual muscle in their core, for me they were.  Still feeling it today.

Today I did the hydro massage bed.  I don't think my abs were really ready for another go and after leg day my lower back likes a good massage.

I don't know what the red light did for me.  I think it will take a few uses before I can comment on that.

---

Today's workout was focused on the legs.  I got my husband to give the arc trainer a go.  I did notice that I won't be on the machines forever, not for legs anyway.  Not enough weight for what I want to do.  I had it on 180 for the leg press and it only goes a couple of bars higher.  While that will last for a couple of months I think, eventually I'll have to move to the free weight section.  I'm not trying to be a "lunkhead" but I do want to lift heavy.  My legs are already very strong, so I'm at the upper end of what their machines have.  My arms are another story.  It's going to be a very long while before I max out the machines.  I have weak baby arms - but I'm working on that!

Tomorrow is an abs/back day.  I'll give the total body enhancement another go then too.

Planet Fitness - Day 5

5th visit to the Purplasaurus known as planet fitness.  Seriously, I am not going to get used to that decor.  I like purple.  My hair is purple.  I just don't put it EVERYWHERE.  And somehow that is one of my biggest complaints about the place so far.  Not too bad.  I'm a difficult person who can be hard to please, but planet fitness is managing.

The staff has been super friendly.  Checking in is quick and they never miss saying goodbye when I leave.  The place is clean. I see the staff cleaning a lot.  Paper towels and cleaner are well stocked.  Most other gym goers use them faithfully.

I don't partake of the whole tootsie roll/pizza thing, but I did see a Sheriff's deputy snacking on them when he was there checking in on the place this morning.

My other complaint would be - less fox on the tv.  There are lots and lots of news stations.  Put fox on some of the tvs, don't put fox news then fox and friends then some other fox thing.  I think there were 3 tvs from each set dedicated to fox stations.  Of course in Belton that might be what the majority wants.   I have my music so it's not  huge thing either way.

Today was arms day.  I just finally got less sore.  Time to fix that!

Tomorrow I am going to feel all sorts of T-Rex!  It's a good thing.  I didn't push myself enough on legs day.  No soreness at all.  

Maybe that's a little extreme.  I do still have a life to live outside of the gym, but I want to feel my workout  and I want to have to push myself a bit further to feel it next time.  

I see people, mostly women, at the gym who do 10 reps on the lowest setting then move onto the next machine.  I don't think that method would work for me.  Partially because I have a lot of weight to lose and they are already thin, so they don't need to push as hard - but also because I get such a sense of satisfaction from lifting.  That's one thing I missed about a gym membership.  

Cardio is a different story.  I prefer my cardio to take place outside in the fresh air.  The machines bore the heck out of me.  I think today I shared about a couple of dozen songs from my playlist as they came up - via email to a very patient friend.  When he checks his email this morning he's going to have a ton of letters from me since each share went out separately.   A slight distraction for working hard and going nowhere.  I will head out later and get some road time in.  I like time on the road.  I'm working hard AND the scenery is changing.

Market Report - March 7, 2014

It's hard to believe that one week ago it was snowing.  Today is bright and happy and sunny.  Picked up the big kid and headed off to the market.  Spent $44.  I need less from the grocery store this week, so the $4 isn't going over budget.


And I got cactus!  I love cactus.

My $44 bought

1 lb green beans

8 large apples

4 head garlic

some free grapes (I like free stuff)

28 mandarin oranges

4 cactus paddles

3 packages blueberries.  Really really really tasty blueberries!!

4 packages strawberries

3 pears

2 cucumber

1 bag tangerines

6 naval oranges

12 lemons

10 limes

10 plums

1 head cauliflower

2 small head purple cabbage

Nobody in my house ever lacks vitamin c!  Between the peppers and citrus fruits we have an abundance of C in our diet. 

The cactus is going to be used in omelettes tomorrow and then in a soup.  If you're not a fan of the feel of okra you might not like cactus.  I'm from a southern family so I don't mind slipperiness of okra or cactus.  Just part of the foods I consider normal.  My grandmother used to fry up okra and I may give fried cactus a try.  By necessity I am gluten free so I'll have to find a good batter that's GF.  When I do I'll post the results and recipe (if it's tasty) on www.kruelwich.com

We were good on peppers this week so I was free to splurge on extra strawberries and blueberries.  What we don't get eaten will go into the freezer before they spoil.  I don't see many of them making it to the freezer.

Going to the Gym

I decided to join a gym and I had two real choices.  The community center in my town which is a good deal and has a pool.  I like to swim.   I have worked out there before and they have free weights as well as machines and an indoor track.  They also don't have hours that work well with my schedule.  Not that finding time isn't possible, it's just not always easy.

The other choice was Planet Fitness.  They have great hours and lots of machines, less waiting for one to be open.  They don't have a pool but they do have massage chairs and some other kind of massage.  Another thing they have is a lot of bad reviews.  I don't know how much of that is location specific. I found mostly good reviews about the one close to me, but lots and lots of bad reviews over all.

I talked to some people who use Planet Fitness and got opinions from people I know who actually use it.  I also asked a few people who use the community center if they still have good standards and are maintaining the equipment.  Budget cuts can really hurt a publicly funded place.  Good reports on that front, so either place is going to work for us.

In the end I went with Planet Fitness because of the hours.  During the week I need to be in the place before 5 - 4:30 is ideal.  I have to be headed back home by 5:30 so everyone can get ready for their day.  My job keeps me from working out much on the weekends so their shorter hours don't affect me.

Sign up wasn't a problem.  I didn't have any of the difficulties I had seen online.  I took two precautions.  I used a prepaid card to pay an I set the reoccurring payment from a checking account that is not our main one.  I've heard that when cancelling it can be hard to get them to quit charging you and I wanted to head that off before it was a problem.  The whole "in writing" thing is a pain in this day and age, but not so much that I do it.  I actually READ the agreement.  More people should do that.

We did the online sign up and I got a black card membership so that the kid can come with me on days she's interested.  My husband got a regular membership.

I have zero interest in using the tanning bed.  I don't tan for a number of reasons, from its stupid to risk skin cancer to I like the way my tattoos are still bright.  However, to each his or her own.  I don't plan to do it and that leaves more bed time for other people.

After signing up online we went in to finish and get our cards + free t-shirts.

The lady helping us was super nice and it was a good experience.

This morning we got up and went in to work out for the first time.  Dan used the treadmill despite the fact that he needs something besides cardio and he hates the treadmill.  I have no idea why he won't lift or at least use the elliptical once in awhile.  He likes to run on the treadmill and then complain about it.  It's a hobby I guess.

The kid an I used arc trainers for some quick cardio.  Only 10 min.  Just enough to get us going and then we moved to weight machines.  Even with just 10 min my legs were feeling it.  I'm going to give that machine another whirl on Monday.  I liked the workout.  Later today I'll dance for awhile to get the rest of my cardio in.

Today was an arm day and that's what we did.  I love that the cleaning supplies are everywhere and people seem to be using them.  Also the number of machines meant no waiting.    It was nice to be able to switch out with the kid.  I did a set, she did a set.  It was also nice to find that we are stronger than we thought.  I moved the weight up 10lbs over where I was the last time I used these kinds of machines.

Day 1 was a success.  I will report back again after month 1 is over to see if I still like Planet Fitness.

For the moment I am feeling good.  I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy going to the gym.

Gym Fees

Anyone looking at this blog can see that I use Google Adsense.  Between the various blogs it gives me a little extra cash every couple of months.  I have decided to put that money to use by getting a gym membership.  I used to go to our community center every morning and I miss it. Plus the cheap elliptical I have at home broke, so that's a little more motivation.   

I stopped going to the gym when we were financially strapped, but now things are getting better and I would like to start up again.   The community center is a great bargain for a family, so we'll all be able to use it.  And now every time someone clicks on an ad off of my blog they will be helping keep our family fit and healthy.  :-)

Aerial Silks

My kid has started doing aerial silks and it's one heck of a workout.

I'm adding it to my list of goals.  Hopefully by the end of the summer I'll be ready.  It's good incentive to get rid of those baby arms and get some muscles!

doesn't that look like fun??

The 300 - finding things to cook

Menu planning on a budget is a bit of an art.  Not a hard art that takes years of training and dedication - more like learning to use a Spirograph.  IT's easy and pretty fun when you get it right.

I've enjoyed the past month of eating well on the cheap but I'm feeling the need to stretch my cooking wings a bit.  A lot of cookbooks call for stuff I have no idea how to get.  I knew what rose water was but had no idea it was so pricey.  Luckily a little goes a long ways and I found it cheap at the market.  Still looking for black currants.

This past weekend I stumbled across a cache of old cookbooks at a thriftshop.  They were the kind that churches put out as fundraisers.  I snapped up all 16 of them because those are the kinds of things I hoard.

As I was going through them I realized that they are a treasure of things that can ACTUALLY be cooked and usually for less.  These are the recipes that people used and while I need to modify some, they are a great place to start.

I reviewed the oldest one on my other blog

Here's a link.

 http://www.krulewich.com/2015/03/daily-fare-party-flair.html

I went through that one first because it had the most personality.  :-)

The $300 - food waste

A huge part of eating on a budget is not wasting food.

For so long it was a part of our culture.  Don't waste food - there are starving kids somewhere.  My grandparents grew up during the Depression and they did NOT waste food.  It was hoarded, preserved and enjoyed.  When you come from having nothing you learn to appreciate the abundance of our lives today.  During WWI this was encouraged by the government

Today I sometimes feel like the government encourages waste under the guise of protecting people.  That's a rant for another day.

Just going to worry about my own waste and what to do to avoid it.  I don't see myself as a wasteful person, but I have to admit that there have been things that spoiled because I simply didn't get to them.  Things I thought I wanted to eat that week, but just didn't feel like cooking until they were too far gone. Things that were on sale and the deal was "too good to pass up".  Yeah, it never is, especially when you buy too many to use up.  Things I forgot about.  Way too much food went bad and was wasted in our house.  I might as well have just ripped up the $$ I spent on it.

Meal planning helps, but I am never going to be my oldest and plan everything out way in advance.  I just plan on things I want to cook that week and go with what feels right that day - or what really needs to be cooked quickly. I'm doing a better job of checking things and seeing that I need to use that pepper or this cucumber before they are not so appetizing.

Buying less is an obvious way to cut back on wasted food.  Portioning it out into smaller sized and freezing them so I don't have to use it all at once.  

Serving smaller portions.  I've downsized the size of our plates and even then sometimes we end up with too much food on them.    I can't really believe we used to use those big plates and fill them up.  My body and more importantly, my  mind, are becoming satisfied with smaller portions.  

I save our leftovers and USE THEM.  That was another area I fell down in before. I would save the leftovers with the best of intentions and then toss them a few weeks later when I realized they were still there and uneaten.

Wasted food is a huge problem and it shouldn't be in a country where so many people go hungry.  How does that happen here?  We have so much but there are people among us who don't have enough to survive.  Kids who eat one meal a day.  I think it may be a combination of social program failures as well as personal failures and bad choices.  I'm not saying it's easy, but the maximum amount given in food stamps for a family of 3 in Missouri is $408 and I wanted to see if it was possible.  My own kid lived on $85 last month, so it's possible for one person who is willing to plan and cook.  I realize that people working two jobs might not feel like they have time to cook, but they are also not getting the food stamps in that amount.  And I do work.  I run two businesses and a charity organization.  I don't work quite full time this time of year, but in the spring and summer I work close to 70 hours a week.  It will be interesting to see if I can keep this going then.  You simply can NOT live on less by eating out all the time.  Even on the $1 menu.

Besides, it's good for the environment.

Blacklight 5k

I'm finally doing another 5k.  Well maybe.  I've done this course before and it was easy enough that I doubt their measurements.

It's the Blacklight Run out in Bonner Springs KS.

I'm excited because of the people I am doing it with.  A group of sarcastic women who are not easily embarrassed.  It's so much fun to be with people who are not afraid to just have fun instead of worrying what people are thinking.  We are the Lightning Broads.  The kid is going.  Dan - my magician friend - described my  kid as Daria come to life.  I'm going to have to find that show for her to watch.

It's also exciting because it will be the first 5k for 3 of the women.  One used to weight 550 and now weighs 350 and did it WITHOUT surgery.  She's changed her diet and added exercise - giving herself a new lifestyle.  She's also dealing with why she got there.  I think it's rare for someone to get that large without an underlying problem.  Of course that comes from my own background and I know that it was more than just eating for fun.  That was some of it, but I was medicating with food.  And medicating with the wrong foods, some of which triggered more depression.   Currently I get severely itchy if I eat the wrong foods, so I have no problem staying away from them.  If only I had that reaction to cheese.  :-)

Back to the topic at hand.  I'm excited to have the opportunity to do this run/mostly walk with fun women who are actually interested in becoming healthy - not quick fixes.  I also remember how excited and nervous I was at my first race event.  It'll be fun to be there with race virgins who are experiencing it for the first time.  I love the running community.  Probably more than the running.  Actually a lot more than the running.

A belated Market report

I have been under the weather so my bike ride has taken a hit.  I'm going to be in KS forever!!  :-)

I did make it to the market on Saturday and went $2 over budget.  This is what I got.

2lbs pablono peppers

6 green bell peppers

3 red bell peppers

4 yellow bell peppers

3 mangos

6 grapefruit

3 smaller heads of broccoli

1 honeydew melon

3 zucchini

4 cucumbers

1/2 lb Serrano peppers

4lb strawberries

6 larger carrots

12 tangerines

6 oranges

6 lemons

2 bags of limes (about 18)

1 head cauliflower

10 plums

The bananas were free

We eat a ton of vitamin c.  you think I wouldn't ever come down with a cold!  It's actually not bad, just has me dragging too much to get anything done.

Virtual Bike Ride - Day 5

I'm working my way through Kansas!  At 10 miles a day it's going to take me well over a year, so I'm hoping to work my way up to 50 miles a day eventually.

I decided to try doing a fly over video this time.  It's easier to track the roads and makes for a more interesting video because you can see the countryside.  I will probably also start adding notes about the places.  Just have to look at the youtube video editing and see what I need to do to add captions.

Anyway - for now I did 10 miles on the bike burned a couple of hundred calories and made it just past Garder KS in my virtual ride.

This is how far I've gone so far. 

The $300 - Most of a week done

Slashing my budget means I need to make use of everything.  No more leftovers sitting around going bad.  That's a lunch or two just waiting to happen.

The other day I made my ground beef coconut curry with peppers

Recipe can be found on one of my other blogs krulewich.com  

http://www.krulewich.com/2015/01/ground-beef-coconut-curry-with-peppers.html

It works out to be less than $1 per serving.  It makes 6 servings for normal people, 4 for us because my husband loves it too much and will eat a HUGE serving of it.  Because there were only 2 people home I was able to have leftovers and we had it for lunch the next day.

I serve it on cabbage.  That one head of cabbage lasted me for 3 meals.  I didn't make it a centerpiece of any of them, but it was something I served stuff over or added to other stuff.  It cost me $1 to buy that head and I got 9 meals out of it.

In the past I have been guilty of not making the best use of my leftovers - even if it was a part of a vegetable that I should use.  Too easy to just let things sit in the fridge until it was time to throw them out.  I can't do that now.  Everything has to be used if I want to stay under budget.  

Waste not, want not.  That's a phrase that should have been my motto all along.  We live in a society of waste.  Huge amounts of good food are thrown out every year.  Food that SHOULD be put to use.  I'm going to do my best to keep the amount of food waste around here as close to zero as possible.

I'm a couple of days away from my market visit.  It's time to start a list of what I need this week.  Surprisingly I'm good on lemons.  I didn't use as many of  them this week as I normally do, but I'm running low on oranges.  We snack the heck out of them and of course the bananas are gone.  They are snapped up after workouts and I like to put one in my morning smoothie.  We still have more veggies leftover than I anticipated so I will be more cautious in my buying this week.  

Virtual Bike Ride - Day 4

I set a goal of making it to I35 in Olathe, KS today.  That means I had to give it 7 miles.

done and done!

Getting my miles in

I've decided to bike/walk/run to Monterey, CA.  Well, not actually.  I don't have enough time or a high enough fitness level to do it IRL.  What I am doing is making a google earth video of the distances I did that day and making my own little log that way.  The first two days represent time spent on the exercise bike.

I couldn't figure out how to get the darn thing to exit at my exit and it looked like a truck cut me off, so that kind of worked.  Ended up having to make a u-turn.  LOL  Then I was on the wrong side of the road, but to heck with it.  I just left that one.

I also didn't start at my actual home, but rather the place we lived before this one.  I figure the miles are the same but then my address isn't quite so public.

On the second day I only went a couple of more miles.

now that I have my fitbit charger cord back I will start adding my daily miles from walking/running to the total .

Squats Challenge Day 11 - Done

got the squats done and also a lot of walking around.  I'm tired.  My fitness pal says I didn't eat enough, but one day of lower calories won't kill me.  Not as fast as the lifetime of super high calories anyway.  I'm just not hungry and I'll eat when/if I'm hungry.  the idea of food just sounds nasty right now.  I'll have some more cucumber water and enjoy some crocheting time and plan for a good breakfast.

The 300 - month one, shopping trip 1

Ham 14.35

chicken 3.45

chicken 3.54

chicken 3.57

tomato paste .39 (x3)

4 ears corn 2.49

bag of tangerines 2.49

green beans 2.50

diced tomatoes .89

hazelnut spread 2.49

shredded cheddar cheese 2.79

chicken broth 1.49

Gluten Free Bread 3.99

Tortilla chips 1.19

Sour Cream & Onion Chips 1.49

Spiral Sliced Ham 16.85

2 lt. Dr. Pepper 1.48

2 lt. Cream Soda 1

Apples 3.50

Pears  3.67

Pork Chops 6.17

Smoked Sausage 3.98 (x2)

6 bell peppers 4.00

24 bananas 4.00

3 yellow bell peppers 1.00

12 kiwis 2.00

7 limes 1.00

12 lemons 2.00

12 oranges 2.00

6 cucumbers 2.00

2 bags blood oranges 4.00

2 large sweet potatoes 3.00

2 lbs poblano peppers 4.00

10 Anaheim peppers 1.00

6 pomegranates 8.00

3 heads broccoli 3.00

2 cantaloupe 1.00

3 boxes of strawberries 3.00

For a grand total of 131.03

That leaves me 168.97 for the rest of the month.  I won't need more meat.  I have a chicken for each of the next 3 weeks plus two entire hams, pork chops and 4lbs of sausage.  I have some ground been in the fridge and some in the freezer, so I'm good on the meats.  I also have plenty of beans and rice.  I will spend about $40/week on more fresh fruit and that leaves me 48 for other things.  That's not bad at all.  

Next month will be more difficult.  I won't have some of the stuff in reserve like GF mac & cheese or potatoes.  I do however have quite a bit of canned and boxed foods that I need to use up.  I looked them over today and I will do an actual inventory sometime over the next week.

Month one will be doable and not even all that difficult.  I'm not sure I could go that low without the kick ass prices at our local market.  It's practically a produce wholesaler.  

Shopping

My week starts on Saturday really - being a balloon artist will really make your schedule different from everyone else's.  So I decided to start my menu planning on Saturday.

Made myself a simple (read, not ink intensive) planner and can print it out to add to my master calendar binder.  I also made a simple shopping list.  I can do both in just a notebook, but I always lose notebooks, I don't lose my master calendar.

Now I have to figure out why everything saves with gray background.  Right now I am using my husband's computer and he must have some odd settings.  When I do it on mine the background saves as white.  It printed from google docs with white.  I can't wait to be using my own computer again.  Ok, fixed it.  When I save things as jpg on this computer the background is gray.  That's why my squats pictures are so odd.  I save them with white, but this computer makes it crazy.  Saving as a png seems to have fixed it for now.

Squat challenge Day 6 - Done

It took me all the way up until 11pm to finish.  I cant say I was too busy.  I just did not make it a priority.  Part of me wanted to say screw it and just skip the day, but I couldn't.  That was the same part of me that wanted to eat guacamole and chips at 10pm.  I wasn't hungry, but it looked tasty and I was dealing with a bit of stress eating.    I told myself I didn't need it and made some decaf coffee instead.  I did splurge on some creamer, but the 35 calories was much better than 500 from the snack!