Menu Plan Monday

M is coming back from a trip this afternoon, so meals will include everyone this week.

Lunches:
Lunches include leftovers, cottage cheese, fruit, hummus with vegetables, & nuts. I'm trying hard to lose weight this holiday season, so I need to keep the calories under control for lunch.

Dinner:
Sunday - Stuffed Peppers (recipe below)
Monday - Ham & Cheese Turnovers
Tuesday - Chicken Cordon Bleu
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Bob's Awesome Lasagna
Friday - Homemade Pepperoni Pizza
Saturday - Out to dinner with my parents.
Sunday - Mediterranean Chicken with Potatoes

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS (adapted from Better Home & Gardens Cookbook)2 green peppers
1 pound ground beef
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup chopped onion
7 1/2 ounces canned tomatoes, cut up
1/3 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil (or dried oregano)
1/4 tsp saffron
1/2 cup shredded American cheese, divided use

Halve peppers lengthwise, removing stem ends, seeds and membranes. Immerse peppers into boiling water for 3 minutes. Sprinkle insides wth salt. Invert on paper towling to drain well.

In a skillet cook meat, garlic and onion till meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat.

Stir in undrained tomatoes, uncooked rice, worchestershire sauce, basil, 1/2 cup water, saffron, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes or till rice is tender.

Stir in 1/4 cup of cheese. Fill peppers with meat mixture. Place in an 8x8x2 inch baking dish with any remaining meat mixture.

Bake in a 375 degree F oven about 15 minutes or till heated through.

Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Let stand 1 to 2 mintues.

Serving Size : 4

Holiday Progress - Financial & Otherwise

I wanted to do a recap of where I'm at with preparing for the holidays, so here goes!

• We've created & ordered our holiday cards. We just need to fill them out & mail them. I bought stamps today, so I'm planning to get these mailed by Wednesday evening.
• I've finished my package for M's family that I need to mail overseas. I need to get this in the mail by Monday or Tuesday in order to get it there by Christmas. I shudder to think how much the postage will cost. But, I did find a fabulous deal on the one last gift I was looking for. M's brother-in-law wanted the same shaving kit that M uses, and I've been purchasing of the items here & there when I think about it & had spent $18 for three items. Today I found a set that included 6 items (including the three I'd already purchased) for $12. I'll be returning the other items. Score!
• Our tree is up & our house is decorated. We still need to hang our outdoor lights. (I say "we", but this is M's job. :-))
• I'm not planning to do any Christmas baking this year, with the exception of baking either a holiday cake (we have a train & race car set) or cookies to decorate with the boys.
• We've made craft gingerbread houses (i.e. not with candy) & the boys loved it & have the houses in their rooms as decorations.
• The advent Calendar is filled, & treats are being enjoyed daily by the boys.
• I'm done with my shopping! My family has really worked to cut back on gift exchanging (nothing between the adults) in order to keep the focus on the kids & streamline for everyone. I love it! I didn't miss the gift exchange at all last year. I'm giving M an "experience" oriented gift, which I'm very excited about. I feel like I made great choices for everyone & stayed within my budget, which is always a nice feeling. I may be getting gifts for my team at work, but I'm interviewing for a new team on Monday, so I haven't picked anything up yet, as things are in limbo. If I do give gifts, I generally stick to champagne.

And, here's the damage. My goal for the year was to keep my budget under $1000. I know that's still a ton of money, but I've cut this way, way down considering my old ways. :) I've had previous budgets of $3K+, and you know what, I didn't enjoy the holidays any more. It just meant more gifts to shop for, wrap, and find places for at our home.

*drumroll*. . . I have one other expense that I don't have an exact total for (postage, as noted above), so I'll estimate $30 for that, which will bring my grand total to $800. I've stuck to my budget for almost everyone (going under and over by a few dollars on a few people). Love it!

Weekly Spending Update

I'd like to get back in the habit of doing weekly spending updates, as they make me more accountable!

Monday - no spend day. Finally. :-)

Tuesday - Costco - $74.54. Three bottles of wine + normal groceries/produce. Met a friend for dinner, but she picked up the bill. I'll treat next time.
Wednesday - Treated a coworker to lunch as a thank you present. $73.80. Safeway - $88.05 on groceries. Total for the day =  $161.85

Thursday - $38.31 - bought a Christmas gift. I'll be getting reimbursed $30 for this item. Ice cream cone - $1.10. :-) . Total for the day = $39.41

Friday - $4.77 - thank you cards & grapes. Overnight hotel stay with sister + our kids. Used a gift card I purchased earlier in the year.
Saturday - $35 - Starbucks for breakfast for six. $30 pizza for dinner. Total for the day = $65.

Sunday - $92.30 - grocery store. This is a combination of groceries, presents, and a very expensive hair product that I've been looking for for several months.  Let's hope it works, because it was a fortune! $80.18 at costco - $43.75 of that was for holiday stamps. We'll use about 1/2 to mail our holiday cards, & the rest of the stamps last for months. We're not big letter mailers. $10 refund at Target, but then spent $61.92. Christmas presents & one household item. Kohl's (Christmas presents) - $22.97. The good news is, that I think I'm done with my Christmas shopping! I'll post a separate recap on the damage for the holidays. :-). Total for the day = $257.37

Total for the week = $602.94. Yikes! It's definitely more than usual, but I have an expensive meal out in there, as well as Christmas gifts. I'm done with my Christmas shopping, so I'm hoping to have a very inexpensive week next time. :-)

12/2 - Fitness & Nutrition Update

Weight = 161.4 - same as yesterday.

Food:
Breakfast:

• egg with english muffin + 1/2 laughing cow - 230
• coffee with milk - 20

Snack:

• banana - 110
• trail mix - 170

Lunch:

• mandarin orange - 30
• pasta with meat & cheese - 300

Snack:

• ice cream cone (McDonalds) - 150. Subtotal = 1010.

Dinner:

• hummus & cucumber - 100
• cottage cheese - 120
• pesto pasta with meat sauce - 400

Total calories = 1630.
Fruits/Vegetables = 2/2.

12/1 - Fitness & Nutrition Update

Weight = 161.4. Woo! Happy December. I'm especially excited because I went out to dinner last night, set a plan for myself, & stuck to it fairly well. This is important for me, as the holidays tend to be filled with lots of opportunities to get off track - planning things out ahead of time makes a huge difference.

 

Food:
Breakfast:

• Egg + laughing cow + english muffin - 240
• Coffee with milk - 20

 

Snack:

• Trail mix - 170

Lunch (out)

• 1 glass of wine - 120
• Salad, soup, & bread - 400

Dinner:
pretzel thins - 160
small serving of chicken with spinach - 300
pomegranate - 80

 

Total calories = 1530.

Fruits/Vegetables = 2/4.

Workout = 40 minutes of bike, level 12. I tried a new "hill" workout, & it kicked my butt!

2011 Ambitions/Goals - a work in progress

I'm starting to think through how I want to structure my 2011 goals, & what I want to focus on. I have a few initial ideas, but these are not fully baked.

I want to stop shopping as a hobby. Once I start shopping, I quickly get offtrack & have no self control. As a result, I think I need to set up a goal that provides a reward for each month I don't shop (for clothes/shoes). I love massages/pedicures/spa stuff of all kind, & enjoy it so much more than clothing. But, the instant gratification of heading to the mall, the retail therapy aspect, and the hunt for a good bargain seem to outweigh that in the moment. Put another way, I truly enjoy treating myself to experiences more than a $15 shirt I'll wear twice, but I'm not spending my money in a way that reflects that.

• 2011 goal for shopping: No shopping for a year for clothing, shoes, or makeup. Exceptions: replacing running shoes if they wear out, replacing any must have makeup that I wear every day. I think once I break myself of the habit of viewing shopping as a hobby, it will change my entire perspective for good. Other goal - make a list when shopping for the kids & stick to it. No random/impulse kids clothing purchases.

Reward for hitting my shopping goal: For each month that I stick to my goal, I'll get a massage. For three months of hitting my goal, I'll add in a mani/pedi. For six months of hitting my goal, I'll plan an entire spa day. If I hit my goal for the entire year, I'll do a spa-focused weekend getaway!

• 2011 goal for budget: I've set up a goal for how much my credit card bill should be each month (we charge most of our regular expenses on our credit cards & then pay off each month), & want to stick to that every month of the year.

Reward for hitting my budget goal: Increased savings & financial flexibility! :-)

• 2011 goal for paying off 401K loan: This is a huge goal for me in 2011. Paying off the 401K loan gets me maximum flexibility for eventually leaving my current company and either working somewhere else, working reduced hours, and/or taking a substantial pay cut to work at a non profit. I can't do any of these things with the loan hanging over me, so I'm highly motivated to ditch this. I'm still working on how I'm going to payoff my 401K loan by the end of 2011, but will have the details by the end of the month.

Reward for hitting my 401K payoff goal: Job/family life balance flexibility.

• 2011 fitness goal: I'm pushing hard to hit my 150 workouts for 2010, but I want my goal in 2011 to be: more flexible, encourage strength training, & rewards me for longer cardio workouts. Right now, I give myself credit for any 30 minute cardio workout, which means that most of the time I stop at 30 minutes. Slacker. :-) I'm thinking of structuring the 2011 goal into three tiers:
• Cardio - 4500 minutes of cardio in 2011. This is the same as my current goal of 150 workouts, but gives me flexibility to do longer workouts on the weekend, etc.
• Strength - 1500 minutes of strength training in 2011. I definitely need to tone up, so this is a great way to build in time & make sure this happens.
• Stretching/flexibility - 1000 minutes of flexibility in 2011. I'm thinking of using this for stretching or yoga/pilates.
• Achieve my goal weight of 130 lbs.

Reward for hitting my fitness goal: Looking & feeling great!

I'm sure there is more to come, but what are your goals for 2011? How are you doing towards your 2010 goals?

11/30 - Fitness & Nutrition Update

Weight = 162. Heading in the right direction again. :-)

Food:
Breakfast:

• english muffin + egg + laughing cow - 230
• coffee with milk - 20

Snack:

• Hot chocolate - 50

Lunch:

• roasted potatoes - 150
• pasta with pesto - 300.
• 1 mandarin - 30

 Snack:

• chocolate milk - 160. Subtotal = 940.

 Dinner:

• cashews - 80
• Wine - 150
• Edamame - 100
• Salad - 400

Total calories = 1670.

Fruits/Vegetables = 3/5
Workout = 40 minutes stationary bike, level 12