Has it REALLY been a week?

First, a show of virtual hands for those that thought I had possibly fallen off the face of the earth, let alone given up the good fight of the thirty day challenge.  Yep, that's what I thought.  Most of you!!  That's okay, because not posting for a whole week is insane, but that's kind of how this week has been...between my job, an accounting final for me, a statistics test for Chris, a major room redecoration over the weekend, and just day to day endless freaking activities (not to mention also having a four year old and a five year old)...I fell behind on blogging.  I've missed it though, so I'm back to it.

So, upfront, I will admit that since my last post, we have ordered pizza twice.  In our defense, once was Friday night when we were really too exhausted to care anymore, and once was Sunday, when we had my parents over helping us finish my daughters room (which didn't get finished until 11pm on Sunday night.  We all had to work Monday.  I'm sure we were superstars that day.)  So, that puts our dinner count at 2.

Lunch?  Yeah, well, that's been a bit of struggle.  Last Friday, I broke down and bought lunch, since I had been SO good all week long...

  

That's right.  I bought two tacos from Tacos El Sol.  Worth every single penny of the $3 I spent on them.  I figure, if I bring my lunch every day, then rewarding myself at the end of the week with a couple of pan fried tacos is well deserved   :)  (again, my blog, my rules!  ha!)

Ok, so on to the stuff that I have cooked (because, believe it or not, throughout the past week, I still cooked quite a bit...or at least warmed the frozen stuff we had purchased.  Still counts.)

Breakfast:

I've had Trader Joe's Country Pumpkin Spice Granola (super delish)...

I've made up breakfast burritos...

And my newest invention.  Remember when I made the pancake sandwiches?  Well, I decided to get a little more creative, and this is what I came up with.  A regular pancake stuffed with turkey sausage, cheese, and scrambled eggs.  Brilliant, right?  It's really not that much different that actually making the pancake.  Put the batter down, and once it's set a little, add the sausage, cheese, and egg, and then pour a little batter on top to cover.  Flip like normal, and...viola!  The only thing I am not sure of with these bad boys is how well they would reheat after being frozen.  On the sandwiches you can take off the other pancakes if they start to get too hot, but these you obviously can't, so...if you aren't going to eat them within a couple of days, I may reconsider. 

Lunches have been mostly leftovers.  I know, I know.  Boring stuff.  But how else are you supposed to effectively use up the leftovers in your fridge?  Besides...this really is a huge step for me people.  I mean, bringing my lunch...whoa.  But bringing leftovers for my lunch?  Previously unheard of.

Dinner the last week...well, besides the two nights of pizza, we have had:

Garlic sauteed shrimp with pinto beans, Spanish orzo, homemade guac, and chips and cheese.  (this would be the night my daughter decided to go all manipulative on my husband....since all my readers are my facebook friends, you will recall this situation.)  It was SO good.  Actually, here is another picture:

I know that it seems odd, but seriously...this is one of the best burritos combinations that I have ever had, from any place.  I don't know that it would be good the next day, but this night?  Holy cow good.  It's a weird combo, but it you try it, you'll love it.  Promise.  That was Thursday.

Friday night was pizza delivery, mostly because we rock.

Saturday night was all about the frozen conveniences that Trader Joe's has to offer.  (yeah, I know I mention them a lot.  I can't help it.  I love their stuff.)  We had a full Chinese meal for four that cost us less than $10 total.  Score 1 for Team Ericson.

Pork Pot Stickers, Chicken fried rice, and mandarin chicken.  We saved ourselves at least $20 by not ordering this from the regular Chinese restaurant, and honestly?  It was just as good.  You really do owe it to yourself to get some good quality frozen food to have on hand, because when you want Chinese and you have all this in your freezer...you're good to go.

So Sunday night was another Pizza night...wow, awesomeness two nights in a weekend!

Monday night was tacos. I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture, but I didn't.  I had made a bunch of taco meat up about a month ago and had stuck it in the freezer, so it's a great go to meal.  And who doesn't love Tacos?  I'm pretty sure that I could eat them every single day of my life.  I definitely know they would be on my last meal menu should I ever find myself on death's row. (weird thing to think about, I know)

Tuesday night was class...which means Sandwiches.

Tonight was something a little different.  I made two different types of Stromboli.  A pizza one for the kids with homemade marina, fresh mozzarella, pepperoni, and fresh grated Romano and Parmesan cheese.  I also added some pesto as well.  It was fantastic!

For our Stromboli, though, I wanted a little spice.  I used three alarm cheese, habanero cheese, party time ham, a little olive oil, some Chili Lime seasoning, some Chipotle Rub, super sharp cheddar cheese, Havarti cheese, red onions, sun-dried tomatoes, and roasted red bell peppers. (I know this seems like lots of cheese, but I cut my cheese really thin with a veggie peeler...so I can use lots of different kinds!) 

This. Was. Amazing.  I realize that sometimes it's frustrating to read my blog and see that I don't really use measurement of any kind...but that's just how I roll.  :)  Seriously, I hate measuring, so unless I'm forced to because I'm baking or making pancakes, I just don't do it!  We paired the Stromboli's with some nice leafy salads, and had a great, quick meal1

Lastly, I thought I would share that my kids are getting into the spirit of this, as well.  Tae decided she was going to make snacks for everyone this weekend, and this is what she brought:

I was actually really proud of her, because she did, for the most part, make some really healthy choices!

So that catches up our week.  Again, I apologize for my lack of posting, and will definitely work on not letting that happen again!

Until then, much love and good eats!

Cheers!

A Celebration of Sorts

Today we are about two and a half weeks into this challenge...which means that we've made it over halfway!  I thought it only fair to give an updated tally of where we stand so far:

Chris- 3 lunches, no breakfasts bought

Kylie- 1 lunch, 1 breakfast bought

Dinner eaten out when we could have eaten in:  0!!!!!!

I'm actually REALLY proud of those stats!  Those are manageable levels...lunch or breakfast once a week is definitely not a deal-breaker.

Yesterday was class day for both of us. I thought and thought about what I wanted to have for breakfast, and the only thing that I could really think of that I wanted was...more no-bake cookie oatmeal.  I have literally had it for three days straight.  I'm going to try to go for something different tomorrow, but who knows.

Lunch yesterday was cottage cheese and nice leafy salad (spring mix and baby spinach).  I also added feta cheese, and used some  strawberry balsamic vinegar and tuscan herb olive oil for the dressing.  Remember when I talked about certain ingredients being worth it to spend a little more on?  Balsamic vinegar and olive oil definitely fall into that category for me.  When you have great ingredients, you don't need a lot of extra things on your salad to have a fantastic, tasteful meal.  Trust me.  I have both the generic kind and the good stuff in my cupboard...you're welcome to come over and taste the difference.

There's this wonderful little shop called The Tasteful Olive in Old Overland Park, KS.  The shop has all kinds of flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegars, and you can taste them before you buy them.  LOVE this place, and I highly recommend trying it out, especially if you are still getting a feel for the kinds of tastes that you like.  As an added bonus, Penzey's spice store (love, love, love) is two buildings down, so you can load up on all the good spices while you're there as well...and again, you can sample before you buy! (PS-if you do go to The Tasteful Olive, don't actually DRINK the olive oil, just taste it on your tongue.  Otherwise you may find yourself burping olive oil for the next six hours.  Right, Chris?)

For dinner last night...

Kidding, Kidding.  (well, kind of...)  I actually went out to dinner (this one was planned for, so I don't count it as impromptu dining out! ;)  My blog, my rules!  ha!) with my classmates to celebrate the fact that we made it through our accounting class!!  Whoohoo!!  This delicious beer was Young's Double Chocolate Stout.  It. Was. Delicious.  I ordered a chicken queso wrap as my meal, but it wasn't that great.  Good thing the beer was so it wasn't a total loss!

For lunch today, I had leftovers...I know, I'm proud of myself, too.  I actually took some of the jambalaya stew stuff that we had made the other night that I had frozen.  I'll admit...it wasn't too bad.

Dinner tonight was probably one of my favorite meals that we've had so far, and it was one of the simplest.  I made turkey burgers on whole wheat buns with chipotle mayo, some provolone and super-sharp cheddar cheese, grilled onions, and romaine lettuce.  We had some garlic fries that were pretty dang good, too.

Long story short?  We're still eating good.

Cheers!