Frugal or not?

Ever think about how much you pay for each week of food?  I’m not talking grocery bills.  I mean, the actual food consumption on a weekly basis.  One of my classes required that we write down exactly how much we spent for a week based on what we ate.  Mine came out to $45.00.  But the most interesting part of this experiment was that it really pinpointed where I spend the most.  Things like organic spinach and cottage cheese were the post expensive, along with yogurts too.  Obviously I would never give some of my favorite foods up, but it’s interesting to see where the money goes. 😉  The good news is that even with choosing healthier fare, my lunches were still cheaper then a typical fastfood meal.  That made me happy.

Do you think you spend a lot or a little on your food consumption, and where does most of that money go?

For breakfast I had a very frugal bowl of oats.

• 1/2 c. oatmeal
• 1/2 c. milk + 1/2 c. water
• cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
• 1/2 banana
• 6-oz. plain yogurt with 1 T. flax (stirred in after oats were cooked)
• toppings: 1/2 whole wheat pumpkin muffin, peanut butter sauce (1 T. peanut butter + 1 T. milk, heated—KERF idea!) and a sprinklin’ of coconu

At first I didn’t know what to think of the yogurt & oatmeal mix.  Not quite hot, not quite cold.  But then as I ate my way through it, I started to really enjoy it.  It was very reminiscent of both regular oats and overnight oats—the best of both worlds. 😀

 For a quick morning snack, I snagged a handful of pistachios and an orange.

I was really excited for today’s workout.  Along with my foot pains, I haven’t been able to indulge in my normal weekend long runs.  In a moment of thinking outside the box, I decided to embrace both running and biking for one fun workout. 

I decided to start with the 4-mile run so that my legs would be nice and fresh.  Then I hopped on my bike for a fast-paced, hilly 6-mile loop.  I’m trying to slowly reintroduce myself to biking, since it always takes me a while to fall in love with it.  Once the warm weather rolls around though, I’d like to lengthen my bike rides and shorten my weekly running mileage.  There are some great loops that I’d love to check out! 😀

After my bike ride, I snacked on an end peice of whole wheat sourdough bread with a pat of cashew butter.

I felt very “spring-ish” after spending my morning outside in 40 degree weather.  A big ol’ salad was exactly what I was craving: greens, cucumbers, carrots, garbanzos, black & green olives, green bell peppers and my favoritest dressing mix: tsp each of olive oil, balsamic, orange juice and a dash of garlic powder and mustard.

+ whole wheat bunnies which are always fun to eat!

These next couple of weeks are going to be insane with homework for me!  I have my presentation on coconuts for Wednesday, two exams on Tuesday, a Cancer presentation coming up, and multiple other assignments (including the Haitian Diet paper, which I promise to turn into a special posting very soon!! 😀 )  I love feeling busy and productive though.  And despite feeling nervous for the presentations, I have to say I’m kind of looking forward to the extra practice.  Besides, talking about coconuts is going to be really interesting. 😀

I had an insatiable appetite this afternoon and made an early snack of Doctor Kracker’s Seeded Spelt crisps (yum, yum, yum!!!) with some vegetable hummus and a laughing cow wedge and an apple on the side. 

Look at this handsome man! 😀

My sister and her husband were having internet problems, so my dad went over to work on it.  I stopped by to chat with Nicole and see my two favorite nephews (aka, Highstreet and Stitch.)  Stitch is such a ham for getting his picture taken.

Everyone was home for dinner tonight, and eggs were on the menu (which, by the way, are another super cheap protein choice!) for a quick and easy meal.  I turned mine into French toast and topped it with peanut butter and homemade blueberry jam.  Veggies on the side were slightly unconventional but still fun to crunch on. 😀

The finale of my meal took place with an oatmeal raisin cookie. 

My mom “won” a few cookies from work, as she met a certain goal.  She passed on this cookie to me, and I opened it up tonight.  So doughy and chewy and perfect!   I love my oatmeal raisin cookies to be slightly undercooked, chewy with oats and studded with raisins.  This one was so rich and buttery. 

I think I’ll get back to studying for a bit, and then I plan on making a snack and relaxing! 

Question of the Day: Do you think you spend a lot or a little, and where does most of your monetary food bills go?  I think I spend about average, considering where I live.  Some of my costs are definitely a little higher with eating healthy, in regards to organic spinach and low fat dairy products (gotta have my yogurt!)  But I try to cut costs in other areas to make up for it too. 😉