Trophy Tips

Good evening!

Two posts in two days, one could say I'm on a roll.

I've decided to do a post on tips and tricks to saving money and eating well. I know I've included some of these in some of the posts, but here is an itemized list you can refer to more easily.

I get a lot of feedback on my twitter page on my blog posts (and on my life in general...) so I'll try to also answer some common questions that come up.

1. MAKE A LIST WHEN YOU GO GROCERY SHOPPING! I know the first time I went grocery shopping after I moved out, I was like "OHHH DUNKAROOS! OHHHH FROZEN PIZZA OMG! YES GIVE ME ALL OF THEM!" I didn't have a list. Or willpower. Or a budget apparently. Try to look at the flyers beforehand too and make a list of things that fit your needs and budget. I don't drive, so I just flip through the flyer for the store right in my apartment building, but if you drive and it's worth your while, you can go through all the flyers and go to Wal-Mart and price match everything and really save some of your hard earned (or maybe not so hardly earned, I'm not judging) money.

2. Meal plan. This is almost as important as the first "rule". This is a crucial step in healthy eating as well as following a budget. You need to know how much you're spending before you walk into the store and the easiest way to do this is to plan your meals and know what you're spending for each item. This might be a bit difficult the first few times, but after awhile you'll know approximately how much your groceries will cost. 

3. Balance. I like including some items in my meal plan that make me feel like I'm not eating like a poor person and pairing it with super cheap staples. I'll get a steak and pair it with potatoes (cheeeeap) and some frozen veggies (cheeeeeap!!!!). You feel like you're having a super fancy dinner, but will have spent the fraction of the price of what you would have paid to go out to eat. (Check out my salting steak post to see how you can stretch your steak dollar even further!) Buying staples such as potatoes, brown rice and quinoa can also help in cutting down costs, especially if you have a store like Bulk Barn where you're buying in bulk and not paying for any packaging. 

4. Do it yourself. I don't think I've ever bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Or prepared stir fry veggie mix. Or pre-seasoned pork chops. I would rather do everything myself and cut down on costs. It literally takes me minutes to peel and cut carrots and I'm saving money by doing it myself. If you simply do not have the luxury of time I have to prepare meals, try doing all of your peeling/chopping when you get home from getting the groceries and freeze or store whatever is needed for each recipe. Boom, instant time and money saver. You're welcome.

5. Grow it yourself. Related to my post yesterday. I spent pennies on seeds and pennies on soil. I've been rewarded with 12 cucumber plants (the majority of which I'm donating), planter boxes FULL of herbs, lettuce, radishes and kale. 

6. Preserve. This is something I'm hoping to learn this summer. I think I'll try pickling with some of the cucumbers I get and maybe making jam out of our strawberries if we get enough. If you have a garden/orchard/access to massive amounts of fruits or veggies, preserving them is a (relatively) easy way to be able to stretch them out instead of leaving them to spoil. Keep your eye out for a blog post on that soon-ish! 

As you can see, it really isn't difficult to organize and plan your eating and spending. I do admit I sometimes just fall off the wagon, but this method is tried and true. I know it can seem overwhelming, but just try one step at a time. Maybe start with the meal plan. Once you have something that works for you, work on buying things that require you to do most of the work. You'll be saving money in no time which just means more money for wine, right? Right...? (Sorry mom)

What are your favourite money saving tricks? 

D.

My little balcony garden

Good afternoon (morning? evening? Wherever you are, I hope you are well!)

It was brought to my attention today (by myself) that I have not written a blog post in FAR too long. So here I am. And I have a very exciting endeavor to share with all of you. This project has been in the works for maybe 6 weeks now and will hopefully go well into next September. I present to you: my garden!

Yes. I have a garden. A very tiny one, but it's there and I love it. 

Me and bestie, Sam, decided forever ago we wanted to plant a garden in her yard in the summer. And anyone who knows us knows that when we get an idea for something, we usually get a BIT overambitious and plan everything all at once and go a bit nuts then kind of forget about it as we've begun obsessing over something new.

Anyway, we went through with the garden idea. Sometime in March, I went and got a window box and some soil and seeds and decided I was going to plant a small herb garden for the balcony. That weekend, I set out on the balcony, read the instructions on the seeds and planted them. In retrospect, it was too early to plant as we were still getting very cold evenings and I was almost certain it was all going to be a bust.



I was wrong. Those suckers grew like weeds. My basil, however, is a different story. It's been a slow start. It is still very, very small but I think it's because I planted the soil to deep into the pot and it's not getting enough sun as the edge of the pot is casting a shadow on the inside of the pot. But there is a tiny seedling and it's been getting plenty of sun now.

A few weeks later, Sam and I decided to plant some starters for her garden and I decided to start two more window boxes, one with kale and one with lettuce. I also accidentally bought three tomato plants. OOPS!

We ended up also planting a window box full of radishes and starting some onions and cukes in little canisters. I also plan on growing some garlic over the winter in the window boxes.

So there's a background on the garden and here is a list of pointers I have put together as a first time gardener.

1: Water your plants in the evening or morning (Sam just told me this). Watering mid day means the plants have had to weather the hot sun of the morning, turning the leaves yellow and possibly burning them. 

2: Eggshell fertilizer! I just smashed a bunch of eggshells with a fork and spread them onto the herb garden. It seems to have worked very well as they are growing out of control.

3: Try to keep the water you're using the water your garden around the same temperature as it is outside (even better, try to keep it outside to let it sit and get to temperature) 

4: Enjoy your garden! I can't tell you how many times I sat out on the balcony and thought there was no way I was going to get any cucumber plants. Then all of a sudden, in a matter of hours, most of them had poked out of the soil. After two weeks of waiting, patiently and daily watering, I was SO happy to see those guys make an appearance.

5: Thin your plants once they are a bit bigger. I tend to oversow because I get paranoid they aren't all going to take. You want to make sure the vegetables (especially root veggies like beets and radishes) get enough space to get to size before you harvest them. I've also heard if you don't thin radishes they get very bitter. I'm not taking any chances.

I've had so many people comment on my instagram and twitter asking me to teach them my green thumb ways, so there's most of it. Honestly, it was basically getting the supplies, reading the seed packets and doing a little bit of research online. 

Share your gardening tips in the comments! Do you have a garden? 

Juicing...an introduction

Yes, I'm still alive!
I've been in Winnipeg since August and feel like I haven't been able to stop and write a blog post in forever. So here I am.

And let me introduce you to what I've been doing for the last few mints: juicing!

Now there is a smoothie/juicing debate going on and here is what I have to say. Why not both? Although I love a good green smoothie, I LAHV a good green juice.

I don't follow a specific recipe but usually when I go grocery shopping I get base ingredients in. Luck and whatever is on sale. Base items are carrots, apple, beets, oranges, kale (or spinach) and pineapple. I love adding strawberries if they're on sale and sometimes watermelon or kiwi.

Once I get home, I rinse all the goodies, peel and chop into pieces that fit in my juicer's feeder.

This lasted me about a week. Apples were stored in lemon juice
Careful with the beets, they tend to make your kitchen look like a crime scene. But look how pretty!

My trademark juice:

Two handfuls leafy greens

Two pineapple spears

Half a beet, sliced

Two carrots, sliced

Half an orange, peeled

Half an apple, sliced

Run through juicer, add water to taste if you think you need it. Enjoy these benefits and sip your concoction.

Repeat whenever you feel bloated, sluggish or after you've had a teen burger with onion rings and a root beer for an instant "see, body, I don't hated you."

Do you juice? What are your favourite ones? Comment and let me know! 

xo,  D.