Cheesecake bars

At the request of Amy, I am doing a post about these delicious bad boys.

I think I found the original recipe on pinterest and since then have made them a few times, always adding my own twist.

These treats freeze well and travel well. I've cut them into squares and wrapped them in plastic film then frozen them individually to avoid inhaling the whole pan all at once.

ANYWAY!

The recipe is pretty basic:

Yes, I took the time last night to hand write it as I was in a meeting and desperately bored and wanted to share.

As you can see, they're stupid easy. Perfect if you have someone over last minute. Just whip these up and pop them into the oven.

I usually use fairly soft butter (as I leave my butter on my counter so in the summer it gets really soft) and the cream cheese SHOULD be softened but I give it a good whirl in the kitchenaid and it behaves.

The only time that doesn't work is if you've put your cream cheese in the freezer. I did that once and just microwaved it at like 20% at 30 second intervals. I have all sorts of tricks to share loves.

Other than that, the recipe is fairly simple to follow, but if you do have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comments below. I'd be more than happy to answer if I can.

Now as for variations, I've done a few. I've added some lemon zest to the batter before for a fresher bar. I've also baked frozen raspberries into the top.

For Canada Day, I decided to bake frozen cherries into the bar and make the top into a Canadian flag. Since the top bakes like a cheesecake, I had to cover it in whip cream first to create a surface for the strawberries to stick onto. I know this is a pretty pitiful Canadian Flag, but come on, it's not an easy one to replicate.

Hope you enjoy these bars!

xo D.

Budgetting while planning a (nearly) cross country move

Good morning loves,

I know it's been a long, long time.
Quite frankly, I've been in over my head with this whole moving to Winnipeg thing. 
I think things have settled a BIT now, as I have planned what I'm bringing, what I'm selling and what I'm giving away or throwing out.

Now, some of this (actually a lot) is relying on my penny pinching skills. I have to admit, I am getting help from my parents.
My mom has offered to send my things for me and my aunt has graciously offered to receive my boxes and bring them to my place when I get there.

Things are a bit complicated, however, as my lease officially starts July 15 and I won't get there for almost a full month after.
I also haven't found employment.

But don't fear my loves. It will work. I have to make it work. And I always do make it happen, by some kind of weird troph voodoo.

Ok so let's tackle how I planned my move.

Things to bring:

I've moved an insane amount of time, we're talking 15 houses in the last 22 years with this move making it 16. So I have a bit of experience.
I am moving into a bachelor suite, so I know I will need to be frugal, not only with money, but also space. There is a little storage room, but my sister has said it's not very big (she lives in the same building so our layout is the exact same. Don't even get me started on how excited I am to be living in the same building as her.)
So basics like my coffee maker, dishes, pots/pans/etc., clothes are coming with me or getting shipped.

Things to sell:

I'm not really sure if this is really bad etiquette, but when I moved into the place I'm in now, a lot of people gave me things. Like my microwave and its stand, a kitchen table with three chairs and a few other things. Those things, along with a PLETHORA of knick-knacks are the things I plan on selling. I'm also going to try and sell my bed since it's worth less than the cost to send it. I'm also selling things like DVDs I never watch, craft supplies and all my Christmas decorating. I'm aiming to make $200 on this yard sale, but honestly, I just need the things gone.

Things to donate/throw out:

This is a little embarrassing. I threw out four garbage bags full of things a few weekends ago. FOUR! I know. Where did all this worthless stuff even COME FROM?! I wish I knew. Some of these things were half  used toiletries which I figured no one would buy (I wouldn't.) as well as some half-finished crafts, some souvenirs I just don't think are worth packing around with me. So after chucking all these items into the dumpster, I still had some good items I know would benefit someone. I brought fabric scraps and read magazines to the laundromat since I knew they'd appreciate it. I also brought a big clear bag of clothes and some shoes (the separation anxiety was astounding) to the local battered women's shelter. Felt good knowing things I didn't want or need could be used by people who would really, really be appreciative.

So this is basically where it stands. I've made my lists and started working towards sorting everything out. My dad is bringing me a bunch of boxes of my things he apparently has, but I have a feeling it'll be a whole lot of junk/things to sell since I haven't needed/used them in the last year and a bit.

Have you moved before? What are your favourite ways to make sure everything is organized and ready to go? 

xo D.

Salting Steak

Salting Steak

This post is, again, more of a method that an actual recipe.

I was on Pinterest and saw (very briefly) a post about steak. It was about making the best steak you'd ever put in your mouth or something so, of course, I didn't repin it and it's gone forever.

HOWEVER! I did catch one part of the pin. Which was salting the steak while waiting for it to come to room temperature.

That night, I visited my grocery store and picked out some top sirloin steaks. Mostly because I don't know anything really about steak and they were cheap so I figured this is a good opportunity to test the method.

After I tried it the first time, I was so intrigued by how it worked I did some research and found this. 

I mean, this girl looks like she knows what she's talking about so I decided to try this a second time. This time, I took pictures to show you doll faces how exactly it looks and how it works.

SO! All you need is steak and salt. Sea salt specifically. Don't use table salt at any cost, you will regret it and I will tell you I told you so.

First, I trimmed the fat off the sides of my steak. 

Then I put them onto a baking sheet I had lined with foil. I poured salt on one side then flipped them and poured salt onto the second side.

I crushed a few (lots) of garlic and added those on top as the flavour gets carried into the meat (as you read in the link I posted)

This part is crucial. Let the meat sit. For best results, let it sit for at least 40 minutes. I left mine out for about 2 hours because I was on Skype and got distracted.

Now, you will notice the steak looks like it's bled out. Do not fret. This is water. The salt has done some complicated chemical reaction and basically broken down the meat fibres and so this is water leaching out, leaving more flavour in the meat.

Rince the steaks off and dry them out VERY WELL with paper towel.

Ok once you have done all this, you are ready to cook the steaks.

Now you can see on the package that the 4 steaks cost me around 8 dollars. So this is 2 bucks a pop. Honestly, you cannot find a better deal for protein. Chicken breast is like 30 a pack here and I just can't afford that. So now, I can get cheap steaks and make them taste like a much more expensive cut. I'm ok with that.

What are your favourite ways to make you feel like you're eating expensive while sticking to a budget?

Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork

This is way more of a method than an actual recipe. Mostly because I always have different spices on hand to throw into the rub.

I started making this a few months ago and it is now in heavy rotation in my meal planning because it is cheap, tasty, not too bad for calories and I have a weird obsess with BBQ. 

Seriously, obsessed.

Anyway, this is what you need.

Ingredients:

1 pork roast. I always use shoulder, bone in.

1 cup brown sugar (basically the only constant in my rub)

The rest is up to you. Mostly I use garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chill flakes and salt and pepper. Super easy.

Steps:

1. Mix your brown sugar with all the spices.

2. Rub all over the roast. Make sure you cover every spot, you want the flavour to really get 

into the roast.

3. Wrap your pork in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge. I usually let it sit one or two days.

4. Put your roast in your slow cooker with 3 cups of liquid. I've used apple juice and water.

 My sister uses coke or root beer. I bet mustard and water would be good, whatever, you drain it after anyway so I usually just use plain water.

5. After your pork is cooked (a solid 8-10 hours on low), drain the liquid and shred the pork. It should just fall apart. Add barbecue sauce. Depending on how much roast you have, use enough barbecue sauce to lightly coat the shredded pork.

Price wise: My roast was $14. Pulled pork has lasted me two weeks before. It freezes very well, so you can just pull out however you need and refreeze. Also you can add it to pizza, pasta maybe, I usually just eat it on a whole wheat bun with plain broccoli slaw. Yum! So per portion, it's about $1 (not including the spices, which you probably already have on hand.)

Iced Green Tea

Iced green tea

I debated about making this a blog post, mostly because it's so easy, I feel like I'm cheating. But then again, sometimes you just need to have your a-ha moment and I had mine last weekend.

I love/hate Starbucks. 

I love Starbucks because they make drinks that are too elaborate for me to make at home. I hate Starbucks because of how expensive it is. And that it's been made into a verb. Starbucksing hurts my ears.

Anyway, my favourite drinks at Starbucks are mostly revolving around tea.

There's the soy earl grey tea latte with sugar free vanilla syrup. (When it's cold)

And in the summer, nothing NOTHING is better than a nice iced tea from Starbucks.

I don't always get the same thing, as I like to experiment with the different teas/syrups Starbucks has.

If I want something fruity, I get an iced passion tea. If I want something sweet, I get an iced raspberry black tea lemonade. Those are a treat though as they are quite sweet.

Most recently, I've been partial to iced green tea.

Not just iced green tea. Venti iced green tea, half sweet, light ice.

After getting 3 of these suckers in 2 days, I decided I would not fall victim to paying $3.00 for tea. That's like, the rules of feminism.

So, I went home and made my own batch of iced green tea and let me tell you, it tasted EXACTLY like the ones I got at Starbucks. Probably because I used the same tea. Whatever, I'm still proud of my discovery.

Since making it, I've been thinking of all the possibilities this brings forth. Green tea with frozen raspberries? YUM. Iced green tea with lemon and orange slices? YUM!

Anyway, here's how I did it.

I used my coffee maker because I don't have a kettle. I know. I'm poor, it's fine. I do things the cracker jack way.

First, I THOROUGHLY rinsed my coffee pot and the basket where the coffee grinds go and brewed just water a few times to get as much coffee taste out of the machine so the water used for the tea wouldn't have a weird coffee aftertaste.

Then I put two Tazo Zen green tea bags right into my coffee pot with the string/tab hanging out so I could easily grab them and take the bags out.

I brewed about 8 cups of water into the coffeepot and steeped the tea for like five minutes. 

I know. This process is pretty technical and complicated.

While the tea was brewing/steeping, I heated up 3/4 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar together to make simple syrup. I felt like this made my tea pretty sweet so you might want to just use 1/3 cup each or 1/2 cup. As long as they are equal amounts. I heated it on medium/low heat while stirring until all the sugar was melted and mixed in with the water. Didn't take long at all.

When the tea was done steeping (I just waited until it looked the same colour as what I get in my Starbucks cup), I added a few ice cubes into it and the simple syrup because I wanted to try it right away.

That barely cooled it down, so into the fridge it went.

I'm pretty impatient, so after a half hour or so, I filled a glass full of ice and poured myself a glass of my homemade iced green tea and let me tell you. It. Was. Refreshing.

I can't believe I've written this much about iced green tea.

OK cost wise, as this is a BUDGET friendly blog, an 8 cup batch cost me about $1.

One. Dollar. For. Eight. Cups.

So, for a venti size of this, I'm looking at about $0.33.

I can't even deal with these savings. Actually, I can't deal with how I've been paying like 100 times that at Starbucks when I could have easily been making it at home.

Shame on me.

Anyway, here are the benefits of drinking green tea, if you needed any more convincing other than how delicious this concoction is.

Homemade Larabars

Larabars

This is something I wish I had done A LONG LONG TIME AGO! I found myself at Safeway the other night and stumbled upon Larabars. I'd had them before and decided to buy a box as a treat to myself.

Well. I got home, ripped one open, took a big bite and looked at the wrapper to see what exactly what was in them.

This is what it said: Pitted dates, Peanuts, Peanut butter.

I almost cried. That's all that's in them? Why am I paying $10 A BOX FOR THESE BABIES?

I was pretty furious.

So the next day I set out to figure out how to make my own larabars, and I have to say, I like them BETTER than the ones I paid $2 a bar for at the store. 

Maybe because I added chocolate.

I found this base recipe and decided to expand on it since I don't like to copy other recipes exactly and like putting my own twist on things.

Anyway. What happened that night was pretty magical. Here's how you do it.

Ingredients:

1 cup pitted dates (I think I got prunes, it still worked)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts (they were salted)

1 tbsp. chocolate chips

1 tbsp coconut oil (This is why I use it in everything)

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

Steps:

1) Assemble your ingredients.

2) Dump it all in a blender/food processor. (I used a blender and think it might have been way easier and faster to use a processor, but it worked nonetheless.)

3) Pulse, blend, do whatever until it looks a bit gooey. There will still be some bits of chocolate and dates/prunes that aren't blended, but that's ok.

4) Press mixture into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.

5) OPTIONAL: Melt some extra chocolate chips and drizzle on top and top with extra coconut. But that's only for the overachievers.

6) Pop into the refrigerator until they firm up a bit. 

7) Cut into pieces and try to not eat them ALL AT ONCE!

These are gluten free, dairy free (If you omit chocolate) and seriously so so so so delicious.

There are lots of variations, so you can add whichever nut, nut butter, or anything else. I've also seen people use oatmeal instead of coconut. Whatever, I'm sure that's delicious too.

I think I will be trying a coconut mocha one soon, so stay posted for that.

Cost was under $5 for all ingredients and I have enough left over to make a second batch, so less than $2.50 for six bars is something I can live with for sure.

As far as nutritional information, these babies have around 215 calories each.

UPDATE: Since this post, I've made these bars another time. I chopped up all the dates first in my blender then blended everything together in two batches. Does that make sense? Anyway, it was a lot easier to get everything integrated, although I do not mind that these aren't perfectly smooth. A bit of crunch is always good for a snack food and these have been eaten faster than those I actually purchased.

Buying in bulk

Buying in Bulk

So this topic is one I spoke to in my first post. Buying in bulk is one of the methods I use most often to save money. If I find something I USE on sale, I buy as many as I can allow in my budget.

Just so happens I found an amazing deal at Safeway a few weeks ago on salmon.
I know...salmon. On sale. jackpot.

They had a deal on raw salmon, buy one get one free. 
I was a bit skeptical on the quality since you don't see salmon on sale often, but I purchased in February 15 and the expiration date was February 19, so I figured I was safe.

I went ahead an purchased the two filets they had sitting there, one was $28 and the other was $32, so I paid $32 for these two HUGE pieces of fish.

I ended up preparing the fish as soon as I got home and cut it into portions.

I got a total of 16 portions out of the salmon I purchased, at $32, that puts me at $2 per portion. 

I can't beat that ever for fresh fish.

This was one deal I could NOT pass up.

So to make the most of your budget dollars, I suggest going through flyers. I would have missed this deal if I hadn't seen it in the flyer since they weren't marked or advertised at all in the store.