SSF: the rule breakers

Another week of the September Spending Freeze is down!  I wish that I could say that I had another super successful week, but I can't.  

Let me start with this: the week started off amazing!  I kept my head in the game, listened to my wants vs. needs, and definitely resisted the urge to run to Starbucks to get a pumpkin spice latte.  

Then, Wednesday happened.  I had been getting over a cold, Daniel was starting to feel sick, class went late, I hit traffic, was running on 4 hours of sleep (long story), and neither one of us was in the mood to cook.  Plus, my stomach was screaming "FEED ME"!  So, we ran to Panera Bread and got some scrumptious soup.  Therefore, we broke the "no eating out" rule.  

Then, I caved again this morning.  I was picking up a coffee for my boss for her birthday, had left my coffee mug at home, and temptation for a latte won over.  

There you go!  I definitely fudged on two rules.  Knowing that we broke the rules is slightly frustrating, but I don't plan on breaking another one for the rest of the month.  AND, I'm half-way there!  

This week I wanted to focus on one way that we have enjoyed the Spending Freeze: cooking!  I love to cook, it definitely is a stress relief for me, but sometimes I get bored with the meal planning and cooking the same things.  I decided to try new recipes so that I had something to look forward to.  Since we're not eating out, I decided we needed to spice things up a bit!

Monday Dinner: Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema.  This is actually a big favorite in the LaFuze household from Cooking Light.  

Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff...in the Crock Pot!!!!  I was so excited to pull it my best friend:

Comfort meals to me include beef stroganoff.  My mom would make it using cream of mushroom soup, and I loved every bite of it.  Then, I found out she made it so much because it was such a cheap meal!  I haven't had it in years, so when I saw this crock pot recipe I could not wait to get my hands onto it.  

The best part was that the husband put everything together in the crock pot for me before he left for work.  All I had to do was boil the pasta when I got home and stir in some greek yogurt into the mix.  

I was slightly apprehensive...and I decided to play around with the computer this night for your enjoyment...

It was amazing!  When the husband got home later he tried it out and was surprised at how well it turned out!  It is definitely going into the recipe box.

Tip: After a meal I always package them up into separate containers so that the husband and I have easy access to leftovers for lunch at work.  I always love opening the fridge in the morning without a care of what to make for lunch.  I especially love taking scrumptious food to work!

Thursday: Mexican Quinoa with Grilled Chicken

We have made this recipe in the past, and the reason why I love it so much is that it not only tastes good but it also requires a lot of ingredients that I have already.  I just grilled up some chicken while it cooked, and voila!  Dinner was done!  

Leftovers were packaged up for tomorrow's lunch!  

Even though we didn't stick through all of our rules this week, I would say that it still was a success!  $15 on dinner and $3 on coffee only sets me back $18 this week.  

This week it seemed as though a bunch of added expenses popped up and it felt as though all of the money that we were saving went towards these.  My car needed new brakes and the computer needed a new cord :(

15 more days to go!!!