PANTRY RAID!!! Or...How to fight waste, save the world, and still make it home for dinner.

What can I say...It's Thursday.
Working late Wednesday night and early this morning, I arrived home tonight scatter brained and with no idea what to make for dinner.

I am attempting to empty out the pantry and fridge.
Taking inventory of the kitchen, the conclusion was made that "This is why the rest of the world hates us".
While I joke that I am preparing for a zombie apocalypse, reality is, no 2 people need this much food.

First step and tip to save money while attempting to clean out ones fridge and prevent waste:

Pick an ingredient. Any ingredient.

Ok... Chances are you aren't concerned about wasting salt, flour, sugar, garlic...So be creative!

I had leeks on hand that I wanted to use up.

www.allrecipes.com has a search by ingredient feature, or simply google it.

Second? Find what else you have excess of and work it into the recipes.


Learning to substitute is the best thing you can do.
Why go out and spend money on leeks, when you have scallions or green onion at home?
If the recipe calls for elbow pasta, go ahead, live it up and use bow tie!


My strange assortment of:

Leeks
1/3 a bottle of white wine in the fridge
A few slices of bacon
Mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes
Almond milk

All needed to be used within the next few days.

Saute, add butter and flour to thicken and create a roux, sprinkle in some salt, pepper, nutmeg (yes, it is delicious in cream sauces) and toss with elbow macaroni.

There you have it.

We are living frugal, and avoiding the dreaded Kraft "blue box"

I successfully used up the ingredients in my fridge, and avoided a stop by the store to spend another $20 on food for one meal.

I am one proud woman. Yup, it doesn't take much.

Frugal Grocery Shopping Week 1 (A New Hope)

Being a "foodie", spending too much on groceries has always been my vice.

I have cut back my clothing budget to next to nothing and have survived. Although I "splurged" on a tank top for $5 at Target. I stopped buying the occasional end-cap lipgloss that inevitably goes through the wash, and look at me, I am still breathing.

I call the kitchen "my happy place". It is one of few creative outlets in life that is required to live.

So I did it. I set a seemingly unrealistic grocery budget.

$50 a week.

Seeing as I adore fancy exotic veggies (Yes I have spent $8 on 2 artichokes) wine, cheeses, I squeal when I see squid ink pasta sold at Whole Foods...Well, it seemed unfathomable.

Poking around blogs I was shocked to see that the majority of blog posts on eating on $50 for the week were done by women who often had families of 6 or more. Well...It's just me and James...but we weren't exactly willing to eat Kraft Mac and Cheese every night.
Amazingly enough, the same day I reached this budgeting decision, a coworker told me about saving money at Aldi, another coworker offered to hook me up with bread.

Our society embraces an attitude of "spend what you have, charge what you don't".
Living frugally has been eye opening. I have become so aware of waste, excess and finding new ways to avoid it.

There seems to be a level of status involved in spending more for something just because you can.

Well, this week I am at $67 including veggies from the co-op. It's getting towards the end of the week, but there are few things I love more than being in the kitchen with a challenge.

So the adventure begins, I have started a vacation fund, and look forward to paying off my car.
If I can cut back on waste, save my money for things that are fun, and have a chance to be creative in the kitchen...Well...I accept this challenge whole heatedly!

This is the first day of my life.... Or... Our luckiest number

So it's been a month of married life already?

I am a married woman. Officially. I feel the same. Married, but the same. Is this a problem?

All around me I have been asked:

"AREN'T YOU SO HAPPY ALL THE TIME NOW?!?!"

"HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE MARRIED?!?!"

I don't think men get this question...but there is ALOT of pressure in the response. I once said "It's pretty good" and got the reaction of sheer terror and shock.  Pretty good is apparently not good enough. 

The emotional roller coaster that is my life continues while I try to make sense of it 

all. My sadness for those without a voice, the anger over injustices...yup, still all there. 

Sometimes I cry, sometimes I don't know why. Other times I am joyful, worried, angry, scared, hungry.... I am Emilie, and I like her. 

While I rejoice at having a wonderful partner that loves, supports, listens, enjoys my cooking, at the end of the day, whether I am happy or not all comes down to if I love myself. 

While I believe it's possible to meet that one person and only ever be in a relationship with that person...

I am so thankful that I have learned this lesson for myself and can try not to repeat it. Relationships are great, marriage/partnerships are wonderful, but if you hate who you see in the mirror, the only person who can fix that is yourself (and maybe your therapist). 

So it goes...The belief that married = happy, single = sitting at home with a carton of ice cream. 

You know... I have known some pretty miserable marrieds...

I am looking forward to husband getting off work in a half hour, but would kind of love some pistachio gelato right now as I lounge in bed with my laptop and some Badly Drawn Boy.

Speaking of BDB and uncontrollable weeping...LISTEN!!!!

TEAR! This song gets me every time.

I spent what was supposed to be a romantic getaway weekend at Disney getting sick. Yuck! I am done being dizzy and am able to look at a computer screen without feeling woozy for the first time in days. 

Last night was 4 hours of tossing and turning thanks to antibiotic induced insomnia. 

So today I slept in, cleaned, made some food for the week, kept telling myself to rest and to stop doing chores. 

And then I read the news and watched a few documentaries on Netflix.... DUN DUN DUN!!!!

Yes, it leads to feistiness, it leads to tears for something I can do practically nothing about. But I don't understand how I am not supposed to weep for those who are robbed of their rights. 

Being in a loving/healthy relationship has renewed my sorrow for those who can not marry and that there are still groups of people out there fighting to strip human beings of their dignity and self worth. 

I cry because women who go to planned parenthood for preventative care are hookers in the eyes of influential TV ummm entertainer? I cry because my CHRISTian brothers and sisters are spending their weekends thinking up new ways to spread hate instead of acceptance and the true meaning of Christ and the church. I cry for the girls raised in patriarchal families who are told they have no role or meaning in life other than to marry and reproduce. 

I read a comment on one story that said "If conservative Christians are saying they will choose to call gays 'sodomites' and 'anti-Christians' because it does not imply that they deserve rights like the term gay, I choose to call them xtians because they do not deserve the name of Christ in their title." 

Well.... I cry because no matter what I believe on these topics, I understand that each individual is allowed their opinion...No matter how biased, judgmental or wacky their beliefs may seem to me, if I condemn based on others views I am no better myself. 

Because, you know what.... I can guarantee that someone might stumble upon this and think I am going to burn in hell, and I am ok with that. I am ok with me, pleased with my life, and content in my beliefs. 

So I suppose I should shut up and answer the question...

OF COURSE I AM HAPPY! I have never been happier than to know I get to spend the rest of my days with the love of my life, best friend, and co-writer of a kick ass folk song about a serial killer chainsaw artist. 

Yup, See that, no longer trying to conquer the world on my own.

As long as there is a hand to hold... I know there is someone there to hold me, lift me up and support me. 

Let's just not think of tragic dismemberment...