#58DAYSTILWIFEDOM: DAY ONE

DAY ONE:

Good evening world! I suppose my journey really started last night when I journeyed to the grocery store after work and made me and my love hamburgers with no sides, of course, for dinner. When i got home from the grocery I realized most of my previously purchased lettuce was too wilted for my only option for a side, salad, so that took any side out of the picture. Regardless, I am proud to admit that in addition to cooking dinner I also did my laundry and cleaned my room. #wifestatus. I loved it. I was exhausted but I loved how it made me feel. I felt joyful to serve my furture husband to a homecooked meal and to have my things organized and clean. It gave me a sense of peace that being lazy after work would not have given me.

Here is how it went -
I spent $90 at the grocery which provided me:
two cans of tomato sauce (plain)
pizza dough
pepperoni
cheese on cheese on cheese
sour cream
two green bell peppers
coffee
ben n jerrys (like I said, this is a journey)
hamburger meat
corn tortillas,
fajita seasoning
hamburger buns
bananas
shrimp
shampoo
dishwasher detergent

Paired with the other groceries I already have in my house these provided me a plethora of meals for the week to come, such as: pizza, creamy chicken with rice, shrimp fajitas, dessert ;), hamburgers, and I already eggs, apples, cashews, and peanut butter not to mention the bananas I bought. These extras provide me good snacks and breaskfasts.

SO. DAY ONE.

This morning I made myself some scrambled eggs. I put some cheddar on them, which I had from a previous grocery trip, and I wrapped the eggs and cheese up in a corn tortilla that I heated up in a frying pan. I had that with a banana and cup of coffee.
Jake shared his lunch with me so I didn't have to make anything then.
BUT I am proud of my second homemade dinner in one week. Tonight I made pizza with peppers, pepperoni, and lots of cheese. Pizza is pretty self explanatory. I read what tempature to heat the oven to, how long to let the dough sit, and how long to cook the pizza but as far as my toppings I did my thing. Yes, I bought premade dough from the Safeway deli.
I thinned out the dough and placed it on a pan greased with olive oil. I slapped on some of the plain tomato sauce that I bought. I threw on the cheese, absolutely way too much cheese, the pepperoni, and some orange bell peppers I desperately needed to eat before they went to waste. I sprinkled the top with italian seasons which I forgot to put on the tomato sauce and I coated the crust with more olive oil.
I baked it at 425 for 18 minutes. Voila!

Not bad huh? It was delicious. The best pizza I have had in Juneau if I might say so myself. 

It's rewarding to know I have my life together a little more than I did before. Its nice to spend so much money on one meal which turns in to many due to left overs. I am excited to venture out into this cooking world. I welcome any tips and tricks, recipes, and encouragement! 

Well that is all I have for today. I'll let you know how shrimp fajitas goes tomorrow night! #58days

#60DAYSTILWIFEDOM

I have come up with a brilliant idea! I have decided to convert my blog (my many-times-over-abandoned blog) into a journey blog. I recently went through a major change in my life known as "Adulthood" - (n.) a state of life in which one pays the bills and works 40+ hours a week to do so. synonyms: exhaustion, poverty, regularcallstodadandmom, ... You get the point. This state of being was launched when I moved from the southern East coast to southeast Alaska. You can imagine the drastic change, or can you? It was a big one. There have been many "I have no control of my life" moments and a few "hey it is nice to have money! oh, wait. nevermind." moments. In all honesty I moved to Juneau to be with my beloved fiancé, Jake. It has been an incredible gift to be near him and despite the struggles Juneau offers me its been worth every bit of the "launch".

Another "gift" of being launched into adulthood far from anything familiar and, well, into southeast Alaska is I really have to budget my money for food. Confession: I haven't. But, I need to budget my money for food. 

I work in a retail store full time so as you can probably imagine my hours are not your traditional nine-to-five deal. My meal times are different everyday which makes preparing for meals a little more challenging than I had anticipated. Another kicker is food in Juneau costs not an arm or a leg or both but your first born child. In the money world that means a lot. Oh but there is more...If you've read my blog before or you know me personally you would know that I do not live with my fiancé. This fact makes meal times even more of a challenge. We attempt to share budgets and make time for each other at meal times but this results in eating out all the time. Remember how I told you that food in Juneau is expensive? Yeah. Eating out eats my bank account. Pun intended. 

Well my wedding is in exactly two months as of yesterday (yesterday marked 59 days until my wedding but 60 has a ring to it plus February throws everything off). After our last marriage preperation meeting where we discussed finances, Jake and I have decided to be smarter about money. We are also feeling a little crunched for money with many upcoming costs for our wedding. With these thoughts in mind Jake challenged me to save as much money as I can so that we don't arrive back in Juneau after the wedding unable to pay our bills. "Broke" would be a very bad way to enter a marriage in my opinion. I have taken him up on this challenge which means no more eating out and buying "quick meals". This means I have purchased groceries so that I can actually cook my own meals. 

Let me give you a little more background on myself. I don't cook. I grew up in a family where both of my parents knew how to cook and cook well. My oldest sister is the perfect pioneer woman and can make some of the best homemade food, of course from scratch. (I am convinced she can actually make anything.) My other sister is very independent and has had a lot of food allergies throughout her life so she definitely picked up the niche for cooking. My brother was once upon a time a cook manager for a restaurant and now manages a restaurant where he puts many of his own culinary creations on his menu. I on the other hand make coffee, eggs, and salad. Let us just say that having been so spoiled with many good cooks in my life, I have a lack of experience in the kitchen. 

So here is my idea (you thought I would never get there didn't you?): I am going to keep a blog on my journey toward wifedom - (n.) a state of life in which I cook and do "home makey things" not because its "my place" but because I have a natural desire to be a homemaker and care for a family and their home. I am going to blog about the meals I make and how I make it work with my wacky, untraditional schedule and limited budget. As I find more ideas on how to get this whole adulthood thing under control while heading toward marriage, I will share those journeys as well. 

Enjoy my readers :)