Kalbi Meat

Monday

Yesterday, I went to H-Mart at Diamond Jamboree in Irvine to shop for meat. I bought 1.5lbs kalbi beef, 1lb ground beef and 2lbs chicken breast. I also ended up buying 1 cayote and 2 peaches. It cost me an even $13. For lunch I had left overs and for dinner, I had a business mtg so I didn't spend anything there. It was more small plate type things like calamari, ham & cheese squares and hummus but I got full off it. It was at Andrei's Conscious Cuisine & Cocktails. This is a new place but I love it! I heard that Tuesdays(Reggae) and Fridays have live music from 5-8pm. Happy hour is also everyday from 3-6pm. Awesome place you need to check out if you haven't already.

So my budget remains:

What was left from last time: $32.35 - $13

Remaining = $19.35

Tuesday

I had my usual Special K cereal for breakfast (my fave is the fruits and yogurt flavor) and had left overs for lunch. For dinner I cooked the kalbi beef with sweet onions and made a cucumber salad with tomatoes, peaches and raisins.

Kalbi Beef & Sweet Onions

1. Heat olive oil in pan

2. Add half of 1 sweet onion sliced in rings or cut the rings in half. Cook in the oil

3. Add kalbi beef (the one I bought it pre-marinated)

4. I like to add more black pepper, garlic salt and oyster sauce

5. Cover with lid to cook on medium-high heat (always watch it because it'll cook fast)

6. Remove lid and cook beef until it thickens a bit

The $50/wk Food Experiment

So a little background on this experiment I'm trying out. I follow @Time on Twitter and ended up on The Cheapskate Blog. A lot of the blogs really interested me but the one blog that really caught my eye was about these 3 bloggers who lived in different parts of the US and were trying to live off $50/wk per person.

So I thought, I should try this. The past few weeks I've had a major reality check. I spend waaaay too much money on food, especially eating out. It's to the point that this along with irresponsible spending (I shop too much), have gotten me in a not so pleasant financial state.

There are many reasons why I decided to try this out.

1. I spend too much eating out and I end up throwing away leftovers.

2. I buy groceries and end up throwing a lot out because they go bad.

3. I want to be more aware of the things I eat.

4. I love to cook! This will really bring me back to cooking and trying out new recipes.

5. The money I spend on one or two meals, I can buy groceries for a week's worht of meals.

I know this will be difficult because I work all day and by the time I get home I don't feel like cooking. I'm tired and I just want to eat. I have to really plan my meals and schedule times to cook it. I need to make food for lunch the next day too so I don't eat out for lunch. There will be days that I meet people for lunches or dinners, I'll have to try to make it up during the week. I'll adjust and try to stick to this experiment as much as I can.

Wish me luck! Hopefully I get through a week doing this. =)