Thursday, March 15, 2012

Thrifty Thursdays: Guest Post Style!

Emmy, over at Love Woke Me Up This Morning, was kind enough to share her two cents about some of her more thrifty findings!

When Cambra told me about a lot of the things she blogs about, I'll admit that I was pretty stumped when it came to writing a guest post.

I'm a horrible cook. This one time I almost burned the kitchen down boiling water. True story.

I don't do crafts. In college I had to make a pair of shorts for our welcome staff "uniform" and it took me all summer with a lthot of tears because I learned the sewing machine and I don't get along well. 

However, there is something that I'm learning to be good at - and that's grocery shopping for a post-college 20 something who doesn't know how to cook.

So ladies, if you are like me and would make a horrible house wife, this is for you!

First , buy what you actually use and not what you think you need. I used to make this mistake all the time! I would go grocery shopping and pick up a bunch of the basics that I thought I needed because they were staples on my mom's grocery list. A perfect example for me would be buying a loaf of bread. For one person, a whole loaf of bread is way too much unless you make sandwiches and toast every single day. Therefore, I started buying tortillas because I found that I really enjoyed wraps, tacos, and used them for snacks on a regular basis. Besides- tortillas have less carbs than bread. 

Frozen food is your friend. I'm not talking about gross TV dinners. Found full meals in frozen bags. They take fresh meat and veggies and put them in a freezer bag. You usually put them on the stove for 10-20 minutes and voila! You have a full meal ready to go. The best part if you are a single, is that you can keep half of it for tomorrow's dinner. My favorite is this chicken and spinach Florentine dish. It's completely delish and I feel like a fancy Italian chef when I cook it.

Salads in mason jars are God's gift to busy people who still want to eat. This was an idea I found on Pinterest. Grab a mason jar (you can find them at most craft stores for pretty cheep!), put a tasty salad dressing on the bottom, and then layer by layer add your favorite salad items in with the lettuce on top. Make a few of these for the week and keep them in your fridge. These are perfect for long days when you don't have a chance to go out to lunch and eat at work, or you get home late and don't have the time or energy to cook. These salads can stay fresh for a long time! 

Don't be afraid to be a mooch. I work at a church, and I cannot tell you how many times we have leftover food in the church kitchen from some sort of event. People leave it there and just say "the staff can have that for lunch this week if they want." In our office we almost always take them up on the offer. During December, I rarely have to go grocery shopping because people LOVE to give us food! 

Along with that - Tupperware is amazing.. 

My last few tips are for the coffee snobs out there. Get to know your baristas. If you go to your favorite coffee shop enough, they'll just throw free things at you. Also, keep your own creamer and sugar at your desk at work. I really hate powder coffee cream, but I have found that International Delight makes individual size creams that you don't have to keep refrigerated. I keep a box on my desk for the days that I can't make my usual run to Starbucks.

So, there are my food tips for post-college girls who can't cook.

What have you found that works for you?

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