Finally Friday

After talking to my friend Laura, I had an idea.
As a new mom to triplets, she barely has any time, even to cook (and she's an awesome cook). Part of the issue is keeping a stocked pantry.
So the idea:
Put a recipe book online.
The website would have a feature to allow you to plan your week or two weeks meals from the recipes in the book.
Another feature would be to generate a grocery list for that time (so if a recipe calls for 1 cup of rice, but you plan to make the recipe 4 times, you need to buy 4 cups of rice).
If you have a smartphone, create an app that lets you see your grocery list wherever you are. You could also use your phone to create your meal plans. If meal planning takes 30 minutes, but you don't have that time, you could save your progress (say five minutes worth of planning) and come back later.
For a fee, the website could offer to have someone buy the groceries for you and deliver it to your door.

The best idea for the book that needs to be in this format: slow cooker recipes (in the style of fix it and forget it).

I bet there's something like that out there but I haven't seen it.

Budgeting and so on

After our recent trip, I sat down with my bills, a calculator, pen and paper. Bottom line, a lot of money was spent.
For the past 7 weeks, I have been saving my coupons and looking for deals. Some weeks were better than others and the average savings was just shy of 32%. Yes, I saved money, and I don't think I will need shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant for a bit. It felt good to get these items when they were on sale + coupons. But I'm not the point of getting items for free, and therefore to me it seems as if I'm spending more than usual. Comfort will come in knowing that over the next few weeks, I won't need to buy these items.
This week was another stocking up but in a different sense. A trip to Costco to get frozen chicken, pork chops, wine, canned tomatoes, pasta, etc... It wasn't a cheap trip, but I have plenty to cook with for the next few weeks. Publix wasn't cheap either, but there isn't an easy way to save on fresh produce.
I also got my computer out, listed most of the ingredients in the kitchen, and came up with recipes and ideas for this week. I used a pack of ground turkey from Costco to make meatballs - some of which will be used for spaghetti dinner, and the rest will be frozen for a quick weeknight dinner.
So what now? I will keep on couponing, and wait for a deal that I can't pass up. I have about $10 ECB that I have to use at CVS by the end of the month. With the pantry, fridge, and freezer stocked up, the budget has been adjusted to $20 per week per person until the end of August.
Goals update:
Goal 4: Save money - I made my savings goal last month! Woo hoo! I now need to save for our friend's out of state wedding in October and keep building my emergency fund in case I don't find a job when I graduate.
Goal 5: Travel more - 18 states so far! Can't wait to figure out which football games we're going to this year, or the weather to cool down for an awesome backpacking trip.

Summer craft

Last Xmas, I received a new set of much needed baking trays. I had a shiny smaller tray that after a few rounds of cooking and dishwasher washing, had started rusting. Off it went to the craft pile for when I had something in mind. I first painted the tray with a few coats of black paint, then I remembered that Laurie had sent Tom a few newspapers from La Crosse with great shots of the Packers and thought of a way to use the pictures. I found some decoupage glue and sealer at Hobby Lobby and started on my craft.
Finished product:

My phone is just there for scale. This needs to finish drying and setting for a week or so. It may replace my very girly damask plate receptacle that is currently used to hold cell phones, keys, miscellaneous pocket items etc... Alternatively, since it is supposed to be water resistant, it could be used as a serving tray. We'll see - thank you Laurie for saving all the newspapers and sending them!

Week recap

The first week back to work after a being out of town is tough and goes by so quickly. 3 days worth of experiments failed late Friday evening, so my focus this weekend is to catch up on housework and write.
This week:
I actually started writing the thesis
Since I didn't get to celebrate 4th of July, we celebrated 14th of July - Bastille Day and pretended that the wine we drank was French - dry rubbed pork (Tom's work, was of course delicious), with broccoli, garlic mashed potatoes, and pineapple and roasted red pepper salsa
I found a new gardening buddy - it doesn't have a name
I helped Emily move in just about 3 hours - it was a great workout, prolly a week's worth! (just making excuses to not go to the gym, which incidentally I haven't been to all summer)
Looked at the budget, got groceries, and planned meals for the week ahead (look for another post)
 

Tasty Tuesdays - Bacon? On a Cupcake?!!!!

Found at Whole Foods, The King's Cake

Newport and Boston

We just got back from our (my first) trip to New England. I was at a conference in Newport, Rhode Island and took the weekend off (we had sessions on July 4th!!!) to meet Tom in Boston. We had a lovely stay with his uncle Mike and aunt Kate, including a night on the town with cousin Ben.
Here are the highlights:
Meeting a Nobel Prize winner (Dr. Jack William Szostak, 2009, Physiology or Medicine for his work on telomeres)
Meeting one of our lab's competitor and being scared that he will scoop us on our next paper
Meeting the woman version of my current mentor - she is amazing
Walking around Newport - a quaint little city, a retreat for the rich, with gorgeous views and a few historical sites
Seeing Mike, Kate, Sam, Ben and Luke (and of course Gracie and Mia, who reaffirmed that I will have a dog at some point in the future)
Walking around Cambridge and on the Harvard campus
Getting a feel of the location of the various research centers and hospitals
General sightseeing on our own in Boston and exploring on our own
Meeting up with my BFF Grace for a day/night, dancing and brunch included
Trying some awesome beer, including a tour of the Sam Adams brewery (looking forward to their winter beer this year)
Staying at a hip hotel smack in the middle of everything
The weather was awesome, 80-84 deg F with very little humidity
Amazing food - there's something for everyone there

In contrast, back in Birmingham now, where the temp outside is 94F and the house was at 89. The plants need some serious rehab. I have a laundry list of experiments for the lab as well as actual laundry.