fbpx
:::: MENU ::::

Jan 20, 2019    |       10 comments

Would this be cheating?

by

I have to admit…No Spend January is wearing on me a little bit. I think the big thing is the dishwashing! I am really missing have a dishwasher right now. With all the cooking (and the fact that we’ve run out of paper plates,) cleaning the kitchen has felt a bit overwhelming.

So…would a meal out if I don’t spend any cash be cheating? See I have 4 “free” entree coupons to our local Chick Fil A (just opened this past fall in the next town over.)

Breakfast at Chick Fil A, cheating?

And over the past year or so, I have accumulated over 1195 points by using their app. And we can use these points to purchase things off their menu, no money needed!

I also have $20 still on that app to spend. (I know the date says January 20th, but this money has been there for months. We stopped going that direction when Gymnast stopped going to gymnastics back in October.)

My thoughts are that since tomorrow is MLK Day and the kids are out of school. I might invite them to all get out of bed early (you know how teenagers/young adults are) and join me for a breakfast out. It will be a great way to kick start the day, be some good family time and give me a break from kitchen duty.

So back to my question…would this be cheating as it relates to No Spend January?

I’m not sure when I’ve been so excited about a breakfast out…a meal out for that matter. But I will say, we have had some amazing meals as I’ve been really trying hard to spice up our menu these days with items we have on hand. Tonight Sea Cadet is going to try cooking an Asian inspired meal using regular pasta since we don’t have any Asian noodles on hand, it should be interesting.

One of the favorite new menu items so far was found on Facebook. I thought I would share.

Creamy Burrito Casserole

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 pepper chopped (I did 1/2 a red pepper and 1/2 a yellow)
1 package taco seasoning
6 large flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
2 -3 cups shredded taco cheese or cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
4 ounces sour cream

Directions

Brown beef, onion and peppers; drain.
Add taco seasoning and stir in refried beans.
Mix soup and sour cream in a separate bowl.
Spread 1/2 sour cream mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish.
Tear up 3 tortillas and spread over sour cream mixture.
Put 1/2 the meat bean mixture over that.
Add a layer of cheese.
Repeat the layers.
Sprinkle cheese over the top and bake, uncovered, at 350°F for 20-30 minutes.

Jan 16, 2019    |       14 comments

And then this happened…

by

At what point is someone else responsible for car damage?

While driving Princess and her friends somewhere, I hit an DEEP pothole, resulting in a flat tire. It was my first flat tire EVER!

The good news is that I have emergency roadside assistance with my car insurance. Therefore, within 30 minutes a guy showed up to help me out. He quickly changed the flat for my donut and sent me on my way. Unfortunately, my donut was horrific to drive on. I am assuming it is defective.

Thankfully, there was a 24 hour tire shop just a couple of miles down the road because we were almost 2 hours from home. A fantastic man was on duty who was very thorough. He checked my existing tire, showed me the damaged and that it was irreparable. Then proceeded to hunt through a dozen used tires to find me the best one he could. Talk about fantastic customer service, especially at 11pm on a freezing cold night!

We got home safe and sound. But I was still worried about my tires, especially never having purchased a used tire before.

And on top of that, my check engine light came on. And although I couldn’t tell/feel any amiss, it has been drilled into my head that when that light comes on, stop driving. Ugh!!! Thank goodness both of the twins have working cars now.

Thankfully, a family friend checked everything over yesterday and determined that not only is my new used tire is great condition, but it also has just about as much tread left on it as my other tires. Since I’ve cut my drive time significantly since last spring when Gymnast was training, he doesn’t anticipate I will have any problems. (Barring any more encounters with pot holes, that is.)

And the check engine light turned out to the be the result of an improperly seated gas cap. Holy cow, way to scare a girl, car manufacturers!

So the car is good to go, tires should get me through the end of the year (based on mileage) and my peace of mind has been restored!

I am grateful for my emergency roadside assistance. I’ve had to use it twice in the last 6 months. Once when Gymnast locked the keys in the trunk at a rest area in August and then for this flat tire. Do you have roadside assistance?

1 … 408 409 410 411 412 … 1,827