Learning how to manage and save money together

Our lives have changed a lot over the past year. We got married, moved across the country for my job and my husband has not been able to find permanent work in his field (though he has been able to find some temporary work). After combining incomes and then losing one, we have become much more aware of how we spend our money. We certainly aren't experts yet, though. There are a few resources I really like that I thought you could benefit from too.

Saving & Giving: Jennifer is a savvy shopper and always shares the great deals she finds. I love her budgeting tips and meal plans. She is an incredible resource!

Money Saving Mom: Crystal and her husband spent only $35/week on groceries to stay out of debt when he was in law school. She has incredible advice.

Dave Ramsey: He doesn't sugarcoat anything and shares the tools to do the basics: budget, eliminate debt and save.

Recipe of the week: Yummy Butter Cookies Plus

In my previous job, I worked with a huge jerk. Everything that cam our of his mouth was littered with insults, degradation or just plain ignorant comments. After about two weeks, I completely stopped listening to him and starting picturing his head as a mixing bowl. I brainstormed some of my most delicious creations thanks to him.

This week, during a particularly contentious conference call, I decided I wanted to make butter cookies filled with butter-infused chocolate.

Ingredients

8 oz unsalted butter

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 and 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

2 cups flour

Extras
Grape or raspberry preserves
5 squares semisweet baking chocolate
1 tbsp butter

Directions

• Cream together butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until creamy.
• Beat in egg yolk. Ensure this is well incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl at least once.
• Add flour and mix until just incorporated.
• At this point, I did two things:

1. Chocolate-filled mini-muffin shaped butter cookies: I filled a greased and floured mini-muffin tin 3/4 full and baked at 325 degrees for 14 minutes. About halfway through baking, I made thumbprint indentations in each cookie. Remove and cool once the edges start to turn golden. Concurrently, I melted one tbsp of butter and five large squares of semisweet baking chocolate. Once the cookies cooled, I added the butter-infused chocolate into the indentation. My husband LOVED these. Note: The chocolate will not set because of the butter. If you want hardened chocolate, use Gulf Wax instead of butter.

2. Grape Sandwich Cookies: While the abovementioned cookies were baking, I rolled out the cookies and made a log, wrapped in wax paper and put it in the freezer. After about ten minutes, I pulled it out and cut 1/8 inch thick cookies. I baked these for about 8-10 minutes. Be sure to pull these out as soon as the edges turn golden. These should be soft, so it's better to pull out early than overcook. I cooled these, added sugar free grape preserves and made sandwiches. They are light, fluffy and very tasty.

Costco creepiness

Left in the dairy section for stocking elsewhere, I suppose.

Recipe of the Week: Moderately Healthy but Very Yummy Pizza

I spent Friday and this past weekend in Washington DC, where I extended a business trip to have a fun weekend with friends. While there, we had a girls dinner at the delicious Seventh Hill Pizza in Eastern Market. I copied this recipe from their Eastern Market Pizza. We devoured it before taking a photo, so I blatantly ripped of this photo from Good Eats Blog.

Ingredients

• 1 Boboli Thin Crust Pizza Crust (or roll out fresh dough into a thin crust--my favorite is Publix's bakery, but you have to specifically ask for it. Costs around $1.50)


• 1 cup Pizza Sauce (I used Walmart Great Value Pizza Sauce--$1)


• 4-5 large portabella mushroom caps


• 1 small onion


• 2 ounces of goat cheese (I used Trader Joe's--$2.98)


• Seasoning to taste


• EVOO

Instructions

1. Saute the onions in a skillet or wok with EVOO and seasoning to your taste, let caramelize. Add mushrooms and saute until soft. Set aside.


2. Add 1 cup of pizza sauce to crust. Arrange mushrooms and onions all over pizza.


3. Add "chunks" of goat cheese all over pizza.


4. Bake 8-11 minutes, or until goat cheese is soft.


5. Enjoy!

Free Chick-fil-a sandwich!

I love Chick-fil-A, but stupid Michigan doesn't have any. If you live in a cooler state, go to http://www.getspicychicken.com/ for a free chicken sandwich next week. Make your reservation now--they are filling up fast!

Work musings

Today was really challenging at work for the first time in a long time. Don't get me wrong--I work really hard, I deal with real crises a lot and I am in many ways the "bad guy" in my organization. People don't like me because it's my job to keep them accountable. However, I do not really have to think. I know the fundamentals and the counsel I have to give comes naturally.

Today I was challenged and got to think strategically, which reinvigorated me. Hooray! Hopefully tomorrow doesn't suck.

Losing weight...or trying

So, I started WeightWatchers again. While I am about the same size I was when I got married, I I want to lose weight. My goal is to lose about 40 pounds, which would put me right in the middle of my healthy "goal" weight. I am going to do this right and slowly.

When I got engaged, I immediately decided not to go on a crazy yo-yo diet like so many brides I knew. I wanted to look like me, and not like an emaciated version of myself. I never wanted anyone to look at my wedding photos and say "Wow, that doesn't even look like you...you were so...thin." So I didn't lose weight. I maintained and made efforts to stay healthy at my size. I felt like a beautiful bride and I looked like me. Here's me:

I know I will need lots of support and help. My first goal is to ONLY bake things I don't like. It doesn't help that my husband has a sky-high metabolism and I work a zillion hours a week and eat at the office. BUT I know I am stubborn and if I set my mind to something I can do it.

Is anyone else out there on Weight Watchers? Do you have tips, tricks or advice you can offer?