Emily’s Pick Zen and The Art of Happiness by Chris Prentiss
I was looking for a bit of a pick me up with this book and it came through. I think a lot of us right now are feeling more down than usual. This book was the mind shift I needed. It is a quick read and gave practical advice on how to feel and find “happiness” and joy. This is a book I plan to reread every few years or so I loved it that much!
Maddie’s Pick Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
This was a fun, spooky read! Maggie Holt returns to the house of her father’s bestselling horror memoir to renovate and flip the property but mostly to determine if there was any truth to her father’s book. The book alternates between Maggie’s story and her father’s book which makes for a compelling page turner. There are several twists and turns throughout that keep you guessing until the very end. I want Emily to read this so we can talk about it…HINT.
Emily here! This last weekend we had our monthly game night. In the summer there is a lavender festival every July. Due to having a baby and the pandemic we didn’t get to go this year. So October’s game night menu was inspired by the festival. We usually take a picnic lunch and at the festival they have lavender lemonade.
What We Drank Spiked Lavender Lemonade. I use this recipe for making the lavender lemonade. Then in a glass I add ice and a shot of vodka. This was a hit with everyone and so yummy!
What We Ate Build Your Own Sandwich– My friends brought a variety of rustic breads along with some really nice specialty cheeses from Market of Choice and sliced ham, turkey and roast beef from the deli. I also made deviled eggs and we had olives and pickles on the side.
What We Played Code Names and The Chameleon. My husband and I usually play Code Names at family gatherings with his family but we had just recently purchased it for our game nights. It was a really good warm up game but the star of the night was The Chameleon. It was so much fun and had us laughing so hard. Basically one person is trying to blend in and lie and a few of us (me mostly) were really bad liars. I couldn’t keep a straight face when I was the Chameleon. I would highly recommend both games.
Total Cost: $71. This cost about the same as our last game night. Here is the cost breakdown. Games: $31. We purchased both games we played knowing we wanted to play them for our next game night. Drinks: $38. $18 for the Vodka, $2 for lemonade concentrate, and $20 for Beer and Cider. We had a store rebate for the beer and cider so we saved a lot of money on this cost. Food: $2. We didn’t provide the majority of the food and this is a rough estimation for the deviled eggs. My goal for next game night is to spend about $50. We will provide the majority of the food this time. So this will be an interesting challenge!
Maddie here back to share another week of groceries. Our grocery budget varies week to week, but we stick to a $400/month total including household items. I shared a $50 challenge a few weeks ago and this is what an $85 week looks for us…with a $4.79 impulse buy of apple fritters (no regrets) and $4.99 impulse buy of a cookie mix (regrets).
Here’s what we got for $85.82:
The goods. Thanks, Lidl!
Produce Grapes (2.36 lbs)…..$4.46 Bag of Yellow Onions…..$1.95 Vanilla Ice Cream…..$2.29 Romaine Hearts…..$2.29 Bananas (1.36 lbs)…..$.60 Baby Spinach…..$1.79 Bag of Carrots….. $1.39
Here’s what I had on hand for dinners: 1/2 pack of egg noodles, 2 russet potatoes, Caesar dressing fixings (olive oil, anchovy paste, garlic, red wine vinegar, mustard).
Breakfast/Lunches/Snacks: For breakfast we had buddy’s (egg mcmuffins), fritters, or cereal with banana. For lunches we had PB&J sandwiches with fruit and tortilla chips. For snacks I made smoothies with frozen fruit and previously purchased Greek yogurt and the bagged popcorn that I bought this week. My husband had the protein bars for a snack. We also had ice cream and made the cookie mix (which was just straight butter) for treats.
Top Tips: Center your meals around one kind of meat! I was able to stretch the 4.5 pounds of chicken breasts for the instant pot chicken, chicken pot pie noodle skillet, and the crock pot chicken caesar wraps and STILL had a few chicken breasts in my freezer for later.
Eat Leftovers for Dinner: This has been a huge game changer for savings. Instead of planning 7 different dinners, plan to have leftovers and eat lunch food for lunch. Simple concept but it works! The lentil dish, chicken pot pie skillet, and caesar wraps each lasted 2 additional nights.
Sister Hack 