Wow folks here we are! The final post for my NJ Summer Bucket list! All in all, it has been a great summer thanks to my bucket list. It got me out of my comfort zone, pushed me to try several new activities, and I made some great memories for Summer 2022.
My final bucket list item was to host a Summer BBQ. When I added this to the list, I envisioned a BBQ with lots of friends. We just bought our first BBQ in May and I was feeling ambitious. But as the Summer weeks went on, I realized that I wasn’t in the mood to host a party like that! Instead we ended up hosting two friends at our house on separate weekends where we grilled outside. But my favorite was all of the BBQing (and Coors Light-ing) that the hubz and I did over the summer. We grilled, hot dogs, marinated chicken, homemade burgers, and ribs- so much deliciousness. Emily said that this counts because a BBQ can be with just your family!
So farewell Summer 2022! And a big welcome to the best szn, Fall!!
2022 NJ Summer Bucket List: Go to a baseball game Have a pool day Host a Summer BBQ Explore a Delaware Water Gap town Go to the beach Visit the Maplewood Farmer’s Market Play tennis Win Broadway lottery tickets See an outdoor concert Celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a fun activity
As the Summer is in its final weeks, so is my bucket list! Celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a fun activity
Throwback! This is the only wedding pic on my computer but we have a full physical album. How times have changed!
Because I was in Oregon the week leading up to our 10 year (omg!) anniversary, the hubz planned our activity…a day at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey!!! He picked it because 10 years is the tin/aluminum anniversary gift. I had been wanting to go to Six Flags since we first moved to NJ and I am so glad we finally went. It was also our first time at an amusement park together which was so fun. We arrived when it opened and went straight to Kingdaka (the tallest rollercoaster in the world) and right before it was our turn the ride had a technical difficulty that we watched the staff troubleshoot for about 5 minutes before deciding we did not want to be the first riders after a technical difficulty. We got out of line and went to the Zumajaro Drop of Doom ride. It ended up being my favorite ride of the day, I loved the views of the park from the 415 foot rise and the sudden 90 mile per hour drop down! We then did go back to Kingdaka, waited in a much longer line this time, and had an amazing time on the ride. Here are the rides that we went on ranked from my most to least favorite: 1. Zumanjaro Drop of Doom 2. Superman (Hubz’s Fav) 3. Kingdaka 4. Batman 5. Log Flume 6. Sky Screamer Swings 7. Dark Knight 8. El Torro 9. Green Lantern
For food, we grabbed some Dunkin’ Donuts breakfast sandwiches and donuts on the hour drive down to the park. I bought a $6 20oz coke after we got off a particularly jerky roller coaster (El Torro) and I said “This is lunch!” because OMG $6! We didn’t buy any food at the park (and neither did anyone else so that seemed like the right choice…) and ended up stopping at Panera on the way home.
It was an amazing way to celebrate our anniversary although some of the rides did make us feel like old people!
Cost: $214 (tickets and parking), $6 (coke), $22 (Dunkin), $33 (Panera) Total Cost: $275 Top Tip: The rides with no wait were the most painful, the rides with the longest wait are the least painful. Rides with a moderate wait are moderately painful.
Go to a baseball game Take meeeeee outtt to the bawwwwlll game! Ah, nothing like a baseball game on the east coast. We have made this a tradition every summer since we moved here, so I definitely needed to include it on this summer’s list. We attend a minor league game in Montclair the Sunday after our visit to Six Flags. Luckily, the weather was a perfect mid-80s day, so it wasn’t too hot. We also won baseball hats on a spin the wheel at the entrance which was great since I had inadvertently donated the only baseball hat that I owned. The game was pretty lively for the first 4 innings but slowed way down for the 4th-7th innings. We ended up heading out a bit early, but all-in-all it was a great way to spend the afternoon.
Cost: $54: $30 (tickets), $24 (beers) Top Tip: Minor league is the only way to go IMO. The price is way lower, parking is free, and the fans are dedicated!
2022 NJ Summer Bucket List: Go to a baseball game Have a pool day Host a Summer BBQ Explore a Delaware Water Gap town Go to the beach Visit the Maplewood Farmer’s Market Play tennis Win Broadway lottery tickets See an outdoor concert Celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a fun activity
Maddie here, back with some fun updates to my summer bucket list!
Explore a Delaware Water Gap Town The Delaware Water Gap is a gap between NJ and PA where the Delaware River runs through the Appalachian mountains:
The Gap not to be confused with Gap, Inc.
It is just about an hour from home (as are most things- loves it!) and I have been wanting to check it out ever since reading a magazine article feature in Country Living. (Shoutout to the library for the free Libby app!) The most popular thing to do in the summer on the Delaware Water Gap is river tubing, but we took this trip to explore the town of Lambertville, also known as the antiquing capital of New Jersey.
I found that article from Country Living and used it as a guide for the places to explore. We spent time at a few different antique stores (the People’s Store being our favorite), enjoyed a BBQ lunch at More than Q, walked across the The New Hope–Lambertville Bridge into Pennsylvania, turned around and walked back, grabbed a beer/cider at Lambertville Station, got an iced coffee at Lambertville Trading Company, and then finished out the day with an ice cream at Owowcow Creamery. The town was super cute and had a great feel to it and we saw so many interesting antiques in all of the stores.
As far as purchases go, we found the antiques to be overall more expensive than anticipated, but did end up buying a German cuckoo clock for my in-laws that matched one from their family history. For us, we purchased a chime that plays the tune “Take Me Out to The Ball Game” that is now sitting on our front porch and chiming away as I write this post.
Cost: BBQ Lunch- $60, Chime- $70, Coffees- $7.25 (we had a $25 Visa gift card that we used to purchase the beers/ice cream so not including that in our out of pocket costs) Total: $137.25 Top Tip: I am loving the day trip vibes this summer! It is the perfect way to get out to enjoy the season and explore while returning to your own bed at the end of the day
Play Tennis I included this on the bucket list because we are always saying that we should go play tennis and I wanted something to motivate us to actually make it happen…it worked! This weekend, we grabbed our rackets, picked up some new tennis balls from Target, and hit the courts at a new (to us) park in our town. We went at 8:45amish and it started to heat up pretty good by 9:30am so we left a bit earlier than expected, but it was very fun! The hubz is defs better at tennis than me but he gave me some pointers and I improved by the end. It was fun to get out and active doing something outside of the routine. Cost: $2.79 Top Tip: Balance low or no cost activities to offset big weekends. This activity followed last weekend’s day trip to Lambertville. It was still great to get out and do something different without spending a lot of money.
2022 NJ Summer Bucket List: Go to a baseball game Have a pool day Host a Summer BBQ Explore a Delaware Water Gap town Go to the beach Visit the Maplewood Farmer’s Market Play tennis Win Broadway lottery tickets See an outdoor concert Celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a fun activity
We are officially in July and I am feeling pleased with how many items I have completed on my bucket list. This week I checked off two more activities!
Have a pool day: When planning a hang with my wonderful friend, Mari, we decided that a pool day would be perfect! She lives in Hoboken and there is a fantastic free pool for Hudson County residents about a 5 minute drive away with incredible views of the city. Am I a Hudson County resident? No… Do I still have a driver’s license that says I live in Hudson County? Yes! The day was set to be 95 degrees so we decided to go in the morning and it was perfect. This is truly one of my favorite pools of all time and it was great to catch up while enjoying all the relaxation a pool day has to offer.
Cost: $0 Top Tip: Take advantage of your city/county pools. Also use lotion sunscreen instead of spray sunscreen. It takes longer but no burn for me this time!
Win Broadway lottery tickets: I started entering online Broadway lotteries for shows that I was interested in several weeks ago. These included: Hadestown, Hamilton, Six, Into the Woods, and Moulin Rouge. I was very excited to win a Moulin Rouge ticket because everyone who saw this show loved it, it won a bunch of Tonys, and I am a HUGE fan of the movie (the soundtrack rotated exclusively with Maroon 5’s “Songs about Jane” album for my 7th grade bus ride for the entire year- all the feelz). Unfortunately, I ended up being disappointed in the production which they turned into a jukebox musical on steroids that almost parodied the movie. I guess I should have done some research into this beforehand, but I kinda assumed it would follow the movie more closely in tone and content. Instead, I barely got to hear any of my fav movie songs sung completely through and probably would have been better off staying home and just watching the movie. Giving credit where it is due, the set was spectacular spectacular and the performers gave it their all. I will probably wait to start entering the lotteries aggressively until the fall because NYC in the summer is….smelly. Just keeping it real, folks!
Cost: $47.50 lottery ticket, $5.45 parking at train station, $15 round trip train tickets. Total: $67.95 This was definitely one of the pricier experiences of the summer but it was cheaper than filling my car with gas so there is that I guess??? Top Tip: Don’t be afraid to go solo for big experiences! It would have cost nearly twice as much for the hubz to join me for this, but he had rehearsal so I decided to go alone. Even if it wasn’t what I expected, I’m glad I could have the experience without breaking the bank. Also, always pack a snack and water bottle when traveling into NYC.
2022 NJ Summer Bucket List:
Go to a baseball game Have a pool day Host a Summer BBQ Explore a Delaware Gap town Go to the beach Visit the Maplewood Farmer’s Market Play tennis Win Broadway lottery tickets See an outdoor concert Celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a fun activity
Maddie here! Back for another summer bucket list post. This week I crossed two items off of my bucket list: visiting the Maplewood Farmer’s Market and attending an outdoor concert.
Maplewood Farmer’s Market: Since moving to the ‘burbs, I have been curious to check out the Maplewood Farmer’s Market because right across the street from my yoga studio. The market is only on Mondays and I had the day off for Juneteenth so we decided to make an afternoon of it! I rode our electric scooter and Alex rode his long board up the road to the farmers market. It wasn’t a huge farmer’s market, but there was a lot of variety with the vendors (farms, bakery, brewery, distillery, and some food cart type vendors) and it was fun to walk around. We had a few samples and picked up several items that we enjoyed on our porch after the ride home.
Cost: $40. We got cherries, a four pack of local beer from Montclair Brewery, a coffee cake, and an olive pocket. It was kinda pricey, but it always feels good to support local businesses! Top Tip: What made this outing fun was doing something different for our transportation. Sometimes, getting somewhere is just as fun as the destination itself!
See an Outdoor Concert: When I originally included this in my summer bucket list, I kinda had in mind a Keith Urban concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center but when I looked at the tickets and inflation being what it is, I decided against it and made it my mission to find the most fabulous free summer concert I could. I definitely feel like I succeeded! My dear friend Chris and I attended the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra concert in Branch Brook Park with a firework show directly following the concert. It was a beautiful night and the symphony was fantastic as always! My favorite piece they did was a Sound of Music medley, which we were encouraged to sing along to. It was great to see so many community members out for the show and we had fun watching the kids in the audience loving the music and dancing along. The parking was free and facilitated by the police department which made it convenient and feel very safe.
Cost: $13- a bottle of pinot grigio sneakily enjoyed in water bottles throughout the concert. Top Tip: When looking for summer concerts, start with local performing arts organizations to see what they have going on for community engagement. You can also start by googling nearby parks and seeing if they have concerts listed on their website.
2022 NJ Summer Bucket List:
Go to a baseball game Have a pool day Host a Summer BBQ Explore a Delaware Gap town Go to the beach Visit the Maplewood Farmer’s Market Play tennis Win Broadway lottery tickets See an outdoor concert Celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a fun activity
Maddie here! Starting off my summer bucket list recap with a quintessential summer activity: going to the beach! Despite living in NJ for 7.5 years, we have never officially gone “down the shore” which is kinda crazy. After having a great time with this activity, I will definitely be going back!
When researching shore towns for a visit, I came across The Wonder Bar which hosts a “Yappy Hour” for dogs on the weekend and a dog beach where dogs can go off leash. What else could I do with this information except plan our visit around it!?
Yappy Hour at The Wonder Bar: The dog beach opens for dogs at 6pm, so we loaded our dog, Winter, in the car at 3pm for the 60 minute drive down to Asbury Park. We found street parking close to The Wonder Bar which was great. We were hoping it would be free since it was Sunday but Asbury Park charges for parking 7 days a week so we paid for three hours on our Park Mobile app. The Yappy Hour had doggy bouncers who did a quick screen to make sure that Winter had her rabies shot and we paid the $20 cover charge which is donated to their local animal shelter. Then Winter was off to the races! She loved exploring the outdoor space and saying hello to dogs and people alike. The hubz and I got beers from the outdoor tiki bar and enjoyed watching her and the other dogs interact. After a few laps around the space, Winter settled down and was very happy to sit by our table in the shade and observe the action. The dogs were well behaved and the doggy bouncers did a great job of monitoring everyone. We had a second round of beers and chilled before heading over to the dog beach at 5:30pm.
8th Avenue Dog Beach: We did the quick walk down to 8th Avenue Beach on the Asbury Park boardwalk. We stopped at the public restroom on the way and it was the cleanest public restroom I have been to- v impressed. We arrived at the dog beach at 5:45pm and saw that several dogs were already off leash so we let Winter off too. It was her first time seeing the ocean and she LOVED it! She was apprehensive to go into the water but loved sitting and watching the ocean with us. She stayed very close the entire time but did greet several doggie friends. It was the 75 degrees, with a little bit of wind and that was the perfect temperature for her. We also made sure to pack her plenty of drinking water. The hubz and I stood in the ocean which was surprisingly warm and made me kinda regret not packing my swimsuit- I will definitely be swimming next time! We stayed for about 1.5 hours exploring the beach and watching the ocean and then headed back to our home with one happy dog. On the way back, we picked up BBQ (chicken and rib combo) near our house for dinner- yum!
We already can’t wait to return to Yappy Hour and the dog beach!
Top Tip: For us the day trip was key! We will so often go into NYC which can take 1.5 hours each way but for some reason the shore has always seemed so far away. Knowing that there are clean bathrooms, a beautifully kept beach, and accessible parking will make returning for another day trip that much easier. Could we have done this trip cheaper without the Yappy Hour and packing our own food? Yes, but it was so much fun!
2022 NJ Summer Bucket List:
Go to a baseball game Have a pool day Host a Summer BBQ Explore a Delaware Gap town Go to the beach Visit the Maplewood Farmer’s Market Play tennis Win Broadway lottery tickets See an outdoor concert Celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a fun activity
Maddie here! The hubz and I recently got back from a trip to the UK for my best friend (other than Emily duh!)’s wedding. It was all around an incredible trip and her wedding was a dream! While the wedding events mostly took place in the countryside, we had two days in London for sightseeing which I thought would be fun to recap here.
Lodging: We spent three nights at this cute airbnb which was centrally located in London. It ended up being $200 per night, which we thought was a great price for the flat. The bed was comfortable and it had a fridge to store our favorite UK eclairs, fruit juices, and ciders which we promptly stocked up on upon arrival.
Day 1: 8:00am Grabbed some coffee and avo toast at Harris + Hoole.
I needed a big coffee this day!
8:30am Our luggage was lost, so after coffee we walked to H&M in Oxford Circus to get some shirts and underwear- what fun! In the pic below I’m wearing the outfit that my best friend got me for her bachelorette the day before. We landed 1.5 hours late into Heathrow and I literally sprinted to her bachelorette which included a beautiful Thames lunch river cruise and an afternoon at the spa! While the outfit is super cute, I learned a valuable lesson to always pack a change of clothes in your carry on! (especially if you are flying Aer Lingus…)
This jacket is about to make many more appearances in this post.
10:00am-2:00pm Donning our new H&M clothes, we walked around Central London and saw the sites! We stopped into Fortnum & Mason to look at their fun Platinum Jubilee decorations and picked up a loose leaf tea infuser as a souvenir. We tried to get a peak of Buckingham Palace but it was all closed off in preparation for the Platinum Jubilee. We also walked through Soho and Borough Market where I had a few cheese samples…yum. After Borough Market, we ate lunch at a pub along the river: The Old Thameside Inn.
2:00-3:30pm Next up, we said a quick hello to my old work stomping grounds at Shakespeare’s Globe and enjoyed wandering around the Tate Modern for some culture. Gotta love those free London museums!
3:30-7:00pm We made our way to Hummingbird Bakery in Notting Hill- my fav! They were about to close and out of red velvet cupcakes by the time we arrived so I ended up getting a slice of red velvet cake instead. Hubz’s favorite black bottom cupcake is shown below. We then made a trip to our old neighborhood in Shepherd’s Bush where we lived in London 8 years ago to see how it changed. The neighborhood was much trendier, but our flat looked pretty much the same! We had dinner at one of the nicer pubs that we couldn’t afford when we were broke grad students which was tasty and fun. After that we made our way back to our airbnb and watched a program on the BBC about the Queen- v British.
Day 2:
7:30am-12:00pm We grabbed coffee and some pastries at Attendant Coffee Roasters and then spent the morning wandering around Regent’s Park in London. We enjoyed Queen Mary’s rose garden the best! We also enjoyed walking around the lake and even saw a swan.
12:30-2:30pm Since arriving in London in between all of our glam sightseeing, we had been waiting to hear when our bags would be delivered. We finally got the notification that they would be delivered between 12:30-1:30pm- YAY. I was able to rebook an afternoon tea that we had planned to be an hour later and everything would work out perfectly- or so we thought… We grabbed sandwiches at the Pret across the street from our flat and watched for two hours before the bags arrived! We missed our afternoon tea booking and couldn’t find anywhere to rebook in such short notice. So our afternoon tea ended up being an earl grey from Pret and a chocolate bar, but we were very glad to finally have our bags back.
We were so hopeful here.. little did we know we would be in the same spot 2 hours later…
2:30-9:00pm After getting our luggage back, we chilled for a bit and then grabbed an early dinner at Arcade Food Hall. We were able to try a bunch of different cuisines from around the world which was amazing and something we wouldn’t have been able to do if we went to afternoon tea. Then it was time for our big event: the Punchdrunk production of The Burnt City! I have been following this theater company since we first saw them in London in 2014 and was very excited when I realized that we would be in town for this production. The Burnt City is an immersive experience where you are encouraged to find your own way and experience, so the hubz and I split up, but we did we see each other on our way to the bar mid way through (lol) and it was fun to catch up on the tube ride home (on the brand new Elizabeth line!) about our individual experiences and feelings about the production.
Overall, we had a great time in London visiting some of our old favorite spots and trying a few new ones. I’m not sure when we will be back to the city, but until then we have great memories from this trip to look back on! The next day we headed to the beautiful countryside for three incredible days of wedding activities. Below are two bonus wedding pics- cheers!
A few notes on my Thanksgiving Dinner. In the spirit of being real my chicken was under cooked…I didn’t follow my own recipe and was trying to rush the chicken along. So in reality we ate sides for our Thanksgiving dinner while the chicken cooked in the oven. For the warm brussels sprout salad I used goat cheese instead of parmesan, and pecans instead of hazelnuts. We went non traditional for dessert this year. We had eaten a whole pecan pie the week before and really didn’t think we needed another one. I made brownies and put them in a muffin tin. Very delicious and would highly recommend that to anyone! I just cooked them for about 26 min. Also I bought paper plates to be festive and so I had less dishes to do.
This was my first time making our mom’s easy roast chicken recipe and it won’t be my last! It was so tasty and perfectly done. I obvi followed the directions that Emily did not. This was a very low key Thanksgiving for just me and the hubz and these flavors satisfied our cravings without taking all day to make. The sweet potato spoon bread recipe came from a Lidl recipe pamphlet from two years ago (#blessedbyLidl), so I thought I would include it below. It makes a lot and while that would be great for a big get together, I will probably half it next time.
Lidl’s Sweet Potato Spoon Bread Ingredients 1 large sweet potato 2.5 cups of milk 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 5 tbs butter 3/4 cups corn meal 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/4 cup maple syrup 4 eggs separated
Step 1: Heat oven to 375. Prick sweet potato skin with fork, place in microwave for 10 minutes or until fork tender. Let cool completely and remove the skins. Step 2: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together milk, water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 4 tablespoons of butter. Bring to a boil. Step 3: Slowly whisk in corn meal, stir until fully combined and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Step 4: In a food processor (or using an immersion blender like me!) add cooked sweet potato, baking powder, salt, flour, maple syrup, and egg yolks. Blend until smooth. Add corn meal mixture and blend until fully combined. Step 5: In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Step 6: Gently fold the egg whites into corn meal until fully combined, being careful to not over-stir. Step 7: Butter a 2-quart baking dish and pour batter into dish. Bake for 1 hour or until edges are lightly toasted.
Maddie here! First I need to preface this post with the fact that I am not a big ham lover. In fact, this Thanksgiving was the first time that I had made a ham in 8 years of marriage even though my husband loves ham. But I am also not a big Thanksgiving turkey lover and with this Thanksgiving being just the two of us I thought WHY NOT and went for the ham. Much to my surprise not only did I enjoy the ham on Thanksgiving but I enjoyed each of these leftovers, maybe even more than my husband (!) so if you have ham leftovers that you are unsure how to re-purpose read on…
The OG HamRecipe I found this delish ham glaze recipe from Cafe Delights:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, reduce fat or full fat • 1 cup brown sugar • 1/2 cup honey • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg • 4 cloves garlic, smashed
I did not remove the skin of the ham like the writer suggests but I followed all other instructions and it turned out perfectly:
Da ham.
Leftover # 1: Diced Ham and Scrambled Eggs This is pretty self-explanatory! I diced leftover ham, sautéed it a bit, and added in eggs beaten with a touch of half and half and salt.
Leftover #2: Ham and Swiss Paninis Again, pretty self-explanatory… I cut two slices of the leftover sourdough from Thanksgiving and paired it with ham, swiss cheese, and Dijon mustard.
Leftover #3: Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soupfrom Five Heart Home I love me a good crock pot recipe and I especially loved that I was able to enjoy the meat from the ham hock, without any additional meat needing to be added. My husband thought the pairing of chicken broth with the ham made for a weird taste but I thought it was fine. Next time I will do vegetable broth instead.
Leftover #4: Breakfast Casserole I diced about 1 cup of ham, 2 potatoes, and 2 bell peppers. I added them to a greased baking dish and topped with 10 beaten eggs along with salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese. I baked at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. We ate this as breakfast throughout one week and it was very yummy!
Leftover #5: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham from The Pioneer Woman We froze about 2 cups of ham and I pulled it out last night for this dish. It was a huge hit and something that I would serve for guests or take to a pot luck post-pandemic. I loved the simplicity of this recipe, but I did add salt to the cream sauce. My husband doesn’t eat cheese so I omitted it and added cheddar later to mine.
Bonus Mashed Potato Leftover: Shepherd’s Pie from McCormick Emily shared this recipe with me and I am so glad she did! It was completely no fuss and totally delicious! All you need is 1 pound of ground beer, a package of brown gravy mixed, frozen peas and carrots, mashed potatoes, and garlic/onion powder.
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 