Spinach smoothie and Super Glue

A coworker has been juicing and brought me some to try and it was pretty good. Well I don't want to spend $400 on a juicer so my boyfriend offered up his broken blender. I was like really???? But then again, he knows I'm on a budget and didn't want to buy a blender this month.

He broke a huge piece of plastic off the bottom where it tightens into the blender base.  Well thanks to Dave Ramsey and my new frugalness, I went to DollarTree and bought a package of 2 superglues for $1. I glued that bad boy back on and it worked. And while I was at it, I glued my favorite shoe that was starting to lose its sole. 

I have been so sick of trying to eat a salad at least once a day. So instead, I make a mix of:

• spinach
• kale
• cucumbers
• squash
• beet
• flax seed
• protein powder
• pineapple or strawberries
• kale
• mandarin oranges
• no sugar added Cranberry juice and water

I blend all of it up and don't strain it. I'm getting all my fruits and veggies in for the day in a drink.  Drinking this is a breeze.

So today, I had all my veggies and fruit at 7am and then I had Taco Bell for lunch. Hahaha. Which by the way, was much better than a salad. So speaking of Mexican food, my boyfriend had some words of wisdom to share with me this week. 

"If I eat 3 bean burritos for dinner, 

I guess I must expect to pay for it the next day."

So I've been doing Dave Ramsey's plan which sucks for me, but better for my budget. Well this month, I had what I call OTHER expenses. I got:

• My cat fixed (250+)
• My synthetic oil changed ($75)
• My garage door fixed ($129)
• Easter clothes ($58)

Drumroll please: I still managed to stick to my budget. I have a total of $16 to last until Friday. I should be golden. I have gas in the car and food and wine at mi casa.

SPOILER ALERT for readers: Caribou Island

So I put the Dog Slim powder  my daughter got on clearance on my dog's food this morning. She can perform miracles. She managed to eat around it so well that the only thing left was a pile of powder in the bowl.

So Frisco library has books you can check out digitally. Caribou Island appeared in the list of books you might want to read, or new additions, or something. It was a cold weekend in Texas so a book, some basketball and golf watching, and some cooking were in order. 

I downloaded the book. I liked it because it went into detail about living in Alaska. The book kept me entertained and interested. It was a drama about a retired mother, her horrid marriage, and the drama in her grown kids' lives. Boy, did I NOT know what I was getting into with this book.


SPOILER:

So, let's jump to the ending: The daughter is going to the island to check on her parents. She is thinking about her upcoming Hawaiian wedding and envisioning a nice event with her family. What she doesn't know is that her new fiancee is cheating on her and has decided he'll get in better shape so that he can have more affairs. The mother has fatally shot her husband with a bow and two arrows  (which I felt was almost justified after reading the book) and then hung herself. The End. 

So anyway.....let's talk about cooking:
In nice weather, I like to throw meat and veggies on the grill, but in cold weather, I'm ready to prepare dishes that are typically too time-consuming to make when the weather is nice. Oh...and by the way, my boyfriend says I'm an awesome cook.

Saturday, I made Shrimp/Sausage Gumbo. It had okra like a gumbo, but my boyfriend didn't want the tomatoes. I made the roux and even sauteed the okra ahead of time in bacon drippings. He said it was the best gumbo ever and that I should make it once a week. Okay, that might be a little much. I like it more on cold days. Sunday morning, I  made Eggs Benedict and Sunday night Chicken Paprikash.

Weekend at Westridge in McKinney and Dog Slim

So this is where I tell on myself. Yes, I had two triple bogeys. Ouch. All in all, I had a good day. I shot a 95. 45 on the front and 50 on the back. After the first triple bogey on hole 6, I managed to miraculously par the next 3 holes. 

It was a really windy day. My drives ranged from 150-225 yards...depending on which way I was facing. The average was about 180 which is acceptable to me. So the telling part of this....I was only on the green in regulation two times the entire day. Not good. I also had a 4-putt and three 3-putts. Also not good. Anyway, at least I know what I need to work on. Oh and quit pulling the ball to the left....let my hands stay in line with my body. I have fast hands.

So my boyfriend has a Springer Spaniel, Coco, that stays with me a day or two a week with my Rottweiller mix,  Zena,  and two cats, Billie Jean and Peaches.  Well obviously that's not enough animals for us, so the boyfriend adopted another Springer Spaniel this past weekend. He is adorable. He still acts like a puppy. We  haven't decided on a name  yet...and no need because he does not respond to the one he had. Hahaha.

Oh and because I'm still being a cheapskate and doing the Dave Ramsey plan, I have to think about every single purchase. My daughter and I decided we wanted to buy a Furminator for the pets. Well I told her we could get it, but we couldn't go to Pei Wei for the next 2 weeks.

Also, she bought some 'clearance' Dog Slim for my dog. It looks like a doggie protein powder. Well, I'm looking at the back of the can and it gives you the dosage for dogs that are 5lbs, 10lbs, 15lbs, 20lbs, 25lbs....and it stops there. Now really???? She bought Dog Slim because our dog is 90+ lbs. I guess I need to give her the entire can.

It's golf season and a little tidbit about Austin

Had a free group lesson last night followed by free appetizers and wine. The perfect evening.

So tomorrow I"m headed to Westridge with 15 other ladies on my golf league for a round of golf. I hit about 10 balls last night during the group lesson, so I'm sure I'm good to go.

http://www.westridgegolfcourse.com/layout9.asp?id=158&page=2503

So last year, I didn't play much. This year I'm hoping to play much more often. I'm going to start posting my scores to my blog. I'm hoping the public humiliation might lead me to practice more.....either that or take my blog down.

So Hayley went to Austin with a friend for a couple of days for Spring Break. She sent me a picture of her by the state capitol. Within 24 hours of arriving in Austin, she appears to have turned into a liberal hippie. Okay, earlier this year she was still a Republican. I may need to check back in on her. She was wearing a beanie, John Lennon sunglasses, a short skirt with knee socks and denim vest. The only thing that could have made it more fitting was if she was wearing Birkenstocks.

Funny, but I remember back in the day when there was a drive through by UT where you could drive through and get margaritas. 

Oh wait, you can find anything with a Googler.... From 1992:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Awards/BestOfAustin?Award=88813

Patience is a Virtue at CVS

Sunday, I went to CVS which is notorious for only having one cashier. I needed a pack of AAA batteries. Well, I get in line and this lady is standing there with a basket...like a grocery store basket full of food. I'm thinking who the heck does grocery shopping at CVS. Well boy did I learn a lesson.

I waited and waited while the clerk rang up all her food and drinks. Then, she proceeds to give him a coupon for each item she bought. Seriously, it must have been between 15 and 20 coupons. And gosh darnit, the  milk coupon was no longer valid, so the lady asks the cashier to take off the three gallons of milk she was going to buy. Oh and by the way, if you feed your kids using your coupons, you are going to have a kid that eats a lot of unhealthy processed food. I'll step off my soapbox now. Anyway, I made it home with batteries later that evening.

Monday, I was telling my coworker about this incident...bragging about my great amount of patience...and she said that I obviously don't read couponing blogs. She is correct about that. Anyway, I guess CVS coupons are very popular. Anyway, I will no longer go to CVS, but will make the dang left hand turn to go to Walgreens instead. I don't know if people do their grocery shopping at Walgreens, but typically they have 2 cashiers.

I have to laugh at Hayley's work stories. Recently, three very large ladies drove through the drive through at Rudys and all ordered baked potatoes with brisket.  Anyway, an hour later, these three ladies come back to Rudy's and ask to speak to the manager. He assumes they are dining in and has no idea they were drive through customers an hour prior. They complained their potatoes don't have enough brisket. He asks them to bring up their potatoes and he'll add more brisket. The ladies informed the manager that they had already eaten their potatoes and wanted new ones. Don't worry about the large ladies, they got their new potatoes.