I just realized that I meant to post this yesterday but somehow I ended up getting side tracked. I got up in the morning, got myself ready and went out for a walk because here in Toronto, yesterday was a KICK ASS day!! The skies were blue and the sun was shining, and it wasn't overly cold. You needed a coat, but by no means did I need a hat or mittens... which was very nice! I had a goal in mind to find a cute winter hat that I could wear every day. I have a winter hat, actually I have 2... one is an Under Armour toque for running and the other is like an insane knitted fur hat that has strings that hangs down the sides for REALLY cold days.. but I had nothing in between. So I hit up my one of my favorite areas in the city, Queen West and tracked down my new hat. Want to see it? ***Warning... the following photo is a tacky mirror selfie but it had to be done in order to show you my hat.
See! It's cute right? :) Anyways - I needed to buy this hat because Jen (one of my besties here in TO) and I were heading to Yorkville last night to attend their Holiday Magic Lighting of the Lights. It was really fun. We made it just in time to see all the Christmas lights turn on and stayed and listened to Sarah Slean sing some songs while playing the piano.
Holiday Magic
We picked up some festive beverages (I had a Peppermint Mocha, she had a Gingerbread Latte) and then basically walked all over Yorkville and popping in and out of cutesy stores (ie. My personal fav, Kate Spade).Bonjour from Yorkville! Tres chic.
On our way home we stopped in at Freshii to have dinner. Have you ever been to Freshii? It's one of my favorite places to eat here in Toronto. It's all fresh foods made right in front of you. Usually I get a massive salad but last night I opted for some soup because it was cold and who doesn't love soup when it's cold? I had half chicken broth, half spicy lemongrass broth with chicken, rice noodles and a massive haul of veggies and herbs... it was like heaven. Something super cool I love about Freshii is basically this wall:They have pictures of all of their ingredients up on a wall and the health benefits of each one so you can pick and choose to cater to whatever is going on with your body at the time! Cool huh?
So speaking of food and choosing healthy and whatnot... I was sent this awesome infographic on how to be a Frugal Foodie and it includes some cheap, but delicious looking, recipes. This is super fitting for me right now as I'm very quickly approaching my first day of College here in Toronto and basically my first day of not having a full time job since 2009. So my life is going to turn frugal basically. Check this out:
Statistics provided by CashNetUSA.
I wanted to provide you with more than this inforgraphic, so I looked up some other neat ways to be a Frugal Foodie.
1. Use cloth napkins, and hide the paper towels. Paper towels are expensive and they definitely don't help the environment so either don't buy them and use washable cloths, or hide them and only use them when absolutely necessary.
2. Stock up on your meat protein (if you eat meat) while it's on sale. A friend of mine always buys a TON of chicken breast when it's on sale and then she wraps them all individually when she gets home and freezes them so she can eat them at her leisure. Amazing!
3. Clean out your fridge and use your leftovers before going grocery shopping. Throwing away food is a big pet peeve of mine, especially when it wasn't used simply out of laziness. Make sure to only buy what you need and use it before buying something else.
4. Purchase produce in season, this definitely cuts prices by A LOT.
5. Plan your meals. I know this sounds easier than it actually is, but if you have a plan it's easier for you to stick to it. Write a grocery list based on your plan and STICK TO IT. This will help eliminate a lot of the "random food" you end up buying when you're at the grocery store.
What's one thing you do to help stay frugal in the kitchen?