*MEAL PREP ALERT* thai coconut curry soup

I LOVE THAI FOOD. I know, a lot of this blog is me telling you about all the food I make, but I just can’t stop! (sorry not sorry). I always wanted to find a Thai curry soup that I could make at home that was cheap, easy, and fast. I found this one on a blog called, mellow mondays, but I did change a few things. I am not a huge fan of ginger and I forgot to get lemongrass (classic Jess), so I took those out of this recipe. It still tasted unreal!

Thai food is always so expensive and I always wish I had more so I decided to meal prep this soup for a four-day week! I hope you enjoy!

ingredients:

2 cans of coconut milk (I used light)
1 heaping tablespoon of Thai curry paste
1 bunch of cilantro stems
2 chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs (thighs are cheaper)
2 cups of chicken broth
1 shredded carrot
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 tablespoons of fish sauce (I used oyster sauce because I had it in the kitchen)
a small knob of ginger
a handful bean sprouts
8 ounce package rice noodles
1 bunch of cilantro leaves, rinsed
2 or 3 green onions, thinly sliced
a sprinkle or two salt

instructions:

1. Scoop the thick coconut cream from the top of just one of the cans into a large stockpot set over a medium-high heat. Melt the cream, add the curry paste and stir for a few minutes until they begin to sizzle.
2. Add the cilantro roots and chicken and sauté until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the coconut juice from the first can and all the contents of the second can along with the chicken broth, carrot, lime leaves, oyster sauce and lime zest and juice. Simmer for 20 minutes or so.
4. Stir in the bean sprouts. Add the uncooked rice noodles. Turn off the heat and let stand until the noodles soften, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in most of the cilantro leaves. Taste and season with a touch more salt (or soy sauce) as needed.
6. Add cilantro as garnish.
7. Place into separate containers and refrigerate once cooled.
8. ENJOY FOR LUNCHES!

Be sure to check out the mellow mondays blog for more awesome recipes!

 

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*CONTEST ALERT!*Cheap Vegetarian Nachos

The weekend is here. The end of the school year is fast approaching, which means: YEAR-END PARTIES. The hardest part about parties is figuring out what food you want to bring. You don’t want to spend too much money, you want to bring something almost everyone can eat, and you want something easy. Well, Krysten from LetsVegOut and I have collaborated to bring you SUPER easy vegetarian nachos.

I know why y’all are here though. WHAT CAN I WIN?! Well, we are giving away a $20 Sobeys gift card to help with all your nacho needs (or whatever else you want to buy). All you have to do is:

To enter:

1.Follow @nomoneynoprobs and @letsvegout on Instagram

2. Enter the contest on each of our Instagram pages.

3. “Like” this blog post and Krysten’s on LetsVegOut

4. WIN!

We will be drawing the winner on Sunday, March 18th at 5 p.m.

Nacho Recipe below:

Taco chips, lettuce, tomato, cheese, bake….. yes, that’s it.

My TOP 5 Fav Sushi Spots! (with cheapish rolls)

Sushi is for sure my go-to study food, but it can get expensive! $12 OR MORE for a specialty roll, please honey. Let’s be honest though, we all have our fav specialty roll that we ALWAYS get from our go-to spot…am I right?! I’ll share mine later on in the post. I am going to share my top 5 sushi places with UNREAL cheap rolls that taste just as good as the expensive ones, only they don’t break the bank! Without further ado, here are my top 5!

#5 Sushi Daruma

Avg. price: $5-7 per roll

Fav roll: Sweet Chili Creamy Dynamite Roll

Location: 1128 Henderson Highway

#4 Sobeys Sushi

(This is a great place to get sushi in a rush! It is fresh and quick, but it is a bit more $)

Avg. price: $8 per roll

Fav roll: Brown Rice California Roll

Location: A Sobeys near you! lol

#3 Sushi Ya

Avg. price: $5-6 per roll

Fav roll: Salmon Bakudan (BEST SALMON BAKUDAN IN THE CITY)

Location: 659 Corydon Ave

#2 Naru Sushi

Avg. price: $6-9 per roll (can be a bit more expensive here, but it’s worth it)

Fav roll: Philadelphia Roll

Location: 159 Osborne St.

#1 Sushi N

THIS IS MY GO-TO my OG.

Avg price: $6-9

Fav roll: French Kiss Roll. This is my specialty roll that I NEED to have when I go there. Believe me, it’s worth it.

Location: 726 Saint Anne’s RD.

 

Thanks so much for reading! Now go get yourself some sushi! I know you want it!

Sephora Birthday Gift Review! (Glam Glow)

Ladies! This one is for you!

Sephora birthday gifts are the best and this year’s gift didn’t disappoint! The 2018 options are either from Bite Beauty or GLAMGLOW. As you can see, I chose GLAMGLOW!

This product is expensive. It costs about $70 for each product. As a student, I cannot afford this right now, but I can afford a free birthday gift!

There is a lot of hype surrounding this GLAMGLOW mud mask specifically, and let me be the first to tell you… It is worthy.

I love the firming aspect of it and it also made my skin feel so fresh and clean!

This isn’t going to be a long post because I have to go rinse my face off after this beautiful mask.

BUT, I would say that when I do have a bit more cash money in the bank, I will be purchasing these products!

Sign up for Sephora’s Beauty Insider program and get your free birthday gift during your birth month!

Your face and debit will thank you!

Date Night (ON A BUDGET)

Date night can get expensive. Whether you’re going to dinner, a movie, or any other date spot you’re bound to spend money. You want to show your loved one you care, or you were a jerk, and now you have to make up for it, or you just love the heck out of them. I can admit, and I’m sure William would too, that we have all been there.

As a college student, money is tight. Heck, money always seems to be tight. So I’ve made up some date night ideas that keep your heart and wallet full. I had to, it was the low-hanging fruit, feel free to laugh.

1. Check out a Movie. This is a classic that can end up costing you both a whole lot. Go on a Tuesday, as most of you know admission is half-price on Tuesday.
2. Wing Night! This is one of my personal favs. Find out where the best wing deals are and hit it up! This is a perfect and quick weeknight date to watch the game or just re-connect after a long day.
3. Hockey, Football, Baseball? Find out when your local sports teams are having ticket sales or deals and go cheer them on. This can sometimes be on the more expensive side of the scale, but hey, treat yo’self.
4. FaceTime. Well, this one works for me right now. Long distance sucks and FaceTime turns out to be your date nights, but it does save you some money! If you’re in a long-distance relationship like me, then this is for you! Also, cheap flights. Enough said.
5. Cooking together. This is also one of my favorites. Rummage through your kitchen, find out what you have at home, and make a meal out of it. No shopping necessary.

Here’s the thing, we are all busy and never have time to slow down, but take the time to be together.

I’d love to hear some of your best date night ideas on a budget, so comment them below!

Happy spending saving! 😉

Meal Prep “PHO” Cheap

You see what I did in that title? Haha PHO cheap!

Pho is by far one of my favourite meals. It’s decently healthy and keeps me warm on a cold Winnipeg winter day. Will and I have our go-to spot on McPhillips, Pho Mama’s Noodle House. It is honestly always consistent and quick. Satay Beef Vermicelli soup. Try it. You won’t regret it.

Now, I don’t always have time to go and fill that pho craving so I thought why not try and meal prep some homemade pho! Pho is generally pretty cheap for a large bowl for two ($10). I went to Superstore and purchased all the ingredients I needed for five meals worth of soup for $15!!! Yes, you heard that right. $15! Some items I already had on hand (hoisin and onion), but those aren’t going to break the bank.

 Traditional pho broth is made from a bone broth which can take HOURS to prepare, so I purchased the President’s Choice premade broth. It has a recipe on the back (which I followed).

It suggests that you purchase the fresh rice noodles, but I found they were difficult to work with. In the future, I would get uncooked rice noodles.

Here is the recipe:

• 1 whole beef sirloin steak
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 package dry rice noodles (this is where I changed it)
• 1 1/2 cartons President’s Choice Pho Broth
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts (or desired amount)
• 3 green onion, thinly slices
• 2 tbsp cilantro leaves, whole or roughly chopped (desired amount)
• 1lime, cut into wedges for garnish (Not a fan of lime so I didn’t use it)
• Sriracha (desired amount)
• Hoisin (desired amount)

1. Rub steak with oil on both sides; season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a medium pan over medium-high. Sear steak for 1-2 minutes per side, or to desired doneness. Rest 5 minutes then slice very thinly across the grain. Set aside.
3. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain, rinse in cold water and set aside.
4. Chop onion into strips
5. Heat broth until gently simmering. Evenly divide noodles between meal prep containers; top with thinly sliced steak, and onion.  Pour simmering broth over top.  Put in desired amount of hot sauce and hoisin.
6. Place desired amount of bean sprouts, green onion and cilantro in five baggies to keep it from getting soggy over night.
7. Place containers in the freezer. It takes a bit to defrost them, but it keeps the soup fresh for day five.

IF you just want some great soup for dinner one day then skip the baggy part and place it all in the bowl *see below*

I would love to see your creations and how you “pho”. Tag me in your posts!

Happy spending saving! 🙂

$10 Charcuterie Board

While I was away in Kitchener, my boyfriend Will and I wanted to make a charcuterie board. Now, I don’t have the money to be buying $10 blocks of cheese with names I can’t even pronounce.

Kitchener has an incredible market that is so incredibly cheap, but INCREDIBLE quality. Will and I are huge fans of specialty meats and cheeses, and the Kitchener Market has an amazing selection.

We spent a total of $10! We had some cheese at home (Laughing Cow…don’t judge me) Keep reading to see what we bought:

1. Pepperoni sticks: $2
2. Kolbassa:  $2
3. Jam: $3
4. Mustard: $3

Kitchener Market: http://www.kitchenermarket.ca/en/index.asp

Enjoy!

Specials, Specials, Specials

“Hey girl, night out tonight?”

“Ugh, I would love to, but I’m trying to save my money.”

Sound familiar? Yeah, me too. Well, I may have a solution or at least a way you can still go out and can spend literally $3. Yes, you heard me right, $3.

Here in Winnipeg, we are all about the deals. How can I get that for free? Is that 50% off? What are your specials?

My friend Julia and I LOVE specials, especially wing night. There are so many different deals in this city, and I even come close to trying them all.

This week on Tuesday, Ju and I decided to hit up two of the cheapest deals that were on for that day. Here is a bit of our journey:

Earls Kitchen + Bar Happy Hour!

This one is my new favourite. Everyday from 3pm-6pm they have an unbelievably cheap menu. They also run this menu every day after 9pm.

We ordered garlic fries (TO DIE FOR) and a margarita pizza. Want to know what our total bill was? $6 for the two of us. Yup. It doesn’t get much better than that. Ju’s special tip, order double the sauce with the fries. It’s that good.

Smitty’s Wing Night

Next stop was Smitty’s for some of our favourite wings. There are so many different places in this city that have wing night. It’s just great. Wings are a little more expensive, but $0.55 wings are pretty good.

But, one of the reasons Smitty’s is one of the best is because they let you order in 6’s. Which means multiple flavours. Our bill was $12 for the two of us.

 

 

This was a super fun night and a great way to hang with your friends and keep your wallet happy.Try it out. Let me know your fav deals! I’d love to try them out.

Happy spending saving 😉

Cheap DIY: Gallery Wall

Now, if you know me at all you know my obsession with rose gold and art prints. I have a room filled with them. BUT here’s the catch, it gets expensive. So, one day as I was walking through Chapters dying over all the cute decor I thought of an idea— create it myself.

Gallery walls are huge right now and they can really light up a room, but again you’re looking at $10 a frame and anywhere between $10- $30 for an art print. That adds up quick if you are wanting to buy about 10 pieces for the wall.

I decided that I was going to make a gallery wall that would cost me under $30. It was a challenge, and I love challenges.

First off I checked my email for Michaels coupons and headed on over. I knew that I wanted white and rose gold frames. I also already had 3 nice white frames at home which meant I had to purchase some rose gold paint. I purchased the Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Metallic Acrylic Craft Paint, which cost me $4 because guess what?! This girl had a 40% off coupon! Sorry, I get excited about deals, it’s just a thing. I also purchased some decor items to off-set the frames which cost $10 with a coupon.

My next stop was Value Village to purchase some frames. The key to a good gallery wall is to have a variety of different shapes and sizes. I found about 7 frames and in total that only cost me $12. It was 50% off day at Value Village, but they run those frequently so keep a look out for that!

I went home to paint the remaining frames. I had to do two coats of the paint which did take me a couple hours.

While I was waiting for the paint to dry I went on Pinterest to find some prints that I wanted to print out for my frames. I made sure to use free downloadable images where I could. I found what I wanted and printed them out based on the size of each frame. I also had a couple of prints, paintings, and photos that I had already that I wanted to place in the frames as well.

Now it’s time to hang! This was the tricky part. I’ll try and explain it as simple as I can.

Step 1: Place newspaper on the floor and cut it out according to the size of each frame.

Step 2: Layout the pieces of newspaper and frames on the floor to create the design you want.

Step 3: Tape the newspaper cutouts on the wall where you want each frame to be placed.

Step 4: Hammer nails into the wall over the newspaper.

Step 5: Hang the frames up on the nails and pull the paper off the nails. VOILA!

It may not be the perfect gallery wall, but it’s my gallery wall. CHEESY.

I hope this helped any of you who are looking to give their room a decor change and help to save you some money!

Happy spending saving! 😉

 

Meal Prep of the Month: Plan. Planning. Planned.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.

Since starting the Creative Communications program last year, planning is my middle name. Whether I’m planning my days, homework schedule, IPP, or any of the million other things I have to do, I always find it less stressful to write it out and stick to it.

Now all of this seems easy enough if you have some time management skills, but let’s be honest, procrastination and temptation are real.

Sure, I can have my day planned out down to the minute, but there is always room for error. Want to know my downfall? Spending money on lunches or dinner because I didn’t put them into my plan. While my wallet isn’t filled with money, instead it’s filled with receipts.

In my previous blog, I mentioned that over last summer I dove into meal prepping and I fell in love with it. My boyfriend and I would plan out our lunches on Sunday and head over to the store to grab all the ingredients.

A common misconception of meal prepping is that it costs way too much money. This is the complete opposite! By following the steps in my previous post, I got four days of food for under $20! It may seem like a hit at the register when you could spend $5 at Tims for lunch instead, but that can add up!

We always tried to find new meal prep recipes to keep it fresh and new. I use Pinterest and Tasty to find most of them.

This week I went grocery shopping and walked through the steps for you to show you that it is possible! Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Basil Zucchini “Linguini”

https://www.buzzfeed.com/spencerkombol/get-the-most-out-of-your-summer-zucchini-harvest-with-these?utm_term=.idnE7wrvA#.rprLvR61Q

All under $20 at Superstore! Some of the items I already had at home. Look for that when planning what to have.

Honestly tastes like noodles. I’m serious.

Isn’t it pretty?

I add extra basil because let’s be honest, it’s good.

Make sure to bring the temperature to low!

Keep the lids off the containers for about 20 minutes before placing in the fridge. Enjoy!

I took out the chicken and chicken broth and used vegetable broth to make it vegetarian, but both work great!

Make sure to check back for my next meal prep of the month!

Happy saving and eating! 🙂