Yesterday (Monday) was a day off of running for me, so I decided to get in my goal of cross training with some yoga, a little pilates ab workout, and short walk with the hubs. This morning my legs were rested and ready to go for some 800 meter intervals! Here's what the speed workout looked like:
-Warm-up Mile (9:50)
-800 meters @ 7:40 pace (3:50)
-400 meters recovery (slow jog)
-800 meters @ 7:40 pace (3:50)
-400 meters recovery (jog/walk)
-800 meters @ 7:40 pace (3:50)
-400 meters recovery (jog/walk)
-800 meters @ 7:40 (3:50)
.75 mile recovery at 9:50 pace
Total: 4.5 miles at 9:02 pace average. I'll take it!
After the gym (yes, I hit up the treadmill to avoid the crazy heat here in Georgia!) I made what should have been a quick stop at Wal Mart. This is what happens when you hit up the store for groceries after a workout and you're hungry!
-Warm-up Mile (9:50)
-800 meters @ 7:40 pace (3:50)
-400 meters recovery (slow jog)
-800 meters @ 7:40 pace (3:50)
-400 meters recovery (jog/walk)
-800 meters @ 7:40 pace (3:50)
-400 meters recovery (jog/walk)
-800 meters @ 7:40 (3:50)
.75 mile recovery at 9:50 pace
Total: 4.5 miles at 9:02 pace average. I'll take it!
After the gym (yes, I hit up the treadmill to avoid the crazy heat here in Georgia!) I made what should have been a quick stop at Wal Mart. This is what happens when you hit up the store for groceries after a workout and you're hungry!
One hundred bucks I'll never see again! I wish I could say this is our monthly shop, but no. Hubs and I do one big shop like this each week and then supplement with some small trips to another store when we run out of fruit/produce. Since we have a little mini fridge, we can't stock up on much each time. I'm curious what people spend each week on food. For the two of us, we spend around $115 each week. This includes our groceries and the one meal or so we eat out per week. Of course this is an average, but I feel like we just eat a lot of food!
I had (surprise!) another salad for lunch yesterday, and this time pretended it was a taco salad...without any meat. But it did have homemade "nachos". I cut up a corn tortilla, and microwaved it for 2-3 minutes, and then sent them back in with some shredded mozzarella. They were crispy, gooey, cheesy! Perfect for the side of a spinach salad with corn, fresh local tomatoes, and flax seeds.
Thank you for all the kind comments on my weight-loss post yesterday. I was a little nervous to share something pretty personal but I was blown away by the responses. It was so interesting to learn about all the similar stories you shared. I would love to do a before/after post with some pictures. If you have a set of before/after pictures you would like to share, and a little bit of information about your journey, send me an email at gourmetrunnerblog(at) gmail(dot)com. I can't wait to see them, and share them on the blog!
Have you ever made homemade chips?
Definitely! Out of flour or corn tortillas, or even pitas. Just cut and cook! I like to make savory ones with olive oil, salt, and pepper, cheesy ones, or even sweet ones with cinnamon and sugar. This was my first time microwaving them though, it was so quick and easy.
On average, what is your household grocery budget--and for how many people?
It's around $100-$120 each week for the 2 of us. Once we have a proper kitchen, I hope to cook/bake a lot more in bulk so I assume it will go down a bit. Hopefully!
You for real probably already know this, but make sure you CHEW your flax! The seeds are so hard that they just go right through you if you don't chew first. hahahaha
ReplyDeleteThat looks good. Love the flavor of ground flax sprinkled on things.
ReplyDeleteI think we eat a lot too... but so much of what we eat is freggies and it is VOLUMINOUS. The $$ amount varies from week to week cause I do tend to stock up when staples are a good buy.
In the winter, when we are in a house, we normally have a freezer and so that makes grocery shopping somewhat less pricey, I think.
Last year I found some corn tortillas that were just ground corn and salt, and they made lovely crisp chips.
I totally want to try making my own chips. That sounds so easy!
ReplyDeleteWe spend anywhere between $50-$100 a week on groceries (for two people) and maybe go out to eat every other week. It stinks because in the summer, here, the grocery stores jack up prices because we have a lot of summer tourism and it's an easy way to make money (and super annoying to locals).
I tried making homemade kale chips once and it was a disaster. I followed the recipe and still no such luck. They are so expensive to buy so I may just have to give it another shot! I have made them out of pitas as well. Just brush them with olive oil, salt and pepper, pop them into the toaster oven and voila! Perfect for hummus-dipping :)
ReplyDeleteI still live at home so I don't have to pay for groceries just yet (thankfully) but when the BF and I move in together I am beyond scared for my life. I eat really expensive food (some health foods are so ridiculously priced) and he just eats A LOT of food so we're in BIG trouble!
You need a toaster oven! Really. Trust me. I am not a kitchen gadget/appliance kind of girl, I dislike useless or 1-function appliance. I don't even have a rice cooker and you'd probably know that Asians have their rice cooker.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, about the toaster oven... I bought somewhat cheap one off the Internet (priced in the $35 to $45 range). I have made tortilla chips, pita pizza, heat up my Morning Star burger patties, and even cooked fish and shrimp wrapped in foil. And girl, we have 2 ovens at this house but I'll always use the toaster oven for quick meals! :)
We are pretty close to you in cost for food each week. It just depends on the week and what we have going on, but that's pretty close to our average. We are frequent grocery store stoppers though. We never know what we'll want to eat or where we'll be in the evening, so we usually get what we're planning on eating for dinner that night. We keep staples for breakfast and some lunch at home, but that way we waste less :)
ReplyDeleteomg! I am the same with groceries (I think I remember you saying that when I posted about my grocery expenses as well...haha!) I am terrible. I live alone and spend about that much twice a month. Then inbetween have to go for mini trips for veggies, fruits and milk. TERRIBLE. I really gotta get better in the spending department. My fam is visiting this week but let me see if I cannot find some pics for your post at some point. I never really took official pics but do have pics of me along the way....so maybe you could use those?
ReplyDeleteI keep reading about homemade chips...I need to try it!!
Awesome run!!! you really rocked it! and i do not blame you for hitting up the TM considering the heat!
We are in the $125 range per week usually (2 people) - more or less if we need to stock up on pantry items, etc. I can't seem to get it any lower! We eat a lot too!
ReplyDeleteI honestly have NO idea what we spend on groceries weekly...it varies so much! We shop at a "big box" store, BJ's (like a Costco/Sam's Club/etc) about twice a month and drop at least $150...but we also do weekly stops for this and that. I'm terrible about budgeting for groceries! Always need fresh produce!!
ReplyDeleteYES homemade chips are my fav! We did them a few weeks ago with lime juice and sea salt and OMG they were amazing. It's so easy to make a single serving of chips that way! :)
It is really interesting to hear what other people spend on food. I have never been one who could spend under $50 per week, unfortunately...
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you posted this! My live-in boyfriend and I spend at least $100 weekly on groceries! And we get (what we consdier to be) the bare minimum.
ReplyDeleteI hear about families of four spending that much and I wonder what exactly they are feeding their kids.
I love using flour tortilas and spreading a lttle cinnamon sugar on before I put them in the oven. So good with fruit salsa!
ReplyDeleteWe started keeping track of all of our spending in February, and our groceries have averaged about $225/month for the two of us. My wife plans on getting that down even lower once the garden is in full swing. We don't eat meat, so that saves a ton, but we do buy a bunch of organics.
ReplyDeleteHomemade tortilla chips sound awesome! I've never made my own, I should probably try one of these days.
ReplyDeleteOur weekly grocery bill is around $100 lately. It's just myself and 2 kiddos. I usually have the kids at daycare a couple days during the week while I'm at school and that suprisingly makes a huge difference!
I just ignore my grocery bill, I don't want to know what it is! I just buy stuff and forget about it!
ReplyDeleteI always make homemade pita chips using a Flat out wrap and cutting them into squares and putting them into the oven and baking them...they are the best!! The amount of money I spend on food is outrageous. The only good thing is that I try my hardest not to eat out, so I think I do end up saving some money there in the long run.
ReplyDeleteWell right now I'm single and it's about $100-150 every 2 weeks and that's including household items too. I swear I feel like I spend most of my money on food! lol But you gotta have it and I like buying fresh veggies and fruits so I always look for the sales!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine running in Georgia - it must get so much hotter there! I love the lunch salad! Looks so good!
ReplyDeleteI love homemade chips! We probably spend $50-$100 per week on groceries for two people, and its such a relief knowing that other people do the same! It was $40-something this week and that was like a miracle. Plus about once a month we stock up at Costco. I don't eat meat (but my husband does) but tons of fresh produce really adds up! But, I figure, there are worse things to spend all your money on then healthy eating....
ReplyDeleteI've never added up our grocery budget, but I totally should. We live a half mile from a Publix, and we both have a tendency to stop almost daily. We spend WAY TOO MUCH money on food. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteGroceries (not counting eating out) I spend about $60 a week - and I don't find it a bit strange that that was my budget when Tripp was still home all weeklong, and is still my budget now that he is gone Monday - Thursday....I love loads of fresh produce!!
ReplyDeleteGreat intervals! I need to formulate a better speed work plan when I start marathon training for sure! Great idea for one you got there :)
Hmm- I'm supposed to keep track of how much we spend on groceries?? ;)
ReplyDeleteA family of 7, so we budget a lot! I think about $600 a month on groceries, etc. We don't eat out much and we use a co-op thing (Bountiful Baskets) for fruits/veggies. We don't buy a lot of the snack type foods that get eaten up in one day. I go bulk at Costco for that stuff. Luckily my kids are still young and don't eat that much. Can't imagine what it will be like when they are teenagers!!
Mercy - that food looks amazing. Pardon while I wipe the drool off my lip.
ReplyDeleteYour salads always look amazing! I don't even know what we spend on groceries. Fruits and veggies are cheap, but other stuff is so expensive over here!!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to make homemade tortilla chips... but they are just so cheap to buy! I don't know what my problem is, since crackers are the same idea but I make them pretty often...
ReplyDeletewal-mark is like a black hole for me...every time i go in i get sucked into buying WAY more than what i had gone in for! i've never made homemade chips but yours look super delicious! my grocery bill is horrendous, but i try to at least manage the damage and shop at Winco and look out for when my favorite things go on sale. :)
ReplyDeleteI try not to go grocery shopping when I'm hungry because I always end up buying more than I need. And most of it's junk! We spend about $200 a week on average. We are a family of 6 and I really try to make it stretch. We do have a large garden though and I always buy extra stuff when it's on sale so we have a large storage area that I "shop" from as well.
ReplyDeleteI loved the look of your salad! It was beautiful!
Wow I'm impressed you can budget that well for both of you! I've never made homemade chips but I've always wanted to. I didn't realize it was sooo easy. Thanks for sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteGeeze. I dream about a 7:40 pace.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that amount counts in eating out. As a family of four, we spend over 150 a week eating out, and I cook 5 nights a week! I have to admit that we do eat sushi once a week and that is pricey, but it is delicious and healthy and my kids love it....so I guess it's a price I'll pay.
ReplyDeleteI probably spend an average of $60/week on groceries and another 10-20 (depending on the week) on food outside of groceries. And that's just for me haha. I just decided that food is a priority in my life and I'm going to spend a fair among of my paycheck on it.
ReplyDeleteFor your tortilla chips, do you know if using corn instead of flour tortillas makes a difference? I've made them with flour tortillas before and they taste like nothing! I looooove chips so I need a passable substitute
ReplyDelete