Day 14 - Week 2 in Review

Hurrah! Week Two is over! Only two more weeks to go until I can return my lavish shopping days.

Ha, not likely. I'm saving to get myself this DSLR camera for my birthday in mid-May. Maybe I should start up a KickStarter to fund it myself! Hopefully my husband will come through ;)

I already wrote about my shopping trip, but I also added a few more things on Saturday. I didn't feel like cooking, so we got a hot roasted chicken from the supermarket for dinner, and a loaf of bread so my husband could have some carbs with his chicken. He also discovered he rather enjoys my diet orange soda. That REALLY sucks for me!

Can of coconut cream - $0.89
Diet Sunkist - $1.99
Rotisserie chicken - $10.00
and a loaf of bread for my husband - $1.00

Total: $13.88

My husband and I went out for lunch on Sunday (he had sushi, I had a naked burrito!), and decided to spend the last of the grocery budget reserves- I guess I am always worried that I won't have enough keto food left by the end of the week. I remembered that today is St Patrick's Day, so I wanted to grab a corned beef to cook for dinner. I didn't get a cabbage though, as they were $4 for a tiny one! I had about 2 cups of cabbage left from dinner on Sunday, so I'll use that to make butter fried cabbage.

We bought:
Corned beef (~1.7kgs) - $11.80
Chicken thigh cutlets (~600grams) - $4.59
Hungarian salami (100grams) - $2.79
Diet Sunkist (2x1.25L) - $1.98
Sugar Free Mother energy drink - $2.50
Bag of sugar free gummy bears - $2.45
and a pack of pizza bases for my husband - $1.60

Total $27.71

Previous total: $78.07
Plus extra spending of $41.59

Grand total: $119.66
Budget left: $0.33 (damn, that was close!)

What I ate last week:

Monday: Coffee with cream, 2 kangaroo burgers with cheese. Glass of almond milk, string cheese. Morroccan spiced oven baked salmon and green beans with butter.
Tuesday: Coffee with cream, leftover Morrocan salmon. Celery with onion dip, almond milk, ham and string cheese. Cookie dough Quest bar. Medium-rare rump steak with salsa and sour cream, sugar free jelly and cream for dessert.
Wednesday: Ham, almond milk, coffee with cream. Sugar free V, low carb bites, string cheese. Baked Korma chicken thighs, mashed cauliflower and green beans. Jelly and cream for dessert.
Thursday: Ham and coffee with cream. Leftover chicken korma, and haloumi with green beans. Crackslaw. Glass of almond milk for dessert.
Friday: Leftover crackslaw, coffee with cream. Ham, another coffee with cream. Keto quattro formaggi pizza.
Saturday: Plate of lamb souvlaki meat with yogurt feta sauce. 2 chicken thighs and drums from a rotisserie chicken, and 2 mini keto cheesecakes
Sunday: 2 mini cheesecakes, a Naked Carnitas Burrito from MadMex, 2 kangaroo patties with homemade slaw, some fried onions and whole egg mayo. Another cheesecake for dessert!

Day 13- A Whole New (Keto) World

Today's challenge is a pretty short one.

Think of your favourite food. It could be anything- pizza, ice cream, cookies! Something you've been craving for a while.

Now, either Google, or go to KetoRecipes and type in the name of that thing. (If you're using Google, add keto to the description, or you'll just get high carb versions).

I would highly recommend you add the ingredients for that to your shopping list next week!

Leave a comment telling me what it is!

Day 12- Cleaning Your Bathroom

Cleaning your bathroom is so boring. Maybe you should just get it over and done with ;)

Have a look in your cupboards and drawers, make sure there's no out of date medications. Think about when you last replaced your toothbrush, and make a note to get a new one. if you're a girl, make sure all of your makeup is still good- nothing smells funny or is broken, get rid of anything you won't use.
If you've got some free samples lurking around, think about using those up this week. Who knows, you might discover an awesome new product!

Now, wipe down your bathroom vanity. Clean your mirror too, in case you want to take a quick selfie!

Check out the original post at LivingWellSpendingLess for bathroom cleaning excitement, and a nifty checklist!

Day 11 - Clean Your Desk!

If you're reading this from a desk right now, it's probably a mess. I will admit, mine is. I spend a lot of time hanging out on my PC- on IRC, Facebook, emails, blogging, watching movies- you name it, I'm doing it right now.

This means I often get an accumulation of cups and plates- by the end of the day I often have 2 or 3 collected on my desk. Stop reading this right now! Go put them in your sink!

Much better, right? Now your next task is to pick up all the things that don't belong on your desk, and put them where they do belong. I often end up with jewellery I've recently taken off, makeup, a pile of pens and receipts! At the end of every day, I clear my desk off and put all those things away- you should do it now too!

Now, wipe down your desk. If yours is anything like mine, there are crumbs. Grab a cloth from the kitchen and clean them!

If you have a pile of mail, take a couple of minutes to go through and recycle or bin anything that isn't essential. Luckily, we don't get junk mail here, but I know that others have a problem with those mailers being sneaky and hoarding themselves, hiding themselves wherever they can.

Now, pat yourself on the back- your desk is tidier!

If you need a little more help than I have offered, check out the post that inspired me at LivingWellSpendingLess. She's made up an awesome .pdf checklist, in case you need something to show your mother that you're a capable adult.

Week 2- Grocery Shopping!

The worst possible thing a Ketoer can find when they walk into the supermarket is... an empty meat section.

I'm not sure if the entire suburb I live in has gone keto or something, but there was VERY slim pickings at the supermarket. I managed to grab the last 1kg pack of ground beef, there were no chicken thighs, and the steak section was not very inspirational. Good thing I like chicken wings! The other supermarket wasn't much better- they were out of the pork roasts that were on special, nothing else screamed 'Take me home! Eat me!'.

My haul from the grocery stores!

So this is what I ended up with:

First shop:
Sliced ham (2x250gram packs) - $8.00
Kangaroo burgers (2x440gram packs) - $9.00
1 large zucchini (292grams) - $1.45
Bunch of coloured radishes - $3.00
Frozen cauliflower (500grams) $2.00
Danish salami  (100grams) $3.00
Cream cheese (250grams) $2.90
Chicken wings (2 packs) - marked down to $1.83 and $2.24
Beef mince (1kg) - $5.00
Sour cream (500grams) - $2.20
Cream (600ml) - $2.25
Feta (200grams) $3.79
Canned salmon (415grams) - $2.59
Sugar free jelly, Cherry flavour - $1.45
Garlic Powder (25grams) $1.20
Shirataki noodles - $2.40

Plus some non-keto things for my husband
Giant sweet potato (662grams) - $1.32
Piece of watermelon (1.47kg) - $0.74
Make your own yogurt powder (x2) $5.68
Couscous (500gram box) - $1.75
Muesli (900gram bag) - $2.60
Green Thai Curry sauce - $0.90

Total $67.29

Second shop:
String cheese (pack of 8) - $5.00
Hungarian salami (100grams) - $3.00
Frozen beans (1kg) - $1.79
Bottle of sugar free Sunkist - $0.99

Total: $10.78

Final total: $78.07
Remainder: $41.93

Note: I just realised that it looks like we weren't charged for the celery! I was at the second store while my husband was at the first, paying for it, so maybe he flirted with the checkout girl? Thanks! Saving of $2.98!

Day 10 - Clean Your Wardrobe!

As time goes by - our style changes, things don't fit any more (too big or too small), things get old, maybe we bought some things on sale, but never wore them, and they're still sitting in the wardrobe with tags on.

It's time to clean out your wardrobe! If you haven't worn it in six months (excluding seasonal items), you should really consider getting rid of it.

Needs to be thrown out? Make a pile, throw it in the bin.
If it needs mending, put it somewhere you will get to it.
If it doesn't fit, make a pile.

From that pile, redistribute it.
Give to friends or family. Donate to charity shops or clothing bins.
Sell on eBay, or TradeMe, or even your local Buy and Sell groups on facebook. Take good pictures, and list the item details accurately. Use the money to buy yourself something you love!

Looking good means feeling good. If your clothes are too big, you're making yourself look bigger than you are! If everything your wardrobe is too small, you probably feel awful every time you look for something to wear. Put any proceeds towards getting new awesome clothes that make you look and feel great.

If you own a lot of clothes that fit but you never wear, why not challenge yourself to wear ONE new piece this weekend? When I did this, I had lots of compliments! And I rediscovered some awesome clothes that I can't believe I never thought to wear. Take some selfies, show your rediscovered style off to the world!

I found this awesome info-graphic for ladies, which shows you what necklaces to wear with different styles, I thought it was very helpful, and can help you mix up the jewellery that you wear.

Also check out these awesome examples showing how celebs do it, for inspiration.

Day 9: Cleaning Day

Housework sucks. We all hate doing housework. I know I tend to put it off for as long as possible. You should see how many dishes are in my kitchen right now.

Until I discovered UnFuckYourHabitat.

It's aimed at people just like me, young and somewhat lazy. Maybe lazy is the wrong word- unmotivated is better. They have a list of suggestions of things you should do every day, so you're less rushed in the morning, and you can get out the door and on your way sooner.

Called Unfuck Tomorrow Morning, the list is pretty simple:

Wash the dishes in your sink
Get your outfit for tomorrow together, including accessories
Set up coffee/tea/breakfast
Make your lunch
Put your keys somewhere obvious
Wash your face and brush your teeth
Charge your electronics
Pour a little cleaner in the toilet bowl (if you don’t have pets or children or sleepwalking adults)
Set your alarm
Go to bed at a reasonable hour

I know I definitely struggle with last one, but it's easy enough! Try it for a week, and I'm sure it will improve things, unless you're already well organised, in which case, congratulations! I want to be you!

Day 8 - Getting Ready to (Eat) Clean

Day 8's challenge is to Get Ready to Clean. Sure, I could write about housework (sorry guys, that will probably be tomorrow's topic!), but instead I'm going to write about eating clean.

Eating clean is one of those vague catch-all words related to diet. It's bandied about all over the internet, especially weight loss forums and Instagram. So today I'm going to write about eating clean for Keto (my style).

How do I define eating clean on Keto?

Meat (or other proteins)
Keto shouldn't be all bacon. It shouldn't be all steak either. There are a lot of good, well-priced meats that are awesome.
Ground beef should be one of your staples- it's cheap, has a great fat content and you can use it for pretty much infinite different meals. Also try: ground lamb, pork, veal, turkey and chicken.
I rate chicken thighs very highly. They are great baked, grilled (best with boneless), sliced in stirfries, amazing in curries. The meat stays nice and tender, unlike chicken breast which can easily be dry. Though you can TOTALLY eat chicken breast (and other cuts) on keto too!
Depending where you live in the world, different meat options will be cheaper- Lamb is cheap for me (hi Australians!), turkey might be cheaper if you live in the US.
Go crazy on seafood too. Fish, especially salmon, is packed with Omega-3's which are so good for you! Some shellfish can have a little carbs, but read nutritional information and keep yourself informed. if you don't like 'fishy' tasting fish, look for mild tasting fish, and add herbs and spices for flavour.
Offal is cheap EVERYWHERE! It sounds daunting, but don't be scared! It CAN taste good! Lightly fry liver with bacon and onions, add a dash of cream to pan juices to make an amazing gravy. Heart can be thinly sliced and fried quickly on high heat, and it's JUST like steak!
(If you're a vegetarian, there are plenty of protein sources for you- tempeh, tofu, Quorn, seitan, soy protein)

Vegetables
We're grown-ups. We should eat our damn vegetables. There is a HUGE variety of vegetables that are great for keto. Cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, bok choy, mushrooms, peppers, edamame, zucchini, celery, asparagus, green beans, and more leafy greens than you could shake a stick at. Don't forget tomatoes, onions and garlic- which have some carbs, but they add flavour too!
Don't like vegetables? Add flavour! Garlic or bacon to green beans, bacon to cabbage, cover your broccoli in cheese, mash your cauliflower and add tasty butter, cream and cheese! Stuff your zucchini with a variety of tasty things! There are so many ways you can make vegetables tasty.

Dairy
Sure, milk may be out. But there are other options. Cheese! So many different kinds of cheese! Heavy cream, butter, greek yogurt (check your labels), cream cheese, sour cream, mascarpone, creme fraiche, cottage cheese, even low carb ice creams.
If you're missing milk or don't eat dairy (hi Paleoers!), try almond milk or coconut milk.

Nuts
I love nuts. They make an awesome quick snack. I'm a big fan of macadamias, but almonds, brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, peanuts and cashews are great too. Watch your portion size though, as nuts are notoriously easy to overeat. Coconut products are VERY popular on keto too- coconut oil, especially. You can find coconut alternatives to almost EVERYTHING, which are handy if you don't do dairy.

Other stuff
I love coffee. Yay, coffee! If you don't like coffee, try tea. It's nice to have something else to drink other than water. I occasionally have an energy drink (maybe one a fortnight), and those are okay in moderation, as long as they are sugar free. I am a fan of diet sodas too, and I try to limit myself to one a day, maybe 4-5 times a week.
I am a big fan of shirataki noodles, low carb high fibre noodles- available in most supermarkets under various brand names. I also like kelp noodles, and they're technically a vegetable!
There are a lot of low carb products out there. Protein bars, shakes, candies, chocolate, sodas, desserts- the list is endless.
I try to limit myself to one of them a day, to make sure I have plenty of carbs for vegetables, and anything incidental, like spices, sauces and nuts. I have also found that limiting the sweet things I eat has stopped myself craving more sweet things. It's a great feeling to not be tempted by chocolate!

If you've gotten this far, and you're not sure what keto is, let me sum it up for you.
Keto is low carb (generally under 25g carbs), sufficient protein, and high in fat.

Want to know what that means for you? Check out the Keto Calculator.

Want to know more? Check out the links in the sidebar, or ask!

Day 7 - A Look Back

Blogging is much harder than I thought it would be! I thought it would be easy to pump out a couple of hundred words on whatever it is that the challenge for the day is, but I find life has other plans.

I am also kinda surprised I made it through the week without shopping! I definitely browsed, (ASOS, you are evil and tempting me), but I did not buy! Round of applause for me, please.

I started tracking everything on MyFitnessPal from Tuesday, a habit I got out of after a few months on Keto. I wish I'd started on Monday! My week looked like this:

Monday: Coffee, leftover meat, string cheese. Crackslaw for dinner with kelp noodles.
Tuesday: Coffee, burger patty with cheese and a fried egg, celery and french onion dip, salami sticks, cookie dough Quest bar, coconut chicken curry with broccoli and green beans.
Wednesday: Coffee, 2 burger patties with cheese, cookie dough Quest bar, toasted seaweed, and taco salad with shirataki 'rice', lots of salsa and sour cream.
Thursday: Coffee, 2 burger patties with salsa, string cheese, celery with dip, chicken breast 'steaks' with kelp noodles in a creamy cheese sauce, and a cookie dough Quest bar.
Friday: Coffee, salami sticks, celery + dip, string cheese, ham, greek yogurt with heavy cream and macadamias, chicken breast steaks and mozzarella.
Saturday: A jerky bar, roast duck and pork belly, shared a 1% sugar Slurpee, string cheese and taco salad with salsa, sour cream and LOTS of cheese.
Sunday: 1/4 rotisserie chicken, ham, string cheese, mini protein bar, 2 kangaroo burgers with cheese and low sugar ketchup, then greek yogurt and heavy cream.

From this menu, you would be able to tell that I only eat one big meal, and that's usually dinner.
I ate out of the house twice- once was on Saturday for lunch (roast duck and pork belly), and on Sunday for lunch (1/4 rotisserie chicken).

You can also tell I tend to have a lot of food I can grab and eat quickly- things like ham, string cheese, celery and dip, Quest bars and leftover burger patties. And coffee, of course! This is definitely a recipe for success, so it means I am less tempted to eat something not so good for me (or my wallet).

I went grocery shopping twice- once on Saturday, and I grabbed a few more things on Sunday while we were out (I had plenty of grocery budget to spare, and I still have some left!)

This is what I bought:
Cream cheese (250g) - $2.75
Shredded mozzarella (600g) - $5.65
Salami (100g) - $3.00
Chicken thigh cutlets (~756g) - $5.66
Beef rump steak (~850g) - $8.18
Beef mince (~1.7kg) - $7.93
Cabbage - $1.25
Frozen green beans (1kg) - $1.79
String cheese (12 pack) - $6.49
Ham (250g) - $5.00
Onion dip (125g) - $1.62
3 litres of almond milk - $2.66*

Also bought:
Carrots (1kg) - $1.88
Scissors - $3.29
(I hate carrots. I never ever have liked them, and they are a bit high in carbs for me. So I feed them to my husband. The same husband who swore black and blue the scissors were lost and couldn't be found anywhere. So I bought a new pair, and 5 mins after we get home, he found the original pair. Sigh.)

*Almond milk was on special, 3 for $3.99 which is a VERY good price. It's normally around $3.65 a litre. We scanned them at the checkout, and they came out as full price. The store checked, and it should have come up at the special price, so we got one of them for FREE, so it only cost us $1.33 each for the other 2 litres of almond milk. I was pretty happy with that saving, since it was only about a minute of waiting.

Total: $57.15

Also bought:
Kangaroo burgers (2 packs of 400g each) - $9.00
Salmon pate (200gm) - $4.80
Celery - $2.98
Asparagus - $1.98
Shirataki noodles - $3.69
Bay leaves - $1.24
Tuna with lemon pepper (1 can) - $0.90
Rotisserie chicken (1/4) - $3.25

Total $27.84

Grand Total: $84.99
Remaining: $35.01

All prices in AUD (Australian Dollars)

I am pretty happy with how my week went. I lost a reasonable amount of weight, stuck to my budget, and was reasonably productive! All three of those things don't usually happen together.

Day 6- Learn Something New!

Is there anything you'd like to do? Something you'd like to learn? Chances are you can learn to do that for free on the internet!

YouTube has so many free instructional videos that you couldn't even begin to list them all.

Last year I learnt how to build a retaining wall from a video on YouTube. Yes, really. See below:

Now you're totally covered if you need to randomly build a retaining wall. You can thank me later.

Some of my other favourite videos are make up tutorials. Want to learn how to use contouring and highlighting correctly? If you're a guy, maybe not, but you can still watch and learn!

Yeah, us girls are weird.

If you want to learn something that could translate slightly easier into something more practical, (i.e. coding) check out CodeAcademy, you can learn FIVE different programming languages (Python, PHP, jQuery,JavaScript, and Ruby) plus CSS and HTML. 

If you're interested in getting more active, check out Do Yoga With Me. It has LOTS of yoga videos, all free, starting from the most beginner, to some pretty advanced stuff. All safe to do in the comfort of your own home, without worrying about anyone looking at your bum during poses.

If you've wanted to run but didn't know where to start, have a look at Couch to 5k Running Plan. You slowly build up your running ability, by following their plan (which includes varying running and walking), and by the end of it, you should be able to run a 5km race!

Day 5 - Eat Out At Home - Burgers!

It's well known that eating at home is healthier, often tastier and much cheaper than eating out all the time. Though sometimes we're craving something- for me, that's a burger!

Bunless burgers are the keto holy grail. There are so many options for toppings.
Linda's Low Carb Recipes has 29 different burger/sandwich options!
My favourite is just minced beef, squashed into a patty and cooked, then topped with fried onions, sliced cheese (yes, the plastic wrapped type), a squirt of yellow mustard and a fried egg on top. Add sliced tomato and some lettuce leaves for a more balanced meal. Super tasty! You can also wrap the burger in lettuce, which is much better than you would expect.

If you like a bread type bun, then Oopsie Rolls are for you. They sound weird, but try them, just once!
Using large portobello mushrooms as buns is popular too, like this, hailed as The Ultimate Gluten Free Burger in the New Zealand media.

I find burgers to be a pretty cheap option for dinner. Minced beef is readily available and cheap here- I pay around $5/kg, and I can easily get 6-8 burgers from a kilogram. That's a whole week of dinners for $5!

All this talk of burgers has made me hungry- I might have to go whip myself up one now...

Day 4 - Keeping Things Fresh With Your Freezer!

The ground rules of the challenge dictate today is about planning a meal swap. Which you can totally do if you have friends or family who would be interested in keto food! Since that's unlikely, you can do a food swap with YOURSELF- as long as you have a freezer.

Crazy, right?!

But your freezer can be an awesome way to keep some tasty keto stuff on hand for nights when you're busy, late home from work and just want something easy for dinner. You could also use it to keep *gasp* non-keto food on hand, if you live with someone who isn't interested in ketoing. My personal recommendation is to make something you DON'T like and won't be tempted to eat but they will like- I make vegetarian pasta dishes to keep in my freezer, since I absolutely detest legumes, they are safe from me!

There's a variety of keto meals you can make yourself and freeze. Some of my suggestions are:

Soups:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Bacon Cheddar Cauliflower Soup

Chicken Stock

Beef Stock

Chicken Chili Soup

Main dishes:

Meatloaf

No Noodle Lasagna

Lasgana (with turkey as pasta!)

You can freeze pretty much anything! Those are a few I've had luck with freezing.

Desserts:

Mint Ice Cream

Almost Ice Cream

Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag! (video)

Basic Fruit Ice Cream (in a blender/processor)

Popsicles/Icy Poles (use diet soda in ice block makers! Simple!)

I also like to shape minced beef into patties or meatballs, cook them to rare and then freeze in ziplock bags. Grab out of the freezer to defrost and cook at the same time. Add meatballs to sauce, or fry up the patties and add your favourite toppings. 

Some of the frozen products I like to keep on hand are:

Frozen Cauliflower - great for Cauli Mash

Frozen beans - awesome as Green Beans and Bacon!

Frozen Spinach - add in anywhere! I love Creamed Spinach

Skinny Cow Ice Creams - low carb ice creams <3

Fish - like white fish fillets (hoki, in this case), or salmon (which you can get plain or in various sauces)

Squid/calamari and other seafood - I toss mine in a little butter in a hot pan with garlic and chili

And remember, you can freeze meat in smaller portions in zip lock bags! Buying in bulk is usually cheaper!

I use bags and containers like these to store things (but the brand doesn't matter, they're all mostly identical!)
Don't forget to label things and add the date you put them in the freezer, otherwise you'll end up with a bunch of Unidentifiable Frozen Objects!

Day 3 - A Few of My Favourite Keto Meals

Day 3 of my Living Well and Spending Less challenge revolves around meal ideas. According to the official challenge rules, we're supposed to make a list of all the meals we can make from what we have on hand. I like to live a little dangerously, so I'm deviating slightly from the plan. Plus there are MANY things I can do with ground beef, which I have plenty of in the freezer.

I've been ketoing for a pretty long time now, so I've discovered some pretty tasty keto foods.

Keto isn't all bacon! 

Crackslaw is one of my favourites. It's SUPER delicious, and pretty easy to cook. I hardly ever put mushrooms in, but I sometimes add other things- like bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and even baby corn (which is lower in carbs than you'd think). I add rice or noodles for non-carbers, and shirataki or kelp noodles to make it keto friendly.

Cheesecake Cupcakes are totally rad. They are great for a snack, breakfast AND dessert. Let's face it, we all get sick of bacon and eggs for breakfast.

Salmon patties- these are so simple that you don't need a recipe. Take a can of salmon (I used a 415g/14.5oz can) and add eggs. If you're using a large can like I do, I add 2 eggs. If it's smaller, use one. I also add about 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, and some chopped green onions. Mash together, then fry for a couple of minutes each side. Super tasty when dipped in some mayo! This is a really cheap recipe too- it's about $3.50 for 6-8 patties.

Crazing pizza? Try Meatza. It sounds scary (and probably slightly gross. But it's amazing when you're craving pizza!

Got a sweet tooth? Try:

No Bake Almond Butter Bars

No Bake Coconut Crack Bars

Handmade Keto Marshmallows

Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies (sub a low carb sweetener for the maple syrup)

Cream Cheese Pancakes

Day 2 - Living Well and Spending Less Challenge + Keto Snacks

The challenge for Day 2 is organising your kitchen! Pantry, fridge and freezer. This should be pretty easy for me.

I try to keep my pantry pretty organised. I keep a variety of keto friendly things on hand- canned vegetables, snacks, baking supplies, canned fish, nuts, shirataki and kelp noodles. I also have quite a cache of carby food I'm not fond of- pasta, rice, canned beans, and dried fruit. The latter tend to be less organised, since I try to make sure the keto friendly things are very visible to reduced temptation- that means things can be put anywhere (especially if I leave them for someone else to put away). I have amassed quite a collection of sauces, which could certainly do with a tidy up!

My fridge is reasonably tidy too. I get my groceries delivered once a week, so I tend to have a lot of fresh food at the beginning of the week, which gradually gets eaten and the fridge empties by the end of the week. The other big upside of that is that I tend to only buy as much as I need, and there is no going back for topups! Especially this month! 

My freezer is my storage area. I have packages and bags of meat, usually from bigger packs I've split up. I also have a stash of frozen berries, garlic, ginger and chillis, that I've gotten cheap at the market and frozen for later on.

After I've gone through everything, I'll write a meal plan for the rest of the week, including snacks, since I know I am guilty of looking through everything looking for the perfect tasty snack. 

Some of my favourite keto snacks:

Toasted seaweed (I get mine pretty cheap at Asian markets, small packets are good for portion size!)

Flavoured almonds (Blue Diamond are amazing. I picked mine up from Grocery Run but you can make your own, or find other brands!)

String cheese (Bega Stringers are the most popular brand in Australia and New Zealand) These can be a little pricy but are worth it! 

Salami sticks, also known as Twiggy Sticks here in Australia

Jack Links has an awesome range of jerky products, including sticks that are perfect for a snack! I like the Peppered flavour. Teriyaki can have a little too much sugar for me.

28 Days of Spending Less and Living Well Challenge!

We here in the Keto Wife household are undergoing a bit of a challenge. 28 days of spending less money!

Sounds easy enough, right? 

As a housewife, shopping is very enticing to me- I get to leave the house and spend time with other adults! And acquire pretty clothes! I love pretty clothes. Almost as much as my husband loves saving money. Seriously, I am married to one of those crazy people who ENJOYS spending less. He'll find this month a piece of cake!

I know it's supposed to be 31 days, but it's already the 3rd of March- I should have started on the first!

I couldn't go cold turkey and spend NO money, because that would be crazy. And we'd starve after the first week. So I'm proposing we stick to the budget we agreed on when we first moved here, six crazy months ago. 

The Budget:

$120 a week on groceries

I know I can do this! I'm keto (low carb, high fat) which means most of my meals revolve around meat. My husband will eat almost anything. Seriously. I once caught him eating a tortilla with gummy bears in it. I've been pretty bad at sticking to my budget- I have a lust for lamb, which means I've been heading back to the supermarket every couple of days to buy more. My pantry is pretty full (and a mess, which I will get around the fixing later in the week), so WE CAN DO THIS. 

$100 a week for entertainment

I don't think I've been able to stick to this since we moved to Melbourne. I don't consider shopping entertainment, but my husband DEFINITELY does. Not that shopping is entertaining to him- it's a form of torture. So, no shopping this month! It'll be a fun challenge to wear things I already own- not really even a challenge, since I own more than enough clothes. And shoes. And accessories. 

I do plan to go see a movie at the French Film Festival, depending how much tickets are. 

Doesn't this movie look sweet?

There are a few other things I need to spend money on this month:

-Skirt hangers

I desperately need some of these, to hang up my skirts and rockabilly petticoat, there is no way that's fitting in the drawer!

- Quality time with the husband

Normally, this is lunch and an activity on a Saturday. My favourite place to eat Keto in Melbourne is Crazy Wings- tasty chargrilled Chinese-style chicken wings. Check out the 2 for 1 deals! Activities are usually something you could vaguely call exercise - cycling, bowling, mini golf. 

A big shout out to Little Runner Girl, whose blog about a minimal spend challenge inspired me to make this post, and she in turn was inspired by Living Well, Spending Less- check both of these ladies out for some sweet money saving ideas!

Wish me luck!