Last night’s jia jian mien (a Chinese noodle sauce traditionally made with pork and chili bean sauce but I made it with ground turkey, chili bean sauce, spaghetti sauce, and shredded carrots) … would’ve been today’s lunch if I hadn’t left it on the counter this morning!  Arrrgghhh!!!!!

I’ve been cooking more and bringing my lunch to work for the past 3 months or so.  I also started eating breakfast on a daily basis and as a result I lost 5 pounds (I wasn’t trying to lose weight on purpose).  I didn’t change my exercise routine (which consists of walking the dog and that’s about it) and I still eat until I’m full so the weight loss is really from NOT buying breakfast and lunch from the cafeteria and ordering Chinese and pizza once or twice a week for dinner.  So there Hollywood, this is the secret to losing weight … cook your own damn meals!

Anyway, this noodle dish is one of my favorite dishes to make and the sauce freezes well.  Damn it, I really wish I hadn’t left my lunch at home…

I’ve been more mindful about eating breakfast and bringing my lunch to work for the past month and I did really well.  The benefits of course are saving money, saving time, eating healthier, and not using disposable containers and utensils from the cafeteria.  Shoot, I even lost a few pounds just by eating my homemade meals!  Hmmm, could it be because I stopped eating all those sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches from the cafeteria?

Besides baking a whole bunch of breakfast muffins, I also eat what’s pictured above.  It’s just a mixture of fast-cooking oatmeal and raisin bran and some other cereal that had dried blueberries.  The ratio is about half oatmeal and half cereal but you can do whatever you like.  I threw the ingredients in a plastic container with a splash of cinnamon and shook it until it’s mixed.  I don’t need to put any sugar in that because the raisins do a good job of sweetening up the oatmeal and the cereal adds a nutty flavor.  All I have to do is put some of that oatmeal mixture in a mug and add some hot water.  After a few minutes I thin it down with soymilk and I can practically drink it out of my mug.  It is very filling and much better than those pre-packaged oatmeals that are chuck full of sugar and god knows what else.  It really doesn’t get any easier than this.  I think walnuts and flax seeds would make good additions … ooh and chocolate chips!

I went to my friends’ house for Thanksgiving dinner.  This is what we had … a homemade Korean and Vietnamese extravaganza and I didn’t have to make anything.  All I can say is YUM!!!  Thanks S and G and T for making all these delicious dishes!

I’ve changed the “Living with Less” category to “Simplify”.  This is something I’ve been thinking about recently and it’s kind of a broad topic and I’m still trying to figure it out.  One thing I do know about simplifying is getting rid of clutter and things that I don’t need or love.  I’m still working on that and I’m trying to “diversify” my givings so I can get rid of more things faster.  There are some things that I just don’t want to donate to a Goodwill for whatever reason and that’s when friends come in handy.  A friend of mine works at a youth center in Chinatown so I’m giving the center a guitar and extra craft supplies.   Another friend has decided to give only handmade gifts to others so I’m giving her some of the handmade stuff I have.  I’m also going to try to sell some stuff on Ebay, Etsy, and Craigslist … a little extra money never hurts.

So that brings me to breakfast.  Another part of simplifying for me is making my own meals as much as I can.  I’ll still eat out with friends but I don’t want to buy meals for convenience.  I try to eat breakfast at home but most of the time I don’t have enough time so I end up buying a muffin or oatmeal at the cafeteria.  These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins make great on-the-go snacks and they are much healthier than the ones at the cafeteria (even with the chocolate chips).  I used this recipe but cut out half the sugar and replaced half the white flour with wheat flour and threw in some oatmeal.  Now I’m all set for breakfast for the next 2 weeks and it didn’t take that much time to make.  The house smells good, I’m saving money, and I’m eating something good for me … it doesn’t get much better than this.