100 Goals...before 25

A good friend of mine made a list of 100 things to do before summer. I don't have time for 100, so how about 25 before 25? I will be 25 next summer, so here goes!


Shopping Goals
'Cause if I have goals, I won't overdo it.


1. Khaki trench coat
2. Rain boot flats
3. Tory Birch flats
4. Sperry's 
5. Burberry quilted coat
7. Pair of stilleto black pumps that are comfy and long lasting




Financial Goals
'cause nothing is more fabulous than a girl who know what she wants...in her bank account.


8. Pay off credit card
9. Make my savings larger than my debt
10. Have enough in my checking account to cover rent for 2 months
11. Start a Roth IRA
12. Start a 401K
13. Meet with a financial planner and figure out how much I need for retirement
14. Find a position that keeps me on track of my $100k/annually by 30 
15. Figure out if I want to buy an investment property in Fresno, or a home for myself in DC



Personal Goals
'Cause I DO have a life beyond money and work...I think...


16. Stop thinking about/actively hating people I don't like
17. Lose the weight I put on from being stressed while with my ex (10 pounds down already!)
18. Read Wayne's favorite book
19. See my family at least 3 times (last year I saw them twice)
20. Keep my bedroom in order for at least a week
21. Cook dinner at home every night for a whole week
22. Take a day off work to spend with Wayne and only Wayne
23. Go a whole month without blowing off plans because I "don't feel like it"
24. Get all my broken stiletto heel tips fixed
25. Go a whole month without repeating an article of clothing without buying a new piece (not including shoes--this will probably happen over the summer as I have enough dresses to wear a different one every day of a month...and halfway into the next month)

Transitioning Into Grown-Updom: Making up my own recipes!

If you know me, you know I love to eat. If you're with me a lot, you know I love to eat junk food. However, fried is just not something this California girl can do everyday. So, I've been trying to figure out how to get my junk food fix with good food nutrition.

Here is a little recipe I came up with that I am in LOVE with and feeds two people (because most people our age are not cooking for a family).

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:
-2 thawed chicken breasts
-Any spice mixture you like (I use 2 parts garlic, 1 part salt, 1 part pepper, 1 part cayenne pepper, 1 part thyme)
-Pre-made bread crumbs (you can get them at Safeway for $2 and they'll last you forever)
-3 tsps olive oil

Instructions:
1. Mix the bread crumbs and spices in a small bowl
2. Pour the olive oil into a separate bowl
3. Cut up the chicken breasts into bite size pieces
4. Put the chicken into the olive oil and coat
5. Move the chicken from the olive oil into the bread crumb mixture
6. Stick on a cookie sheet and broil for 8 minutes.

Ta-da! It's a grown-up version of a kid meal. If you want, take boiled green beans and dry them off (I'm talking super dry). They are the perfect french-fry substitute (and even taste OK dipped in ketchup)!

*Other ideas for spicing up your nuggets*
-Instead of olive oil use teryaki sauce; don't spice the bread crumbs
-Chili pepper, salt, pepper, garlic
-Garlic
-Rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, oregano
-Instead of olive oil use hot sauce; don't spice the bread crumbs


Let me know if you try it and tell me what you think.

Transitioning Into Grown-Updom: Cooking

For about half of my college career (the second half--I did things backwards) I lived with my parents. My mother, being the mommy type mother that she is, would always cook dinner for us, pick something up for us, or take us out to eat. If not, she would prepare everything and then have us stick something in the oven. Now that I am on my own, I am finding that eating out all the time is not only fiscally irresponsible, but just plain bad for me. This brings me into my first big transition into grown-updom: cooking for myself.

How does a girl who never cooked start cooking for herself? Google . After typing "recipes" into Google, I found a wonderful website: allrecipes.com. You can type in ingredients (cilantro everything!) and find super easy recipes. My favorite, right now, is this spicy chicken recipe. [To my beef's dismay] I have started putting the spice mix on everything. The chicken is excellent in salads (and if you know me, you know I hate salad). Fabulous.

Being unemployed is apparently excellent for my coo

king skills. I sit around and cook all day. I even had a dinner party one night. Look at me! Last night, I even invented a recipe. I was kind of excited. It reminded me of the movie Waitress and how she always invented pies (mostly 'cause I insisted on using the word "invented"). Anyway, I will share my hamburger recipe with you. It was spicy (like me?), so beware.

Spicy LG Burger:

-1 lb ground turkey (I use turkey, because the only beef in my life is Christopher)

-1/2 red bell pepper

-1/2 onion

-1/2 tbsp chili powder

-1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper

-1 tbsp paprika

-1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Mix it all together.

2. Form into patties (5 medium or 4 large)

.

3. Broil for 16-18 minutes.

Easy Peasy. They taste great with ranch dressing instead of ketchup and mustard. We used a jalapeno ranch dressing (Safeway brand), and I thought they were yummy. 

The best part about learning to cook is that a few ingredients will cost a lot and last forever; an initial investment, if you will. Those initial investments, of course, are your spices. It may seem ridiculous to spend $5 on such a little jar, but with $15 worth of spices you can have way more tacos than with $15 worth of Taco Bell tacos. Also, if you're trying to go low fat, ground turkey is about equal to ground beef with much le

ss fat. If you are a one or two person household who seems to have veggies go bad all the time--plan out your menu OR go to the store day of. Going to the store day of has saved me the usual $5 of veggies I let spoil a week. 

This has been my first post about truly trying to become an adult. I've got a few other ideas pending to let you know what I'm up to (and hopeful

ly help someone else who is trying to do the same thing). I love you all!!!