Fridge/Freezer Challenge Update

On Sundays I always spend part of my morning prepping my work lunches for the week.  I pack a lunch every day, and I usually eat the same thing most days, so it's much easier for me to just whip up a bunch of lunches on Sunday and then put what I need in a bag every morning as I head out the door.  Lately, I've been obsessed with a salad of chopped romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, Quorn Chik Patties diced up (I'm vegetarian), and ranch dressing.  I had one heart of romaine left, which made me two lovely salads for this week.  I had originally thought I might buy some more romaine, but looking at the other things I had in the fridge/freezer, I decided to not do that and be a bit more creative instead.

Two yummy salads

Also worth mentioning--those little colored containers that I use for salad dressing are AMAZING.  I got them at TJ Maxx for something like $3 for four, and they are so handy. I also saw them at Old Navy recently, which was pretty random.  They hold just the right amount, and the lids click into place.  I love it when a somewhat impulsive purchase turns out to be so useful.

In addition to those salads, I had half a bag of brussels sprouts to use up, and some frozen broccoli.  The broccoli is currently roasting in the oven at 425 with some olive oil, S&P, minced garlic and red pepper flakes.  I plan to pair that with some farro, and either bring it for lunch or have it on hand for dinner.  I think I have about two servings currently cooking.

For the brussels sprouts, one of my favorite things to do is shred them so I can have them as a salad.  You shred them in a food processor, and then cook them slightly in about 1/2 cup of water--just to get the bitterness out and soften them a bit.  Then, once they've cooled, I'm going to toss them with some Trader Joes Steamed Lentils, which I already have, some blue cheese crumbles, reduced sugar craisins and balsamic vineagrette.  That's something I can either pack for lunch or have at home for dinner.

I have five work lunches, five weeknight dinners and three days of eating when I'm not at work.  I have plenty of other random foods I can cook up at home, and the fridge is looking delightfully empty!

Eat All The Food: Week Six

Monday:
Went for a lovely fall run after work and then tucked into a delicious dinner of veggie burger with a side of roasted butternut squash.  I fear that I may not make much progress on the pantry in the coming weeks because all I want to eat is squash!  I'll do my best though.

Tuesday:
I scored some more free grapes at my mandatory anti-harassment workshop at work.  I now know not to harass!  For dinner, I made a lavosh pizza with oven roasted butternut squash, cheese and seasonings. I had a similar pizza at a fancy restaurant a while back and though I didn't really like it there, the one I made was aces!

Oven roasted butternut squash, feta and arugula

Wednesday:
Late night at work, so I made myself another lavosh squash pizza for lunch.

Thursday:
This was a good 'getting rid of little things' meal.  I had a little pizza sauce left from last Friday, a little pizza cheese, a few mushrooms and one English muffin.  So dinner was an English muffin pizza with the last of the butternut squash and some frozen veg.  My deep freeze is nearly empty!  It's unreal!

Friday:
Veggie burger and frozen veg-- Birdseye asparagus, gold and white corn and baby carrots.  Once upon a time, I apparently thought that that was my most favorite frozen veg variety.  I swear, I bought like six of those before I realized that the corn wreaks havoc on my tummy when I go running.  Stupid corn!  One bag left...

Saturday:
Got up far too early and caught the train to Boston for the Red Sox victory parade!

That guy!

So, it was a very long, very crowded but very fun day and I did not eat any food from the pantry.

Very crowded

Sunday:
I spent Sunday grazing--as I tend to do.  I had some ramen noodles, a cucumber (split with bf, I'm not greedy), a pb&j, yogurt (which had a use by date of August 27--still tasted fine) and leftover Halloween candy.  Yeah, a really balanced eating day.  I also crockpotted some barley to freeze since it takes forever to cook.

Eat All The Food: Week Five

Has it really been five weeks already?  I really am making progress, but I'm still shocked how much food I still have left.  As I mentioned before, I still have 16 veggie burgers left.  I also have several more bags of frozen vegetables and frozen pasta/veg things.  I have five cans of tomato paste (suggestions welcome-- I think I bought it because sometimes I make chili, but that's not really good enough).

This was an interesting week in that I found/acquired a lot of free food.  That's pretty much the best thing ever even if it doesn't help me clean out the pantry.

Monday:
Nice big salad along with some Birdseye wild rice and Trader Joe's soycuttash.  Yes, I felt a little weird eating a salad with a side of vegetables, but it was still tasty!

Tuesday:
The rest of the soycuttash and with rice and another veggie burger.

Wednesday:
Ramen noodles with an egg on them.  I had an off-campus meeting in the late afternoon and scored a whole bunch of free leftovers as well as going out to dinner (with a groupon) and scoring some more mediocre leftovers there.  I don't know if I'll actually eat those.... we'll see.

Thursday:
Half a leftover sandwich from last night with leftover salad from my meeting.  They were both pretty soggy but still good.  The sandwich, I should mention, was a deep fried grilled cheese.  It was the only vegetarian sandwich on the menu at the restaurant we went to, and it was... odd.  I think they deep fried it to justify it costing $8?  Either way, it was really too much sandwich for me, and I'm glad it's gone (avoid deep fried sandwiches in the future, self).  Went to a play with a friend after work, so dinner was half a popcorn and then cheese and crackers leftover from Wednesday's meeting.  Gouda!  So good!

Friday:
Pizza Friday with BF--a semi-regular tradition.

Saturday:
Had to work at job #3, so lunch was the standard soup and half sandwich. There was some kind of event going on early in the day and I managed to score a free apple cider donut and some fruit--not too shabby.  Dinner was salad and a veggie burger.

Sunday:
English muffin for breakfast; out for lunch, and dinner was snacks provided by book club friends (I hosted).  Now I had leftover chips and salsa!

Purchases: 1 Cucumber

Used up: Soycuttash that I've had for at least a year, two veggie burgers.

Eat All The Food: Week Four

Monday:
Monday was Columbus Day, but since I work at an academic library, we were open and I agreed to work 2-10pm (brownie points for the new girl!).  For lunch I had a veggie burger (down to just four boxes now--16 patties), and sweet potato fries that I forgot I had.  They were at the bottom of the freezer, but were surprisingly not freezer burned.  And they were delicious.  Dinner was sandwich and yogurt.

Tuesday:
I'm a little proud of Tuesday's dinner.  I had a pack of Trader Joes lentils in the fridge that had been there for a very long time, and I was determined to eat them.  I took a piece of the lavosh I bought last week, cut it in half, warmed up the lentils and made a lentil lavosh burrito with the blue cheese crumbles and a fried egg on top.  It was freaking delicious and loaded with protein.  Plus, the lentils weren't even expired yet!  They must have a long use-by date.

Wednesday:
Late night at work so I had a veggie burger for lunch and the last of the sweet potato fries.

Thursday:
Oven roasted tomatoes with pasta T'was delicious!  You know how sometimes tomatoes just aren't good?  Well, oven roasting them (like with any vegetable) makes them awesome.  I had a couple boxes of pasta chilling out in my cupboard from forever ago, so I added the tomatoes to that with some parmesan.

Friday:
Out to dinner for more fish and chips.  I just can't help it.

Saturday:
Tuna melt for lunch and toad in a hole with baked beans for dinner.

Sunday:
Out for brunch, and another toad in a hole for dinner.  Crockpotted a soup to bring to work for the week.



Purchases:
I made a slightly larger grocery trip this week.  Yogurt was on sale, so I stocked up (I eat it every day at work).  I also got salad. cucumber, tomatoes, butternut squash, eggs, half and half and some ramen noodles.  I realize that ramen noodles are not fresh produce, but I can add some of the frozen veg to them!  I also want to have a couple convenience foods around because I'm trying to increase my exercise.  If I work out and then go to yoga, I'm going to come home starving--it's just nice to have a carby backup.  Plus, not really breaking the bank buying ramen.

Used up: Sweet Potato fries, lentils, blue cheese crumbles, 1 can baked beans, 1 can (of 3) of tomatoes.

Eat All the Food: Week Three

Onward!

Monday:
Had a bit of leftover pizza and then went out for a free Yelp elite event which included stuffed mushrooms, calamari, pizza and drinks.  No complaints.

Tuesday:
Had the last of the leftover pizza with a side salad.  I am currently working on paring down the number of salad dressings I have starting with my least favorite: Wishbone guacamole ranch.  It is not good, don't buy it.  Thankfully, it's not terrible, so I can make myself eat it rather than just throwing it away.

Wednesday:
Late night at work so lunch consisted of a giant salad (I just only want to eat salad these days).  I used up the last of the tempeh and more of that lame guacamole ranch.

Thursday:
Made a run to Trader Joes--but I only spent $30!  I don't think I've ever spent that little in that store before.  I also discovered that Trader Joes now carries lavosh, aka Armenian flatbread.  I bought a package and went home to make flatbread pizzas! Made a home made pizza with fresh sliced tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles and some leafy greens.  There's a pizza that this nearby restaurant/movie theatre makes that has those toppings, and I think about it frequently.  Since it's more economical to make that at home while watching Netflix than it is to go there and pay money for the pizza, movie and tip, I decided to see if I could replicate it, and it was delicious.

Friday:
Made another flatbread pizza using up the last of my pizza cheese and the fresh tomatoes, which were starting to get a bit soft (I like them super ripe though).

Saturday:
Had a shift at job #2, so brought my usual sandwich and yogurt for lunch. Dinner was mall food at the food court before going to see Gravity in 3-D.  Man, that was intense.  My shoulders are a bit sore from clenching.  At one point my heart was pounding and I was sweating a bit.  Highly recommend!!

Sunday:
Giant salad for lunch and then dinner was provided for me in the form of hot dogs and beer at the annual Grog and Dog Jog.  What that is, is a relay race where you run 1.25 miles and then have to eat a hot dog and chug a beer before the next person on your team can run.  Then if you hang around after the race is over, you can eat more hotdogs and drink more beer.  It's a grand time.

Purchases:
Lavosh flatbread from Trader Joes, 2 chocolate bars, apple cider, pizza sauce, pesto, pizza dough--I think that's it.  So far this month I've spent ~$40 on groceries and the month is half over.  That's pretty good.

Tossed:
The last of the guacamole ranch.  It was down to a few ounces, and I just couldn't bring myself to eat it.  I feel very good about this decision.

Eat All The Food: Week Two

We're onto week two of me eating from the pantry!  So far, it's coming along nicely, but I am having to start getting creative.

Monday:  
My first foray into weird eating. I had leftover re-fried beans from last week, but no more tortillas.  So, what to do?  Well, I microwaved the beans in a bowl, added shredded cheese and black olives and had myself a burrito bowl.  It felt a little weird to eat a bowl of re-fried beans, but you know what?  Re-fried beans are really delicious.  I also ate another half bag of some frozen veg--this time Birdseye asparagus, corn and baby carrots, which I have at least two more bags of lurking around the freezer.  Yummy!

Tuesday:
Ate up the rest of the asparagus corn and baby carrots from yesterday along with a Trader Joe's veggie burger and some oven roasted butternut squash.  I roasted half the squash, and made the other half into soup to bring to work.

Wednesday:
Late night at work so lunch at home consisted of a box of Annie's Shells and White Cheddar and a can of French cut green beans that I've probably had for a year.  It just passed it's best by date at the end of September!  Guess what, tasted just fine.

Thursday:
Met a friend out after work.

Friday:
Big ole salad with tempeh and a hard boiled egg.  Pro tip!  Adding protein to your salad makes it eat like a meal.  Bet you've never heard that one before. I have a tendency to buy a lot of tempeh at a time and then lose interest in it, so tonight I used up the last packet (it's kind of a packet, I guess) in my fridge!  Victory!  Also had two dinner rolls cause I love bread.  Since I had neither the patience nor the talent to bake bread, I buy the Pepperidge farm frozen rolls.  Ten minutes in the toaster over--yum.

Speaking of fridge, it's starting to look pretty bare:

But the real issue is the fridge door:

The fridge door is always jam packed, and I am doing my best to whittle it down.  So far, I'm down one jar of jam and one container of mayo--now I'm working on the Pumpkin and Fig Butter I bought at Trader Joes last fall.  I may just throw out the fig butter, but who knows.

Saturday:
Breakfast/Lunch English Muffin with Trader Joe's Pumpkin butter and cream cheese that is over a month past its use by date, but has no visible mold.  I believe in mold more than arbitrary dates, and it tasted fine. 
Crockpotted a Black bean soup with the last of the frozen, diced butternut squash to bring to work this week for lunches.
Out for fish and chips dinner, which is necessary when the weather turns to fall.

Sunday:
English Muffin with cream cheese and pumpkin butter for breakfast.  Out of cream cheese! Was too lazy to do any cooking, so BF and I ordered pizza--no regrets.

Purchases: Two tomatoes,  one cucumber, Blue cheese crumbles.

Eat All The Food: Week One

Top half of pantry

So far, so good.  I am eating down the stores of food I have in my apartment and trying to save a bit of cash on groceries.  We're early enough in this experiment that I haven't had to eat anything super weird, but I'm sure that's coming soon.  Note: I'm only including the food I eat at home since my work lunch consists usually of a combination of soup, sandwich and yogurt.

Monday:
Pan-fried polenta topped with oven-roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.  Accompanied by a side salad topped with Trader Joes Pear Champagne Vinagrette, and the last of the Almond Accents.

Tuesday:
The last of the polenta, pan-fried, diced and served with Trader Joes Country Potatoes with Haricot Verts and Wild Mushrooms, and a big ole arugula salad.

Bottom of pantry

Wednesday:
Wednesdays I work 2-10pm, so I had lunch at home. I ate the last of some Trader Joes Falafel along with the rest of Tuesday's Country Potatoes.  I also planned to oven roast a couple bags of brussels sprouts I found at the bottom of the freezer, but when I opened the bags, they were weirdly slimy, so I threw them out.  Instead, I oven roasted a bag of broccoli florets I also found down there.  I swear, the chest freezer is a black hole.

Thursday:
I realized that instead of eating a sandwich for lunch, I could make myself a wrap!  People do that all the time, and I had a bag of tortillas languishing in the freezer from god knows when, so I wrapped up my sandwich in one of them.  Brilliant!  For dinner, I had a quesedilla, using up two more of the tortillas, the re-fried beans that have been hanging out in the cupboard forever, the last of a jar of salsa, some shredded cheese from an already opened bag and half a can of black olives.  It was delicious, and I was pretty proud of myself.

Friday:
Another wrap for lunch, and I am out of tortillas!  Butternut squash soup along with roasted broccoli and couscous for dinner.

Sat/Sun:
Out of town.


Purchases: butternut squash, salad, 1 cucumber.

Eat/Use it Up

Inspired by Elizabeth over at Adventures in Life, Love and Librarianship's quest to Eat All the Food!

I am embarking on a similar quest.  Before I moved into my apartment, back in June, I managed to do a pretty good job eating up as much of the food I already had before moving.  Sure, I wound up with some weird meals and ate English muffins every day for about two weeks, but I also had to move a lot less stuff.

Trouble is, I still have a lot of food and I've been doing pretty well with eating it up, but I could be doing better.  Since I get paid monthly at my new job, I still haven't gotten a full paycheck, and somehow I've managed to spend a lot on groceries this month.

Added to the fact that I have a lot of food hordes is the fact that I have a lot of stuff hordes.  I still just have a lot of items stockpiled from way back when--mostly bathroom stuff. I realized the other day that I have about six hotel soaps, four bottles of lotion and more stuff under the sink than I think I can deal with right now.  I made a trip to Target the other day with the intention of buying body wash, but then realized that I could actually just use up that damn hotel soap instead.  Yes, I realize soap is soap, but I always think of bar soap just for hands--no longer!

Presently, in my kitchen, I have a bunch of snacks in my snack drawer that I like, but don't love.  I brought them to work instead.  Since I sometimes get snacky midday, I'm much more inclined to reach for something I've already paid for rather than going to the cafe down the hall.  So I now have a stash of Bevita Breakfast Biscuits (I bought them with a coupon, and they're good, but I just never want to eat them); 100 calorie packs of microwave popcorn (I always burn them in my microwave at home, or want more popcorn than that); and Larabars (again, totally tasty, but more of an on-the-go snack than a couch snack).  I also have a bunch of split peas and various grains and soup mixes that are perfect for this time of year.  I have a glut of frozen vegetables, and a pile of veggie burgers.  Honestly, I have enough food and variety of food that not only will I be healthy, but I shouldn't get bored.

The plan is to eat up what I already have, and only go to the grocery store for fresh veg.  This should save me some cash, and clean out my cupboard.

In the bathroom, I plan to use up all the hotel soaps before going back to body wash; go through my bags of stuff and see what's actually in there (I keep small items in cosmetics bags and have a tendency to lose things at the bottom), use up all the shampoo and conditioner I have before buying more (I don't really like the stuff I currently have, but it still works fine); and use up all of my travel size items.  I have refillable bottles for body wash, shampoo and conditioner, I don't know why I hang onto all these travel size samples I've acquired.

Last night's dinner was most of a log of polenta (I'll use up the rest tonight) with oven roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella plus a side salad.

Tonight, finish off the polenta with some kind of frozen vegetable and eat up the butternut squash bisque I bought a while back that's getting close to expired.

I can do this!!

Week Off: Day 3

YOGA!

Yesterday's to-do list:

• Cross Training workout--see below
• 2pm meeting
• Trip to Target
• Bring Shoes to Cobbler
• Start Cleaning Basement
• Writing
• Mop Floors
• Cocktails with J (different J)

That workout was brutal-- holy crap.  It's amazing how exhausted you can get in only 20 minutes, but I was certainly feeling it, and I really wonder what downstairs neighbor thought of me doing burpees over his head.

And yes, I didn't do the four least attractive things on that list, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  I was way too ambitious when I made the list, let's be honest.

Today's agenda includes:

• Shorter run, 4-6 miles depending on how springy my legs are feeling
• Bikram Yoga
• Meeting with Bikram instructor about getting free yoga!! That's right!  A friend of mine had worked out a deal with the yoga studio where she traded light cleaning duties for free yoga.  Now she can't do that anymore, and she gave them my name! This is perfect because I've been wanting to keep up with yoga--especially over the winter when I can't run as much, but I really couldn't afford it.  Win/win!
• After the run and yoga, I'll probably want to laze around for a while, so I'm totally giving myself permission to do that.
• Writing--I can write and laze
• Light cleaning around the house--perhaps venture down to the basement and asses the situation
• Home-made dinner, and a walk with B.  Probably watching a movie/tv show with dance and/or gymnastics to follow.  Like you do.

Week Off: Day 2

Yesterday's to-do list included

We'll continue with a new cute kitteh picture each day

Long run--7 miles

Bring Shoes to the Cobbler

Read

Watch Safe House

Put away Laundry and clean office

Make mashed potatoes

Cocktails with J later on tonight

I discovered on my run, that the cobbler isn't open Mondays, so that task gets bumped to Tuesday

• Cross Training workout--see below
• 2pm meeting
• Trip to Target
• Bring Shoes to Cobbler
• Start Cleaning Basement
• Writing
• Mop Floors
• Cocktails with J (different J)

Week Off: Day 1

Awwww

It is day one of my forced vacation, and the weather could not be more perfect!  I slept in til 8am, and feel like I've lost five pounds due to lack of 93% humidity.  It's so awesome.

Agenda items today:

• Long run--7 miles
• Bring Shoes to the Cobbler
• Read
• Watch Safe House
• Put away Laundry and clean office
• Make mashed potatoes
• Cocktails with J later on tonight

This may not be the vacation I've chosen, but I am certainly going to make the most of it.

What To Do With a Week Off?

I cannot afford this kind of vacation, sadly

I've got a weird situation coming up.  I mentioned before that my work had a major budget cut, and the union that I'm a member of agreed to forgo our 401k matching for the year to offset the loss of funds.  Because of that, the library is closed for a week in September and we all get a week off--paid.  It's kind of like a thank you from the library, and while I hate to complain about a paid week off, it's also kind of inconvenient.

See, I was already planning on taking the following week off to go visit my brother.  I could just go a week earlier, but we were also planning to see a Sloan concert in Minneapolis, which is September 21st.  So now, I've taken the following week off as well, and do not have to go to work September 22.  The problem with this is, I can't really afford to enjoy myself for that first week.  I just got back from vacation, and now I'll have all this time off and really nothing to do with it.  So I'm racking my brain to come up with frugal ways to enjoy myself, not feel like I wasted this mini-vacation and hopefully not eat a ton out of boredom.

1. Go Running a Lot.  This is a bit of a no-brainer, but thankfully this week also coincides with the time I should be putting in the most effort training for my next race.  Hopefully I won't overtrain out of boredom, but the weather is getting cooler, and that makes me want to run!

2. Read. I've been such a slacker in the reading department this summer.  When it gets too hot, I just sort of shut down and all I want is to be passively entertained.  So I've been watching Biggest Loser all the time.  I've got reading to do for the Rhode Island Teen Book Award committee, of which I'm a member, and also just tons of books I want to read.  I'm nerding out this week.

3. Write.  I've joined a writer's group, which will hopefully give me the kick in the ass I need to actually start writing fiction and creative stuff again.  Either way, I have a mini-assignment due, and I should work on it!

4. Clean out the Basement.  This will obviously be the most fun part of my week (sarcasm).  I've been wanting to tackle our basement storage space for a while, but it was hot and I'm lazy.  I have no excuse now, and it will be a cathartic feeling.

5. Organize Closet.  My closet is getting a bit cluttered and could do with a bit of rearranging now that the seasons are changing.

6. Mop Floors.  I think we've mopped once since we moved in three years ago.  Sad, but true.  The floors don't really look that bad, but  if I mop then this month, I can put it off for another three years and feel no guilt!

7. Do Thursday Things. Because I work on Thursday night, and everything social, fun and free happens on Thursday, I'm going to enjoy it, damnit.  The free outdoor movie is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which I haven't actually seen all of and I believe that the downtown happy hour in the park is still happening.  I will be there.

8. Mending.  I have a pile of mending that has been sitting around for most of the year--time to tackle it.

9. Cobbling.  I need to get a couple pair of  sandals re-soled, so I'm going to go check out a cobbler in my neighborhood who has good yelp reviews.  I shall ride my bike there and it will all feel very European!

Anyone have other suggestions for me?

February Cheap Week

I'm going to make this next week a cheap week, which is a term I just made up (but I still found a logo for it on the internets!), which means that I'm going to focus on spending as little as I can, but still have some frugal fun, and hopefully end the week with a feeling of accomplishment.

My week:
Saturday: Racquetball and PotLuck
Racquetball: I've never played racquetball, but my brother recently started playing with a friend of his and says it's great fun and great exercise. I've begged BF to play tennis with me, but he refuses, so racquetball is the compromise.  My new gym has a racquetball court, and I got BF a free two-week pass--Racquetball it is!*
Cost: 13 month gym membership, already paid.

Pot Luck: A friend who recently moved away will be back for a visit this weekend and we're having a low-key potluck.  I will be making this:

Tator tot Hotdish

It's going to be amazing.  Cost: probably about $6 for a whole lot of servings, and I fully plan to gorge myself on all the other offerings.

Sunday: Long run, household chores, bike basket, yoga
The weather is supposed to be 41 degrees and sunny, which means that I will be doing a long run outside.  I've had a bit of an odd injury this week, so I don't know if this will be a long, long run, but I'm hoping for minimum six miles, depending on how I feel.
Also, I still need to attach my basket to my bicycle, and I'd like to catch up on laundry and make a soup for the week.
And I have plans to do yoga with a friend.
Cost: Running-- free; bike basket--already paid; 20 Bikram yoga session fee-- already paid.

Monday: Personal Trainer
I have an appointment with a personal trainer at 7am on Monday.  I have no idea what's going to happen there (I've never had a personal training session before), but I'm expecting he's going to try to talk me into future sessions, which I will refuse.  Hopefully I'll learn some stuff, and then I can just avoid him for the next 13 months.
Cost: Included in 13 month gym membership.

Tuesday: Reading
I am going to do some reading and other leisure activities after work on Tuesday, and it's going to be delightful.
Cost: Free--library books, y'all!

Wednesday: A night at the theatre
A good friend of mine does PR for a local theatre company, which means that I will be seeing The Merchant of Venice for free, followed by free nibbles and free cocktails.  It's going to be awesome, and I'm totally looking forward to it.
Cost: Free!

Thursday: TBD
Thursdays I have the morning off and work 1-9.  I usually spend that morning going for a run and watching Tuesday's episode of The Biggest Loser (not at the same time).  That's probably what I'm going to do this Thursday, but I may change my mind.
Cost: Free!

Friday: Day off
Maybe go to the gym.  Maybe do absolutely nothing.  Maybe make a small grocery run--I just printed off a good stack of coupons, and need to grab some pantry items.  If it's nice out, I may go for a long walk and get a cupcake--that's a really awesome way to spend part of the day.
Cost: Possible $5 or so to a local business.  Possible grocery money.

Worth it!!

*UPDATE Apparently, unlike my brother's gym, my gym doesn't have rackets you can borrow.  BF and I went to the gym to play racquetball, but had to leave, which was annoying.  Now I'm on the hunt for two free/cheap rackets.