The Happy Frugals

We Dumped Social Media And Feel Great

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Every morning, I would gravitate towards my phone and almost robotically open up my social media sites without even thinking. I felt as though I had to catch up on anything I must have missed since 11 PM the night before. Maybe I missed one of my friend’s gourmet dinner photos or their precious selfies. Oh, and don’t get me started on the Kardashian’s Instagram accounts, because honey, trust me, I know how to keep up.

But why do I have to go out of my way to quickly catch up on other people’s lives? Nothing is wrong with having a social media account, and nothing is wrong with checking out the latest Hollywood dish. In fact, I love seeing posts from family and friends, and I am also guilty of magazine subscriptions. But even good things can become bad when your life revolves around them.

My Husband and I have recently decided to cut out social media for any purposes other than blogging and groups. Before this, I was spending many hours of the day on Instagram, and I opened up the app every single hour so I could view any new posts. I talked to most of my friends in the most impersonal way through these social media apps, and I also compared my life to other people through the apps too.

I would sit on the sofa with my Husband while scrolling down and blabbing away about things that shouldn’t even matter to me. His habit was Facebook, and he was just as bad as me. One evening, I mentioned something about one of the Kardashian’s to him, and he gave me this bizarre look and I just KNEW he was wondering why I cared so much about that stuff… all while he was scrolling through Facebook of course. But only three weeks ago, we decided to delete both of the apps and do our best to keep away from them. It wasn’t easy in the beginning, because we both had to get out of the habit of grabbing our phones to look for the apps that were no longer there. Now, I can say that we are both better than ever. I have had enough of scrolling through our phones while we are having a meal together. It gives us more time to have meaningful conversations and talk about our OWN lives. And I know he is feeling good without me filling him in on the latest Hollywood scandal. As a matter of fact, I am feeling good not knowing the latest Hollywood scandal.

My mind is a lot clearer, and I do more meaningful things with my time rather than scrolling through my phone for hours. And get this… I actually have to TALK to people now. I know… that is extreme living. I enjoy it because I feel more connected, and much less impersonal.
Since I am not looking at Instagram profiles of people showcasing their life highlights, I have no room to compare my life to theirs. I no longer care if anyone knows what I’m doing, and I find it better not knowing much of his or her plans either. It’s always bad when I know every detail about someone’s life because of social media, and then it’s hard to come up with things to talk about when I see them in person. They say, “Hey, did you hear about the awesome stuff I did yesterday?” and then I say, “Yeah… I saw the novel you wrote, and 2 photo albums you uploaded.”
Cool, that’s the end of that conversation. You get the point.

Since being off of social media, we have missed a few life announcements, birthdays, and several other important things. But the good thing is that instead of commenting on the post with everyone else, we can send a text or make a phone call, and learn how to be personal all over again. That’s the way life was before social media, but many of us have forgotten. There are more gratifying moments in our lives besides waiting around to get more likes on our posts.

I think there are great benefits to these social media platforms, and it helps make life easier in many ways. But I had a few problems, and I needed to unplug myself to detox from those issues. Sometimes I need to get my face away from my screen and look at everything else around me. Mental health is an import aspect of our lives, and many of us don’t realize we are being affected by social media until we unplug for a while. And it is worth it.

My Favorite Meal Prep – Taco Bowls!

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Taco bowls are my all-time favorite meal prep recipe. Why? Because they are so dang easy to make and it takes like no thought process.

I love browsing /r/MealPrepSunday and /r/EatCheapAndHealthy for inspirations and figured I’d share my go-to meal.

This is a super cheap meal that comes out to less than $1.50 a serving. I’m pretty sure it’s healthy too but I don’t know because I’m not a scientist.

In essence, toss everything into a pan and let it cook for like 30 minutes. You could even tweak this by adding in some vegetable or chicken stock and put it in a crockpot for a hearty stew!

To start, heat your pan medium-high and brush the surface with olive oil. Next, toss your favorite ground meat in the pan and start to separate the meat with your spatula. I’m using ground turkey but beef or chicken is typically used. You can also save on your budget and go meatless!

While the meat is still pink and starting to cook, I normally start seasoning with salt and pepper. Once the meat has completely changed color, I start to add in the rest of the seasoning. Don’t be afraid to go big and bold. The seasoning is what makes the dish. I usually go through a couple of rounds of seasoning, tasting as I go.

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Next up, let’s add the diced tomatoes and green chiles. Drain half the can and toss the rest in the pan so the veggies and meat can get to mingling. But wait! Don’t forget about the beans and corn. They want to party too. Drain both cans entirely before adding to the pan. Turn the pan down to medium and start on the rice.

Bring your water to a boil and toss in your rice. Once boiling, turn down to low to simmer. I toss in a spoonful of butter to help keep from sticking. Let the rice cook covered for 15-20 minutes, or until done.

Toss the rice in the pan to get to know the rest of the gang. Mix together thoroughly and bring down to simmer. If it’s starting to look dry on the top, throw a couple of splashes of water in and let simmer for 10 minutes.

You’re done! Now you can spoon everything into some nice stackable bowls for an easy grab-and-go lunch. I make taco bowls almost every week for my lunches and somehow I don’t get tired of it. Maybe next time I’ll make a video. Easy, cheap, and tasty!

Print

Taco Bowls


Keyword taco bowls
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 5

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground meat I use turkey
  • 1 15 ounce can black beans
  • 1 15 ounce can corn
  • 1 10 ounce can diced tomatoes and green chilies
  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 2 cups water

Spices

  • 1 packet taco seasoning I use a mixture of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper
  • salt and pepper to taste

Optional

  • 1 fresh squeezed lime
  • 1 tbsp hot sauce I use Valentina

Instructions

  1. Lightly brush olive oil in a pan and toss in your ground meat.

    Break up the ground meat into equal-size pieces as it cooks on medium-high and season with salt and pepper.

    Once browned, toss the rest of the seasoning mix into the pan and mix thoroughly with the meat. This is also where I add lime and hot sauce.

  2. In a separate pot, set your water to boil.

    Once boiling, add your brown rice.

    Bring the heat down to simmer and cover for 15-20 minutes or until done.

  3. Add beans, corn, and tomatoes and chilies to the ground meat and mix thoroughly.

  4. When the rice is done, drain any leftover liquid and add rice to the ground meat and vegetables.

    Mix thoroughly (I'm saying that a lot but trust me) and set heat to low. I like to let everything simmer together for 5-10 minutes. If it starts to look dry, toss in a couple of small splashes of water. 

This is one of those meals that I just can’t get tired of. It’s cheap, delicious, super easy to make and fills me up. It’s a great alternative to eating out every day for lunch. 🙂

Do you meal prep?

What is your favorite thing to cook?

The secret sauce is always thousand island dressing

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What is the secret sauce? Lately, I have been focusing on how I can be a better me. I’m a bit of a self-improvement nerd and it seems I’m always trying to learn something new or build healthier habits.

However, I easily get stuck in the ebb and flow of self-improvement. For example, it might just be my personality but once I get excited about something, I am all in. Gung-ho.
But then, after my excitement wears down, I get lazy with whatever project I’m working on until I get re-jazzed about something.

I find myself constantly trying to learn something but I get bored or tired of the journey and take a long break sometimes months at a time. Then I find myself trying to find the easiest path to catch up or bypass where I left off. I’m trying to cheat myself out of the process. I want it instantly and don’t want to dedicate my time towards whatever it is that I’m trying to get better at. I want the secret sauce.

I can’t become fluent in Spanish by giving up every time I get tired.
I can’t be better at the guitar if I don’t give myself more time to practice.
I can’t be a better writer if I don’t pick up my laptop and just write.

I can be better at all of these things if I just stay dedicated. Not to say we can’t take breaks and I’m certainly not saying we have to commit our lives to certain things if they aren’t our passions. I’m just now realizing that dedication doesn’t mean just hitting it hard and then taking a sabbatical. It means to stay the course. Stay focused. Don’t give up.

Recently, I was eating at a gourmet burger restaurant. Not frugal, I know. One of the items the restaurant was promoting was a new burger that had a bunch of bells and whistles on it along with…the secret sauce. The legendary secret sauce. Every place has their proprietary *special sauce*.

I already knew the answer but I was curious if someone had truly come up with something new and creative.
As if one of their chefs had traveled to remote corners of the earth to research and explore rare ingredients to create this new, famed sauce that everyone would be spreading on their subpar burgers. This, this would be the fast track to becoming a celebrity chef. The making of a true icon of the food empire.
“It’s just thousand island dressing.” replied the girl at the register.
It’s always thousand island dressing.

Remember when I said I get stuck in the ebb and flow of self-improvement? The secret sauce is dedication. It’s always dedication.

Self-improvement is a weird thing. I think I am okay as far as a human being goes. I just want to be the best I can be. But the trick is to better yourself at a bunch of little things that make you better as a whole.

I’m still learning I don’t have to rush the process and try to fix everything overnight or instantly be 100% better at everything in my life. It’s just taking the small steps to get there. Large steps count greatly but the small steps are what keep us going.

The greatest musicians, the greatest chefs, the greatest scientists, whatever it may be, they are all dedicated to what they do. They get tired and I’m sure they get bored like the rest of us, but they stay dedicated and that’s what counts the most.