Hello, everyone. I am having a terrific day.

Earlier today, I cashed in survey points from one of my survey sites for $25.00 which I will received in a couple of weeks via paypal.

I also just cashed in points from Beezag for $8.00, which I will receive within 2 weeks via paypal.

Both payments are allocated for the Conference Challenge.

Because of some minor emergencies, the checking was REALLY low when I went shopping yesterday, so I wound up putting the groceries on the credit card.

Oh well, the Lunch Challenge continues. This coming week I am having spinach salads with tuna for my lunches. I have been taking my own fork or spoon for my lunches for weeks. It is a small act sustainability, but I also have 4 other people doing it, too. If enough people do it consciously, we could save our organization a considerable amount of money.

I already had 2 foil packs of tuna from another time which I did not use then. I bought 3 more packets.

Salads: Spinach, sliced, fresh mushrooms, grape tomatoes, sliced carrots, onion, olive oil and vinegar (Yum!)

Sides and Snacks: Yellow delicious apple, handful of cashew nuts, 2 spoons of organic almond butter

I decided to spice up my stir fry and came up with this recipe. It's kinda spicy, a lot of like jalepenos, so if you don't like spicy, you could use gf soy sauce or something else if you like.

2 lbs. chicken (I used fresh, but you could use canned)
3 cups fresh stir fry veggies in a bag from the produce aisle
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 onion
olive oil
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
rice
garlic, to taste
chili sauce (I used about 1/4 cup) - I found it in the oriental food section of my grocery store.

If the chicken is fresh, cut up into about 1 inch pieces. Put some olive oil into the pan and cook the chicken until golden brown. In the meantime, dice the onion and any other vegetables. Toss into the skillet and mix well. Add seasonings and chili sauce. Simmer on low 5 to 10 minutes. Serve over rice. Delicious and spicy.

Well, last week, I brought my lunch every day I went to work. I say it like that, because 2 of those days my work was cancelled, so I stayed home. I was basically snowed in, because the roads were terrible, so I did eat my lunches at home. I did get paid for those days, though, so that's good. For the days I went to work, I did buy an iced tea at lunch time, but that was my only real food spending.

And so the lunch challenge continues. I am constantly on the lookout for new recipes and things to eat. My palate gets bored easily. Here's the original recipe that I decided to use.

http://gingerlemongirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/gluten-free-one-...

I read this recipe on the GingerLemonGirl blog that has ground turkey, quinoa, carrots, and spinach in it. I modified it by substituting other ingredients such as cut up chicken breast, frozen broccoli, brown rice, and turmeric. I couldn't find quinoa anywhere, I already had 2 lbs. chicken on hand, and I don't really like cooked spinach. It has kind of an Indian flavor to it. After dishing it up into serving size containers for my lunches, I had some left over, so I gave some to my husband for lunch. He doesn't even like veggies or rice much, but he loved it. Anyway, here's the recipe as I modified it.

1 cup uncooked rice, quinoa, potatoes, or pasta
2 lbs. cut up chicken breast
olive oil
3 carrots cut up lengthwise
1 onion, cut up
2 cups broccoli, fresh or frozen
1 tbsp turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
garlic
red pepper flakes

This actually wound up being a 2 pot meal for meal because I cooked the rice in a separate pot. Cook rice or other product according to package directions. Cut up vegetables. Fry chicken in a pan with olive oil. Add seasonings and vegetables. Simmer for 5 minutes or so. Mix with rice. Serve. Made about 7 servings for us. Adjust the spices and veggies to your taste and food tolerances.