Café Con Monica

Three On Thursday!

 
Another Three on Thursday thanks to Steph @ Not Entirely Perfect!  
 
I think this week I want to talk about some of my favorite lactose free foods….
 
Daiya Brand – I know I’ve talked about this before when sharing recipes but I love love the brand. Vegan cheese makes my heart so happy. So far I have really liked their shredded cheeses, the blocks of cheese, the mac & cheese mix and the cheese sauce. I am a believer! I love that they are soy free as well as dairy free because Soy is no bueno.
Yoplait Lactose Free Yogurt – I don’t eat yogurt very often anymore and I am not a huge fan of the vegan yogurts because they all taste like either coconut or almond milk (which I despise) So when I first came across these I was so excited. They taste just like regular yogurt and I can mix them just fine with some granola and get in some yogurt a few times a month! 
So Delicious Dairy Free Cashew Milk Ice Cream – Specifically the Salted Caramel Cluster. Ooh man…it is so creamy and delicious. It doesn’t taste like coconut (all the freaking dairy free ice creams taste like coconut or almond milk) and it has chunks of chocolate. Pretty much drooling as I type this. Try it, thank me later! 
 
Do you have any favorite vegan/dairy free or lactose free products??

Three on Thursday!

Another Three on Thursday thanks to Steph @ Not Entirely Perfect!  
1. Brooks running shoes…So I am far from an actual runner but my mom runs marathons and she swears by Brooks. I was getting shin splints and terrible calf pains when trying to run and my mother said it was probably my shoes so I put new running shoes on my Xmas list and she came through. So fantastic, no pain at all besides the pain of being a chunky butt running after not working out in forever. So, highly recommended if you want good quality running shoes! 
I have these!
2. Ebates..I can’t complain about cash back…don’t know anyone who does? I dont really use the website often but I added the toolbar to my laptops at work and home and it is very convenient for shopping! It pops up in the corner when you are on a site that gives you cash back through it. To date I have gotten back $403. Every few months I get a deposit into my paypal account and I am a happy camper! You can definitely be more savvy with it if you want to and make more. 
3. Google Maps Lists…Oh man I use this so much. Anytime I hear of a new restaurant, place I want to visit, anything that can be found on google maps I find it and give it a dot(literally anywhere in the world). So if you look at my google maps I’ve got dots galore. It’s like I hoard locations. I mark places I have tried, favorite places, and mark places I want to try and then give them a list. Highly recommended if you want to keep stuff like that in one place. Also, helpful if you are visiting a new place or even thinking about where to eat tonight. I just pull up the map and look for the dots closest to us for options.
My map of Chicago!

Meetup: Keeping it Social & Cheap

So in this quest to save money I have had to cut back on a few things, eating out, expensive weekends shopping & eating out, going to social functions that involve a lot of spending. It is hard. Since I started a meetup group back in September a lot of the planning is left to me. Until the group goes big enough that people start to host, I am stuck doing the majority of it. I love to plan, I love being social so usually it works out perfectly. Except…I need to save.

I can’t just walk away from the group so I started to brainstorm some meetup ideas that would be cheaper and so far its working out great! Here are some of the meetups I have planned/already hosted.

Meet & Greet: Cupcakes

This one was this past week and was great! Molly’s Cupcakes are some of the best cupcakes in Chicago(my opinion of course) and it allowed for a small group to come together, talk for a few hours and get to know each other over sweets! The girls really loved it, the timing was perfect (after work 6:30 pm) and we all just got to relax and chat. My cost total for the meetup was $9.00, I had a cupcake & latte!

Movies & Wine

I can comfortably host a decent amount of people in my place, I always have wine around and I own a firestick w/Kodi. So I have a meetup for Movies & Wine planned for next Friday night. Everyone is welcome to bring snacks or wine/drinks and we will pick some movies and just hang out. It seems to be an extremely popular idea and we have a wait list for it too! I don’t know the exact cost yet but if I don’t find a random reason to spend crazy then it should be Free!  

Art Institute: Thursday Night (Or any Evening Free events!)

The Art Institute of Chicago is free to Illinois residents from 5-8:00 pm on Thursday nights! Yay free admission. So I planned a meetup for the group to take a stroll around, look at some art and then get some coffee afterwards. The admission is free so should only cost me a cup of coffee!  

Sunday Brunch Party

Along those lines of hosting I also really really love Brunch as you have probably figured out by my many brunch weekend posts. BUT brunch is expensive…especially if you like Bloody marys! I have a waffle maker at home and space so tada brunch party! I set it up so everyone should bring either champagne or juice and fruit. I am in charge of location and the bacon, eggs & waffles ( luckily I always have the baking ingredients for waffles and bacon and eggs are in my weekly grocery list anyway) Not sure of the cost yet but will 100% be cheaper than having brunch at a restaurant!

Those are some of the upcoming ideas to keep me saving and still allow for a social life! Do you have any fun ideas I can steal?

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