Spring Break That Won’t Break the Bank

 

This Spring Break Kayla and I and our two beaus decided to explore a new city: New Orleans! As four college students, our budget was pretty tight, so planning was a must. We wanted to see the city, eat the food, and have lots of fun, but on a small budget. Our 4 day stay cost us about $300 (this includes housing, gas, food, and activities)! So now I’m here to share with you my bountiful travel advice for you poor saps who are also on a budget.

1. Housing

One of the  most expensive parts of vacation is the housing. Hotels can be an enormous toll on your bank account, and all for what?! You’ll hardly be there for anything other than sleeping. Enter the internet. When we were planning we didn’t even bother looking at hotel prices; we went straight to a website, Airbnb, that allows you to search for cheap housing in tons of cities. Airbnb consists of a network of people who rent their places out to travelers like yourself. They are WAY better than a hotel because you can get an entire apartment for like $80 a night! Our hosts were the absolute best and left us freshly baked cookies *yumm*, local beer *extra yumm*, and other New Orleans treats *supa yumm* (is my love of eating obvious here?)!

 

 

 

2. How to get from here to there

Public transportation is your BFF. Trust me on this one. Once you get to your destination, check out the different bus, train, or streetcar systems the city has to offer. Also, don’t forget about those two wonderful legs you have attached to your body, yes I mean walking, do lots of it. When we were in NOLA we were lucky enough to be super close to the bus stop and streetcar. Even though we had our car since we road tripped down there, we pretty much never used it and saved a ton of money.

 

3. Do Free Shit

Guess what doesn’t cost money?! LOTS OF THINGS! You don’t have to pay to go to a park, walk around a city, there are even some art exhibits fo’ free. The only activity we dropped a dime for was the swamp tour we went on*. We were able to save a lot of money by just walking and exploring the French quarter and a couple of other streets

*Lets be real, we also spent some moneyz on going out

 

 

 

4. Sharing is caring

Guys, I know how hard it can be to share things. Trust me, as a twin I’ve had to share many many things with my beloved sister; including, but not limited to: faces (hello we’re identical), birthdays (duh), and everything I’ve ever owned. But sharing as a young adult has taught me a valuable lesson, it can save you a butt load of money. Restaurant portions are massive, so Kayla and I split nearly every meal while on our trip and it saved me big time. So if you’re on a trip and aren’t that hungry, or want the same dish as someone else, make your momma proud and consider sharing the meal with your bestie.

 

Did you go anywhere fun for spring break?!

 

 

Dining In: Stuffed Squash

Logan and I love to find new recipes and try them out during the weekends. I eat campus food, and Logan makes quick meals Monday-Friday, so we like to spice things up during the weekend. Tonight we made stuffed squash! We were inspired by this recipe for Stuffed Zuchinni Boats, but since zucchini is out of season they were SUPER small, so we opted for butternut squash instead.

We used a very simple ingredient list:

• 1 package lean ground turkey
• 1 butternut squash
• 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
• 3 oz. Reduced fat Colby Jack Cheese
• Season to taste

All you do is carve out the squash with a fork or whatever utensil your little heart desires, cook the meat in a saucepan (add in some of the squash you carved out), line carved squash with spaghetti sauce, fill the squash boats with meat, and top with cheese*. Cook for 45 min at 350 degrees!

*I would recommend waiting until you take the squash out to add the cheese, because ours got a little tough.

These pictures are the before and after cooking our butternut squash boats! They were super tasty, and also mega healthy. I ate 1/4 of it and it came in under 300 calories, and I was stuffed!

What do you like to cook in your spare time?! Please share your wonderful recipes in the comments!

P.S. Yes, Logan and I eat dinner on the floor because he doesn’t have a kitchen table. #collegelife

Valentine’s Day Getaway: Part 2

I hope you all enjoyed the first part (which was actually our second day) of our adventure to Galena! We were so lucky to be able to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a long weekend of relaxation, and what’s more relaxing than having dinner by a fire with your favorite people? Nothing.

While going out to a fancy restaurant with you sweetheart is a great way to celebrate Valentine’s, we decided to take it down a notch and cook our own tasty meal at the cottage. We put the boys in charge of the main course (they’re way better cooks than either of us ladies), and divvied the appetizer and dessert between the two of us.

If you’ve met me, you probably know I am dangerously obsessed with avocados. I could definitely star in the Subway commercials where the women start naming their babies after my beloved avocado. So naturally, I made guacamole despite the fact it did not remotely relate to the entree.

The boys decided to make chicken stuffed with feta and spinach, and then made some ratatouille topped with goat cheese! Andy bought all his ingredients from Eataly, this restaurant/grocery store combo that has the best cheese in the city. If you find yourself in downtown Chicago, it’s a must.

And what’s the point of dinner if there is no dessert?! Shannon made a fourless chocolate cake, which tasted a lot like chocolate cheesecake, but without all the guilt.

Needless to say we had a perfect Valentine’s day with the people we love the most.

We also had the chance to check out some cool shops downtown. Galena is full of fun boutiques with tons of knick knacks. We came across these hilarious animal masks, how could we not try them on!

How did you spend your Valentines weekend?