Well today is Belmont Day. The final race of the Triple Crown. Until yesterday, I was so looking forward to the race, but yesterday, I'll Have Another was scratched from the race because of tendinitis. Bummer. I have been following this horse since February and had him in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Today will be bittersweet. I hear he will lead the post parade and that will be the last time I see him.

What a week! Beautiful days, cool evenings, no A/C till last night! Monday was our meatless day and we survived on the tuna salad I wrote about in my last posting. For dinner that night it was simple pasta tossed in garlic, EVOO, and cheese. I could eat this everyday. My favorite of all times.

Tuesday was Yoga day and after yoga, went to Cincinnati with a girlfriend. We shopped, laughed , and had a great time. For dinner we drove back to Dayton and went to Elsa's Mexican place. Elsa's is famous here in Dayton because of their Bad Juan margarita. We ordered one and it was the color of antifreeze. The taste was not great, but I must say I sucked it down. I ordered a small plate of Nachos with Chorizo. My total bill with tax and tip was $20.

Wednesday. As I sit here I can't even remember Wednesday and the course of the day. What did I eat? OH, now I remember.....back in April, spouse, son, and I had gone to Smashburger. Love them, but quite pricey for a burger and fries. We had money so we went and the food and service was not up to par. We had had many visits and we were disappointed on this one, so I wrote the company. I received a reply that offered us dinner for 3, so we went. I had a Buckeye Burger which had fried onion rings and banana peppers on it. The burger was great and the onion rings were hot. Our total bill, if we would have paid was $30.00. That's alot of money for a burger and fries when I think I could have gone and gotten a $1 burger off the menu at McDonalds.

In the same location as Smashburger is my new favorite place....Bad Frog Frozen Yogurt. They had just offered a Groupon. Buy for $5 and get $10 in product. I had it in my purse, so we went. I highly recommend this place. They offer a dozen different flavors of frozen yogurt with 100 toppings! You pay .46 cents an oz. Our total bill came to $11 bucks and change. So for dinner for 3 that night, I shelled out $1.75. Not bad.

Thursday was a Wicked day. That's right, we went to see Wicked. It had been my second time and I loved it the first time I went. My Mom, two of her friends, my spouse, son, and I dined at a new restaurant here in Dayton named Roost Modern Italian in the Oregon District. It was delicious. I had a pasta carbonara with zucchini which was crisp and not watery. I had ordered a small Caesar salad which was also great. Crisp and cold without many of the Romaine lettuce veins I hate. (Refer to my earlier post about my anal tendencies toward lettuce). The spouse had a pork chop which was huge. It was served with polenta (Italian cornbread mush) and french green beans. My son ordered spaghetti and meatballs, and my Mom had the mussels. The mussels were delicious. She and I have been on a mussel kick at places we go. All of the food was outstanding. It was at that moment that I discovered that I will not pay $11 for a drink. I knew the drink/bar prices were going to be way too expensive. When I can go buy a 1.75 liter of Stoli vodka for $38, I drink at home before we go out! Lesson learned! My Mom payed for our dinner that night. Our total bill for the 4 of us with 2 desserts, 2 coffees, and 1 Peroni was $115 plus tip. I could see us going again, I having a small Caesar salad and mussels and us getting out of there for about $50 without alcohol.

I had some leftover fruit salad in the frig so I pureed it, strained it, and then poured the pureed fruit into ice cube trays. When frozen, I took them out and placed in a ziplock bag ready for my cocktail. Boy what a cocktail! Poured Stoli over the cubes, added a little cranberry juice and soda, and I had a cocktail! I had 2 of those before I dined that night, so I guess I saved myself $22.

Friday was catch up day. Catch up on the laundry, catch up on the chores around the house, and go to the grocery. I spent a total of $71 and bought no meat. I looked at the price per pound of meat, pork, and chicken and I was not going to pay the price. So, I turned to the spouse and said it was vegetarian week coming up. I did buy some sliced turkey and ham for sandwiches and that's what we had for dinner last night. Just a sandwich, chips, and a big salad.

So here we are the 9th day of June and I have spent around $90 at the grocery so far this month for the 3 of us. I am not including our liquor store run here but I am keeping track, a stroke tally of 1.75's.