I can walk without crutches!!! + weekend summary

I went to the orthopaedic surgeon for a follow up appointment on Friday and got some great news--he was really happy with how strong my foot is getting and how it felt overall! It's just been all around positive news from doctors lately and that makes me so happy. I can finally walk without crutches, mainly only at places like work and at home because I am still limping! It turns out that my calf muscle is really tight and prohibiting me from walking normal. That explains the middle of the night cramping I have been experiencing in my calf and foot in general. Not fun. My physical therapist rubbed my calf out on Friday and found some pretty painful trigger points.

I took full advantage of being able to walk freely this weekend by doing things like laundry, dishes, and baking on Saturday morning.

I had this bag of ugly looking, but perfectly good apples from my mom and dad's apple tree to use up. I only used up four to make an apple crisp.

The crisp tasted wonderful with a nice cup of coffee. Just how I like to spend my Saturday mornings--drinking coffee, baking, and then munching on what I just made.

In typical fashion, I bugged Tanzi and pet his paws a lot.

When I went shopping for eMeals recipe ingredients at Target, I also picked up a few other things and shopped for clothes. I decided to try out the Cartwheel app to save some more money off of my purchase. It was super easy to use and I highly recommend it. I had pre-loaded some coupons for things I knew I wanted to purchase, like laundry detergent. When I was just about done shopping, I searched in the app for items like, "floss," and found 5% or 20% off of almost everything I was buying, since I tend to purchase a lot of Target brand items. I saved more than $3.50 just with this app, plus I saved another 5% off because I use a Target credit card. I don't think I will ever grow tired of Target. 

Craig and I had more apples to use up, so we peeled and sliced for a good hour on Sunday morning and then he threw the slices into our dehydrator. 

I made a yummy smoothie with About Time chocolate powder I won from Nicole at Apples and Arteries and it really filled me up. I added two bananas, almond milk, some ice, and fresh greens to the mix. I had learned about pea protein on Dr. Oz recently and was happy to read that this product is plant based and made from proteins from peas, pumpkins, and brown rice. The Dr. Oz show highlighted how pea protein was especially satiating. 

Before heading over to Craig's parents' house this afternoon, we stopped at a new Dunkin' Donuts in New Berlin and got some free drinks! It was National Coffee Day on Sunday, so I got an iced coffee for free and Craig used my birthday coupon to get an Orange Coolatta.

I ended the weekend with a solo walk around the neighborhood. I limped a little, but I did pretty well. I really missed taking walks.

I learned about haggis, onions in recipes, mayonnaise, and cheese while listening to one of my favorite podcasts--America's Test Kitchen.

Have you used apps like Cartwheel to save more money at the store? If so, which ones? I am interested in trying out more apps like that, especially because I don't have to cut out coupons.