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What I Spent, What We Ate

What I Spent

I spent $193.43 at the grocery store, and then I spent $54.65 at Costco for coffee and frozen fruit.

groceries

So, I’m starting April off with a more expensive week than usual: $248.

I expected this week to be on the spendy side, though, given that I was a pretty bad grocery shopping slacker last week.

This coming week should be a little more average, though.

In fact, I’m thinking about doing a clean-out-the-freezer challenge (not my chest freezer; my small freezer under my fridge).   If I do that, my grocery spending might be unusually low.

(Of course, my clean-out-the-freezer challenge will be flexible and very low on rules, because that is how I roll.   I’m a frugal moderator.)

Spending Year To Date

January: $680.55

February: $650

March: $822.95 (it was a 5-week month)

What We Ate

Monday

I had a bit of a busy day (parenting. homeschooling. These things are time-consuming.), so I pushed the easy button and made buttermilk waffles for dinner.

buttermilk waffles

I also fried up some local sausage, and the kids topped their waffles with strawberry syrup left from the last time I made it.

By the way, I saw containers of fruit syrup at Aldi this week, and they were each $3.49, so the homemade strawberry syrup is indeed a good bargain.   If it beats Aldi’s price, you know it’s cheap!

How to make strawberry syrup

Plus, I do believe my strawberry syrup recipe makes more syrup than what comes in the bottles at Aldi, so that makes it an even better bargain.

Tuesday

I made chipotle chicken kebabs with cilantro lime dipping sauce.   We had toasted English muffins with our kebabs, and sauteed green beans.

chipotle chicken kabobs

These chicken kebabs (from the ATK quick cookbook I recommended earlier this week) are super fast and easy…you should totally add them to your dinner menu rotation!

Oh, and I see that this cookbook is still just $10 on ATK’s site.   Not affiliated, but I’m sharing bcause that’s a really great price, compared to $35 or so on Amazon.

Wednesday

I made Hibachi Chicken and Shrimp and served it with rice.

How to make Hibachi Chicken and Shrimp at home

And yum yum sauce.

I dearly love yum yum sauce.

(This is the yum yum sauce recipe I use.)

Thursday

We had ravioli and shrimp in pink sauce, with a green salad on the side.

Shrimp and ravioli in pink sauce

I don’t normally serve shrimp two nights in a row, but somehow when I was making a menu plan, I inadvertently planned shrimp back to back.

It was a luxurious week at our house. 😉

Friday

I ended up getting pizza out last week (remember that I was waffling?) and so this week I think I’ll make regular crust pizza.

Lisey's first pizza

And that wraps up the eats at my house.

What was on your dinner table this week?

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Kristal

Monday 11th of April 2016

I printed out the recipe for the Hibachi Chicken and Shrimp. Thanks so much, can't wait to try it.

Sandy

Friday 8th of April 2016

What does your weekend dinner menu consist of?

Kristen

Saturday 9th of April 2016

Well, one night is usually a date night for Mr. FG and me (we budget about $20/week for that, so we usually just get sandwiches or pizza or something inexpensive like that). And then the other night is usually a snacky kind of affair (fruit, nuts, cold cuts, raw veggies, crackers, cheese, etc.)

And of course, sometimes there are family gatherings or other such things on weekends, which changes things up.

Liz

Friday 8th of April 2016

Monday - spaghetti pie with fruit and Caesar salad Tuesday - spaghetti pie with cheesy bread and fruit Wednesday - chicken fried rice with Costco potstickers and broccoli Thursday- spiral cut ham with pineapple and made from scratch cheezy potatoes Friday - pasta salad with olives, Pepita's and sundried tomatoes; turkey/Jarlsberg/grape/almond salad; cantaloupe

Stephanie L

Friday 8th of April 2016

Yeah, I kinda rocked the frugal food thing this week. Finally.

Saturday I did a Cuban marinade for pork tenderloin and made rice & black beans. I used canned black beans and cooked them down a little with some random Trader Joe's canned tomatoes & chile pepper (why this can was in the house I couldn't tell you).

The pork was un-fabulous. On Sunday I cooked it on low, in the rest of the canned tomato/pepper, until it was shreddable. I had shredded pork, rice, and black beans for some of my work lunches this week.

Sunday night - salad with grilled chicken and goat cheese Monday night - DH had a meeting, so I made a veggie omlette with goat cheese Tuesday - frozen curried butternut squash soup (homemade), salad Wednesday, Thursday - I was out of town for meetings, so my meal expenses were covered Friday - we're going out for Indian food. I just got home an hour ago, the hubs has been swamped all day, and although I'm a good cook I just don't make great Indian food.

Kristen

Friday 8th of April 2016

I hate it when I try a new recipe and it's...un-fabulous. So frustrating. Good for you for repurposing it!

Karen L

Friday 8th of April 2016

I can't even begin to say how impressed I am that you feed your six-person family three nutritious meals every day. Kudos to you, Kristen!

Kristen

Friday 8th of April 2016

Thank you! I don't put tons of effort into breakfast and lunch, though, so don't give me TOO much credit. Breakfast is usually a smoothie or oatmeal, and lunch is leftovers or sandwiches.

I don't think I have the energy to cook a full meal three times a day!

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