What I spent, What We Ate (double birthday edition)
This week, we celebrated Zoe's and Mr. FG's birthdays, which happen to fall on the same day.
(Zoe was a surprise birthday present 10 years ago. She showed up a little early and postponed Mr. FG's birthday party.)
Before we get to the menu, let's talk about grocery shopping. I never did end up going last week at all, and then I planned to go on Monday. Except it snowed, and I didn't end up going that day either.
Finally on Tuesday, I managed to get to the store.
It was getting pretty bare around here, especially in the fruit drawer.
We were all happy to have some fresh produce back in the house.
And my produce box came too, so, our fridge is nice and stocked again.
I spent $192 at the store, and then $32 on my produce box.
So I spent a grand total of $224.36.
Let's see how that's averaging out for the month.
February Spending
Week One $242
Week Two $18
Week Three $224
So, I'm at $161 per week, which is slightly over my usual $150.
I'll need to keep my spending at $116 next week in order to come in at budget for the month. I think that's pretty do-able, especially since my produce box doesn't come next week.
Monday
Since I hadn't gotten to the grocery store yet, I turned to the freezer.
We ate Swedish meatballs from the freezer (I'd frozen the meatballs, so I just needed to make a batch of sauce), and we had them over mashed potatoes, which I made from a somewhat random conglomeration of potatoes.
Yay for using up odds and ends! They weren't exactly award-winning mashed potatoes, but they got the job done.
We had applesauce (also from the freezer) with our meatballs.
Tuesday
The roads were a lot clearer so I made it out to the grocery store. Yay for some fresh food!
It was also warm enough to grill, so I brined the chicken legs I bought at a markdown a few weeks ago, and then grilled them and brushed them with BBQ sauce.
Along with that, we had broccoli and toasted whole wheat bread.
Wednesday
I made a new panini recipe from my Cook's Country magazine (the kids got me a subscription for Christmas and I love it!). The recipe called for "hearty white bread", so I made a couple of loaves of egg bread, and that worked pretty well.
We had a green salad with our paninis, using romaine from our produce box.
Thursday
Birthday night! The birthday people chose pulled chicken sandwiches on fluffy homemade buns. Zoe also wanted Pringles and Jello.
(On birthdays, we do not stress about nutrition.)
We let our kids pick a special drink for birthday meals, and the other kids usually choose soda.
But Zoe hates carbonation, so she always opts for juice boxes, and it's become sort of a tradition for her to have the Ssips brand of juice boxes.
It wouldn't be a birthday without them. 😉
I pretty much never buy juice boxes, so that's why these feel like quite a treat for her.
For dessert, we had a homemade ice cream cake, made with moose tracks ice cream because that is Mr. FG's favorite.
Friday
Pizza night! Last week I opted to get some takeout pizza, so tonight I probably should make it myself.
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Pringles and Jello. Zoe has good taste. 🙂
Don't forget the juice boxes. Good taste, indeed!
Love the shared birthday. My oldest and youngest share. It can be fun.
Grocery shopping is a pain. I am trying to reduce my expenditure and it is difficult. Avocado have reached $3.50 each and they are grown here is Australia. My vegetarian daughter was not impressed that I did not bring some home but I had spent a lot of money on food for her. This week I have spent just over $200. I will need to top up bread and milk. So I hope I can make this shop last about ten days. We are a family of four females. Life can be interesting as there is a lot of fuss about food.
Oh my goodness. Why are avocados so expensive there? They're usually under $1 at Aldi here.
I LOVE Aldi! Get everything from there, well not meats, but almost everything on my list.
I just worked out I spent about $140 US. Avocado are a huge thing at present and their popularity is driving up the price. I am very sure the farmer is not seeing the profit. My favourite breakfast is avo on toast. Food is expensive here and that is it. Sometimes there are true bargains but it is too far to drive out to the country to buy from the farmer and the local fruit store has changed hands. The quality has dropped and I would have to buy daily as that is about how long the produce lasts.
Find a friend with a tree - that's the best frugal way to get them! If you don't know anyone with a tree, scour your neighbourhood, and if you see anyone with an avocado tree, knock on their door and ask if you can have 'em. Most people I know with an avo tree are only too glad to get the surplus off their hands!
Happy birthday to Mr. and Daughter Frugal Girl! Question about the marked down chicken legs - were they frozen and then thawed out via microwave? How last minute was the decision to grill? Obviously, they weren't sitting in the fridge!
I froze them when I got home from the store, and then on Monday, I put them in the fridge to thaw. Then Tuesday afternoon I brined them, and the brine helped get rid of any frozen bits that were left.
So, that meal was not a last minute type of thing.
Aww, happy birthday to your family. 🙂 My family of 6 all have birthdays within 5 weeks of each other and that doesn't include any other relatives (ahem, my twin sister). Talk about crazy!
Love the added Pringles and jello. What a fun addition to her birthday dinner!
My eldest daughter was born on my hubbys birthday too and it is our wedding anniversary as well. An expensive day.
I'm feeling pretty 'Where's my crown, please?' about this week's grocery haul. Two adults/$100 a week, food only (non-food items have their own, separate category), but I rarely seem to exceed $85, including bulk purchase stock ups. This week I purchased two full bags of produce, plus various bulk nuts, plus two pounds of wild caught salmon, for $27 at Sprouts after using their $5 off $30 instore coupon. I also purchased one tablespoon of bulk gharam masala for .25 cents for a new Indian dish. Love their bulk spice section!
Rounded out our shopping at Trader Joes, then swung by our local supermarket to take advantage of some of their weekly sale offerings - beans at .39 cents a can, pasta at .67 a package, and tomato sauce at .77 per 15 oz can.
This week's meals:
Mon- Spagetti with marinara, mushrooms, red onion and peppers, salad, garlic bread
Tue- Black bean burgers*, roasted sweet potato fries, salad (*ATK recipe - yum!)
Wed- Mon leftovers, fresh salad and garlic bread
Thur- Chickpea patties with yogurt sauce*, salad, naan bread (*another terrific ATK recipe!)
Fri- Chicken Vindaloo, brown rice, salad, naan bread
I also made banana cake w/cream cheese frosting, and some high energy, no sugar date and pecan bars. 🙂
Love all of the healthy options you scored for so little! Nice job
I spent around 100$ on groceries this week. Total for the month so far : about 350-400$ (budget is 600$, so we will finish under)
What did we eat.... hmm, it's hard for me to remember.
Warmed up a frozen pasta , tomatoes and beef casserole. Bad idea, the texture is not too appealing. But the taste is fine, so we'll finish it. Will not freeze pasta again.
Then hubby cooked a turkey.... for too long. So it's not tasty. But we will eat it anyways. I might just pass it in the food processor, add mayo and put on buns, and voila!
Another night was sausages and veggies, which was fine
And... hmm..... can't remember what else.
Lunchs are always leftovers or sandwichs for my daughter, big salads for hubby and whatever is in the fridge (or take-out...) for myself. Other daughter gets lunch at daycare.
I freeze/reheat pasta quite a bit, though generally in the oven to 'recrisp' it. Perhaps that might help?
Too bad about the turkey! For overcooked bird, you could try soup, pot pie, or - if the meat is really overdone - stock. I bought some end-of-day discounted roast chickens from the supermarket once, and stock was all they were good for.
Okay, here's the best tip ever for overcooked turkey: As soon as it comes off the grill or out of the oven, drop the bare bird into the smallest size cooler it will fit into. Close it up and let it sit for at least an hour. We've saved many an overcooked bird with this steam method. By the time the bird has been overcooked, you have nothing to lose. BTW, this also works for birds that aren't overcooked. It makes the meat moist and juicy. The cooler keeps it piping hot as well.
I'm sure I should insert a disclaimer about making sure the inside of the cooler is spotlessly clean and not to leave the bird in a cooler overnight, but we're all smarter than that here, right!?
My daughter and I share the same birthday too! It seems to be pretty common...
My mom and I share our birthday too! Exactly 20 years apart. Very special!!
We have an similar situation in my family. In October we have my wife's birthday, then a week and a day later it's our anniversary and my daughter's birthday. Six days after that it's my birthday. So we will see how celebrations work out for us next year.
I'm also out of non-canned fruit in my house. I will most likely stop at Aldi after work today.
I am gearing myself up for a major food shop this morning. I used the last egg for breakfast! I hate when the pantry/fridge get that bare...
Fan wave here . . . Very much appreciate all you shared/provided in '168 Hours' and have applied much of your wisdom to my weekly life. 🙂
And then you're like, ooohkay. Guess I can't put off that chore any longer!
It's Friday, so do you have to take the kiddos with you while you shop today?
Our grocery bill has been down quite a bit lately because of all the meat and basics (e.g., pasta sauce) I'd stored in the freezer. Before the new year we were spending about $115/wk on groceries plus extra on eating-out habits/treats, but now we are spending about $65/wk on groceries. I know this is coming to an end because we are running out of bits and bobs, but it's amazed me that we've had going on over 2 months of eating from our freezer!
This week:
(1) Hubs had leftover leftover birthday wild-boar pasta sauce (frozen back in December, brought back out for Valentine's day) with some extra tortellini, and I had a few plain tortellini with a giant plate of vegetables -- broccoli and cheese sauce and succotash.
(2) Leftover homemade pizza from Saturday.
(3) Tortellini with (frozen holiday) ham and cream, with asparagus. In 20 minutes. *pats self on back and tummy*
(4) I had leftover tortellini and asparagus, and hubs had a continuing education class that served him Papa John's pizza.
(5) I'd planned on making lentil and chicken-sausage soup, but tonight might just be a cheese plate of bits and bobs from the fridge: havarti, cheddar, hard salami, olive oil crackers, mixed nuts, pickles, pickled beets. This week (like all of them this year) has been at least a month long. And cheese plate is my favorite dinner, lunch, breakfast...snack...
Plus an update: I reduced the separated defrosted applesauce by heating it in an uncovered saucepot for half an hour over low heat with great results - thick and flavorful again, no more separation! 🙂
Yay!! So glad your applesauce was fixable.
So glad you updated us on the applesauce, I was curious about that.
Egg bread recipe, please!
I realized when I wrote this post that I hadn't shared that recipe before. I'll make it again and take pictures this time.
Thanks! I'm thinking it would be good for French toast-like Challah? Looking forward to it!
I bet it would! I'v never had a loaf last long enough to get dry for French toast, but I think it'd be tasty.
Are you able to give Mr. FG a Zoe for his birthday every year (10 years old Zoe this year, 9 year old Zoe last year, ...) or does that count as regifting?
Reuse, I think. 😉
I am already $40 over my monthly budget, due to a large party I hosted at my house. However, a lot of the food didn't get eaten at the party, so I have been enjoying the leftovers all week, and I shouldn't need to buy anything additional for the rest of the month. I've been able to scrimp a little bit in other areas to make up the difference.
I don't have large parties very often, so it was worth the expense. Next time, I'll plan a little better.
Yesterday I made a big crock pot of butterbeans and some frozen smoked turkey from the holidays. I whipped up some cornbread and people ate it like there was going to be no tomorrow! Beans in the crock are well-loved in these parts.
A very Happy Birthday to Mr FG & Zoe love the ice cream cake looks delicious..
Good week on shopping front, spent €82.00/ 93 dollars for 3 of us & 4th on way!!
M: roast pork with veg & potatoes
T: roast chicken with veg & potatoes
W: shepards pie
T: Shepards pie
F: Chicken curry with brown rice
A lot of roasts this week as had family for dinner
Thank you Kristen for all the posts, am applying them to my spending & am noticing a big difference..
Well, now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have a double birthday soon. I have a grandchild due on my birthday -- February 29th. Unless my daughter decides to get pregnant every four years (ha!), this is probably my only chance to share my birthday with a family member. However, February is birthday central in my family, with six other people besides me having/had birthdays in this short month, including my husband, so we cram a lot of celebrating in. When I was a little girl, I used to have co-birthday parties with my grandmother, whose birthday was the 22nd. Not every kid dreams of sharing her party with a grandparent, but we had small, family-oriented birthday parties and I loved her dearly, so it was no problem. I'll bet Zoe doesn't mind sharing with her dad, either.
Our meals have been pretty tame this week -- homemade butternut squash soup made with homemade stock, pork chops fried one night and baked another night (I had a pack of six thawed out and there are two of us at home) with assorted veggies, leftover roast chicken from the weekend and root veggies, and tonight, who knows. We're out of beef and I need to contact the farm again for some grass-fed beef.
Oooh, that would be fun to have a leap year shared birthday!
What produce subscription do you use?
Mine's a local service here on the east coast...not a nationwide thing, unfortunately. Although maybe that IS fortunate because when these kinds of things grow too big, they end up not being all that local anymore!
I'm curious to know more about your produce box. Are farmers near you actually able to grow all of that in Winter? How local is it? By us CSA's typically start around May and end around October.
#Wisconsinproblems
My produce box is a mix of local and not local produce. In the summertime, there's a lot more local produce than in the winter. Right now, local stuff is mostly greens that are grown in hothouses/greenhouses/whatevertheyarecalled and the rest is not local.
They do have an option for a local box all year round, and for that box, you mostly get root vegetables during the winter months.
We are fortunate to have a winter CSA/farm stand about 30 minutes away that offers their own fresh greens from the green house, along with stored apples, carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic, beets and parsnips. They also have local mushrooms (cultivated) and milk, both raw and pasteurized and they include eggs in the CSA as well. Then they also have breads, meats and cheeses available for purchase from surrounding vendors. It's amazing to have truly local fresh produce in the winter here in NH!!!
Friday must be Pizza Night for the whole world. Tonight: Pizza Hut That's my fave. Hubby said "sure honey, whatever makes you happy!" What a good attitude.
Congrats to birthday girl and birthday "boy"
Sinea♥
Happy Birthday to the "birthday buddies" in your family!
I stayed on track again this week - yay!
Sat/Sun - creamy ranch chicken, rice, and asparagus
Mon/Tues - pork chops with mashed potatoes and country gravy with veggies from the freezer
Wed - Chinese BBQ beef with fried rice (homemade) and potstickers (prepared/frozen)
Thurs - Takeout. But I used my budgeted spending money so it doesn't throw off my budget.
Fri - Leftover Chinese food from Wed.
I also made a copycat Entemenns cream cheese coffee cake recipe which turned out too dark on the bottom to bring to work to share. But I have snacked on it through the week and that's been a fun treat.
Good job staying on track!
I just want to kiss that baby picture, so precious! My home stash of meat/protein is very good right now and I have plenty of carbs based things also. My focus this week is getting fresh veggies and less red meat into the house to round things out. I found several miscellaneous veggies/fruit in the reduced bin at Kroger so I am gonna work them in to our weekend meals. You will notice my meals this week lack in fresh veggies.Going to try to lighten things up this upcoming week.
Monday-Reduced porterhouse steaks, sweet potatoes, and leftover banana pudding I had made for hubby for Valentine's Day(his favorite). Steaks have been in the freezer for several months but turned out perfect.
Tuesday-Crockpot roast, potatoes, carrots,onions, and homemade popovers
Wed- Grilled hamburgers with lettuce and tomato and homemade banana bread
Thurs-Spaghetti with lots of bell pepper and onions added to the sauce
Friday- Not sure yet, maybe baked salmon and wild rice
Happy birthday, Zoe and hubby!!!!!!
A double Happy Birthday! What do you use for your chicken brine? Thanks and have a great weekend.
This was a Cook's Illustrated recipe, which called for an equal amount of salt and sugar. So, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup kosher salt for a quart of water. And I used this brine for 12 chicken legs.
Happy Birthday Zoe and Mr FG!
We had a similar produce issue last week. Its funny but I didn't have any takers for lemons as fruit for lunches 🙂
I did a big grocery shop this week so I'm over budget for the month by $30 something but for the year I'm still under by $40 something. I'm thinking I will come in under for February since I will only have to do produce/milk and eggs and olive oil at Costco for next week.
Monday - Pork Roast w/gravy, homemade mac & chz, and green beans
Tuesday - Homemade veggie soup and your cheddar twists (or twisties as my kids call them)
Wednesday - Sloppy Joes, applesauce, and broccoli. Sadly the sloppy joe was from a can, my kids hated it when I made it myself. Oh well, I make so many things homemade I guess I will give on this on.
Thursday - Spaghetti and salad. I had planned to make homemade meat sauce but I forgot to defrost the meat and since it cooks all day in the crock pot, so jarred sauce it was.
As an aside, I've tried making homemade marinara sauce and have never been happy with the outcome. Anyone have a recipe they love that is not too acidic....maybe even on the sweeter side?
I don't have a "recipe" but I usually put mine in the crock pot and let it cook for several hours which causes it to sweeten some. You can always add a little sugar or other sweetener of your choice to taste. I just keep putting things in until I'm happy with the taste like garlic, italian spice, salt, pepper, and onions. Sometimes tomato paste will take the acid taste down a notch. Another secret is lemon juice. It seems like it would have the opposite effect but it really does something for the sauce. A really good local Italian place in my area told me they put it in their marinara and I have been putting it in there ever since. hth!
Thanks for the tips. How much lemon juice do you add?
Eating what we have on hand in earnest now. I dehydrated a bunch of onions because they are beginning to sprout and will not hold through March!
A $3 ham with no nitrates did the two of us for three meals. Leftover chicken, some leftover kidney beans and a can of black beans with butternut squash and garlic I grew, and tomatoes I canned were the base for hearty chili that was good for two dinners and a couple of lunches. Hubby's dinner (he's cooking once a week as a Christmas present for me) was fish with potato and veg.
I have a couple of friends that share a birthday with their mothers (one of these friends has two sons born on the same date). My husband shares his bithday with his sister and my dad shared his with his twin brothers.
Happy Birthday Mr. FG and Zoe! Hope it was a good one!
DH's birthday is coming up in March...He may want to go out to eat and ice cream cake but dunno.Since his surgeries, he doesn't eat much at all. Lost 50 lbs. So we don't make as much as we used to.
We have leftover turkey/sausage/spinach/ribs. Will need to eat them tomorrow.
We have been in a bit of a food rut lately. I e been working more and the weather here in Nee Hampshire has been odd. I feel like our weekly meals just keep repeating with only tiny variations. My kids are 4 and 2 so they love the repetition but dh and I...not as much! I'll try to mix it up for next week.
We are:
Chinese chicken salad (cooks country)
Barley veg soup (frozen) and grilled cheese on homemade bread(ATK recipe)
LO random pasta from freezer, garlic bread, salad
Mac and cheese with ham and peas
Pizza with veggies and homemade ranch
I have been on doing a Grocery Challenge for the month of February which means that I have not bought one item of food this month. We have eaten well out of our freezer, fridge and pantries. We have had shrimp, chili, pork chops, corned beef and tonight we are having a turkey dinner using a $ .48 lb. turkey that I purchased in November.