Grocery Spending/Menu Plan | with no grocery picture
I have no picture of my groceries for you today.
That's because yesterday morning, we ate breakfast, Joshua, Lisey, and Sonia did some essential schoolwork while I edited a photo session, we shopped at Weis and Aldi, made a deposit at the bank, and then we ran home to quickly deposit our groceries, pack a lunch, and load up bikes and rollerblades before heading to the park to meet up with my sister and her kids.
We were in a tearing hurry to go have some fun. 😉
We ate lunch on the beach, played on the playground, and went on a walk/ride/skate on some of the trails in the park.
and we stopped at the fishing pier too.
We have 7 children between the two of us, so these treks are always a challenge...4 bikers (and only 1 of those can be depended upon to stop without crashing), 2 rollerbladers, and one stroller-rider, plus me on foot and my sister on rollerblades.
Yesterday's trail trek was made more difficult by an errant bike chain.
The kids didn't mind, though...they were happy for the rest, and equally delighted at the opportunity to play with some caterpillars.
So anyways, that's why I have no grocery picture. I do have to tell you, though, that I bought two packages of wild-caught salmon, though, and I bought a package of Laura's Lean Ground Beef as well. 🙂
I spent at $66.52 at Aldi and at $34.86 at Weis for a total of $101.38. Oh, and I bought another two dozen local eggs, so that was another $5.
So, I'm at $106.38, which I'm pretty happy with, especially considering the salmon, beef, and local egg purchases.
Here's what we're eating for dinner this week.
Saturday
- Pizza, naturally. It's supposed to be super warm today, so I think we're going to go with Grilled Pizza.
Sunday
- I'm going to a double bridal shower after church, and I think when I get home I'll probably make French Toast for my family.
Monday
- Teriyaki Chicken
- green salad
- Cheese Bread
Tuesday
- The Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta (it got bumped!)
- Whole Wheat Rolls
Wednesday
- Salmon with Dill Sauce
- Whole Wheat French Bread
- green salad
Thursday
- Chicken Pasta Primavera
- Whole Wheat Rolls
Friday
- either quesadillas or paninis...not sure which yet!
- and I'm not sure about sides yet either, as that sort of depends on the above.
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Have a lovely weekend, and I'll see you back here on Monday. If you just can't stand a day without The Frugal Girl, though (hee), remember that I do always schedule a 365 post on Sundays.
Because if I skipped Sundays, it wouldn't exactly be a 365 project. 😉
Oh, and don't forget to go enter for a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card. The contest closes tomorrow at midnight, so even you procrastinators should go and enter now. 😉
As they say, "carpe diem". Seize the day. Good job!!
How do you do paninis? I have a brand-new machine i want to start using this week. do you make special bread for it? i'd really appreciate any help you can give me!
thanks! 🙂
karen
I just use my french bread, but you can use purchased french bread too. It's best to use a hearty bread so that it doesn't turn into nothingness when it's smushed in the panini press. lol
I usually make mine with a combo of meats, cheese, sauteed onions, mayo, and sometimes pesto. I've been promising to do a pictorial post on that, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I should just go ahead and make paninis on Friday so I can take pictures of the process.
I like the "kids having fun" photos better than the grocery photos. I especially love the one when they're checking out the caterpillers. Glad they're all wearing helmets!
Enjoy that wild- caught salmon. It's our favorite. And if the fish is delicious, it doesn't need much of a marinade- you want to let the flavor come through. I use just olive oil, lemon, and dill for the best fish.
lol! We could change the name of this weekly feature to "Kristen's kids having fun/ menu". =P
They did indeed all wear helmets, though in the pictures, any number of them are helmet-less. That's just because they took them off when we stopped riding/skating.
I agree with Angela, I like the kids having fun pictures! The park and the beach, what a wonderful place to live 🙂
Awww -- how fun and, yes, educational to be out and about in the wind and the weather, not to mention caterpillars! Bravo!
Only $2.50/dozen for fresh, local eggs -- that is cheaper than I imagined. The discussions here the other day got me thinking of ways to find more local options for food, and that price is really doable.
I LOVE the pictures! I remember days like that. Definitely spend the day like that rather than taking pics of food. Treasure them because they're gone before you know it !
Thanks for sharing your lovely day with us! How old were your kids when you took the training wheels off? Sometimes I see such young kids with no training wheels, yet I used them until I was in about 3rd grade. Maybe I'm clumsy. So I can't decide when to try my kids out without them! Thanks again for your hard work!
My kiddos haven't been particularly young when I've taken the training wheels off. Joshua and Lisey were both at least 7 by the time they learned to ride without the training wheels. Sonia is six, and I might see if she can ride without the training wheels this summer...it'll depend on how energetic I'm feeling. lol
Ah French toast - classic leftover bread food. It was one of the things my mom would feed the five of us when she wanted something fast.
The other thing was tomato soup and grilled cheese. She would make like 8 sandwiches at a time under the broiler. Quite a time saver.
Today I made my first ham and a menu plan. Monday - ham Tuesday-Sunday ham leftovers 🙂 I normally wouldn't buy a ham since it's only my husband and I but it was on sale and 50% off when we got to the store to clear space in the case. It was a deal that was too good to pass up for so much meat. The plan is to eat it for dinner Monday and make something later on during the week. The rest I will cut into larger pieces and freeze for us to cook with later. Of course the ham bone will be saved for bean soup!
My son (almost 9) just stopped using his training wheels about 2 months ago. That seemed extremely late to him, as most of his friends and kids he saw on the street were much younger. He's definitely a late bloomer so we never rushed him. The best thing was getting him a scooter---it taught him balance---and within a couple of weeks he was willing to try biking without the training wheels. He was so ecstatic! Now, I walk while he rides (I'm a notorious klutz and me on a bike is not a good thing) but I can't keep up with him of course. He doubles back to me or stops at all corners and waits for me to catch up and at certain predetermined spots on our regular trails. The best thing is when my husband rides with him and I get to walk at my own pace and not worry about where they are!