WIS, WWA | Oh, hello Costco!
What I Spent
I spent $62 at the grocery store and then I finally made a Costco run. I haven't been since before the lockdown!
I spent $195 there, which was a little painful. But I shouldn't have to go again for a while now.
July Grocery Spending
Week 1: $145
Week 2: $180
Week 3: $87
Week 4: $257
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I had a takeout date night at the taco truck, which is a super affordable way to get takeout. We always stay below our $20 budget there.
The taco truck is a little bit of a hike from our house, so we just eat our tacos in the car. It's like a very small, very private restaurant.
And very virus-free. Ha.
Sunday
Burger night (except Sonia had a hot dog instead because she is really not a fan of burgers! Luckily it's very easy to sub a hot dog for her.)
Monday
I made a BLT chicken green salad and we had pull-apart garlic bread on the side.
Tuesday
Lisey was not here for dinner, and since she dislikes most Asian food, we decided to get Panda Express carryout.
When the cat's away, the mice will play. 😉
Wednesday
I made shrimp remoulade (recipe from Cook's Country) and served it with lettuce on toasted croissants from Costco.
And I made Zoe a chicken sandwich instead, since she is allergic to shrimp.
We had watermelon with our sandwiches because, hey, you gotta eat it while it's in season!
OF COURSE I put the unused watermelon half back in the fridge with my silicone cover.
And of course it filled my heart with joy, just like it does every time. 😉
Thursday
We did a fend-for-yourself night, since the girls ate a super late lunch.
Friday
I don't know what we are having, but I do know this: I really, really need to make a menu plan this morning, or we will end up getting takeout tonight.
Good morning I went to Costco for the first time in eight months yesterday. We are now stocked up with some very useful things. It is good to be able to buy one pack of three or four instead one lone item. Since it is winter here we have had pumpkin soup, celeriac soup, lamb and vegetables, ham and salad rolls and whatever else.
With regard to your post the other day about ceiling fans, ours goes all the time in the summer. I have one in the living space and a smaller one over in the kitchen area plus one in the bedroom. This year we did put in a mini-split AC system 1) my husband has COPD so we need it and I really do despise window units--the noise and taking up window space when we finally get a chance to have the windows opened up.
I did not go to the grocery store last week. I have to go today--for yogurt and fresh fruit (in season) for my breakfasts and some other small items and our coffee order at the local roaster which I get about every 2 wks. I am getting down on the meat orders I made in early May and early June. This week we paid attention and ate from the 'frig and cupboards.
Saturday: Pork neck meat (this is what happens when my husband is the shopper), rice, frozen green beans. The meat was very tasty, though sort of a pain, what with pulling all the meat off tiny bones.
Sunday: Oven-fried chicken, garlic bread, frozen peas, roasted sweet potatoes and onions, chocolate chip cookies courtesy of my eldest son
Monday: Pizza made with a couple of too-small loaves of bread, leftovers, carrot sticks
Tuesday: Bunless hamburgers, leftover boiled potatoes, leftover rice, sauteed mushrooms and onions, frozen peas
Wednesday: Brisket, tomato soup, again courtesy of my eldest son (I suggested perhaps he should make real food this time, rather than exclusively focusing on desserts), garlic bread, roasted sweet potatoes/onions/green beans
Thursday: Pork country ribs, boiled potatoes, leftover mushrooms and onions, raw green beans from the garden
Tonight: I have a staff meeting at the school this afternoon to figure out the school year that starts in a few weeks (our governor announced yesterday that only K-3 and special ed. students can receive in-person instruction, and only at a 5:1 student to teacher ratio; everyone else is online until at least Labor Day), so something fast to make when I get home. Probably sausage patties, leftover potatoes, and green salad.
What a letdown, Kristin, no exotic stuff this week. 😉
I know, right? We won't have much of anything exotic until we butcher sheep in the fall and my son has his elk hunt in December. Although there is still one bag of elk lurking in the bottom of the freezer . . .
I don't know, Bobi. I'm not even sure where I could buy pork neck. 😉
Right? I was cracking up on that one, lol.
I can relate to the weird pork! My husband just finished boiling pigs’ feet for lunch! With a green salad, it’s one of his favorite meals! I can’t stand to look at it!
That would squick me out too!
Oh yes. Pigs' feet are a key ingredient in my husband's special chili stew. I, uh, am not a fan. The neck pieces at least don't look like the actual body part.
Sunday - Takeout. We had just gotten back from a camping trip and this mama was exhausted.
Monday - Marinated tofu, broccoli, and rice bowls.
Tuesday - Chicken soup from the freezer and easy drop biscuits (from ATK Family Baking Book)
Wednesday - Chicken Tikka Masala, rice, and roasted cauliflower.
Thursday - Homemade pizza
Friday - the kiddo is going to his dad's for the weekend, so I am making a Costco run this evening with the man-friend. Dinner will either be something easy at home, or some simple takeout.
I have really tried to get into watermelon...but it does not thrill me. I buy cantalope and honeydew, too. Just for variety! Here's what we ate:
Monday - Beefy Bean Tacos with toppings (onion, cilantro, cheese, and sour cream), salad with avocado and tomato
Tuesday - Honey Garlic Chicken over rice, Butternut squash
Wednesday - Gyros with Tzatziki sauce, peppers and onions, tots
Thursday - Pesto Salmon* over seasoned chickpeas*, green beans
Tonight - Tuna Salad on Brioche buns, Superfood Salad
Saturday - TBD - probablym something from the freezer
Sunday - Shakshuka, garlic toast, any leftover fresh veg
*made my own pesto, and did chickpeas in the crockpot
I'm probably going to quit Costco for various reasons. To me it's just not worth the headache. Maybe in a year or two when the world becomes more sensible.
We're lucky to be at a point where the only grocery shopping we need to do for the next couple weeks is for milk and produce.
Monday: Pork chops, rice, vegetables.
Tuesday: Hamburgers, salads and chips.
Wednesday: Got to travel for work again and so for the first time in 5 months we got to eat pizza from a place about an hour or so away. Of course it had to be reheated when I got home but it was quite good.
Thursday: Breakfast for dinner with hash browns, french toast
Friday: Found a hunk of leftover ham in the freezer so we'll be having that with potatoes and vegetables.
Same here. It seems every time I go in it is time to renew. They have great prices and Julia and I used to go maybe once every 4 to 6 weeks. I don’t think the savings added up to what we paid for the membership! But now that a Julia is dead. I go about once every six months. There is no way it pays.
For me it's the drive. I have to drive over an hour to the closest one and bring a cooler, some ice packs and plenty of room to store stuff.
It used to be fun to go. I could find some nice things. My kid really looked forward to getting the hot dogs in the cafeteria and it was a nice getaway.
Now it's a pain to get to. There's no cafeteria. My kid can't touch anything etc. Why pay money for what amounts to misery?
We ate well! We missed the grandkiddos, but our palates were rewarded.
Sat- Cilantro & pepita pesto pasta, salad (so good!)
Sun- Chipotle pork tinga, naan, salad
Mon- Cheese tortillini, salad, garlic bread
Tue- Sat leftovers***
Wed- Sun leftovers***
Thur- Veggie burgers, onion rings, salad
Fri- Chicken garbanzo spinach salad, cheese bread (picnic food for our weekly dinner at the harbor)
***Cook once, eat twice!
I'm down to spending only about $60 a week for the two of us. We don't snack much, I cook and back from scratch, and the food goes far. Quite amazing to me that our food costs are dropping over time as we age (57 & 65).
Saturday-scrambled egg and avocado wrap, applesauce
Sunday-veggie fried rice, peaches
Monday-leftover ham and eggs in cheese sauce on toast, grapefruit
Tuesday-beef and black bean fajita rice, applesauce
Wednesday-last of the fried rice, peaches
Thursday-steak, baked potato, grilled corn on the cob, salad and cheesecake at my sister's house
Tonight-leftover fajita rice, fruit
We love watermelon, if it's a good one. I guess it's time for another one. This is my "off" week for grocery shopping, though.
What we ate this week:
Roasted chicken, cooked with carrots, onions, mushrooms and celery tucked under the chicken. I roasted this in the cool of the day, if you could call it cool, while I roasted a big pan of cubed sweet potatoes and a pepper-free, farm-made sausage. (I eat this at breakfast). I spatchcocked the chicken so it would cook faster.
I cooked a chuck roast with vegetables and garlic in the crock pot. We had cauliflower "rice" on the side with gravy made from the juices and thickened with arrowroot.
My husband isn't much of a fan of chicken, so he had tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich with dill pickles on it, while I had leftover chicken and a salad.
He didn't eat these back to back, but he finished the soup on another night and had another grilled cheese sandwich again. I ate leftover roast and cut up raw veggies.
We had the last of the roast and fried okra from our container garden, along with cooked carrots.
And, we had pork chops, with broccoli and sweet potato salad made with celery and onion.
Tonight will be some little steaks I bought on sale and pulled from the freezer yesterday. And at some point this weekend, there will be a chicken pot pie from the last of the chicken, even though it means the oven again.
Sunday was grilled BBQ chicken quarters and scratch Mac and cheese.
Monday PB and J sandwiches as we had to pick up 400 bales of hay out of our field and stack in the barn.
Tuesday I made Pollo Al Creama with rice and refried beans.
Wednesday was my two youngest boys helped me make pizza.
Thursday was another 350 bales of hay up and in barn. The younger kids are gronola bars and cheese nips in the field. Mom and older siblings are leftover pizza when we got finished up at 8 30.
Tonight Friday will be taco salad without chips I think. I have tons of lettuce that need harvested.
If there's anyone that doesn't already know....Costco croissants are amazing. They freeze well too! Our family costco membership is basically worth it to keep my husband in croissants, because as long as I have them--he never asks for take-out for lunch!
If you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, I suggest trying their frozen bake-able ones. They might change your life-HA!
How do you freeze them?
My Costco spending is always out of control when I manage to do it.
I'm curious what Costco items are worth buying for your family! I love hearing what other people get there.
Our meals this week in reverse:
Friday: Turkey meatloaf if the ground turkey thaws in time
Thursday: chicken Alfredo + cucumbers
Wednesday: sticky lemon tofu, zucchini and rice
Tuesday: leftovers
Monday: jalapeno cream cheese stuff portabella mushrooms, spaghetti and yellow squash
Sunday: beef and cabbage stirfry
Saturday: taco bell
Here's a post I wrote a while ago about what I like to buy at Costco: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/top-ten-things-buy-costco/
This was before I discovered their croissants! 🙂
I was curious where you got your croissants from! Are they bigger than the ones from Aldi?
Yes, I'd say that they are longer.
When heated, they do seem to become a little more flimsy than the Aldi croissants do, so they are slightly more challenging to use for a sandwich.
This week I spent $26 on groceries - mainly dairy products because I have a ton of meat in the freezer and the garden is booming.
Saturday - Asian rice noodle bowls filled with lots of fresh veggies and leftover rotisserie chicken.
Sunday - Tacos with lots of fresh toppings
Monday - I had a $25 coupon for a sheet pizza that lasted us three more days for lunches!
Tuesday - Breakfast for dinner - fresh eggs, bacon, toast and fresh fried green tomatoes.
Wednesday - Leftover night.
Thursday - Pasta with meat sauce, sauteed fresh summer squash and homemade rolls.
Friday - Haddock fish fry, french fries and garden salad.
I spent $200. this week in groceries and that did not includes dog food. But I stocked up on a couple of sale meats and some supplies that have been hard to find.
Kids were home from Ohio so we ordered pizza. Aubrees Margarita pizza is soooo good.
Burger and fries on the grill with cheddar brats. Fried mac n cheese. That stuff is pretty addicting.
Pulled pork, plan on sandwiches and pp tacos.
Some nights just a salad with cucs and tomatoes from the garden.
Our blackberries are coming in about 2 pints a day. So far blackberry jam, blueberry & blackberry jam, bb pie and bb cobbler. Next is blackberry syrup. I don't want to freeze the berries cuz they get so mushy and I don't normally make smoothies. Might have to if I can't keep up. It is a very berry year.
You can still make syrup or jam or pies with mushy berries! Later in the cooler weather, when things from the garden slow down. Still yummy. I envy you those berries!
I feel like $195 for your first trip to Costco in months isn't crazy. It's not like a person is that likely to walk out of Costco spending less than $100 on a normal trip anyways.
Monday - Chicken tacos with guacamole, pineapple on the side
Tuesday - My son's 4th birthday, so we had all of his favorites! Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, watermelon, blueberries, and ice cream cake.
Wednesday - Chicken sheet pan meal done on the grill, pineapple on the side, leftover ice cream cake
Thursday - Leftover hot dogs, leftover watermelon, BBQ potato chips
Friday - Grilled chicken leg quarters, hopefully trying a new recipe of yellow squash veggie tots, and I'll have to come up with something else to go with it since I have no idea if the kids will actually like the squash tots or not. (I hope they like the tots... I'm feeling a little worn down of the kids rejecting food I make, including stuff they used to like. Gotta keep expanding the list of healthy things my 6yo will eat!)
I typed a post earlier, and forgot to add my email, and it deleted the whole thing.UGH>>>
We went shopping yesterday, instead of going on Sunday! spent too much and only bought 1 piece of meat, and a bag of shrimp.
Going to hit up BJ's on Sunday, need a few things.... crystal light tea, nutella, bubba burgers, not sure what else..... the bubba burgers are 20.00 for 12, in the Shoprite they are 6 for 12.99
Saturday- my DH, boss 50th pool party birthday, they served Italian food take out, cake, it was HOT!
Sunday- Hot again! went to mom/dads we had London broil, pasta w/garlic and oil. salad, I brought tomatoes, and dessert. Ice cream sandwiches from DQ!
Monday-did take out, ordered sandwiches from a local pizza place.
super hot!
Tuesday- dh took the kids to work, they went swimming, then they went to my mil to dinner. so it was just me. got a kids meal from McDonalds. then hit up the playa bowl, yum!
Wednesday - we where going to have steaks on the grill. weather put a stop to that! Down pored! So we did Belgium waffles, apple slices.
Thursday- Had steaks that we should have had yesterday, yellow rice, corn.
Friday- BBQ chicken on the grill, I think butter noodles, veggie. Hope it doesn't rain again!
We had "clean out the fridge and freezer of leftovers" mostly. There was leftover barbecue pork, saffron rice and creamed spinach that was plated up for freezer meals that we ate during the week. I had gotten a little Kentucky Legend sliced ham on sale with coupon and used it to make thick, delicious ham sandwiches.
I made a pot of beef veggie soup and home made bread for my sick husband and had leftovers. Also made him a big pot of chili, which we had with whole wheat crackers because the heat index hit 108 F. and I was not about to turn on the oven.
Rounding up the week was a marked-down garlic rotisserie chicken paired with more home made bread, green beans, pickled peaches and a sliced fresh tomato.
My last trip to the grocery store was an eye-watering $154 because I bought laundry detergent, paper products, cat food, dishwasher tabs and several other expensive non-food items so as to limit my trips to one store.
FYI IKEA sells a set of 3 small silicone covers. One perfectly fits an onion or apple.
WWI: $18 (woopie pies!)
WWA/WIA:
Saturday: homemade pizza and salad
Sunday: Štruklji, fresh kielbasa, cabbage salad
Monday: leftovers
Tuesdays: leftovers
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: (I drove to Maine for the night): larb, blistered green beans with miso dressing, jasmine rice, cucumbers and red peppers with Ippudo dressing. We also made coconut-mango semifreddo for dessert
Friday (back on my own): leftovers
It was great to clean out the fridge!