It's menu time! (with a bonus grocery report)
It's Friday! Which means it's time for a grocery report and a menu.
Zee Grocery Report
I didn't need to buy a ton of food this week, so, yay!
I spent $15 on bruised apples from the produce stand.
I spent $35 on my produce box.
And I spent $86.52 at the store ($64.97 at Aldi, plus $21.55 at another store).
So, I'm only at $136.52, which is kind of awesome.
Things you might wonder about from my grocery pile:
-I bought the Greek yogurt because I needed plain yogurt for tzatziki sauce, and the only homemade yogurt I had in the fridge was vanilla. That would have been dreadful in gyros!
-See more on the pita bread below.
-I bought the bagels because they were on the 50% off shelf.
Monday
I had a packed day, so I pressed the easy button.
We had:
Buttermilk pancakes
Orange Julius
local pork sausage from the freezer
Tuesday
I had jambalaya recently at a friend's house and was inspired to make a batch.
I cut up some of the not-very-bruised-at-all apples to eat with it.
Wednesday
I tried my hand at chicken gyros (using chicken from the freezer) and I made homemade pitas.
I did buy a package of pitas from the store, as you can see from my grocery picture. Sadly, they were almost a dollar apiece and they were hard and so chewy. Such a waste of money.
So, I made my own.
The ones I made at home were much softer and worked far better for folding into a gyro. Although I think next time, I'll make them a little thinner so that the bread doesn't overwhelm the filling.
We had halved grapefruits with the gyros, and of course the gyros themselves had cucumber, onion, lettuce, and tomato in them, along with the chicken.
Thursday
Mr. FG had some appointments after work, so it was just the kids and me for dinner. I made sauteed green beans to use up a bag of beans from my produce box, and our main dishes varied.
The girls had grilled cheese sandwiches....
...Joshua had a leftover gyro, and I had leftover jambalaya.
Friday
Tonight, I plan to make regular ol' pizza.
And that wraps up this week!
Hey Kristen! Thank you for the fantastic post, I love seeing your grocery money breakdown.
How much pizza do you typically make for your family? We're trying out homemade pizza this week and since we don't order it much (err.. ever.. haha!) I'm not sure what quantity to make.
Usually two large pizzas is enough for us, but if the kids have friends staying for dinner, I'll make more.
I've never tried making homemade pitas, but they look good. The last batch that we bought from the store went uneaten because they were so dry. I will have to give your recipe a try. Thanks!
I love gyros! However, between pitas falling apart, or having to also hold a baby, I've started making gyros "salad". I just rip up the pita, and mix it in with the yogurt sauce meat and some rice!
Oh and about pitas, my parents go to a Middle Eastern grocery and get them fresh! My mom is half Irish, half Arab, so we take our folk music and pita bread pretty seriously! 😉
I've been wondering where a person can get edible pitas, because these grocery store ones are for the birds!
i hope you return the pita bread. Most groceries will give you double your money back. Plus, they need to know how bad they are!
Well, my hungry teenage son made it through 3/4, I think! Heh.
Looks delicious!
We had pancakes this week too.....orange cottage cheese pancakes, which sounds gross but is actually delicious. You put a layer of cottage cheese between two pancakes and top it with an orange sauce (1 3/4 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup butter, and 1/4 cup sugar, warmed on the stove). Its so yummy and more filling than just pancakes which makes it good for dinner. I was skeptical about the whole idea when my in-laws first made it, but its actually very good.
Cottage cheese stuffed pancakes are good with thawed strawberries in juice poured over them, too.
My question: what do you do with the bruised apples other than applesauce? No one in our house likes it. And I'll admit, I don't like eating bruised apples enough to buy a whole bag! But I am tempted when I see them because of the price. Any creative ideas for using up apples?
Well, we eat a fair number of them. All of the bruises are fairly minor, so it just takes a tiny bit of extra cutting to get rid of the bruise.
What about apple crisp? Apple Pfannakuchen? Baked apples? Fried apples with bacon?
Basically, you can use bruised apples in anything in which the apples are cooked. Applesauce is particularly accommodating because the apples don't have to be pretty.
BTW, you can make a treat from applesauce, by folding beaten, sweetened eggwhites (ie, meringue) into it, then baking.
Yup-and since applesauce gets all mushed together, it doesn't matter much if you mix harder and softer apples together, whereas with apple pie, that would matter.
I always use them to make apple compote. Just chop them up, cut out the bruises and simmer them with some raisins & cinnamon. I sometimes add a splash of brandy, but water works just fine too if they need extra liquid.
I like to use not so great apples in smoothies--especially if there is spinach involved!
You can also cut the bruised bits off and dice the apples up to put in a breakfast wrap with some peanut or almond butter.
I also like to use diced apples in oatmeal with a few nuts. The apples are sweet so it means less sugar!
We use those store bought pitas as little pizza crusts. You should give it a try for a quick lunch assuming you didn't throw them away. Of course since you are making homemade pizza tonight they probably won't be very impressive in comparison!
I make pizzas frequently, usually every week. Homemade dough, homemade sauce. My favorite is fresh mozz, goat cheese, and caramelized red onions. I read your pizza post, and followed your advice to preheat the stone and bake it at a higher temp, and I'm happier with the results. I thought I might need a pizza peel, but just putting it on parchment paper to slide it in worked great. Thanks!
Yay! So glad the hot oven tip is working for you.
I'm definitely saving that sauteed green beans recipe for later! My family has tired of the usual steamed beans as well! Thanks!
We love these so much more than steamed beans. I hope you and your family love 'em too.
Thanks for this post. I'm trying to get a handle on how we could not do takeout so often.
Sooo, with your homemade pitas, were you able to get them to be hollow inside - like so you can cut them in half and stuff them? Or is that too much to hope for. 🙂
And thanks for the idea on the gyros! I have a TON of cucumbers to use up, and I've already made 8 jars of refrigerator pickles. But tzatziki sauce would be a great way to use some up! Any idea how long it will keep in the fridge?
Yep! Homemade pitas do indeed puff up. They get hollow inside just like the storebought variety. Except they're not hard and tough. Heh.
I'm not sure how long tzatziki sauce keeps...the yogurt part would keep for a while, but I feel like the cucumber would get funky more quickly.
Thanks for bringing back the menu/grocery report! I hadn't realized how much I missed them!
So glad you're enjoying them. And thank you for the feedback!
You've given me some new menu ideas to try out next week. Thanks!!
Is your produce basket from Bountiful Baskets, by any chance?
No, I haven't heard of that company before!
I get a weekly produce box from DoorToDoorOrganics.com
Highly recommended! Check them out. In fact, I pretty much do all my shopping on their site. I live in the mountains so it saves me a looong trip to Denver. We're getting our first snow right now 🙂
I enjoy reading your grocery list for the week and also looking at your dinner pictures. They always look so yummy and make me hungry.
I like the M&M's purchase in your shopping bag, ALWAYS a staple for me too 🙂
I remember, back at university, my roommate actually accidentally made tzatziki with vanilla yogurt. It was very gross, but it was gone after the party. Guess when you are 20something, at a university dorm party at 3am (and definitely alcoholized) somebody will still eat it.
Still wouldn´t recommend it though. 🙂
I just can't get over the idea of sugar/vanilla with garlic and cucumber. Yuck!