What I Spent
To start out, here’s a quick reminder that a little soak in water magically revives wilted greens.
My downcast cilantro:
And my cilantro, revived:
This works great for herbs as well as greens like lettuce or kale. And it costs almost nothing!
This week, I only spent $76 on groceries; a departure from the last few weeks of my spending. Whew.
Maybe I can keep this up for a few weeks to level things out after my expensive July.
What We Ate
Saturday
I made the German apple pancake recipe from the latest Cook’s Country for the girls, and Mr. FG and I had a takeout date night.
Verdict on the new recipe for those of you that subscribe to Cook’s Country: really good; only problem was that the pancake rose so high, some of the sugar dripped over the edge of the pan onto the bottom of the oven. I made mine with coconut milk so that Sonia could eat it.
Sunday
I made toasted sandwiches with smoked gouda, bacon, and chipotle mayo.
Here’s how I store my blended chipotle peppers; that way they’re always available for making chipotle mayo or sour cream.
Monday
We’d all eaten lunch at odd times, so no one was actually hungry at dinnertime. Those of us who got hungry before bedtime just fended for ourselves.
Tuesday
I tried the pork taco recipe from the latest Cook’s Country magazine.
Verdict: it was fine, but not so good that I will find myself toasting, rehydrating, and blending peppers to make the marinade again. It just seemed like too much work for the result.
Wednesday
I made shrimp and grits, and we had fruit on the side.
This was one of the first times that I felt annoyed at having half my stove broken; it was a little hard to cook the grits for 40 minutes while also cooking the bacon, shrimp, and sauce.
But I made it work.
Come on, new stove! Show up soon!
Thursday
I used leftover taco meat from Tuesday to make burrito bowls (rice, cheese, pineapple salsa, veggies, chipotle sour cream, etc.)
Friday
My new-to-me waffle iron arrived from eBay, so I think we might have waffles to try it out!
Jon
Thursday 20th of August 2020
I'm curious if you have a source for your shrimp and grits recipe? It looks great in that picture.
Kristen
Thursday 20th of August 2020
Here's what I base mine off of. https://kellehampton.com/2019/02/heidis-kitchen-blackened-shrimp-with-cheesy-grits/
I think the salt measurements are a typo, though; I think maybe she meant teaspoons instead of tablespoons?
Julia
Sunday 9th of August 2020
Great save on the herbs! I revive all kind of stuff, herbs, lettuce, broccoli .... by cutting the ends off and putting them in cold water, cut end in the water. I’ve gotten great deals at farmers markets because I’m will to buy end of the day silty stuff.
Anne
Sunday 9th of August 2020
Backwards from tonight, Sunday: sweet and sour chicken stir fry with rice and Rhiannon had macaroni and cheese and then rice and canned tuna. Saturday: fish fingers and leftover spaghetti bolognese, and she had lots of toast. Friday: one-pot spaghetti bolognese. Thursday: Rhiannon had 2 frozen chipotle chicken quesadillas but I can't remember what the rest of us had. Wednesday: KFC with mashed potato and gravy and coleslaw. Tuesday: I can't remember what anyone had but no one starved. Monday: Rhiannon and I had steak, her dad had fish, and we all had mashed potatoes and mixed veggies.
Sarah
Saturday 8th of August 2020
So AGREE on the new recipe thing. Is it just me, or do recipe instructions seem overly complicated these days? Like use a skillet, and use the stove, and then use the skillet again...every item must be cooked separately and then put together. That's just not my style. Give me all oven or all skillet. Usually, one can swap the order of the cooking ingredients to make it way easier. I sometimes use meal delivery boxes. Those are the worst when it comes to simplicity!! And they are geared for new cooks. Whew. Drives me nuts.
Ok rant over....
Becca
Saturday 8th of August 2020
A glass of cold water will perk up floppy celery too. I just cut the bottom off (and plant, of course!) then put the cut ends in a glass of water and stand it in the fridge. If the celery is really floppy, it might take overnight to perk back up.