What I Spent, What We Ate | Last one for July!
What I Spent
I spent $98.41 at Aldi, and then $57.15 at two other local stores.
Sadly, I have exactly 0 grocery pictures, because I had to go pick up Joshua's friend right after grocery shopping and I only had time to quickly throw the cold stuff into the fridge and go.
Sorry 'bout that.
For the number lovers among you, here are my July weekly totals:
July Spending
Week 2: $212
Week 3: $150
Week 4: $155
And then here are my monthly totals for the year:
Spending Year To Date (avg. $161/week)
January: $681
February: $650
March: $823
April: $623
May: $656
June: $682
July: $706
What We Ate
Monday
I brought a meal to one of my cousins who just had a baby, so I made a big batch of stuffed pasta shells.
I included a loaf of French bread, plus some oatmeal raisin cookies, and some fresh fruit.
(I remember getting way too many salads when I had babies, so I opted not to send one!)
We at a copy of what I brought to my cousin and her husband, of course. No point in making two separate meals. 😉
Tuesday
My sister-in-law and brother invited us over for dinner. No cooking for me, I got to see my nieces and nephew, and I had a delicious meal to boot.
It was delightful.
Wednesday
I used a pork roast to make a pot of pulled pork. So yummy! We ate the pulled pork on buns, and had broccoli with it.
Thursday
We had pepper jack/turkey paninis with sliced apples.
Friday
We are actually not supposed to hit the 90s today in temperatures (!), so I think I'll opt for non-grilled pizza.
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It looks like my grocery budget is not that far off from yours and I have four people here...
Monday - Pan fried tilapia, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes
Tuesday - Quesadillas and guacamole (used up some tortillas)
Wednesday - Freezer pizza and a salad
Thursday - Pork loin with potatoes and carrots, a biscuit
Friday - We'll have skillet chicken and green beans, maybe rice
Saturday - Dad grills ribs
Sunday - I will take the easy route and pick up food after work
Monday and Tuesday will be easy meals from the freezer and Wednesday I shop. I have made good on my "no oven" rule, using it only once a week at most!
Yes...the oven is kind of a foe in the summertime.
M-Baked chicken, salad and fruit
T- Pizza, fruit and ice cream
W- Hot dogs, chips and watermelon
T- Baked spaghetti, salad
F- ?? No idea yet??
Happy Weekend Everyone!!
Monday--my sister in law was over for one last time before she ships out to Japan for three years 🙁 We had Cobb salads, and I made creamy kale pasta for the kids.
Tuesday--Chicken and veggie quesadillas
Wednesday--A combination of leftovers and sandwiches. I had a big pile of roasted sweet potatoes and lightly blanched string beans out of my daddy's garden with a couple of fried eggs on top. I call it southern nasi goreng.
Thursday--Lentil tacos. A lentil dish my husband actually gets excited about.
Friday--probably the last of our jarred taco salads
(It has been a very taco-y week, in other words, absolutely delicious.)
You can NEVER have too many tacos. Never.
Sunday the wife had a bunch of people over because she was making pasta sauce. Since I'm very anti-pasta (there's a pun I would make if I was smarter) I just ate leftover chicken from last week with a tossed salad.
Monday I took the day off from work but sadly it ended up being a wasted day. My wife ate leftovers from the night before and I had a salad with chicken again. (salad is great when the weather is nearing or above 90)
Tuesday we did another hot weather staple and had egg and cheese sandwiches.
Wednesday was a day off and so we took a road trip! We went over 100 miles to our favorite barbecue place and got Cornell style BBQ chicken. My daughter did okay with the trip and only got crabby when we got close to home. This was more a late lunch than a dinner and we just had a small snack when we got home.
Thursday was leftovers from Wednesday's BBQ lunch/dinner.
Friday is Bible study so I have no idea what we're eating but at least I don't have to cook it.
Budget wise, we try to budget $300 for everything including baby formula. Luckily my daughter is really more into solid foods and doesn't want the bottle all that much anymore. We make a lot of our baby food but she does eat some pouches and jars (we try to buy the ones that are minimally processed.) This month we came in just around budget at $260 out of $300. Not the best month but no where near our worst.
That's great. I love the idea of the road trip. Congrats on keeping to your budget.
Monday: we had seared scallops, cheese and garlic mashed potatoes including chopped garlic chives from our garden, sautéed mushrooms, and chopped salad with homemade dressing
Tuesday: That was a big bag of scallops to cook, so on Tuesday, we had scallop quesadillas that included the leftover mushrooms as well. Cottage cheese and fruit on the side for my cottage cheese-crazy husband.
Wednesday: we finished the mashed potatoes (I'd made extra on purpose) with some small steaks and sliced tomatoes.
Thursday: I was gone from home in the evening. My husband had cheese and crackers (his choice) and I had half a deli sandwich purchased at a food co-op.
Friday: I'm thinking some delicious local farm sausages, sautéed greens and maybe beets. Or not. I'll have to see how busy I get. I work half days on Friday and I have a lot of housecleaning to do in the afternoon, since we were out of town last weekend. I'll be babysitting a grandbaby on Saturday, so no house cleaning that day!
I wish I'd been at your house Monday. I love scallops so much.
They were so good! Harvested right here from the Gulf by my daughter and her boyfriend, and he even cleaned them for us. (That's how to please your girlfriend's parents!)
She should never be allowed to break up with him. Hee.
Once again I am struggling. I ate out Wednesday night. Last night we had omelettes. Tonight we had a Thai chicken soup with noodles. I can't remember earlier. It has been a funny week weather wise. It supposed to be winter and we have run the air conditioner for 24 hours straight but now tonight it cool. Yes! The joys of subtropical Australia.
So my meals this week literally look like : Mcdonalds, Mcdonalds, Mcdonalds, Taco Bell, Ramen, Local restaurants, and Chick-fil-A because I can only eat so much Mcdonalds. Obviously, I'm not doing to great on the frugal end, the eating at home end, or the eating healthy end. So instead, I'm going to post my menu for next week-and hopefully next week I can say that I followed it!!!!
Saturday: Chicken quesadillas
Sunday: Taco Soup
Monday: Taco Soup leftovers
Tuesday: Spaghetti
Wednesday: Chicken salads (Mexican themed maybe?)
Thursday: Kielbasa pasta
Friday: Baked chicken and potatoes w/ broccoli or green beans
We got back on track a little more this week. We got good news on the house hunt, so we were feeling happy and motivated, which was a breath of fresh air.
Monday: Farro with asparagus, kale, and hazelnuts. I had mine vegetarian but Mr. Picky Pincher paired his with a salmon filet and it looked beautiful!
Tuesday: Butternut squash soup with grilled cheese. We were able to use up a loaf of bread that was about to go bad, so that was a plus. And since I cooked the soup and froze it over the weekend, all I had to do was defrost soup and make quick grilled cheeses. Ahhhh.
Wednesday: Pulled pork sweet potatoes with broccoli. This is probably my favorite homemade meal. It. is. so. good. And cheap, since sweet potatoes were on sale!
Thursday: Sloppy joes. We needed to use up hamburger buns, so this was the solution. I also cooked these and froze a large batch last weekend. So we'll have a great source of emergency freezer meals now!
Friday: Nachos! We're going to top our nachos with cheese (of course), corn, beans, cilantro, and a spicy avocado crema sauce.
Frugal Girl, I just found you and I love your blog so much.
Can you direct me to a post about how you plan for breakfasts and lunches?
Love your dinners, and am looking for help with the rest 🙂
You are an inspiration to me!
We made your 'deep dish' pizza this week too! Though I think it was 90+ that day, not the best planning but that's what my husband wanted 🙂 Just wanted to say thanks for the recipe, it's becoming a real favorite in our house. Love the crust!
We had pasta with chickpeas and veggies and leftover steak on Sunday, shrimp and veggies over rice on Monday, Tuesday was roasted broccoli and hummus over quinoa. Wednesday I had a work thing, so hit the easy button with frozen mac & cheese and raw veggies. Thursday we had pasta amatriciana; tonight I'm not sure - we have a ton of eggs, so frittata is definitely on the menu this weekend, but I also have a cauliflower to turn into curry (to go with our almost-out-of-date naan bread), so both will happen before Sunday, I'm just not sure which will happen first.
Sunday - out with family, their treat. (My contribution was roundly rejected.)
Monday - I don't remember.
Tuesday - visiting niece picked Tex-Mex and pasta w marinara, for a group of 6. This was a last minute thing: chix simmered in doctored-up jarred salsa (made extra for later), taco shells ~and~ tortilla chips ~and~ romaine + spinach for the base, guac, pico, cilantro, corn, cheese, scallion as toppings. Plus the pasta and jarred marinara. A fridge full of leftovers to add to Sunday's leftovers.
Wednesday - Arroz con Pollo, including most of the marinara for the tomato sauce + oregano.
Thurs - Smorgesborg, aka leftover night. Tex-Mex, pasta, Chinese, a bit of grilled cheese sandwich. A real mishmash.
Fri - I'm not sure yet. Maybe omelets and panko-bacon cauliflower.
Wow, this week is almost too shameful to post. It's just been so hot here in the south that we don't want to eat much, if that makes sense. Also, as soon as we get home from work ,the kids want to jump into the pool so by the time we get through we quickly eat and go to bed. We surely don't want to heat up the kitchen. To add to it, I haven't been to the grocery store in awhile. I am planning to get some fresh fruit and veggies and start off this school year right. School starts next week here. Gosh, I feel like a made a bunch of excuses and I kinda I feel like a failure. Oh well, only leaves room for improvement I guess.
Mon-Grilled Pimemto cheese sandwiches
Tues-Cereal and milk
Wed- Frozen pizzas and some ate grilled pimemto cheese sandwiches
TH- Nothing- we had a late lunch of pizza but I split a klondike bar with my two girls
Friday- unsure yet
Girl, don't be too hard on yourself. Summer is a wonky time, and playing in the pool is something you can't do in the winter anyway. Enjoy the water, and give yourself some grace. Your kids will remember the pool way more than they will the meals you make.
You are right, thanks!
When you make sandwiches or paninis for dinner, does each person eat only one, or do they have 2-3? Asking because my son would eat a panini after dinner without issues, so just one would never work!
That depends upon the person in my family. Joshua can easily eat two and then have a snack later, but he's a 17 year old teenager! Sonia and Zoe definitely only need one, and Lisey's usually good with one too.
We volunteered two nights this week at our county fair, which threw a great big monkey wrench in my meal planning-
M- Roast beef sandwiches with mozzarella and avacado, fruit (car food on our way to the fair!)
T- Cheesy ravioli & Italian sausage bake*, salad, garlic bread
W- Repeat of Monday
Th- Couscous, spinach & pine nut stuffed acorn squash*, salad
Fr- Hubby away out at a volunteer seminar, so Tue leftovers for me!
*ATK Quick Family Cookbook recipes 🙂
I ate out too much this week which was a total budget buster.
Saturday and Sunday: I don't remember-- but I did eat at home.
Monday: I sauteed the last of the chicken sausages with cauliflower rice and ate it with fresh fruit on the side.
Tuesday: Grabbed some KFC because I really wanted fried chicken but never want to go to the trouble of making it for just myself.
Wednesday: belated birthday dinner out - gourmet pizza and salad. My friend and I both have July birthdays so we celebrate on the same night and split the check.
Thursday: left over pizza
Friday: I spent $14 on an awesome sandwich and locally made ice cream with friends at lunch. Then waited too long to make dinner. At 8:00 pm I ran out and picked up a burger. So not a banner day health or budget-wise.
Today I am back in the saddle and have pepper steak bubbling away in the crock pot. Hopefully I can stay on plan the rest of the week.