What I Spent, What We Ate
What I Spent
It was pretty quiet on the grocery shopping end of things this week. I did get a produce box delivery for $34.
And if you follow me on Instagram, you know I got right on that box with a plan for using what came in it.
August Spending
Week 1: $252
Week 2: $140
Week 3: $34
What We Ate
Normally, I have photos in my blog gallery that I can drop into my menu posts. But this week, I have almost none to share because I mostly made meals I haven't photographed.
Apologies for the un-colorful text-heavy menu plan!
Monday
I made some glazed and grilled pork chops, and I cannot for the life of me remember what we had with them.
Hmm.
Oh, I remember that we had cornbread. But the produce end of things escapes me.
Tuesday
Taco salad! This is a one-dish meal, but we did have some peaches on the side.
Wednesday
My original dinner plan didn't come together for a number of reasons, and at 6:00, I still wasn't sure what to make!
So, I thawed and steamed some shrimp, made a pot of mashed potatoes, and cut up some raw fruits and veggies.
(Since Zoe is allergic to shrimp, she ate ham, which was also thawed from the freezer.)
Thursday
We ate in shifts due to conflicting evening schedules. The kids ate French toast earlier, and then later, Mr. FG and I ate chicken/bacon wraps.
Friday
It's gonna be a pizza night.
___________________
I love having freezer meals on standby--they definitely save a lot of weeknight meals!
Here's our menu for the week:
Monday: Hot pepper roast beef sandwiches. The surprise here was that I finally realized that I hate roast beef. But Mr. Picky Pincher seemed to enjoy the sandwiches.
Tuesday: Bean and cheese nachos with homemade yogurt crema
Wednesday: Asian chicken soup. Poor Mr. Picky Pincher put all this work into the soup, and it just wasn't very flavorful. Since it was 7 pm and we were hungry and tired, we opted for fast food fried chicken. I made sure to save half of my chicken meal for lunch on Thursday.
Thursday: Prosciutto-wrapped chicken with carrot/onion ragout and polenta. This was our fancy meal for the week! I gotta say, it was pretty tasty! It didn't taste like I thought it would, but it was still pretty good.
Friday: We're babysitting our nephew tonight, which means we get free pizza!
Last week, I baked from scratch, of course, apple cake, kind-of for the first time. Needed a change from apple-pie. Apples' used were from friend, Francois apple tree. Apples were basically red with tinge of yellow and green-kind of stripes. PERHAPS, someone knows the type of apple? Please comment. Cake was a little on the tart side as I used less sugar, one egg rather than two eggs', plus tablespoon of corn oil with two tablespoons' of H2O.
Nice weather here in Vancouver BC, for tourists coming north of the 49th parallel to. Your USA dollar goes farther here.
Cheers,
Richard Zorniak
Let's see... Monday was honey garlic chicken, with parsley red potatoes and a veggie I can't recall!
Tuesday, Crockpot cheesy tortellini with salad and garlic bread
Wednesday, leftovers
Thursday, I had some pizza from the freezer, hubby had leftovers again!
Tonight: I'm thinking Pioneer Womzn's "Cowboy Sandwich" unless I cave and pick up Subway instead.
Ended up not doing either one. Made tuna salad and served on toasted brioche buns from Aldi, with chips on the side.
This week hasn't been exactly frugal for us but it's the end of summer and we're not hurting so we're okay.
Monday: Got a pizza from a local pizzeria for $8. Pizzeria is also a fun word to say but annoying to spell.
Tuesday: Oven baked "fried" chicken strips, rice and salad. We breaded chicken strips (that we cut from breasts) and baked them. We dipped them in wing sauce but my 10 month old ate them plain.
Wednesday: I was working overtime so I packed a sandwich, chips, cottage cheese and raw veggies.
Thursday: Wife and I went to see Mothra so as is tradition for these types of things, we went to Ruby Tuesday and used a coupon.
Friday: Bible study tonight but since I might be working late again and my wife is working tonight we may not go. So it's a play by ear kind of thing.
I had a meal plan all ready to go...and life happened. We didn't stick to it one bit. And although I hit the easy button every night this week and made simple meals...we did NOT eat out once 🙂
Monday - Breakfast for dinner...scrambled eggs and some toast
Tuesday - French bread pizzas
Wednesday - Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with some homemade applesauce
Thursday - rigatoni with some freshly made pasta sauce from our garden tomatoes
Friday - tonight we are bowling with friends - so this dinner out is planned!
You may have addressed this before...but do you have a plan of attack for the weekends? We try to just eat what's left in the fridge on Sundays.
Mr. FG and I usually have a date night, takeout or otherwise, and the other night usually ends up being a snacky sort of affair.
Yay for easy button nights...so much cheaper than takeout!
We are back on track after eating out a lot!
Monday- Baked chili, brown sugar salmon, potatoes, and green beans
Tuesday-Lemon pepper chicken and rice bake with a lemony butter sauce and roasted cabbage
Wednesday--BBQ chicken thighs, roasted carrots, and diced seasoned roasted potatoes.
Thursday-Baked pork chops breaded in seasoned bread crumbs with broccoli, rice, and cheese casserole.
Friday-?
This is the first week, in several, that we have ate mostly healthy meals. I am patting myself on the back for getting out of my slump and still having time to spend with my girl's in the pool after school.
I'm still dawdling on weekly meal planning (my planning is informal: listing dishes to cook at some point). Meals this week have included:
- Sunday: spare ribs, broccoli, strawberries
- Monday: lamb chops, cherries, and carrots & tomatoes
- Tuesday: dumplings, tomatoes, fruit smoothies
- Wednesday: I went straight from work, to grocery store, to sewing class; bought supermarket sushi
- Thursday: leftover Tea Smoked Chicken, carrots, frozen fruit pops
- Friday: pork chops, salad, and not sure about fruit (all out of fresh fruit)
Haven't decided for the weekend yet. Ideally I figure these things out on Saturday morning.
One thing is going to involve ground beef. In the interests of restocking my freezer with Happy Meat that doesn't break the bank, I've been reading the weekly circular from Whole Paycheck every week. This week they're selling organic, pastured-centered 93% lean ground beef for $6/lb. !!! In my area, that's a great price for pasture-raised cow and usually you have to buy a large section of cow to get it. They're pre-formed patties in a conveniently stackable box, meaning I can fit more into the freezer. I bought 17 lbs and am wondering if I should buy more.
Monday: Sausage & Pepper & Onions with a side of left over white rice
Tuesday: Taco's with all the fixings, Refried Beans and Spanish Rice
Wednesday: Left Overs
Thursday: Grilled BBQ Chicken, Grilled Onions & Hot Peppers and Mashed Potatoes
Friday: English Muffin Pizza
Let's see:
Monday - oven baked chicken risotto (leftovers)
Tuesday - tacos (meat from freezer) with homemade guacamole (
Wednesday - chicken fried rice & edamame (leftovers)
Thursday - enchiladas (freezer) with guac & chips
Friday - huh. I haven't decided yet, but am leaning towards burgers + peach mozzarella/basil salad on the side
We ate like kids this week, haha:
1) leftover bbq pork mixed into a batch of red beans and served over spaghetti ("Cincinnati style") with coleslaw on the side
2) beanie-weanie, boxed mac and cheese, coleslaw, sauteed squash from the garden, and green beans
3) sauerkraut soup with Ritz crackers
My "weeks" are generally Wednesday through Tuesday since I grocery shop on Wednesdays. So far for this "week" we've had:
Wed: Teriyaki chicken meatballs with caramelized onions and jasmine rice
Thursday: Pasta w/tomato sauce
Friday: Rotisserie chicken w/ ???
These are all meals that I can serve because of a new Costco membership! I still have plenty for next week!
Question: how did you thaw your shrimp so quickly? Is it raw? The kind I have currently says it needs to be defrosted in the fridge, and that take hours, which doesn't usually work since I tend to be very forgetful about that type of thing! I'd love any suggestions you have to make it speedier as shrimp is one of my husband's favorites.
I dumped the shrimp into a bowl of water and let them sit while I heated up the steaming water. They weren't completely thawed by the time I dumped them into the pot, but they finished thawing in the steam, and then cooked.
I defrost mine in hot water.
When the frozen shrimp first hit the hot water, they make the hot water cold. One or two more bowls of hot water will defrost them enough to be steamed, boiled, or sautéed.
Monday - went to the grocery store since we had been traveling. So we pushed the easy button and ate fried egg sandwiches (when I'm feeling blah about my fried egg sandwich, I put some sriracha on - it's great!)
Tuesday - we both ate salad at a restaurant where we met for Church Group
Wednesday - hubs caught some trout on a deeps sea fishing excursion, so we cut small filets, dipped it in butter and Zatarain's fish blackening seasoning, and pan fried them on high heat to make fish tacos! They were great!
Thursday - leftover fish tacos
Friday - we will probably grab a burger on the road as we travel to visit family this weekend
I can't help thinking that produce box seems rather expensive for what you get, but you really like it. Why is that?
The main reason I like it is that we end up eating more produce than we would otherwise. I probably wouldn't buy collard greens and kale very often, for example, but when they come in my produce box, I dutifully use them up in my smoothies. I also like that we sometimes get weird and interesting stuff that's not available at Aldi.
I like supporting a small, local business too.
It's only every other week, so the cost over a course of a month isn't bad. And even with the produce box, I'm averaging $150/week so far this year for feeding 6 people, so I feel like I'm not really going overboard. 😉
Monday we travelled to Saratoga Springs for a concert -- stopping at Aldi on the way for picnic fixings since US Customs frowns on Canadians bringing in fresh food. We had cheese and crackers, green grapes, dry roasted peanuts, pretzel sticks (road food also), and baby carrots on SPAC's lawn, with leftovers for lunch on the road the next day. We had a Groupon for supper in Kingston, ON Tuesday night. Wednesday was grilled sausage on buns with garden salad (first one with everything from the garden!), Thursday hubby made us "gourmet mac'n'cheese", which for us is macaroni, ham, whatever veg we have on hand, and assorted cheeses. Tonight is pizza with homemade sauce, leftover grilled sausage, peppers, and mushrooms, probably on the grill.
The DH was out of town all week. That's always when I get to eat the veggies he doesn't like (it's just the two of us - seems like a waste to cook a variety when he's home).
Monday - A taco salad and chips after band rehearsal
Tuesday - Rotisserie chicken (from Sams Club), leftover rice, cantaloupe
Wednesday - Frozen veggie pizza, "souped up" with rotisserie chicken
Thursday - Yet more rotisserie chicken, with broccoli & green peppers
Friday - I'll be making something (as yet to be determined), since it's unknown if the DH will be home early enough for dinner.
This week has been a frustrating hassle/mess. We got 8 inches of rain, which deposited ankle-deep water in the basement - which is FIVE rooms. With the DH out of town, I was overwhelmed. This morning, things look good - but now it's thundering and raining again. NOOO! That being said, I have nothing to whine about. I'm praying for the people of Louisiana.
Oh my goodness. The flooding in your house sounds terrible.
These things always happen when the other adult in the house is out of town, don't they??
Do you make or purchase pizza sauce? I used to get mine at Sam's club snack bar, but they won't sell them anymore. 🙁 Been trying other recipes and brands, but not been happy with any of them. Thx!
I usually use the sauce from Aldi, in the glass jars.
If the sauce you're using is too watery, have you tried draining it through a fine mesh sieve briefly? That really helps to thicken up the sauce (and I think thicker sauce is usually better for pizza).
We don't have an Aldi here Boo! I agree on the thicker pizza sauce being better, but the problem is the flavor. My hubby doesn't like heavy garlic--crazy, I know. I've tried several recipes but he has vetoed them all. It may be like my taco seasoning--he just needs to get used to it. I'll keep trying and looking. Thanks for the reply! Love your blog and cheerful outlook on life. Keep it up!!
I'm about to start re-stocking my freezer after six months, so my grocery bill is about to go UP.
We had:
Slow cooked round steak, rice and a couple of veggies that I can't remember.
Chicken and rice soup from homemade stock, leftover chicken and leftover rice, plus veggies on hand.
Squash, acre peas, and smoked bacon chunks (ends, from an organic farm). No cornbread because I'm out of cornmeal.
Sloppy joes made with home canned tomato sauce, with a chopped salad, using ingredients I had growing or in the frig.
Tonight? Um, it may be sloppy joe leftovers.
Every week I think the following thing, but never ask, so now I'm going to: with that many people in your household, do you really only make ONE little pizza? We only have one kid and we would make twice that much!!
Nope, that's just a photo of one pizza! Depending on how many of us are here, I make 3-4 pizzas.
Phew!! 😉
I didn't wind up making everything I planned so there were some oddball meals. And the beginning of my week was a lot of leftovers as usual:
Saturday: I wasn't feeling great and just had some cottage cheese and fruit for dinner.
Sunday: I had people over for grilled burgers, deviled eggs, green salad and fresh fruit. A guest brought potato salad.
Monday/Tuesday: left over burgers and salad.
Wednesday: Homemade mushroom and olive pizza with green salad.
Thursday: Not that hungry so just cheese and crackers and fruit.
Friday: I dunno. It will depend on what I can scrounge up.
I have been racking my brain trying to remember our meals! 😉
M: steak, potatoes and garden zuke and beans
T: pasta w/ meat sauce and garden veggies
W: take-out sandwiches for hubby and me [he insisted!] - keftovers for lunch the next day; kids ate at a friends' house so we didn't have to buy sandwiches for the whole clan
R: rotisserie chicken, open faced tomato/basil/mozz bread and garden zuke and beans [there is a theme here...]
Fri plan: shrimp and grits with...wait for it....garden veggies (diced tomatoes and swiss chard this time!) and watermelon.
Hi Kristen,
The previous week we had a few leftovers to "finish up" which I love, it means a night off cooking. My menu runs Wednesday to Tuesday, and this is how it went
Wednesday- left over curried coconut pumpkin soup
Thursday- pizza night
Friday- leftovers from Hubbys 50 th birthday dinner (Tuesday, earlier that week)
Saturday- spiced roast chicken with mandarin sauce
Sunday-moussaka
Monday- tempura whiting with basmati rice and Asian greens
Tuesday- chickpea and chorizo pot pies with steamed broccoli
And for this current week
Wednesday- steamed coral trout with basmati rice and Asian greens
Thursday- you guessed it, pizza night
Friday-BBQ pork steak with broccoli salad
Saturday (today) pumpkin, feta and silverbeet parcels with potato bake and steamed greens
Sunday- chicken and mushrooms pasta bake
Monday- tempura whiting, rice and Asian greens
Tuesday- using up any leftovers
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Fi
PS, I also do a weekly "what we bought, spent and ate" diary, with photos, if you want to have a look.
Do you have a blog/website???
As usual I am trying to remember and to be extra good about eating at home. Sunday night was roasted chicken and Monday night was chicken a la king (cooked by Miss Pip). Tuesday was scratch around and eat left overs. Wednesday night Miss Bethany came to dinner and she has decided to eat vegan. So it was tandoori chicken, salads and rice for us and I made her some tofu on sticks for her protein....it was awful. Thursday saw me pulling an ancient roast lamb out of the freezer and doing that with all the English fixings. Friday was burgers. I have dived into the freezer and found a small eye fillet to eat over the weekend but don't have plans for it yet.
The freezers have developed a few small holes but I have replaced them as I found Australia's best organic chicken thighs on brilliant markdown. So I mixed another tandoori paste and popped them marinaded in the freezer for a later date. Pleasingly I managed to stick to my buying plans except for the chicken and the fact that I forgot to write bread on the list.
We had a very inexpensive shopping week as well - $59.17 for two adults. My method is to do the bulk of my shopping at Sprouts (produce, nuts & beans), then Trader Joes for staples, then I hit one or two 'normal' markets for sale items only. This week that meant strawberries for $1.50 at one market, and 'good' bread for $1.88 at another. I enjoy playing the savings game, and over time it does have a dramatic impact on our spend.
What we ate:
Mon - Butternut squash & pancetta risotto, salad, garlic bread
Tue - Chicken Pomodoro*, salad, yellow squash
Wed - Veggie burgers, sauteed sweet potatoes, salad
Thur -- Turkey pot pie (the last of the Thanksgiving turkey, finally!), salad
Fri - Made Strawberry margaritas, chips & guacamole to serve friends as our 'starter,' then out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.
Monday we had 1 pan balsamic chicken with asparagus and cherry tomatoes over cauliflower rice (my 1st time attempting to rice cauliflower and it was awesome!)
Tuesday - taco's with left over frozen taco meat from my daughters grad party and corn on the cob
Wednesday - hubs was traveling so the boys and I had a whatever night. They are 13 and 20 totally capable of making a sandwich
Thursday night marinated grilled pork chops, baked potatoes, and roast broccoli (tried it with frozen this time because that's what I had on hand and it was good)
Friday night hubs and I went to a local brewery and home brew shop for happy hour/supply pick up and brought pizza and bread sticks home. spent about 10 on pizza and sticks, but totally worth it!
Saturday went to a friends 50th bday celebration and ate probably the best lasagna I've had in my life. I need that recipe!
As for tonight the hubby is brewing beer on the patio so we will most likely grill burgers and try to eat veggies and perishables from fridge as we are leaving for our daughters Navy boot camp grad on Wed.!!!
Not certain how much we spent, I have to track better ;(