What I Spent, What We Ate | $199!
What I Spent
I got a Hungry Harvest box for $25 and then I spent $174 at the grocery store.
So, I'm at $199 this week, which makes up for last week's low spending. 😉
January Grocery Spending
Week 2: $199
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I had a date night while the girls were out with some friends.
Sunday
Mr. FG and I tried a chicken caesar salad recipe from a Pioneer Woman cookbook, and it was tasty...we'd make that one again.
Monday
I don't remember exactly why this happened, but dinnertime rolled around with me getting anything prepped.
So.
We had canned soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Fancy? No.
Did everyone get fed? Yes.
Tuesday
I tried a new recipe from the Cook's Country website for grilled shrimp with coconut and mango rice.
We were kind of split on this recipe...some of us liked it, some of us didn't.
Wednesday
I made Aussie chicken, which we ate with steamed broccoli, cream biscuits, and blood oranges.
Thursday
So, I thawed a chicken and was going to make chicken noodle soup.
But Zoe and I had our first actual shift at the cat adoption center, and it took longer than I expected.
Which means that I made buttermilk waffles and bacon for dinner instead of chicken noodle soup. 😉
Friday
I plan to use my thawed chicken to make chicken noodle soup. For real this time. 😉
Tell us about the cat adoption center please. What will you do there?
Zoe and I have a shift once a week where we feed and play with each of the cats there (usually ten total), one at a time. We also clean their cages, empty and change the litter, and help anyone who is interested in adopting a cat.
The best part is playing with the cats, of course. 😉
Of course it is. And maybe your car needs a friend.
Cat, not car. Duh.
Saturday: When I was gone on Friday night, my husband made a stew of a rabbit he had shot, plus carrots, cabbage, and leftover rice, pork, and black-eyed peas from New Year's dinner. It made a huge pot, unsurprisingly, so some of us had it again this night. Others had fried eggs, mashed potatoes, raw radishes and tomatoes.
Sunday: Chicken-fried elk with cream gravy, leftover mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli. Man, it sure is a pain to chicken-fry anything. But my husband loves it so much that I occasionally deal with the irritation and mess.
Monday: Bunless cheeseburgers, fried potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, frozen green peas
Tuesday: Barbecue elk, garlic bread, coleslaw
Wednesday: Elk tacos, leftover coleslaw
Thursday: I used a gift certificate I got from the school I work at for the restaurant in the village. As this is the only restaurant within 60 miles, everyone got either a hamburger or hot dog and french fries, because that's the kind of gourmet fare you can expect when there's no competion. 🙂 We also had some pineapple, which was neither notably good nor notably bad.
Tonight: I have a GIANT shank ham my son begged me to buy when it was on clearance. I dislike grocery store ham, but it was so cheap, I got it anyway. I'm baking it with some rhubarb sauce I canned ages ago that's too sweet for most applications, and I think I'll cook some cranberries my sons also begged me to get. And more potatoes, because we are absolutely drowning in potatoes.
Wow, I loved reading your post! Where do you live? We don't hear about eating rabbit and elk around here (I'm in North Carolina)
I thought it sounded rather exotic, too. However, we regularly have venison since we have 4 hunters in our house. We'd probably have rabbit if it weren't for the fact that rabbits are my daughters absolutely favorite animal, and life just would not go on if her brothers brought any home.
Very rural northern New Mexico. Though we also ate "exotic" foods when we lived in New York State, because my husband is a hunter/trapper/shepherd, and our eldest son is following in his footsteps. I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't sometimes much rather just open a package of chicken breasts than trim any more elk meat, but I'd also be lying if I said that I would be happy to pay for 200 pounds of meat at a store to replace the elk meat my son brought home. 🙂
https://ediblealaska.ediblecommunities.com/recipes/moose-crostata Just in case you are tired of old tried and true elk recipes, this is a recipe that has worked with moose, yak and bison, so might do well with bison.
"tried and true elk recipes" are not a thing I am familiar with. lol
Always so fascinating to hear what you ate!!
Dinner this week was very low-key this week but at least we always had a warm lunch. I thawed some dishes I had prepared some time ago.
Sunday: My mother came for a visit and we made a pork belly roast, dumplings and a creamy cabbage dish.
Monday - Wednesday: fresh bread, cheese, cold cuts and grape tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots.
Thursday: potatoes, roasted carrots and a sour cream dip with dill.
Friday: we will go out to our favourite Lebanese restaurant
Monday - Broccoli cheddar soup and french bread
Tuesday - Vegetarian chili mac (surprisingly good) and garlic bread (from the leftover french bread)
Wednesday - Turkey (at Thanksgiving they were 33 cents a pound and I got quite a few), sweet potatoes, broccoli with cheese. Also, I always make my turkeys in an 18 quart roaster oven I have and I decided to try making stock in the roaster too, which turned out to be AWESOME! I think I got something like 34 cups of stock and it looks beautiful. The turkey half pays for itself in the stock!
Thursday - Tried a new recipe called Baked Chicken Jambalaya. It was unlike any jambalaya I've ever had (why was there no Cajun seasoning?) but everyone liked it. It was beef smoked sausage, chicken (or in our case turkey), and veggies covered in mozzarella cheese and baked, then served over bowtie pasta.
Friday - We will either do turkey tacos or turkey burrito bowls. It may be dependent upon whether or not I can get rice made after school.
That sounds like a neat volunteer job, except for having to leave them there when you go home. 🙁
I pushed the easy button on supper last night -- frozen pizza for him, leftovers for me.
However, I did cook this week. I put a roast in the pressure cooker and cooked it with carrots, white sweet potatoes (some white sweet potatoes are less sweet, which is what I wanted here), onions, garlic, and mushrooms. We had that twice, along with some sauteed squash.
Chili (store bought, I confess, but it was on sale at least) for him, homemade stir fry for me.
Steak and salad -- he really looks forward to steak on Fridays, so we usually have that.
Wings and cut up celery, carrots and cucumbers.
Nothing very involved, and the roast was cooked on the weekend. My grocery budget didn't go down -- my husband's refusal to eat the delivered meals from the senior center is costing us, unhappily. I still have to buy for us both, because I never know when he will eat the delivered meals. I may have to stop them, but my goal was to get him something he could heat and eat for lunch, which he did for a short while. For some reason, they started delivering two meals for each day, so I have a stack of uneaten ones in the freezer, and they all have ingredients (such as flour, tomatoes or peppers) that I shouldn't eat. I'm making one more serious attempt to get him to eat them for lunch, and if that doesn't work, I'll stop them permanently. I currently have them on pause. I hate wasting food, even if we didn't pay for it. Our tax dollars paid for them, and throwing out good food that's gone bad just kills me.
Aw I love the volunteering venture! Yay cats! I've been meaning to do something like that for years; the shelters need so much help. Need to just do it; there's no "perfect" time.
Monday- the final New Year's leftovers... they're finally gone! The Pyrex dishes are empty and washed and I can finally see the back of my fridge.
Tuesday- I made stuffed pepper soup with a bunch of random stuff I had frozen. Turned out delicious for just winging it! My little ones even had seconds and thirds!
Wednesday- chicken tenderloins made in the crockpot, cooked with onions, garlic, potatoes, and carrots. This made dinner easy since I had to go to a church meeting at 6:00 which is when we eat dinner. So hubby just plated it all up and fed the girls without me.
Thursday- Wednesday's leftovers
Friday- we were set to have our anniversary at-home-date-night tonight, but plans with the kiddos changed a little so I think we will be doing the date night tomorrow instead. Tonight we will probably have grilled cheese with tomato, and a big salad to use up quite a bit of lettuce that's patiently waiting in the crisper drawer.
Yes! The one we are volunteering at seems to frequently need volunteers...it seems like sometimes people volunteer and then don't show up, so if you are a faithful person, they will love you. : )
We had to put down our kitty last fall and I'm kind of Jonesing for another one. Your adorable pictures don't help, lol!
In my area there is an awesome rescue place that takes animals out of shelters, brings them to their facility and gets them adopted. When I was in the carpet business, I regularly dropped off discontinued carpet samples. It's also a great place to pass on old blankets and towels.
A friend of mine has three young boys. She does a different activity with each of them for quality, (and inexpensive) one-on-one time. She and her middle son go to this facility once a week and visit all the cats and dogs. He knows each of them by name.
Recently, I had a chance to meet and chat with the Executive Director of this organization. I mentioned the little boy's name and her eyes lit up. "Oh, we love him!" We agreed that it's a super cool thing for mom and young boy to do together.
Or for a mom and a medium-sized girl to share together. Good for you!
Yep, exactly! It's a great thing for Zoe and me to do together.
M - Cabbage and onions cooked with turkey sausages, roasted carrots and wheat rolls
T - Pot Roast with all the veggies, sliced apples
W - Baked drumsticks, squash, string beans, fruit
Th - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas, fruit
F - Pizza, salad
S - Dinner out
Su - Beef shepherd's pie topped with garlic cheese biscuits, curried hot fruit
It has been a strange week. Doctors appointments and surgery for mum and a shoulder treatment for me. I have tried my best and pulled meals I had made from the freezer.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday- chicken salads
Thursday and Friday- sesame chicken with broccoli and brown rice
Total spent was about $85 in groceries for the week.
Saturday & Sunday: In NYC for work
Monday & Tuesday: hamburger stroganoff & salad
Wednesday: ate at work, which was chicken and dumpling soup
Thursday: fast food fail
Friday: summer squash and broccoli fritters with yogurt sauce, chicken sausages and a giant salad
Saturday: out to dinner with friends
Love the kitty pictures! I've sort of wanted a second cat, but I don't think our kitty would adapt well. And we are having a baby so there's that.
I am such a lazy cook anymore. But one benefit of living alone is no one really cares.
Sunday - cheese, crackers and fruit. Then later I had a bowl of cottage cheese.
Monday - I picked up a burger on the way home from work.
Tuesday - I made a breakfast burrito for dinner.
Wednesday - I made pork chops in the air fryer. (This was the first "real" food I made in the air fryer. Until then I had only made French fries) Had salad and applesauce with the pork chops.
Thursday - Birthday dinner for a friend and PF Changs.
Friday - I had a big lunch so made do with a bowl of Cheerios for dinner. So fancy.
I think I would be pretty lazy if I lived alone too! I'd probably just eat toast, fried eggs, and veggies.
Nothing "wow" this week but everyone was fed.
Monday- chicken tater tot casserole in the crockpot
Tuesday- meatloaf
Wednesday- kilbasa and the rest of the bag of tots
Thursday- ham and pepper omelettes
Friday- Johnnie Mac
Not sure what is on the menu for the weekend.
And that's what's important! You fed your people.
My frugal tip for this week probably came from you originally: you can restore mascara with the addition of a few drops of saline. After I read that I tried to find some at the drug store, but there were no small bottles. A few days later while continuing to think about the solution, I realized it was literally right under my nose. I keep saline nasal spray in my medicine cabinet. A few drops of that into the mascara tube, gets rid of the clumps and makes the mascara feel like new. I have done this more than once to the same expensive department store mascara!
Yay! I'm so glad the saline trick is working for you.
This week I made a chopped turkey meat loaf w/roasted potatoes & salad. risotto w/mushrooms& salad. Honey mustard chicken and roasted veggies. Always a dessert too! We usually go out once a wk. I need a break!
Monday - Philly Cheesesteaks
Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie
Wednesday - Hamburgers and french fries
Thursday - Chicken salad sandwiches
Friday - Spaghetti and meatballs
Saturday - Sandwiches
Sunday - Bean Soup
I am very late to the party but here goes
- Braised seasoned ground beef & vegies with pasta - made a large pan ate for four nites
- one nite steamed 2 dim sims ( lrg beef & cabbage dumplings) in the microwave , sliced in half & put btwn bread
- made me & my sis toasted cheese & ham sandwiches
- sis cooked me us a chicken mushroom filo each she bought
- sis made a new dish of cauli rice & vegies with some fried haloumi topped with cooked lamb gyros she got at the fish n chip shop - was really good
- tonight I finished work late so I got a roast chicken & ate the legs & wings with some steamed vegies & I will make a chicken noodle salad for lunch 2moro, some sandwiches for the freezer & use the rest to make a chicken veg risotto which I can freeze in portions
Aw, that was a great reason to not make soup -- the pictures are adorable!
A salad of romaine lettuce, sauteed chicken, mandarins, dried cranberries with honey mustard dressing.