What I Spent, What We Ate
What I Spent
I spent $148 on groceries in what may have been the most haphazard week ever of grocery shopping. That's because I apparently stopped at the grocery store six times.
Geez.
I didn't even realize it was that many times until I added up my receipts.
(a $32 trip to Aldi)
Oh well. Sometimes you have organized weeks and sometimes, you decidedly don't. No big deal.
I also got a produce box, which was $32.
So my total for the week is $180.19.
What We Ate
Monday
I made a mandarin chicken salad and we had a batch of no-knead batter rolls on the side.
Tuesday
Mr. FG and Joshua were gone, and the girls and I opted to have buttermilk waffles topped with whipped cream and strawberries.
Wednesday
I made Pad Thai and we had applesauce too.
Thursday
I grilled some pork chops, cooked up some jasmine rice, and cut up some veggies and fruit (because that is about how much energy I had for interesting side dishes!)
Friday
I think we're gonna switch things up tonight and have BLTs instead of pizza.
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What did you eat this week?
Our week and food hasn't been great. This mumma is sick again.
We have had steak sandwiches, chicken with chickpeas and salsa, chicken and brown rice, sushi and beef noodle soup and whatever else I could think of at the time. I am trying to eat down fridge, freezer and pantry.
I look forward to learning from the other posts and am eager to try the chicken manadarin salad
I've had an aggravating shopping week, too. Trip #1 was because I was at a store nearby so I jumped in for produce. Trip #2 was because I didn't have the shopping list with me for Trip #1. Trip #3 is because there's something I didn't put on the shopping list, that I need before Sunday.
BTW, cutting up some veggies and fruit is normal procedure for my dinners. It's a lot easier and just as popular and anything more fancy. Or I'll steam broccoli, or pan-brown cauliflower with panko & bacon. (Which started life as a CI pasta recipe but, IMHO, it's better as a veggie dish than a pasta topping.)
Ooh, I'm still trying to perfect my Pad Thai recipe. Would you mind sharing your recipe, please?
I was going to ask the same thing!
I can't stop being surprised at the tiny amount of food you buy. I know it is not all shown here...but even when it is!! I have three sons, 14, 11 and 8, and they eat so much. SO MUCH. It is primarily produce because they all love fruit and the oldest eats salad every day by choice but STILL. I have to buy 12 lbs of apples per week just to keep up. That is just in apples! At least six bunches of bananas, two large tubs of spinach, two heads of romaine, a couple of bags of peaches or pears, depending on season. They will each eat a whole tub of berries in one go. Nearly 20 years of frugality means we have no debt, including the house, so groceries are far and away our biggest expense. You can see why. lol
Oh yeah, I imagine it's crazy with three boys! Mr. FG and I don't seem to be people with huge appetites/metabolisms and I think we have perhaps passed that on to our kids, because I know they do seem to eat less than some other kids their age.
But hey, feeding your hungry kids with healthy food is such a great way to spend your money, and I don't think you should feel guilty at all about it!
I agree. We feel that it is money well-spent.
This week I have been uninspired, and struggled to find ideas for meals. I can't remember the order exactly but starting Sunday night we had:
Locally raised pork chops, grilled, with roasted beets and sautéed spinach.
Hamburgers with sliced raw veggies
Pork chops, fried (it was a package of four huge chops that all had to be thawed at once. ) I am a total blank as to the sides but I know we ate something besides fried meat.
Tacos (the rest of the burger)
And for the grand finale to "a lotta pork" week, smoked, no nitrite/nitrate bacon ends fried, and added to summer squash and onions, along with acre peas, and sliced tomatoes.
As my son gets older, we seem to get take-out more often. We won't get home from today's cross country meet until close to midnight (blanket & pillow in the car for my teenager). I work full time & have one teenager. How do you cook everyday when you have 3 kids. Aren't you running around everyday with activities?
I actually have four kids. 🙂 But Joshua, the oldest, can drive himself now! And Lisey has a job very close to home, so it's pretty easy to run her to work and back and still cook.
We do martial arts, but since we homeschool, that class is during the day and doesn't affect dinner. And Sonia and Zoe do ballet, but the class ends at dinnertime, so as long as I prep early, we can eat when we get home.
If we didn't homeschool, though, it would definitely be a lot harder to make dinner happen! I don't know what I'd do in your situation, other than packing a cold meal ahead of time. Midnight is tough!
This week we spent $101.29.....Not horrible, but a little more than I wanted to spend.
Monday i grilled a pork tenderloin, served with grilled, baked potatoes & fresh string green beans.
Tuesday was strip steaks with green beans, salad and another side that i can't remember.
Wednesday was taco salads
Thursday was goulash with deer burger/sausage and salad and garlic cheese toast made out of hamburger buns I wanted to use up.
Tonight....havent' decided yet.
Saturday will be leftovers and fend for yourself since it'll only be half the crew.
Sunday we are working at our church's festival & they give all the workers vouchers for food, so we will eat something there.
Let's see...
Monday - BBQ pulled pork with corn on the cob and roasted potatoes
Tuesday - Zucchini Lasagna pulled from the freezer because we had back to school night
Wed - Italian sandwich take-out from a local spot -- worth it!
Thursday - Kielbasi with asparagus and roasted potatoes.
Friday - Tonight is going to be chicken soup in the Instant Pot. The bone broth is being made now, so this will come together quickly. Am also making Butternut Squash Biscuits to go w/ it with a big pat of butter. 🙂
We were gifted some produce from a gardener friend. Monday with pasta with leftover chicken and sautéed fresh veggies. And of course a little Parmesan. Tuesday we grads some pork barbecue out of the fridge and had that with a salad. On Wednesday the hubs made roasted carrots and potatoes and a Trader Joe's marinated chicken. Last night we went out for tacos and good conversation, and tonight I threw Some pork, ginger, soy sauce, and broccoli in a pan. Done.
Last weekend I found a recipe on skinny taste.com for chicken, green beans, and bacon. I sept turkey cutlets and it was delicious.
Kristen----- that is only one trip to the grocery for each person in your household! I have had more trips in a really crazy week and only five of us here, you are ok!! lol
M- Lasagna, salad
T- Turkey sausage biscuits, scrambled eggs, sliced fruit salad
W-Turkey hot dogs, beans, coleslaw, fruit
T- Chicken baked, noodles, peas, yellow squash, ice cream
F- Fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, ice cream
I have been sick this week. It hasn't been the healthiest, but we managed to eat at home.
Monday - chicken nuggets with fruits and veggies
Tuesday - my son's first day of preschool and he requested homemade Mac and cheese. We had fresh veggies and fruit
Wednesday - leftover macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets
Thursday - pork tenderloin with oven roasted potatoes and fresh corn on the cob
Friday - lots of fresh veggies, edamame from our CSA, grapes and a variety for the "main event" for all of us - my daughter and I had tuna melt, my son had a cheese and chicken quesadilla, and my husband had leftover pork tenderloin
I saw in one of your pictures a package of strawberries. Are they reasonably priced where you live this time of year? Strawberries are past their season where I live in Nova Scotia and so they are off my shopping list. I have been trying to save money by not buying out of season except for the necessities to eat healthily, but it is hard at times when a recipe calls for something. Celery, for example, was almost 6 dollars a bunch last winter - needless to say I left it out of my chicken soup. This summer, when I see fresh local produce, I am freezing what I can in anticipation of the cold weather and high prices to come!
At Aldi, they are still quite affordable, yes! Aldi tends to carry them in late spring, early fall, and summer, but not so much in the wintertime. So, while Aldi has them, I buy them. In the winter, I pretty much just depend on the frozen strawberries from Costco.
$6 a bunch for celery is crazy! It must be hard to keep your grocery bill down with prices like that.
I feel for you. In my part of Australia good food is not cheap. This week I had to buy celery. The bunches were slimy and grey at $4. That was a no go. The half bunches were the same price and not better. I could buy 6 or 7 short sticks in a packet that were not great but better. They weighed in at about 250g and were over $4. Finally I found 4 lone sticks in a box selling at $8 a kg. I took the best 2 home. I have to shop seasonally or it is beyond crazy.
I was a bit over budget this week but oh well. I will try to buy less this week to balance it out. I ate at home every night but had 2 unplanned lunches out so not the most frugal week. Also not the healthiest.
Saturday - bacon, eggs and toast
Sun/Mon/Tues - chicken pasta with sun dried tomato and mozzarella sauce and green salad.
Wed - "breakfast" sandwich (fried egg, bacon and cheese on an english muffin.)
Thurs. - Tuna on toast with roasted corn and an orange
Fri. - Maybe tuna on toast again. At this point I may just skip it since it is after 8:00 p.m. and I am not particularly hungry.
Without a doubt additional trips to get groceries equates to an increased spend here.
I'm back to meal planning (it took a back seat over the summer holidays with us being out of routine) but had been popping by every day or so as I ran out of items (not good).
Here's hoping this means a reduction in spend, but as I'm intending on spending more time in the kitchen making from scratch this should also have a positive impact on our spend!
I did not buy groceries at all last week, as we were gone part of the week. I did give our adult son who lives with us (he's in college) some money to buy microwave-friendly stuff for while we were away.
This week, I spent $85 on people food and $11 on cat food. Last week I made a chicken-pasta-veggie soup from frozen leftovers and the last-ofs from the freezer. That lasted four days and was very yummy. This week I'm making beef-barley soup for the Mister, who is sick with a virus, and took some frozen red beans, frozen quinoa and frozen veggies and turned them into a delicious supper dish for myself. We still have some frozen roast chicken and leftover frozen brown rice to turn into a meal to finish using the Fabulous Freezer Finds. 🙂
Oh my gosh, those waffles look heavenly! I'd love to get a waffle maker once we have more room. 🙂
This week we ate:
Monday: Thai curry cauliflower with soft boiled eggs.
Tuesday: We were going to cook adobo street tacos, but instead got Raising Cane's while doing house renovations. Oops!
Wednesday: Aaaand the plan here was to have corn soup with a poblano puree, but we got Papa John's instead. It was a busy week; give me some slack here. 😉
Thursday: We ate faro with kale, walnuts, and asparagus. It was delicious, but I should have eaten more of it to fill up.
Friday: I visited my dad and had Red Robin. Yum!
If you wait until you have room...
I shop on Fridays, so from last Friday:
Friday: Pizza - we make homemade pizza every Friday, cheese for the kids, and B and I switch it up for us
Saturday: Baked chicken, oven fries, and broccoli
Sunday: Split pea soup, no-knead bread (kind of like your batter rolls, only a bit more flour and baked in a 10" cake pan), cheddar cheese, plus ice cream for Sundaes on Sunday, another weekly tradition!
Monday: Spaghetti with homemade meat sauce (I make a sort of bolognese with carrots, onion, garlic, spices, canned tomatoes, and red wine, puree it, then add cooked ground beef from the freezer), bread, salad
Tuesday: Tacos with the Pioneer Woman homemade taco seasoning (I add 1/2 tsp corn starch), black beans, guacamole
Wednesday: Leftovers (I plan a leftover night into every week, and if we don't have enough leftovers, I make breakfast for dinner)
Thursday: Kids' nature-oriented Montessori school is having a bonfire/cookout to celebrate the Fall Equinox tonight, so we're going there and bringing Chocolate Covered Katie's Healthy Cookie Dough Dip and apple slices
B is going to Germany for a month for work, leaving on Saturday, so we're on our own for a while! I planned some of our favorite easy meals I can make without thinking too much so I can try to be more present with the kids when dad's away. I'm also switching from part-time to full-time work a week into his trip. Our evenings are going to take more effort on my part - B usually handles that time of day, when he has more energy than I do.
Next week's plan:
Friday: pizza
Saturday: Dinner with the in-laws, I'm bringing Portillo's, they're watching the kids Saturday after church to Sunday noon so I can go bike riding with my usual group Sunday morning
Sunday: Homemade chicken nuggets, oven fries, broccoli, Sundaes on Sunday
Monday: Box mac and cheese, kielbasa cooked with onions (I like to mix this into the boxed mac and cheese, the kids don't like it, so I serve it separately), cooked carrots, applesauce
Tuesday: Soaked Oatmeal Waffles (original recipe from One Lovely Life, but I altered it quite a bit - 1/2 c. canola oil instead of the butter because I have a health issue that requires me to limit saturated fat, I use 1 T sugar instead of 2 because I don't like sweet waffles, and although it doesn't say to blend the oats after soaking, I discovered my more choosy child prefers waffles "without bits in", so I hit the wet ingredients with a stick blender before adding the flour mixture. I also separate the eggs and whip the whites, then fold in at the end to get that classic crisp-on-the-outside-soft-in-the-middle texture. To reduce the saturated fat further, I use a mix of 0% Oikos plain yogurt and homemade almond milk instead of the buttermilk. At that point, I can leave in the egg yolks with their important vitamins and minerals)
Strawberries and whipped cream
Wednesday: Black bean soup, cornbread, cheddar, sour cream, chocolate pudding
Thursday: Spaghetti with sauce (leftover from the previous week in the freezer), no-knead bread, salad, chocolate pudding (my pudding recipe makes 6 servings)
I so wish we had an aldi! we usually spend about $300 for a family of 6 (5 eaters) over 2 weeks. As you point out some weeks are more organized than others!