What I Spent, What We Ate | Time for an end-of-month wrap up!
What I Spent
Last Friday I took Zoe out for a shopping trip ($67.83) so she could pick out some birthday food that we don't normally buy (ice cream, orange juice, sun chips, juice boxes, and pop tarts!).
And I made another smallish trip on Monday ($42.39), pictured here:
When you are out of laundry detergent AND toilet paper, things are getting dire.
My shopping adds up to $110.22.
February Spending
Week 1: $76
Week 2: $120
Week 3: $154
Week 4: $110
That puts me at $460 for the month, which is $115 per week. Sweet!
Year-to-Date Spending
January: $618
February: $460
What We Ate
Monday
I was flipping thru my ATK Quick Cookbook with the girls, and when I came to the BLT salad page, they said, "Ooh, can we have that tonight?"
So, that's what we did.
I made a pan of garlic breadsticks as well.
Tuesday
I made my new recipe (the sausage pasta dish).
We also had sauteed mushrooms, raw veggies, and popovers.
Wednesday
I made buttermilk waffles, whipped cream, strawberry syrup, and sausage.
Thursday
A while back, I bought a Groupon to a favorite seafood restaurant, and I foolishly let it expire.
Nuts.
But after it expired, Groupon emailed me and was like, "Hey! Want a free extension on your Groupon? Click here and your new expiration date will be March 1st."
And I was all, "Ohh, yes please. Click!"
So, Mr. FG and I made a reservation and went out for a mid-week treat.
I grilled burgers for my kids before we left.
Friday
Next Friday will be another birthday meal (Sonia's up next!), so I'll make pizza tonight.
Your turn! What have you been eating this week?
Monday--I made your Japanese ramen. So good and we had leftovers for days.
Tuesday--quesadilla night.
Wednesday--I made an easy pasta with broccoli and chicken. My husband and I instead of eating a big pile of pasta turned just a handful into salads with kale, roasted Brussels sprouts, croutons, sunflower seeds, and tomatoes.
Thursday--Husband and the kids had leftovers, and I had another veggie quesadilla. It is impossible to have too many quesadillas.
Friday--we will have our usual ham sandwiches and chips on the ride to the weekend house.
I've been trying hard to stick to the menus...
Thursday was quiche and skillet potatoes
Wednesday was Turkey Quesadillas and sweet potato fries
Tuesday was a celebration meal of ribs, mashed potatoes, and okra - my youngest earned Eagle Scout!
Monday was Beef Tips and Gravy in the crock pot, pasta, peas and carrots
Sunday was Church's chicken (I was dead tired...)
Tonight will be Stir Fry and pot stickers, and tomorrow Hubby and I will grill some Armadillo Chicken bundles - a cheese filled jalapeno stuffed chicken breast wrapped in bacon, topped with BBQ sauce.
Next week we are eating out of the freezer and pantry so I didn't even make out a grocery list...
Congratulations to your son!
I wish I had been more creative with my cooking this week. But I avoided takeout, so I guess that is a win!
Saturday- homemade lasagna
Sunday-fried rice and teriyaki chicken
Monday- fish cakes (your recipe!) and root vegetable casserole
Tuesday- frozen pizza
Wednesday- risotto
Thursday- box mac and cheese (for our toddler), leftovers and bagels
tonight - planning on making white pizza
Hi - I have a food post request - can you talk about in between meal eating at your house - specifically with regards to you son? I have two sports playing teens boys (ages 14 and 17) who eat quite a bit. My best example is a weekend breakfast, where my 17 year old will eat half a box of Aldi cereal WHILE he is waiting for me to make him 3 egg, cheese and canadian bacon sandwiches on big croissants from Costco. Your meals always look great to me (a woman...) but when I see waffles or a BLT salad for dinner (which would be great for me or when my kids were smaller , I KNOW that my boys would be out in the kitchen an hour or two later, looking for more to eat. I try to keep nuts, cheese and fruit on hand, but they are never fully happy with those (like most kids they want something "different" all the time! I urge them to make a sandwich - specifically peanut butter - but they hardly ever do. I do sometimes make sandwiches ahead of time, but they often turn them down. They often resort to cereal because it is easy for them - in fact when I buy cereal from Aldi's they go through 1-2 boxes A DAY. What did/does Josh do for food when he is hungry between meals?
Thanks!
I have a 17 year old rugby player who is 6'3" and 200 lbs. He has started to slow down somewhat vs. 2 years ago when he was constantly hungry, but even now, I rarely have leftovers. If I make waffles, he'll eat at least two and several pieces of bacon and 2 glasses of milk. I rarely make something like salad as the main dish because it isn't substantial enough, but if I do, you can bet he will eat a lot of bread with it and I make sure there is a good size portion of meat to top it with. Same is true with soup. I just think we'll be getting our money's worth out of his college meal plan next year!
Just a couple of ideas from a Mom who survived a teenage son (now 30) and the pack of boys he had over every weekend and many days after sports practice- I used to make 3 to 5 pounds of taco meat at a time and package it in 2 cup feeeze bags and I kept retried beans, salsa, tortilla chips, shredded cheese and flour tortillas on hand at all times- they could defrost the taco meat quickly and make burritos/tacos faster than we could order takeout pizza. I also kept popcorn on hand and made homemade trail mix by the gallon- just a couple ideas I used to feed teenage eating machines quickly and relatively cheaply.
Popcorn is such an underrated snack. When it's not covered in butter (my current favorite topping is Cajun seasoning that mimics the kind used at Five Guys) it's not all that unhealthy to boot.
Thanks! I do prep taco meat and freeze for future meals, but have not thought to make single serving batches- will try this!
Cold cereal isn't very filling (and is pricy, but that's your call). His appetite would probably be better filled with more dense foods that have more fat and protein in them. Here are some ideas:
- Tex-Mex; frex, canned beans + salsa = quick snack (takes 2 min to open cans, mix, and heat), and thinks such as quesadillas can be made ahead and frozen for a microwave snack;
- starches with lots of dairy and fat, such as twice-baked potatoes with cheese or mac & cheese;
- hot oatmeal with nuts and dried fruits;
- nut butter as sandwiches and with apples or celery;
- pilafs or risottos, which can be make in bulk and frozen for later;
- homemade granola, FG has a recipe on here somewhere;
- frozen bananas dipped in chocolate, which are very filling and something different.
(Speaking of different, how is cereal all the time "different"?)
Also, slow down his eating with hot foods rather than cold, to give his stomach the chance to let him know he's full. Finally, in your shoes I would consider no longer buying cold cereal. Based on what you wrote, it's part of the problem rather than the solution.
Good luck with this challenging time.
Hummus! I forgot home-made hummus. Store bought can be price but homemade isn't. It's easy, too - dump cans of this and that in the food processor or powerful blender, and whirl away.
The ingredients are chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, garlic, salt, lemon juice; of which only the tahini is a bit pricy. You can balance that out by cooking your own chickpeas, especially if you have a pressure cooker.
Oatmeal is a lot more filling than cold cereal and a bit cheaper. I'd definitely want to switch them to something healthier obviously but I've been on that always hungry side so I can sympathize with them as well. Your boys sound like the stories I've heard of my BIL who would eat two boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese (bletch!) in one sitting.
I really kick myself for a lot of the eating I did as a hungry, growing teenaged boy (losing the weight on the other side was really, REALLY hard.) So the best I can say is just to keep the offending stuff out of the house and then they won't eat it. That seemed to help me a lot.
My Daughter is in college now but from 6th grade until she was a senior in High School she played competitive water polo. In high school she was practicing 3 hours a day Monday through Friday with games on the weekends. It was crazy. She also ate a lot. I think all kids may eat differently based on their activity level. Now, my other daughter plays tennis. She definitely eats way less. The sport is just not as exhausting physically as water polo. When my Daughter was in Water polo she drink at least 2 galloons of milk a week by herself. She usually had a hearty breakfast like homemade egg/sausage burritos. For lunch she had sandwich, with fruit and veggies with dip. Plus, I sent her with 2 snacks like granola bar and chips, crackers, etc.. Dinner she easily ate 6 oz of protein whether is was fish, chicken or steak with sides and salad or veggies. She wasn't much of snacker after dinner so no desserts for her. Now that she is gone it is really hard to cook in smaller quantities. I definitely would not compare my kids eating habits to other kids because it really depends on the amount of exercise they do per day. P.S. I think cereal is better than chips or crackers. Just my opinion...
By the way, her weight was right at where it should be. She didn't have much fat on her body. If she did I might have been more strict on the snacks but I remember being able to burn more calories at that age as well
I would love to see this info as well! I was curious too when I saw the BLT salad and bread one night and then the next a hearty pasta and sausage casserole plus mushrooms, veggies and a side. I'm thinking maybe it was just you and the girls on salad night? Either way you amaze me how well you do on your cooking AND your grocery bill. 🙂
I think we were all here for the BLT salad night except for Joshua. The salad is a little heartier than it seems because it has chicken chunks and bacon in it, though the chicken isn't really visible in the picture.
So once you pair it with breadsticks, it's kind of like eating a BLT. 🙂
Ahhhh! That makes sense. I couldn't see the chicken in the picture. 🙂
I need to start writing this down because I am sitting here racking my brain. I actually text my husband to ask what we had for dinner on Monday 🙂
Monday - dance class night. I don't remember what we had, but I know it was quick! We only have 25 minutes between when I get home from work and time to leave for dance.
Tuesday - My mom and I alternate making a large meal that we take to my grandfather's house. About 10 of us meet there every Tuesday for a family dinner. It was my turn this week. I made two large pans of lasagna that was delish!
Wednesday - I made a breakfast sausage, cheese, potato and egg hash in the cast iron skillet. It was really, really good for just being thrown together. I paired it with a small bagel.
Thursday - It was a beautiful day here yesterday, so we opted for a quick and easy dinner of mac & cheese and sandwiches so that we could play outside.
Friday - a BBQ at a friend's house for his birthday. We are bringing a side dish of some pasta salad I whipped together last night.
I recently got a notice from Groupon about an extension and I was so grateful! Like you, I used it immediately so I wouldn't forget again.
Over the weekend I inventoried my freezer, so a number of meals this week came from stuff I pulled to use during that process. We had:
Sunday -- chicken caesar salads
Monday -- ham, white bean and kale soup
Tuesday -- pancakes and sausage
Wednesday -- cabbage and noodles
Thursday -- tamale pie (a real win, because this also used up a number of 'last leg' items in the fridge, too)
Friday -- we're eating out with my parents 🙂
I've had expired groupons in the past, which has led me to be much, much choosier about which ones I purchase, now. Nice to see that they offer extensions.
Even when a groupon expires, the amount you paid for it remains valid - so you don't actually lose the money paid - you just lose the bonus amount
Yep! I wasn't going to throw it out or anything. But the bonus is that my Groupon was now suddenly worth the full bonus amount again. Woohoo!
Being out of TP definitely warrants an emergency trip. Laundry detergent I'm pretty much stocked up on until the apocalypse thanks to Sears/Kmart having sales on their Ultra Plus powder. I'm really going to miss this stuff when Sears finally takes a dirt nap.
I was actually craving Pop Tarts the other day and considered buying the Aldi version but I remembered that 1) I don't *need* them and 2) I don't own a toaster. 😛 Oh well.
Anyway: here's the menu for the week:
Sunday: Cooked a ham. Family was supposed to come but cancelled due to people being sick. So we ate some of it ourselves. I also made mashed sweet potatoes (Cooks Country recipe) which I love but sadly my daughter hates.
Monday: Ham leftovers
Tuesday: Ham salad sandwiches for the wife and daughter. I ate more ham and sweet potatoes. The rest of the cooked ham was put in the freezer.
Wednesday: My wife made pulled chicken for burritos. We also had rice and cheese on them and a tossed salad to go with it.
Thursday: My daughter ended up falling and spraining her wrist on the way out of daycare so we ended up in the Urgent Care until almost 8. We ended up feeding her a scrambled egg (her favorite) a baby food pouch and some toast. I ate some leftover chicken and rice in a burrito and my wife had something rather late. At least we didn't stop for fast food on the way home.
Friday: Normally Bible study night but because of the little monkey's injury and how difficult it is to wrangle her during it, we'll probably stay home and eat leftovers.
I hope your daughter gets better soon, and that she has the famous ability of small children to heal rapidly.
Thanks. She got a clean bill of health from the doctor (he suspected it was more nursemaid elbow than a sprain but it's impossible to tell at this point. Either way she's back to her old self again. I think last night she might've been a lot more scared than actually hurt.
Hey, not too shabby on that February spending! Mr. Picky Pincher and I spend way less now than we used to, but we still have a ways to go to cut our food budget.
This week we ate:
Monday: Homemade gyros on homemade pita bread. Mmmm. We cooked the gyro meat ahead of time and froze it for an easy and mostly-healthy Monday dinner. We topped the gyros with yogurt, lemon, mint, cucumber, and lettuce. Delish!
Tuesday: Today was freezer night. I made some of your Thai cauliflower and Mr. Picky Pincher made a reuben sandwich with his homemade sauerkraut.
Wednesday: The plan was spaghetti, but we had a moment of weakness and got fried chicken instead. Oops!
Thursday: We made cajun turkey sandwiches with leftover deli turkey. I made a spicy chipotle mayo to go with it and these suckers were SPICY. And I like spicy food. Never underestimate the power of the mighty chipotle pepper, friends.
Friday: Tonight we're making salisbury steak with a mushroom-onion gravy.
Just so you know, that Groupon coupon you bought is still good for the actual dollar amount you spent after expiration. Don't throw away that expired coupon you spent $10 on for dinner out. Use it to spend on lunch instead.
Last weekend was a three day weekend and a friend asked if I was craving anything she could cook or bake. The chicken rice casserole she made us was delicious! We've had that for dinner twice, tacos one night, and tomato soup, grilled cheese, and salad another night.
I always end up blowing it budget and food wise. No one ever wants to eat the same meal. This week we have had fish and chips, chicken and salad, potato bake and I can't remember the rest.
I am in awe of you who plan and stick to it. Well done.
Sunday -Pork Chops, Rice Pilaf, and Salad
Monday -Loaded Baked Potato and wedge salad
Tuesday -Soup and sandwiches
Wednesday -Teriyaki chicken and rice, steamed broccoli
Thursday - turkey chili and flour tortilla (this recipe made lots so I will freeze some for later)
Friday -steak and lobster, baked potatoes and salad (we found a good sale at New Years on the steak and lobster so I bought extra and froze it)
Saturday- Beef and Broccoli with fried rice
I love Monica's question and I second all of that!!! Please, please share!! We have a family of 7, I shop at Aldi often, menu plan and watch what I buy and cannot possibly get my grocery bill below $1200 a month.
Monday - we used a Groupon that was about to expire for take out Italian food. Our local fave.
Tuesday - taco night. Kids fave. I've been having taco salad every time and love it.
Wednesday - leftovers - tacos or Italian.
Thursday- sirloin tip roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans.
Friday - snack night. My hubby will be out so the kids and I will have air popped popcorn, cheese and crackers, and other tbd snack foods. They are so excited.
Sunday - drawing a blank.
Monday - Pork Tamale insides (since I don't like the cornbread part of Tamale pie), fruit.
Tuesday - Shrimp patties both fried and steamed (trying yet another recipe), cukes & tomatoes, clementines & apples.
Wednesday - Ribs, tomatoes & carrots, honeydew/ banana smoothie to use up sub-par melon and defrosted excess bananas.
Thursday - Home-fried chicken (ATK recipe), cukes, canteloupe/berry/banana smoothies to use up sub-par melon and excess bananas. The chix was good but dirtied a vast number of dishes (to be fair, deciding to make the buttermilk from scratch instead of buying cultured had something to do with that) and the chix is a huge calorie-bomb. It's not going to be part of the regular rotation.
Friday - Bulgogi chicken wings (from wings saved from several whole chix), spinach, not sure about the fruit.
Last week we did a Sam's club run (which is a big box warehouse store)....we hadn't been there in months so that added a big chunk to my grocery spending for the week....yikes! Oh well. It is what it is....
Saturday hubby smoked some bacon wrapped injected chicken breasts in the smoker, man were they yummy! I served them with rice & we had homemade chocolate covered strawberries for dessert made by oldest daughter.
Sunday hubby smoked a pork roast in smoker & we made pulled pork sandwiches, homemade mac n cheese & coleslaw. everything was fabulous!
Monday - meatloaf, asparagus, leftover mac n cheese
Tuesday - taco chicken quesadillas
Wednesday - ham slices, fried potatoes & mixed vegetables
Thursday - Chinese takeout
Friday - homemade pizza
Monday was my husband's birthday so we had his request of shrimp, corn, cottage cheese and fruit
Tuesday I remembered the last of a pack of ground beef before it went bad and made sloppy joes with cut up veggies on the side.
Wednesday was a night out with my small group. My husband had leftovers.
Thursday was using a link of leftover farm made sausage to make the spicy pasta dish! I did make a new recipe after all. The sausage and regular Ro-tel were spicy so I used regular cheese. My picky husband actually liked it and had some for lunch today.
Tonight is TBD.
Monday: Soft shell beef tacos which included lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, onions, and cheese.
Tuesday: Veggie flat bread sandwich at Subway which included provolone cheese, lettuce, spinach, and black olives.
Wednesday: Chicken and dumplings and lettuce salad
Thursday: Left over chicken and dumplings
Friday: baked chicken, corn, and lettuce salad.
So I was a bit over budget this week because an item was mismarked and I didn't catch it at the register. But $3 certainly isn't going to break the bank!
And I bailed on making a new dinner recipe this week but I did try a new fudgy brownie recipe that turned out delicious!
This week:
Saturday - Tacos! Because a week without tacos is just crazy talk.
Sunday/Monday - Homemade pizza
Tuesday - I was feeling extra super lazy so I just had toast with sunflower seed butter and honey on top.
Wednesday/Thursday - BBQ baked chicken, cauliflower and stovetop stuffing (one of my concessions to processed foodstuffs!)
Friday - probably an omelet or possibly pancakes from the freezer in which case I will scramble an egg anyways to go with them.
Do you share your recipe for your sausage pasta dish? It looks amazing!
Yep! If you click on the link there, you'll be taken to the recipe.
i'm trying the sausage pasta dish tonight. can't wait to try it!!
A tip about groupon, it is really a bad business deal for businesses. Groupon generally keeps half the proceeds from the sale. I always just call the place directly and ask if they will honor the coupon without the groupon. Most places will as they will get to keep all of the money. Just a thought...
SUNDAY: Salisbury Steak Meatballs over mashed potatoes and stir fried asparagus
MONDAY: Tomato Soup with grilled cheese sandwich
TUESDAY: Went out for dinner. Long story short we were not home all day so I had no time to prep anything and I haven't made freezer meals in a long time. I usually keep a stash. On my list of things to do.
WEDNESDAY: Pan Fried Chicken cutlets with lemon sauce, with rice and steam carrots
THURSDAY: Martha Stewart's Sausage and Pepper Ragu over Polenta. Yummy... I will make again. My new recipe I tired.
FRIDAY: Jambalaya
SATURDAY: Grilled Chicken (marinated) with Cucumber Avocado Tomato Salad and pasta salad.
Thanks for the Groupon information. I really appreciate knowing that and can support small business owners better with that knowledge going forward.
Groupon always has extra percent off on their already reduced deals so you are missing that savings. Also it not fair to groupon for people to bypass them and go directly to the restaurant. Groupon is the place where you saw the deal in the first place. Local businesses get a lot of exposure and new customers by advertising on groupon and if they are a good place of business then new customers will become their regular customers.
Also, if companies don't want to participate in Groupon, they don't have to.
The restaurant we bought our Groupon from has repeatedly had offers on Groupon, so I figure that Groupon must be working out well for them. If they were losing money on the deal, they wouldn't run repeated deals with Groupon.
I know some small businesses have had bad campaigns with Groupon, but I assume those businesses haven't done a second or third offer with Groupon. So, if a company has repeated deals on Groupon, I don't feel bad at all about buying those Groupons.
Monday: beef stroganoff my mom brought us, plus green beans and homemade rolls from the freezer
Tuesday: Lasagna roll ups with Caesar salad and ciabatta bread
Wednesday: Mexican food out, for a family birthday
Thursday: Cornflake crusted oven fried chicken, sweet potatoes, and broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce
Friday: Eating out with a gift card
Monday- Southwest steak salad with sautéed butternut squash and orange segments
Tuesday-ham and cheese omelet
Wednesday-hamburger patties with broccoli, pasta salad, and sautéed mushrooms
Thursday-ham with almond/coconut quinoa, broccoli, and garden salad
Friday-pasta to use up leftover ground beef, sauce, and mozzarella. Will probably broil red peppers for the side.
I love these posts because they give me so many ideas. My week was pretty boring.
Saturday - dinner out. We had Chinese.
Sunday - left over Chinese
Monday and Tuesday - Turkey meatloaf with sweet potatoes
Wednesday - I had a pb&j and an apple
Thursday - the end of the left over meat loaf
Friday - fish tacos with broccoli slaw.
I also have 2 growing girls who are constantly eating. I am a big Aldi's fan,but also love Sam's Club. Most of my shopping trips are to Sam's b/c I can buy fresh fruit and veggies in bulk for much better prices even Aldi's. I like that everything is so fresh all the time. Now that I am mostly shopping there I can be in and out very quickly for what is on my list. By buying larger quantities I feel like I can keep some food around. Twice a year I but TP,PT,dishwasher tabs, detergent pods,lysol wipes. I like knowing I have plenty of household things around so I am do not have to run out to get these items.
Wow, that is very inexpensive for feeding a family of six!
I'd like to suggest to those feeding hungry teens that muffins can be a good snack food for in-between meals. You can make them quickly and cheaply, and add any number of extra goodies such as fruits, nuts, extra eggs, yogurt, cheese….I usually try to use whole wheat flour and add extra eggs and some powdered milk for more protein and calcium.
That said, my son can eat 12 in a day easily.
I made muffins 2 times this week! Such an easy mid meal, afterschool, breakfast filler!
The one batch I cheated.. used 16oz of my own pumpkin puree and mixed into a box of dark chocolate cake mix! Added 1 egg, some vanilla and the last of a bag of mini chocolate chips from the freezer!
The 2nd batch I called garbage muffins! lol 2 " getting too be TOO ripe" large bananas, the last of the baggies of pecans and coconut from the freezer and a pile of raisins from the container... followed a banana bread recipe( in half) and kids loved them! So do I! and it is so nice to see all the random baggies gone!
I feel the same way when I use up random bits of food. Sweet success.
I love the use of pumpkin! Getting some different vegetables into those kids!
Unfortunately, I have developed a "sneaky Mama" reputation after one too many times caught slipping spinach into the smoothie or some such thing. Both boys ask suspiciously now, "What's in it? Yes, but what ELSE is in it?"
Also, YUM. Those "garbage muffins" sound delicious!
See, this is one reason that my grocery bill is lower...my kids just aren't as hungry as some kids! I don't think any of them could eat 12 muffins in a day.
So, I don't deserve as much credit for my lower spending as you might think. I'm feeding people with sort of small appetites!
I'm impressed with y'all. I better buckle down and get with the program.
I just found TFG so I'm new here but this seems like a fun challenge!!
Great advice for teen boys given here.
Husband left town on Monday for the week so I was already in Pantry/Freezer Clean out mode!
Monday I baked the last of a bag of red potatos... Left them to cool while we ran errands... For supper I peeled 5 of them and diced.. fried them up and added some bacon and deli ham.. I cracked 7 large eggs and stirred it in and sprinkled it with a 4 cheddar blend cheese( finally the chickens are producing- Thanks ridiculously warm weather!)
Tuesday- Cooked ALL DAY LONG! Stocked the freezer with partial and full meal items.. so worth it! (I do it when he is gone so I don't bother him all day- he works from home!)
Dinner was a meatloaf- per kids request... served with corn, a packet of alfredo noodles(free after coupon-kids love) and mandarin oranges...
Wednesday- chicken and stuffing stuffed shells.. a rather odd sounding meal but so good! One of the freezer prepped meals I made at the kids request.. dad doesn't like it that much so they felt pampered! served with peas
Thursday- Found the last of the Sams club sized box of corn dogs! Served with mac and cheese and pears...
Friday- free dinner at a work outing!
$$ wise I don't shop weekly for meals so I just cannot figure it out! lol I cooked a massive pork shoulder and a huge chicken this week that had been in the freezer- both randomly purchased when I happened upon a major meat mark down... Tuesday morning I ran to the store for a few items for my cooking stock up and the plan was to look at ground beef prices. I knew it was a sale item.. I got there really early as the meat manager was marking a few flats down further.. SO I grabbed them all.. Each pack was over 3.5lbs of ground beef for less than $6.00!!! So instantly in the store I started to plan the items for that... meatballs, meatloaf, meat sauce( which went into lasagna), beef patties and cooked meat for taco night...SO for the next few weeks I won't pay attention to meat deals b/c my space is limited...
I do need some basics for my pantry and I need to replenish my fresh produce...
I am in my 4th week of using up what is in the cupboards and freezer. I spent $38 for fruit and vegies at Aldi and that included a tray table which I can use on my deck for parties, spent $24 at Kroger a mix of discount items.
Sunday it was in the 60's so we grilled steaks.
Monday -leftovers
Tuesday -Chicken salad, grilled chicken & grilled green beans (the new skinny ones Aldi has in the frozen foods)
Wednesday -fish and rolls
Thursday -Kirkland 5 cheese Tortellini
Friday -breakfast
Saturday -the Spicy Sausage Pasta recipe. Brave enough to make it for company. I omitted the Rotel too as the group was of the non-spicy variety. Next time I will use it and only add part of the can, I also had a non-onion group so I used onion powder. I think that dish would be awesome with pearl onions! It's a keeper! We have fruits and vegies at each meal too.
My sister made baked spaghetti..so good and so simple. That is 2 recipes added to my book.
Most nights it's a vegan burrito bowl similar to this[1], but the veggies are raw rather than cooked. It's actually very filling, healthy and frugal. It's helped me lose weight and lowered my cholesterol.
A couple of other nights it was pizza. Less filling, not healthy and kinda frugal. That little devil on the other shoulder sometimes wins the battle on what to eat for dinner.
[1] http://www.veganricha.com/2016/01/easy-black-bean-burrito-bowl.html
OMG!!! WE HAD THE SAUSAGE PASTA DISH LAST NIGHT FOR SUPPER & IT WAS A HIT WITH EVERYONE! SO YUMMY! THEY ALL WERE IMPRESSED & WE'LL DEFINITELY BE MAKING AGAIN! THANKS FOR SHARING 🙂