What I Spent, What We Ate | Not exactly organized
What I Spent
Let's see. I started the week off with my Hungry Harvest box ($19.23 because I added berries this week):
I made a small stop at Aldi ($29.50):
On Tuesday, I went to Costco and bought a variety of things (mostly frozen fruit). That cost $83.41.
Yesterday, I picked up my cousin's baby (he's still not knocking it out of the park with the sleeping) and took him with me to my car appointment so my cousin could take a nap.
One of the other customers there recognized me from my blog, and she said hi, which was so fun!
But I can't for the life of me remember her name.
Hi, blog reader from the mechanic's waiting room!
Anyway, after my car appointment, we stopped in at Aldi for a few things ($34.28).
I'm at $166.42 for the week, which is less terrible than I anticipated (Costco + random miscellaneous trips usually = seriously busted budget).
April Spending
Week 1: $160
Week 2: $166
What We Ate
Monday
Since my Hungry Harvest box had given me some zucchini, I decided to make Hibachi Chicken and Shrimp.
We ate that over rice, with orange slices on the side.
Tuesday
I made well-done grilled hamburgers, which we ate with watermelon and potato chips.
Wednesday
This was the night I tried the new kebab recipe.
We also had garlic breadsticks,
mashed sweet potatoes,
and watermelon.
Thursday
Let's see. This was a weird night, as we were supposed to have band rehearsal but there was a scheduling snafu that we only discovered once we got there. Oy.
Joshua made BBQ chicken pizza bagels for himself, I ate scrambled eggs, and the girls made cheese tortellini for themselves.
And Mr. FG picked up a sub on the way home from the rehearsal that wasn't.
Friday
We've got a Good Friday service to go to, but it's on the early side.
So, I think we'll pick up some pizza on the way home, as I'm not thinking this is a smart night to make pizza myself.
What have you been eating this week?
Do share!
Your nephew is absolutely adorable! If I met you in person, I'd be really happy and would definitely say Hi too. Your blog is the first PF blog I've ever read, and I have been following your posts for a while.
I'm always amazed at your photo quality. I think your photography really highlights the simple yet beautiful things in life!
Aww, thank you!
I have been really busy with my part time job, kids stuff and life commitments and have been feeling really tired of cooking and the cost of groceries to keep these people fed! It has led to some weary feelings towards cooking but I will always do it b/c it is so much healthier and cost effective than take out or going out!
Friday- tossed a small boneless pork shoulder into the crock pot and that will be served on buns with frozen fries, veg and fruit this evening...
Thursday- I ran to the grocery store after work and let the meat shelf tell me what dinner was b/c the freezer shelves are getting low.. A single marked down package of ground round screamed TACO NIGHT.. so tacos, baked corn cake and apple slices before TKD class it was!
Weds- Homemade meatballs cooked in sauce in the crock pot served with spaghetti, fresh italian bread( picked up after orthodontist appt) and strawberries and last of salad bowl
Tuesday- Crescent wrapped hot dogs and homemade chicken veggie soup made from stuff in the freezer
Monday- homemade burgers for kids and the last 2 black bean burgers for husband and I, served with french fries and salad
I understand that! I frequently go through periods where I am sick unto death of cooking. You are not alone!
Jessica - I feel your pain. It may help to remember that your job is to get people fed, not to cook like a restaurant chef. If it's a frozen lasange, a salad of lettuce and cukes, and a bag of clementines - it's still dinner on the table and the major food groups hit. And more frugal than going out. A win all around, if you ask me.
My husband was doing a detox this week so he made himself one meal and splitted it in 4, hence 4 dinners for him (how boring!). Me and the girls had lasagna 2 nights, soup+crackers+cheese one night and I can't remember Monday... Pretty boring week food wise. We are also working on emptying our freezers so it is limiting the recipes choices at the moment.
Let's see...
Last night our plans to go spend the night at our property fell through, and the boys had gf's over...I thawed some ground turkey and made Lazy Daisy meatballs over rice with broccoli as the side. Every bit was eaten! The night before I made a big batch of spaghetti with meatsauce. We ate half and I froze the rest. Tuesday I cooked a turkey breast in the crock pot since it was eye surgery day for Hubby. We also had small baked potatoes and a salad. Monday I made quesadillas with leftover pulled pork that were the bomb diggity - served them with guacamole. For the life of me I can't remember what we had on Sunday. Tonight I will fix tilapia with crunchy crumbs, and some zucchini. Saturday Hubby will grill. I made some freezer meals this week, but found that my freezer is pretty full, so we need to eat what's in there before I go shopping next week.
And I agree about your food photos - simple and appealing, like food should be!
Hubby and I are generally eating different things these days (mostly because he went rogue at the store and bought 3/$10 frozen pizzas, which I don't eat, LOL)
Monday: Me and LO ate a new dish-eggs poached in a spicy meat/kale sauce. Hubby ate frozen pizza.
Tuesday: I made the worst barbacoa in the history of the world...we all ate it anyway.
Wednesday: LO and I ate chicken salads with arugula, tomatoes, and avocado. Hubby ate the Little Caesar's we brought to our small group meeting.
Thursday: I ate a baked chicken breast with some broccoli, LO ate a shredded barbacoa and kale quesadilla, and hubby ate frozen pizza. (I "saved" the barbacoa by rinsing it out in a strainer and re-seasoning it more like taco meat. It's not the best, but at least now it's edible).
Also, I've been eating leftover, revamped barbacoa in my eggs for breakfast as not to waste it. I've been eating leftover dinner foods for lunches, and I have not eaten out ALL WEEK.
I'm not sure what we're doing tonight. We're having a date night, so we might go out 🙂
I hope you got your date night! I too hate to waste food and will suck it up and take it to work to finish it.. happy or not!
Husband's week
Sunday-lamb burgers with red onion topping, green peas, and cheddar biscuits
Monday-leftovers
Tuesday-green chili egg tacos and bacon
Wednesday-peanut chicken, brown rice, and broccoli
Thursday-brought in Thai
Friday-chicken, black beans, rice, salad
That's so funny! I always wonder how often bloggers run into people who know them from their blogs. 🙂
This week we ate:
Monday: Crab cakes with homemade lemon sauce.
Tuesday: Southwest chicken sandwiches
Wednesday: Beef ravioli bake. Yum!
Thursday: Chickpea curry with homemade pita bread.
Friday: One-pan sausage and veggie bake.
Yummo!
Nothing too exciting this week, but I did cook most nights.
Sunday: Steaks, fries, salad
Monday: Spaghetti, corn, rolls
Tuesday: Chicken chow mein, fried rice, orange chicken
Wednesday: Chick-fil-a
Thursday: Chili
Friday: Dinner out maybe?
I ended up cooking a pork roast in my Instant Pot. It was awesome! Took 90 minutes to cook and it was falling apart. I'll definitely use that recipe again!
Not really what I ate - but a suggestion, if you will. I see you have portabello mushrooms in your harvest box. If you don't really have plans for them - we make giant pizza stuffed mushrooms with them. Just take the stem off, scoop out the gills and a little extra of the insides. Put a little olive oil and salt and pepper on them and bake each side for a few minutes in a hot oven to soften them up.
While they are cooking mix together all your favorite toppings for pizza, except of course mushrooms, but including enough sauce for them to stick together. Stuff the mushroom caps with the filling and top with some cheese. Cook until heated through and the cheese is melted. All the flavors of pizza without the carbs of the crust!
For us this week, it is the last week of tax season, and I am a CPA, so I made a pork roast in the crockpot and then made into bbq pulled pork. Also made a big batch of baked penne, with veggies I had on hand. With sides of mandarins and veggies, that made the week.
Ooh, that's a busy time for you, then. The finish line is in sight, though!
Thanks for the mushroom idea. I grilled them this time, but pizza mushrooms sound like something Mr. FG would enjoy.
Frugal living at age 61 is going to be a challenge, there were times in my youth that I was much more careful of my money out of necessity! I have become aware of our careless spending as we are retired and cost of living is going up constantly. My husband and I both work part-time for our "spending money" but I've noticed that our debt is rising by way of credit cards and my fancy car. It is costing us peace of mind. So I have started learning all I can about getting our of debt. Some of the things I've done by way of getting prepared for this journey is, downloading free books and I did by Slaying the Debt Dragon. Yesterday I had to run errands and were I normally would have paid to have my car detailed, a pedicure and manicure (because its Easter and we have a get together to do to and eat out while I was in town. I refrained. I decided my car was good until I could wash it myself, came home and fixed lunch, and also today I have given myself a pedi/medi! I also invested in a coupon binder and have been looking at the many coupon sited available. I baked two loafs of bread today and made a cake from scratch. I am finding myself excited about this journey. Thank you!
Good Luck on making those changes! I love the challenges and saving! IF you have a smart phone look into the coupon apps Saving Star, Checkout 51 and Ibotta. It takes a little time to get used to but I LOVE the challenge and seeing the savings build in my apps.. Yesterday I transferred $25 from my Ibnotta to a starbucks card and I have that on the Starbucks app.. I have money on hand when I want a treat and I build up points to get a free Starbucks drink!
We had spaghetti last night and homemade garlic breadsticks (using your recipe!). My husband took the leftover garlic breadsticks this morning to share with his coworkers!
Yay! So glad yours were good.
Well since we spent much of the week at the VA hospital I didn't cook much. Last night was canned soup for our first night home. Whee. However I could cook for myself at Fisher House on the hospital grounds so I had veggie burgers, veggie sides and that sort of thing. Tonight I'm making chicken tenders since we are home and settled. Shout out to Fisher House-- it's like Ronald McDonald house for veteran's families and is FABULOUS. Support them when you can! And my husband is recovering well so happy for that.
Wonderful! So great that you had accommodations while you were at the hospital.
I hope your husband is 100% soon.
Bless you for taking your cousins little one to let her sleep! One of my kids was a terrible sleeper and I so wish I had family or close friends nearby at that time, who could have helped me out once in a while. Thankfully, now he is 17 and can sleep more than anyone I know! 🙂
My now-17 year old was a terrible sleeper too! Must have been something in the air that year. 😉
I love your harvest box. That's a great idea.
Monday - pasta with goat cheese and mushrooms, broccoli, lettuce salad
Tuesday - homemade gluten free bread, frittata, leftover veg from a weekend party
Wednesday - stir fried rice, baked tofu, kale, peas for the kids
Thursday - pasta fazool (tomato sauce and cannelini beans), leftover kale, broccoli for the kids
Friday - pasta with oil and grated cheese, pork and braised turnips
We had a lot of leftover food from a potluck we hosted last weekend, so lunches were amazing all week.
Hearing what everyone ate is making me a little homesick. We moved to Papua New Guinea in February and cooking "American" food has been challenging here. We ate mashed sweet potatoes this week, too! Sweet potato (kaukau) is a staple food here!
You are a treasure to take your cousin's adorable baby to give her some quiet/rest time. IT is one of the best gifts. My daughter's boyfriend didn't want an Easter egg so I spent most of my time making a quilt. Meals have been simple.
My huge expense was buying three kilos of king prawns (you might call them jumbo shrimp) at $40 a kilo. I am allergic to these but my family wanted some and it is sort of an Australian tradition for Good Friday. That little purchase took a huge chunk out of my weekly spending allowance.
Meals started with a roasted chicken on Sunday. It was huge so I froze half. Monday was sandwich and fruit night. There was a stew, chicken drumsticks and salad and I can't remember the rest. We seem to float allong making meals out of bits and pieces.
Ah yes, jumbo shrimp are pretty pricey. But so yummy!
This was a tough week and all my good intentions and plans went out the window. I was in shock over the unexpected death of a friend and that was coupled with one of the most stressful work weeks in years. I wound up buying a rotisserie chicken and munching on cold chicken and ice cream for dinner all week. I am a total stress eater and snacked on Easter candy at work most days, too. The only thing that saved me from a complete nutritional meltdown was that we had a salad bar style potluck at work and there were enough leftovers to make salads for several days' lunches.
I am starting to feel better, and more in control again, and so far today I have eaten healthfully. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon. Meanwhile, I am carrying over the meals I planned for last week into next week.
My son got his first job at Arbys. The manager let's the staff bring home any leftover sandwiches at closing. Someone in the house is having a roast beef sandwich for dinner or lunch the next day. Family members are living this.
I made cabbage and noodles with chopped bacon. The children loved it.
I get such a kick out of your grocery budget posts now that I am a budgeter. 🙂
When Mr. FG gets a sub or you pick up pizza, do you count that as grocery budget? I always ponder this when I'm balancing my YNAB every week.
That watermelon! They haven't "popped up" over here yet, but your picture just made my mouth water!
This past week I often made risotto and mashed potatoes as side dishes. We had leftover meatloaf and just couldn't let it go to waste (my first meatloaf was a success! Although too big for only 2 mouths).
I've also 'cleaned the fridge' by cooking this yummy salted pie: chopped up leftover veggies, fried in a pan, mixed with beaten egg & cheese (omelette like) and baked in a salted pie crust. De-li-cious!
I'm trying to remember what we had, I know it included the following but don't remember which day was what:
- spaghetti and meat sauce
- steamed shrimp
- kielbasa
- steamed chix in leftover teriyaki sauce (lunch)
- went out for happy hour sushi
- tofu-meat meatballs in miso soup (except half the meatballs disintegrated so I called it Meaty Miso Soup instead)
I intended to Tea Smoke a chicken but ended up just noshing on the steamed chix instead.
My disinclination to meal plan and cook continues. On the plus side I did inventory the freezer