What I Spent, What We Ate | I'm under budget again. Whee!
What I Spent
I got a Hungry Harvest box, of course! This is the $15 size.
If you want to give Hungry Harvest a try, sign up here and use code FRUGALGIRL to get 25% off your first box.
I made a trip to Costco($71.44) specifically to buy some mahi-mahi, but they had none. Ugh.
I bought some shrimp instead (I figured I could make shrimp tacos if all else failed), plus a few other things we needed.
So on my way home, I stopped at a regular grocery store ($32) and got some mahi-mahi, among other things.
I know mango salsa would be super easy to make at home (and I've made it in the past!), but I had no ripe mangoes, and neither did the grocery store. So prepared salsa it was.
Next time I make fish tacos, I'll plan ahead better so I can get mahi-mahi at Costco and also make my own mango salsa.
Oh, I have to tell you about the bacon! It was $7.50 for a pound, but there was a $3 coupon attached because it was due to expire soon. When I got to the register, another $3.50 came off from it being on sale, so my bacon only cost me $1.
SWEET.
My total for the week is $118.44.
May Spending
Week 1: $78
Week 2: $118
What We Ate
Monday
I had a slightly aging pepper from a previous Hungry Harvest box that needed to be used, plus I got some broccoli in my most recent box, so I decided to make a stir-fry.
I sliced and soaked the pepper to re-crisp it before cooking, by the way. That works wonders on many wilty veggies! Especially lettuce. It's practically magic.
I used this Shrimp and Red Pepper Stir Fry recipe but just subbed blanched broccoli for the snap peas.
I also roasted the butternut squash that came in my box.
Tuesday
I had steaks in my freezer from the local farm, and the red potatoes were in my cabinet from my Hungry Harvest box. So, all I had to buy was the Romaine lettuce and I had the makings for a steak and potato salad.
I also made a cream biscuits recipe from my ATK Quick Cookbook because I had some cream that was going slightly off.
(We'd accidentally opened two at the same time and forgotten about one!)
It was jusssst fine in the biscuits, happily.
Wednesday
This is the night I made the new fish taco recipe.
Thursday
A night of randomness due to scheduling issues!
Joshua made a steak salad with leftover steak from Tuesday, the girls made BLTs, and Mr. FG and I stopped at Chick-Fil-A after band rehearsal (he got a sandwich, and I got the market salad, which is a green salad with chicken, fruit, nuts, and cheese.)
Friday
I plan to make pizza for dinner tonight. I'd considered doing grilled pizza, but the weather is not going to be all that grilling-friendly.
So, we'll just do regular homemade pizza.
Your turn!
Whatcha been cooking this week?
I'm glad you stayed under budget. I'm over the moon when I do. Another week of deliciousness!
Well done on sticking to the budget and that bacon find was great value.
This week I am determined to keep food costs down and trying to stick to our budget. Then I went to the pharmacy and just about died at my four weekly tablet cost.
Instead of trying to remember I a going to post two things that have been stretched to snapping point and two very cheap meals.
1. Our supermarket has been renovated and had some very cheap deals. One was chicken marylands (thigh and drumstick) for sale at $1.49 a kg (2.2 pounds). So for $6 we had a huge meal of butter chicken, rice and salad.
2. Mushroom risotto hit our plates again as we found a bag of mushrooms reduced to $1.
3. I cooked lamb shanks. We had one huge family meal, a number of individual meals and sandwiches.
4. I occasionally buy a small piece of leg ham. a quarter of a leg ham generally makes a number of salad or sandwich meals. Today the last of the shank was used to make meaty pea and ham soup. At lot of leftovers were put in the soup. The only specific buy in or new to the pot was a 45 cent soup mix packet.
So the leftovers were put to purposeful use and the freezer was emptied a little too.
May i ask.....what is butter chicken?
This might not be the case for the original poster, but butter chicken is what Westerners call murgh makhani, a delicious Indian dish. I would drink the sauce if I had one it's less dignity. Google "butter chicken" recipes with butter chicken in quotes for tons of recipes of varying degrees if westernization.
*iota, not it's
Sigh
And "leg ham"? O have heard of Maryland Fried Chicken but are you saying that the leg quarter are called "Marylands"? Very interesting!
AH I try so hard to make my posts are understandable. When I first started to communicate via the internet I caused some embarassed moments. If I misled anyone. Time to elucidate. I hope this helps.
Marylands are a cut of chicken that is the combines drumstick and thigh.
Leg ham is made from the rear leg of the pig while shoulder is the front leg.
Butter chicken is a westernised Indian dish.
Don't know how much I spent yet this week, I have to go to one more store to get specific items (I only go here a few time a year for a few things). It will be high this week, but lower for the several. As long as I stay under my monthly number, which is $600, I am satisfied.
M-pan seared pork, roasted green beans and turnips
T-tacos with ground turkey
W-pan seared steak with steamed broccoli
Th-epic food waste fail....was going to make chicken and potato curry in crock pot, but somehow it came unplugged and I don't know how long it was off, (it was stone cold) so I was afraid to continue to cook it and serve it. husband picked up rotisserie chicken and I steamed edemame. Oh yeah, then....the rice for the curry had been soaking so after dinner I cooked it to freeze for later but I left it out all night...
F-kofka meatballs and cucumbers
Okay-I have a silly question! We got our first HH box last week--it was almost identical to yours except for the squash--we don't do squash around here! HAHA Anyway---what in the world did you do with the leeks and what were the greens in the small bag?? I was a little disappointed that there was no paperwork, etc in the box identifying what in the world we had gotten! And, it only took one week for me to realize that veggies probably aren't the best HH item for this clan so I switched to an all-fruit box, every other week. This week I got an email telling me what would be in our delivery today. But I don't remember getting that last week about the veggies. Anyway.....all this to ask, what did you do with the leeks and the mystery greens??
Happy Weekend!
I use leeks in Pioneer Woman's Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks recipe. It is SO yummy and in regular rotation on my menu!
Potato leek soup would be a delicious way to use up the leeks!
I got a similar box and the small greens in mine in the bag were spinach. And I second the potato leek soup....just be sure to read the recipes about rinsing the leeks really well to get rid of the grit/dirt. I think FG has this recipe on her site somewhere!
Leeks are in the onion family. They're a milder than onions and considered more elegant. The white & light green parts are delicate, the med and dark green parts tend to be tough Leeks can get quite dirty - they're grown in sandy soil and the white parts grow underground - so good cleaning is essential. This is how I prep leeks:
1. Cut off the green parts; you don't have to cut them further than this.
2. Wash the green parts in a big bowl of water. You may need to wash each leaf separately.
3. Slice or mince the white parts.
4. Dump them into a big bowl of water; swish around a lot and rub the bits together between your hands.
5. Use a slotted spoon to lift the minced white parts out of the water, so the dirt and sand stay in the bowl of water.
6. Pat the leeks dry.
Three classic dishes are Braised Leeks (especially for the green parts), Cock-a-leekie soup (a Scottish Chix & Leek soup), and Vichyssoise Soup (a pureed Leek & Potato soup). Or use the white and light green parts like onions. The med & dark green parts are best braised or to flavor soup.
Kristen,
I am always intrigued to see shrimp on your frugal menu. Here is S.A., shrimp is SO expensive, I seldom buy it. How does the price per kg or pound compare to say, mince or chicken?
Do you ever eat frozen veggies in your house? Just curious since we eat them quite frequently as a side dish.
did you run back any get anymore bacon at that cost?
Ellen, That was my EXACT thought! I sure as heck would have cleaned off that shelf at that price! Off to the freezer for sure!
Also, have you ever bought the peach mango salsa at Aldi? It is great. We love it in our house!
Aldi has the best Salsa for sure! I love to put it on rice.
CarolineRSA, I live on the Gulf of Mexico where seafood is common and shrimp isn't cheap here either. We can sometimes get it for about $6 a pound on sale, but usually pay around $9-$12 a pound. To compare, I get locally raised, organic chicken for $3.50 a pound. Of course, shrimp is often mixed with other ingredients in dishes, so it's "stretched," making it less expensive to use. What seafood people eat most around my area are the scallops they pick up themselves out in the Gulf in scallop season, or Apalachicola Bay oysters, which are locally harvested by professional fishermen and very popular nearly year round.
So, on to what we ate. I actually wrote it down this week so I wouldn't forget.
Sunday night was beef short ribs, slow cooked then broiled to crisp them up a bit, with potatoes and peas.
Monday night I took all that yummy saved drippings from the short ribs and made gravy to go over rice, which we had with acre peas and fried okra, no meat.
Tuesday night was the new recipe, the Prudent Homemaker's Rosemary White Bean Soup, which I loved and the husband thought was too "thin."
Wednesday was stir fry, with the last of a cabbage, some onion, carrot, celery, some veggies I can't remember, garlic, ginger, and pre-cooked beef from the freezer, served with leftover rice and soy sauce.
Thursday I don't know what I was thinking. After vowing to simplify my evening meals, I ended up making several pieces of fried chicken, sour cream mashed potatoes and gravy, and served it with the rest of the acre peas. I guess I had been thinking about my late mama with Mother's Day coming up, and that made me do it? She could cook some fried chicken, let me tell you.
Tonight is our anniversary and we'll eat out, as we have errands in the city.
I went over my budget this week by about $50, due to a farm delivery of dairy and the stock up sales. I'm going to really try to reduce it for next week and keep it under budget.
Thank you for the feedback! If my calculations are correct, that equates to R102,40/kg (at R13,30 to the $U.S.), and I pay around R50/kg (excluding specials), and R175,50 for shrimp, I (seldom!) pay over R200/kg for shrimp, or prawns, as we call it. For comparison, I can buy pork chops for R50/kg, rump steak is currently on special for R90/kg, and stewing beef or minced beef for R60-R80/kg. I don't always buy organic, but do aim to buy local. I think shrimp is more accessible for you, but we're scoring on the chicken price. Thanks again, I am always interested in comparing cost of living in different countries.
Yes, it sure is interesting. Where are you from? (I am from Illinois, USA.)
I live in Springs, an ex-mining town about 40km east of Johannesburg.
I live in south east Queensland and prawns are close by to here. I piad $50 a kilo (2.2 pounds) last month.
Monday: grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes and baked beans
Tuesday: spaghetti, salad, waffle fries
Wednesday: Chick-fil-a
Thursday: grilled chicken, pasta salad and fresh green beans from my neighbor's garden
Friday: Maybe eating out somewhere?
So nice to already be getting some stuff from the garden! I love fresh-picked produce.
I upped my food budget a smidge and then stuck to it this week.
I have no idea what hubby's been eating though, so we may be higher than I think.
We ate chicken breasts that I brined and baked (I did 4 of them and the toddler and I have been eating parts of them for dinners/lunches all week.
I stretched a pound of ground beef into a few meals with some squash going limp in my fridge and part of a can of tomatoes.
Tonight I'm making cauliflower fried rice w/ some of the above chicken, some leftover cabbage, and some random carrot pieces that I'll shred.
Tomorrow, I'll eat whatever leftovers we have in our fridge for lunch, and we'll have stir-fry for dinner.
Sunday we're hopefully grilling with my mother-in-law at our house. I have meat in my freezer, so it should be fairly inexpensive.
All of the above dinner items sound great - I get lots of good ideas here! I am strictly following my menu plans since starting the evening shift at work. I prepare dinner in advance so I have to know what we're having and have all the ingredients for it. So far, so good.
Monday we had roast beef and muenster on ciabatta with chips
Tuesday was a crock pot of various beans with sausage and ground beef - turned out really good!
Wednesday was a salad with shredded cooked chicken, cilantro, and avocado.
Thursday I made taco Spaghetti from Plain Chicken's blog and left instructions for heating it up.
Tonight I am putting a turkey breast in the crock pot and making mashed potatoes and a veggie they can heat up.
I'm leaving Saturdays and Sundays unplanned for now - we've had a super busy April and May. And I am being taken out to eat on Sunday! happy Mother's Day weekend!
This last month of school/work has us ( primarily me) going places almost every night a week!
Sunday the inlaws came over and we ordered pizza. I paid $20 for a coupon book for the school sports fundraiser.. I ordered the pizzas in 2 separate orders... saving $10/ order.. So in the first use I recouped the entire investment! ( Oh I paid for NO pizza! Inlaws bought one order and great grandpa got the other!! ) I did take the leftovers for the kids lunches Too!
Monday- I cooked up taco meat and left homemade salsa with that for husband to feed the kids.. I ate a steak dinner at a banquet!
Tuesday- made kids homemade mac and cheese and chicken patty sandwiches.. I ate some delicious appetizers at a work dinner!
Wed- A night at home and beautiful weather.. grilled chicken and served with salad, a rice mix, steamed broccoli and berries
Thursday- leftover lasagna from the freezer, leftover chicken patty, quesadilla made from leftover chicken.. you get the idea...
Fri- husband taking boys and friends out to celebrate our oldest birthday...I am taking daughter our for supper and bathing suit shopping...
Sat- Oldest supper request... Meatloaf, masher potatoes, steam corn, bakery bread and a strawberry cake.. I can handle that!
Yummo! It's been a weird week for food on our front, so we won't be doing a What's for Dinner? post this week ourselves. I've been out of town for three days on business, but that does mean that many of my meals this week were free! 🙂
Monday - Grilled hot dogs, corn on the cob, and zucchini
Tuesday - Stuffed peppers with a side of fruit
Wednesday - Grilled chicken breasts (that I marinated - thank you for that advice!), corn on the cob... and I think we had strawberries. I had a salad on the menu but didn't get around to making it.
Thursday - Spaghetti squash taco boats (new recipe - wasn't amazing but at least it was healthy), apple slices and strawberries
Friday - Hubby is working tonight and we are going to buy food from the concession stand at the pool.
We had a pretty good eating week based on pantry, freezer, and leftovers:
(1) shrimp and andouille sausage hot-pot (onion, celery, peppers) with boiled red potatoes
(2) basic spaghetti with jarred sauce, and garlic bread
(3) leftover potatoes, plus leftover steak-sandwich mix, plus scrambled egg, plus leftover pasta fagioli, plus salad.... just leftovers. 🙂
(4) I mixed the remaining jarred pasta sauce with the remaining hot-pot for a "gumbo" thing (alas, no okra and no gumbo file seasoning!), which we served with fresh cooked rice
(5) If we don't go out, tonight is easy pizzas, using flatbread, leftover jarred pesto and marinated mozzarella for one; bacon, onion, Brie, and some smoked gruyere for the other
Monday: Leftover Homemade "Chipotle" Bowls
Tuesday: Pork Roast, roasted potatoes and roasted broccoli
Wednesday: Grilled Balsamic Chicken, Grilled Veggies, Wild Rice and Fresh Pineapple
Thursday: Leftover from Wednesday
Friday: Spaghetti for DH, salad for me
Saturday: Lunch out with my parents for Mother's Day
Sunday: Chicken Florentine Pasta (from Pioneer Woman) and homemade French bread. I don't mind cooking my favorite meals and we will get a half priced frappucino for dessert! 🙂
My husband was out of town all week, so anything goes in our house mealwise. This week was NOT the healthiest, but we all start each day with smoothies including sorrel, spinach, sweet potatoes, and lots of fruit.
Monday - burgers on the grill
Tuesday- snack day - mini corn dogs, nuts, veggies, mozz sticks.
Wednesday- planned take out from our local Italian restaurant
Thursday- my mom took my son out to McDs for a birthday lunch and they had an untouched double cheeseburger. Super proud that I split it in half so the kids each had a burger, and put the other patty on a new bun. I had eggs and greens and a salad.
Friday- finishing off leftovers from the Italian place. Yum!
A bit crazy now that we are really deep into baseball/softball season.
Mon- Baseball! Two games. Took hotdogs to the early (4:30) game and then those who were not playing at 6:00 had a Seasons $5.99 medium two topping pizza snack to tide us over between the two games. Snacks abounded when we returned home.
Tues-Baseball again, this time one game 45 minutes from house. Sub sandwiches before we left and snacks during and after the game.
Wed- We were actually home and I made Beef enchiladas with chips and salsa.
Thurs-Rained so all three games were cancelled and Hubby was working late so we had pancakes and bacon.
Fri- Hubby late again, one son at a friends... made chicken strips and tater tots to the delight of those who were at home.
Sat-if it clears up as they "promise" it will, we may grill burgers and hot dogs. If not, maybe tacos?
Sun-I bought some Salmon and have some shrimp in the freezer, green beans and bacon and something else... Chicken Florentine Pasta sounds amazing... may have to check that one out...
Our meals this week were not very frugal....Monday was our anniversary, so we had homemade chicken pot pie (made ahead and pulled from the freezer - thawed, then baked). I forget what we had Tuesday...and Wednesday was delivery pizza (son's school fund-raiser). Thursday son had an all-district school art show, so we went to McDonald's afterwards (hubby had a Cub Scout leader meeting after the art show, so he picked up something afterwards). Tonight was leftover pot pie. Saturday is a date night, so we will probably go to our local Indian restaurant for dinner (at least we have a coupon to save a little $), and we'll probably go out again on Mothers Day to treat my mother in law for dinner. Whew....way too much eating out! I had vowed to plan better, but not doing so well in that department right now.:-(
A friend recently shared this article with me - I've always just tossed sour milk, but apparently, you can still use it to cook and bake with. Who knew?:-) They *do* specify doing this with pasteurized milk, not raw milk.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/23/441460163/don-t-toss-that-sour-milk-10-tips-cut-food-waste-in-your-kitchen
I'm absolutely amazed bacon was $7.50 a pound. Your marked down price was great, but WOW the listed price, that is expensive. I think I'm going to be in sticker shock when I return to the States after two years abroad of inexpensive German grocery stores!
Ralph's( Kroger) sells that bacon for 7.99 in California, its always on sale for 3.99, at least 2x a month. We also have the 99 cents only store here and they got cases of that bacon( set to expire in a week or two). I stocked up and froze it.
I LOVE shrimp! I think I know what to buy today from the grocery store 😀
This week I decided to try some new recipes, so I defrosted an entire pork loin and divided it to prep 2 (delicious) meals.
With few pork loin slices, I cooked something similar to a cordon bleu: you basically make a "sandwich" out of 2 pork loin slices and a slice of cheese in between. Then cover it in breadcrumbs and spices and just bake it. It's delicious!
With the rest of it, I prepared a 'classic' roast.
As for the rest of the week, we had pasta &other meals prepared with stuff from the pantry. This was actually a pretty frugal week, food wise 🙂
Were the fish tacos good? Or did I miss that post?
They were! https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2017/05/52-new-recipes-some-new-fish-tacos/
I love butternut squash! Not sure if you do this already, but it find it's much easier to just cut it in half and roast it cut side down. No peeling required, and the cooked flesh comes out easily.
We had a lot of work/social events this week, so we made a batch of chicken and rice (http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-chinese-no-clay-pot-chi-137485) on Sunday night and have eaten it throughout the week.
I used to roast squash like that too...very good if you want to puree the squash or mash it.
But I do sometimes like to have the firmer texture of individually roasted pieces too. And they have a slightly crispy outside, which is nice!
I love everything about your blog! I have looked at the FAQ to see if my question was answered there but I did not see it. I am just wondering what you do for dinners on Sat and Sun? I am thinking maybe that is your family time so you take a break from pictures and blogging about it but I wonder if you plan for those two days or leftovers, take out, hubby cooks, fend for self etc?? I am just curious because I am really trying to get serious about menu planning so I am always searching for info.
Well, usually one of the nights is a $20 date night for the husband and me. And the other one is usually something really easy....a snacky dinner, grilled brats, etc.
Thanks! Great ideas!
Still not cooking much.
Monday - Chicken & water chestnut stir-fry (sauce based on oyster sauce), braised bok choi, white rice.
Tuesday - steamed dumplings, clementines & apples, probably spinach.
Wednesday - smorgesborg, including 3 different leftover soups (creamy tomato, agvolemono, miso), and dumplings to fill in the empty corners, tomatoes, cukes.
Thursday - jazzed-up burgers, spinach, clementines & plums.
My visiting SIL changed her plans, which really messed up my meal planning for Friday & Saturday.
Friday - sandwich board: ham, turkey, spinach, bread, mayo, mustard, onion.
Sat lunch - had to buy a bunch of things because of the change in SIL's plans.
Sat dinner - various.
Sunday - meatloaf, fruit & spinach smoothies.