What I Spent, What We Ate | Last one for June
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What I Spent
I got a $25 Hungry Harvest box, which I didn't photograph. Sorry 'bout that.
I made an unpictured trip to Aldi for $64. And here's a pictured trip I made to Aldi for $71.36:
When I went to pick Lisey up at work, I spent $13 on some dinner ingredients I needed.
Lastly, I went to Target with Lisey last night to buy her some more work pants, and I also picked up green tea, a package of buns, and a bunch of bananas for $8.
(Target usually has good prices on tea bags!)
My total this week is $181, which doesn't surprise me, given how much I didn't shop the week I was sick. Even so, my average per week this month is $139, so I am still under budget. Whee!
June Spending (goal is $150/week)
Week 1: $109
Week 2: $172
Week 3: $127
Week 4: $106
Week 5: $181
What We Ate
I just realized that all the meals I made so far this week are from Cook's Country. I'm a little addicted. 😉
Monday
This is the night we had our new recipe: the bacon burgers from Cook's Country.
I made potato wedges, using potatoes from my Hungry Harvest box, and we had cherries as well.
Tuesday
I made a Caesar salad topped with grilled chicken. Before I grilled the chicken, I gave it a quick soak in a simple brinerade recipe from a Cook's Country magazine, which makes the chicken really juicy and flavorful.
(Have I mentioned that I really love Cook's Country? Seriously, go get yourself a subscription! Super worth it.)
I also made a batch of buttermilk biscuits to use up the leftover buttermilk from last week's waffles.
Wednesday
I made the orzo with sausage skillet recipe that I tried earlier as part of my 52 New Recipes project. I used asparagus and yellow peppers from Hungry Harvest for the veggies this time.
To go alongside, I baked a batch of garlic breadsticks.
Thursday
I thawed a turkey breast and used it to make pulled turkey sandwiches (also a recipe find from my 52 New Recipes project!)
I wrapped Hungry Harvest asparagus in some Aldi prosciutto and grilled that. And I cut up some watermelon.
Friday
You're going to laugh at this....but there's a pesto pizza recipe in my Cook's Country magazine that I'm wanting to try.
Might as well keep the Cook's Country streak going. 😉
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When you find something that works keep it up! lol We were supposed to be out of town this week with husbands work... but he scratched his eye last week and we had to make a last minute cancellation... I had not shopped last week planning on emptying the fridge to leave...I was out of town for 2 days and was too tired on Sunday to shop.. but I managed to prepare a nice supper from freezer and pantry staples!
Sunday- grilled 3 steaks and sliced thin to pass around the table.. Made a corn cake out of cornbread mix and creamed corn, sauted frozen green beans and a flavored rice mix...
Monday- grilled hot dogs( by request), oven fries, steamed broccoli and lots of fresh fruit
Tuesday- Homemade stir fry/lo mein night... chicken, broccoli, carrot, zucchini and yellow squash...
Wednesday- Grilled hamburgers, salad, grilled potatoes with cheese, garlic and bacon...
Thursday- used a Groupon and ate out since we were out late at a rifle class with kids...( it was nice to not cook!)
Friday-.. looking at a long rainy day.. not sure what the plan is! grilling probably out!
It's such a great feeling when you can pull together a meal from odds and ends you have in the house. Woohoo!
Monday - Dinner Out
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Baked chicken, (leftover sides- rice, noodle, green beans, broccoli), fruit
Thursday - Chicken salad, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, cherries, watermelon
Friday - No idea! lol
I LOVE all of your food photos. They look like the pictures in restaurant catalogs. You have such amazing photography skills!
Me too! And I'd much rather see these types of pictures than the ones that get posted at someone's super expensive dinner out! You spend the same for a week some people spend on a single meal!
Hi Kristen - We have a similar burger recipe that has MUSHROOMS in addition to bacon. Bacon is chopped (I like the food processor idea - I'm noting that for next time), cooked, mushrooms in a large dice, cook in bacon fat, cool all. Add to ground beef (we have always added in a splash of Worcestershire sauce, a generous shake of garlic & onion powder, and some salt), mix carefully, form burgers, grill, watch them disappear!
Do you plan to 'collect' your 52 new recipes together for easy reference for your readers? Maybe I should have tried searching on 52 recipes here first before writing....;-)
Oooh, I love me some pesto pizza! Great choice! And hey, if Cook's Country is great, why deviate from it, eh?
This week was a little weird for food since I was at an in-town conference AND we had a friend staying with us.
Monday: Lemon-pepper orzo with grilled chicken. Tasty and fast. 🙂
Tuesday: Today we got Raising Cane's with our friend. We tried going to a local restaurant, but they were closed. Boo.
Wednesday: Today was a freezer night. I forgot to defrost what we were supposed to eat, so it was every Picky Pincher for themselves!
Thursday: Steak with salad. Yummm.
Friday: Today we're going to grill some burgers. 🙂
I gave up my Cooks Country subscription because I was finding there to be less and less that I liked in it. I'll have to check it out in the post-Kimball world. I always felt he was the weakest link of the show and I'm glad to see him off my screen.
As for this week, well it was an odd one at times.
Monday: On Sunday we made Cornell chicken (from Cooks Country no less!) for my parents and siblings. We ate the leftovers on Monday along with some rice and broccoli.
Tuesday: We made homemade pizza and my daughter (who is 20 months old) got to make one of the pizzas. She had a lot of fun with that
Wednesday: Leftover pizza from Tuesday. Not the healthiest to do two days in a row but it was easy.
Thursday: I had to work out of state and got home late. I had a BLT with some cooked bacon that had been in the fridge and was at the "Eat it or toss it" stage. My wife and daughter ate something before I got home.
Friday: My Father-in-law is in town and is taking my wife and daughter out. I may go to Bible Study by myself or I may stay home.
Friday:
I made some sweet and sour chicken yesterday... it was yummy!
Your cooking this week is pretty epic! I also love how you just casually throw together baked goods every night. You're my hero! 🙂 This week was a lot of eating out for us, as our friend group had several hangout times. Hopefully next week we can be more frugal or at least eat fancy food at home for the holiday 🙂
Since I was gone the last two weekends and haven't bought any groceries since the 17th, I know I will be shopping large this weekend for groceries.
Our menu this week:
I got back home from my trip after midnight on Saturday (really, Sunday morning) so Sunday night was burgers and my husband's request, baked potatoes.
Monday I found out our mission group had changed our final meeting to that very night so it was Chick-Fil-A, since our group meets in a town an hour from me and I had to leave straight from work to get there. My husband had cheese, crackers and fruit.
Tuesday was meatloaf and some veggies, but I don't remember which veggies.
Wednesday was leftovers from Tuesday, because I had a meeting that night, too, but this one was in my town. I added some green peas to the sides.
Thursday was fresh corn on the cob, sliced tomato, bell peppers and bacon.
Tonight is still a mystery!
That ALDI trip looks delicious!
Can't remember what day was what...let's see if I can recall someam of the meals.
1. Chinese cabbage, new potatoes and kielbasa
2. CP Peachy Chicken, fresh sweet corn and salad
3. Pastrami on homemade rye swirl bread with fresh lettuce and tomato slices and a salad
4. Pasta casserole and cucumbers/onion salad
5. Grilled ribeyes (a gift) and a very large variety of veggies from our garden also fixed on the grill.
Desserts: either ice cream or choco-moist cake...which contains fruit cocktail or fresh fruitcup
I had a super busy week at work, but the fam pulled together and got dinner on the table every night.
Sat: grilled cheddar brats, chips
Sun: slow cooker cheesy smoked sausage and potato soup, cornbread
Mon: shrimp and gnocchi in garlic cream sauce, roasted Brussels sprouts
Tues: grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, sweet corn
Wed: creamy chicken fajita pasta
Thurs: grilled stuffed chicken breast wrapped in bacon, potato salad, blueberries
Tonight: pizza night!
Not sure if this allowed to post but I was out of town for work most of this week so I ate...
Mon: Our hotel provides breakfast and dinner. Dinner was "make you own sandwiches" so I had a turkey salami on wheat with lots of produce. Also had some clam chowder and mixed dark greens salad with cukes, mushrooms, cheese and croutons. Lemonade to drink although they have free wine and beer.
Tues: Hotdog night with salad, vegetable crudités, tomato soup, punch and fresh chocolate chip cookies.
Wedn: Penne with meatballs, salad, crudités, chicken noodle soup.
Thurs: I flew in late so just picked up some fast food.
Fri: Had to get my Rx at Costco so picked one of their ckn Caesar salads for dinner.
I barely spent any money on food this week. All breakfasts were free while at the hotel. They were all delicious, from sausage with pancakes, hash browns, fresh fruits, fresh oatmeal to cold cereal, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs with or without ham, potato patties, breads and other pastries. We had picked up sandwich fixings at Ralph's along with water, chips and snacks to eat while at class. I did hit Ross and used some of my money to get some new exercise shorts and bra plus a new squeaky toy for the dog.
I would have to say I probably "made" about $200.00 since I didn't go out to eat. I'll forward that money to pay off a trip to Hawaii (for work) so it'll go to good use.
Monday - spiral ham, scalloped potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and corn
Tuesday- repeat of Monday - still delicious
Wednesday - corn dogs, chips, veggies
Thursday- planned take out with my side of the family to enjoy our last dinner together before my brother goes home to China after a 18 day visit. My 8 month old tried his first lasagna and it was a hit.
Friday- turkey bacon ranch panini, baked potato, watermelon, strawberries, peas.
We went to our old house/my MiL's house this week, so it was a very ad hoc kind of week. She made us dinner the day we arrived, but I cooked the other two nights, because she tends to be gone at meetings, or forgets that there are small children in-house who need to eat before 7 p.m. I find it stressful to cook in someone else's kitchen. Even though it was my kitchen for ten years, so at least I know where all the equipment is, now that my MiL lives alone there's really not a lot of food on hand for a horde of locusts like us.
I scrounged a kind of Spanish rice with ground beef one night, which was okay, though too spicy for the children, who ate theirs in corn tortillas with cheese. I went to the store the next day for dinner stuff, which was sweet Italian sausage with peppers and onions, mashed potatoes, and a big salad from the lettuce I had brought along from our garden.
Then there was the road food. It's a six-hour drive, which is no joke with three kids ages 7, 4, and 2, so the food is critical for distraction purposes. I packed ham and cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, and nuts for the way there, and got the kids a treat of some Pringles at a gas station stop. Plus a small bag of mini Oreos as the last-minute desperation distraction in hour five of the trip when everyone is SO DONE with the car. On the way back they had peanut butter and honey sandwiches, potato chips, cucumbers, cashews, and their gas station treat was these gross-looking Oreo-covered ice cream bars that got all over everything. Kept them happy, though.
When we got home at dinnertime last night, all I could manage were some corn tortillas with cheese, fried eggs, salsa, and carrot sticks. Then I stuck them all in bed and began my post-road-trip recovery 🙂 I'm very glad to be home and back in my own kitchen again . . .
I'm so sad that of the 2 Aldi's closest to me, one is closed for remodeling until the end of July! I know it will I be bigger and better once it reopens but I'm missing all my Aldi's deals, especially since hubby is out of work right now.
Oh man, that stinks. I hope the remodel goes according to schedule so that you don't have TOO long to go without your Aldi fix.