What I spent, what we ate (It's March!)
I'm so happy it's March now. March is never as cold or as full of wintry weather as January and February.
Plus, the days are getting longer, and daylight savings time starts in two weeks, which means that there will be evening light all of a sudden.
Lots to be happy about!
What I Spent
Let's see.
I made a stop at Costco ($61.58) for pistachios plus frozen blueberries and strawberries.
I got my produce box for $33.
And my regular grocery shopping came in at $126.
So, I'm starting March off at $220.58. That's a bit over budget, but I had to buy shrimp for Sonia's birthday meal (see menu below) and the things I bought at Costco will last for a good long while, so I think things will average out as the month goes on.
Spending Year To Date
January: $680.55
February: $650
What We Ate
Monday
Mr. FG, Lisey, and Joshua weren't here for dinner, and Sonia and Zoe weren't very hungry. So I made them some grilled cheese sandwiches and I had some butternut squash soup from the freezer.
Tuesday
I tried a Chicken Posole recipe from my Cook's Country magazine. It was pretty good, but I'd say that I prefer my Chicken Tortilla soup over it.
We had toasted no-knead English muffin bread with our soup, plus guacamole.
Wednesday
This was Sonia's actual birthday, but her friend couldn't very well come sleep over in the middle of the week, so we planned her birthday meal for Friday.
I let her pick out a meal for her birthday night, though, and she chose chipped beef on toast (lucky me! So easy.) and a variation on the strawberry pear green salad.
(I used blueberries and canned peaches for the two fruits.)
Joshua made a pan of homemade brownies so that we'd have a bit of a birthday dessert, even though her ice cream cake wasn't happening until Friday.
Thursday
I made some roast beef panini sandwiches on homemade bread, and we had grilled asparagus with those.
Friday
We're having Sonia's actual birthday meal tonight! She's chosen fried shrimp, orange jello salad*, cheese puffs, and ice cream cake.
*I thought she might opt for 7-layer jello salad, but I was wrong!
Basically a big nutritional win. 😉 What are birthdays for, but to eat all kinds of junk food??
What did you eat this week? Share in the comments!
P.S. I'll be back tomorrow with a "What I'm Into" post.
March is the cruelest month up here in Maine. Still there is hope. March is maple syrup time!
Happy birthday to Sonia! And yes, that IS what birthdays are for 🙂 have fun!
I cannot, in good conscience even say what we ate this week (traveling) and re-entry has been bumpy, cooking-wise. But, one bright spot - last night made a freezer/pantry soup using last of soup frozen in a rush before I left. Also, two halves of bell pepper I froze --- thanks to you and your commenters! Nuked and sautéed them into the soup -- perfect. Would not have done this if not for suggestions here. Also used up limp celery and scrubby looking carrots from "crisper" -- hah
And, not much waste at all moldering in the 'frig when we got back -- have been much more careful since reading this blog, so was careful what I bought the week before. Big improvements for us on this end and I thank you!
If you trim the ends of limp celery and pop them into a cup of water they will crisp up again in a short time (never timed it, more than an hour, less than a day, lol). I just did it yesterday and put that now-crisp celery with hummus into my son's lunchbox. Works every time.
I just did this yesterday! Mr. FG likes peanut butter on celery sticks, so I pack them in his lunch sometimes. My celery was a bit limp, though, so I trimmed the ends and put them into water. It works like magic.
Same thing works wonders with limp lettuce too.
Carrots, too, will re-hydrate themselves in water (unless they're TOO far gone).
Radishes, too, though I completely submerge those and you don't have to trim them. I always think I should try it with carrots but them I just make them into soup...
It is pretty great what a little bit of knowledge about cell biology will do for you. 😉
I never knew that -- thanks for the tip!
Ah, traveling throws all of us off. It's normal!
Yay that your bell pepper freezing project went off smoothly. Good for you.
March 4th and still -27 degres here. yark! Can't wait for April.
Since I'm back to my normal "I don't like to cook" self, I don't have much to report on the matter of what we ate, but...
- Store bought meat loaf with rice and veggies (x2)
- Store bought Sheperd Pie with veggie and cheese for the girls and cereals for myself
- Pizza pitas
- Turkey salad on pita bread with cheese and veggies (x2)
Yep, that kind of week.....
Oh my gracious. That sounds terrible! I hope things warm up for you soon.
My 2nd son loves shrimp too! His birthday requests vary, though, as he starts planning his next birthday dinner, well, the day after his birthday :).
This week we made your enchiladas (very good!) and also simplified things with beans and rice for one dinner, chicken/pasta/veggie another. I tried a new curried chicken skewers with yogurt dip recipe that was SO good. It basically had you cut up chicken breast in 1/4 inch slices, marinate it in a mixture of honey, curry powder, paprika, and salt (I was out of curry, so I used garam masala), and then broil it. That was it. I was skeptical about the addition of honey, but it really made the meat test better, and it was so tender that I wonder if it had a role to play in that too.
Sonia plans her birthday immediately after the next one too. I think she's changed her dinner plans about 35 times. 😉
Ok, my following "what we ate for the week" might sound extravagant, but it truly isn't.
My family of 7 started the week on Sunday, when we pulled the 9 pound spiral ham out of our chest freezer, that one of my son's got for free at his work's holiday party and put that on the smoker. I also had made a crockpot of fresh red beans and also served rice with it.
On Monday, I made a ham and noodle casserole.
Tuesday, we made 2 homemade stuffed crust pizzas, one, just plain cheese, the other ham and pineapple.
Wednesday, I made orange glazed chicken in my crockpot, and we had this over rice.
Thursday, was "smorgasbord" night, to clean out the fridge.
Friday will be Salmon with lemon, dijon sauce with alfredo noodles and salad.
Saturday, rounding out the week with ham and navy bean soup (made from ham bone of said Sunday ham) salad and rolls.
Not to shabby a week for a free hunk of meat.
Meanwhile while you wait for warmth I am waiting for the near 100 degree days to pass. I am going to be thinking hard to remember this week's meals.
1. Corned meat and vegetables
2. An only me day so leftovers.
3. Rissoles with tomato and onion gravy
4. I can't remember.
5. Steak, egg and chips.
Our Friday was just horrible and everything that could go wrong seemed too. I swear it. My mother had a huge fall, my daughter hurt herself and the meat I had bought in the morning was off. I didn't find that out until I opened the packaging. But it is now Saturday in my part of Australia so today has to be better.
So true! When it's 100 degrees here, I may be jealous of your wintertime. 😉
So sorry that your Friday was awful. I hope today shows itself to be better.
Thank you
I was feeling under the weather for the first part of the week so on Saturday I just had a yogurt and an orange for dinner. Sunday was a can of soup. Monday I wasn't up to cooking still but a friend at work gave me some pulled pork so I had that Monday & Tuesday. Wednesday I felt better so I made Chicken in Wine Sauce, rice and asparagus. Had leftovers on Thursday and probably tonight, too.
Next week I am planning to eat mostly from freezer. It's getting rather full . . .
Do you (or anyone) think a hand mixer would work for the english muffin bread recipe? Thanks in advance.
We have a jello recipe in my family too!
1 lrg pack raspberry jelly
Large cottage cheese
Medium sour cream
1 cool wip
Medium can of crushed pineapple (drained)
Nuts to taste ( we use pecans)
My meals usually center around whatever produce I find in the reduced bins so sometimes they may seem less than ideal but we just make it work.
Monday-Baked BBQ chicken, roasted bell peppers with roasted cubed sweet potatoes, and mac&cheese.
Tuesday-Baked spaghetti with greens beans from the freezer
Wednesday-baked salmon with roasted orange, yellow, and red peppers and twice baked potatoes
Thursday-Cheesy hamburger patties(I'm sick of buns) with tomatoes and pickles on the side, and roasted squash. The kids had banana slices for dessert. and they did eat buns with their burgers.
Friday- hmmm, not sure yet
So you can probably guess that peppers, tomatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, and bananas were all from the reduced bin. I'm thankful that we got to add a few healthy veggies to our meals this week.
My reduced bin almost never has peppers and tomatoes -- score!
Do you have a "print" tab for your recipes? Am I missing something? Thanks!
Most of my recipes should have a printable PDF below the recipe title. Some of my older ones are missing that, though. If you come across one, let me know, and I'll get a PDF uploaded.
It is for the "Frugal Brownes" I did not see the PDF for it. Thanks!
Oh, yes! That's one of the first recipes I ever posted here, so it didn't have a PDF. I uploaded one just now for you.
https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2008/08/easy-frugal-homemade-brownies/
When I was growing up, we always got to choose the menu on our birthday. My favorite was creamed chicken and biscuits. But what was really special about the day was that we didn't have to do any chores. I think I liked these special days almost better than a party.
Yup, same here! At our house, the birthday kid doesn't have to do chores OR schoolwork. 😉
I went to a Catholic boarding school, a very small one with only 20 kids. The nuns were so wonderful about making birthdays a huge deal, to compensate for not being with family I now think. We were not on the chore list that day, days before we got to request our eggs however we wanted them for breakfast that day (usually it was scrambled eggs every morning...I always asked for 2 pieces of French toast made into a sandwich with a thick slice of cheese melted in the middle), at dinner you had a special plate (same food as everyone else, though) and a cake in the flavor you requested in advance. Birthdays there were better than the ones I had at home! After my husband heard this story when we were first married, he started making me the French toast and cheese birthday breakfast every year---33 years now and he has never forgotten! One year I was in the hospital on my birthday and he smuggled one in.
I love this story. It is so different from the many boarding school stories you here.
Hello Kristen,
Do you know how much you spend for clothes for your family? Or for homeschooling? I was just wondering :).
I feel like I know you! I have been following your blog for more than 7 years and through MD, NJ and now CA.
Farhana
I don't off-hand...I'd have to look it up!
My family would be quite jealous of your current state. They pretty much all want to live in CA. 😉
You and your family are welcome to come and visit us in CA anytime :).
I know a lot of people who live here in Cali want to leave, but I love it here.
I apparently had no imagination this week.
Chicken stir fry with cabbage and carrots, rice
Pasta with goat cheese, mango and cucumber salad
Tofu stir fry with cabbage and carrots, rice
Pasta with chick peas, broccoli
Pasta with tomato sauce, slow cooked pork, broccoli
In my house too, we always got to pick our birthday dinner. My brother and I had a fondness for complicated things like stuffed shells! Luckily, my girls have much simpler taste, at least for now.
Happy Birthday Sonja!
There are lots of eateries that give out free food on your birthday so we go to alot of them. We go to Denny's Ihop, Jersey Mike's and Firehouse subs on our birthday but there are lots more.
The shrimp lettuce wrap on your site reminded me of shrimp fajitas....So I made them today. I've never made them before and found a recipe in which I THOUGHT I had all of the ingredients. Nope. I ended up substituting crab boil for the paprika and accidentally doubled it. In the end, everyone loved it.
Here's my week's dinners:
M- sloppy joes
T- chicken stromboli
W- baked ziti
Th-steak/fries/onion rings and leftover baked ziti
F- shrimp fajitas, homemade bruschetta, grilled asparagus
FYI, I sign up for numerous birthday programs and you don't have to use them on your actual birthday. olive garden, Islands, Jersey Mikes, Lazy dog, etc. etc.
I always requested a homemade pound cake on my birthday, and my mom still makes one for me from time to time:)
Meals this week were planned but still felt hectic as we continue to adjust to my work schedule.
Butternut white soup w/bread and fruit
French toast, sausage and eggs with fruit
Ravioli, red sauce, meatballs and veggies
Soup from the freezer and grilled cheese
Burgers and dogs, FF, veggies w/ ranch
Seared maple salmon, rice, broccoli
Pizza and veggies w/ Caesar
I still have quite a bit of protein in the freezer but not much else! I will pick up a winter CSA today and do a regular shopping as well and that will hopefully make it through the week as work will be crazy again...I shall also try to make some bread, yogurt, granola bars, Popsicles and brownies for the week.
Sonia's birthday meal requests made me smile. 🙂
Mon- Swordfish w/tomato salsa relish*, brown rice, roasted asparagus
Tue- Couscous stuffed acorn squash*, spinach salad, garlic naan bread
Wed- Chipotle turkey chili (LO's from last week that I'd frozen), spinach salad, garlic naan bread
Thur- Savory ham & gruyere cheese waffles*, roasted sweet potato wedges, homemade applesauce
Fri- Green chile & cheese tamales (the last of the frozen holiday leftovers, yeah!), green salad
* All ATK recipes, all delish, particularly the couscous-medly stuffed acorn squash.
I love America's test kitchen. I make so many of their recipes.
Your kids pick such interesting meals for their birthdays! Mine usually want pizza, cheese burgers or mac 'n cheese. 🙂
Well, mine get pizza pretty regularly, and we do burgers fairly often too.
Fried shrimp, though? I hardly ever make that because it's a pain, so it feels like a big treat meal to Sonia!
Just curious, but do you ever buy the fresh strawberries and just pop them in the freezer? I find them to be much less expensive than the already frozen varieties.
Ah, maybe strawberries are really cheap where you live! Here, the frozen variety is pretty much always cheaper per pound, even in peak strawberry season.
FYI, its actually Daylight SAVING time. We're saving daylight, not Savings daylight.
Although "daylight savings" IS a commonly used phrase. http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/daylight-savings-time.html
We should just all call it DST and then everyone will be happy. 😉
It's so nice to see someone blog about realistic menu planning. I have to plan for a family of 5 on $400 a month! Thanks for some new menu ideas!