What I Spent, What We Ate | And it's September!
September seems like a sudden change, doesn't it? 
It's not the like weather magically shifts on September 1st, but somehow, turning the calendar to September makes it promptly feel like a completely different season.
Even if you ARE still wearing shorts at first.
What I Spent
I spent $21 at the grocery store where Lisey works, buying some odds and ends for Joshua's birthday dinner on Saturday night.
(Gyros! Plus carrot cake. I use the recipe in this cookbook and it is marvelous.)
I also spent $65.04 on the same day at Aldi, buying these groceries.
I got my $25 Hungry Harvest box on Saturday (lots of organic stuff this week).
On Monday, Joshua picked up a container of buttermilk ($1.79) when he went to get Lisey from work.
And on Wednesday when I got Lisey from her shift, I picked up soy sauce, bean sprouts, grapes, limes, and cilantro for $8.59.
My total is $121.42, which is a nice low start to September. Whee!
What We Ate
Monday
I pushed the easy button! I sent Joshua out to get buttermilk and I made a big batch of these buttermilk waffles. I also thawed some local sausage and cooked it in a cast iron skillet (such lovely browning!)
I cut up some of the Asian pears from my Hungry Harvest box too.
Tuesday
We had a very random night. Joshua was gone for dinner, Mr. FG had a late lunch and wasn't hungry, and same story for Lisey.
So, it was really just Sonia and Zoe and me. I'd made homemade pitas* for the gyros Joshua requested for his birthday meal (which was on Saturday), so I spread tomato sauce on those, topped them with cheese and baked/broiled them to make mini pizzas.
*not to be snobby, but store-bought pitas resemble shoe leather, in my opinion. WHY ARE THEY SO TOUGH? And they're expensive to boot.
I also cooked up some broccoli from our Hungry Harvest box.
Wednesday
I made Shrimp Pad Thai, and we had more Asian pears (which, you know, seemed kind of fitting with Pad Thai!)
Thursday
Mr. FG and I went out for a bite to eat after music rehearsal, and the girls ate cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce, plus broccoli.
Friday
It's not hot! So, homemade pizza it is.
How's your September grocery spending going? And what did you eat this week?
P.S. I bravely did a Facebook Live video yesterday for the first time. I don't think I can link directly to it, but you can see it on my Facebook page.
Also, the free cleaning concentrates offer from Grove is still going on. Order here.
It was 38 degrees here on September 1 (overnight), so we DID have a prompt shift in weather this year. It'll warm up again, though.
Let's see. Food . . .
Monday: Lamb ribs and top round steak on the grill, leftover mashed potatoes, sauteed eggplant/zucchini/tomatoes/onions, cucumbers
Tuesday: Lamb chili, rice, zucchini
Wednesday: Bacon, fried eggs, bread and butter, carrot sticks
Thursday: Pasta with roasted tomato and cream sauce for kids (I live for this sauce in the summer when I have my garden tomatoes), leftover steak with some of the same sauce, leftover sauteed eggplant, etc., sauteed mushrooms, green salad with ranch dressing
It really needs to warm up again long enough to ripen more tomatoes. I don't have nearly enough of my beloved roasted tomato sauce in the freezer to get through winter. Especially since EVERYone including the Farmer's Almanac is predicting a particularly early and harsh one. Which is really no joke in this place of already-harsh winters. Just what I wanted to hear with a newborn baby and three little boys in a small house.
Yup. Definitely going to need more tomato sauce. And meatballs.
Oh wait. I forgot about tonight. Not that it matters, but maybe if I post it here I'll actually go through with it. 🙂 I'm planning on a half ham, boiled potatoes, sauteed carrots, and, if I really get ambitious, an apple brown betty for the kids.
As it is written, so let it be done . . .
Your tomato sauce sounds yummy. Can you post your receipe?
Thanks.
It's actually my internet friend's recipe, but I've been using it for years and sometimes add just a little cream to the original: http://finnyknits.blogspot.com/2007/08/best-tomato-sauce-ever-yep.html
P.S. Some R-rated language in the non-recipe part of that post.
Thanks. I just read the post. I like the way she writes. I'm definitely going to be making this.
I enjoy seeing your weekly menus, as I have a hard time deciding what to make for supper! Now that both our kiddos are away at college, it's just my hubby and I, so cooking has taken on a new challenge. Instead of not having enough, we've been ending up with WAY too many leftovers! The home made pitas sound like something I need to try. Hubby isn't a picky eater, usually, so trying something new now that I have more time with out running to kids' events sounds like a good idea!
Agreed! Storebought pita bread is gross and gummy. We started making ours from scratch and storebought ain't got nothin' on it. 🙂
This week we ate:
Monday: Szechuan noodles.
Tuesday: Smoked chicken with rice and beans
Wednesday: Beef and bean tostadas
Thursday: White wine artichoke chicken with Italian pasta salad
Friday: Fried rice.
Mr. FAF and I LOVE pad thai. What's what we usually order when we go to a Thai restaurant. It's perfect to pair with Asian pears. Yum yum!
We spent a whopping $850 in August, but September's been a bit quiet, so I guess it's good. We've spent $130 in Sep so far, and it's only the 1st week. I'm hoping our food expenses in September will be much lower than in August. ^.^
Seeing that you bought a loaf of bread doesn't make me feel so bad about not baking bread. I'm hoping to do it this weekend but we'll see how life goes for me.
For spending, we're looking artificially low at the moment as we have a fully stocked freezer and pantry. We will need to pick up a few things tonight like potatoes, ground turkey and stuff like that but so far I've spent $12 on groceries this month.
This week we've kept it mostly low-key.
Monday: It was Labor Day and my wife made some sort of chicken dish in the slow cooker but I can't remember specifically what she did.
Tuesday: It was National Cheese Pizza Day and the day my daughter got tubes in her ears so we got pizza for dinner since she was such a good sport about it (and Pizza Hut was only charging $5 a pie.)
Wednesday: We tried a new recipe of a honey ginger pork stir fry with green beans. It actually came out really well.
Thursday: Cleaned out the fridge. I made myself a tossed salad.
I had mixed success with menus this week - I actually forgot about Labor Day in my planning!
Monday - I cannot even remember dinner Monday...but it wasn't what I had on the menus
Tuesday - Chicken Enchiladas, corn
Wednesday - BBQ Meatballs in crockpot, mashed potatoes, green beans
Thursday - Chicken Linguini Alfredo, leftover green beans, homemade choc chip cookies (threw pork in the crock pot before I went to bed)
Friday - Carnitas Tacos, pico de gallo, shredded cheese
Saturday and Sunday are TBD, but we need to head to Houston to check on our daughter and take her to birthday dinner, then visit my mother in Brenham to do the same. So, lots of eating out over the weekend!
And your'e right about September - it jut sneaks up on me every year!
I hear you on September...as soon as labor day is over the air just feels different.
Sunday-turkey burgers
Monday- chili lime chicken with tomato and peppers over rice
Tuesday-kofka with green beans
Wednesday-fend for your self. Most had hot dogs or cereal, I think. I didn't eat. I had a snack around 430 and when I do that I never eat dinner
Thursday-leftover chopped brisket in bbq sauce with corn bread. It was left over from a party we went to and I took it home...the hosts said they would just toss it...also made tomato salad and corn cobs
Friday-pan seared turkey chops with salad, I guess. Or maybe I'll roast veg... we'll see.
Let's see...lots of traveling this week.
Monday: Leftover bbq with chips
Tuesday: Panda Express
Wednesday: Baked teriyaki chicken, spiral pasta, fried okra and corn
Thursday: Chick-fil-a and homemade summer salad
Friday: Not sure...probably eating dinner out just dh and me.
Well, I am waaaayy over budget already, but that's because I did a farm meat stock up. I planned to get next to nothing this weekend, but now I will be hosting family members from the Florida east coast, who evacuated, (I'm on the northwest side of FL) so I believe I'll be shopping more than I thought I would.
Monday was potato salad, corn on the cob, and chicken strips. Watermelon for dessert, yum.
Tuesday we had bacon sandwiches with leftover corn on the cob and something else, which I've forgotten. The sandwiches were on homemade bread.
Wednesday was pork cutlets, acre peas, and roasted beets.
Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday. I had a lot to do and pushed the easy button.
Tonight is going to depend on if my family arrives tonight or tomorrow. They are trying to decide which day will be better for traffic. You may see it on TV, but you have to see it in person to understand the traffic clogs, gas outages, RV's parked in every big parking lot, people waiting in line for shipments of bottled water, gas can outages, non-perishable food outages, football game and event cancellations, schools shut down, flight cancellations.... the whole state is that way. Usually it's some of the state, but this time, it's everywhere. It's incredible.
Totally agree, it is insanity but they are saying 105-110 mph winds in Orlando! That is 45 minutes from us and that is going to cause a lot of damage. Praying for a minimal loss of life, stuff is stuff.
Love how the "little animals" are showing up in your pictures!!
It's fun to read through the comments and see what people put on their menus. Helps when I want to get out of a rut and fix something different. Your Aldi picture makes me crave a pineapple. Haven't had one in ages!
Dear Frugal Girl, I struggle thinking up what to make for our dinner. Your articles and the readers' comments are so helpful! One of the best things on my Facebook, so creative and down to earth! Thank you
My kids are both back in school now, and I promised them that I would try to make most of dinner while they were at school so that I could spend more time with them after school.
Monday - hamburgers, cole slaw, salad for Labor Day
Tuesday - pasta fazool (with tomato sauce from fresh local tomatoes), broccoli
Wednesday - spaghetti with mushrooms and goat cheese, carrots and pears
Thursday - black beans and rice, yogurt, tomatoes
Friday - spaghetti with goat cheese, green beans, salad
I made tomato sauce from 40 pounds of local tomatoes last weekend. Before I had kids, I made it the traditional way with a strainer and I canned the sauce in jars. After having kids, I simplified things. Now I cut out the cores, chop the tomatoes roughly, cook them down, and then puree them with an immersion blender. Leaving the skins and seeds in gives the sauce a little texture that we don't mind at all, and it's healthier. I put the sauce in jars and freeze it, which is faster than canning.
I do the same thing with my sauce. I enjoy the extra texture.
I spent about $70 on groceries on August 31, so I'm yet to go grocery shopping yet in September! Our garden is still producing LOTS of fresh veggies, so our shopping trips are less frequent in the summer. I'm also counting my calories, so that means I eat less...and save some money.
Here's what we ate this week:
-Green bean and greens dahl (veggies all from our garden, just had to add some spices) with rice
-Aloo Gobi (cauliflower and potato dish from northern India)
-Homemade salted cholcolate, almond granola
-Roasted rainbow veggies and eggplant bacon with english muffins
-Spicy peanut roasted veggies, which is similar to Pad Thai without the rice noodles!
I'm going to miss my garden this winter and the fresh produce I can harvest and cook in the same day! It was great to see all the awesome food you at this week!
My usual boring entrees...it cooling off but not cool enough to cook fall season foods..very ready for the season to change. Going to browse and find a vegatable beef stew to put together this week or next. Doing a good job with taking leftovers for lunch...zero food waste this week.
Monday-- Shared an entree with my husband at a fave local restaurant .
(My Excuse for Eating Out? Its a holiday!)
Tuesday- Baked Chicken Strips/Brocolli
Wednesday - $5 Burger night !! No cooking! No Dishes! ( My excuse, ummmm..Lazy?.. And its Fun!)
Thursday-Baked Chicken Thighs, Rice Pilaf (for him) and green beans
Friday -Soft Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Habenero Salsa
The nasty cold that my daughter had when she visited us last weekend is slowly wending its way through the rest of the family. I finally came down with it at the end of the week--hence, the take n bake instead of the homemade version I'd planned! 🙂
Sat: dinner out with friends
Sun: lemon pepper chicken and orzo, green beans
Mon: burgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, strawberries
Tues: saucy Italian sausage orzo w spinach, cornbread
Wed: pancakes, grapes
Thurs: creamy tomato pasta w spinach
Fri: take n bake pizza
Monday- Meat loaf, baked beans, lettuce salad
Tuesday- baked chicken, brown rice, mixed veggie
Wednesday- Pepperoni pizza
Thursday- Strawberry Field Salad at Culvers
Friday- Ham sandwiches, potato chips, fruit
FG, have you considered used buttermilk powder for baking? I find that the baked goods (including CI's waffles) come out just as good, and you can keep the powder a long time. Put it in the fridge after you open it, unless you want the powder to cake something awful.
Monday - Annual neighborhood potluck.
Tuesday - ribs, carrots & tomatoes, fruit smoothie (strawberries & bananas frozen from previous excesses, peaches & melon & oranges that were beyond their prime).
Wednesday - Dimsum, watermelon, spinach & tomatoes.
Thursday - Hard, late day at work; so smorgesborg.
Friday - Taco movie night: taco'ed ground beef, romaine, salsa, cheese, taco flats; strawberries.
Saturday - Dimsum surimi, spinach. Had lots of watermelon at an afternoon pool party.
I'm finally making visible progress clearing out my deep freezer. I'm down to a couple of weeks of proteins: a smoked chicken, 1 meal of chix thighs; 2 meals of sausage; 2 meals of hot dogs; 4 meals of shrimp; 3 lbs ground meat; 2 meals of ribs. The "other stuff," however, (such as the 20 lb stash of butter, and enough smoked pig parts of a year's worth of bean cooking) will take longer to use up.
I've used it in the past, but it seems to me to be more expensive than regular buttermilk. Though admittedly, I haven't done the calculations!
Also, I use a whole quart of buttermilk to make waffles for my crew, so I felt like I went through the powdered stuff awfully quickly.
I can totally see the appeal for something like biscuits, though, which require less buttermilk.
Kristen, this is completely unrelated but, I remember a post a while back you had on tomato paste where you freeze the leftovers since most recipes only call for a small bit. I saw individual packets of tomato pastes at the Dollar Tree! Not sure if you have one on your area but it was 6 packets that contain 2 tablespoons per package. Anyway, thought it was worth a mention.
See I totally disagree. I have tried buttermilk a few different times.. The lemon and vinegar works in a desperate pinch.. but if I am really wanting to make something fabulous that calls for buttermilk I am going to make sure I buy the fresh stuff and enjoy it!
Sometimes I score big at my local discount outlet and get a half gallon for a buck fifty or less.. then I will be all about all buttermilk baked goods !!!
Oh yeah. Lemon and vinegar are a very poor substitute. But powdered buttermilk really is quite good!
Our last week was very strange. My daughter has had a pregnancy filled with hyperemesis gravidarum. I watched her get sicker every day. On Thursday night she had her last vomit and had a quick labour of five and half hours that went too fast for pain relief she had a tiny baby girl. Mia weighs just under five lbs and is now home. So hopefully after 37 weeks of nastiness I am hoping the dear daughter will be eating better.
Ohhh! Congratulations! I am so very happy that your little granddaughter is here and healthy, and that your daughter is feeling better. I had hyperemesis with all four of my pregnancies, and I felt immediately better after delivery. Like, I was even able to eat the hospital food.
I hope your daughter has her appetite back. Give her my congrats!