What I Spent, What We Ate | Starting off October
What I Spent
I spent $44.57 at the grocery store where Lisey works.
I spent $44 (exactly!) at Aldi.
And I spent $49 at another grocery store.
So, I was at $137, which is great.
Buuuut, then I really needed to go to Costco for frozen fruit. I spent $71 there (on frozen fruit, pistachios, two loaves of bread, and a pack of floss).
So, I ended up at $208 to start off October, which is $58 over my weekly goal.
If I want to end October on budget, I'll just need to spend $130 each week instead of $150. We'll see if I can do it!
What We Ate
Monday
I made these chicken tacos, and I made some homemade corn tortillas to go with them.
(This photo is obviously not of the corn tortillas!)
We had chips and salsa as well, and some fresh fruit.
Tuesday
When I asked you all for suggestions to help me use up my surplus of celery, someone suggested beans and rice, which reminded me of jambalaya, which also uses celery.
So, I made a batch of this jambalaya.
We also had a green salad.
Wednesday
I made a spatchcocked, salted, and roasted chicken. I didn't salt it the full 24 hours ahead of time (I forgot!) and I have to say, it wasn't quite as good.
So, if you ever make that recipe, remember to salt it the night before.
I also roasted some carrots because I had a lot of them in my fridge.
Really though, these roasted carrots are so good, you totally do not need a surplus for an excuse to make them.
And I made a greens+fruit salad (kinda like this one).
Thursday
I threw together a chicken noodle soup with leftover chicken, broth from my freezer (this kind), and carrots and celery from my fridge.
This had the happy effect of using up some carrots AND some celery. Whee!
We also had fresh pineapple and some homemade applesauce from the freezer.
Friday
I'm think I'm gonna make thin crust pizzas tonight.
What did you eat this week?
(My goodness, isn't it so hard to remember? Especially side dishes. I often sit here at my keyboard for a while before they come to me. And sometimes they don't come to me at all!)
Monday: Lamb ribs on the grill, rice, frozen peas, tomato and mozzarella salad
Tuesday: Lamb chili, cheese, carrot sticks
Wednesday: Italian sausage with roasted tomato sauce, roasted bell pepper/onion/mushroom, pasta for kids, leftover green beans
Thursday: Beef pot roast with carrots and mushrooms, bread and butter
Tonight: Uh. I'll have to scope out the freezer and see what I can find (bet it'll be more lamb . . .) and then see if I actually have the will to cook and eat it. Maybe I'll just make eggs in some form.
Man, it's pretty obvious I've been phoning it in this week, isn't it? Oh well. No one starved.
So are homemade corn tortillas THAT much better than storebought? That's one of the few things I've never made myself, because it's also one of my few convenience foods and I'm afraid if I once try making them, the store version will be ruined for me. This has happened with so many things (one of which is yogurt, thanks to you :-).
Well, I'm not a huge fan of corn tortillas, but I do like the fresh ones you can get at taco trucks. So, I've been trying to make my own corn tortillas to replicate those. The ones from the store are just so DRY. Bleah.
I haven't quite got the corn tortilla-making thing down pat, but I'll keep trying. I think I need to do some internet research to figure out some tips and tricks.
Wow, if that's "phoning it in" I want to eat at your house every week!
Oh, I've been thinking about making jambalaya! I'll have to check out that recipe!
Monday: hamburgers and FF
Tues: I can't remember for the life of me!
Wed:Burritos ( plus froze a bunch for lunches!)
Thurs:pigs in blankets
Friday: Pork loin and fried potatoes
I actually managed to stick pretty well to our meal plan. We're also probably smoking some thing this weekend, which works out well because then we freeze it for future meals.
And yes, super hard to remember what I cooked!!
Your food always looks so delicious and healthy! And your food budget for a family of five is amazing!
We spent $1,100 on food for a family of three adults and toddler in September. It made me really embarrassed as a frugal personal finance blogger. I document all of my food purchases in my good expense report and just can't believe we bought so much! >.<
Well, it's good you're tracking your expenses! Knowing how much you spend is a huge first step.
I look forward to seeing your grocery spending progress. 🙂
I took a look at your blog and it looks like your food total includes both groceries for food prepared at home and restaurant meals. Is that right? If I'm reading it correctly, your restaurant meals were over $300, so that means your grocery expense came in at under $800. While that's still probably a lot for many of us, I suspect a lot of Kristen's readers keep a restaurant budget separate from our groceries.
We are entering the end of volleyball season and for that I am really excited.. Ohio weather recently went from ridiculously hot to a sudden cold burst back to unseasonably warm for a few days.. to cool and rainy.. I truly don't know if I am getting sick right now or suffering from seasonal allergies due to the bipolar weather... ugh
Monday- I cooked a small pork roast in a jar of frozen pork broth.. shredded and served with fruit as sandwiches before a game..
Tuesday- grilled some chicken breasts served with fruit and chicken broth flavored noodles....
Wednesday- boys made sandwiches before we left for the match...
Thursday- grilled hot dogs, roasted small tri-colored potatos in the oven and made some mac ad cheese.. kids were ridiculously excited! lol
Friday- I feel cruddy.... was thinking ordering pizza but due to my lack of motivation I made them buy school lunch.. which appears to be pizza... so I might have to find my motivation and maybe pull stuff from the freezer and make a pit of chicken veggie stew.. and hopefully not feel worse!
We usually average around $100 - $125/week for a family of 4 with two small kids but we eat mostly organic so I'm very impressed with how you feed your family of 6 (including teenagers!) for so cheap. And everything you make always looks so delicious!
Monday - Pasta with Italian sausage, tomato cream sauce, and broccoli
Tuesday - Chicken tortilla soup
Wednesday - Leftover pasta and chicken tortilla soup
Thursday - Beef and pepper stir fry with noodles (although the kids were not fans, they just picked at the food)
Friday - Fridays are pizza nights so we are having veggie pizza
I'm so inspired by how you manage to make meals from scratch every night. I wish I could do that! We are mostly eating leftovers every night since I cook on weekends and plan out what we'll eat for every lunch and dinner (I work full time).
I've made flour tortillas before and they were delicious, although too much work for me right now. How were the homemade corn tortillas? Were they worth making from scratch?
I think the way you manage is great! If I wasn't a sahm/wahm, I'd probably do exactly the same thing you do.
Our routine meal plan this week was just plain not happening. We went out of state for a funeral on Tuesday, and while we had brought enough food for snacky-type lunch, we were starving by suppertime and stopped at a restaurant. We couldn't take the time to stay and eat with family after the service, unfortunately. We chose the cheap options at the restaurant, though.
Monday night we were getting ready to leave early Tuesday, and we might have had leftovers. I have no idea what we ate.
Wednesday night I was tired, after getting home late the night before and getting up at six a.m. that morning for a full day of work. I pulled leftover chili out of the freezer.
Last night I attended a faith-based event in a town an hour away -- I had the tickets for it long before I discovered I would be attending an out of state funeral in the same week, and friends and I had already made all the plans to go to this event, so I went. We ate chicken salad at the home of the one of the friends before we left. I contributed a fruit salad to the meal.
Tonight, who knows, but I definitely need to cook a real meal.
My grocery budget this past weekend was $36 and change. We are tightening the budget for a while to make up for an expensive September of repairs and medical, then the expenses to travel to the funeral this week.
The week in a flash! lol
Monday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit
Tuesday - Tortellini with red sauce, garlic bread, fruit
Wednesday - Baked crispy pork chops, macaroni and cheese, applesauce, broccoli
Thursday - Planned dinner out
Friday - Pizza, salad, fruit
Saturday - Leftovers?
Sunday - No clue as of yet! lol
This is definitely good to stimulate the memory. No need to buy any more brain games if I do this each week, lol.
Monday- sheet pan meal of baked chicken, grape tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, and carrots.
Tuesday- sheet pan meal of Lemon pepper chicken and cheesy broccoli
Wed-went out to a local restaurant with a buffet that was overpriced and not very good that made me wish we would have ate at home.
Thurs- Baked spaghetti made with ground turkey and green beans on the side.
Friday-hmmm, not sure yet
The best thing about the meals this week is I had just enough leftover that I could take a serving for my lunch the next day.
We made a turkey on Sunday and so we've been going through leftovers most of the week.
Monday: Leftover turkey, mashed potatoes and veggies.
Tuesday: I ate a large salad with bits of turkey in it. My wife and daughter ate some turkey with some leftover rice pilaf that was hanging around the fridge.
Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner. Eggs, bacon, fruit and pancakes.
Thursday: BLTs and chicken soup.
Friday: I'm thinking of making a pot-pie tonight but I neglected to make a pie dough. I may just stop and buy one at Aldi on the way home, though (I know, the shame!)
Tomorrow is my wife's birthday so by her request we are either getting pizza or calzones.
Bahaha! I feel you on trying to remember what we ate this week. I have to write everything down on our menu board or I wouldn't know at all.
This week we ate:
Monday: Grilled burgers and sweet potato fries
Tuesday: Pasta salad with homemade bruschetta
Wednesday: Asian lettuce wraps
Thursday: Roasted sausage and veggies
Friday: Tomato cream sliders with rice and broccoli
So, will you be doing a post about the corn tortillas? I tried it once and they were dry, thick, and terrible. I might try again, depending on what you say...
If I get to the point where I'm turning out tasty tortillas, then yes!
I know you already have WAY more on your plate than I do but, If it were me writing a post every week about what I eat and I consistently was forgetting what side dishes were included I would snap a picture of the dinner table every night or jot a note to myself as I'm preparing the meal so "I often sit here at my keyboard for a while before they come to me. And sometimes they don’t come to me at all!)" wouldn't be a problem.
Haha, I should remember to do that. Will I, though??
Oh, now I really want to make some jambalaya too!
This week I was feeling really lazy in the kitchen so I made some big batches of food.
Sunday - Lentil tika masala, to help use up all the tomatoes from the garden! I'm overwhelmed now with tomatoes, but in a month, I'll be sad to have no fresh ones in the back yard!
Monday - Lentil fajitas on corn tortillas
I used to hate corn tortillas, but I've found if I fry them with a tiny bit of oil they taste so much better!
Tuesday - Leftovers, I made nachos with the fajita leftovers
Wednesday - Kale, pear, almond salad
Thursday - Leftover tika masala
Tonight - I'm making the first batch of chili this fall! I'm so excited!
I'm thinking I'll do some big batch cooking this weekend! In case I'm uninspired next week too.
Jennifer's comments above made me chuckle. Yes, remembering what you ate IS a good brain exercise. Let's see how I do:
Day 1: cheap, horrid frozen pizza that tasted surprisingly GOOD (plus football)
Day 2: turkey cabbage veggie bean soup
Day 3: leftover soup
Day 4: pinto beans and buttered cornbread
Day 5: leftover pinto beans and cornbread
Day 6: canned soup on sale plus a little added chicken and a whole lot of added veggies
Day 7: omlettes n broccoli
We spent 119ish (117? argh, can't remember) for the week feeding hubby and me and our 6 animals (so dog food, cat food, and cat litter are included in the cost, too).
Monday-pulled pork and cornbread
Tue- zucchini/chicken/potato layer casserole with random roasted veggies
Wed-. Dine out fundraiser for kids school.
Thursday-pork chops and veggies stir fry
Friday-leftovers from the week.
Weekend- not sure yet...
M Chick Fil A (new month, new calendar offer)*
T Leftover Fajita Chicken and Peppers turned into quesadillas**
W Chicken Tortilla Soup
Th Creamy Chicken Marsala (new recipe that actually turned out)
F Homemade Pizza
Sa Homemade Lasagna, French Bread, Green Beans and Apple Pie
Su Brats
*If you are going to eat at Chick Fil A anyway, the calendar is a great deal with free offers every month that more than cover the costs. Also, if you use the app, like add money to it and pay with it, you earn free food and they also randomly give you free food. Even if you don't put money on it, you can still get free items, last month was a breakfast item. You need to scan it even if you don't use it to pay to get "credit."
**We grill extra fajita chicken, then make quesadillas with it and the leftover peppers. We make them, then put in the microwave long enough for the cheese to melt and for them to stick together, then we brown them in a dry frying pan (no oil) very quickly for some crunch, then cut into fourths with a pizza cutter.
Yes! We have the calendars too.
Monday - My husband was away coaching a volleyball game and I went to a moms outing, so Grammy brought dinner (yay!!!) when she came to watch the kids.
Tuesday - Cheddar brats (on sale at Aldi), watermelon, baked fries
Wednesday - BBQ chicken legs, roasted cauliflower, watermelon, biscuits
Thursday - I canned applesauce yesterday. I forgot how tiring it is to can food and take care of little people (ages 1 and 3) at the same time. I bought a ready-to-bake pizza from Aldi and we had applesauce with it.
Friday - My husband is working late tonight (and there's totally a theme of me not wanting to cook when my husband isn't home to eat it) and we're going to a homecoming parade with Grammy... I think I'm probably just going to grab whatever I can find that the kids are interested in eating so they don't turn into hangry monsters and don't have empty stomachs when they get all of that parade candy. Cheese sticks? Applesauce? Leftover pizza? Don't care. Whatever works tonight.
What IS it about the husband being gone that suddenly makes it seem not worth it to cook? It totally happens to me and it's weird! Like, what? If 5/6 of us are there, it's not worth it to cook?? I make no sense.
I do this, too. But then, my husband doesn't get unreasonably excited by tuna melts and apple slices for dinner, as my children do. Kids are so happy with things that are so easy. Husbands, (at least mine) not so much.
That is a fair point. Sonia and Zoe will be all, "YAY! Mac and cheese!". Mr. FG, not so much. 🙂
How about fish sticks/tater tots? I never served them except when hubby was gone for work.
Stupid, I know, but I am the same way. If the mister is gone, I'll eat popcorn for dinner!
Has Hungry Harvest stopped for the season now that it's October?
Oh my goodness, I'm so scatterbrained! I completely forgot to add that into this week's What I Spent. Geez.
Hungry Harvest goes on all year round, since produce companies have excess or ugly produce all year.
We got our first Dinnerly box this week so this what we had:
Monday: Beef & Barley stew & pasta
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Pork chops
Thursday: Ginger Chicken and rice
Friday: Italian take out
We didn't care for the pasta dish too much this week. It was very bland, but everyone seemed to like the other two dishes so we're going to keep getting Dinnerly for now at least.
Monday- Salmon, Sweet potatoes, & mixed veggies
Tuesday- Baked chicken, white rice, & carrots
Wednesday- Grilled cheese sandwiches, baked chips, & fruit
Thursday- Beef stew made in the crockpot: included stew meat, frozen peas, onions, tomatoes and beef broth. Served it over noodles
Friday: Lettuce salad, olives, toast and strawberries
.....I could have done better with a "5 frugal things" list than a "what we ate". But I worked hard AND had some fun!
M- Salads at our locally owned bar and grill ..we wanted to enjoy the Fall Season and go out and watch some football!..gotta support your friends and neighbors with small businesses... how is that for spin on just want to have fun to lazy to cook and do dishes! : )
T- Grilled Burgers...no buns... no side..easy and ....yeah!...I took advantage of his being " not so hungry"
W- Chicken grilled..on day old bread, ...saved it by toasting ..with last of the leftover shredded mozerella ...dipped in red pepper jelly
( I enjoyed a low carb contents of this meal)
Th- A Long but very , very good and productive day!...Up at 4am. working by 5am and not home until 8pm...stopped and picked up a pizza at a local place..but on special for $10...it worked perfect for a relaxing evening, vegging on the couch and watching football with my husband .
Fri- An Super Early start to work on this beautiful day...took my husband up on an offer to go out for dinner...We Split an Entree and healthy sides ...delicious!
Maybe better next week?
My son and I were out of state this week at a national rabbit Show/convention. Our hotel didn't have a mini fridge or microwave so we brought our own!! We were able to eat most of our meals in our room this way. Lunches were PBJ or cheese and crackers with fruit and raw veggies. For dinners I brought frozen burger so 2 nights we had sloppy joes with salad and steam in a bag veggies. We made mug mac and cheese with noodles shredded cheese and milk. Tuna and crackers with fruit and veggies. And one night was the banquet. Breakfast was mostly cereal and oatmeal. We ate breakfast out once. We did eat out two nights that the convention ran late but over all I think we ate pretty healthy.
My husband didn't go with us, he had to work, but he went over to his moms for dinner every night.
So, I don't have kids, so pardon me if this is a stupid question, but: Don't your kids eat more as they grow older/bigger? I've been noticing that you've been struggling to keep under budget, and since you have a teenage boy (which if I remember anything from my brother, was that they vaporize food) and your young ones are getting older, doesn't it stand to reason they'd eat more, thus needing more food and consequently making you go over budget more frequently?