What I Spent, What We Ate
What I Spent
I got my Hungry Harvest box on Saturday ($25).
I spent $77 at Aldi and $40 at another grocery store (because Aldi doesn't always have everything I need.)
So, I'm at $142 for the week.
February Spending (average/goal is $150/week)
Week 1: $154
Week 2: $205
Week 3: $142
What We Ate
Saturday
Mish mash night!
Mr. FG and Zoe were out of town, I ate leftovers, Joshua made an egg and cheese burrito, Lisey got her free chicken soup from her Chick-Fil-A calendar card, and Sonia ate a Chick-Fil-A meal (she'd already used her calendar offer).
Sunday
I made buttermilk waffles, fried mush, and I fried up some local pork sausage.
Monday
I tried a new recipe from my Cook's Illustrated magazine for an Asian recipe called 3 Cup Chicken. We had jasmine rice with that.
Tuesday
I got sick with a really bad cold. So Sonia made tortellini soup, and we had a loaf of no-knead bread with that (which I made before I got sick).
Wednesday
Mr. FG picked up pizza.
Thursday
Sonia made Swedish pancakes, bless her heart.
Friday
I'm feeling much more like myself today, which is lucky because it's Zoe's birthday party night! She's picked pulled chicken sandwiches for her main dish, plus all kinds of snack foods and sugary drinks. 😉
I hope you will feel better soon! It's great when the kids can help out with cooking. I can't wait for Baby FAF to grow up and cook us something hehe.
Let's see, I'm winging it more on the AIP diet, since I'm adding back eggs (hooray!) and other foods, so I don't have a written weekly menu these days to help me remember. I should have one, it does help, but I've been too lazy to think ahead.
Sunday, we had honey-lime glazed salmon, asparagus, and some other AIP vegetable that I've forgotten.
We had beef and flour-less gravy over rice (for the husband, I can't have rice yet) and roasted veggies Monday.
Shrove Tuesday meant pancakes, so I know that night we had wheat-free/dairy-free pancakes, maple syrup and uncured bacon.
Wednesday and Thursday I had AIP beef curry stew with fresh fruit on the side (a honeydew and bananas) while my husband had raw oysters on crackers with slaw one night, and vegetable soup with corn pone the other night.
Tonight is anyone's guess. I'm grocery shopping after work, and I usually choose something nice but quick, like a small steak or some fish, to make when I get home.
Saturday- we went out for pizza, with my family.
Sunday- moms for oven fried chicken, pasta in oil garlic, salad, I made a home made Chocolate sour cream cake, (from pinterst) it was pretty good!
Monday-From scratch, chicken Alfredo , (with salad for me)
Tuesday- Wendy's, after daughter soccer try with a new team, and before her conference at school.(crazy night) son stayed with mom and dad, and had pancakes.
Wednesday-Valentines day- Diner -shrimp in the basket. And stone cold creamery.
Thursday-Breaded Chicken cutlet, pasta, and veggie, (me small salad, and part of an avocado)
Friday-going to moms for pierogi, yum!
I google pierogi - they look delicious what does your mum put in them?
At least pulled chicken is a relatively simple birthday request for poor sick mom, right? Let's hope the cake isn't the end of you.
Weird food week at our house this week . . .
Monday: Leftover spaghetti with tomato/cream sauce, pizza burgers (hamburger patties with melted mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce on top), green salad
Tuesday: Kids had pancakes at a church youth group event, husband had some hamburger patties with mushrooms and onions before we went, I had some leftover vegetable soup and cheese
Wednesday: Scrambled eggs, fried potatoes (I meant to try your microwave pre-cooking this time, but forgot and instead pre-cooked them in a pot on the stove as I always do--microwave next time, though), peas
Thursday: Rib eye steaks with garlic butter, rice, sauteed cabbage with cheese for the adults, wedges of raw cabbage while I made dinner for the kids (they prefer this to cooked cabbage) and then leftover peas with dinner for them
Tonight: Tuna melts and salad
Sleep deprivation continues to negatively affect my ambition in the kitchen. Oh well. Everyone continues to be fed. (Including the baby. All. Night. Long. 🙂
Fingers crossed that you're entirely healthy soon, and that no one else gets sick.
No shopping this week, so feeling happy about that! But it was definitely a pasta-heavy week!
Sunday - a friend wanted to go get ice cream around dinner time, so I had a milkshake for dinner. 🙂
Monday - Leftover lasagna from Saturday night, with garlic bread
Tuesday - the last of the leftover lasagna, and the last of the garlic bread!
Wednesday - Valentine's Day - we treated ourselves to Dairy Queen meals for a cheap date night.
Thursday - used up the remaining pasta sauce that didn't go in the lasagna with spaghetti and meatballs. Used up some spinach that was going bad by mixing it in with the tomato sauce.
Friday - pizza night!
Monday - Taco casserole (do ahead item), mango salsa, corn chips
Tuesday - Roast (crockpot), roasted peppers and spuds, spinach salad, rolls
Wednesday - Lasagna, green salad (I cheated and picked up olive garden dressing...its pretty good), rolls, chocolates, merlot
Thursday - Roast "dip" sandwiches (was dragging all day and wanted a quick meal...was in no mood to spend time in the kitchen), fresh pineapple with sliced bananas, rest of corn chips
Friday - Need to finish up the lasagna and rolls so well have that (again, no desire to do time chained to the stove...must be the rain and snow making me cranky...come on warmth and sunshine...I'm so over winter!!! Dreaming of getting the kayaks out and paddling on the lakes)
Saturday - I intend to make scalloped potatoes and probably veggies and dip....
Everyone have a good weekend!
Ha! I like how you just casually listed "merlot" at the end of your Wednesday menu. One of those days, huh?
Lol...yeah...more like one of those weeks...tgif...felt like a little indulgence to go with chocolates on valentines...hope your weekend involves a nap or two...I remember those days and nights...
Go Sonia! And yay for sugary, snacky birthdays! 🙂 I hope you feel 100% soon, Kristen. What wafflemaker do you have?
I can't remember the brand off the top of my head...and it's so old, they probably don't even make it anymore! It's a pretty basic Belgian waffle iron.
Yay, Sonia! I had to laugh at AN's comment, having a milkshake for Sunday night's dinner, how fun!
Mon - tuna melts, brocolli
Tues - salmon croquettes, brocolli, sweet potatoes with butter
Weds - sausage, kale, and bean stew
Thurs - stew again
Fri - cheesy omlettes, steamed veggies
Sat - frozen pizza (on sale, woohoo) with extra cheese and olives thrown on
Sun - Um, I can't for the life of me remember!
Feel better fast Kristen!
Monday - Beef tips over rice, salad, glazed carrots, orange slices
Tuesday - Baked spicy chicken, mashed red potatoes, string beans, apple slices
Wednesday - Baked haddock, mac and cheese, spinach and berry salad with raspberry vinaigrette
Thursday - Crispy baked Korean chicken, brown rice, broccoli, fruit salad
Friday - Leftovers!!
Saturday - Planning pizza, salad, fruit
Sunday - Planning corned beef, red potatoes, braised cabbage, cinnamon applesauce
Your menus sound so delish & balanced!
Monday- Pepperoni pizza
Tuesday- Salmon, sweet potato fries, corn
Wednesday- Cheese omelet, bagels/cream cheese, and fruit
Thursday- Baked chicken, sweet potato and mixed veggies
Friday- Tuna melt on wheat bread, spinach salad
I wanted to give a quick shout-out to you Kristen. I was bummed that Hungry Harvest wasn't available in my area but being the web-sleuth I am, found something similar. Bountiful Baskets sells boxes of bruised or rejected produce for $18 ($22 for your first purchase). We're on our second week pick-up (it's bi-monthly) and have been loving it! Avocados, broccoli, potatoes, and apples galore!
If Hungry Harvest isn't available in your area, check to see if Bountiful Baskets has made it your way!
And out west, we have Imperfect Produce, too!
I'm glad you're feeling better so you can enjoy the birthday festivities!
We ate...
Monday - Burgers and mac & cheese
Tuesday - Chicken legs, a cheesy/broccoli rice side, and pineapple
Wednesday - Tacos
Thursday - Just the kids and I, so I'm pretty proud that I went to the effort to make pork chops with mac & cheese & veggies instead of just making mac & cheese and calling it good.
Friday - DATE NIGHT!!! We are loooooooong overdue for a date night, so I am very excited! Both kids are going for a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house (for the first time since our anniversary in April) so it works perfect for us to have a date night. An aunt and uncle gave us money to go out to eat, which frees us up to eat someplace fun.
Saturday - I'll either make what I was going to make tonight (a new recipe - chicken fried chicken), what I was going to make for lunch tomorrow before the kids' sleepover was planned and I remembered that I have a meeting (enchiladas), or what I have on the menu board (chicken broccoli alfredo). It's nice to have options!
Sunday - Pulled pork for lunch, pizza for dinner.
Last Sunday I made a pot of black bean stew and a pan of cornbread, which pretty much lasted all week. Yesterday I supplemented with scrambled eggs. I decided a) I spend wayyyyy too much on groceries last month and b) I have too much stuff in my pantry! I'm moving again in August and I do NOT want to pack and take an entire pantry worth of stuff. So for the next few weeks I'll be trying to use up what's in my freezer and pantry, and just buying things like eggs, bread, milk, fruit, and veggies at the store. I was very glad to use up two cans of black beans, a big can of tomatoes, and the half-done bag of cornmeal. TIP: Bob's Red Mill cornmeal is not great for cornbread IMO, because the coarser grains don't absorb enough liquid during the baking time. This time around, I cooked it with water in the microwave before adding everything else, but next time I'll grab the less fancy, uniformly finely-ground stuff.
Question - when Mr FG picks up pizza, does that go in a different budget category? Do you have two separate food budgets/targets? I just didn’t see that included in the what-I-spent number so I am curious how you figure take out or restaurant spending in your numbers. Thanks!
Well, it happens so infrequently during the week, I don't really have a line item for it. It's gonna just be a miscellaneous expenditure, I guess! Although I suppose I could have included it in the grocery spending...
Hmm, let's see:
Monday: French toast using a loaf of Italian bread I got free a while back and tossed in the freezer.
Tuesday: Pork chops, rice and vegetables.
Wednesday: Steak, baked potatoes and tossed salads. We don't really do Valentine's day but hey, life is too short to not splurge once in a while
Thursday: Leftovers of the French Toast, mostly.
Friday: My daughter has been asking for fish sticks so I'll probably make those for her.
Good on Sonia 🙂 So hard to look after others when your feeling lousy, hope you feel a lot better soon. I was really inspired by your last couple of freezer challenges & am making my way through my freezer & pantry, my goal it to get it down to items I use regularly & keep the smaller number of odd items at the front & use them up. ff= from freezer
Sun - Garlic turkish flatbread pizza
Mon - Peanut butter & honey sandwich I scoffed down before an evening appointment
Tues - Fried rice ff
Wed - Bolognese ff
Thurs - Red chicken curry + rice ff
Fri - Shakshuka ff
tonight - bring a plate night w friends; am making rice paper rolls
Ran out of time & made mild spicy chicken sesame meatballs with dipping sauces - I love bring a plate do's - I got to eat the yummiest beef/lamb/chicken Indian & malaysian curries & a delicious meatloaf from other home cooks; fruit salad & icecream for dessert. I have been budgeting hard so such a treat.
We ate clam chowder and canned chowder almost every night this week. I went on a chowder binge (yes that's a thing :p). I also hit a huge sweets craving so I've been drinking thai teas with condense milk. Bad week for weight...
I'm late to the game, but we did pretty good last week!
Monday: Bell pepper nachos w/ Mexican rice
Tuesday: Leftovers from Monday
Wednesday: Stir fry
Thursday: Steak and sautéed veggies
Friday: Leftovers from Wednesday
Saturday: Leftovers from Wednesday for me, leftovers from Thursday for DH, and eggs for the Toddler
Sunday: Curried chicken legs for hubby, random snacky things for me and the toddler
Monday (today): Curried chicken legs w/ veggies and rice or pasta (not sure which yet)