What I Spent, What We Ate
Before we get to food, I wanted to say congrats to Jessica, winner of the TurboTax giveaway. Happy tax-filing, Jessica!
And for the rest of you, go give TurboTax a try this year. You can start your taxes for FREE
and you don't pay until you file.
Plus if your return is very simple, you could file completely free anyway!
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What I Spent
I got a Hungry Harvest box ($25), and then I spent $60.38 on random stops here and there to fill things in.
So, I only spent $85.38. A small upside, but totally not worth being sick! Give me my health any day.
February Spending (average/goal is $150/week)
Week 1: $154
Week 2: $205
Week 3: $142
Week 4: $85
2018 Monthly Averages
January: $544 ($136/week)
February: $588 ($147/week)
What We Ate
We had a week of pretty easy and not-super-well-rounded meals (read: a shocking lack of veggies), since sickness was still slowly working its way through my house.
I was back in the kitchen, but not exactly full force!
Monday
We had chipped beef on toast and sliced oranges.
Tuesday
Poor Zoe got sick last Friday, which meant we had to postpone her birthday party. So sad!
We still need to reschedule her friends coming for a sleepover, but we did a makeup meal for her on Tuesday, with the pulled chicken sandwiches, jello, chips, and such.
And Sonia and I made a homemade ice cream cake for her too.
Wednesday
I grilled some sausages, cut up some oranges and cucumbers, and called it good.
Thursday
It was a breakfast for dinner night: French toast and bacon.
Friday
Mr. FG and I plan to go out for tacos. Because every night is a good night for tacos! And I'm actually recovered enough to be hungry now, which is nice. Having no appetite is surprisingly un-fun.
Boo to having to cancel a birthday party because the birthday girl is sick. The worst.
We had sort of a random food week too, but not due to sickness.
Monday: Scrambled eggs, bacon, cheaters quesadillas (cheese in between corn tortillas, microwaved), green salad
Tuesday: Pork chops, baked potatoes, steamed carrots, sauerkraut, sauteed mushrooms and onions
Wednesday: My husband left this day with our eldest son to go to Arizona to visit family. I let the two boys left behind choose dinner. So we had frozen chicken nuggets, tater tots, and carrot sticks with ranch dressing. I could definitely due without the nuggets, but tater tots are always good. Even for a die-hard real-food militant like me. Ahem.
Thursday: The package of pork chops from Tuesday was huge, so I had a few I saved to cook later. I made those, plus the last of the sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and frozen peas.
Tonight: Tuna patties, leftover mashed potatoes, green salad.
Ugh. "Do" without the nuggets, not "due." Sleep deprivation is no good for proofreading. I guess it's a good thing I was a professional proofreader before I had kids and not after. 🙂
Ha! I am tired too - I didn't notice 🙂
Wow that homemade ice cream cake looks divine!
Our household doesn't touch veggies. I think I went the entire week without any. Thankfully I am going grocery shopping today and I'm going to pick up some fruits and veggies. All this red meat we're eating is making me feel...heavy and lethargic. I went through so much meat and cheese this week. I didn't want them going bad...
I agree the icecream cake looks delcious
Sun - I made korma lamb & salad wraps
Mon - Spaghetti bolognese
Tues - Flatbread pizza
Wed - Chicken & veg risotto
Thurs - Braised beef mince & vegies with pasta
Fri - same as Thurs
Glad everyone is on the mend!
Saturday- MIL for , pasta and meatballs, salad, bread.
Sunday-Mom/Dads- I-round roast, mashed/gravy, salad, veggies. (I made Oatmeal/cranberry chocolate chips cookies) sister brought cake and rye bread.
Monday- chicken cutlet, butter noodles, fresh asparagus.
Tuesday- it was nice outside, so fired up the grill, hot dogs, mac and cheese, beans for me.
Wednesday- even nicer, close to 80, fired up that grill again, hamburgers, tuna mac salad, chips,
Thursday- ate out at BK, before daughters Basketball game, (one more week to go)
Friday-either fish sticks, or shrimp scampi, not sure on the sides yet.
Yum yum everything looks good, especially the ice cream cake. I hope Zoe is feeling better.
Tacos for a date now get sound awesome! Hope you two have a great time! 🙂
Monday - I was out of town until 2am Sunday morning and had asked my husband to take some sausage out of the fridge to thaw. Spoiler alert - he forgot! It worked out okay though because he had the day off work and had eaten a late breakfast and wanted an early dinner, so he made himself a frozen pizza that I had gotten with a great deal. When I came home I just warmed up the remaining 2 pieces of that and called it good.
Tuesday - I ate Noodles & Co that I had got a great deal on, my husband ate what I had packed him for lunch since I was at class and his boss took him out to lunch.
Wednesday - I got a free box from Blue Apron, which is normally way too expensive for me. I will cancel after this free week. The first meal I made out of the box was beef with potatoes and broccoli.
Thursday - Another Blue Apron meal - this one was beef bolognese. I was smart enough to keep the zucchini separate since I knew my husband wouldn't eat it, but thought I could boil the celery with the noodles and have it be textureless and flavorless enough to sneak it by my husband. Nope. He ended up having pizza rolls and I froze the leftovers in a ziploc bag, so I am really interested to see if they will be ok.
Friday - A friend's husband's surprise 30th birthday at a local brewery. The food is provided and I got him a card & gift card to Dominos, which I got through Gyft and it came with a $5 bonus gift card for me: 🙂
I think I spent about $100 this last time I grocery shopped. I didn't have that much to get, for some reason.
I doubt I can remember this week's meals very well, but I pushed the easy button much of the week. I know Tuesday we had steak and baked potato (sweet for me, white for spouse) since it was his birthday. I made his favorite chopped salad on the side.
Monday I have totally forgotten.
Wednesday, he had frozen pizza and I had a freezer AIP meal that I defrosted. We had a viewing that night, and got home too late to cook.
Thursday was freezer leftovers again, because we had a funeral that day. So, leftover sloppy joes for him with parsnip "fries" (which he loves!) and AIP "chili" for me. I admit to a few parsnip fries as well, but they are allowed on my diet.
Tonight I will shop again, and I will look for something easy to cook while I'm out shopping.
The ice cream cake looks so good. I hope Zoe feels better.
We have been battleing flu-like illnesses here. Can't wait for warmer weather.
Monday-Some of us ate burgers, some ate cereal, and others ate sandwiches.
Tuesday-BBQ chicken tenders, baked beans, and potato salad
Wednesday-pizza casserole and English peas
Thursday- crockpot roast, potatoes, carrots, and peas with cornbread muffins
Boo being sick. Yay for cake!
Monday - who knows.. probably something with brown rice. (We eat a LOT of brown rice)
Tuesday- Deer steak, brown rice, zucchini and roasted butternut squash
Wednesday- turkey soup with broth I made from thanksgiving turkey bones! Such a food saving win with enough meat on the bones for the soup as well as using up a half of a cabbage no one wanted to eat and poatoes beginning to sprout!
Thursday-deer steak, steamed broccoli and brown rice
Friday - *looks in fridge* hmm... rice???!
Will you share how you prepare your deer steak ? We eat A LOT of venison and I am interested in different ways to prepare it. I have to have get the "gamey" taste out of it.
Thanks !!
I don't like gamey food much but I once ate spicy venison sausages - they were delicious
The best way to avoid gamy venison is to hang it for a long time and trim it carefully. But if you're not doing the butchering yourself and end up with gamy meat . . . marinades. They soak into the meat really well and flavor it. You can do a standard oil/acid/aromatics marinade with lots of variations (i.e., olive oil/red wine/garlic, oregano, basil; or canola oil/vinegar/soy sauce, garlic, ginger; or whatever). Wild meat also always tastes best cooked over a fire, so if you can use a grill, do. I also once randomly discovered that French four spice--which is kind of an unusual spice blend of pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger--is actually really good with venison. Any strong flavors--like garlic, red wine, and heavy spices--are your friend with wild meat.
When all else fails: chili. The ultimate in flavor masking. 🙂
Hello everyone...I scored a awesome deal on bell peppers (six for a dollar!! After sale, coupon and waiting for the end of the day the sale ended) so we've been enjoying them almost every night..
Monday - Scalloped potatoes (do ahead), ham slices, sautéed zucchini and peppers
Tuesday - Husband out of town so daughter and I made veggie French bread pizzas with peppers, onions, tomatoes and jalapenos...good stuff
Wednesday - Elk burger patties, baked pears filled with filbert stuffing, rest of French bread, pepper slices and ranch dip
Thursday - Homemade macaroni and cheese (do ahead item), cranberries with orange slices, peppercorn bread (bread machine)
Friday - I'm baking a chicken, sautéed green beans and peppers, rest of cranberries, rest of bread
Saturday - Intend on making bell peppers stuffed with black beans, corn, leftover chicken, jalapenos and pepper jack cheese
Question for any who cares to answer:
I was gifted with a second hand bread machine, nothing fancy but it can be programed to start at the time of your choice which is part of the reason I still have it. It does take up a lot of kitchen counter real estate though and I still am deciding if I still want to keep it (appliances have to earn their keep in my kitchen) I managed to bake up a loaf in it on Thursday and it was fine but...different (texture and crust) than if id done it the traditional way. Any advice on books I could check out to help figure out the nuts and bolts of recipe adaptions??
I'm making a library trip this next week and might check out barns and noble and could check stuff out there per your recommendations
I like the idea of having fresh hot bread come the end of a long day but not if I only use it rarely.
Thanks!!
I had a bread machine for a few years, and then I read Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day. I stopped using the bread machine at that point, because I liked the oven-baked bread better and it really is very easy with the no-knead method in the book. I made a lot of yummy bread with the bread machine, but I don't think there is anyway to get the texture, especially the crust, just like oven-baked bread.
I love scalloped potates - your menu sounds yum ( I've never tried elk though sounds gamey) Your bell peppers are SO cheap compared to here - we call them capsicums & the red ones are $9 per kilo here at the moment & the green ones are about & $7.60 per kilo.
( I think a kilo is about 2 pounds)
That seems SO expensive! Where do you live?! In Illinois, they are .99- 1.79 a pound on sale, which is the only way I usually buy produce! This is the end of winter. They will be cheaper and fresher in the late summer, and I usually grow them in my garden, which is almost free! They freeze pretty well, so I always have a bag of peppers in the freezer for cooked dishes/soups. It's so interesting to hear how others shop, cook, and eat. No elk here, for example.
I live in Australia, fresh fruit and veg are getting more expensive all the time, I do believe there has been a bad crop this year but even in a good season they can often be $6 or more per kilo for the red ones, green might be $3.99 - we have food fashion here so when the paleo diet hit it's zenith cauliflowers were up to $9 EACH. I love zucchini which is sadly now trendy to make noodles with so that's expensive now, I generally shop at a few stores to get the cheapest I can.
Where in Australia? I'm in Perth, so curious about food prices everywhere else in the country 🙂
I used to use a bread machine a LOT and went through several of them and when I called the company, they said I was "high usage" so that is why they didn't last. I didn't really bake any bread in it, just used it for mixing, so once I got a Kitchen Aid, I stopped using it altogether, but this was my favorite cookbook for Bread Machine Baking.
https://www.amazon.com/Bread-Machines-Nitty-Gritty-Cookbooks/dp/B01N8XU2MV/ref=la_B000ARBG6A_1_20?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519434449&sr=1-20&refinements=p_82%3AB000ARBG6A
I still have it and make things out of it, just in the Kitchen Aid. I agree on the Artisan Bread in 5, it is excellent and doesn't require a Kitchen Aid.
It is funny how even Kitchen appliances go through trends, used to be everyone had a bread machine, now everyone has in insta pot!
Hey everyone...thanks for taking the time to reply...I'll check out all your suggestions. I've never used a bread machine so I'll tinker around with it...thanks again everyone!
I second the recommendation of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I think there is also a book for Healthy Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day. I have made everything from ciabatta to Ksra (moroccan spice flatbread) to brioche star braid filled with chocolate ganache without much difficulty. One of the best purchases I made. It's so easy I even consistently make bread when my son is in the hospital (1-2 weeks at a time whenever he catches a cold).
Sunday-White chicken chili with chips
Monday-Moroccan Chicken with rice, veggies and salad
Tuesday-Shells and cheese with brats and frozen veggies
Wednesday-pasta with sundried tomato, herbs, broccoli, garlic and lemon, chicken and salad
Thursday-sloppy joes with ciabatta rolls, veggies and salad
Friday-stir fry, hopefully. If not, probably take out Pad Thai
Not as unhealthy of a week as I thought it'd be before I typed it out. Menu planning (and consequently systematic grocery shopping) has taken a back seat to being well and avoiding infecting others. It will be easier to plan and execute well when flu season dies down!
The ice cream cake is beautiful! It's my favorite, but I rarely eat it now.
Monday was a holiday and we were up north, so on the way back we grabbed tacos with friends!
Tuesday we ate some leftover chili that I had defrosted before we headed out of town.
Wednesday pinto bean tacos!
Thursday I made giant salads, since we needed to eat a little healthier.
Today I'm thinking another salad, but with some homemade pad thai to make it even more fun and tasty!
Monday- Dinner at the cafe where my husband works since he had to work late.
Tuesday- Pulled pork, potatoes, green beans
Wednesday- I finally made your make-ahead enchiladas! Yum! We had some taco dip and pineapple with them.
Thursday- A new recipe called Chicken-Fried Chicken that was nice to make once, mac and cheese, green beans
Friday- Baked potatoes with chili and broccoli with cheese
Saturday- Pork chops for lunch, spaghetti for the kids while hubby and I go out.
Monday- Whole Wheat pepperoni Tortilla Pizza with homemade pizza sauce, black olives, and red and orange peppers, mozzarella grated cheese
Tuesday- Chicken, baked potato, apple sauce
Wednesday- Cheese/broccoli soup, lettuce salad, lemon cake
Thursday- chicken, rice, and applesauce
Friday- Salmon, sweet potato, and corn
We had February vacation week and my family stayed well (the flu is bad here right now) and so we enjoyed ourselves, which means dinner was often thrown together last minute while I cleaned up the breakfast dishes.
Monday - stir fried veg with tofu and rice
Tuesday - pasta and chick peas, broccoli
Wednesday - rice and peas, cheese, cucumbers and carrots
Thursday - pasta fazool, broccoli
Friday - vegan frittata (chick pea flour), beet and grapefruit salad, rice and beans for the kiddos
I stayed under $150 again this week, which was nice.