What I Spent, What We Ate | $164
What I Spent
I got a $25 Hungry Harvest and then I spent $139 at the grocery stores.
So, I'm at $164 this week, which isn't too bad. Especially compared to last week. Oy.
June Spending
Week 1: $235
Week 2: $164
What We Ate
Monday
I made pulled pork, using the pork from my first clean-out-the-chest-freezer basket.
What did we have with the pulled pork sandwiches? I have no idea at this point!
Tuesday
We had chicken shawarma on homemade whole wheat pita breads.
And we had watermelon on the side. I love watermelon season!
Wednesday
I made a green salad with a mustard vinaigrette, grapes, snap peas, and poached chicken
I also made some potato wedges, using some red potatoes from Hungry Harvest.
(The only photo I have of potato wedges. This is obviously not a chicken salad. 😉 )
Thursday
I had a packaged of reduced-for-quick-sale bacon in the freezer, so I made BLTs for dinner.
And I cut up cantaloupe, strawberries, and snap peas.
Friday
I'm thinking I might make some crock pot chicken tikka masala. Although hmm, now that I think about it, I don't think I have any chicken in the freezer.
So, I'm either going to pop by the grocery store or I'm going to come up with some other idea!
A lot of leftovers in different forms. Specifically . . .
Monday: Leftover sloppy joe meat heated up with leftover rice, with cheese stirred in. I expect my Michelin star any day now. And peas.
Tuesday: Grilled pork chops, cornbread, roasted asparagus, roasted broccoli, raw radishes, baked apples
Wednesday: Improvised chicken and rice skillet casserole to use some poached chicken breasts my mother-in-law gave me (chicken, bacon, onion, rice, mayo, cheese on top), peas
Thursday: Chili, rice, carrots, homemade tortilla chips (to use up one of the packages of inferior tortillas from the freezer before we move)
Tonight: I have half a can of tomatoes left to use plus a little pasta sauce I froze from last time, so I think I'll make Italian sausage with pasta and tomato sauce. Sauteed mushrooms and garlic. Probably salad.
"I expect my Michelin star any day now.". LOL!
Or if you don't feel like going to buy chicken, and you have some cauliflower on hand, you could make the vegetarian version . . https://pinchofyum.com/30-minute-vegetarian-meatballs (and to save time, I don't form them into balls, I just fry it flat like you would hash browns) I always make a double batch so I have plenty of leftovers! 🙂
I am running on guilt and caffeine over here so using stuff from the freezer and pantry was right up my alley... (super crazy long days at work and I am chairman of a local convention and just buried in deadlines!)
Monday- pulled some frozen poached chicken from the freezer and reheated that with bbq.. made a pulled chicken crescent ring bake.. I have no recollection what I served it with b/c I fed my people and ran out the door to a meeting!
Tuesday- pizza night- I had bought 2 half sheet cheese pizzas and doctored them up and baked them.. ate the last of the salad in the fridge..
Wednesday- I pulled some pork ribs from the freezer that I bought on mark down.. ended up roasting in the oven due to too much wind for the grill.. shredded the meat down to serve for supper... served with homemade corn casserole and a box of scalloped potatoes. still needing to go to the grocery store I rounded this out with 2 cans of fruit! lol
Thursday Night- (knew work would be long).. Keilbasa and cheddar potato pierogies... served with frozen steamed broccoli I tossed with butter and parm.. served with the last of the not so yummy canteloupe.
Tonight I am off! Hubby and the boys need to go mow the inlaws lawn! So I will tell them to snack and I will tell them to just grab something on the way home!
Ha. If I ever write my autobiography (highly improbable), I'm going to title it "Running on Guilt and Caffeine," and credit you in the intro. I love that.
Oops. Meant that in response to Jessica S.'s comment.
Love it! The theme continued through the day.. Husband decided he would rather cut yard at lunch and handle work calls from his phone.. so people needed feed supper... grabbed meatballs at Sams and heated them with sauce, served with penne, garlic bread and salad.. using more supplies from home shelves.. Any other week I would have said screw it.. fend for yourself.. but the * I have been so detached guilt took over again!" lolol
I made a spinach quiche with bacon so two nights we had that with a salad and strawberries and watermelon. I made baked chicken- boneless skinless breast dipped in egg and butter and rolled in Ritz cracker crumbs and baked, so so yummy, with corn on the cob and broccoli. We had that for two nights. Not sure about tonight maybe hamburgers, oven fries and salad and fruit. I love fresh fruit and veggie season! One other meal time thing I’m excited about is my new mini veggie tray. We eat more veggies if they are prepared and presented at each meal. My original veggie tray was one of those big round ones you take to a picnic. Too big to live in the fridge all the time. I’ve been looking for a much smaller one to use on a daily basis. And I finally found one at our local thrift store. We are eating so many more veggies now! I pull it out at lunch and dinner, at snack time and in the evening when we get the munchies. Who knew a little piece of plastic would make me so happy!
i agree with the veggie thing- much more likely to eat them if they are prepped & ready to go. i have a fancy veggie tray from Pampered Chef & a glass one for entertaining. but my local grocery Harris Teeter often puts their veggie/fruit/cheese trays out on their reduced produce rack so when i get them i use all the veggies AND save the tray so if next time i go to a party i can leave it there. i do however make it known that i did fill it with my own things. frugal & upcycled
I like that idea! Also sometimes I leave before a picnic/party is over and then I’d be OK leaving the tray behind for others to finish eating.
You have had watermelon several times and I thought yum so I got half of one. Unfortunately, here in New England they are still rather bland but no worries, it is cut up and frozen for smoothies. Food this week was leftovers from the freezer and graduation party last weekend. I will have to actually plan next week:)
I agree that the watermelons here in the NE have been hit or miss, although I have had a few really sweet ones. But the pineapple has been absolutely delicious!
I love watermelon season too and we've been snacking on it constantly.
This week I spent $54, so I'm saving money thabks to the garden!
Monday - homemade brothy rice and veggie soup
Tuesday- spent grain pizza with beets, garlic scapes, and cauliflower
Wednesday - loaded garden salads
Thursday - we finished that soup
Friday - we are off to visit the in laws for Fathers Day. There's a big festival in my hubby's hometown, so I think we'll be grabbing dinner from that.
Whoa delicacy every day. I love that your dishes are so diverse and encompass a variety of cuisine.
It's been a while since I had shawama. Looks delicious!
It was an easy week. I made a roast with onions, carrots, potatoes and celery and we've eaten on it all week except got free Doritos locos tacos from taco bell on Wed. I'll use the last of the need in s meat salad tonight. Kirsten, have you posted the chicken sharma recipe?
I have not, but I started a post draft with it because I thought you all might like to have it!
It's been a rough week for my family as I've been working a lot of overtime so dinners have to be thrown together a lot. Add in a scary hospital visit (my daughter had such a bad tantrum she caused herself to faint so the daycare called 911 but she's fine) and a graduation party I'm going to to but my wife is and an actual date night ... well, it's been busy here.
Monday: I made pork chops, rice, vegetables etc. but plans were scrapped due to the ER visit. I was an hour away and I didn't have to go out by the time I found out about it. On the way home, the wife and kid had McDonalds. I ate some pork chop but wasn't hungry (obviously)
Tuesday: Took the pork chops, rice and some other ingredients and made my curry fried rice.
Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner. Eggs, hash browns and fruit don't make for a bad meal.
Thursday: Date night with the wife. We bought pizza for my family who was watching our daughter. We got food court food at the mall (the date wasn't shopping, but going to a movie.)
Friday: My wife and daughter are going to her cousin's house as she is graduating from high school. For practical reasons (the party is an hour and a half from me but only about 45 minutes from my wife's work and daughter's day care) I'll be home alone. Maybe I'll find something worth eating in the house. We've eaten out too much lately.
So yeah, a big fat fail for most of the week.
I really can not remember what I ate each day for dinner because most of it was at my husbands work they provide dinner for us. So when I am there volunteering I eat dinner.
That sounds like a fabulous deal!
What recipe do you use for whole wheat pitas?
Monday is swim day at my house for family and friends. My daughter provided lunch/dinner of hotdogs, sausages with grilled peppers and onions, chips, and peach cobbler for dessert.
Tuesday I made homemade mac & cheese served with applesauce, garlic bread and green onions.
Wednesday I made a cheesy chicken & rice casserole with broccoli.
Thursday we had leftovers. Older two kids are a church camp so we’re eating light.
Friday - I'm planning on making flat bread pizzas.
We went blueberry picking yesterday and I am about to make blueberry muffins- your muffins look beautiful! Also, I have pork thawed tonight for dinner, I'll be putting it in the Instant Pot for pulled pork or carnitas.
Rough week. I've been working early and leaving late, so no time for dinner making. The worst is coming home on my lunch break for something to eat and trying to find something!
Anywho, here's what I managed this week:
Enchiladas twice for dinner, macaroni and beef...….. The rest was fend for yourself! Which, basically, was any frozen dinner/spring rolls/chicken dinos/chicken fingers that was in the freezer as back-ups.
Tomorrow will be tacos as cooking ground beef is fast and I'm using canned diced tomato (a first for me), taco seasoning, cheese from the freezer, onions and maybe some jalapenos.
Monday, I'll make a tortilla lasagna with layered produce from the tacos and leftover corn tortillas that I froze previously.
Monday- Beef tacos
Tuesday- Waffles, bacon and scrambled eggs
Wednesday- Egg salad sandwiches, tortilla chips with hummus, and fruit
Thursday- Salami sandwiches, Lentil chips, fruit, and chocolate chip cookies
Friday- Salmon, baked potato and lettuce salad
Love this feature of your blog because I get so many great ideas for dinners from your posts and the folks that comment.
1. Chicken Tikka Masala - new to us recipe - not a hit at our house
2. Chilli
3. Hamburgers and homemade macaroni salad
4. Homemade pizza - a weekly favorite
5. Marinated grilled chicken served on flatbread with tomato, onion, and cucumber salad, fresh Tzatziki sauce
6. Greek pasta salad (Rotini tri-colored pasta, tomato, onion, cucumber, feta cheese, kalamata olives, and fresh vinaigrette
7. Crab cakes, steamed broccoli, homemade potato salad - - - fabulous price on jumbo lump crab meat at Costco
Continued to eat down the freezer. The week's meals included:
- simmered shrimp, homemade lasagna (separate dishes)
- baked ribs
- fruit smoothies from fruit I threw in the freezer so it wouldn't go bad, the remainders of which became frozen smoothie pops
- Japanese leftovers from Father's Day dinner
- Whole Foods (vacation return day)
- sushi
Future plans include:
- more ribs
- more shrimp (may serve plain, may stir fry)
- fish fillets (emergency meal)
- breakfast for dinner (to use homemade bacon, homemade biscuits, homemade strawberry jam, ham)
- frozen pizza (emergency meal)
- ham
I also plan to make bean-based soup for lunches, to use more of the large stash of smoked pig parts (ear, trotters, hock, etc). Might add frozen spinach that I keep forgetting to add to smoothies.
I just got 12 packs of bacon on sale for $1.99 each. We had BLT's with watermelon on the side. Delicious and easy. My kind of meal.