What I Spent, What We Ate |
What I Spent
I spent $92 at the grocery store this week, partly because I had a crazy week and I just kept putting off going to the store.
So, I relied on what was in my fridge and freezer, which is good for the budget as well as avoiding food waste!
Also, there were more nights than usual this week that we did not eat at home.
August Spending
Week 3: $92
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I had just been out for an anniversary date the night before.
So, instead of a date night, we got subs with Sonia and Zoe on Saturday night.
Sunday
We were at my parents' house for my dad's birthday party. My contribution was two pans of brownies. Pretty easy!
(Not-from-a-box brownie recipe is right here.)
Monday
I made polenta with smoky tomato sauce and chicken sausage from ATK's Quick Family Cookbook.
This time, I tried frying the polenta like you do when you make fried mush, but honestly, I don't think it was worth the extra step. The crispiness disappears as soon as you spoon the sauce over top.
Tuesday
I made chicken sandwiches on croissants, with basil red pepper mayo. That mayo is so good and so easy.
I used the chicken brinerade I posted about earlier this week.
Wednesday
Sonia and Zoe were both at a sleepover with a cousin, so Mr. FG and I did our date night early (Saturday won't work this week.) We went to Mod Pizza, which is great for a budget night.
Thursday
We had a somewhat random use-it-up night!
I made a small batch of blueberry pancakes to use up a cup of buttermilk plus the last of the blueberries.
I made French toast to use up some bread ends.
I used the last of the red potatoes to make potato wedges (toss with a little oil, microwave until softened, brown in bacon grease, salt when finished).
I also cup up bunch of tomatoes that were getting wrinkly, plus I fried up two egg whites left from some recipe and topped them with the last of the basil/red pepper mayo I made this week.
Friday
Sonia, Zoe, and I are driving to visit our friends in Ohio today! Yay!
So we'll be eating dinner there and Mr. FG and Lisey will fend for themselves while we are away.
I'm sure I'll be doing some instagramming over the weekend, so follow me over there if you'd like to stay abreast of our travels. 🙂
We made sweet potatoes with Mexican cream and defrosted a huge portion of bean chili. It was so much that we eat it on Monday and Tuesday evening and twice for lunch with some additional rice. We had veggie burgers on Wednesday and bread, cheese and cold cuts on Thursday. Today, we will be eating out at a wine festival.
Kids went back to school this week so we have that, plus after school ball practices and evening games to work into consideration!
Monday I grilled chicken I had frozen in a greek dressing marinade.. SO SO good! Served with fresh broccoli and some boxed chicken flavored rice- everyone was pleased!
Tuesday- 2/3 were back to school.. first game night so I grabbed the TMobile deal of a large pizza and some boneless wings and she ate that and fruit before she went back to school. brother and I had a piece as a snack.... The rest was packed into lunches the next day for all 3...Subway sandwiches after her game for supper..
Wed- beef tips and noodles with corn and cornbread..
Thursday-I had to work and the rest would go to her game.. I made a HUGE pan of scalloped potatoes with ham i found in the freezer so everyone could reheat and eat according to their schedule ( and no go fast food!)
Fri- I am planning to make a cheeseburger crescent roll ring and leftover potatoes! and the last of the fresh fruit!
Safe travels!!! Enjoy your time with your friends! And Happy Anniversary!!
Saturday- Driving home from Myrtle Beach (so sad!) We stopped for pizza when we arrived home.
Sunday- We went to mom/dads, sister cooked, eggplant parm, sausage, chicken cutlets for those who do not like the parm. And a birthday cake for my DH as it was his birthday while we were away!
Monday- Hot dogs, pasta salad, cucumbers in oil and vinegar
Tuesday- Pancakes, bacon, cut up apples, strawberries
Wednesday- home made Chicken Alfredo, I also had some Brussels sprouts.
Thursday- Chicken cutlet, stuffing, corn
Friday, took out sauce, thinking raviolis, maybe a salad.
My family loves Mod Pizza. The pizzas are pretty big too, my son and I always have enough left for lunch the next day.
Monday we had cheeseburger macaroni with roasted broccoli. Tuesday was taco salad. Wednesday - bacon, eggs, kiwi slices and toast. Thursday nachos with the leftover taco salad ingredients and we are going out tonight.
Y'all look so nice for your date night picture! Also, all of your pics look so good they make me hungry since I haven't had breakfast.
Monday- spaghetti with salad
Tuesday- Hawaiian burgers- basically, hamburger steaks with pineapple, bell peppers, onions, and seasonings. We had baked potatoes, too.
Wednesday- chicken breasts(brinerade) mac&cheese, green beans
Thursday- Husband had a ham and cheese sandwich, kids had Ramen noodles, And I had leftovers. Not very brag worthy, I know.
Friday- no idea, probably with grill something. I have ground beef so maybe burgers
Thank you!
All dressed up! You both look very nice for your big night out.
I spent less than normal when grocery shopping, but the numerous runs for snacks for my husband pushed me back into normal territory and then on into busting my budget -- again! I am going to have to seriously work on the problem. My husband won't heat up anything or even make a sandwich for lunch, preferring to snack all day until I get back home. This isn't good for his diabetes or our budget. High quality snacks are expensive, and I can't stand to buy the cheapo snacks full of yucky ingredients. Reasoning with him, since his stroke this year, is not so easy, either.
Anyway, what we ate for the evening meals:
One night was steak, with kind of odd sides of sauteed onions and broccoli in cheese sauce. He won't hardly eat broccoli unless it has cheese sauce and then he eats little. He loves sauteed onions, though.
Another night, I had about a half pound of ground beef that needed to be used, so I seasoned it with Italian seasoning and made a pizza to put it on. We love that cassava flour pizza crust from the Unskilled Cavewoman.
One night was from-the-farm pan sausage, lima beans, and Angie Alt's (Autoimmune Wellness blog) rosemary-honey carrots. One must like rosemary to like this recipe -- I love rosemary so I loved it.
One night was oven pork chops with peas and more of the carrots (I'd made a lot of carrots on purpose).
One night was soup from bone broth and this and that chopped vegetables, plus cauliflower "rice."
And we had the rest of the pork chops from the package, with the rest of the limas, sliced cucumber and something else that I can't remember.
Happy anniversary!
Hope to properly celebrate ours too as life settles (will it ever?), but this week my husband has been away for work so it's been pretty easy meals with lots of frozen foods:
Friday - Pizza bagels and mozzarella flatbread with salad
Saturday - Pasta linguine with Italian meatballs, marinara, and some veggies I can't remember
Sunday - Rice and tofu with a peanut sauce
Monday - Pizza and salad, using a Monday night deal from a local place
Tuesday - Hamburgers, some veggie, some meat
Wednesday - Burritos and kale salad
Thursday - Grilled potatoes, fish sticks, veggies
Three of these meals were eaten by the pool! Once even during a thunder storm. I'm really trying to squeeze in the last summer days before the pool closes for the season 🙂
Good job on squeezing the most you can out of pool season!
Saturday: Pulled pork sandwiches(pork made in the morning, because the heat in the afternoon continues to make me uninspired to cook when the kitchen is 86 degrees), cucumbers with salt and vinegar, watermelon
Sunday: Leftover pulled pork sandwiches and carrot sticks for the kids, scrambled eggs with feta and chives plus sauteed bell peppers and onions for the parents, peaches and cream for everyone
Monday: Meatballs in marinara sauce, pasta with butter, Parmesan, garlic powder, and pepper, sauteed green beans
Tuesday: Flank steak, mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, various different vegetables that amusingly all started with "c"--cucumbers, corn, and cabbage
Wednesday: T-bone steaks with roasted garlic, garlic bread, roasted bell pepper, onion, green beans
Thursday: Beef goulash with carrots and potatoes
Tonight: I haven't been freezer diving yet, but perhaps it's time for some pork to break up the All Beef, All the Time menus
Have a super roadtrip!
Trying to have a "no food waste" week:
$50 (plus $80 for the dinner party)
Saturday: dinner party: charcuterie, chilled cucumber buttermilk soup; tomato salad with herbed fresh ricotta; grilled branzini, swiss chard and spinach spanikopita [serious eats recipe made this so easy!, sautéed zucchini and summer squash; tonka bean panna cotta with raspberry sauce.
Sunday: dinner out with parents
Monday: dinner on the road
Tuesday: turkey tacos with pico de gallo (with scrapes of tomato from Saturday), sautéed corn, red pepper and zucchini/summer squash (left over from Saturday)
Wednesday: bratwurst, spaetzle and cabbage salad. tomato salad with herbed ricotta
Thursday: Jamie Oliver's Vietnamese bun cha with sticky tofu
Friday: Friend taking me out to dinner
Saturday: family birthday party. We are bringing blistered green beans with garlic and miso (epicurious)
Friday - Bacon, eggs, & toast. Everyone wanted their eggs cooked differently so I was like a short order cook! I like putting my bacon on a sheet pan & throwing it on the grill when it's nice out so the kitchen doesn't get hot & my oven stays grease free
Saturday - Date night with my husband. We went to Chili's & had their 3 for $10 which left plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.
Sunday - Beef stroganoff
Monday - Tacos & corn spoon bread
Tuesday - Toasted cheese sandwiches & soup
Wednesday - Chicken wings & corn on the cob. I cooked the wings in the oven & then finished in the air fryer for some crispiness. I let everyone coat their wings with whatever sauce they wanted (different BBQ's & sauces from the fridge)
Thursday - Ham slices, cheddar broccoli rice & green beans
Tonight - Frozen pizzas
Monday: venison steak, watermelon, broccoli with cheese
Tuesday: fajitas and kiwi
Wednesday: hot dogs and brats, purple potatoes, canned peaches, smoothies
Thursday: crock pot lasagna and green beans
Friday: Autumn pork chops, potatoes, applesauce
We are pretty far over budget this week, which is going to make the last week of the month tight. Lots of food from the pantry/freezer I think.
Saturday - met up with family for dinner at a pizza place
Sunday - leftovers
Monday - rotisserie chicken, pasta, broccoli
Tuesday - leftovers
Wednesday - frozen pizza, zucchini
Thursday - meatballs, pasta, zucchini
Friday - TBD - we are having friends over tonight so I'm not sure what we are doing for dinner
I know this will not elicit any sympathy but our freezer is full of salmon and halibut from friends and neighbors. I traded garden produce for the first of it but then we were inundated with gifted fish. Then, on Monday, we got another bunch of fish, this time trout and salmon. We had no room in the freezer so I cooked up some and we ate it for lunch every day in a tuna fish type sandwich and every night we had grilled salmon or trout. Two nights we asked another couple over and they helped eat our way through it. We finished it but after six days of fish twice a day, I am ready for something else. However, we spent only $4 for food this week, for milk, so I am thankful for that. Our night temps are in the 40s and parts of town had frost, so we are harvesting from the garden---eating, canning and dehydrating. So, all the fish was accompanied by garden vegetables.
You look lovely and happy anniversary.
This week we have had corned beef, lamb curry and roasted chicken. One night was leftovers and another sandwiches.
Welcome to Ohio- We are expecting a great weekned of mild weather!
Monday: Johnnie Marzetti
Tuesday: Made it up as I went a long chicken casserole- kinda ended up with a Chicken Cordon Bleu feel
Wednesday: Pork Chops with couscous
Thursday: Tacos
Friday: It was a rough back to school week- so we splurged on a night out.
The weather is SO nice! I'm loving the low humidity.
I hope next week of school is a little easier for you guys.
It's finally been warm enough to eat dinner outside this week (we've had a relatively cool coastal California summer so far, and no, not complaining!) so lots of dinner salads this week:
Sun - Chicken fajitas, sauteed sweet corn, Mexican caesar salad
Mon- Antipasta green salad, cut watermelon, garlic bread.
Tue- Monday leftovers.
Wed- Tuna green salad with all the fixings, garlic bread.
Thur- Chicken green salad with mandarin oranges.
Fri- Out with friends at a wine bar, where dinner was reasonably priced, but very unexciting- 'eh' meatballs, hummus w/pita, and dry paninis.
Sat/Tonight- Big backyard party here, and I've been prepping for days. On the menu, all items and sauces made by me vs. storebought, is Bruschetta w/sliced bagettes, plus Tomato pizza tartlets as starter, grilled steaks with chimichurri, sour cream, and steak sauce as topping options, baked sweet potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts finished with a drizzle of ages balsamic vinegar, and key lime pie for dessert.
We had BLTs one night, (a crowd favorite) with spicy oven fries, fish tacos with homemade slaw another, and baked ziti with garlic bread last eve. Can't recall any other meals, but we never went out to eat, so we must have rummaged!
I can't remember everyday, but here's the gist of the weekly menu:
Mon-cheese pizza
Tue- deli sandwiches
Wed- bbq pizza
Thurs- beef enchiladas
Fri- oven fried chicken & fries
Sat- oven popcorn shrimp
I'd love that basil red pepper mayo recipe 🙂
Approx how long does it take to soften the potato wedges in the microwave? Can this be done in the oven or boiled briefly with the same result as the microwave?
I think you could boil them briefly, but baking seems like it might dry them out too much.
The time in the microwave all depends on how many potatoes you have. I'd say a pound of potato wedges takes maybe 6-7 minutes. It also will depend upon your microwave's wattage.