What I Spent, What We Ate | I'm under budget. Whee!
What I Spent
Here's what I bought at Aldi for $64.47.
I forgot to include my laundry detergent in the photo, so, here you go.
I also made a super quick stop ($4.53) at a local grocery store to get a few fresh herbs and a hot pepper (the only fresh herb my Aldi carries is cilantro, and they don't have raw hot peppers at my store at all.)
And I made an unpictured early-week run for a few necessities, which ran me $35.66.
So, I'm at $104.66 for the first week of May.
SWEET.
I am due for a Costco trip so this is a fortuitous time to be under budget. I can stock up on frozen berries without blowing my budget next week.
What We Ate
Monday
The girls had a dress rehearsal for dance that night, so I needed a make-ahead meal.
Enter shrimp salad sandwiches, using the shrimp salad recipe from my big Cook's Illustrated cookbook.
(Zoe is allergic to shrimp, so she had a ham sandwich.)
I made egg bread to use for our sandwiches.
Tuesday
Lisey and I made fish cakes.
We also tried a crispy Parmesan potato recipe from my Cook's Country magazine. And we had a green salad.
Wednesday
Zoe and I made Pinch of Yum's Thai chicken salad, which we liked (except that some of us didn't care for the peanut dressing). I know this would ruin the Thai part of it, but I think I'll try a citrus-y sort of dressing next time.
The good thing was that we all agreed that cabbage was quite inoffensive when served this way, so, that's a win.
To go with the salad, I made a new roll recipe (from my Cook's Country magazine, of course!). Lisey really liked the rolls, but I personally felt that the honey-glazed rolls I make are better, largely because they are squishier.
I like squishy rolls.
Thursday
I pressed the easy button!
We had a music rehearsal to get to, so I bought a Groupon for a local pizza place and picked it up on the way to church.
Friday
I'm honestly not sure what I'm doing since we had pizza last night. Also, we are not all going to be home at the same time tonight, which makes me think maybe we should just have some sandwiches.
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We have had various meals at home and some out this week. I am determined to make a hole in the food at home and it is slowly working.
This isn't what you're asking for, but Happy Mother's Day! Early.
Thank you! Same to you.
Why is it so hard to remember what we ate all week? I have to really think about it.
1. Easy Weeknight Chicken Tacos. These are made on corn tortillas with queso fresco. I cooked the chicken Sunday, along with the chicken for tortilla soup for lunch Tuesday. I also made pico de gallo and homemade Spanish rice to go with the tacos.
2. Asiago mushroom chicken thighs. Not a slow cooker recipe, but I used mine for this. With it, Parmesan spinach and rice casserole and homemade rolls.
3. I ate a hamburger, dh had salmon. Kind of a " do it yourself" night.
4. Ground beef stroganoff, over noodles, with fresh green beans and homemade rolls from the freezer.
5.Tonight: To be determined. Possibly Chinese takeout.
Sunday we had chicken wings & homemade fries
Monday we had Garlic chicken with rice & steamed broccoli
Tuesday we had homemade mac N cheese with leftover broccoli and garlic toast
Wednesday we had strombolis
Thursday was steaks on the grill with homemade french fries & pickles
Tonight we are eating at the club we belong to then going to my niece's play
This week was a little spendy as we were out of a lot of things $165 for the week which is about $45 over my normal 🙁 Will try better next week
This was a really crazy week for us. Lots of evening appoints so our meals this week where supper quick and easy.
Monday: a church night for us. I fixed a taco salad
Tuesday: I had a doctor's appoint after work so when we got home I made she'll Mac and cheese with corn dogs. We had strawberries with that.
Wednesday: Also a church night plus I had a late dentist appointment so supper consisted of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Thursday: The girls have baton practice so it was pizza rolls.
Friday: I'm planning on making barbecued pork chops, corn-on-cob, applesauce tonight.
My weekly grocery bill was 94.35 at Save-a-Lot at the big inning on the week.
Monday: Honey Lime Chicken and Coconut Rice
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Leftovers for hubs; church dinner for me
Thursday: Homemade Nachos for hubs; restaurant burger for me
Friday: Honey Lime Chicken, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, buttered noodles
It was a good week of not eating fast food
Do you use a recipe for the honey like chicken? That sounds like a yummy flavor combo!!
We always have a menu, but we also don't always stick to it! We made corned beef and tried to stretch it for four meals, but that just didn't happen, so we had a wrench thrown into our meal plans. Luckily, Mr. Picky Pincher made extra goulash to fill those gaps. Yum!
Monday - French toast with smoked gouda, precooked breakfast links from the freezer, fruit
Tuesday - some sweet potato and black bean chili from the freezer mixed with pasta and cheese, served with salad and applesauce
Wednesday - FAIL! had some prepared stuffed potatoes from the freezer that my mom gave us, and they were gross... I ended up having potato chips, ice cream, and a roll, lol.
Thursday - takeout pizza!
Friday - Chik Fil A -- hubs is picking me up from work to head out for the weekend
I've filled my freezer recently with chicken, beef and pork from local farms, so I'm determined to eat out of the freezer, and so far, I'm doing very well.
Like Sandy H, I can't remember our meals very well either, on any given week! Here goes:
I cooked pork ribs on Monday, with sweet potatos from a local farmer, last of the crop, so 37 cents a pound, yeah!, and baked beans. We had leftovers on Tuesday, because the two of us love ribs, but can't eat an entire slab in one sitting. On Wednesday, I made chicken tenders, which I cut from whole chickens when I cut them up, and freeze in meal-sized portions. I dip them in flour, then egg-milk mixture, then panko bread crumbs and cook them quickly in a little lard, and they are so good. We ate baked white potatoes and salad with them. We don't usually eat so much potato, but we have a lot of both kinds right now to eat up. The salad was home grown lettuce and cabbage, topped with wild greens from our yard -- violet leaves, purslane, and sorrel. I've been taking an herbal/wild food course, can you tell? Last night was my granddaughter's softball tournament, so we ate summer sausage (also locally made), cheese, crackers and fruit, instead of a real meal. Tonight will be beef tips and rice with summer squash, because I only work half days on Friday. My budget is settling down after filling the freezer -- it's nice to see that come back down. I get rewarded for my loyalty to local, organic/certified natural producers, too. In the past week I've gotten a free gallon of grass-fed cow's raw milk and a free big bag of pastured-pork bacon from two farmers I always buy from.
I actually had to look in my phone at my grocery list, which I haven't deleted yet, to see what my menu was for the week, lol!
How well does the Aldi detergent work for you? I know you were a Costco detergent user so I'm curious as to how well it works (not that I need any more detergent to add to my stockpile of Purex and Sears brand detergent we got for almost nothing.
This week was pretty low key. On Monday we had leftover fried chicken that my grandmother sent home with us from Sunday. Tuesday we had pork chops and Wednesday we had a sweet and sour chicken stir fry.
Last night we went out to Ruby Tuesday as it was a nerd's night out for me (Rifftrax Live) and tonight is Bible study.
It was another "eating out of the freezer" week and eating the meat we bought a while back when it was on sale. We did spend about $25 at Aldi on the perishables and regular stuff we need but we're also planning on grocery shopping tomorrow.
I feel like the Aldi and Costco detergents are very similar. I also think the prices are very similar, though embarrassingly enough, I haven't figured out what the exact comparison is for price. Ha.
The Aldi detergent smells really good too.
Do you feel like it changed recently? I feel like it's more scented now than it used to be! It's not like the smell is crazy strong, but something seems different.
Any thoughts on how that detergent stacks up against Tide?
The Costco stuff? Or the Aldi stuff? The Costco brand detergent says P&G on it, which makes me believe it's actually made by Proctor and Gamble. Someone once told me it's the slightly older Tide formulation, I think.
Anyway, I think both the Costco and the Aldi brands are similar to Tide. Aldi offers a money back guarantee on everything they sell, so you could try it yourself and see what you think. If you hate it, you can get 100% of your money back!
I've used Costco, Aldi and Tide laundry detergents. I think they are all pretty even in their ability to get things clean. I admit, I like the smell of Tide the best. I recently purchased the Costco Kirkland brand and feel the scent is really strong and "perfumey." So, if I'm going for a cheaper brand, I prefer the Aldi over Costco.
Monday - mushroom gnocchi with broccoli and salad
Tuesday - went out for a birthday meal
Wednesday - pasta with meat sauce and salad
Thursday - leftovers
Friday - chicken with mango and some vegetable TBD
Saturday - probably leftovers
Have you shared the egg bread recipe? I adore all your bread recipes. You seem to pick excellent ones!
I haven't yet! But I took pictures this time so that I could post the recipe.
Yay!!! I have been patiently awaiting the egg bread recipe since March 3rd (well.. ok.. maybe not so patiently..) so I was so happy to see the beautiful bread picture above! I have been baking bread pretty much weekly now, since first successfully learning to make bread with your whole wheat bread recipe 3 years ago. I cannot tell you how much joy learning to bake bread has brought me. I am a daily lurker but I have always wanted to express my gratitude for the time you take to post these recipes with your lovely pictures (along with all the other posts of course). Thank you!
Yay! So glad your bread baking is going well.
I went $2.77 over budget last week which I am calling a total win considering that in the prior 3 or 4 weeks I went over $20-$40 each week.
Saturday - Steak, mac & cheese, banana (yes, the banana is a weird side dish to steak. lol)
Sunday - Cottage cheese, fruit & banana bread
Monday/Tuesday - Chicken and broccoli in spicy peanut sauce with jasmine rice
Wednesday/Thursday - tacos
Friday - Not sure yet. Possibly pizza. I usually reserve Fridays for eating out, leftovers, or something easy like eggs or pantry/freezer foods.
We had a very busy week and I did not get menu planning done.
Monday - Spinach salad and melon.
Tuesday - Clean-out-the-fridge vegetable & rice soup in the slow cooker, and melon.
Wednesday - Perogies in tomato sauce & mixed vegetables.
Thursday - Leftover vegetable & rice soup, with crackers & cheese or a ham sandwich. My son had eggs on toast because he had a rugby game and didn't get home until late.
Friday - Undecided. I need to go grocery shopping so might pick something up.
Saturday - Homemade pizza. I use the bread maker to mix the dough, it's very easy.
Well, you did an impressive job considering you had no menu planned!!
Since retired my income is very slim and I am going to try for a month's budget of 200.00. Down from no budgeting at all. Make biscuits, cakes and pies and use fresh fruits, or make my own puddings for key lime etc. for those. Yesterday I my groceries for the week were a pre roasted chicken (2 of them by accident) 6.99 each
One fresh chicken at 5.98..cilantro, 1.09, home grown asparagus 4.00 , broccoli, lettuce , salsa, eggs from the farmer at 4.00 doz. Pepperidge farm bread 3.98, and some odds and ends...total 68.10. $18.00 over budget but those chickens will do for three meals each and I do have frozen hamburger, a pork roast and some stewing beef. Chicken for tonight's meal , four pieces for the two of us = half a breast, the wings and thigh. I use the back and necks (saved from past birds) for chicken broth and make chicken soup. Potatoes, onions, celery and carrots are the stocked veggies and I have enough for at least two weeks or more. We planted tomatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, potatoes and cabbage in containers hoping for success.
A couple months ago I did a grocery challenge allowing myself $20 a week and it really put my grocery shopping (habits) in perspective. Long story short, I'm a grocery addict. So far this month I've spent $14.57
Mon & Tue - BLTs
Wed & Thur - Quesadilla and taco salads
Fri - It's cloudy and cold here today and today is milk day so I'm really leaning toward a good pot of potato soup.
Happy Mother's Day Y'all!
Wow, $20 is really low! Is it just you?
I will probably go under budget this week. I usually budget $100 for the five of us, but I am thinking I might hit $50.
Monday- chicken cordon bleu - using up deli ham from the weekend mashed potatoes, veggie, fruit
Tuesday- BBQ pulled pork sandwiches (from the crockpot), chips, raw veggies,fruit. Needed something fast when we got home very late from softball practice
Wednesday- free pizza from work and left over BBQ pork sandwiches, veggie fruit
Thursday- taco bar, rice, homemade guacamole, fruit
Friday- Cub Scout bridge ceremony/pot luck- taking deviled eggs.
Hi Kristen,
This weeks eats were
Monday-mince and egg
Tuesday- steamed fish with choy sum and steamed rice
Wednesday- speghetti bolognese
Thursday- home made chicken and artichoke pizza
Friday- Thai green fish curry with steamed rice and papadums
Saturday- will be spinach and feta triangles with a big tossed salad
Sunday- Happy Mother's Day- will be a Steak Guinness and cheese pie
Have a wonderful Mother's Day
Let's see if I can remember...
Monday - boiled chicken dinner. It's one of my husband's favorite meals, and while it is a bit of a project, it does make the best leftovers for lunch and dinner during the week.
Tuesday- fried rice with chicken and carrots, green beans, mango and cuke salad
Wednesday - pasta with olive oil and grated cheese, peas, chicken for my little one who can't have cow's milk cheese
Thursday - pasta with chickpeas and mushrooms, broccoli
Friday - pasta with olive oil and cheese, pureed soup made from vegetables from the boiled chicken dinner
My little one has multiple food intolerances/sensitivities and while we thought we were past her chicken sensitivity we found out that we were wrong this week. The poor little peanut ate chicken three days in a row and started complaining that her bum hurt and she got all crusty behind one of her ears. So I'm going to make sure that we don't eat chicken more than one day in a row for awhile.
Oh wow...chicken! That's a rough thing to be sensitive to!
My husband and two kids have been sick this week and so we've deviated from our meal plan to make it easy as possible on me while caring for the three sick ones. Thankfully, they all are much better today than they were Monday.
Monday - breakfast for dinner, egg bake with mushroom, onions, cheese, and half ham/ half sausage -using up leftovers in my freezer. Muffins made of freezer medley - Apple, zucchini, and acorn squash with one ripe banana that was not frozen
Tuesday - spaghetti with ground beef. Half the sauce was Aldi's organic marinara and half was a quart of my parent's tomatoes with added spices, including cocoa to lose the super acidic taste. I've never tried this before and it turned out well. Spaghetti served with Texas toast (unintentionally extra crisp - oops) and fresh pineapple.
Wednesday - I had leftover egg bake and everyone else has spaghetti.
Thursday - for the adults, chicken enchiladas verdes with Southwest salad. For the kids, cheese quesadillas with pinto beans on the side, and salad.
Friday - husband is out, kids had turkey dogs and pears, I got my first CSA box of the season and made spring greens soup with nettles, spinach, ramps, shiitake mushrooms, sunchokes, and chives. It's how I start every CSA season. I've been paying for the CSA all year and now am cashing in! As a Minnesotan, it's feeling great to know I'll have organic veggies every week through December. There's no way I could manage that in my garden.
I am so lucky in that my husband will uncomplainingly eat the same meal until we finish it, but this week really taxed his good humor. Monday morning I decided to make soup from leftovers in the freezer and cupboard supplies. Into the pot went four cans of diced tomatoes, a half a bag of meatballs, about 3 cups of pasta I had made to excess and so put the extra in a freezer, two cups of shredded frozen zuke from last summer's garden, onions frozen from last summer's garden, and some left over basil pesto from last summer's garden. And two heads of garlic. A few spices and it ended up tasting terrific...only by the time the pasta swelled some more I had to add two more cans of diced tomatoes to keep it a soup consistency. We have eaten this soup every night since Monday and will finally finish it tonight. I made different bread or rolls every night, in an effort to change things about a bit, but at this point we are just taking one for the team. But it does mean the only cost for groceries this week was a gallon of milk and six lemons for my homemade iced tea that keeps me away from pop--so, I guess $8 for groceries this week does ease the pain. (We still have 61 cans of diced tomatoes left! and 109 cans of tuna...they were on sale months ago for less than 40 cents a can each and I got a bit carried away. My husband put our bed on wood blocks so we could store the cases under our bed. The only thing my long-suffering husband said when he saw my haul was, "Well, I am glad poop was not on a really good sale.")
Lol!!! I'm dying here.
Somehow I managed to get through this week without shopping at all - in fact, I haven't shopped since last Thursday and that was only for produce and some dairy. Wow! That is Crazy for us:)
We ate well anyways:
-Spaghetti, marinara, homemade meatballs, sautéed zucchini
-turkey burgers and hot dogs, Cole slaw, rosemary fries, watermelon
-homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese, fruit
-nachos before the school concert
- take away pizza, veggies and ranch from home
Will need to shop this weekend I suppose and I believe roasters are on sale this week so that's what we may be having tonight:) after an expensive April I hope to keep our budget in check this month - $800 for the month would be great!!!
I'm still spending more than I'd like since, for now, I physically can't cook much. Some ways I've tried to reduce the outflow:
Buying cut-up fruits and vegetables. I hate spending the $, but to eat healthfully at home it's the best workaround I've found. Open to others...
Bringing grapes, bananas, and snow peas to work as snacks since they don't have to be cut up.
Stretching out restaurant leftovers. I love a rice bowl and honestly, they're mostly rice. Adding some chicken and veggies of my own helps stretch it out to another meal.
Scrambled eggs in a microwave via coffee mug - am I the last to know?? Eggs without trying to lift and clean a skillet!
The hubs had a rare afternoon home (it's his busy work season). He made homemade pesto with basil from our garden. We also grow scallions, thyme, and the peppers are going in this week.
This week, here are our meals:
Monday: Panini sandwiches with carrot sticks, cucumber slices and fruit salad
Tuesday: Macaroni and cheese, salad
Wednesday: Korean crock pot chicken rice bowls
Thursday: Turkey burgers, roasted potato wedges, apple slices
Friday: Probably get a pizza?
Wow it hurt my brain to remember what we had but it's fun to post so here goes 🙂
Monday: refried bean tostadas with pork
Tuesday: ground beef zucchini stirfry
Wednesday: chicken enchiladas
Thursday: cinco de mayo party, brought pineapple empanadas
Friday: pasta for bible study
Saturday: bbq chicken, sweet potatoes & baked beans
Sunday: dinner at church!