What I Spent, What We Ate | Also, did you have trouble with the code?
Let's talk about that first, actually. If you signed up for Hungry Harvest, did you have trouble using the coupon code FRUGALGIRL?
If you did, could you leave a comment letting me know? Hungry Harvest wants to help you use the code, and even if you gave up and signed up without the code, they can still credit you the 25%.
Alternatively, you can go to Hungry Harvest's site and chat with a customer service rep...just let them know you're having trouble using the FRUGALGIRL code and they can help you out.
So, speak up, and we'll get you taken care of!
(The code is what gets you the 25% off...just using the links in my posts won't get you the discount.)
What I Spent
I spent $72 at Aldi, but it was a crazy day and I didn't manage to get a picture.
Then I made a small trip ($6.69) to buy bananas, cheese for pizza, and a cup of yogurt for a homemade yogurt starter.
Normally I use some from the previous batch, but I used up all of my last batch!
Incidentally, the block of cheese was twice the amount I needed, so I shredded up the whole block and just froze half of it for next time I make pizza.
So, I only spent $78.69 this week, which is kind of nice.
What We Ate
Monday
I had some peppers from my Hungry Harvest box that needed to be used up, so I decided to grill some kebabs. I did onions, peppers, bratwurst, and shrimp.
And I also had some potatoes from Hungry Harvest, so I made a pan of potato cubes.
Tuesday
This was a dress rehearsal night for Sonia and Zoe's dance class, which meant I was gone from 5:30-9:30.
Joshua ate at his Bible study group, Lisey made a BLT, Mr. FG picked up a sub, and I took Sonia and Zoe to Chick-Fil-A after dance to use their free meal coupon from this month's CFA cow calendar.
And I heated up some leftovers and fried an egg for myself when we got home.
It was a very random night of eating for us!
Wednesday
This is the night I made carnitas.
I have quite a bit of leftover meat, and I'm thinking maybe it would freeze well for an easy meal down the road. What do you think?
Thursday
I switched things up and made pizza on a not-Friday! I chose deep dish to use up some potatoes that were getting wrinkly.
Friday
Since I made pizza yesterday, I'm not positive what I'll do tonight! Decisions, decisions....
How about you?
What's been on the dinner table at your house this week?
Thanks to a minor but still nausea-inducing stomach bug this week, I've been mostly living on white rice and scrambled eggs. Tasty. But I still made dinner for my family every night. I even made some hot fudge sauce to send in to the teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week, with some left over, which meant that last night my family ate pasta with pesto (I may actually use up all of last summer's pesto before I start making more this summer--success!) and Italian sausage for dinner, with ice cream and hot fudge sauce after, and I ate . . . rice and scrambled eggs. With soy sauce.
Luckily, I made a lot of extra hot fudge sauce, so there should still be plenty whenever I feel like actually eating again. Fingers crossed it's soon.
Oh, and P.S. Leftover carnitas are (is?) awesome with eggs for breakfast. You know, if you have to go plow a few fields or something and need a filling breakfast. 🙂 It does freeze well, but I would suggest reheating it gently in the oven or in a pan on the stove--rather than the microwave--to preserve the crispy outside.
We had a light shopping and cooking week here- such a nice change of pace! I knew we were in for a colder blast of weather so I planned meals accordingly!
Monday I tossed a beef roast and carrots into the crock pot. served those with leftover country bread from Sunday dinner with the inlaws, instant mashed potatoes and frozen corn.
Tuesday- I ran into the local discount outlet for some lunchmeat ( they have an amazing fresh deli so I get all our lunch meat and cheeses there at about a 50% discount from my local grocer!) and I grabbed a bag of chicken patties in the freezer. Made the kids chicken patty sandwiches and served with fresh fruit.
Wed- lasagna and garlic bread- using cooked beef and leftover tomato sauce from the freezer.
Thursday- snack platter- lunch meat, cheese, carrot sticks, the last of the fresh fruit and ritz crackers! Mama needs to grocery shop!
Friday- out to dinner for a friends birthday!
I had trouble with the code, but I'm already trying to plan out what I'm going to eat with the box that's scheduled for this weekend!
Your food looks delicious! I feel like I'm looking at a menu at a super high-end restaurant!
Maybe you can try to make fried rice tonight? It's cheap, simple, and fast. My husband just made it yesterday 🙂
We ended up buying two Chick Fil A cow calendar cards this year for the savings. Since that is our weekly outing on Wednesday evenings before church, I felt that the $16 for the two cards would be well worth it over the year. I think it paid for itself within the first two or three months. But my question for you is: why didn't you eat something at Chick Fil A?
Well, at the time we stopped there, I didn't feel hungry.
But once we got home I was like, "Oh, nuts. NOW I'm hungry!" Luckily there were some leftovers for me.
Monday was leftover pot roast from Sunday. Still delicious.
Tuesday was spaghetti with garlic bread and a side salad.
Wednesday we went out for a family dinner.
Thursday we had pancakes and bacon.
Friday...tonight will be a mish mash of leftovers. There's some spaghetti left and pancakes so we'll try to get through those!
Carnitas freeze and reheat very well! In fact, when I want to make them, I buy the biggest pork shoulder I can get my hands on. It's great for making pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, tostadas, and more.
This week we ate:
Monday: Asian glazed pork shoulder with rice.
Tuesday: Frozen potstickers.
Wednesday: Homemade pizza
Thursday: Dutch oven pot pie.
Friday: Mexican street tacos.
Is the Hungry Harvest/Frugal Girl coupon time sensitive? They don't deliver to my area (suburban Philly) at the moment, but gave them my e/m to let me know when they will add our area. Can't believe this will be that far into the future .... Thanks!
I don't think it has an expiration date...I believe it's good for my whole time as a partner with them, which I anticipate being for a long time. So once they open in Philly, you should be able to use the code with no problem at all.
If you run into any problems using it, just chat with them or with me and we'll get it taken care of.
Get your neighbors to sign up too! All they need is 30 people in an area and they'll open it up for deliveries, especially in an area where they're already operating close by.
We ate Chicken Tortilla Soup on Monday https://www.averiecooks.com/2015/09/easy-30-minute-homemade-chicken-tortilla-soup.html
Jimmy Johns sub for $1 on Tuesday for me, a steak and baked potato for dh (I don't like steak)
Wednesday: Haddock, oven roasted potatoes and stir fry veggies
Thursday: Shrimp Stir Fry http://damndelicious.net/2015/01/16/easy-shrimp-broccoli-stir-fry/ (user error for my sauce not thickening up and therefore not resembling the picture)
Friday: Thin Crust Pizza with Ham and Pineapple
Saturday: Chipotle Chicken Bowls with these two recipes: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/chipotle-chicken-recipe/, https://www.culinaryhill.com/chipotle-cilantro-lime-rice/
I had never bought Basmati rice and certainly never used this method for cooking rice, but it turned out so perfect, I will do it every time we have these from now on.
Sunday: leftover Chipotle Chicken Bowls
I'm fighting our rising grocery bill, but three little growing people will do that to your budget! I've starting making a second run to Aldi on Thursdays to replace what we already ate up the first half of the week.
This week we had:
Monday: I made creamy kale pesto pasta. I had kale that was on its last leg, so I made it into pesto a la nonconsumeradvocate. Then the addition of cream makes it a creamy sauce we serve over penne. The kids all like it. My husband and I turn a smaller portion into big salads.
Tuesday: Tuna sandwiches and rosemary roasted potatoes.
Wednesday: Burgers on the grill made with ground beef from Aldi I bought when it was marked down. Some of us had salads on the side. Some had more roasted potatoes.
Thursday: I was not feeling making supper, so we had a collection of sandwiches made with leftover tuna, leftover chicken, and whatever else we could find. Chips on the side. It's really been a potato week.
Friday: We will have our usual "ride to the country" sandwiches. (It has also been a very sandwichy week.)
Saturday night is our pizza night with a mix of cheese, meats, and veggies.
I spent this week . . . $60 at Aldi, then $20 at Kroger, then another $25 at Aldi, then $22 to order a crate of strawberries from our son's PTA, $10 at a corner grocery down the street. Tonight I will probably spend about $20 on groceries for the weekend. $157! I guess that is not too bad for a family of five.
If that's all I spend for my family of 5, it is a big success! My oldest goes off to college in the fall, so I'm guessing I might get it close to $150/week then.
I found college dorm food to be expensive. We pay $1600 per semester about $100 per week for one person. I know the food includes the cost to make, etc.. but still pricey...
That $100/week also includes the physical plant (kitchen, plates, elec) and cleaning up. A student with access to a kitchen can do better, of course.
Monday: ???
Tuesday: Chicken breasts w/ mixed greens
Wednesday: Buffalo chicken/cabbage stir fry
Thursday: Chipotle
Friday: Something from our freezer...steaks maybe?
I spent a lot at the grocery store this week. Now that I'm mostly eating at home, my grocery budget has spiked. My eating out budget has plummeted though, so that's good at least.
I spent 105 total, and then spent 20 at Chipotle. So 125 for a week's worth of meals...though I'll probably swing in this weekend to get a few extra veggies.
Oh yes-much better to have a slightly higher grocery bill and a plummeting eating out bill! Grocery store food is almost always cheaper.
I was slightly over budget last week but that's OK. Of note - I have not had tacos for two whole weeks which just crazy talk.
Saturday: Tuna casserole and asparagus, which was easy, but I was proud of myself for cooking anything since I spent most of the day driving to/from and attending a funeral that was 2 hours away.
Sunday: Thai chicken and broccoli.
Monday/Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Pizza and salad from a fancy-pants gourmet pizza restaurant. First time I had lemons on pizza. (I don't think they belong there!)
Thursday: Ham and cheese omelet with fruit.
Friday: I am meeting a friend at the best sub shop in town for a quick dinner on their patio (so my friend's dog can come!).
Please tell us what else was on the "lemon" pizza!
The only way I can imagine lemons is on a white pizza with shrimp or something like that!
I just looked it up and it was smoked mozzarella, ricotta, sliced lemon. finished with arugula and honey.
It was OK. My friend picked it. I am not big on lemons in savory dishes. Also, the lemon was sliced very thinly and included the rind.
That does sound a little on the odd side of things.
But now you can say you tried it! 😉
Thanks Lorraine! I'm not sure I would order it but would try a bite.
Monday was a meeting out of town for me after work, so the friend who went with me and I had a sub at Firehouse on our way home, and the husband cooked a frozen small pizza at home.
Tuesday was veggie day -- my husband cooked rutabaga in the crock pot (he loves them, I don't like them at all), and I cooked cabbage, sweet potatoes, sliced tomato and the fabulous eggplant fries.
Wednesday was baked potatoes (in the crock pot) and boiled shrimp made from frozen shrimp.
Thursday was "dinner in a packet", cut up potatoes, carrots, onion, cabbage, and a small patty of seasoned ground beef cooked in a foil packet.
Tonight, I'm not sure, but possibly something with the rest of that ground beef. My spending was not too good, not too bad, $134.24, which included a farm delivery of dairy products.
My code didn't work, but I chatted with a very nice rep and they fixed me up pronto! I get my first box today. Looking forward to it!
Wonderful. I'm super glad they were able to help you out.
I have experienced excellent customer service so far!
Not a food related comment. The b & w photo of your two ballerinas made me sigh. Gorgeous pic!
Aww, thank you!
Yes, they are two cute ballerinas!
That's what I thought when I saw that pic - it took my breath away! Beautiful and elegant.
Monday - The kids at pizza at a soccer game with my hubby while I went out for Mexican with my church's moms group! Yay!
Tuesday - $1 subs from Jimmy John's (I can't believe I got out of cooking two nights in a row!)
Wednesday - Brown sugar bourbon seasoned chicken thighs, watermelon, carrots and dip
Thursday - Fajitas and strawberries
Friday - Meatloaf, roasted broccoli... I'm not sure what else yet. But I just loaded up from my produce store yesterday, so I'll come up with something. 😉
Have to share this exciting frugal week at my produce store: They had all the red peppers, green peppers, or beefsteak tomatoes you can fit in a produce bag for $1 per bag!!! And cases of strawberries for $5.99!! And corn on the cob 10 for $1!!! Makes me feel a little more like it's summer even though we have 40's and rain right now.
We actually had a fairly simple menu this week which consisted of BBQ chicken and sausages with pasta salad and coke slaw, skillet penne with sausage (ATK) and garlic bread, leftovers, pork tenderloin with masked cauliflower, taco salad, and tonight is pizza!
Last month I spent ALL of the money at the grocery store and so this month I'm trying to keep spending more reasonable (!) I spent about $115 this past week at the grocery store and $13 on local milk and spinach. I'd like to keep each week below $150 which would be awesome for us!
Kristen,
Made a Black forest cake for my husband's birthday tomorrow(Chocolate Genoise cake).
The cake has a small dome on the top and 2 dents on the bottom.
Wanted to check with you if this means something would be wrong with the cake ? I followed 'Joy of Baking' recipe that does not use baking soda/baking powder. Used 4 large eggs- double boiled eggs+sugar and then beat them at high speed and this egg mixture was supposed to be the leavening agent.
Also, the cake is small in size (6 slices) and is short. I need atleast 8 slices. As per the recipe, I have to slit the cake and add cherry-syrup, cherries and whipped cream between the layers and then top it with more cream and cherries.
My questions- 1) I am thinking if I could bake another chocolate cake and use that as the 2nd layer and this one as the top layer (to get some height and bigger slices) instead of slitting this cake into 2. Is it okay to use a (tested) simpler/regular chocolate cake recipe for the 2nd layer ?
2) Also, does the extra height require more whipped cream between the layers ?
P.S. I can also use the Black forest cake recipe to make 1 more layer, just worried that 4+(4 more )eggs for 1 birthday cake would me too much.
Sorry for the lengthy comment. 🙂 Just feeling anxious about the cake and wish to make it work with your help ! Thank you for your patience and time.
Should I increase the quantity of heavy whipping cream due because my cake would be taller
Oh man, I'm not an expert cake baker by any stretch of the imagination!
I think I'd go ahead and make another cake layer so that you have more cake to serve. And I'm thinking it couldn't hurt to go ahead and make a little extra whipped cream so that it's easier to get it all covered.
I hope it's delicious even if it doesn't turn out quite like it's supposed to visually (that's usually how my cakes are! Delicious but not magazine-photo-worthy.)
If I may jump in as well...
1. It's normal for a cake to come out a bit domed. The professionals cut the dome off so the layer is level, then put the uncut sides in towards each other so the icing layer looks good.
2. You can definitely bake another layer and use that. If you use a different recipe, it will taste (and maybe look) a bit different but no big deal.
3. More height will require a bit more whipped cream. The difference comes from the increased overall height of the cake rather than the whipped cream between the cake layers.
4. That said, you might want to make the whipped cream layer a bit thicker, to balance out the thicker cake layers. You don't have to; and there's only so much you can use, lest the weight of the cake layers cause the whipped cream to squish out the sides.
5. No matter what you do, it's going to be delicous and a labor of love. It's going to be great.
Did Mr. FG get a $1 sub at Jimmy Johns on Tuesday night? That's what we did!
Unfortunately, no! I don't think he knew about that promotion at the time, and he was right next to a different sub shop.
Hi Kristen, we have been camping this week and have had some simple easy dinners, BBQ sausages with steamed potatoes and an Asian salad I had cut up at home to bring with us, rissoles with the same accompanyments, I also made a chorizo and chickpea savory mince to have on our first night. I pre made this at home. All simple and delicious. Have a lovely weekend.
This was an eat what you find week. My allergies have me extremely sick and Gogurts are all I wanted. Steroids will have me on my feet real soon. That picture of the girls, sent me down memory lane. It is priceless. Just absolutely beautiful.
I was not able to use the code but I signed up yesterday. Thanks!
What recipe do you use for your potato cubes? For all of the quality cooking I can do, for some reason basic oven potato cubes elude me!
I use a technique I learned from Cook's Illustrated...I cube the potatoes, toss them with a bit of oil, and microwave them in a covered glass bowl until they're nearly cooked.(time necessary depends upon the number of potatoes, of course)
Then I just crisp and brown them in a cast iron skillet, usually with bacon fat.
Pre-cooking them means I can get them cooked all the way through without burning them on the outside, which is a problem I always had when I threw raw cubes into a pan.
We make carnitas all the time (a simpler recipe, with just pork shoulder, salt, and water) and freeze it into pint-sized bags pre-broiling. Then, it's an easy weeknight meal - tacos, taco bowls (rice, beans, carnitas, avocado, cheese, sour cream), eggs + carnitas, nachos, or even into something more Asian-like (white rice, carnitas, scallions, hoisin sauce, green veggies).
Monday- Chicken and sweetcorn soup.
Tuesday - Ravioli with salami and mushroom creamy tomato sauce.
Wednesday - Corned Beef with Cheesy sauce and steamed vegetables.
Thursday - Chicken and asparagus risotto.
Friday - Vegetable stir-fry with feta cheese crumbled over.