What I Spent, What We Ate | And we're off to camp!
Before we get to food, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading your comments on my last post (It's not the stuff that creates good memories).
It was fun to read about the places (and the smells!) that have brought you guys joy in the past, and your stories definitely confirmed the whole premise of my post.
So, if you missed reading the comments there, go scroll through them...they're an interesting (and sometimes funny!) read.
What I Spent
To finish out September, we spent $169 on food this week.
September Spending
Week 1:$124
Week 2: $151
Week 3: $154
Week 4: $169
2018 Monthly Averages
(goal is $150/week)
January: $544
February: $588
March: $641
April: $728
May: $535
June: $749
July: $578
August: $498
September: $598
Average so far is $140/week.
What We Ate
Monday
We got sushi with some cousins, which definitely elevated a Monday night. 😉
Tuesday
Red beans (with ham and kielbasa) over rice, along with buttered green beans and a fruit salad.
Wednesday
We had these ham and Swiss sandwiches, plus wedge salads and baked acorn squash.
Thursday
We ate a mish-mash of things, including leftovers and mac and cheese.
Friday
Well, we're going camping with a bunch of my extended family, so we're eating by the campfire this evening. Hobo pies are on the menu for tonight, and hamburgers tomorrow night.
Last time I was at this campground was in 1998, so I had no kids last time I was there!
Joshua and Lisey have to work, but Sonia and Zoe are coming and I think it'll be fun to show them around a place from my childhood.
I've been sick most of the week so dinner has been difficult.
Monday: Punted and bought a rotisserie chicken at BJs and cooked rice in the rice cooker and roasted some carrots.
Tuesday: Leftover chicken mixed into Alfredo sauce over bowtie pasta. I wasn't feeling good so I had a baked potato.
Wednesday: Chicken fried rice stir fry.
Thursday: Had a 101 fever but managed to make waffles, bacon and get out some fruit. I didn't have the energy to make hash browns as planned. Oh well.
Friday: Leftover bacon for BLTs.
I hope you feel better.
Related to your last post--which I did not comment on--red beans and rice are very evocative for me. My mother is from New Orleans, and the smell of roux means family to me. No kielbasa in hers, though. 🙂
In my kitchen this week . . .
Monday: Leftovers, fried eggs (to stretch the leftovers), tomato and cucumber salad
Tuesday: Chorizo and ground beef tacos, pickled carrot and cucumber ribbons, pinto beans, pan-fried sweet potatoes, and a kind of taco soup for my eldest son who was sick (and for my husband and youngest son, who finished the soup)
Wednesday: Inferior Italian sausage (one thing from New York that is definitely not available in any kind of quality here in New Mexico), sauteed zucchini and garlic, roasted potatoes, salad of cucumber/tomato/menonita cheese (a but like mozzarella)
Thursday: Leftover sausage and zucchini, scrambled eggs, rice, same cucumber salad
Friday: Something with ground beef and ground turkey. I've never bought ground turkey before, but it was about a quarter the cost of the beef, so I'm going to try mixing the two. And there will be cucumbers in some form. Because this time of year, there always is.
Happy camping! I hope there are s'mores on the menu too.
Sigh. A "bit" like mozzarella. My recent string of sleepless nights is very bad for proofreading.
I managed to stay under budget last week, but I came close. Considering I make very few purchases of meat these days, since my freezer is full of it, I need to figure out what I'm spending so much on lately. My lists are pretty small when I go shopping, so hmmmm....
What we ate:
I sliced one (large!) breast off of a chicken and set it aside, then spatchcocked the chicken and roasted that. It worked just fine. With it, we had peas, mashed potatoes, and squash n' onions.
We had the reserved breast meat sliced and cooked as chicken tenders one night, with a big salad.
Sausage, mashed potatoes and homemade sauerkraut one night.
Glazed ham steak with sweet potatoes and peas.
Tacos with leftover seasoned meat and leftover homemade tortillas, plus cottage cheese and fruit.
Leftover roast chicken with peas and baked beans.
I'll still pondering on the menu for next week. It seems like creating a menu would get easier, but it doesn't. I always start with a big blank.
There are so many menu planning websites with recipes and great ideas. Sometimes all it takes is a glance and you’ve got the week all worked out.
We've had; tacos, leftover turkey, tostadas, chicken drumsticks, and tonight we will have ground lamb with potatoes. I'm looking forward to it! Camping sounds like so much fun. I'll bet the girls will love it!
Your weekend sounds relaxing and fun - it will likely rain here...but that won't keep us from having fun, I'm sure! This week we ate:
Monday - Mrs. Ringle's Chicken, couscous, some veggie I don't remember
Tuesday - Grilled Cheese and Bacon with avocado
Wednesday - (leftovers) Rib Plate with skillet potatoes and green beans
Thursday - Pasta Skillet (with freezer marinara), salad
Friday - BBQ simmered pork chops, scalloped potatoes, and salad
Saturday - TBD, but we will probably grill
Sunday - Orange Chicken over rice, peas, baked sweet potatoes
Hooray for the weekend!!
Please tell me what Mrs. Ringle's chicken is! Thanks =)
(The only thing I can find on the Internet is Mrs. Ringle's brisket!)
Monday we had a friend over and made tacos with salsa verse made from garden grown tomatillos!
Tuesday was beet pesto pasta with roasted veggies
Wednesday we went to Qdoba for dinner
Thursday I made chickpea curry with brown rice
Tonight I think we'll stick to eating up our leftovers!
Your monthly averages look great! Our monthly grocery bills stay around $900 for a family of 4 (2 adults, 1 toddler, and 1 infant). My FIL just came to DC to help us with our baby, so I'm expecting our bills to go over $1,000 next month >_<
What are hobo pies?? We are going camping soon, haven't gone much and aren't experts, and the cooking is always the stress. Looking for something other than burgers or hot dogs, but SUPER EASY---
i believe she is referring to "mountain Pies" There is a "sandwich iron" that you can buy and place a slice of bread on each side and fill with tasty toppings...my favorite is pizza toppings...you just place them in the sandwich iron and put it in the fire.
Here in S.A. we have jaffles. Also traditional camping food, filled with anything from minced beef and cheddar to stewed apples and cinnamon.
Saturday - stretched lunchtime carryout for lunch and dinner
Sunday - chicken tenders and fried sweet potato cubes
Monday - chili and soda bread
Tuesday - leftover chili for husband, bacon and eggs for me
Wednesday - chicken fried rice
Thursday - pizza from Aldi
Friday - leftover pizza and fried rice
We have one more camping trip planned for next weekend and I am looking forward to a few days away! We do have a travel trailer but my kids are super excited for S'mores around the fire!
Yay for camping! One of my favorite activities when we head home to visit is to drive into the mountains and see the campsites and hiking trails we loved as kids. It’s a similar concept to yesterday’s post, but with the great outdoors instead. 😉
Monday- Italian chicken salads with balsamic marinated chickpeas
Tuesday- Lentil turkey chili with all of the fixings
Wednesday- Dutch baby, sausage patties, and some fruit
Thursday- Naan pizzas for the boys and leftover Thai peanut noodles for me (I had an oddly timed late lunch with a friend that yielded lots of leftovers)
Friday- Burger night!
Enjoy camping with your family!
Frugal fails and waste: Frozen meal smelled, looked, and tasted so awful I pulled the plug and tossed into the disposal -- and I can usually eat everything. Followed the next morning by milk in my cereal that had turned-- tossed that down too 🙁 I made due with stuff I had on hand both times but man, it was not frugal.
Ate in breakfasts and dinners and took lunches to work. Better 🙂 frozen meals, salads, baked potato and steamed veggies, etc.
Still not buying anything new since before school started, including my perfectly okay clothes and items for the class -- it's filled to the brim with stuff that has mostly been scrounged, donated, or found in the workroom. So lucky that people have been so generous to us.
Scored great food markdowns -- some frozen (that I know are edible) and fresh (Aldi's) and bags of roasted nuts marked way way down --not sure why? It's the store brand but, er, it's nuts, for goodness sake! About 2/3 off the usual price so I am good for many months!
Enjoying TV I already paid for (Amazon prime) and did NOT buy season 3 of "The Expanse" -- will wait til it is free like 1 & 2. Reading library books and free magazines from airline miles and my union.
Husband returning after long trip so my frugal meals may change a bit . . .
Monday, I made roasted tomato sauce and served that over pasta, along with garlic bread from homemade bread.
Tuesday: Chili and corn bread muffins.
Wednesday: Cauliflower and potato soup with leftover garlic bread, and homemade apple pie with ice cream
Thursday: I had leftover soup and garlic bread before my son's choir concert, while my husband took my daughter to a sausage restaurant they like (she's too young to sit through the concert yet, so she stays home with Papa)
Tonight: I've got stuff going on and haven't been home to cook dinner (going to leave again in 45 minutes), so we're having store-bought frozen pizza.
Have fun camping! 🙂
How I wish I could feed this household beans. This week I bit the bullet and made a meal plan. But things were changed around a lot. On Sunday night I made a curry. Monday saw us out to dinner as family. Tuesday was leftover curry night. Wednesday we had a mussel dinner and I am never cooking them again. Thursday night was breakfast for dinner. Last night I was dog sitting so I had a chicken sandwich and mum made herself hash and bubble and squeak. Tonight I will concoct something from two chicken thighs and mushrooms. Even. though I have not bought meat for two weeks this weeks c=grocery bill went over $110 for two. Australia is crazy expensive for some things.
Only three more weeks of of soccer season and crazy dinner, post school/work madness. We can do it!!!
Monday: Teriyaki Chicken over rice
Tuesday: Chicken Tacos
Wednesday Chicken Noodle Casserole
Thursday: Sloppy Joes
Friday: Baked Pork Chops
I know we had sides and veggies and fruits to go with all of these, but that is too much thinking today. Oh and can you tell chicken was on sale - ha ha
I wasn't up to cooking as usual, so over the weekend when I had the energy I used my slow cooker to make big batches of things that we could eat through the week. I made chicken and noodles, teriyaki chicken, and shredded BBQ chicken for sandwiches. (Why yes, I had bought a *bunch* of boneless chicken thighs on major major markdown, why do you ask?) We also had an Aldi's take n bake pizza--we really like them!