What I Spent, What We Ate | (for the first time in weeks!)
I missed a week because of my nose surgery, and then I missed a week because of Thanksgiving last week...but I'm back now!
We did still eat food two weeks, but I don't think you guys want me to rehash three week's worth of meals. 😉
So, we'll just start fresh with this week.
Except, I DO want to update my grocery spending...so below is what we spent this week, and then my year-to-date totals are below, including my November spending (which is a little low due to me not really shopping the week of my surgery).
December Weekly Totals
Week 1: $178
Spending Year To Date (avg. $155/week)
January: $681
February: $650
March: $823
April: $623
May: $656
June: $682
July: $706
August: $589
September: $954
October: $646
November: $466
What We Ate
Monday
I sauteed some fish (seasoned with Old Bay), made a batch of potato cubes, and cooked up a pan of sauteed green beans.
Tuesday
Stir-fry night! Over rice, of course. And I thawed some applesauce from the freezer.
Wednesday
I took some pulled pork and buns out of the freezer. Easy-peasy! And I put together a fruit salad.
Thursday
I made a pot of jambalaya (nom, nom) and we ate some orange slices with it.
Friday
I think it's going to be a pizza night, although I need to consult with my crew to see if they have other opinions (Do we need a break from pizza?).
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Alrighty, frugal peoples! Your turn. What did you eat this week?
I'm really feeling the "busy" aspect of the holiday season, even though we were guests at other homes for Thanksgiving.
Sunday - leftover chili for him, a box of mac and cheese with peas & carrots thrown in for me
Monday - I had to play a concert, so it was an easy night: whole wheat rotini tossed in a jar of artichoke sauce (a gift from my mom) and cream, served with admittedly leathery green beans (trying to save them) and garlic toast
Tuesday - I cooked a whole turkey but wasn't super hungry, so I had wine and cheese and hubs had leftover chili
Wednesday - I got home super late and had eaten poorly all day. I had fruit and cheese, and made hubs turkey gravy over rice
Thursday - turkey tetrazzini, which unfortunately for me came out a touch salty (still edible and decadent, though!). I'm going to send leftovers to hubs' family this weekend when he visits, because they like things saltier than I do.
Friday - I'm making snacks: cheeses, salami, a package of prepared meatballs that hubs got from a sampling station in the grocery store, tinned fruits (mandarin oranges and peach slices). I'm going to a movie, so it's got to be quick and easy!
Well, as I said yesterday, much of my week has been leftovers. We ate pasta on Sunday night because we were turkey-ed out, but Monday night saw Thanksgiving leftovers again. Tuesday I cooked pork ribs and served them with cauliflower with cheese, leftover baked apples, leftover cranberry sauce, and leftover rolls. The cauliflower had been brought to cut up as an appetizer at Thanksgiving, and the guest who brought it forgot to cut it up, and left it in my frig, so even it was leftover. At least the ribs were new.
Wednesday we ate the last of the ribs and, yes, leftover veggies and other sides from Thanksgiving.
Thursday I'd had enough Thanksgiving leftovers, and thawed out some drumsticks from chickens I had cut up in the fall plus some frozen broth from their carcasses, and made arroz con pollo. Tonight, I don't know yet. Pizza is sounding good, though.
I've also been slacking on my menu; d'oh! Here's what we ate this week.
Monday: Spaghetti with artichokes, asparagus, tomatoes, and mozzarella. This was a Rachel Ray recipe I found and HOLY SMOKES it was delicious. It was also chock full of veggies, which makes me happy.
Tuesday: Asian lettuce wraps. We had to get a different kind of lettuce this week with bigger leaves, but I just cut them in half. As a plus, the new lettuce is a third or the price!
Wednesday: We were supposed to have quesadillas, but I realized our beans weren't defrosted. Instead of eating out, we ate a few leftovers from the fridge. That means zero food went to waste this week, which is awesome!
Thursday: Minestrone soup
Friday: Mr. Picky Pincher takes the reins on Friday dinners now, so he plans on making chicken stir fry tonight. I'm excited!
Monday: beef stew, which I almost burned because I went into the living room to watch David Blaine stick stuff through his hand. Lol!
Tuesday: Spaghetti and meat sauce. Two of the boys were sick and this is their favorite meal.
Wednesday: I have no idea. I tried but I can't remember at all.
Thursday: Now the husband and I were feeling under the weather so he brought home Skyline Chili (I doubt you have it out East...it is a Cincinnati chili chain) because that is his favorite meal when he is sick and my favorite sick meal is anything I didn't have to make.
Friday: I am going to a birthday event for one of my nearest and dearest and my husband is staying home with the kids, due to still feeling awful. I am making them chicken noodles before I leave.
Hope your crew feels better soon!
Thank you. So sweet. They are now fine but I am still lingering with my tonsils all swollen and being jerks. I continue to tell myself I don't need to have them removed (esp. given stories like the ones you tell...lol!) but I might need to eventually. Ugh. Blech.
Well, the good news is this: even though I thought the adult tonsillectomy recovery was awful, I still don't regret having it done. And Lisey feels the same, despite her weeks long recovery.
So, if your tonsils are huge and horrible, you might find the removal to be worth it too. A few weeks of recovery isn't an impossible price to pay for a lifetime of tonsil-free living (assuming yours cause you regular problems.)
But I totally understand putting off surgery. I put off getting seen for my nose for a couple of decades. 😉
In the top photo, what is in there besides the potatoes and spinach? It looks delicious!
That's chorizo...it's a really easy side dish I found in one of my Cook's Country magazines.
M- BLT
T- Parmesan Chicken
W- Burrito
Th-Cream of Celery Soup
F-Burrito again
Kristin-what is the potato & spinach dish in the first photo? It looks yummy.
I'm sorry, I misspelled your name, Kristen:(
Well, I had a bunch of sick people between the two households so I made a batch of chicken and dumplings for the girlchild and myself which the boychild will also eat and a black bean and ham over brown rice for the hubs and boychild2. A homemade loaf of french bread and Pacifica roasted red pepper and tomatoes soup for the child. Scrambled eggs and bacon one night. One night was ham and cheese sliders with assorted leftovers from Thanksgiving. Last night was spaghetti sauce over spinach and cheese ravioli. Everyone brought assorted leftovers to work all week for lunches.
Blew my budget at Costco and my other regular grocery stops this week. Bought a bunch of organic meat at Costco and an 8 pound pork loin for $8......! But it was time to stock up on lots of things, sigh. Next week, I'm only allowing myself $100 to be spent on fresh foods and some pecans for baking.
On a happy note, the only Thanksgiving leftovers still hanging around are the ham bone and some homemade cranberry sauce. Ham bone is going to be used in a white bean soup.....and I eat cranberry sauce on buttered toast!
Aww, I hope that your family is feeling better soon.
I like cranberry sauce mixed into oatmeal!
Sunday- We were going to have ham, pineapple, potatoes and rolls. A friend split the ham with me and she had gotten it as a freebie. She just really wanted enough for her and her husband and the bone... when I pulled the ham out to bake it, it was literally gray!! YUCK! So, we quickly switched to previously grilled sausage, pineapple and rolls... with I think a different veggie, though can't remember
Monday-Chili and chips
Tuesday-Tacos
Wednesday-Leftovers-cleaned out the fridge rather nicely and set it up to go shopping on Thursday.
Thursday-Ham (got one on sale!) applesauce and homemade cornmeal molasses bread
Friday- Going to a birthday party tonight that includes dinner... bringing a couple snacks to share.
Saturday-planning on grilling chicken and serving potato wedges and broccoli with it
Oh, that's so disappointing about the ham. Good job coming up with something on the fly, though!
My goal for this week was to mainly eat out of our pantry and freezer since I spent a lot of money on Thanksgiving. I think I did OK - we all got fed and I didn't spend a bunch of money so there's that. Plus I only ate out twice - once for a day I had to fast for labs, then run errands, and today since I am doing so many heavy duty chores.
Sunday - Fried Chicken takeout for 5 (leftovers made three lunches)
Monday - Cranberry pancakes (with leftover cranberry sauce stirred in YUM) and sausages from the freezer
Tuesday - Two cans of chili beans, cooked with some odds and ends of onion, bell pepper, and tomato, and three frozen jalapeno grilling sausages, and biscuits
Wednesday - One of those Velveeta pasta box dinners with lean ground beef, can't remember the side dish...
Thursday - Bought a turkey at Target for 99 cents a pound and roasted it. Served some of the breast meat with leftover stuffing and made new gravy and heated up some frozen sides. The rest of the meat went into the freezer.
Friday - Tonight I'm making Turkey Veggie Noodle soup, which I almost always do after Thanksgiving - getting to be soup weather here!
Saturday - Hubby is going to grill some ground venison we were gifted. So, venison burgers, chips, and jalapeno poppers.
Next week I have plans to be even more frugal!
We were out of town for ten days, and got in late enough on Sunday that we couldn't go grocery shopping until Monday, but we did less badly than I'd feared! Monday I picked up some Checkers for the kids after I did the grocery shopping, and then my husband picked up take out for the two of us after they went to sleep. Tuesday I made pasta and sauce, Wednesday I had a migraine so we did Dominos, Thursday I made green bean and chicken casserole, and I am about to get up and start making a double batch of creamy chicken chili and some cornbread because we're hosting our home group at our house tonight. Other people are bringing tortilla chips, salsa, salad, and dessert.
So, we managed to eat in three out of five nights this week, which actually was better than I'd expected, since we were both swamped with work from our week off and this week was a little crazy. I did realize that I need to get better at having some easy-to-throw-together meals on hand, though, for nights when I'm really not feeling well or things get crazy and I don't have time to cook, so I picked up some jarred pasta sauce and boxes of mac and cheese at the grocery store.
That IS pretty good for a week when you were afraid you'd eat out every night!
Sat- corn chowder and biscuits with fruit
Sun-maple Dijon pork tenderloin, LO squash and potatoes from thanksgiving, applesauce
Mon- turkey noodle casserole, fruit
Tues- chili and cornbread, fruit
We'd- Orange soy chicken over winter greens mix, rolls, fruit, tapioca
Thurs- seared salmon, rice quinoa pilaf, broccoli, rolls, melon
And tonight it's homemade pizza for the kids and I while hubs is out on business
I kept the spending much more in check this month than last and I plan to do the same this month!
M- meatloaf, baked potato, mixed veggies
T- broccoli cheese soup, crackers, fruit
W- salmon, rice, mixed veggies
Th- pepperoni/sausage pizza
F- chicken, lettuce salad with fruit, cheese, black olives, onions and mustard dressing
Sunday - Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad with roasted turkey and tomatoes
Monday - Salisbury Steak Meatballs with pasta and carrots
Tuesday - French Dip Sandwiches with Costco Veggie Salad
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Stir Fried Sesame Chicken over rice and tons of veggies
Friday - eat out
Saturday - Not sure yet
Hope everyone has a great week!
I find it so interesting that your family eats fruit as a side for your dinners!
Never heard of serving fruit salad or orange slices!
That's so interesting...you've never met anyone who had a fruit salad as a side dish at dinner? Do you just eat fruit salad at breakfast and lunch?
Mr. FG's family regularly eats fruit salad at meals, and I think I grew up having fruit with dinner at least occasionally, so it's always seemed normal to us.
I think you're just mocking me now. I just left an honest comment.
I'm sorry it felt that way to you...it wasn't meant that way. I just was genuinely curious about what you said. It's always seemed normal to me to have fruit salad as a side at any meal, and I wondered if some areas of the country only ever eat fruit salad at meals besides dinner.
(I inadvertently used the same "interesting" phraseology that you did...I didn't think about it at the time!)
I had to get rather creative to use up all of the leftovers so the list may seem a little strange!
Made cranberry orange muffins and a loaf of tea bread from the leftover sauce from turkey day.
Monday - Fish cakes (used mashed potatoes from turkey day, green onions, celery from the veggie tray) and fish from the freezer, spinach salad with oranges, fruit
Tuesday - Pork loin chops in teriyaki, brown rice, roasted broccoli
Wednesday - Fish cakes (used sweet potatoes from turkey day) salmon from the freezer, and canned pineapple, salad wheat rolls
Thursday - Eat out, Mexican food
Friday - Turkey hot dogs, applesauce, muffins, coleslaw
Happy Weekend!!
As usual I am trying to remember. It is strange now just cooking for mum and me as the girl is out most days. We have had soup, sushi, ham and salad, steak and chicken and salad.
I hope everyone feels much better soon.
We had a bit of a crazy week. We were in Hawaii on Monday/Tuesday, and flew in at 1:00 am (flight changes. sigh). You can't bring produce back & forth from Hawaii to the mainland, so we started off on Wednesday with pretty much nothing in the fridge. Here's what we ate (we eat salad with every dinner):
Monday - grilled chicken & pasta
Tuesday - brought food for the plane - sandwiches for some, & a fruit & cheese plate for me
Wednesday - chicken pesto pasta (I think)
Thursday - spaghetti & meatballs (from the freezer)
Friday - oven baked chicken risotto
Saturday - homemade naan pizza
Sunday - my husband grilled chicken on the barbecue (we do this about every three months & grill a giant Costco package & freeze it in single meal bags) & we served it with Persian rice
All in all, we did well, given the timing of our trip, grocery shopping. My goal, after an expensive (but on budget) vacation was no meals out. Success!
Gold stars for you!