What I Spent, What We Ate | Good thing I didn't go to Costco!
What I Spent
I spent $184 on groceries this week. Whoops.
Good thing I ran out of time to go to Costco or I'd really be over budget.
What We Ate
Saturday
I grilled hamburgers (using this recipe), which we ate with fresh fruit and I can't remember what else!
Sunday
Mr. FG has been choosing what to cook on Sundays lately, and he chose a recipe from ATK's quick family cookbook: polenta with smoky tomato sauce and chicken sausage.
We made our own polenta instead of buying it, but otherwise we followed the recipe. It was delicious and easy and I would definitely make it again.
He also made French bread and virgin fuzzy navels (Sonia loves interesting drinks, so she and Mr. FG are always looking up virgin version of cocktails!)
Monday
Mr. FG was out with friends and the girls and I had waffles for dinner, to use up some buttermilk. I also fried up the extra polenta to make fried mush.
Tuesday
The girls ate ravioli and Mr. FG and I went out to Panera for a Tuesday date night.
Wednesday
I tried an ATK recipe for chicken and pasta with a cilantro pesto sauce (I had cilantro that needed to be used!)
Thursday
I used leftover grilled chicken from Wednesday to make croissant sandwiches with a roasted red pepper and basil mayo.
The mayo was this in the food processor for 30 seconds:
½ cup mayo
½ cup basil leaves
¼ cup roasted red peppers, patted dry
1 minced garlic clove
So good!
Friday
I think I might make hibachi because I have a zucchini to use up from my Hungry Harvest box.
Monday: My 3yo and 5yo were at a sleepover at my parents' house, so my hubby and I (and my 1yo) had a date at Red Lobster using a gift card.
Tuesday: Attended a New Family Picnic where my oldest will start kindergarten in a few weeks!
Wednesday: The start of our camping trip... We had brats and hot dogs, not didn't have anything else with them as my husband ended up taking my 5yo to the hospital and the whole evening was kind of a mess.
Thursday: pizza mountain pies, a couple of brats for those who had missed out, and snores
Friday: Foil dinners on the fire with ground beef patties, peppers, potatoes, onions, and whatever else I find to throw in.
I hope your five year old is ok! Can you share what pizza mountain pies are?
Thanks! She's doing well today and we have more doctor appointments in our future. 🙂
Pizza mountain pies are made in a pie iron (sometimes called a camp cooker) and it's bread with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni cooked over a fire. You can make all kinds of things in a pie iron!
Sunday: We tried a new recipe for Carnitas made of local and organic pork. It was very tasty but also kind of expensive so we had to plan a week of meat-free meals to stay in budget.
Monday: Creamy risotto made of finely cubed potatoes and cauliflower with some pine nuts and parmesan.
Tuesday: rye bread fresh from a local bakery with butter and cheese. Cucumber, tomatoes and carrots as snacks.
Wednesday: Chinese noodle-based stir-fry with carrots, snow peas and onions. We also added cilantro for a fresher taste.
Thursday: easy and very fast curry based on carrots, zucchini and mushrooms with pre-made red curry paste from Aldi, coconut milk and red lentils.
Friday: Probably the curry leftovers, some rye bread and a salad made of the last vegetables from the fridge.
Review of the week: a complete success! The meals were being really delicious while being frugal and as we had enough left for lunch for the next days, we didn’t had to buy additional food for lunch. Additionally, they were probably more healthy thanks to the vegetables and probably climate friendly.
Your Tuesday dinner sounds so good to me. I can definitely make a meal out of good bread, cheese and raw veggies.
Saturday: Hot dogs and chips for the kids at the county fair, leftovers and eggs for the adults when we got home.
Sunday: My husband dug a pit outside and constructed a grill to cook some of the ribs from the sheep we butchered several months ago. Ribs are too fatty for me, but I must admit these had a good flavor. Not sheep-y at all. We also had mashed potatoes, sauteed summer squash, frozen green beans. and Otter Pops that were thrown from the floats during the county parade
Monday: Roasted chicken, leftover sheep ribs, roasted potatoes and onions, roasted sweet potatoes, raw broccoli with ranch dip
Tuesday: Leftover chicken and gravy, scrambled eggs with feta and chives (not enough chicken for all of us), leftover mashed potatoes and rice, leftover roasted vegetables, raw green beans, bread and butter
Wednesday: Beef chili, tortillas and cheese, watermelon (With seeds! so happy we can get seeded Texas watermelons here)
Thursday: Tacos with the leftover chili plus ground beef, roasted sweet potatoes, Mexican slaw (shredded cabbage, onion, vinegar, cumin, garlic), raw broccoli with ranch dip, watermelon
There was a delay with getting our new fridge installed - it won't be installed until tomorrow
We are about $50 over budget so far in August due to a Costco trip mostly. They have chicken patties as a seasonal item and they are at the end of season right now, so we bought 3 boxes for husband's lunches.
This week was kind of a mess as far as food goes
Can't remember Saturday and Sunday at the moment - probably either leftovers or easy stuff while dealing with the fridge.
Monday - chicken and sausage stuffing
Tuesday - chinese takeout - sesame chicken and orange chicken
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - homemade quiche (one was spinach and feta, the other was cheddar and mixed vegetables) and bacon
Friday - hot dogs, Mac and cheese, bell peppers
I normally don't like mayo (I'm a Miracle Whip girl), but that recipe looks AMAZING!
My cooking win for the week was chicken tikka masala in the crock pot.
That polenta recipe sounds intriguing...this week we ate:
Monday - Bacon Chicken Bombers*, steamed carrots
Tuesday - Greek Turkey Salads, Strawberry Pie for dessert
Wednesday - Lemon Pepper Tilapia, yellow squash
Thursday - One Pot Chili Mac, spinach
Tonight - Elgin sausage, mashed potatoes, carrots (using up the rest of some veg I already have)
Saturday - Pulled pork tacos, chopped salad
Sunday - Chinese take out
*You basically marinate chunks of chicken breast overnight in a Sprite, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar marinade. Then place a chunk of cream cheese on each chunk of chicken, wrap in bacon, and broil at 375 for about 20 minutes.
In two weeks I will only be cooking for two at my house - so weird.
The bacon chicken bombers sound really interesting!!
Not a great cooking week for me because my husband and I have both been sick.
Saturday: I can't recall.
Sunday: Hot dogs and baked beans
Monday: leftover Spaghetti bolognese
Tuesday: Take out Chinese
Wednesday: My husband had leftover salmon with homemade baked French Fries while I finished up my Chinese leftovers. We did have fresh roasted zucchini
Thursday: Fried egg and cheese sandwiches
Friday: Mahi Mahi with leftover zucchini, potatoes, and Caesar salad
It's still so hot, I don't want to cook, but I managed it somehow.
Sunday was chicken, fried in the Dutch Oven to shorten the frying time, green beans and mashed potatoes.
Monday was hot dogs (mine was wrapped in a cassava flour tortilla), crock pot baked beans, and carrot-raisin salad.
Tuesday was meatloaf, leftover mashed potatoes, pre-roasted (on Sunday, when I do a lot of prep work) golden beets to which I added a syrup made of apple juice cooked down by about half, with a piece of cinnamon stick and a slice of fresh ginger in it. I strained out the spices and poured it over the beets. It was good. I am already making Fall flavors, trying to hurry up Fall.
Wednesday was a steak from the freezer with fries.
Thursday was leftover night: Leftovers of chicken, meatloaf, and any vegetables that weren't eaten up first go round.
Tonight, who knows?
I did better on my grocery bill last weekend, but I was only under budget by about $10, so I've got to try hard again this week. Last month was a killer on the grocery budget.
It has been. a strange week and I have a horrible cold. Right now the country is feeling the effects of a polar vortex.In my part of Australia it means wind. Anyway dinner has been pumpkin and sweet potato soup, sausages and mash with tomato and onion gravy and lamb chops and vegetables.
Saturday - Tamale pie casserole and salad.
Sunday - my brother barbequed to celebrate some family birthdays. There was grilled chicken thighs and tri-tip, a make-your own salad bar, barbequed baked potatoes and chips and salsa. I brought frosted brownies that were waaaay to sweet.
Monday - Leftover tamale pie casserole
Tuesday - chicken strips and fries from the freezer
Wednesday was the first day of my major plumbing work. Although I had running water in the evening and COULD have cooked, and PLANNED to cook, the kitchen was torn up - all the pots and pans and kitchen ephemera had been removed from the lower cabinets and placed on the floor and dining room table so the plumbers could punch through the cabinet walls to get to the pipes. It did not make me happy to stand in the kitchen and so I chose the easy way out and picked up a pizza.
Thursday - left over pizza
Friday - I was babysitting until late in the evening so I just picked up a burger on the way home.
Things kind of fell apart there at the end of the week but that's OK. At least the plumbing is finally done.