What I Spent, What We Ate | groceries + Chick Fil A
What I Spent
I spent $107 at the grocery store, plus $33 at Chick-Fil-A (see below!)
January Grocery Spending
Week 3: $140
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I went out and shared a pizza.
Sunday
It was a really unseasonably warm day, which made us feel like eating a little more summery.
So we had grilled chicken sandwiches, veggie chips, and some fresh fruit.
Monday
I had made some egg bread, so we had that, plus sauteed asparagus, plus a rotisserie chicken I asked Mr. FG to pick up on his way home from work.
Tuesday
I made a batch of pulled pork, which we ate on buns, with broccoli on the side.
Wednesday
For a variety of reasons, my initial dinner plan did not work out. So, we got Chick-Fil-A for $33.
Thursday
Last time we went to do a kitten shift, I ended up not having time to cook dinner. So, this week I made a better plan with that in mind.
I made a BLT salad to use up the leftover rotisserie chicken from earlier in the week...nice and quick to throw together.
And earlier in the day, I had made some more egg bread.
Friday
I'm planning to make some Cuban sandwiches.
I cooked the 16-pound ham I got on clearance, plus about ten pounds of potatoes at once, so ham, elk, and potatoes . . . allll week.
Saturday: Ham/potato/cheese skillet, roasted bell peppers and onions, leftover cranberry sauce I had made the night before from clearance fresh cranberries. My kids loooove cranberry sauce.
Sunday: Ground beef tacos with homemade corn tortillas, extra-crispy peanut butter cookies baked y my nine-year-old son who is still working on knowing when cookies are done. They were very over-done, but all still eaten. Cookies are forgiving like that.
Monday: Taco meat and potato skillet with cheese, home-frozen green beans
Tuesday: Ham/mushroom/onion skillet, garlic bread (but potatoes for my husband :-), green salad. And fried eggs for the son who doesn't like ham, mushrooms OR onions. He's fun.
Wednesday: My husband made one of his (in)famous stews. This one was elk, dried red chiles, garlic, and potatoes. My kids ate it with sour cream, but it was really too spicy for them. We also had some carrot sticks.
Thursday: I fished out some of the elk from the stew and fried it with plain cooked potatoes, garlic powder, and paprika, then added cheese. This was much more palatable for my children. My husband ate more stew. I ate a salad with some of the elk meat in it. And we had carrot sticks again, but this time I made ranch dressing to dip them in. Fancy.
Tonight: I have a little more elk to cook, so I think I'll make stir-fry with that for those that like stir-fry. The rest can have leftover stew (my husband) or elk and potatoes (middle son).
OMG that black kittie is so cute. Nice work volunteering at the shelter. I am afraid if I did that I would adopt every cat they had. Thanks for sharing
Monday: Fried egg on wheat toast
Tuesday: Grilled BBQ pork chops, rice, corn and side salad
Wednesday: ate out after seeing "Little Women" (-:
Thursday: Grilled chicken breasts, broccoli, baked okra and baked potatoes
Friday (tonight): Spaghetti with leftover broccoli.
I enjoy reading what you have each night...it gives me ideas.
Thanks!
Friday - I met some friends for a sign painting party and we brought snacky stuff, so I munched on tortilla chips, hot artichoke and spinach dip, salsa and mozzarella sticks.
Sat - Pork Chops in the Instant Pot, mashed potatoes w/gravy, corn and green beans. I had leftover vegetarian enchiladas. (I don't eat meat)
Sun - We went to a Japanese Hibachi Restaurant, where I filled up on shrimp, rice, noodles and vegetables. And filled up is the truth...so much food!
Mon - I ordered a pizza and garlic knots. I was going to make a pizza to eat while catching the College Football game but I worked until 5 and then had a meeting at church from 6-7:30. Then had to pick my son up from his bible study, so I just ordered a pizza, lol.
Tues - Drumsticks w/leftover mashed potatoes, rice and veggies. I ate rice, veggies and eggs.
Wed - Various leftovers. I had bible study, so everyone fended for themselves.
Thurs - Cheeseburgers and taters tots (cooked courtesy of my husband). I make zucchini fritters, topped with Eggs and some tater tots.
Saturday: had friends over for game night we had Carne Asada tacos with rice.
Sunday: leftover Carne Asada I had nachos hubby had a burrito.
Monday: I had a root canal so my plan went out the window when I realize it hurt to chew. Lol. I ate oatmeal and drank smoothies I’m not 100% sure what the hubby had.
Tuesday: this was a fail day. I was going to make chicken and dumplings but after making the chicken/gravy broth I realized I didn’t have enough flour (I’ve never not had flour). And hubby has night class so there wasn’t anytime to go get more. Oops so I put the chicken and gravy broth in the fridge for Wednesday and he got something on the way to class. I ate more oatmeal and drank more smoothies.
Wednesday: after a trip to store I was able to finish the Dumblings. Yay!!
Thursday: hubby has class Thurs as well so he ate leftovers before he went and I made a broccoli salad for myself.
Friday: going over to friends for pizza and movie night. I need to touch base with them to see what we need to bring.
This week I made Arroz con Pollo in the instant pot from the Skinnytaste One & Done cookbook. I double most of the ingredients to make a huge batch. I also made Skinnytaste Cheese/spinach stuffed meatloaf from her blog. I meal prepped corn, green beans, and small smashed potatoes and we've been eating from that all week. We finished up leftover homemade pizza from the freezer. Now that I think of it, I use your recipe Frugal Girl Kristen for my basic pizza dough. Thank you for that. The bread flour and parchment paper make it perfect every time!
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday- peanut and vegetable curry over brown rice. Kids had hamburgers and corn because curry was spicy.
Thursday and Friday- homemade pasta sauce over brown rice/quinoa noodles
Very easy week of cooking. No meat, dairy, or processed grains.
Monday - Chicken thighs, pineapple, and broccoli with cheese
Tuesday - Baked spaghetti with peas
Wednesday - Stir fry and pineapple
Thursday - Leftovers! (hooray for no cooking!)
Friday - I think I'm moving my Saturday plan to tonight and will make black bean and rice enchiladas. Which means I need to get moving on cooking the black beans, but it's less work than my original plan for dinner (which I'm bumping to tomorrow since we'll be home all day).
Have a great weekend, Kristen!
Sunday: Pork/beef meatballs with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans and creamy beet salad. I had lentils in my veggie balls. Also made a marble cake and the kids made s'mores over fire.
Monday: Pesto fettuccine pasta with pork/(hard boiled eggs for me) and tomato salad.
Tuesday: Flatbreads made with the leftover mashed potatoes, leftover meatballs and eggs as toppings with some cut up veggies
Wednesday: Ate out at a texmex restaurant to support a charity fundraiser
Thursday: Rice, bean gravy (used up rest of Sunday's gravy), pork, grilled butternut
Friday: Remains to be seen!
Kristina, I’d like to know recipes for creamy beet salad and bean gravy, or just general instructions. Thanks!
Friday: It was unseasonably beautiful weather! We grilled skirt steak and leeks and had a giant salad.
Saturday: out for sushi with friends
Sunday: summer squash and broccoli fritters with yogurt sauce, chicken sausage, and a big salad
Monday: roasted salmon with leeks and mustard sauce over leftover rice, and roasted savoy cabbage with lemon and walnuts (my new favorite recipe from Smitten Kitchen)
Tuesday: Chicken pot pie and salad
Wednesday: Out for dinner for work. I suffered* while eating oyster chowder and braised lamb shoulder with black hummus and delicata squash.
Thursday: French fries (from you know where) for the long drive home, followed by some cheese and nuts.
Friday: Roasted chicken with beets and carrots. A big salad.
(* = sarcasm)
Is the Cuban sandwich recipe from the latest Cook's Country? 🙂
This is going to be a big $ shopping week for me, because I have two farm orders coinciding. Ouch.
Our meals that I can remember:
Spaghetti with tomato sauce for him, zoodles with olive oil and garlic for me. It was a busy evening, so that was it.
Meatloaf twice, once with mashed parsnips with bacon, once with spiced sweet potatoes, both times with cranberry sauce. And English peas for the husband, too.
Last of the Christmas ham from the freezer, made my new favorite way with pineapple and craisins cooked into a thick sauce then the ham slices laid on top to warm and soak up flavor. Plus sweet potato, sauteed baby kale.
Oh, ribs one night, with a big salad. I rubbed the ribs with spices and put the uncut rack curled and standing upright in the slow cooker for about five hours on low. Then I broiled them until they "crisped" up on top. It would be even better to grill them a bit after slow cooking, but it was wet and nasty outside.
Ribs sound awesome right about now. Let me just say it isn’t grilling weather here in Iowa right now.
Last Sunday I made pulled chicken and a pot of chili. Since we are working different shifts from each other, we just chose from those two options or in my husband’s case some fried eggs. Lunch today used up some frozen onion rings and French fries from the freezer with some frozen shrimp. Tonight’s dinner will be homemade Mac & Cheese and fruit cocktail salad. We are, amazingly enough, still under our $20 for groceries for the month, but fridge is getting bare and no fresh vegetables. I do still have a head of cabbage in the fridge that I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it.
If you have some potatoes or dehydrated potatoes that could be made into mashed potatoes, you can make Colcannon. I always make it for St. Patrick’s Day, but like it to use up potatoes and cabbage. Of course, there’s also coleslaw (either creamy or with a vinaigrette).
Thanks for the suggestion. I also have some potatoes in the pantry that I should probably take a look at. If I don’t get to the cabbage, the chickens might get a treat!
Wow -- that is AMAZING -- Kudos!
Thanks! We probably aren’t going to make it since we only have $5.63 to get through the next 13 days but it sure makes us look at things differently. Last we I told my husband that I had found a recipe that I wanted to try but was missing a couple of ingredients. He said he could run to the store for me and I reminded him of the budget. Needless to say, the menu did not include that recipe. Obviously we won’t do this forever but it’s actually a fun game to see how long we can go and I'm setting aside the extra money from our 2020 food budget - $60/week so I’ll be saving over $200 this month.
We have been forcing ourselves to eat some over-spiced chili I had made, so Sunday through Wednesday were taken care of. Yesterday, we had breakfast for dinner, using up elderly cheese and a tiny piece of freezer sausage in the omelet. Today we are having McDonalds filet of fish. I think I wrote before how my father became a single parent to six after a divorce and while he was a good cook, fish never came out right. We were Catholic and Fridays meant fish, so off we would troop to McDonalds. I kept up the food (but not the religion) tradition all these years, dragging my husband along with me after I married. Then last October I thought about the cost and health factor and decided to stop. Well, I am back to it. It is just one of those things that brings me comfort and one filet of fish sandwich a week is not going to ruin me financially or health wise. Tonight it is McDonalds for dinner. And I have a large salmon waiting for Saturday and Sunday night meals. (I like to cook once and eat twice from the same meal. Less time and mess.)
Lindsey, I always enjoy reading your stories, including this one about your dad and going to McDonalds on Fridays!
I am suffering due to too much salt and have to learn to eat without as much as I have been having. A salad a day with just a tad of dressing helps. Fresh fruit helps. Low salt tiny corn tortillas and saltless tortilla chips help. Lowest salt cheese I gave found is swiss. Found low sodium beans in cans. Really not happy
I'm doing the same thing - just reading labels and learning not to salt either while I'm cooking NOR afterwards. Things taste bland, but I think I will grow more accustomed to it. My BP is responding accordingly so its a WIN. Its hard in the beginning...
Oh, I bet that is hard!
Knowing I would post this actually saved us from Subway, etc., a couple times 🙂 Also, back at work and on schedule with breakfast and lunch from home and most dinners in.
Friday: 5 Dollar Friday rotisserie chicken, broccoli, frozen baked fries.
Saturday: Dinner out with daughter using gift card.
Sunday: Chicken salad sandwiches (from the last of Friday's rotisserie chicken), marked down bag o' salad with additions, last of marked down frozen pea soup.
Monday: Spaghetti with turkey tomato sauce, bag o' salad with additions
Tuesday: Turned Monday's bolognese into chili, using up pantry pinto beans & died tomatoes, green pepper, spices, plus bag o' salad
Wednesday: D'oh -- opened can of black beans by mistake so husband turned Tuesday's pinto bean chili into yet another chili with more onions, peppers, diced tomatoes, etc. plus steamed broccoli. We stretched 1 and 1/3 pounds of turkey across 3 nights and used up a bunch of pantry and 'frig items.
Thursday: Phew! A day without tomato sauce -- One sheet chicken thighs baked atop cubed potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, & apple, with herbs and a lot of olive oil and butter. Nuttin' on the side -- very filling. Oh, hot cocoa for dessert.
Tonight is cheap date night!
Yay for accountability!
We (as in I) are getting used to MORE veggies, more fish and chicken, less red meat, and waaay less salt. Its a work in progress:
Monday - Chicken breast fajita strips with jalapeno, orange bell pepper, and onions on while wheat tortillas. Possibly grated cheddar.
Tuesday - Shrimp and grits with sauteed spinach (Heat and Eat bowls)
Wednesday - Turkey Pesto Meatballs with low salt tomato sauce over brown rice, carrots
Thursday - Lemony Chicken and artichoke orzo
Friday - Crispy Baked Fish, baked potato, sauteed kale (grocery shopping tonight for tomorrow)
Saturday - FIRSTBORN'S 3Oth BIRTHDAY BBQ EXTRAVAGANZA
Sunday - Albacore Tuna Salad on whole wheat toast with low salt chips
I'm actually down almost 6 pounds and my BP is much improved!
cannarymom.blogspot.com
Monday: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas.
Tuesday: beef and bean burrito casserole, Mexican rice
Wednesday: orange chicken, rice
Thursday: homemade hot and sour soup (hubby liked, me not so much) with Asian lettuce wraps
Tonight: out for Mexican. Most likely chicken fajitas as I’m back on WW and these are easy to count.
Saturday- Hamburgers, chips at home
Sunday- Mosticiolli, Garlic Bread
Monday- Chicken Stir Fry, Noodles
Tuesday- Spam and Noodle Casserole
Wednesday- French Bread Pizzas (homemade)
Thursday- Beef Stew (Made 3 hot pockets with the leftovers to the freezer for future single meals/lunches)
Friday- Ham n' Cheese Sliders - (Extras fed my neighbors whose children regularly shovel my driveway on their own)
We're trying to clean meat and leftovers out of our fridge to start the new year!
Monday: frozen pulled pork, we made into tacos plus peas on the side
Tuesday: tacos again - made a quesadilla for our LO
Wednesday: frozen burgers with coleslaw and roast potatoes, used up blue cheese leftover from a recipe weeks ago
Thursday: burgers again, now with guacamole
Friday: frozen pork chops became vietnamese pork bowls with coleslaw and oranges
How on earth do 5 of you eat from Chick-Fil-A for $33? We recently moved to the US from Canada so CFA is new to me but I’ve never had a meal that inexpensive with my four kids (who are younger than yours)! I’m impressed.
I did have one in-app offer for a free 8-pack of chicken nuggets, but the other four meals were full price. Is this maybe just a difference in Canadian/U.S. prices, perhaps?
There is no Chick-Fil-A in Canada. I believe she's saying she couldn't get away with spending 33.00 on Chick-Fil-A for her family.
Ah, my wording was unclear. I meant, is it possibly a difference in general US/Canada fast food prices. I wasn't sure if she'd been to a chick-Fil-A here in the U.S, so thought maybe she was comparing this to Canadian fast food prices.
Yay, more kitty pictures! Love
I now make the copycat chic fil a sandwich from Aldi. Chicken in the red bag, broiche buns 4 pack , dill pickle chips and mayo. Everyone loves them!