What I Spent, What We Ate | I didn't do a lot of cooking!
As I told you yesterday, I had an unusual week, so my grocery shopping and cooking routines were a little out of whack. But mostly for good reasons!
What I Spent
Let's see...before I left for Florida, I spent $61.67 on unpictured groceries.
And then on Wednesday night, Mr. FG and I went out in his car to get a few groceries since I didn't have my van back yet. We went to Aldi and we spent $57.60.
So, I'm at $119.27 for the week.
February Spending
Week 1: $76
Week 2: $120
What We Ate
Monday
I was in Naples with Mr. FG and we ate at a taco place.
Tuesday
Mr. FG and I flew back on Tuesday night, so we didn't have much for dinner...just some snacks. But that was fine because for lunch, we had some pretty large burgers in Naples. So, it all worked out.
Wednesday
I'd intended to make Arroz con Pollo, but with my van fiasco, I couldn't go buy any ingredients!
So, I poked around in the freezer/fridge/pantry and decided to make shrimp quesadillas with chips and salsa, plus homemade applesauce from the freezer.
Was it an amazingly nutritious meal? Nope! But hungry people were fed, and it was at least as healthy as takeout would have been (plus a lot cheaper.)
Thursday
You know that 14 Days of Valentines thing I do for Mr. FG?
Well, yesterday I called to see if our favorite waiter was working at our favorite local restaurant, and he was. So, for day 9, we went and had dinner there (using a gift card, happily!)
Friday
I'm planning to make some pizzas for dinner.
How about you?
What did you eat this week? And did you cook more than I did? 😉
I'll have to try your pizza recipe. I've just started dabbling in the "homemade pizza" world and am amazed at how easy and inexpensive it is! I'm kicking myself for buying pizza crusts in the past!
~Jenny
http://www.introvertsguidetosobriety.com/shopping/frugal-friday-favorites-3/
I am glad you have had such a different night.
I am still on the FODMAP diet so food has been very plain. Most meals it has been an Asian inspired rice noodle soup or grilled meat and salads. Large parts of Australia are suffering heat waves and cooking seems like a stupid idea right now. Nothing too inspiring here. I look forward to reading what others have had.
Grilled meat and salads are perfect for when the weather is unbearably hot!
I hope you get a break in the heat soon.
I have been pretty impressed with myself and how helpful meal planning has been to avoiding take out!
Here's what we ate this week.
Saturday, leftovers/freezer findings
Sunday, misc. snacks at super bowl party!
Monday, Moroccan Chicken, quinoa and salad.
Tuesday, Root Vegetable Gratin and salad
Wednesday, thai coconut and curry butternut squash soup and bread (we were not huge fans of this soup-oh well!)
Thursday, garlic chicken, smashed potatoes and salad
Tonight I have plans to make bacon egg and leek risotto
Same, same. If I don't have a plan, takeout calls my name loud and clear!
Nope! I did not cook more than you did. 🙂
Monday- My husband worked really late so the kids and I went to my parents' house for dinner. We took fruit and veggies for our contribution.
Tuesday- My daughter and I were quite sick all day. My husband warmed up some leftovers.
Wednesday- All were healed and accounted for so I made taco salad.
Thursday- Crock pot jambalaya, pineapple, mandarin oranges
Friday- Someone gave us tickets to dinner and a comedy show. No cooking!
Even with how little we ate at home there was still quite a bit of grocery spending because my daughter turns 3 tomorrow and she's having a party with friends at our house. Should be fun!
Happy birthday to your little girl! So nice that you guys are healed up in time for her birthday.
On Monday, we had chicken sandwiches, served with the leftover chips, veggies and dip from the Super Bowl. On Tuesday, we had baked ziti and a green salad.
Wednesday, I put a meal into the crockpot but while I was at work, the power went out so the food was sitting at room temp for hours. I had to throw it all away. This the first time I have had this happen over many years of making a crock pot dinner at least once a week. My husband picked up a rotisserie chicken on his way home and I made some potatoes and veggies.
Thursday, we had kielbasa and potato pan roast and green beans. I also made a loaf of oatmeal bread, inspired by your post earlier in the week.
Tonight, maybe we will get take out subs.
Oh, that is so frustrating about the crockpot. Such a bummer.
But good save! A rotisserie chicken is definitely less expensive than takeout.
I too had a crock pot fiasco on Wednesday. I attempted a rotisserie chicken save, but snow was expected for that evening, so they were all sold out (does "crazy grocery shopping" happen in other parts of the country too, when bad weather is expected?) so we ended up with takeout from a fried chicken place. :/
The rest of the days were good though! Beef Stew, Chicken Rice Soup, Breakfast for Dinner, and tonight is Chicken Patty Sandwiches.
Yup, people here go buy all the water, bread, and milk. Oh, and toilet paper too!
Kinda a crazy busy week so I didn't cook much, but I will make up for it next week (hopefully).
Sunday: lots of Super Bowl snacks
Monday: Bbq chicken, corn and mac&cheese
Tuesday: Spaghetti (I took my older two boys to the Mavericks basketball game so we ate there)
Wednesday: Chickfila after gymnastics
Thursday: Pizza take out for National Pizza Day
We only usually eat out once a week so I'm over my quota! We'll be grilling ribeye steaks on Sunday for an early Valentine's Day dinner. I spent $120 at the grocery store for six of us.
Sunday we had smoked Boston butt and wings, courtesy of the daughter's boyfriend. Sides were baked beans, spicy kale, chips and hot dip, courtesy of the daughter.
Monday my husband ate leftovers and a friend and I ate Chick-fil-A on the run, because we had a meeting at 6:30 p.m. an hour's drive away from us.
Tuesday was hog jowl, squash and onions, and mashed potatoes. Odd grouping, but it sufficed.
Wednesday was leftover homemade chicken pot pie.
Thursday I made the quinoa recipe, steamed cabbage and baked sweet potatoes. The husband loves cabbage and sweet potatoes, which is why they were in the mix. He ate the quinoa recipe, but said it was "bland." Since it was seasoned with lots of oregano, rosemary, thyme, garlic and onion, I found it anything but bland. I think his prejudice to "weird" foods affected his taste buds!
Tonight is a mystery as of now.
Aaaaanddd here in North Florida the temperature was 37 when I drove to work and the heater is running in my office right now.
Whoa, that's cold for Florida!
I wish everyone could take a tip from you on being generous and kind! I live that you called ahead to check if your favorite waiter was working. For those of us who work/have worked in the service industry I can tell you that act probably made his might, if not his week. You and your blog are such an oasis of kindness. Thank you for reminding us to do good!
So many typos! Sorry!
I hope it did...we told him that we choose what night to go based on whether he's working or not. 🙂 The food is good there, but the experience is not quite the same if we don't have him as our waiter.
Sunday-Honey mustard chicken with quinoa/peas/onion and Kristen's roasted carrots
Monday-Pork green chili with tortillas and salad
Tuesday-Leftovers
Wednesday-chicken/broccoli/rice casserole with salad
Thursday-chicken meatballs with quinoa/brown rice mixture and salad
Friday-??
Saturday-??
Also had leftovers from the various meals for lunches all week
Bravo for a fun week! Sometimes you just need to do something fun and crazy. 🙂 It was a weird week for us, food-wise.
This week we ate:
Monday: Alfredo pasta bake. This time we added broccoli to make it taste fresh. It was perfecto!
Tuesday: Asparagus artichoke pasta. There wasn't anything wrong with this dish at all, but we just weren't in the mood for it. We begrudgingly ate it and froze the rest for emergency meals. We'll take a break on this one for a while.
Wednesday: Fried chicken. No shame! We planned to make chicken pilau, but as I prepped it, I realized the recipe would be absolutely disgusting. We picked up takeout instead.
Thursday: Tonight was freezer night. Mr. Picky Pincher cooked fideo and I had some pizza.
Friday: Today Mr. Picky Pincher is grilling some delicious burgers. I think we'll have salad on the side.
Monday: by Friday, I have a hard time remembering what we had on Monday...oh. We had macaroni and cheese and some chopped up andoule sausage. Healthy? No. Cheaper than take-out? Yes.
Tuesday: Meatloaf. With literally nothing else. We just ate meatloaf. It was good, though!
Wednesday: leftover meatloaf with leftover rice. Guys, the meatloaf did have some kale in it, but now that I'm typing this all out, we at an appalling lack of veggies this week!
Thursday: We got pizza from our favorite local pizza place. A supreme pizza, so some veggies at least. And I fed LO broccoli and yogurt along with his small bites of pizza.
Friday: I'm on my own tonight, so who knows...Chinese always calls my name when I'm eating alone!
Better this week -- Spent $44.26 on groceries (guessing for husband's quick grocery run mid-week -- he doesn't look at prices, grrr) for the two of us.
Breakfasts at home -- free bran cereal and free grapefruits for me! cereal for husband.
Lunches for work on robo-dial -- black bean/barley/mushroom or salad using up bits and bobs for me; husband foraged sandwiches, etc.
Sunday -- Spaghetti (husband made with marked down beef and peppers) plus salad
Monday - Scrounge -- leftover spaghetti for husband; grilled cheese for me -- plus salad/broccoli
Tuesday - FAIL - $13 00 Pollo Loco under 500 calorie . Husband begged, seriously, since he was leaving town the next day. I caved, a little too eagerly.
Wednesday - FAIL 2.0 - Dinner with lovely grownup daughter at Argentinian restaurant $42.00. Sigh. But loved sitting and chatting with her and slurping chimichurri. She is the best company 🙂
Thursday -- Ate my barley/bean concoction with soft boiled egg and avocado plus big salad -- used up lots of stuff.
Today, woke up early and used a 62 cent quick bread mix (I know -- so much tastier and cheaper to make from scratch!) to take to work and will also stop at Aldi's for hummus -- it was a trying week and Friday is treat day. Suspect I will not cook tonight since, you know, treat day and all but will try to go easy -- coupon? frozen pizza?
Well, as I write this out am less impressed with self. It is a work in progress -- thanks for the inspiration!
Eh, I wouldn't sweat a 62 cent quick bread mix! That's hardly a huge expenditure. 😉 Enjoy your bread!
Saturday: Left town for niece's coming of age event. Brought a ton of food/snacks for the train trip. Took sibling and some kids out for lunch (still ahead on the financial front, as I stayed at their place rather than getting a hotel room in an expensive city). Niece's buffet for dinner ... and dessert!
Sunday: Niece's brunch. Still had ton of food/snacks but - FAIL - forgot the leftover Subway at sibling's place. Chose healthier train food over junky snacks. $$$
Monday: Steak (brown frozen steak, then finish cooking in slow oven), asparagus, clementines.
Tuesday: Nando's Peri Peri (chicken) with 50% off coupon, in order to eat outside in the unseasonably warm weather. The fact that the warm weather is unsettling doesn't stop me from being out in it.
Wednesday: Sauteed steak, blueberries, spinach straight from the bag. I had planned to make beef stir-fry but had to work late, therefore substituted a faster meal.
Thursday: Taco night (ground pork, pico di gallo, chopped romaine, avocado slices, minced onion, hard taco shells, cheese), strawberries.
Friday: Dumplings, tomatoes & cukes, whatever fruit is left over (strawberries, blueberries, clementines, apples, etc.).
Yay! Stuck to my budget again. It really helps having specific goals to save for. When I don't, I tend to go over budget on the everyday stuff because it doesn't seem like it matters much. Anyway . . .
Saturday - Fish and chips with green beans
Sunday - Honey balsamic steak bites with green salad and half of a baked potato
Monday - Picked up pizza. All the talk about how many pizza were sold on Super Bowl Sunday put me in the mood for it. Haha.
Tuesday - Quiche Lorraine and salad
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - I pulled some ham & bean soup out of the freezer and made cornbread.
Friday - Not 100% sure but when in doubt, make tacos. 🙂
Sunday - we had a Super Bowl party with us 4 plus daughter's friend. We made everything homemade. We had twice-baked potatoes, cheese & pepperoni pizza, buffalo chicken dip with tortilla chips, mini chicken/salsa/cheese tacos, chocolate chip cookie dough bars (fabulous!).
Monday - We ate leftovers from Sunday with a salad
Tuesday - meatball subs with french fries
Wednesday - chicken/broccoli/alfredo
Thursday - we celebrated National Pizza Day with a pizza and cheesy bread sticks (paid for with Super Bowl pool winnings!)
Friday - we are going out of town tonight so we will get fast food from dollar menu (paid for again with Super Bowl winnings)
Saturday - shrimp stirfry
Sunday - we are eating an early Valentine's dinner at my parents' house!!! I offered to make something, but my mom didn't get back to me.
Spending was a little high at $123.31 due to the super bowl party food, but still cheaper than if i had bought it all pre-made. Tastier too! Oh well.....next week we will strive to do better.
I have a sick house so cooking was pretty sparse.
Monday: Pork chops that were planned for Sunday but we got invited to my grandmother's house at the last minute.
Tuesday: Waffles, eggs, bacon and fruit. My toddler LOVES that the waffles look like Snoopy. This iron was purchased on clearance at Macy's and given to me as a birthday present like 20 years ago. We have a "normal" iron as well but I like to make the kid happy once in a while.
Wednesday: My wife was too sick to have a normal dinner so she ate soup. I got a fried haddock dinner at the grocery store since it's been months since I had one and I really like fish. My daughter ate some of it (we're 0:3 in the "likes coleslaw" department in my house).
Thursday: I ate a BLT, my daughter had cheese, crackers, veggies etc. She's mostly on the mend and finally eating again.
Also, I solved the "toaster" dilemma by just using the broiler on the oven. I'm liking the free counter space.
Friday: I have no idea on this one. It all depends on how my wife is feeling this afternoon.
I hope everyone feels better soon. Around here the Crud has been pretty fierce. People are coming into work reporting that 10% of their kids' classes have strep, or someone's been tired and coughing for 10-12 days, or suchlike.
I hope you guys are all well soon!
Nope, I probably cooked less than you. I was traveling too on a planned work related trip, so I did make the Z Man some B, L and D meals before I left on my trip. Otherwise it's been grilled chicken caesar salads and pizza for us. My grocery expense is $149 of $300 for the month so far, leaving me $151.
http://www.zlifeblog.com
I am trying to stick to my menus and list, but it can be a challenge. HOWEVER, I have made good on my plan not to eat lunches out. Almost every day I think of something I want to eat out, then quickly decide that I can reheat or make something wonderful at home. Tonight we will order a pizza (free) with points accumulated. Last night I fixed some frozen pre-seasoned chicken breasts with small yukons, and a salad. One night this week I fixed an Italian layer Bake with cresent rolls and ham. I also fixed some beef enchiladas and a salad this week, all with things I already had. And the other nights? I forget. But tomorrow Hubby grills, and on Sunday we are having a Steak and Potato Crock Pot Soup. Leftovers get eaten by Firstborn when he comes by a couple of times a week, and by me. No more lunches out at the hospital cafeteria either!
Monday - Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo, applesauce
Tuesday - Chilli with cornbread
Wednesday - Homemade macaroni & Cheese, green beans , appesauce, & garlic bread
Thursday - BBQ pork, some had leftover mac & cheese, baked sweet potato
Friday - Spaghetti
It's been a busy week.
Growing up in the 50s, I ate a lot of kale but not quinoa. Avacado and tacos, exotic. Hog jowls? Hummus? It's interesting to see how food choices change over the decades and how our tastes are influenced by people from other lands! Keep posting cause I always get new ideas! Kristen, you have some of the nicest followers! I think it's your grace! It just shines through!
We had a busy week of homemade items. Once cooked, the days following were leftovers....The kids are well over 6' and growing and very hungry. The menus below are merely snacks. I USED to work 2 jobs! I've been trying to cut down on groceries but it's not working. At all.
Mon-thawed ham, baked potatoes
Tues- ham & eggs, pizza
Wed- scallloped ham & potatoes
Thurs- thawed turkey,mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade apple strudels
Fri- leftover turkey, ham sandwiches, mashed potatoes & gravy, veg soup
Sat- (tomorrow) grilled frozen burgers/steaks/dogs, oven french fries, leftover turkey
Monday: Lasagna & applesauce
Tuesday: grilled cheese sandwich and tortilla chips w with sales
Wednesday: waffles and sausage
Thursday: Beef tacos
Friday: baked chicken, peas, brown rice, and kale salad.
Did you like the taco place? If so, can you give me the name? We're going to Naples in May.
Sure! It's called Tacos and Tequilas, but their site seems to be down at the moment. Hopefully it'll come back up soon.
They serve creative, unusual tacos, so if that's up your alley, I think you'd like it!