What I Spent, What We Ate | I made 7 trips.
What I Spent
It was one of those ridiculous weeks where I kept stopping here and there to get things.
NOT EFFICIENT.
I'm at $176 for the week, but that's largely because there's a Costco trip thrown in there.
Without that, I'd have been on budget, even with the multiple stops!
April Spending
Week 1: $169
Week 2: $176
What We Ate
Saturday
I made a pan pizza and some garlic breadsticks.
Sunday
It was a beautiful day out, so we grilled hamburgers and brats. Raw veggies and fruit plus chips were our sides.
Monday
I made pan-fried Parmesan chicken, plus mashed potatoes. I can't for the life of me remember what produce we had on the side!
Tuesday
I had some odds and ends to use up, so I made a chicken taco salad with a creamy cilantro lime sauce and homemade fried tortilla strips on top.
We had some fresh fruit on the side.
Wednesday
I made a Thai chicken and sweet potato curry over rice, from Dinner Illustrated.
I had to be gone a good chunk of the day, so I prepped most of the ingredients in the morning, which made dinner really easy when I got home.
We had orange wedges with our curry.
Thursday
Sonia got discharged from PT (she's been working hard on fixing her knee pain there) and she wanted to do something to celebrate.
So, Mr. FG and I pooled our Chick Fil A points and took Sonia and Zoe for dinner.
(Lisey was at her church small group meeting.)
Friday
I'm planning to make pulled chicken sandwiches, and I'm not sure what we'll have for sides.
What did you have for dinner this week?
P.S. Just a bit of bloggy business: I have a lot of posts in my 11 years of archives that need a little sprucing up (better pictures! more paragraphs! printable recipe cards!), so I've been working on that and I plan to publish one of those each Saturday.
(Last Saturday I shared the recipe for no-knead dinner rolls.)
So, check back on the weekends...maybe it'll be something I posted before you started reading here. Or even if you're a faithful reader, maybe it's something you missed the first go-round.
Saturday-we were invited over to friends house for a BBQ, (it was so beautiful out) We brought ice bar for dessert.
Sunday- DD had a late game (later then it was suppose to be. and we didn't' make it to DS game, thank goodness he went with someone so he didn't miss it) We stopped at 5 guys.
Monday- Ds had soccer train with his new team, DD had soccer practice, so I took her and my Nephew to McDonalds.
Tuesday- Chicken Alfredo, I had some Brussels sprouts on the side. DS had chicken parm. from cutlets in the freezer.
Wednesday- Sausage. peppers, onions, potatoes, DD had tortellini, DS had something else
Thursday- BBQ chicken on the grill, butter noodles, and corn.
Friday- its either going to be breakfast for dinner, or fish sticks and mac and cheese.
We were given a sheep by some people who didn't want to butcher it themselves--because they had two others to do and no more room in their freezers--so this week featured a lot of lamb. Well, the sheep was actually old enough to be classified mutton, but it tastes so mild, I'll call it lamb. Anyway . . .
Monday: This was the day we actually cut up the sheep, so I went with easy. Butchering is tiring and destroys the kitchen. Barbecue lamb sandwiches for my sons made with the meat I pulled off the bones after making stock, leftover steak fried and topped with green chili sauce and avocado for my husband, a salad for me with some odds and ends like chicken and cheese my parents left behind when they went home.
Tuesday: Lamb tenderloin--marinated in olive oil, vinegar, and garlic, then sliced and pan fried--boiled potatoes, pan-fried sweet potatoes, fried onion, frozen green beans
Wednesday: Bunless Italian sliders--basically tiny hamburgers seasoned like meatballs--pasta with marinara, fried bell peppers and onions, green peas
Thursday: Mutton chili, fresh bread and butter because I had to bake bread right before dinner
Tonight: Meatless Friday. I'm out of eggs and almost out of cheese, which means my only options are beans--which only half the family eats, but I'll probably make some anyway--and something with tuna. Inspiration will strike later, I'm sure. And if it doesn't, there's always tuna salad.
I forgot to look at my meal calendar before this and I don't have access to it now, so here goes:
On the weekend I roasted a chicken plus cooked pork ribs ahead, so we had roasted chicken with roasted asparagus, mushrooms and onions one night and ribs with baked potatoes and salad one night.
We had chicken tenders -- I cut the breast meat off the chicken before roasting it -- with veggie oven "fries."
We had leftover pork roast pulled from the freezer with fried cinnamon apples and salad.
I made chicken vegetable soup with leftover roast chicken.
And something else that I forget. Chicken was the star this week, and since my husband is not a big fan of chicken, the fact that he ate it that often is a bonus.
I attempted a cassava quick bread recipe that uses a teaspoon of baking soda and a little vinegar for leavening, and four eggs, in one smallish loaf. The writer said her family loved it. For some reason, I could taste/feel the baking soda in my mouth in every bite, and the texture just came out too springy/sponge-y. I hate food waste, but I couldn't think of a way to salvage that one. Fail.
I've been working pretty much straight for the last week and a half so my time in the kitchen has suffered because of it.
Monday: Oven fried chicken. Baked potatoes and salads.
Tuesday: Leftovers from Monday
Wednesday: Various leftovers from the weekend. I honestly can't remember what. I had a migraine so my wife took care of it.
Thursday: Pork chops, leftover rice and broccoli
Friday: Leftovers and whatever. I hate to be this indecisive but after this week I really don't care about cooking tonight.
Your pizza looks great!
Sunday: homemade pizza (I got a pizza stone for Christmas and it has been a game changer - I have read you pizza post!)
Monday: sausage over sauteed rice and veggies
Tuesday: Ate Out (IHOP)
Wednesday: eggs and croissants
Thursday: pancakes
Friday: perhaps cereal (to round out a week of breakfast for dinner, haha). But likely tuna sandwiches and fruit.
Saturday : hamburgers, bell peppers, and mushrooms
Sunday : we all ate separately, since I spent most of the day at a visitation
Monday : McDonald's (wasn't really feeling up to cooking after the funeral)
Tuesday : pasta and sauteed zucchini
Wednesday : chicken breast and green beans
Thursday : fish sticks, spaghetti squash, and broccoli
Friday : probably hamburgers with potatoes, zucchini, and mushrooms.
Our grocery spending is actually low this month, if I exclude groceries specifically purchased for other families/events. Those have actually been completely separate grocery trips anyway, so it's easy to not "count" toward our regular grocery spending.
Monday: Stir Fry Rice Noodles. My youngest is recently diagnosed with a peanut allergy, so we are trying to find replacements for our favorite Asian dishes that have peanuts in the sauce. This one was a bust. 🙁
Tuesday: Homemade mac and cheese. Simple.
Wednesday: Homemade pizzas. Hawaiian for the kids. Lots of yummy toppings for the adults.
Thursday: Vegan Buddha Bowls from Well and Full. These were tasty, and I am sad there were only enough leftovers for my husband's lunch.
Tonight: I have a pork loin thawing in the fridge. I'll cut it into pork chop thickness to make ranch pork chops with roasted potatoes and green beans.
I'll look forward to seeing some of your updated posts on the weekends. 🙂
I feel your pain on the peanut allergy. It's tough to work around with Asian recipes sometimes.
Monday we had chicken with orzo and tomatoes from the ATC cookbook. It was good.
Tuesday was chicken fingers with cauliflower, carrots and leftover mashed potatoes I found in the refrigerator.
Wednesday we had the remaining chicken fingers with roast potatoes and cut up veggies on the side.
Thursday is pizza night. This week it was pepperoni and tomato. Yummy!
Tonight were having pineapple pork with noodles. And extra sauce because we're extra sauce people!
Meeeeee too! Sauce is the best.
I know, right? I love sauce too!
Sunday- kid's birthday party where pizza was provided
Monday and Tuesday- pasta with homemade sauce and homemade bread
Wednesday and Thursday- chicken salads with apples, almonds, and homemade dressing
Friday and Saturday- chicken tacos with homemade salsa, lettuce, beans, and brown rice
I keep a bag in the freezer with odds and ends of bread in it. When it is full I usually make stuffing or baked French toast. Baked French toast for breakfast this weekend with our homemade maple syrup!
I have a bag in my freezer just like that!
Thank you for updating your previously posted recipes. I have used so many over the years. Do you plan to organize them by category? ie. meat, seafood, bread etc. It would make it much easier to navigate when you don't remember the exact title of the recipe.
Ha! In 2010, I spent a month in Australia and New Zealand (lucky me). The first thing I did when I got an internet connection was to check The Frugal Girl. I'll be looking forward to this Saturday Series to see if there is anything I missed. I doubt it, but you never know!
Meat loaf last Sunday. The rest of the week was unusual. We were given 10 pounds of halibut from friends visiting from Southeast Alaska; we live in the interior of the state so lots of salmon but no halibut. They were in town for a four day work meeting and stayed with us, pocketing the per diem, so the halibut was to thank us for letting them stay here. Works for me. They are sick of fish so we had moose chili, moose stir fry and moose tacos on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, since using up moose cleared out freezer space for the halibut. It was more cooking than I have done in ages, since we mostly eat soup during the week. Last night they brought home KFC for a quick meal before we took them to the airport. Today I am alone for dinner and don't feel like the Friday fillet of fish, so am making mac and cheese. Tomorrow, grilled halibut. Yum.
Well this was weird... I had a full week of great meals planned and have only used ONE of them so far!!
Monday- Husband and 5yo ended up having to go somewhere and I wasn't about to grill steak for me, my 2yo, and baby so I made a pizza.
Tuesday- Got a deal on a used mower an hour away so I scraped dinner plans, packed a picnic dinner, and we are at a park.
Wednesday- We actually ate at home!! Made a pork roast with zucchini, asparagus, and pineapple.
Thursday- My aunt and uncle unexpectedly came to town and took us out.
Friday- We're going to eat at home again!! BBQ pork sandwiches, broccoli with cheese, and potatoes.
*Monday: Canned Skyline chili as topping over spaghetti with shredded cheddar.
*Tuesday: Homemade spinach and cheese quiche with fruit salad.
*Wednesday: Soup cobbled together with chicken stock, Italian sausage, a can of whole tomatoes,
carrots, turnip greens, Aldi's mini mushroom ravioli and Aldi's Asiago cheese. It was really tasty.
Garlic toasts, topped with same Asiago, used a half French bread loaf that had been
stashed in freezer.
*Thursday: Soup leftovers
*Friday: Delicious pizza and one meatball sub from favorite pizzeria
I really enjoy reading your blog, but as a queer woman I hate the fact that you’d support an anti-LGBTQ business like Chick Fil A.
I understand, and my conservative readers sometimes wonder why I support a business like Starbucks. I wrote a whole bunch of words about my stance on boycotting here: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/why-i-mostly-dont-boycott/
I don't imagine you will read it and end up agreeing with me, but it might at least help you to understand where I'm coming from better.
Who... exactly... is Starbucks hurting? Because I can see the real harm chick fil a does by promoting hate against LGBT people. Looking online I see that conservatives hate that Starbucks has agreed to hire refugees. Which... seems really Christian. There seems to be a difference between genuine harm and fake controversy that a caring person could sort out. This isn’t really a “both sides” thing but one of actual morals. Chick fil a gets a LOT of free advertising from this blog, money from which they plow into charities that actively exclude LGBT people.
I bought a lot of convenience foods at the grocery store to get me through the week, but I still consider it a win over going out. I have realized that what I need to avoid inevitable takeout is a defined set of extremely easy options to cover week nights when we don't have leftovers. We used to have a lot of egg based easy meals, but unfortunately I have developed a food aversion to eggs in most forms. So, I'm working on a new list.