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.
Carla
Saturday 13th of April 2019
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.
Solitary Diner
Saturday 13th of April 2019
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.
Kristen
Saturday 13th of April 2019
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.
Molly F. C.
Friday 12th of April 2019
*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
Ruth
Friday 12th of April 2019
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.
Lindsey
Friday 12th of April 2019
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.