What I Spent, What We Ate | I wanted to be under budget...
And I thought I might make it this week!
But I needed to go to Costco (just for frozen fruit) and we all know how that ends up.
So!
Unpictured produce box ($35)
Aldi ($58)
A run to a local store ($22)
And not pictured are four big bags of frozen fruit from Costco ($39).
That puts me at $154 for the week which isn't insane, especially given that I went to Costco. But I was secretly kind of hoping to continue my below-budget pattern of the last few weeks. 😉
Maybe next week I can do it, especially if I keep rummaging in my freezer for meal inspiration.
February Spending
Week 1: $76
Week 2: $120
Week 3: $154
What We Ate
Monday
I cleaned and organized my kitchen freezer and found a partial package of mahi-mahi and a partial package of tilapia. So, I thawed and sauteed those, made a pan of muffin-tin popovers, and cut up some raw fruit and veggies.
Tuesday
It was Valentine's Day, but Mr. FG and I figured that with our Florida trip, we'd already had a lot of date nights.
Plus, I surprised him by driving over to meet him for lunch that day.
So, we took the girls out for subs instead (Joshua was at a meeting or we'd have taken him too, obv!) and I think they were pretty happy with that. 🙂
Wednesday
This was our Arroz con Pollo night.
I sauteed some green beans from my produce box to go on the side.
Thursday
Easy button night! I made whole wheat pancakes, strawberry syrup, and local sausage from the freezer.
Friday
Well, tomorrow is Zoe's birthday, but she's having a friend over for a birthday sleepover tonight. So, she's having her birthday meal tonight.
She's picked homemade chicken nuggets, jello, SunChips, a fruit salad, and a homemade ice cream cake for dessert.
(Birthday dinners are not generally a super nutritious meal at our house!)
_____________
It's my son's birthday on Saturday and he's requested hamburgers and then lunch at the movies (Lego Batman movie--he's turning 8).
I had some "meh" dinners this week but we stayed within the budget and everyone lived, so I'm calling that a success. 🙂
~jenny
http://www.introvertsguidetosobriety.com/shopping/friday-favorites-4-2/
We had another great week of meal planning! We did takeout for Valentine's Day, which was fun, but we realized that we really do love a home cooked meal! I made homemade thin crust white broccoli pizza and was so pleased with how crispy the crust was in our home oven!!
Can you share that pizza recipe, Katy? Sounds yummy!
I got it from smittenkitche (https://smittenkitchen.com/2017/02/broccoli-pizza/) I was skeptical the ENTIRE time that it would turn out---but it was SUPER delicious, and pretty easy!
I made homemade pizza last night, using special gourmet flour - milled super fine. It made the BEST crisp, crust pizza. I have never been able to get the crust pizza parlor crisp at home. I bought it at my Walmart neighborhood market and will be getting it again, even though it was $3.89 for a 2 and a half pound bag. I can get at least 2 pizzas from it.
I am going to Costco tomorrow and hope to keep the bill low, very low. I have had chicken soup three times this week, sushi tonight, fillet steak and vegetables on Valentine's day, knackwurst and beans and chicken something. I am trying to lower the freezer ingredients too. It seems to be taking forever but this week I know mince, pork chops for those who won't eat chicken and other odds and ends have left the house. Tomorrow I am making meatballs from whatever I find in the fridge. Currently I am on the Fodmap diet and there is much I have to avoid so the food has been interesting shall we say.
Monday night we had turkey taco casserole with homemade Spanish rice and sliced avocado.
Tuesday was chicken spaghetti, cheesy Brussels sprouts ( new recipe and it was very good), and homemade rolls.
Wednesday night was blt's
Thursday was leftovers from earlier in the week, yay!
Friday night, to be determined. We may just haul off and go out somewhere.
Oooh, I'm a sucker for homemade chicken nuggets. Sounds tasty! At least it's not store bought though, right? 🙂
This week we ate:
Monday: Today was freezer night. I had my homemade gyros on homemade pita bread with a yogurt sauce, lettuce, and sliced cucumbers. Yum!
Tuesday: For Valentine's Day we cooked lobster tails with baby potatoes and corn. I'd never had lobster before and it turns out I hate it. So that means Mr. Picky Pincher had two lobster tails for dinner, which he didn't complain about. 🙂 At least the tails were on sale.
Wednesday: Meaty mac 'n' cheese. I used leftover frozen pulled pork to make this and it was mighty tasty when paired with hot sauce.
Thursday: Adobo chicken tacos. A true 30-minute meal that's a crowd-pleaser.
Friday: Kung pao chicken on noodles.
would you mind sharing your recipe for the adobo chicken tacos? Sounds like something the family may like....
Thanks!
I made that spicy sausage pasta last night. The kids were meh on it, saying it's a strange combination of flavors. But they ate it.
A few weeks ago I gave in and admitted to myself that my days of $200 grocery weeks are over until some of these boys grow up and move out. I just can't keep food in the house at less than $250, even deploying all of my tricks of the trade. They ate 9 lbs of apples and 6 bunches of bananas last week! Spaghetti requires 2 jars of sauce, 2 bags of pasta and 2 lbs. of meat, plus a veggie, and they usually eat even more fruit afterward. Once a week I do a vegetarian meal, which helps keep it under $300 per week, and some of our favorites use minimal meat (last night's chicken gravy and mashed potatoes comes to mind) but it is the snacking that really kills me. They eat huge meals and are hungry again within the hour and snack all day until dinner. Perhaps they have tapeworms? They are all skinny as rails, too.
Sunday-ground beef tacos and salad
Monday-pork chops, applesauce, and salad
Tuesday-soup and leftovers
Wednesday-ravioli and green peas
Thursday-ham, black beans, and mango
Friday-quinoa spinach salad
Grocery spending for us this week was AWESOME - only $29 on some staples like bread, buns, milk, and bananas.
Mon - Ballet class. I was out of work late, got the daycare just in time to take the little one to dance class. She ate some granola on the way to dance. We decided to meet my husband for dinner at our local Mexican restaurant as an early Valentine's Day dinner.
Tuesday - Crockpot roast with potatoes and carrots. We took this over to my grandfather's and he had some macaroni salad to serve with it.
Wednesday - I intended to make a mac and cheese bake. But when I opened the bag of pasta, there were BUGS in it! Although I was super disgusted and wanted to toss it...I threw it all in a large Ziploc bag and took it back to Aldi for a refund. I also wrote a letter to the manufacturer. We opted for some Ramen instead.
Thursday - We also had breakfast! Chocolate chip pancakes with some fruit.
Friday - It will be a surprise! My husband is a heavy machine operator, so he's slow at work right now. They work four 10 hour days, so he has Fridays off. I'm excited to see what he makes!
I always get a tickle out of your kids wanting jello for their birthdays. When they turn 21, maybe they'll switch to jello shots!
I think it's because we never have Jello otherwise. It makes it a treat!
In no particular order, here's what I can remember that we ate.
Hamburgers from the grill with chips and homemade onion dip and chickweed salad.
Potato soup with homemade bread on the side
A version of the "hobo" dinner -- layered bacon, ground beef, potatoes, onions and carrots, cooked all together, with English peas on the side.
Beef "tips" (stew beef) served over rice with gravy and fried okra on the side.
Tonight is probably something with pork or just vegetarian. It depends on my mood and the time I have available.
Speaking of pancakes for an evening meal; my husband hates breakfast for supper, so that option is always closed to me, but....! This year, my birthday falls on Mardi Gras, and the traditional meal for that is.... pancakes! I think I am going to eat all the pancakes I can hold that night. I claim privilege, because I have a Leap Year day birthday, and if I don't even get to have a birthday this year, then I think that at least I should get to eat what I want.
This week I got off of my menus only slightly. I can't even remember what we ate on Monday...and I forgot to plan a fun dinner for Valentine's Day, so after work I thawed out some marinara, fished around the pantry for easy cook lasagna noodles, grabbed meatballs from the freezer and wah Lah - VDay dinner on the fly: Meatball Lasagna. It was yum.
Wednesday was Coney Islands (with homemade turkey chili), tots
Thursday was Easy Parmesan Garlic Chicken Breasts, cabbage and carrots
Tonight is Tilapia Mexicano, salad with avocado
Saturday - Hubby grills
Sunday - (freezer) Crock pot Beef Tips with Gravy, mashed potatoes, veggie or salad
Hubby is in transition to a new job, so we took yesterday off together and spent $$$. Welp, better luck next week, I guess!
Feeding myself, hubby and 5 (mostly adult) kids:
Sunday- Smoked a 10 pound ham outside, served with slow cooker baked beans and fresh baked bread. (Freezing ham bone and large chunks of meat for ham and bean soup at a later time)
Monday-Chicken enchilada casserole, guacamole and jalapeno poppers.
Tuesday-Prime Rib (bought right after Christmas on discount at Walmart) with twice baked potatoes, veggies and strawberry cupcakes for desert.
Wednesday-Homemade pizza 1 veggie and 1 Hawaiian (using up some of those ham leftovers)
Thursday-One pot Beef Stroganoff, cheese bread and salad.
Friday- Easy night....grilled cheese and tomato soup.
Wow, I'm coming to your house! All these meals sound great 🙂
Starting next week I will be raising my food budget slightly. I have been super-good about sticking to the budget last 6 week but have eaten up a big part of the pantry and freezer food in the process. (Which isn't a bad thing!) I have also had almost no food waste (yay!), so although I could continue to get by on my current budget for a while longer, I am going to bump it up just a bit ($20/month) and see how that goes. On to the menu:
Saturday - Taco night! I will never be tired of taco night.
Sunday - Chicken & cheese ravioli with asparagus
Monday - I was too busy to cook dinner because I was making Frugal Girl's apricot coffee cakes to bring as a Valentines treat for my coworkers. I just grabbed a homemade bean and cheese burrito out of the freezer and nuked it for dinner.
Tuesday - Take out for Valentine's Day.
Wednesday - I had a friend over for dinner and made homemade chicken pot pie and green salad.
Thursday - leftovers.
Friday- Dunno. Probably leftovers again.
I think you did pretty well! What are those pretzels for? They look amazing! Also, how do you make home made chicken nuggets??
The pretzels were for Mr. FG to snack on at band rehearsal, because he had to come straight from work. So, just to tide him over until dinner.
I often make fried shrimp for birthday meals, but Zoe is allergic to shrimp. So for her, I use the same method and just do chunks of chicken instead. She likes that so much, she asked for that for her birthday meal. It's a little like the chicken that comes in sweet and sour chicken at Chinese restaurants.
Total for the week : $120.98 (part of that expense was steaks for Valentine's Day - still cheaper than eating out). Not where I want to be yet, but I will keep trying.
Monday - Shell noodles with spaghetti sauce & mini meatballs, homemade bread, salad
Tuesday - For Valentine's day we grilled steaks, baked regular & sweet potatoes, grilled asparagus
Wednesday - I got Fried chicken takeout as I worked all day & then cleaned two houses after work so I was too tired to make dinner.
Thursday - BBQ pork tenderloin, home fries, corn
Friday - taco night!!
Saturday & Sunday unknown yet, but thinking one of those days we may grill some foil dinners since we're supposed to have a warm-up this weekend.
That Arroz con Pollo looks amazing!
We're a household of 2 adults. This week, we only spent about $35 on groceries thanks to lots of shopping our pantry, freezer, and fridge. We're about to go on a vacation and are trying not to buy more fresh things before then and make a plan for everything in the fridge.
This week we ate:
Monday - Baked tofu stir-fry with leftover rice & veggies (carrots and the last of the broccolini from a CostCo bag from several weeks ago!)
Tuesday - Chicken thighs & balsamic-roasted carrots
Wednesday - Cheddar grits, with andouille sausage, yellow bell pepper & burst grape tomatoes
Thursday - Slow-cooker spicy tri trip, pulled apart and made into tacos - corn tortillas, homemade guacamole, greek yogurt on top; cabbage/carrot spicy coleslaw on the side
Friday - That tri tip was HUGE - My co-op was having an amazing sale so I bought two of the bigger ones - we are going to have tacos again tonight. Then I'm going to put some of the rest of it into the freezer for tacos another week and some into a black bean soup for Saturday night's dinner.
Oooh, $35 is awesome!
Monday: chicken burritos, tortilla chips and salsa
Tuesday: salmon, brown rice, lettuce salad
Wednesday: left overs from the freezer: baked chicken, brown rice, and potato wedges
Thursday: salmon, brown rice, mixed veggies
Friday: pepperoni pizza
Kristin, could you start putting the month/year on your posts when you use Cook's Country magazine recipes? With 8-9 years worth, too time consuming to manually look. (And when I do, that takes me down rabbit trails I've already seen.) I do turn on the computer and look them up, but usually forget by the time I've checked email and surfed other blogs or links. Thanks
will you share how you make chicken nuggets?
Monday breakfast for dinner - French toast, potatoes, eggs and bacon. I also had breakfast for breakfast and breakfast for lunch that day (your Apple pfannekuchen) so every meal was amazing.
Tuesday - pepperoni and meatball pizza
Wednesday - leftover pizza
Thursday - chili, cornbread, edamame
Friday - odds and ends, the most sought after leftovers were turkey cheese pesto melts o. Sourdough bread
I went to Costco today and spent under $20 Australian. I am stoked.
Here was my week:
Monday: Chicken Burrito Bowls from Skinnytaste
Tuesday: Honey Cashew Chicken with rice (cooking light recipe)
Wednesday: Harissa Chicken Tacos in slow cooker
Thursday: Creamed Chicken noodles
Friday: went out to dinner (client stayed later than I wanted and dinner was at 8 pm)
Saturday & Sunday: Not sure
I saw a video the other day on YouTube about Aldi and prices. WOW.... I so wish we had one here. We have Trader Joe's which I love but a lot of process foods which I buy to have on hand. But it is hard to go there just to buy meat, produce, diary, pantry items, spices as their produce selection isn't the best at least not here & the meat is so, so... I buy most of my produce at the farmer's market. I buy my beef at the farmer's market as well. I do majority of my shopping at Costco. So, this week I wanted to compare prices. We live in a large metropolitan area in CA but not Los Angeles or Silcon Valley area so our prices are pretty reasonable for CA. So, on our $22 grocery store stop: It would have been $28 at Safeway and $27 at a local store. I went with the cheapest spice since I couldn't tell what you bought. I also guess you bought heavy cream or buttermilk. I couldn't tell. It would be more if you picked a more expensive spice. Just kind of fun to compare prices. Thanks for keeping us on a menu plan this week.
Hi Frugal Girl! I have a question about your produce box. I've seen you include it in your weekly food totals before, Is it something that you have to commit to long-term, or can you choose to buy one on particular weeks? Do you pay by the week or by the season? And does it run all year long?
I've been a CSA member at a local farm for the past few years, and signed up again this year, but it is a commitment to the season that runs June-October and is paid upfront (well, can be in two installments). I certainly wish it went through the winter, when fresh produce is more expensive.
This one is like a year-round subscription, but you can cancel at any time. So, you can't just order boxes willy-nilly, really, but you're also not stuck in a contract.
And you pay week by week, which is nice.
I'm sure you've talked about this before, but where do you get your produce box? I would be interested in having this service, especially if it is organic. I see terrible reviews for Farm Box Direct. Thanks!