What I Spent, What We Ate | January totals
What I Spent
I spent $135 on groceries this week, which I am a little surprised at because I went to Costco.
But yay me!
I'm ending this month with $689 in total spending, and I'd budgeted $750 because of it being a five week month.
January Grocery Spending ($150/week budget)
Week 5: $135
What We Ate
Saturday
The girls fended for themselves (sandwiches!) and Mr. FG and I went on a date. Pizza again, because we both wanted it and because it IS very good for keeping us on budget. 😉
Sunday
Mr. FG and I made sweet and sour meatballs from Pioneer Woman, which we ate over rice.
Monday
I tried a new recipe from the latest Cook's Country: a curried chicken noodle soup. We gave it a thumbs up and it'll go into the rotation.
Also: it uses rice noodles, so it's a naturally gluten-free option for those of you who avoid gluten.
Tuesday
We had chicken katsu with cabbage salad (recipe from Dinner Illustrated.)
Chicken breaded in panko crumbs is really, really good, and you are missing out if you haven't tried that before!
In case you missed it before, here's my full review of Dinner Illustrated.
Wednesday
I made burrito bowls with chicken (I used this marinade), mango salsa, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, lime rice, and lettuce.
Thursday
Washington's Green Grocer sent me a couple of meals to try out, and we used the organic burger meal on Thursday.
The locally baked brioche buns were so, so good, and of course, I split, buttered, and toasted them before serving.
Because that makes every bun better.
I also roasted a bag of organic fingerling potatoes from WGG.
I don't know what it is about fingerlings, but they taste so sweet when they are roasted. I just use salt, pepper, and oil, and they are so delicious.
We had cucumbers and oranges from the produce box as well.
Friday
I'm planning to make chicken tacos on corn tortillas.
And that concludes a week of meals for us!
Sunday: Boeuf Bourguignon with potatoes and roasted carrots
Monday: Pizza before watching a moving at the cinema
Tuesday: Bread, cheese and a green salad
Wednesday: My SO bought more tortellini. We made pesto with spinach, basil and thyme
Thursday: Vegetable soup as my SO got sick
Friday: falafel wraps
Your menus are always so adventurous. 🙂 For us...
Monday - Chicken tacos
Tuesday - I made Chicken Parmesan for the first time and none of the kids were very excited. They either just ate noodles or just ate the chicken. At least everyone at the peas that we had on the side.
Wednesday - Jerk chicken and brew pub chicken for the main part, then since the hour before dinner turned into a mess with the kids, I had to scrounge up some cheese and crackers and cut up some oranges to go with the chicken. Cupboards were kind of bare (where's a bag of chips when you need one?) and at one point I thought that we were just going to have chicken and nothing else, so at least we found something.
Thursday - Stir fry and blueberries
Friday - Meatloaf, the butternut squash I didn't get around to making Wednesday, and maybe some mac and cheese or blueberries again.
Fri Chicken lo mein with Asian veggies & fried bread
Thurs Stromboli from Aldi, it was pretty good.
Wed Breaded shrimp, hashbrowns, noodles and salad
Tues Fried chicken, blueberries but I don't recall what else.
Monday Eggs & toast
The weekend we were with the kids. His boss bought him an Omaha package so we had burgers, au gratin potato balls and their little apple pies oh yikes they were delish!!
I spent $40 at Aldi and $60 at Krogers weekend sale. Stocked up on cheese, hamburg & pizza.
We made a big pot of beef veggie soup, added barley to some, &noodles to some.it added up to3 meals & lunches so a win. SC chicken gyros on naan & roasted cauliflower. Pork tenderloin with sauteed apples &roasted potatoes, steak sandwiches& roasted broccoli. Fruit with every meal& forgot what else we got. I spent about $800.00 for the month for 5 adults. They r not always at every meal but it was mostly produce &great meat sales.
I am very crabby. For over three weeks, at our house it has been about 20 below zero during the day and 35 to 37 below at night. It is supposed to warm up to zero on Monday, so the end is in sight, and it is true that we went out only when we had to so our grocery spending for the entire month was $128...but still. We had to fight every day not to throw ourselves into a bowl of carbs.
Saturday: dill pickle soup and homemade rolls
Sunday: borscht and homemade rye bread
Monday: salmon and scalloped potatoes, oranges
Tuesday: salmon chowder and homemade ciabatta
Wednesday: cheese strata using the left over bread pieces from Saturday and Sunday, oranges
Thursday: mac and cheese, oranges
Friday: today we don't have to leave the house for anything, so no filet of fish. I am making pizza
Ok, I’m intrigued. What is Dill Pickle Soup?
OK, I'm intrigued.....where do you live ????
I think Lindsey lives in Alaska.
Here is the recipe I use, although I have been making it for so long I know it by heart and improvise. For example, I use leeks since I grow and freeze hundreds of those each summer. And I don't care for celery so I only add it if some ended up in my house as a result of a pot luck we hosted...It started, I believe, in Poland but pretty much any Eastern European will have a version. Some folks add meat but I do not because I have a hard time finding recipes I like that don't use meat and so when I can I try to keep them meat free. I live in Interior Alaska, which has the weather most people think of when they think of Alaska. Southeast Alaska is more like the Pacific Northwest. We are twice the size of Texas, so there is a huge variation in the weather. We used to have several different times zones in this state, that is how big it is.
Dill Pickle Soup
Ingredients
•2 tablespoons butter
•1 large sweet onion, peeled and chopped
•1 1/4 cup chopped celery
•1 1/4 cup chopped carrots
•3 garlic cloves, minced
•4 potatoes, quartered, and thinly sliced
•10 cups vegetable or chicken broth
•1 cup grated dill pickle
•2 egg yolks
•1-2 tablespoons pickle juice
•1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
Instructions
1.Prep all the vegetables and grate the pickles. Place a large stock pot over medium heat and add the butter. Once melted, add in the onions. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the celery, carrots, and garlic. Sauté for another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2.Once the veggies have softened, add the sliced potatoes, broth, grated pickle, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer the soup for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Remove the bay leaf, and use an immersion blender the puree the soup a little to thicken the base. Do not fully puree.
3.Remove 1 cup of soup base from the pot. Stir to cool. Quickly whisk in the egg yolks into the small portion of soup. Whisk fast so the yolks incorporate smoothly into the base, not scramble. Then whisk the egg mixture back into the pot. Simmer for 5 more minutes. This gives the entire pot of soup a luxurious silky texture.
4.Stir in 1 tablespoon dill pickle juice and fresh dill. Taste, then add more pickle juice if desired and salt and pepper as needed.
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 166kcal
oops, I also don't use a bay leaf but that appears in the directions...
The husband likes to add a tablespoon of sour cream at serving.
Lindsey, Thank you for sharing your recipe. It sounds delicious, so I printed & will give it a try one of these days.
I thought of you when I made fish cake sandwiches the other week, since they are a lot like filet-o-fish! I'm sorry you have to miss your Friday night tradition, and I'm glad things will thaw at least a little bit for you soon.
Saturday: Chana Masala for adults; sautéed chicken tenders, sliced bell peppers & applesauce for one kid; the other one fixed a sandwich
Sunday: Leftover Chana Masala; homemade pizza for kid who doesn’t like curry; other kid was out with friends
Monday: Italian-style Pasta bake w/various veggies, cheese & sausage found in freezer; Creamy Pasta w/ Chicken, applesauce, bell peppers for younger kid; older one made mac & cheese and ??
Tuesday: Butternut Squash Soup (because I had one to use up and chicken stock in the freezer), Asian-y Slaw (made from the last of the green cabbage, half a purple cabbage, last of the cilantro & ginger, all the elderly green onions & limes; S&P and olive oil): Younger kid had leftover pizza; Older kid: no idea
Wednesday: Citrus Garlic Chicken & Green Beans
Thursday: Leftover chicken soup, apple kugel made from leftover penne pasta, green salad
Friday: maybe homemade pizza?
Fri: We went out and I had a Boom-Boom Shrimp Wrap w/potato wedges
Sat: Asian marinated Drumsticks and Fried Rice (made from leftovers)
Sun: We went out for my daughters birthday to Bahama Breeze and I had a Black Bean and Rice 'bowl' but the bowl was a Plantain. It was good. Oh and the seafood chowder which was excellent!
Mon: Buffalo Chicken and Potato Bake, green beans
Tues: Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread
Wed: Arroz Con Pollo, black beans and bread
Thurs: My husband cooked, I had to work late. He made Pork Chops, Green Beans, Baked Potatoes and Rolls. I ate 2 small baked potatoes and a roll.
Made a big pot of stew on Sunday. I don't care for stew but my DH loves it. I made taco meat for me. We both ate on our own menus for 3 days. There was cornbread to go with the stew, and I alternated between hard or soft tacos and taco salad.
Made homemade pizza - and again we each like our own kind so made two and we ate on that with salad and/or apples for the rest of our meals this week.
It is tax season, so my DH has already had dinner by the time I get home from work. Only have two more to go before I retire.
Yesterday I made a batch of potato corn chowder and a batch of herb cheese muffins. We both had that for dinner and I brought some for lunch today, along with a muffin.
Tonight we are going out. Not sure where yet.
Eating Down the Freezer was too successful - I'm really short of decent meal ideas.
Sunday: Chinese delivery (this was after organizing 7 big bookcases)
Monday: Taco Night, I think
Tuesday: I can't remember.
Wednesday: smorgesborg, including beans, guacamole, leftover Chinese food, leftover mac & cheese
Thursday: birthday dinner out
Friday: ribs, because my roommate bought some
Saturday: no clue, I'll have to go food shopping
Sunday: Superbowl, friend bringing tamales, I'm providing fruit & veg plates, and making a cake that will use 95% cocoa dark chocolate (a well-intentioned gift) and some of the gallon of apple caramel sauce I made
I'm hoping to get half a pastured pig but I really need to buy food before then!
Haha, I am assuming you have found 95% dark chocolate to be too much!
Sunday- black bean & sweet potato enchiladas (requested many times by the hubby), and beef enchiladas (the kids prefer beef).
Monday- leftovers
Tuesday- sweet potato and sausage hash, eggs. I also sautéed up some baby kale that came in our produce box, but of course the hubby and kids were not interested in it. Lol
To be fair, it did smell like Brussels sprouts, which are not popular in our house.
Wednesday- Cream of potato and celery soup, topped with crumbled bacon.
Thursday- leftovers
Friday- my plan was dinner salads and avocado toast. However, my oldest daughter got a stellar report card, and we wanted to give her a little recognition, so we might head to the local Mexican restaurant when the hubs gets home from work.
Hi
Saturday we ate a all in together frittata with mixed leaf salad I had lots of eggs from my chickens. Watermelon and rockmelon for sweets.
Sunday is my lay day I made a shepherds pie during the week and we had that with plums and grapes.
Monday is schnitzel night with German potato salad and mixed leaf salad tomato and cucumber from the garden. I made a lemon yoghurt cake uses olive oil instead of butter and we had that with cream and berries for sweets.
Tuesday roast lamb with veggies and an ice cream.
Wednesday chilli chicken with rice noodle stir fry loads of veg in the stir fry. More melons and grapes. I also made a beef in red wine to freeze for Sunday as it is my lay day.
Thursday minestrone soup with toasted cheese sandwiches. Have been painting today so lucky to eat anything today
Friday is fish I. This house so we had salmon with curried lentils and a beetroot and silverbeet salad. Peaches and custard.
Saturday we are going to the soccer so I will make bakala which is soaked salted dry cod then cooked with potato. Served with lots of chopped parsley and white sliced onion. Plums plums in season so that’s it.
Hope you have a lovely weekend look forward to your posts next week.
Cheers Brigitte
White Bean Chicken Chili with corn muffins
BBQ chicken in the crockpot, green beans and mashed potatoes
Texas Roadhouse with my sister - steak, baked potato and corn
Macaroni and cheese with peas, applesauce
Chicken and noodle casserole
A potluck at my neighbor's including corn chowder, cheese and apples, rotel dip, veggie tray
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday- vegetarian, "open faced" pot pie
Thursday and Friday- vegetarian peanut butter curry over rice
Saturday and Sunday- lasagna pasta
I can't remember our grocery bill exactly, but I believe it was about $65
This was the week I do my fortnightly shop. I have spent over $200 (ZUS) but have meat for the freezer and it will last more than 14 days. WE have had roast chicken and vegetables, roast chicken leftovers, roasted pork and vegetables, chicken pasta, steak burgers, chicken drumsticks and mushroom rice. I can't remember everything. I keep looking in the cupboards, fridge and freezer and pull out the oldest stuff to try and reduce the horde.
This week has been a lazy one for cooking. Nothing exciting. The family had frozen pizza, deli meat sandwiches, frozen ham with potatoes & spinach, enchiladas, scrambled eggs and spaghetti.
I'll try stuffed oven rolls by stuffing refrigerated dough with leftover ham, cheese , mayo or mustard and glazing the top with a butter garlic drizzle. I have no idea how this will turn out.
I surprised myself by spending $350 on food in January. There's 3 adults with the 4th mostly eating out and using their own money.
You convinced me...I just ordered the cookbook on eBay. That chicken katsu looked soo yummy...looking forward to trying it and other recipes.
There are lots of good meals in there! Something for everyone, I think.
I seem to have more veggies left over at the end of this week, so this weekend, we will play catch up!
Monday - Char-grilled pork rib chop, steamed carrots, zucchini
Tuesday - Dinner Salads with grilled Honey Mustard chicken, orange bell pepper, sugar snap peas, and kimchi
Wednesday - the plan was tuna salad but we actually each ate out because I worked late and Hubby was at a class all day...
Thursday - Red Lentil Soup from the crockpot which was wonderful
Friday - Grilled chicken breast topped with bacon, cheese, and BBQ sauce, kale, sweet potato, birthday cake, wine {we were too tired to eat out to celebrate Hubby's birthday}
Saturday - Turkey Pot Pie for two
Sunday - Thin crust cheese pizza with sliced pears, prosciutto, arugula, carmelized onions, and goat cheese crumbles
My girl is now old enough to start eating more food with us, it's making cooking a lot more exciting!
Sunday: Mango chicken tinga (from a Mexican slow cooker cookbook from the library) served over rice. We liked it, so it will get to live in my recipe box.
Monday: Irish potato pie, to use up some potatoes that had been lingering in the kitchen.
Tuesday: Husband had a church commitment, so it was a fend for yourself night.
Wednesday: One skillet stuffed pepper casserole, an old favorite.
Thursday: Skillet lasagna. We found a new favorite for my little girl, she devoured these noodles!
Friday: Korean takeout, to celebrate husband putting in his two weeks. He's really excited for his new job 🙂
Saturday (tonight): Leftovers.
It seems appropriate that I'm late to the party because I was gone all day yesterday spending money on food. 🙂
Saturday: Thin elk steaks (pounded, then fried), garlic bread, frozen peas
Sunday: Skillet of leftover hamburger, cooked potatoes, roasted onions with cheese and some ketchup and mustard to make a kind of cheeseburger casserole. Plus home-frozen green beans and frozen corn.
Monday: My husband made one of his special stews, this one with posole (hominy), pigs' feet, and chiles. The kids, amazingly, ate some of that, plus some of the leftover casserole. And carrot sticks.
Tuesday: Elk tacos with homemade corn tortillas, mashed squash from the freezer, home-frozen green beans, frozen corn
Wednesday: A skillet of leftover chili/potatoes/cheese, more mashed squash and frozen corn
Thursday: Brisket with caramelized onions, fried potatoes, baked beans made with pinto beans, more mashed squash, and home-frozen green beans. By this point, literally the only things in my produce drawers were a few lemons and a single carrot.
Friday: Store day. A trip to the Outside World takes all day, so we didn't get home until five p.m. Thus, we had a variety of leftovers, plus fried eggs and sliced cucumbers to round it out.
Well but your leftovers sound pretty fantastic 😉
Fun fact -- just made chicken salad using a $5 Friday Rotisserie chicken. Used up one jar of mayo and found another lurking in the way back. Plopped it into without thinking and then happened to check the date later-- Best by 6/2015. Yikes! tasted okay and not sick yet. Am throwing it out anyway 🙂 Otherwise working on using up stuff in the 'frig and freezer.
Saturday: Italian dinner out with daughter and husband for his b'day (again) and going away for work dinner. I ordered a half serving of pasta; went home for daughter's cake and coffee.
Sunday: Marked down Thai stir fry kit with added broccoli and a lone frozen chix breast.
Monday: Cheap Mexican food with husband -- split some items to keep it low .
Tuesday: Just me so discounted Amy's frozen veggie and bean enchilada dinner (delicious), broccoli
Wednesday: Discounted Amy's frozen pasta bowl (meh), frozen corn and peas
Thursday: Discounted frozen veggie "griller "burger that was yummy, baked potato, steamed broccoli
Friday: $5 Friday rotisserie chicken, baked potato, salad
Saturday: Infamous Chicken salad sandwich with mature mayo, tossed salad
Monday - lemon, chicken, orzo soup
Tuesday - Beef tacos
Wednesday - I can’t for the life of me remember
Thursday - crunchy baked ranch chicken breast with salad
Friday - take out Chinese - we were all craving it and feeling like we needed to get out after 3 days of snow
Saturday - smoked sausage and pepper penne
Sunday - creamy chicken enchiladas ( made green sauce for the 1st time and it was delicious )
All in all everything was good! Trying to avoid the winter blahs and keep our meals interesting despite some cranky picky eaters.