What I Spent, What We Ate | Next one will be September!
I am definitely ready for some slightly cooler weather, but I'm also a little sad that our summer break is coming to an end.
But, it's going to end no matter how I feel about it, so I'm going to focus on the fact that I am getting pretty tired of hot and humid weather. Bring on the temperature change!
What I Spent
I spent $148 at the grocery store this week (I skipped my Hungry Harvest because I was going to Ohio.)
Since we're at the end of August, here's how my month of spending went and then also how my year of spending is going so far.
August Spending
Week 3: $148
Year to Date Grocery Spending
I’m averaging $150.11/week thus far.
January: $619
February: $485
March: $702
April: $791
May: $806
June: $598
July: $695
August: $558
What We Ate
Saturday
We had a cookout over Mia's fire pit.
Sunday
The girls and I ate carnitas in Ohio with Mia and her kids.
Mr. FG and Joshua made steak and poblano tacos at home and ate those with Lisey. 🙂
Monday
We had just gotten back from Ohio, so we ate frozen pizzas. Cheaper than takeout!
Tuesday
I tried a recipe from ATK's Quick Family cookbook for ham and swiss roll ups. These called for a can of biscuits, but I just mixed up a batch of cream biscuits (the same mentioned in the chicken and biscuits recipe) and that worked out fine.
I've never had a Hot Pocket, but these seemed like something along those lines, and they reheated quite well.
Wednesday
We had pulled chicken sandwiches, veggie chips, fruit salad, and cucumber slices.
Thursday
I tried a Cook's Illustrated recipe for chorizo and potato tacos with a tomatillo sauce.
Everyone but Sonia liked them, because Sonia's not really into Mexican spices.
Friday
Since it's not beastly hot out, I'm planning to grill some pizzas for dinner tonight. I hate grilling when it's crazy hot because then the heat from the grill makes me extra sweaty.
Happily, the dough is already sitting in the fridge just waiting to be grilled. Yay, Kristen from yesterday!
Your homemade version of hot pockets looks 100% better than actual HP which are, in my opinion, kind of gross. So much dough, little filling, super salty. Homemade all the way!
This is week 2 of my Empty Nest menu:
Monday - Chicken thigh skillet with carrots and potatoes, kale salad
Tuesday - Some ham bits I found in the freezer mixed into with BBQ beans with chopped peppers and onions added (it was meh)
Wednesday - Stir Fry Beef and Broccoli with some take out crab puffs
Thursday - Rosemary Chicken Caesar Salads
Friday - Tonight I am making pulled pork tacos to take with us as we head out of town
Saturday - Ravioli alfredo with butternut squash (after a trip to Red Wing Dove winery in Hamilton to celebrate their 6th anniversary)
Sunday - Scallops, Salmon, twice baked potatoes, mustard greens
I seem to be changing up the menus as I go...they are a work in progress as I am only feeding two now!
I'm taking night classes this semester 4 nights/week, so dinners at my house have been a lot of leftover/repeats.
Saturday - I was out studying so husband and toddler had McDonald's.
Sunday - ribs with mashed potato and green beans
Monday - ribs
Tuesday - ribs with zucchini and brocolli
Wednesday -bratwurst with leftover veggies
Thursday - frozen pizza
Friday - sushi bowls
We spent more than I wanted this month, but better than previous months this year. I'll count it as a win.
Homemade hot pockets sounds good!
We've been cranking through "Help! My apartment has a dining room" by Kevin and Nancy Mills. I don't think it's good as "Help! My apartment has a kitchen", or "Faster! I'm starving", but it does take out a lot of the thinking about menu planning and their recipes are still pretty fast and simple with ingredients available at the grocery store. The salmon spread was surprisingly popular this week.
(Any PF readers-- on our blog today we have a reader asking advice on what personal finance books people find helpful or not helpful-- we've made some suggestions but I'm sure there are things out there we didn't think of.)
I've never heard of those cookbooks, but I love the titles!
Wait. You've n.e.v.e.r had a Hot Pocket? Are you even a real person?
Haha! I just have never happened to buy a package. Maybe I should, for research purposes. And also to prove my real-person-ness.
Don't waste your money. Your homemade ones are far superior, I'm sure.
I was shocked by this as well!
I've never had a Hot Pocket, the name alone stops me 🙂
I've never had a Hot Pocket, either!
Well, this past week, my "I'm going to keep the bill low" went right out the window as a host of items popped up that needed re-stocking. I don't know what's up with my food bill suddenly, but I'm not happy.
I forgot to check my list on what we ate but I'll try to get this straight.
I made chicken and cassava/tapioca/coconut flour dumplings, plus green beans. The dumplings turned out well. I used the bony pieces of chicken and picked the meat bits off to add back to the pot. My husband hates boiled chicken, so the less in the mix, the better, to him.
We had uncured hotdogs and potato salad one night. I was running late, but I had the potato salad already made, so this took no time. I skipped the bun on mine.
I took the meaty pieces of the chicken and made an AIP compliant crock pot meal -- chicken with carrot chunks, chopped onion, chunked apples, a few prunes, and coconut milk. I liked it. My chicken-averse husband ate it.
We had kielbasa with the rest of the potato salad and sliced cucumbers.
Tonight is one last hurrah for the chicken -- homemade chicken tenders and salad. I'll have dumpling leftovers for lunch again and get that pot finished.
I'm having a problem figuring out what to buy this week. With Dorian looming out there, I have no idea if I'll have power soon. My generator needs work, so it may or may not run. Do I risk buying fresh produce and meat? I just don't know. At least I'm on the west of the storm, if it follows the currently predicted path. I wish it would just go harmlessly out to sea. I don't wish it on anyone else, but the Panhandle is far from recovered from last year, so I really hope it avoids this area. I daily see requests for bids for school roof replacements, public building repairs, road rebuilding, and more when checking the latest bid requests at work, and I know many apartments and homes are in the same situation.
I hope the hurricane avoids you and everyone else in Florida!
Thank you! We’re in the West Palm Beach area and were supposed to get a direct hit, but the forecast is looking better for us!
We had two whole days this week when it wasn't over 80 degrees in the kitchen in the afternoon, which certainly helps with my motivation to actually cook.
Saturday: Leftover goulash, leftover mashed potatoes with cheese, carrot sticks
Sunday: Tuna salad sandwiches, vegetables with ranch dip, vanilla ice cream with chocolate shell topping (quarter cup chocolate chips melted with 1 teaspoon coconut oil in the microwave). I had originally taken out ground beef, but it was hot and I didn't want to make more heat in the house.
Monday: Hot again. No cooking again. Instead we had a bunch of leftovers and some watermelon.
Tuesday: Not hot! Yay for cooking without sweating! We had bunless hamburgers, roasted sweet and white potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, green beans, raw cabbage for the children
Wednesday: Not too hot. Thus, beef pot roast, rice, baked sweet potato, cucumbers with ranch dip
Thursday: Aaaand, hot again. Hot dogs, leftover rice, sauteed summer squash, raw green beans with ranch dip for the squash-hating children.
Tonight: I took out ground beef. If I get to making pesto from the basil that needs to be harvested. maybe I'll make meatballs and pasta with pesto. Or maybe just Italian sliders (basically tiny hamburgers seasoned like meatballs, but without the eggs and breadcrumbs). They're easier than meatballs. We have quite a bit of zucchini to use up, and probably more green beans for the children who won't eat zucchini.
I hope you get some more cool weather soon!
I got excited to read everyone else's menus and get ideas for next week that I erased my menu board before I typed out what we had... Whoops. From memory...
Rice bowls, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and pulled pork. Not sure about days or sides. 🙂 Tonight I'll probably make up some dish that has rice, chicken, and broccoli.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday- chicken cacciatore over pasta- used lots of tomatoes from our garden- didn't expect it to last this many nights and also froze 2 lunch-sized servings
Thursday- pulled pork tacos with baked potatoes- used rest of pulled pork and potatoes, with eggs, for breakfast Friday morning
This weekend- off to YMCA Family Camp where meals are included!!
Picked tons of cherry tomatoes from our garden and made more than a 1/2 gallon of sundried tomatoes. Made lots of pesto from our garden basil this week. And 2 big jars of salsa using our tomatoes and bell peppers.
We have had a strange week which has found me having bowls of oatmeal and sandwiches at dinner time. We had lunch out a few times. It has been an extremely busy week which has seen me making super quick meals such as steak, mashed potato, carrots and asparagus or reheating something from the freezer.
Stay safe and dry everyone.
Dinner is always decided on logistics of the evening between rehearsals and practices
1) Pork Chops on the grill with Dijon, Balsamic and Rosemary marinade (yummy!). I think with couscous.
2) Sloppy Joes , chips and sliced green pepper
3) Arby's. During the school year if the kids want to see Dad at all for the day we meet him close to work before he heads off to rehearsal. So our "night out" is now Wednesday. A little pricey and not really convenient, but we think it is important to connect.
4) Fend for yourself - eggs, leftover sloppy joe, chicken salad from the neighbor, grilled cheese
5) Chicken Cordon Blu with rice and sliced green pepper. Teaching the kids to cook and this is what they picked. This is their third attempt an I was hands off this time. It might take an extra hour but that is why we do it on a non school night.
Yes! I, too, love reading these posts for inspiration.
$60+/-
Saturday: grilled ribs with corn from dad's [big] garden, salad, caprese salad
Sunday: grilled salmon with blistered green beans [from our tiny garden] with miso (epicurious)
Monday: ravioli with sautéed cherry tomatoes [dad's garden] and summer squash
Tuesday: Mediterranean chicken salad with grilled green beans, salad
Wednesday: avegolemeno
Thursday: pork carnitas with the fixins, sauéed corn with peppers and summer squash
Friday: chard and spinach spanikopita (seriouseats.com), jajek, crudite with spicy feta dip, baba ganoush
Tonight: leftovers
Any chance of your avgolemono recipe?
You must share the recipe for the roll ups. They look really good!
Yes, the recipe for the roll ups please! Thanks.
I made some similar chorizo and potato quesadillas from an ATK magazine I picked up at Costco. (Mostly fro your recommendation) I used the ring chorizo and chipotle cheddar instead, but they were delicious and I made the leftovers into breakfast burritos with some scrambled eggs.