What I Spent, What We Ate | plus check back at noon!
Food now, a giveaway coming at noon!
What I Spent
I spent $70.78 at the grocery store.
And then I got my $25 Hungry Harvest.
I added on $3.99 of organic strawberries to my harvest as well.
So my total for the week is $99.97. Yay!
(My budget is $150/week.)
What We Ate
Monday
I tried a new recipe for chicken lo mein bowls, and the night we ate them, I wasn't very impressed, mostly because it didn't seem like the sauce flavored the noodles enough.
But the dish improved greatly upon sitting, and the leftovers made for a great lunch.
Tuesday
I tried two new recipes for dinner...bacon-wrapped chicken breasts, and the mashed potato cakes that I shared with you yesterday.
The bacon-wrapped chicken was pretty good, but the bacon didn't get as crispy as I'd hoped. I realized later that I mixed up the order of two steps, and that's probably why it went wrong. Whoops. I'll do it again sometime, except the right way.
Wednesday
I had some broccoli from Hungry Harvest hanging around in my fridge, so I made this broccoli cheddar noodle soup (and I used some turkey broth from my freezer, so bonus points for me!)
I also made a pan of cornbread to use up some buttermilk.
Thursday
Long day, so I made sloppy joes, cut up some mangoes and grapes, and called it good.
Friday
I have an event to go to, so I think I'm going to order some pizza for the family.
Haha* Interesting...
You've almost reach your $150 goal and that's a huge achievement...
Ehmmm! Order my own Friday pizza too.
It was a gamy week at our house.
Monday: Lamb backstrap, french fries, steamed broccoli, roasted butternut squash, and baked apples for dessert
Tuesday: Beaver (yup, that's what I said--surprisingly beef-like) made into carnitas-style tacos. My children LOVE this. Me, not so much. I find it hard to eat after prepping it. I had some leftover venison chili. Plus carrot sticks.
Wednesday: Grouse baked with leeks, venison cooked with leeks (leeks make any meat better), pureed acorn squash, bread and butter
Thursday: Sick child wanted soup, so he and I ate the last jar of curried carrot soup from the freezer, plus cheddar cheese and bread and butter. Other two children had leftover beaver tacos, plus one had some soup and one had some bread and butter. Husband had leftover venison and leeks and squash.
Tonight: Beef stew with bacon and leeks.
Somehow, I think I will probably go my entire life without ever having beaver tacos for dinner. 😉
Sure never thought I would ever have them, much less cook them somewhat regularly. Along with whole trout, grouse, deer, lamb, squirrel, pheasant . . . Life is so surprising in its unpredictability. At least, unpredictable if you're married to a man like my husband. He'd never be called boring. 🙂
Frugal girl, I love love your post and your food looks fabulous, you are such an inspiration. Sorry to say this -- the gamy menu has carrot soup that sound delicious but other menu items are....................Yuck.
My uncles were big hunters so I was offered beaver meat as a kid, ate it. It actually isn't bad, but I'm not going to request it or anything....
We had a friend bring by some cougar meat a few years ago....yeah, that's why I'm vegetarian. (Actually, I'm vegetarian because I'd invariably get stuck at the stoplight behind hunters during elk season -- you know, elk heads poking out of the back of someone's truck bed...well, that plus commuting past too many cows in a former life sort of did me in). I tempt fate and live on the edge by trying the fried versus baked tofu. So, beaver? Yeah, no.
As a child, I remember having snapping turtle "meat" on the bbq grill. We kids had to try at least one mouthful. I don't remember what it tasted like--I just swallowed it quickly
Love this. Grew up poor in rural Maine in a family of hunters. Grouse, bear, deer, moose, coon, any kind of fish....you name it, we ate it. Probably wouldn't have had much protein if my dad hadn't been a good shot. Still love wild game best.
I would actually try the beaver, my family sold rabbit hare venison & buffalo when I was growing up & I have tried braised wallaby which was a bit like lamb. I liked the spicy venison sausages we sold but I really don't like duck. My dad would go duck shooting & it was a big treat for the family if he brought any home but I hated it, thankfully my parents didn't want to waste one of their favorite food treats on a child that didn't want it so I didn't have to eat it.
I love how your food looks so simple yet delicious and beautiful!
It's true that if you leave the noodles in the sauce for a couple of hours, it will soak up all the sauce and taste more delicious. My MIL said its the same thing with fish.
Happy Friday!
Pasta with homemade meatballs, bread and salad
Homemade Chicken, veggie Lo Mein.. I always quadruple the sauce
Beef tacos
Crock pot roast, mashed potatos and oven roasted carrots
Pulled Pork shoulder sandwiches and macaroni and cheese from a box
No idea what Friday night brings.. I did not plan it and that is just fine!!
We had a rather crummy week here (more medical stuff going on) so dinners weren't all that special.
Monday: Fish sticks with fries and cooked vegetables. Yeah, it's not the healthiest but we had to do something fast and I consider this to be better than eating out. Not much, but a little bit.
Tuesday: Pork chops with rice and carrots. Believe it or not, I used the last vegetable in the house on Tuesday because we've just not been able to get to the grocery store for a while.
Wednesday: Chicken with barbecue sauce and a broccoli/quinoa dish that I don't like but my wife and daughter do. I had a baked potato and a salad instead.
Thursday: Leftover chicken with tossed salads (I eat a lot of salads I've noticed.)
Friday: Homemade pizza. I have the dough (homemade) thawing in the fridge as I type this. It should be pretty good.
Shopping this week was about $70 in buying meat, vegetables (a lot of them) cereal etc. We're stocked up but I'm not sure what the weekend will bring.
Monday: Chicken Alfredo Casserole. This was plan C on what to make with the chicken I put out in the morning. What I had in mind, I was missing ingredients so I hand to find something that worked with what we had in the pantry. We always have milk and Parmesan cheese so homemade alfredo for the win!
Tuesday: Fend for yourself night aka use up all the leftovers
Wednesday: Baked pork chops, baked potatoes and green beans, clementines!
Thursday: Brats and Tots ,some kinda veggie and fruit. The kids love this meal cause it rhymes - ha ha
Friday: Breakfast
Love it! We had some kind of beef lo mein dish a while back. It was so tasty with its seared, crunchy beef strips, but it was expensive to put together. I do like making lo mein from spaghetti squash!
This week we ate:
Monday: Pizza. Our planned dinner didn't work out, so I cooked a pizza from the freezer. Good save!
Tuesday: Cheesy sausage pasta.
Wednesday: Tacos / Raising Cane's. It was a weird night.
Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs (homemade marinara and homemade meatballs, too)
Friday: Tonight we're eating at Mr. Picky Pincher's company dinner. They serve prime rib and have an open bar! 🙂
Is "Raising Cane's" a food?
It's a fast food chicken place.
Can you share the recipe for chicken lo mein bowls?
Monday- Baked chicken, dinner roll, and lettuce salad
Tuesday- Pasta with chicken, basil pesto, and parmesan cheese and a lettuce salad
Wednesday- Left over pasta, fruit
Thursday- Sausage pizza with black olives
Friday- Ham with melted cheese sandwiches, chips, and applesauce,
We had a pretty frugal week, lots of beans, cabbage, and on-sale turkey. It's a good thing we like the simple meals. "Check back at noon"? You've got my curiosity up!
I don't have my written menu on me, so here's what I can remember.
We had homemade veggie soup from the stock I made from chicken and turkey bones and veggie scraps, all saved in the freezer. It turned out pretty good, too, but of course I loaded it with veggies that I love when I made the soup, so naturally I would like it.
We had tacos one night, with fruit on the side.
We had the last of the frozen shrimp with potatoes and salad.
I made an au gratin casserole of leeks and cauliflower, with baked sweet potatoes and green beans on the side (it was veggie night again). I really liked it, my husband, predictably, did not.
Cold rain here in North Florida and snow in Georgia! Everyone be careful!
Monday - This was our last day of visiting my in-laws in Hong Kong. They took us out for real Chinese food.
Tuesday - The day we flew back to the US. With the time change, we left around 11:00 Tuesday morning, spent 14 hours on a plane, then arrived around 11:00 Tuesday morning. So weird. Thankfully when we arrived home around 6pm, my mother greeted us with pizza from Little Caesars.
Wednesday - Leftover pizza, strawberries, grapes.
Thursday - Taco salad. I was *quite* impressed with my ability to get this done because jet lag is being a jerk. I have a 1yo and a 3yo who seem quite determined to keep me on Hong Kong time.
Friday - Chili dogs, grapes, cucumbers and hummus... easy stuff.
We had an exciting week with my hubby working the last day at his job! He starts a new one in January and is enjoying about a month off!
Monday - Creamy acorn squash pasta loaded with sauteed onions and brocolli (kind of like grown up mac and cheese sans cheese)
Tuesday - Minestrone Soup
Wednesday - Leftovers!
Thursday - Spaghetti squash bake with our frozen homemade tomato sauce, cauliflower, onions, and spinach
Tonight! I still have to figure that out! Probably leftovers since it's already 4!
Oh, how fun! A whole month off. I hope it's wonderful for you guys.