What I Spent, What We Ate | Snow in November?
This was the view from my bedroom window yesterday. We hardly ever get snow in November, and it was so odd to see the combination of autumn leaves on the trees + snow on the bushes.
It rained and slushed all day after that, so the snow is completely gone now.
We need a good snow after all the leaves have fallen and are cleaned up, because as Zoe pointed out, leafy snow is no good for making snowmen.
What I Spent
I started with a $25 Hungry Harvest.
Yep. That's eight red peppers there! We've been eating a lot of peppers.
And then I spent $101 at the grocery store.
So, my total for this week is $126.
November Spending
Week 1: $66
Week 2: $126
What We Ate
There's a serious freezer theme going on here, as you will see!
Monday
I made BLT salad, using chicken from my freezer challenge. And to go with our salad, I toasted and buttered some buns from the freezer.
Tuesday
We ate pulled pork from the freezer on buns, and I pan-sauteed some asparagus to go on the side.
Wednesday
We had Swedish meatballs, from the freezer challenge. I had no noodles, so we ate the meatballs over angel hair pasta, which worked out just fine.
I cut up some fresh fruit to go with our meatballs.
Thursday
I used the flank steak from the freezer challenge to make an orange beef stir-fry, which we ate over rice.
Friday
I have not decided yet! Sonia and Zoe are having two friends over for a sleepover, so I think I'll ask them what they'd like to eat with their friends.
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We spent about $20 this week on groceries. Since we brought our new baby home on Sunday people have been generous with food. Most of the week we ate lasagna, my mom made, with meatballs and garlic bread. For lunches there has been ribs with baked beans. We have also had waffles for breakfast. Tonight my mom is making us hamburgers for dinner. The new baby is stuck eating at mom's milk buffet, which ultimately costs nothing but my time (and sleep)
Blessings on your new baby!
Congrats on your new small person!
Congratulations.
It snowed in DC yesterday too! Well, it rained as well, so yes, the snow is almost gone this morning. I think it didn't snow until Xmas last year. Now it's all sunny, and I love it!
Those meatballs look good! I have a vegetarian version that I've wanted to make for a while now. Must get around to that!
This week, I made a sweet potato/3 bean chili in the Instant Pot, and a one pot spicy Thai noodle dish with baked tofu. Other than that, we've been eating leftovers. I'm happy to report that they all got eaten up with no waste (which is fantastic, because that fridge was FULL!!!!). We've got a hectic afternoon and evening today. I have a flatbread pizza in the garage freezer, I might just cook that for dh and me and throw some chicken nuggets at my daughter before we rush out the door again. We'll see. 🙂
Recipe please Stephanie for "Spicy Thai Noodle Dish with Baked Tofu?
Thanks!!!
This week was kind of odd for us and I'm having to think a bit about what we ate. My groceries came in under budget, but not as much as I wanted, about $20 less than budgeted.
We had meatloaf then ate it again as leftovers. We had green beans and carrots with it, possibly both times.
We also had a large slab of ribs that made two meals. We had sweet potatoes and something with one meal, and cabbage and corn with the second.
Oh, now I remember. Since we ate our "Thanksgiving" dinner last weekend, leftover turkey filled in the gaps, with random sides including cinnamon applesauce. It was a week of eating a meal, then the leftovers.
What's the difference between pasta and noodles? Are "noodles" egg noodles?
Yep, I should have specified! Usually I use those curly egg noodles with Swedish meatballs.
Maybe the kids and their guests could bake some cupcakes and use up the leftover frosting from the freezer? Maybe since it's green it could be Grinch cupcakes.
Then make hot cocoa with that coffee creamer to go along with them, lol.
What recipe do you use for orange beef?
I use the one from the ATK Quick Family Cookbook...the orange ring bound one.
I've been sitting here scratching my head wondering why you were doing this on a Thursday before I realized it was actually Friday. I've been going all day thinking it's Thursday.
Monday: Tacos using some turkey meat in the freezer. We're trying to use up what we have.
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner (bacon, eggs, potatoes, fruit etc.)
Wednesday: Wife and daughter had spaghetti and meatballs. I had a BLT as I don't eat pasta.
Thursday: Ate leftovers from the fridge. I had a large salad.
Friday: Pork chops, rice and vegetables are the plan.
Haha, I did that on Wednesday this week. I thought it was Thursday!
Spent 32.77 on Monday, mainly to replace spices/seasonings in the pantry.
Monday - homemade chili
Tuesday - leftover chili as husband was out of town
Wednesday- garlic butter shrimp & rice pilaf, crescent rolls
Thursday - country style ribs with bbq, cole slaw, baked potatoes, plus fruit muffins
Friday - fish & chips, leftover cole slaw, hush puppies maybe
I shall have to dredge my memory:
Monday: I did a good job not buying food while I was flying home. I brought apples and baby carrots from the supermarket and made an omelette sandwich (of leftover egg whites and leftover chopped onion). I also had several meringues the size of a baby's head, of which I ate one. BTW, the recipe, from the Nov18 CI, is stellar.
Tuesday: ?
Wednesday: Baked pork chops, baby carrots. Didn't even have fruit, which tells you how distracted I was.
Thursday: Ate out since my kitchen was significantly disarranged by the window replacement project.
Friday: Either out or leftovers, depending on how chaotic the kitchen is at dinner time.
New windows! Yay! But a torn-apart house is totally not fun.
Some moron scheduled 2 days for a 3 day job. The workmen were here till 7pm yesterday, 9 pm today, and they're still not done. They'll be returning on Sunday to finish, god willing and the creek don't rise. I have several things to say to the management and none of them are complementary. I expect I shall be saying so very publicly, very soon.
Oh man, that's awful! I REALLY hate having my house torn apart, so if you are like me, I can imagine that you are not delighted this is dragging on.
This all looks delicious! I'm going to definitely try to clean out the ol' pantry with next week's meals. With it being the week of Thanksgiving anyway, there's little time/sense in doing anything crazy elaborate and new with all the holiday brouhaha.
I've been sick all week and finally made it to the doc today. It's a sinus infection, which is a surprise to no one. 😛 Because of that, my sense of taste is numbed. The BEST thing I ate this week was a 25 cent box of soup I bought at the grocery store months ago.
It was Annie's tomato soup (you know, with the little bunny-shaped pasta) and I devoured it. Sometimes a can of soup is all you need!
Aw, it's the bunny shaped pasta that did the trick 🙂
It's known to have magical healing powers.
Boy, you really rocked the freezer challenge ! And it all looks so good 🙂 . . .
Sunday -Frozen pizza & salad
Monday - Used up frozen turkey meatballs, frozen half-baked loaf, last of tom. sauce, and some mozzarella cheese to make big ol' meatball subs -- pantry/freezer items
Tuesday - Pork and beans in the slow cooker. Used up frozen boneless country ribs from a year ago and canned beans, tomatoes with peppers and onions, another pantry meal.
Wednesday --"Use Up All The Things" chili -- from all the stuff hanging around: single serving frozen discounted organic veggie chili, a can of campbell's "all natural chili (cough, cough), the last of the slow cooker pork and beans, and cans of beans and tomatoes and even a frozen teaspoon of tom. paste. Thank you for the suggestion of freezing leftover paste in tbsp increments!
Thurs. -- Husband off the UUATT chili again and it just so happened I had conference night at school so he had Pollo Loco takeout (fast food chicken) and I had Pho for lunch near school and lovely buffet of stuff the PTA put out for us. Not our best day 🙁
Friday -- Dinner with daughter, not sure . . .think i will be freezing the chili.
husband begged off the chili, it should say. Actually he refused said chili. So, yeah, freezer it is 😉
Now it is only two of us meals tend to be repeats. For example I roasted a chicken and it morphed into four meals. Chicken with noodles, chicken soup and so on. I tried flank steak for the first time. It is not for us. Mum could not eat it. So the next night the left overs were converted to a stew. The last meal which did us for two meals was two braised lamb shanks. I used Moroccan spices and preserved lemon and it was very nice.
You did great this week on the freezer challenge! The struggle is real over here with the HH peppers....I’m the only one who will eat them and I prefer them cooked in something. If all else fails I cut and freeze them for future use...
Be glad you only had snow. I live in Western PA and had ice then snow which had trees snap. We didn't have heat from Friday 2 am still noon today. Not nice with no heat or water but since just me and dh it wasn't too bad. Cheryl
Ice is just the worst! And losing power in the cold is awful too. I'm so glad you have heat now!
I get discounted bell peppers at the store sometimes, and it's always more than I can eat raw or with fajitas. We will sometimes do stuffed bell peppers, but my favorite thing is actually to roast them in my oven and then peel, chop, and use or freeze for future dishes.
It's SO easy. It takes some time, but then you get these luscious roasted peppers that can go in egg dishes, hummus, pasta...the possibilities are endless, and if the peppers were a little soft to begin with, no one will even know!
great idea!!
I love roasted peppers in a nice Italian bun with extra sharp provolone (not the kind you buy at the deli counter). So good! I could eat it everyday.