What I Spent, What We Ate | Starting off with a bang!
It's a new month, so I'm working with a fresh pile of grocery money.
What I Spent
On Monday, I made a small stop ($11.95) to pick up a few things that we needed.
Plus a persimmon, which we did not need, but which Lisey wanted. 😉
(Update: she tried it and thought it was disgusting. But now she knows what she thinks about persimmons.)
Then on Tuesday, I stopped at Costco to buy $15 of pistachios. And I also made a stop at Aldi ($14.45) for a few things on the same day.
And it was a produce box week ($35).
That puts me at $76.40 for the week, so, woohoo! I'm off to a good start for February.
What We Ate
Monday
This is the night I made the skillet chicken with orzo. I made a green salad to go with it (using the last of a head of lettuce, which I revived by soaking it in cold water).
Tuesday
I made the orange beef stir-fry for the second time, since I had some flank steak in the freezer from a Costco trip. Yay!
We ate our stir-fry over rice, of course.
Wednesday
Mr. FG and I went out to dinner with our pastor.
At home, the girls had tortellini and a green salad, topped with garlic croutons that I made from some bread odds and ends.
(Which you would know if you followed me on Instagram. I share Very Important Things like this all the time over there. 😉 )
Joshua also had a green salad, but for his main dish, he had some flank steak that was leftover from the previous night.
He is a big fan of steak. 😉
Thursday
I roasted a salted, spatchcocked chicken. To go with that, I made pan gravy, roasted red potato wedges (my produce box had potatoes in it), and I also made a shredded carrot salad.
I saved the chicken bones to make chicken broth, of course.
I almost didn't, actually. Joshua was helping me put the bones into a bag and he thought I was wanting him to take the bones out to the trash can.
Luckily, I realized where he was headed before it was too late. Phew. One hates to waste perfectly good chicken bones!
Friday
Since I remembered to buy King Arthur bread flour last week, I'm all set to make homemade pizza.
I'm planning to make my basic pizza, which is basically not worth eating unless it's made with King Arthur bread flour. And I am totally serious about that. It really takes the crust to another level.
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Ok, frugal peeps! What did you eat this week? And did you manage to stick to your budget this week?
P.S. Don't forget to enter the TurboTax giveaway!
Most of our menu plan this week was a carry over from last week since the whole family had the norovirus last week. For the record, it is every bit as awful as they report it to be. I only spent $81 this week on groceries bringing our yearly average so far to $96/week for our family of 5.
Monday - Chicken noodle soup and bisquits (since we were still somewhat recovering)
Tuesday - Turkey sloppy joes on homemade buns with tator tots and green beans
Wednesday - Fettucine Alfredo with Italian sausage
Thursday - Pork roast/gravy with rice pilaf and canned applesauce. I didn't get to make a veggie because I had to rush my daughter off to urgent care for a high fever where she tested positive for the flu (fingers crossed it doesn't spread to anyone else).
I've used king arthur flour for a long time. I started out using the bread flour and thought I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I was surprised at how better my baking turned out. I now use their whole wheat and all purpose, even thought it cost more. I had a reminder over thanksgiving when I ran out of all purpose and ended up with another brand. My corn bread and pie crust were not great. I did use up that flour but was glad when it was gone.
Last week I had made spinach dip. I used some to make spinach mushroom pizza, it was good. Yesterday we had a shrimp(needed to use from freezer), carrots, onion, garlic stir fry. It made a butter type sauce. This was served over spaghetti with parmesan cheese. Turned out good for something just tossed together with what was on hand.
Saturday: Fish cakes from leftover salmon, leftover rice and salad
Sunday: take out
Monday: Chicken Tacos and cornbread
Tuesday: Chicken stir fry, rice and salad
Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Thursday: Chicken WonTon soup (a new recipe, that was delicious!)
Tonight: My husband and son are going to get slices, and I am eating dinner at a friends house with my book club!
We had enough leftovers and salad stuff in the fridge to be able to eat leftovers for lunch all week, with the exception of a lunch date my husband and I went out for on Tuesday.
Did she eat the persimmon by itself? Yuck! I don't get them very often but when I do, I puree them, then freeze the puree. Makes a delicious persimmon cake.
Yep, she tried it plain!
Was it ripe? Some varieties are meant to be eaten while firm, others while soft.
It's true. The picture looks like a a fuyu, and those things are truly disgusting if not ripe. They should be soft or the texture is cottony. It should remind you of a melon, in taste, but a little more velvety than a melon in texture...FYI.
When they are ripe, they make a great addition to oxheart cabbage salad (with thinly sliced red onion, crubled feta, diced persimmon and a homemade mustard dressing). You should give it try! I hope Lisey would try a bite too -
My greatest success this week was instructing my husband via email on how to make leftovers. He is responsible for Thursday evening dinners, and over the weekend (on Sunday) had made himself an entire pork tenderloin.
So he cooked us some leftover pork cubes, corn, and onion served over fresh steamed rice with salsa and cheese -- all bits and bobs from the fridge and pantry! 😀
Monday: Beef stew, with homemade biscuits I had in the freezer
Tuesday: Honey garlic chicken, using thighs instead of breasts, with mashed potatoes and zucchini parmesan casserole
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: burger for me, tamales for hubby
Friday: Chinese takeout I'm pretty sure
I love reading about what everyone else made - I get some good ideas here!
Monday - Pumpkin Chipotle Chicken (sauce from a jar, chicken thighs), bowtie pasta, peas. Made some quick cookies for a scout meeting and we ate late.
Tuesday - Hubby's Birthday! I fixed scallops, garlic bread, caesar salad, made a pie. Which no one will eat..
Wednesday - Bacon, eggs, biscuit, skillet apples (used up old apples, four freezer biscuits)
Thursday - Chicken thighs cooked with garlic and butter, rice, salad
Tonight - Hamburger SOS on bread I want to use up, plus a veggie
Saturday Hubby will grill chicken drums and will toss a chopped salad. Sunday I am putting carnitas into the crock pot before I leave for work.
Food expense this week topped $200, but last week our fridge looked bleak, and we were out of a lot of incidentals.
My husband said the persimmon may not have been ripe. That would significantly, negatively affect the taste.
Ohhhmahgosh I love persimmons. Their season is so short in Texas, but there's something about their delicious juiciness that I adore. 🙂 Did you know they're scientifically classified as a berry? Weird, I know.
We definitely stuck to our budget this week, but Mr. Picky Pincher was feeling a little down since we didn't try any new meals this week--womp womp. I'll do better about new meals next week. Here's what we ate this week:
Monday: Freezer night
Tuesday: The plan was to make Farro with kale, walnuts, and asparagus. However. I had a mondo-horrible-almost-got-fired kind of day at work, so I begged Mr. Picky Pincher for fried chicken. It wasn't the plan, but holy cow, that fried chicken was just what I needed. Sometimes you need some comfort food. 🙂
Wednesday: Tamale night! We froze two dozen leftover tamales from Christmas and ate these. One was bean and the other was spicy pork. Honestly we weren't fans of these, but ate them anyway. But hey, it was a dinner I didn't have to cook, so that was fine with me.
Thursday: Asian lettuce wraps. This is the first meal I actually COOKED this week. It was tasty and perfect. 🙂
Friday: Today Mr. Picky Pincher is grilling chicken breast. We're putting them on leftover burger buns and serving with a side of homemade black-eyed peas and creamed spinach. Yum!
The persimmon doesn't look ripe at all. I am not sure about cultivated ones, but wild ones have to be soft and a little withered before they are edible.
Ohh, ok. Well, that explains why it tasted so bad!
Monday: Chipotle (this was our only indiscretion this week)
Tuesday: hamburgers
Wednesday: Curry Chicken w/ rice and broccoli
Thursday: Kielbasa pasta w/ peppers
Friday: either leftover chicken curry or chicken divan.
I like King Arthur flour too. But Costco carries the Central Milling organic flour which is excellent for pizza. If it's at your Costco ou should try it.
My budget for January was $200 and I spent $199.34 so I am pretty happy about that.
This week:
Saturday: My homemade version of Taco Bell's double decker taco supreme. Yum!
Sunday: Chicken and broccoli stir fry with overcooked brown rice.
Monday: Tacos again.
Tuesday: hamburger gravy on toast with green beans
Wednesday/Thursday: Fish from the freezer with potatoes and green beans (also from the freezer)
Friday: Probably the leftover hamburger gravy with a vegetable.
Ya know, I remember when your grocery items would be covered in stuffed animals.
So far this week I've made one Aldi trip ($3.36) for milk and one other thing and my wife made a small Price Chopper run (about $25) to buy some on-sale items and to get stuff for tonight (we're hosting Bible study this week so we need to make dinner.). So we're on target with plenty of room to spare.
Sunday: We made a chuck roast, mashed potatoes, carrots etc.
Monday: Leftover chuck roast and potatoes etc.
Tuesday: Leftover chuck roast made into sandwiches with salads
Wednesday: Wife and kid had macaroni and cheese. I can't remember what I ate.
Thursday: Wife had another roast beef sandwich (which made its farewell appearance) and some pasta dish. Daughter ate the pasta, beef and tater tots. I had a beef, potatoes etc.
Friday: Wife made a casserole (I forget what exactly) as we are hosting Bible study. I'm also going to make a large tossed salad.
Whenever you show a picture of your produce box, I wonder why you did not purchase most of those items at Aldi. I understand and always buy local, seasonal produce myself. But this time of year I buy my carrots, lettuce, bananas, potatoes etc. at Aldi and I know I could probably overfill two of those boxes for $35. at Aldi. I know you take advantage of your local farmers (always love to hear about the "ugly" fruit boxes) so I'd like to hear more about the produce box.
Thanks!
Yeah, it's about supporting a local business, plus there's the benefit of getting stuff I wouldn't normally buy. Since it shows up in my box, though, then it makes me add more variety to our meals and side dishes. For instance, I probably would not generally buy beets. Or kale. But they appear in my produce box and I do end up using them because they're here.
I go back and forth about whether or not to cancel it, but so far, the value of being forced to eat more produce has made me stick with it.
But yes, I could definitely get the same volume of produce for less at Aldi. The question is just...would I? The produce box ensures that I will.
We ate from the freezer again this week, which consisted of meatloaf, beans and rice, some chicken noodle soup and pepper beef stir fry. I came in $88 under January's grocery budget. But unfortunately that will all go towards the physical therapy from cutting my finger. 🙁
Our family life was a little different this week as my husband left for a trip Tuesday and will be gone for a week. My oldest son will be away for the weekend (including tonight). I work full-time; hence the Crockpot dependency. (In the summer we BBQ a lot to give everyone a break from the Crockpot!)
Monday - Crockpot soup made with vegetables, sausage & lentils.
Tuesday - My youngest son had friends over for the afternoon and they ordered pizza. The rest of us scavenged leftover pizza.
Wednesday - Pancakes and sausage. (Because my husband doesn't like pancakes and he wasn't home.)
Thursday - Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken (chicken with peppers, onion, pineapple, etc.) and rice.
Friday - Leftover Hawaiian Chicken.
I spent $201 at Costco this week on dog food, maple syrup, milk, cereal, cheese, sandwich ham, bread, vanilla ice cream, Cliff and protein bars for lunches, mini cucumbers, butter, yogurt and a Kirkland Pepperoni Pizza.
We buy our meat directly from a farmer, so apart from lunch meat and special occasion items, our weekly grocery shopping does not include meat. We have a deep freezer and an extra fridge, which really help us save money (stocking up on sale items and buying bulk) and time (I buy enough milk for a week; enough fruit, veggies, bread, eggs and juice for several weeks, enough meat for 6 months at a time.)
Monday- Barbeque pork sandwiches and sweet potato fries
Tuesday- Taco salad
Wednesday- Baked chicken thighs, sauteed yellow squash, sweet potatoes, and pineapple
Thursday- Stuffed peppers and pineapple, though everyone thought the stuffed peppers we enough and the pineapple remained untouched
Friday- Brats with onions, baked beans, aaaaand... not sure yet, but maybe cooked carrots.
I certainly didn't cook as much this week!
Monday- Firehouse subs (used a holiday gift card)
Tues-chicken fajitas
Wed- frozen margherita pizza & pepperoni pizza
Thurs-canned veg soup
Fri- lemon butter chicken ( a reader posted this!) and apple strudel (from a magazine using puff pastry)
I will attempt the lemon butter chicken for dinner tonight and the strudel filling is cooling. I'll then wrap it in puff pastry. Since I cooked the apples in juice, I didn't add any extra sugar, like the recipe stated. DH has been wanting strudel for years, after visiting Germany. I have a recipe, but it's written in German 🙁
This weekend will be a smoked ham and then we'll make a turkey during the week. I'm also making a chorizo/potato/onion bake recipe on Tuesday. The Spanish bake is because we have to bring a dish for a school event, so we may as well make extra for the house, right?
Sunday - i made ham dinner with mashed potatoes, ham gravy, corn, homemade bread (2 loaves- my family loves bread, me not so much).
Monday- weiner wings & french fries
Tuesday - BBQ ribs in crock pot, noodles, salad, green beans
Wednesday - Scalloped potatoes & ham
Thursday - breakfast sandwiches on bagels and hash browns
Friday - ?? takeout as we're headed out of town for the evening
Week spending was $113.36, a little higher than I like, but hopefully i can make up for it in the coming weeks.
my weekly spending also includes all toiletries, paper products, laundry detergents etc too, so i guess that's not too bad. I've always included those in my totals.
Sunday was meatball sandwich
Mon was pasta with chicken and broccoli
Tuesday leftover from mon
We'd was pork chops and fried potatoes
Thursday soup and grilled cheese
Fri will be rice and beans with leftover chicken
Spent 152 this week but 28 of it was paper towels
Once again I am trying to remember. My meals have been very different to the others this week. Monday was ham and green leaves, Tuesday was chicken breast, green leaves, tomato and cucumber, Wednesday was beef with the same salad (no dressings for the next four weeks), Thursday was tandoori chicken with the same salad and half a cup of rice and Friday was a repeat of Thursday. I need to study this diet guide and learn what I can and cannot have because I am bored.
Monday- Roast beef, baked carrots and potatoes wedges
Tuesday: Left overs from Monday’s dinner
Wednesday: Baked salmon with lemon pepper, lettuce salad, potato wedges
Thursday: Potato soup with saltine crackers
Friday: Baked chicken breasts , baked potato, mixed veggies
Monday: Lamb chops (great price per pound from local butcher), twice baked potatoes & Aldi's Brussels sprouts which were roasted & drizzled with balsamic vinegar & honey.
Tuesday: Roast chicken from Aldi's, more Brussels sprouts (to finish up the bag), sauteed carrots with a dash of Amaretto & remainder of baby red, white & purple potatoes from Aldi's (steamed in ahem, Aldi's half & half on stovetop, finished with nutmeg & butter).
Wednesday: Chicken & dumplings with carrots & peas, made with leftover roasted chicken. Used homemade chicken stock in sauce. Homemade buttermilk dumplings. Good but won't make dumplings again as I prefer chewier ones. Was from Food Network, Tyler Florence's recipe.
Thursday: Leftover night. Everyone chose the chicken & dumplings again. This time, canned biscuit dough from Aldi's was used to make additional dumplings as the dish needed more.
Friday: Leftover night redux. I had a late lunch so I'm not hungry. Still have lamb chops & twice baked potatoes to finish & yep, a serving of chicken & dumplings!
During the week we ate lots of bananas, apples & mandarin oranges for snacks.
Monday- toasted Ravioli w/marinara sauce for him... leftover ground turkey and veggies from the weekend for me
Tuesday--Chicken with parmesan sauce and spinach... added bow tie pasta for him(my new recipe for the week. )A Total Hit!
Wednesday--Cheese Tortellini with marinara sauce and ground turkey (I bombed on this one Meat tortellini with sauce good... my combo, not so much, but he graciously ate it ,said "thanks for cooking" My Prince)..I had the ground turkey with green beans.
Thursday. Baked Chicken thighs ,steamed broccoli ...and rice (for him)
Friday Rigatoni shells with leftover sauce and picked up a demi loaf of French bread for him...I will try to stay hands off and stay on my diet......I will leftover baked chicken thighs from last night and my favorite,brocolli.
He is really in to pasta right now..... so EASY!
Happy Friday!! I worked M-F leaving the house between 5:00and 6:00 am ,not returning home until 6:00-7:00pm ... .. and figured out dinner every night , no eating out. And stayed on my nutritional plan. Healthier... which is way more important than frugal. I am just going to say ....yeah!
Really busy week at work, but here's what I managed. Too much processed food this week. Will try to do better next...
Monday--stir fry with store-bought korma sauce, and tofu two ways, (steam and fried with corn flour and peanut sauce), and cauliflower mixed in. Over brown rice.
Tuesday--my husband has a tooth extracted so we ate mushy food--mac and cheese from a box and mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Ice-cream for dessert.
Wednesday--fish sandwiches (store-bought battered fish), veggie stir fry (broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms)
Thursday--pasta with a jar of red sauce, with mushrooms, spinach, and a chopped veggie sausage stirred in.
Friday--veggie burgers and salad
I don't remember again. We had spatchcock chicken one night with veggies then again with mashed potatoes and gravy. We had hamburgers with cut up veggies one night on homemade buns. We had cauliflower soup one night. Well I guess I do remember ! Tonight is clean the leftovers out night. So far about $58 on groceries but I will shop more on Sunday.
We went SO OVER on groceries this week--I am not feeling happy about it at all, though I'm hoping it will be pretty much a 2-week grocery trip. $20.49 for a pinch-hit trip and then $169 for a stock-up trip! Yikes!! Granted, about $45 of that was "emergency supplies"--we are thinking about preparing for that big future earthquake on the West coast--so got an extra bag of dog food ($27) and bottle of ibuprofen ($14). My husband super sweetly did the shopping while I was at work, both times with a list I gave him, but I think he is not *quite* as much of a frugal shopper as I am. We need to start going together.
Next week is always a fresh start!
That's right!
And after I put everything away, I realized that there were quite a few things destined for our "emergency supplies"--an extra jar of peanut butter, canned goods--so those don't really belong in the weekly food total. Plus, the cupboards were spectacularly bare!
Monday: Oh I can't remember...
Tuesday: Kielbasa and homemade spatzle with green beans
Wednesday: Brinner! Pancakes and turkey sausage links. Proudly using the maple syrup the kids and grandparents canned last spring when they tapped trees!
Thursday: Parmesan Ranch Pork Chops with egg noodles and peas
Friday: Honey Garlic Chicken over rice with sliced green pepper.
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Up in the air. Daughter and and I are going to a play at the middle school so we may splurge on a meal out. If that is the case, Hubby and son will go get some spicy Indian food that we are not a fan of.
Okay, TheFrugalGirl, how long does YOUR basil plant typically last? About a month ago, I chose the basil plant versus the package of basil leaves at Trader Joe's (probably like Aldi's), because they were both the same price. Thought I'd have fresh basil leaves all winter, but I managed to KILL that poor little baby already. (my previous basil plant from Trader Joe's this past summer got plunked into a planter out on our deck in hot & sunny Central Oregon, was completely neglected but did get water, and went absolutely nuts -- apparently I have bad juju inside my house!). Bummer, because I had visions of Tom Kha Gai, bruschetta, etc....
Well, normally when I've bought them, it's warm outside and I just plant them in a pot. They do fine that way.
I'm not sure what will happen with this one though. My house isn't super bright and sunny and basil plants LOVE sun. I'm doing my best to keep it in a bright area, but I don't know how long it'll hold out.
Do you know how to eat persimmons? They need to be allowed to ripen until they are mushy and you think it's gone bad. You sort of spoon it or suck it out of its peel. They are never ready to be eaten from the store. They are amazing.
Well, that certainly does explain why this one tasted so bad!
I'm taking of my eldery father so my mind hasn't been on meal planning lately but this week I was proud of myself. We ate most of what we had on hand. It wasn't the healthiest week but better than take-out except Sunday was a total bust!
Sunday- we had Chinese takeout at a new place. Biggest waste of the week. Greasiest Chinese food ever so no good leftovers for lunch. The yelp reviews were even good.
Monday- swedish meatballs with carrots (leftovers for lunch)
Tuesday - honey cashew chicken over rice with zucchini (leftovers for lunch)
Wednesday- spicy chicken sausage pasta with carrots (leftovers for lunch)
Thursday - Shepard's pie made with ground turkey - finally used up all the carrots and leftovers for lunch
Friday - calzone pizza with side salad
Saturday- going to a party
Monday baked meatballs with Costco 5 cheese tortellini & your Oatmeal Cinnamon bread (minus the cinnamon & sugar). That recipe makes the best bread & toasted =yummy!
Tuesday leftover pizza & tuna salad.
Wednesday chicken wings, cauliflower with more tuna salad & those thin frozen green beans that Aldi carries they are so good.
Thursday cabbage rolls.
Friday shrimp both breaded and plain. Most nights we had veggies and fruit at dinner too.
My plan for the weekend is to make 2 dishes that I can freeze half to have during the weekdays when I am just to tired to cook. So far so good as I have 4 dishes ready for a weeknight and I will try to make 2 more this weekend.
I only spent $48 at Aldi & got blueberries, peanut butter pretzels, peppers, rice, bowls for work parties, celery, frozen green beans & a bunch of other stuff. Eggs were .38 per dozen so I picked up a couple dozen so the dogs can have eggs too.
One very frugal fail, the power company switched to new auto read meters and we did not notice till now that they have not been reading the gas in since September. I thought it was weird our bills were lower but our weather has been warmer than normal. Ah well they are coming out next week to look at it. My hubby did inquire as to why the system does not have a "flag" in in to notice no use as he works for our township with water meters and it shows a red flag when there is not any use or has not been read. I did look at all those bills when they came in and I still didn't notice it.
Two important tips to share this week.
Ripe Fuyu persimmons should have the texture of an apple. Slice them in thin wedges, then squeeze the juice of a fresh lime on it and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. An amazing taste explosion!
Frugal News Flash: You do not have to buy bread flour. You can make your own! Buy KA AP flour and add 1 tsp. gluten per cup to make bread flour. Look for it at health food stores. It's cheap and lasts a long time. Saves money, saves pantry space and you'll never have to worry about having bread flour on hand. Total game changer!
I made a half recipe of that skillet chicken/orzo. We loved it, my wife said " its very flavorful". This is what I did. I used frozen foster farms garlic italian marinated chicken(chunks). I had a coupon for 3.00 off, so almost a 2lb bag was less than 6.00. I used half a can of muir glen crushed fire roasted tomatoes For the stock, I used Progresso tuscan stock( seasoned with rosemary and garlic). Got that at our 99 cents only store. I browned the chicken really well and never removed it from the pan. I deglazed with some stock. I also used Italian seasoning and Penzey's california pepper. I added fresh green beans and some green peas( at the end). I stirred in the parm and some basil that its a tube. I'm glad my wife loved it, it was easy and will go on our rotation for sure.