What I Spent, What We Ate | Three left until 2020
There are only three more WIS, WWA posts left in 2019!
What I Spent
I didn't do a WIS, WWA post last week, but I spent $176 total between the two weeks so I'm just gonna average it and give each week $88.
Year to Date Grocery Spending
It’s week #43 of 2019, and I’m averaging $147/week with one month left.
January: $619
February: $485
March: $702
April: $791
May: $806
June: $598
July: $695
August: $558
September: $484
October: $672
November: $772
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I had a date night at Panda Express.
FANCY PANTS.
I had a free entree coupon from the back of a previous visit's receipt (fill out a survey, get a code for a free entree), and our new receipt had the same offer.
Naturally, I did the survey, so I have a new coupon now.
Sunday
Mr. FG has been wanting to learn how to make bread, so I walked him through the process of making glazed honey pan rolls.
We also made some cinnamon butter, and you guys, those rolls hot from the oven, topped with cinnamon butter, are SO good.
We'd have been quite happy to just eat rolls, but we also had a green salad and a spiral-sliced ham.
Monday
I made orzo with sausage and asparagus.
This is a one dish meal (meat, veggie, pasta), but I cut up some apples for us to eat on the side too, since I still have some left from the last bruised box I bought.
Tuesday
We went out to get our Christmas tree, and beforehand we ate dinner at Panera because I had a gift certificate from Sixth Continent.
(Sixth Continent has had some issues in the past, but of late, any certificates I've gotten through them have been delivered without any problems. If you've still been using them, I'd love to know how it's going for you.)
We went to Starbucks for hot chocolate after we got our tree, where we used another gift card (from Sixth Continent). I got that one a while ago and had forgotten I'd uploaded it to the app!
Wednesday
I made pulled chicken sandwiches (a favorite of Zoe's) because the poor girl had to have toenail surgery and I thought she could use a favorite dinner.
We had Sun Chips and fruit salad on the side, and I got Zoe some strawberry ice cream for dessert.
Thursday
We had slow-cooker Japanese pork ramen and I cooked up some frozen potstickers from Costco to eat on the side.
Friday
I have some leftover chicken from Wednesday's dinner, so I think I'll use it to make some BBQ chicken pizzas.
What did you eat for dinner this week?
It has been an unusual week starting a trip from Friday to Saturday evening. We were invited to a lunch for the 100th birthday of an great-aunt. We were very grateful to be there for this special day.
Sunday: stew with potatoes, beans, pears and bacon
Monday and tuesday: rye bread with cheese and cold cuts; carrots and tomatoes
Wednesday: My cousin invited us over for ravioli that she made from scratch. She made some with mushroom and some with venison fillings.
Thursday: Chineese noodles with bok choi, peas and green beans. As sauce I used some leftover pork roast juice from the freezer.
Friday: I‘m going to a big and fancy Chrismas party.
As usual I find it difficult to remember.I know I have served lamb three times this week. Twice was a Moroccan flavoured lamb fillet with cous cous one night and salad the next. There was also a lamb roast with vegetables. We also had chicken wings one night. The rest is a mystery. I have so much meat in the freezers that I pull out something and make dinner.
I know we have had a lot of fruit and salads this week.
Toenail surgery? Never heard of that, but it sounds like it would be unusually painful, for some reason. Hope she heals completely very quickly.
Food.
Saturday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, green peas
Sunday: I took my eldest son to the 4-H awards dinner, and everyone else ate leftovers.
Monday: Scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, bread and butter, pinto beans, green salad
Tuesday: Our friend gave us the ribs from a deer his son-in-law got. My husband cut off the meat and used it to make a venison and hominy stew with lots of chili, and I made some roasted vegetables
Wednesday: My family ate leftovers and I brought a big platter of the roasted vegetables to the school staff Christmas party
Thursday: We were also the lucky recipients of a smoked leg from the same deer the ribs came from. I cut the meat off that and used the bone to make a stock that was just like ham stock. I used the meat and the stock to make a cabbage soup. The meat left on the bone was pretty tasteless, as all the flavor went into the stock, so that meat I fried in sheep tallow with potatoes and spices for the family members who aren't into soup.
Tonight: I have a big bag of elk in the refrigerator that needs to be used. Any ideas? 🙂
I am all out of elk ideas 🙂 I seriously want to eat at your house. And have friends who gift me the sides of deer smoked leg. And be clever enough to know what to do with them.
oops, "sides of deer and smoked leg."
That's very kind of you, although I think it's not so much cleverness as a lot of years dealing with unusual kinds of meat thanks to a hunting and sheep-raising husband.
Definitely never would have foreseen this growing up in the suburbs eating boneless, skinless chicken breasts. 🙂
Hah! All the more props to you! 🙂
It was to remove an ingrown toenail, and the surgery itself is not so bad, but the numbing shots are really terrible.
Poor kiddo.
Saturday- chicken cordon bleu, mashed, mixed veggies, son had mac and cheese.
Sunday- left over thanksgiving at moms.
Monday- DH/DS had taco ring, DD, and I had pancakes, as taco upsets both our tummies!
Tuesday- DS has soccer practice, so him and DH grabbed something after. DD and I had French toast. (yea a lot of breakfast, but its quick easy, and I really don't care what I eat as long as I have something!)
Wednesday- hot dogs, tater tots, and I had some baked beans also.
Thursday- Breaded chicken cutlet, butter noodles, mixed veggies.
Friday- Anniversary, so dh and I are going out. we will get something for the kids.
Friday and Saturday: Thanksgiving leftovers
Sunday: Turkey sandwiches
Monday: Salmon with Caesar salad and homemade French fries
Tuesday: Veggie burgers with what my husband calls smashers (small potatoes I cook in the microwave, then press until they open, add a little olive oil and sea salt and bake for about 15 minutes) plus avocado for me and applesauce for him
Wednesday: vegetable beef soup with corn muffins
Thursday: chicken sandwich with leftover smashers and applesauce for my husband. Ramen soup and avocado and tomato salad for me.
Tonight: Takeout Cuban food.
We were in clean out leftovers mode. Here's what we had:
Friday - Thanksgiving leftovers
Saturday - butternut squash soup with goat cheese crostini. I lost my favorite recipe, so improvised and it wasn't as good
Sunday - I made a bolognese sauce with veggie leftovers & ground beef. Adults had this over zoodles. Kids had it with pasta.
Monday - soup + a bit of leftover steak. With the last of the crostini
Tuesday - leftover bolognese
Wednesday - I made a package of wontons from the freezer (we are having freezer space issues, so this was primarily a goal to just clear out freezer space) + chicken strips
Thursday - homemade pizza (kids) & cauliflower crust pizza (adults), doctored up
It was a good week, with lots of holiday kitchen cooking!
Sat- A fast casual Mexican place (not Chipotle, but similar), with my oldest and her sweetie, then we all went holiday ornament gazing, and to pick out a Christmas tree at nearby over-the-top garden center.
Sun- Entertained here at home and served brie with a drizzle of honey and fresh thyme as my starter, marinated beef kebobs, veggies, lime rice, and garlic bread as the main, then warm apple spice cake with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream . . . so good!
Mon- Leftovers from Sunday.
Tue- Tortellini with butternut squash pasta sauce, salad, garlic bread.
Wed- Moroccan spiced chicken, leftover lime rice, grilled bell peppers and green beans, plus garlic naan.
Thur- Leftovers from Wednesday.
Fri- Holiday party event, which will include dinner.
I continue to enjoy cooking in retirement in that most every recipe I follow provides at least one night of leftovers, if not more. Yeah for leftovers!
Forgot to add that I also baked coconut lime macaroons and chocolate dipped macaroons for a temporary housing facility we help serve dinner at once a month. The residents are so appreciative of anything homemade, that it's a joy to bake for them.
Did you get a carbon steel skillet? Is that a recent thing or did you have that for years?
Monday: Turkey soup and sandwiches.
Tuesday: Various things still in the fridge.
Wednesday: Finished off the turkey, potatoes etc. Luckily we didn't have any major waste from Thanksgiving and ate pretty much all that we cooked. It just took a while.
Thursday: Homemade pizza. My wife declared it was amazing in part because "there was no turkey in it." She's definitely sick of turkey.
Friday: Just going to take it easy and cook something quick because we're taking our daughter out to a special event at Barnes and Noble tonight.
Monday: meatballs, brown rice, brussels sprout salad
Tuesday: Panini sandwiches with oven baked fries
Wednesday: Chipotle
Thursday: meatballs, oven baked fries and roasted cauliflower (eggs and cauliflower for me)
Friday: Probably something with broccoli and turkey slices
I do love eating out...and we've done our fair share of it lately, but here's what I scraped up this week:
Monday - Tilapia, sauteed fresh veggie
Tuesday - Pork Stir Fry with potstickers
Wednesday - Crockpot of pinto beans with chili meat, corn muffins
Thursday - Grilled Chicken, sauteed veggie
Friday - We're having Butternut Squash Soup, Grilled Cheesers, and a lovely Albarino
Saturday - OUT - Hubby's office Christmas party in the evening at a great downtown Austin restaurant
Sunday - Creamed (Thanksgiving) Turkey on Toast with peas and carrots
Incidentally I have a LOT of leftover turkey in the freezer and that makes me so happy!
I was out of town all weekend and didn't get to do my menu planning and full grocery shopping as usual, so this week was pretty hit or miss. I'm trying to remember what we had. Fortunately, I had some cut up chicken and some pork chops in the freezer.
Last night was a frozen vegetable lasagna for him, and I had spinach, leftover baked sweet potato and leftover ham.
One night I browned chicken pieces in my cast iron skillet and finished cooking them in the oven. We had fried okra and something else with that.
I cooked a farm package of six pork chops, so we had that two nights. The vegetables were asparagus tips, white potato for him and sweet potato for me and I don't remember what else.
One night he just had a ham and cheese sandwich with chips and fruit, and I can't remember at all what I ate.
This week I am drawing a big blank for a menu. Here's hoping I figure it out before I have to hit the stores.
Saturday - We had my family over and I made meatloaf (part as a break from turkey and part to celebrate the deer meat my dad got). My mom brought sides.
Sunday - Made 4 pizzas for my life group.
Monday - Leftovers before a dessert banquet where my kids ate a ton of cookies.
Tuesday - Turkey noodle soup, bread. Side note: I had to take one of my kids to the dentist in the afternoon so I bought bread instead of making your french bread recipe (which I make a lot). Goodness gracious! $2 just for bread and it wasn't even better than what I would have made.
Wednesday - Sloppy joes, broccoli with cheese, and asparagus
Thursday - Tacos and pineapple
Friday - Chili and cornbread are on the menu. I need to find a recipe for a moist cornbread, though. That'll be my next task!
My last gift card request earlier this week required me to contact them twice, once the day after it was supposed to be available when I got an error message, and once again the next day after they said it would be able but wasn’t. It worked 24 hours after the second message.
I was actually going to DM you on Instagram about Sixth Continent. Things were rough for about a month or two, but I think they've gotten things straightened out.
Those rolls look good! Making my own bread is something I’ve always wanted to do, but whenever I try it just seems to go wrong. Maybe I just don’t have the baking gene.
Everything looks delicious and hope your girl's toes are healed!
I was ready to COOK this week but was not as successful as I should have been.
Saturday -- Cannot remember -- frozen pizza? Last of yummy leftovers from our friend?
Sunday -- Thai food for the end of the week and of my vacation, so went to nearby not expensive joint.
Monday-- Ralphs had Marie Callender's frozen Turkey dinners for 2 for $3.59, including potato, gravy, and stuffing. NOT as good as my friends, but we added leftover veggies from T'day in the salad and steamed up the baby carrots and broccoli and called it good. We lurve turkey.
Tuesday-- School was a drag so we took advantage of the $2.50 6 inch subs from Subway. The meatball was great. FAIL -- we each had 2 🙁
Wednesday-Marked down chicken legs baked in SoyVay sauce, brown rice, broccoli, salad
Thursday-- All set for the leftovers (very tasty) but we had a power outage of 4 hours and it was pitch black up and down the street. So we were forced to get our favorite cheap Mexican food, with some leftovers.
On the plus side, we didn't open the refrigerator and everything was fine later on. Not a great week but will do better next week.
Sat - Turkey poppyseed casserole, green salad, wheat rolls
Sun - Turkey shepherd's pie, fruit
Mon - Turkey stuffing balls ( like meatballs) with cranberries and green peas
Thur - Finished up all of the leftovers: green beans, broccoli casserole, sliced turkey, cranberries, jello salad, wheat rolls, corn pudding and fruit
Fri - ds had a scout event, we took the littles to Applebees on a gc and only had to pay the tip in cash
Sat - (tonight) turkey soup in instant pot, veggies and dip, wheat crackers
Sun - no idea at all : )
Just a piece of fun:
Some years ago we bought a board game in the UK and played it first time with a group of friends there. The aim of the game is to cook a several course meal with the cards you draw. My husband drew terrible cards but was voted the winner by all of us because of his ingenuity. In desperation he killed and cooked both the cat and the mailman--two otherwise useless cards.
Erika, what is the game called?
We made the most our Thanksgiving leftovers this week. The only thing I bought was a gallon of milk and popcorn (the kind you pop in a pan yourself...a necessity in our house).
Saturday: Our daughter was home from college for the holiday and her best friend's family took us out for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant.
Sunday: My husband braved the ice and snow storm driving our daughter back to college. A two hour trip was nearly doubled. Served a nice, warm hearty meal. Homemade calzones made with layers of cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey. Served with gravy on the side as a dipping sauce. Corn and green beans. Apple pie a la mode for dessert.
Monday: Portabella mushroom and cheese omelette using fresh eggs gifted by our neighbor.
Tuesday: Turkey salad sandwiches. Pumpkin pie.
Wednesday: Hot turkey sandwiches with the last of the Thanksgiving mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce.
Thursday: Frozen pizza - one supreme and one with garlic, spinach and mushrooms.
Friday: Homemade soup made with turkey stock, turkey, the last of the leftover Thanksgiving veggies and some random pinto beans leftover from the tofurkey our vegan daughter made.
I froze the rest of the leftover turkey and stock for future use.
We just had a really yummy bbq chicken pizza! If you google cpk bbq chicken pizza, their recipe is really yummy! you add a little Gouda to your cheese and sprinkle cilantro on top after it’s cooked and those touches makes it so yummy!
Oh the slow cooker ramen sounds very good! Would you mind sharing the recipe?
Sure! I think I linked it in the post, but here's a link as well: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/slow-cooker-japanese-pork-noodle-soup/