What I Spent, What We Ate | A week of small stops
This was one of those weeks where I just did small stops here and there.
Which I have the luxury of doing because I don't have small children.
Also, I have around 239023842053275 grocery stores within 10 minutes of my house. It's kind of ridiculous. I'm not even sure how they all survive!
Oh, and Lisey works at a grocery store, which makes it super easy to pick something up when I'm taking her to work.
Anyhoo...
I got my Hungry Harvest box on Saturday, of course ($25).
It included this pineapple, which was perfect except for the fact that its top was missing.
I let it sit on the counter for a few days to let it ripen a bit, and it was seriously one of the best pineapples I've ever had. So good.
I made a $28.50 stop at Aldi last Friday.
And a few days later, I made a $46 Aldi stop.
To get ingredients for the spring pasta dish I tried this week (plus a few other things), I bought $18.41 of groceries while dropping Lisey off at work.
And the other night when we picked her up, we bought milk, cereal, and a few other things for $10.
I'm at $127.91 total for this week, then.
June Spending
Week 1: $109
Week 2: $172
Week 3: $127
What We Ate
Monday
This is the night I made the spring pasta dish that cried out for more sauce. 😉
Tuesday
I can't remember exactly why, but I got a serious case of, "I don't want to cook dinner."
But it's stupid expensive to get takeout for the six of us, so I got out some spiral-sliced ham from the freezer, defrosted some English muffins and toasted them, and made a variation on this salad (I used peaches and cranberries).
Wednesday
I made sloppy joes, using this recipe.
Since I have an overabundance of greens, we had another riff on this salad.
Thursday
I made ravioli with pink sauce (pink sauce is seriously the BEST.)
We had fresh fruit and applesauce with that because I really didn't feel like eating a salad three nights in a row.
Friday
It's been a few weeks since we did pizza on a Friday, so I think that's what we'll do tonight.
Whatcha been eating?
Share in the comments!
I can not wait until I can make small trips. I have two kids under the age of 5 and I detest "getting them out of the van" unless I absolutely have to. My hubby does the grocery shopping one time per week, so we don't have to take them with us. It's a complete disaster when we do! How many more years?
You probably already do this but my kids liked taking turns (especially in the summer) to plan and prepare meals. Sometimes they were quite simple- hamburgers on buns and chips, but it was a free night for me!
Thanks to a fairly recent pig slaugher, we're awash in pork and not much else. Although last night we did have beef hot dogs, because I was sick and wasn't up for much cooking. Good thing I bought those hot dogs when they were on deep discount after Memorial Day and stuck them in the freezer. Not good thing that apparently Son #2 has decided he doesn't like hot dogs (also on his hit list: fast-food hamburgers, pizza, and cake. What kind of four-year-old is he?), so he had a bun with cheese. Hot dogs with buns (or cheese with buns) and some carrot sticks and cucumber slices were about as far as I got. But I let the kids eat outside at the picnic table, so they thought it was the best dinner ever. Mom's way more fun when she's sick.
Tonight I have two pounds of the inevitable pork--ground pork this time--defrosting on the counter and I have not yet had a brilliant idea for its use. However, when all else fails: soft tacos. It even works with beaver. 🙂
Yes! Tacos are never the wrong choice.
Can you tell where your hungry harvest produce comes from? That would be a little odd, but I'm just curious.
Like, where it was grown?
Some of it comes packaged (like grape tomatoes), so then you know. But other things come completely unpackaged and without stickers.
Wow I really like looking at the photo of the ravioli with pink sauce. You are such a great cook and photographer!
Thank you! You are such an encourager. 🙂
Has anyone checked out Lidl yet? My closest one will be two hours away but I wanna do a road trip. Would really appreciate a firsthand report if anyone lives near one.
I heard they're coming to America now! I haven't been able to visit one yet, sadly.
There's one near me! I haven't been, but I heard from two people that went yesterday that it is pretty much like Aldi.
We shop there when we visit family in Ireland. They also have Aldi.
Do you have the recipe for the pink sauce? Looks so yummy.
Here you go! http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/ravioli-with-shrimp-tomato-sauce
Yes please tell us how to make the ( best ) pink sauce. Looks very interesting. I don't think we make an equivalent here in Australia unless it's like a seafood dressing. Thanks for sharing an interesting blog.
Here you go! It's a creamy tomato sauce. http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/ravioli-with-shrimp-tomato-sauce
I was about $5 overbudget for my brother's birthday celebration food but that's OK. Here is what I ate:
Saturday: Homemade corndogs and asparagus. Which is a weird combo but whatever.
Sunday: I had my brother's family over to celebrate his birthday. I made Greek nachos, souvlaki, rice, and pita with tzatzike sauce, Greek salad, and chocolate cake and ice cream.
Monday: leftovers
Tuesday: pulled pork, asparagus, cornbread and mashed potatoes
Wednesday/Thursday: leftovers from Tuesday
Friday: I had planned to have another corn dog (I froze the leftovers) but I am not really feeling it so we will see what else I can scrounge up.
At the beginning of this week it was in the high-90s. Now it is rainy and in the mid-60s.
Monday - quesadillas and black bean salad
Tuesday - stir fried rice with chicken for the meat-eaters and tofu for the veggies
Wednesday - pasta with goat cheese and spinach, broccoli
Thursday - pasta fazool, green beans dressed with pickled beets
Friday - black beans and rice with various chopped raw veg, fruit salad
We very rarely eat fruit at dinner, but we are now getting a fruit share with our veg share. Today we got the last of the storage apples from last fall and the first of this year's strawberries. Such a treat!
Well this has been a very cheap week for me.. I had surgery Monday morning 8am to remove skin cancer near my eye.. so I have not gone anywhere this week since husband brought me home..Cannot drive, swollen black eye and stitches down my nose.. been living horizontal with ice packs and pain killers! lol (But the cancer was removed!)
Monday- I made salsa chicken on Sunday for Monday supper... I don't recall what I ate... I had it for lunch before the pain kicked in...
Tuesday- Meatballs and red sauce in the crock served over pasta. I ate some because husband made me a bowl..
Wed- I had oldest son toss a beef roast into the crock pot.. husband added carrots.. served with bob evans mashed potatoes from the microwave
Thur- fend for yourself.. I think I had cereal...
Friday- I had a kid pull chicken breasts and pesto from the freezer.. husband grilled ... ate with frozen corn and roasted colored potatoes...
random fruit, baked goods from the freezer, bagels and cereal rounded out the week... no one starved..
Oh my! I hope you feel better soon!
My niece and nephew are here with us for a few weeks this summer so I have six kids here which made my grocery bill go up a little bit. 🙂
Monday: Sloppy joes, fries and corn
Tuesday: Pizza, salad
Wednesday: Cheese ravioli with spicy italian sausage sauce, salad (from my garden veggies!)
Thursday: KFC
Friday: Taco Bell
We plan to cook this weekend. Was at gymnastics/cheer and then the waterpark so we picked up food two nights in a row. I hate doing that, but sometimes it's just easier. I only spent $20 each night on dinner for 8 so it wasn't too expensive.
Do you think that with Lisey working at at grocery store , it will increase your spending habits? Seeing all the ads for things on sale may be a temptation ! lol
“I don’t want to cook dinner.” - I get this all the time. I'm considering trying out a meal planning / delivery company. I need to find one that's cost effective though.
Monday- Chinese noodles with stir fry veggies
Tuesday- grilled hamburgers, fries, fruit
Wednesday- Veggies sandwich at Subway
Thursday- Lettuce salad, fruit, sun chips
Friday- Pasta with chicken, cooked carrots, lettuce salad, root beer floats
Am I remembering correctly that you have a daughter who doesn't eat shrimp? I'm wondering if the pink sauce would be just as good without--we've got an allergy that's pretty sensitive to cross contamination so shrimp's a no go but it does look good!
Yep, she eats it without shrimp, or she sometimes just has her ravioli with regular, shrimp-less red sauce!
I have a crustacean and egg allergy much to my mother's annoyance. Sometimes I cannot even sit at the same table with those that are eating crab, lobster, prawns etc.
I have genuinely had the flu and have been so sick and now have bronchitis. I simply do not feel like cooking. Tonight my mother was very cross because I pulled out a huge chicken breast and some salad and left everyone to make their own burgers. She hates chicken so I did have a beef patty for her. Meals have been so simple. Roast lamb and veg on Sunday but through the week we have eaten all kinds of premade meals such as pies etc.
Oh, I hope you feel better soon!
And I'm sorry your crustacean allergy is so bad. Luckily, Zoe can be at the table with those of us who are eating shrimp/crab...those things just can't touch any of her food or her mouth gets itchy.
How is it so hard to remember what I made a week ago? 😉 SO HARD!
I believe it was:
Salmon & rice
Kebabs & leftover rice
Naan bread pizza
Spaghetti & meatballs with pink sauce (we love it as well)
We were at a family event the rest of the weekend, and I took my husband to dinner on Sunday, as we were child free.