WIS, WWA | $110 and a lotta lo mein
What I Spent
I spent:
- $66 at Aldi
- $8 at Safeway
- $36 at Giant (where I got my meat markdowns!)
So, $110.
What We Ate
Saturday
I had one of those work shifts that went so sideways, I didn't take my "lunch" break until close to 5 pm!
So, I wasn't hungry for dinner when I got home. I just ate some fruit and yogurt and went to bed. 😉
Sunday
We had French toast, bacon, and OJ.
Monday
I made a big pan of chicken lo mein, partly to use up some random veggies, and partly to make sure I had leftovers for lunch for the next three days.
This worked out great for lunches, with some sriracha packed alongside.
I used this recipe, but I doubled the sauce and also doubled the amount of veggies. And I did not use baby corn because I am staunchly opposed to eating it.
If you enjoy it, I am so happy for you, but something about the floppiness of it is a no-go for me. Ha.
Tuesday
I made a tuna sandwich for myself after work.
Wednesday
Cheese quesadillas after work, because those are fast enough even for a post-work meal.
Thursday
Work shift 3/3! I poured a bowl of cereal after work, showered, and went to bed.
Friday
I'm actually going to the symphony tonight (woohoo!), and I will probably grab some dinner in the city beforehand. 🙂
Ooh that fruit/chia seed situation looks good. I have an enormous bag of chia seeds to work through. I like making fruit and almond/soy milk pudding, but I've learned that chia seeds look HIGHLY unappetizing in baked goods, especially when one fighting ants in the pantry. Ahem.
Anyway.
Friday: baked breaded fish, frozen fries, bagged slaw, and wraps; kind of a pick-your-own-adventure kind of situation.
Saturday: My daughter and I had a sleepover at my parents' and we had chicken, rice, and various vegetables
Sunday: Dinner at my parents; I had eggplant casserole and bread, then fruit and some meringue for dessert. There was salmon but I haven't yet forgiven it for what it did to me in first trimester, so none for me.
Monday: Baked schnitzel, cucumber salad. All of us had snacked earlier so we weren't very hungry.
Tuesday: Pasta with broccoli, lemon, and parmesan.
Wednesday: Mr. B was working late and I had a virtual meeting in the evening so we were short on time. The little one was super hungry when I picked her up, so I impulsively took her to a cheap sushi place where we both devoured some rolls, with (vegetarian) leftovers the next day for lunch.
Thursday: Mr. B's coming down with something, so he got a pizza and I made a salad kit that my mom bought and didn't use.
Friday: No idea. Maybe we'll keep it simple and have pancakes, eggs, and fruit.
Oh no to ants in the pantry!! They can be so frustrating to deal with.
I spent right around $100 this week and ate take out three times!, which covered many meals. However, next week is all about freezer clean-out.
M - Chick-fil-a nuggets and a small kale salad after work
T - Felt terrible today so I ordered an Ike's sandwich and had it for lunch and dinner
W - Meatloaf, 1/2 a baked potato, brussels sprouts
Th - Aldi Mediterranean style scalloped potatoes, with added ham, cheese, and peas. This was serious comfort food!
F - tonight I am having some take-out fried chicken (purchased yesterday for lunch) with some black beans, and a side of mashed potato.
I have loads of leftovers for my three work lunches! And today I will enjoy a meatloaf sammie for lunch. (:
What's an Ike's sandwich?
Ooooooo - I had an Ike's sandwich for the first time last month when we were in AZ! It was delicious. I really wish we had them here in MN.
Friday: This was the day my family left for their roadtrip to Tucson. They were camping, so I had made them a Spanish tortilla for dinner. Portable but hearty, wrapped in aluminum foil so could be re-heated in a campfire, cou be eaten cold if they couldn't have a fire, and could be made meatless for a Lenten Friday. For myself, I took out a container of a vegetarian chickpea stew I had frozen excess of awhile ago.
Saturday: More of the chickpea stew, but this time I diced up the last link of Italian sausage from Wednesday's dinner.
Sunday: I ate lunch late and wasn't very hungry for dinner, so I had popcorn and peach vodka with seltzer. 🙂
Monday: I had made chicken stock a couple of days previously and used the meat I had stripped from the bones for my dinner this night. I made a lettuce-less salad with it that also included cucumber, pickled onions and beets, and bell peppers.
Tuesday: I had found some storebought hamburger patties in my little freezer that needed to be used. I had one of them this night--just the patty--plus some squash from the giant quantity I had put in the freezer when I cooked and pureed the last two garden squash that had been hanging around.
Wednesday: The return of my family, and of regular cooking for me. I made meatloaf, roasted potato cubes, and a green salad with vinaigrette.
Thursday: The travelers had brought back enough of the Spanish tortilla that I could use it for dinner. I cooked some sausage to add to it, and then a couple of boys had it as burritos, so there was just enough for everyone.
Tonight: I made buns when I was baking bread a couple of days ago, and I have some fish patties in the freezer, so we'll have fish sandwiches. I can make tartar sauce to go with those, which will make my family happy. I also have a cabbage that's been in the refrigerator awhile, and coleslaw is a good accompaniment to sandwiches. Maybe I'll make some oven fries, too. We'll see.
Kristin, your popcorn and peach vodka is like the popcorn and fruit we often have for dinner!
I support popcorn for dinner. Hehe.
Huh. Guessing this was a reply to my comment, which is not appearing. Did it disappear into the ether on your end?
Oh my goodness, what in the world! It was there and I read and replied to it, and now it has disappeared!!
Edit: wait, do you see it now?
Yes. Good job, whatever you did.
I have a silly little thank you. I've frozen extra bread to make homemade croutons for years, but for some reason I always froze it in whole pieces, which meant I had to thaw them before turning them into croutons. I was catching up on your posts, and you mentioned cubing old bread before freezing it. Game changer, and it didn't occur to me on my own. Thank you!
Oh, yay! I'm so glad it was helpful. Sometimes it's the funniest little things that end up helping others, isn't it?
My week was not great. We spent $220 at Harris Teeter, then more at Chick Fil A and take out. I also had a mid week grocery run for $80 that was mostly allergy medicine but still.
Sunday - Burger, broccoli slaw, potato chips with my in-laws. I also made lemon poppy seed snacking cake and zucchini chocolate chip muffins.
Monday - Wild rice and mushrooms, sheet pan chicken thighs, broccoli, sweet potatoes.
Tuesday - Leftover mish mash supplemented by scrambled eggs.
Wed - Salmon, fingerling potatoes, salad.
Thur - Everyone went in different directions -- the kids ate at two different Chick Fil As and we got takeout Indian.
Friday - I'm defrosting one strip steak for the four of us, which we'll eat with leftover saag paneer, fingerling potatoes, and I will probably make pasta for the kids.
I am so glad its Friday! I couldn't respond to Kristin @ Going Country but I'm in need of peach vodka and seltzer tonight!
Are you another vodka fan? I feel like I don't run into that very much. The flavored vodkas are a new discovery for me, and I love them because if I mix them with seltzer, it's a nicely flavored drink with no added sugar. I still like to have a cocktail occasionally, but sugar in addition to alcohol is not a good thing for me anymore.
That sounds better than the terrible 'skittles vodka' we concocted as students!
I am open to everything 🙂 Including a proper dirty vodka martini with extra olives.
Sugar and alcohol are not good for me either anymore, which is why I've moved to Mezcal and club soda with lime as my go-tos.
Fellow vodka fan here...I have several flavors in our cabinet at home. We went on a run of making different kinds of crushes a few summers ago. Anyhoo, my winter cocktail is a cherry vodka sour, which is refreshing and delightful. You use cherry vodka (pinnacle brand is my fav), lemon juice, simple syrup, grenadine and I top with club soda because I like it fizzy.
Vodka has always been my drink of choice: either with oj (who doesn’t need some vitamin C?) or cranberry juice (good for the urinary tract/kidneys!). A few years ago my DIL made me the best Bloody Mary ever, which is also a favorite.
And a Bloody Mary is practically a serving of vegetables, with all the tomato juice in it. I see you're into health food. 🙂
It is my go to liquor. Not into flavored per se but I did enjoy the one flavored vodka I won in an auction basket. Like you, I dislike sugar laden adult beverages.
I know we ate a lot of leftovers. The specifics of that are more mysterious a week later.
-Grilled chicken & rice + coleslaw, x2
-I had an assortment of random fridge items to use up, and asked Gemini for a high protein recipe suggestion. Deconstructed beef enchiladas, which used up cottage cheese, mini tortillas & spinach. It was great, and we had that x2
-Grilled burgers (over a salad)
-Salmon
As for tonight, I'm thinking orange chicken (freezer, Costco version) is most likely. I need to pick up DS18 at the airport.
I made a big pot of chili on Sunday, and it lasted for 3 dinners, which is a good thing since we have a family member in the hospital, and there hasn’t been time to shop or cook. I made soft tacos from my stash of frozen rotisserie chicken one night, and we had omelettes another night. I made some stuffed shells from your recipe last week and froze them, so that might be tonight’s dinner.
The good news is that I spent $12 on groceries this week! Also, the family member is exceeding expectations in the recovery department.
I didn’t post yesterday, but I’ll say I’m thankful for nurses!
WIS: Around $110, mostly at Food Lion with some trips to Dollar Tree for root veggie chips.
WWA: Leftover barbecue chicken. Ham sandwiches with fruit and sweet peppers on the side. Lamb shoulder roast with a side of lemon orzo and sautéed vegetables. The roast had been in the freezer since November, as it was intended for Christmas but home repairs sidelined our Christmas meal. DH did not like the orzo dish, so I added canned chicken and had a delicious lunch dish for a couple of days.
We spent $137 this week, but spent nothing last week...
WWA....
Sunday: marry me chicken over bow tie noodles
Monday: grilled sausage, garlic noodles, beans, cottage cheese
Tuesday: stuffed pepper casserole, corn muffins
Wednesday: We got subs from Jersey Mike's using a gift card with zero out of pocket, chips on the side
Thursday: Burgers and fries
Friday: tonight will be fish dinner out at one of the churches for Lent
WIS: $42.93. $40-$45 seems to be my “New Normal” weekly grocery spend. And I haven’t paid for a restaurant meal since … (checking calendar) … January 20.
WIA: A pretty uninspiring list: beef tacos; taco salads; chicken fajitas; shrimp scampi on jasmati rice; egg, ham and Havarti cheese on croissants (breakfast for dinner).
Friday: Italian Sausage and Pepper Calzones, Italian White Bean Salad
Saturday: White fish topped with the bean salad marinade that I mixed with a little Greek yogurt and then broiled and “Jennifer Aniston Salad”
Sunday: We invited my parents and grandma over for dinner to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We had steak, twice baked potatoes, leftover Jennifer Aniston salad, and espresso caramel blondies. My parents brought over two loaves of bread.
Monday: Three Cheese Zucchini Stuffed Lasagna Rolls – I snuck in extra veggies odds and ends that were hanging out in fridge. I also used the eggplant and sundried tomato sauce that I made last summer and froze and it was so good!
Tuesday: leftover lasagna rolls
Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas – I picked up a jar of TJ’s enchilada sauce to try and decided that while it was good I like mine better. It’s better than most premade enchilada sauces but was too sweet.
Thursday: Ginger Beef over jasmine rice, roasted cauliflower and broccoli, sunomono (pickled cucumber salad)
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent nothing this week as we're using up what we have at the Airbnb before heading home tomorrow. Next week's total will be sky high as we restock our fridge, freezer and pantry at home. When we left in December, it looked like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard.
- Spinach and broccoli puff pastry quiche
- Salad (baby lettuce, baby spinach, wild rice, hard-boiled egg, shredded cheese, walnuts, raisins, homemade vinaigrette)
- Fried egg over roasted potatoes, carrots and mushrooms, made with olive oil and a homemade seasoning mix
- Top our own personal pizza (made in friends' pizza oven) and cinnamon sour cream coffee cake
- Frozen berries warmed up and topped with vanilla yogurt and honey granola
- Parmesan risotto and green peas
- Tonight we're going out to dinner with friends. They're not available until 6:30 which is late for us, so I'll order something light.
WIS: $119 @ Costco, $7 @ Scratch & Dent, $36 for corned beef share from a split order.
Sun - family dinner burrito bowls, brownies and ice cream
Mon - taco salad
Tues - late lunch Irish pub, dinner salads @ home
Wed - rotisserie chicken, salad & green beans
Thur - chicken, mushroom in creamy sauce, mashed potatoes. Mom didn't like, will make into soup.
Fri - fresh steelhead, coleslaw and broccoli
Sat - Shepherds pie dinner
Enjoy the concert! The baby corn reminds me of my sister's cat who went through a phase of eating corn on the cob (frozen wasn't good enough)!
My eats:
Saturday: Spinach, mushroom, garlic and onion with cream cheese over pasta.
Sunday: Burritos with mixed veg, black beans, sauce and brown rice.
Monday: Potato frittata with garlic and spinach.
Tuesday: Chilli mac and cheese.
Wednesday: Leftovers.
Thursday: I came home later than expected last night so bought a sandwich and smoothie while I was out.
Friday: Undecided. I'm probably going to make burritos.
WIS: $38 at Trader Joe's (I made this trip mainly to restock on TJ's excellent frozen spanakopita) and $46 at Wegmans (I made this trip mainly to return $6.35 in NY State deposit containers and restock on several health care products).
WIA: Nothing very interesting, since I've been on the run this week on necessary business for both myself and NDN1. But the Bestest Neighbors brought me over enough squash and ginger soup for three lunches, and I scored another package of salmon scraps at Wegmans and have been making chef's salads with the salmon itself and "salmon bacon" with the skin and fat.
Saturday - My 5 year old had been home all day and she gets restless so she asked to go to a pizza parlor for dinner. My husband and son didn’t want to go, so we had a mom-daughter outing and ate our pizza there and then brought some back for husband and son.
Sunday - I made our St Patrick’s dinner on this day because I realized I wouldn’t be able to the weekend before or the day of. So we had corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and Irish soda bread. I also made some heart shaped pasta I bought marked down after Valentine’s Day though, as I wasn’t sure my kids would eat much corned beef.
Monday - Salad night, I had falafel, beets and avocado in my salad, husband had chicken in his. Kids had deconstructed salads (so a plate with veggies and Impossible chicken nuggets for one, meatballs for the other) Kids also each had a crescent roll that I had defrosted.
Tuesday - The night I work late so my mom feeds the kids(always McDonald’s, much to their delight), I had butternut squash soup and a piece of banana bread with peanut butter on it.
Wednesday - Kids had an evening play date so I fed them bean burritos, Trader Joe’s Spanish rice and corn before dropping them off. I had black bean dip on corn tortillas that I’d crisped in the oven so they were like tostadas, topped with avocado and salsa.
Thursday - I made the kids udon soup using miso paste in water and then adding carrots, broccoli, tofu, mushrooms and udon noodles. For myself, I had cauliflower soup and more banana bread with peanut butter.
Friday - I will make Swedish meatballs and steamed broccoli for the family. I will likely make a chickpea salad sandwich for myself.
WIS: $0!
WIA:
Saturday: Ham and Swiss on rye
Sunday: same
Monday: Chicken pasta Alfredo, with green beans and almonds
Tuesday: same
Wednesday: Pizza omelet, orange
Thursday: Pizza pocket (pizza toppings in crescent roll dough), apple
Tonight I plan to have ham and cheese on crackers. And probably another apple.
I don't like baby corn. To me, corn cobs are pig food.
Amen.
I got to this late as I didn't get your email today and looked this up on your site.
It was an expensive, stock up week. I spent $61 at Walmart, $32 at Aldi and $75 at the Little Rock Air Force Base Commissary, so $168. The biggest buy at Aldi was a $15 piece of corned beef that was on sale. If I see it on sale for cheaper this coming week, I may get more for the freezer. I stocked up on meat at the Commissary. I got a 10 lb chub of 80/20 ground beef for $3.99 lb(!), at least $2 per lb cheaper than anywhere else. I divided it into 1 and 2 lb pkgs. and froze it.
– Sunday – grilled strip steaks, baked sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, homemade cucumber salad.
– Monday – canned lentil soup and oven grilled beef and cheese sandwiches, leftover cucumber salad.
– Tuesday – oven fried chicken, rice-a-roni fried rice mix, acorn squash.
– Wednesday – we stopped at a local pizza/sandwich place for dinner since we were out doing errands.
–Thursday– fish sandwiches with fish patties, tater tots, green salad
Friday – Frito chili pie with cheese, onions and jalapenos.
Canned baby corn tastes like a can, not corn!