WIS, WWA | $119
The view to my side as I type this post:
What I Spent
This week, I spent:
- $101 at Aldi
- $18 at Safeway
And that's $119 for me for the week.
What We Ate
Saturday
I used a Panera gift card to get some sandwiches for Zoe and me. 🙂 A free meal + no cooking. Yes please!
Sunday
I'd made some mashed potatoes to use up some of my stash, and since Zoe wasn't here for dinner, I cooked some shrimp with a tomato pan sauce and poured it on top of the potatoes. Also, I cooked some asparagus.
And I made enough for a leftovers lunch for work on Monday.
Monday
I had prepped the chicken and sauce for bourbon chicken, so after work, I cooked the chicken, browned the broccoli, added the sauce, and that was dinner.
It was also lunch for the next two days.
Tuesday
I made a grilled cheese sandwich and called it good.
Wednesday
I got out of work kind of late, and when I got home, I ate a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread. Also a banana. And some popcorn.
I did have chicken and broccoli at lunch! Plus grapes and oranges. So do not worry; my day was not a nutritional wasteland. 😉
Thursday
A day off!! Yay!
I made what was basically a repeat of the shrimp meal from earlier in the week, except this time I used fish.
Friday
Hmm. I need to check and see if Zoe will be here or not, and I will go from there!
$167 at our usual store.
Saturday—I made the black bean, quinoa, and sweet potato burgers I’d been wanting to try. They were just okay. There are more in the freezer; I’m going to try them with different condiments.
Sunday—I babysat at my daughter’s house, didn’t have lunch, and ate leftover pizza when I got home at 3pm.
Monday—I was not feeling well and was so happy to find chicken soup in the freezer! I heated some frozen brown and serve rolls from Tgiving to go with it.
Tuesday—still sick, so Amy’s frozen lasagna.
Wednesday—baked chicken thighs, couscous with walnuts and raisins, and butternut squash from the freezer. I’m eating squash more often now that I’ve learned you can just bake it whole in the oven.
Thursday—leftovers from Wednesday
Friday—probably more leftovers
WIS: $41 at Wegmans. (And I passed along a frugal tip: At the seafood counter at Wegmans yesterday, I encountered a woman who was bewailing the high cost of salmon. I pointed out the packages of $2.99/lb. salmon trim as I was taking one. She thanked me profusely!)
WIA: Highlights included leftover chili with cornbread crumbles, as well as a sort of chicken cacciatore with Reduced for Quick Sale boneless/skinless chicken thighs, some mushrooms that needed to be used, and a small jar of Prego sauce that was considerably past its best-by date but didn't kill me. 😉
Unless there's a skull and crossbones on the label, I pretty much ignore those "best by" dates. Being well past my own....
Saturday: I was at basketball games all afternoon and into the evening. Before I left, I made a Spanish tortilla using the carton of Frozen Egg Product, which was, indeed, pretty much just scrambled eggs. It looked unpromisingly weird and grainy when it was raw, but cooked, it was fine. So Spanish tortilla for those at home. I gave the kids at the game with me a choice of me bringing a sandwich for them or them buying their own dinners at the concession stand. One wanted a sandwich. I brought some leftover soup with me in a thermos for me.
Sunday: Cottage pie, a baked fruit dessert consisting of one quart jar of canned pears and one of canned apple slices. I made that just to use up the oversalted oatmeal I had made the previous day, so it was sort of like a crisp topping, but not crisp, because it had cooked oatmeal in it. Tasty, though.
Monday: Sausage patties, pinto beans, rice cooked in chicken stock, cooked collard greens or raw bell peppers
Tuesday: Leftover cottage pie
Wednesday: Pork shoulder, leftover rice, leftover beans, leftover collards, frozen corn
Thursday: Before I left for an away basketball game, I chopped up some leftover pork and combined that with leftover beans, salsa, and spices to make a burrito filling. My husband used that to make smothered burritos for the family at home. The basketball player got Frito pie at the concession stand courtesy of the school before we started our drive home. Then he ate two bananas in the car, and ice cream, an egg, and a piece of bread and butter when we got home. I had made the eggs for myself, but then two boys wanted some, as well. And another boy had to have some bread when he saw his brother eating. It was an evening of successive courses, I guess.
Tonight: I picked up our beef from the processor yesterday, and am making bread today. So I will make hamburger buns and we will have cheeseburgers with ground beef that is not twenty percent water that evaporates in the pan. YAY. My daughter also requested oven fries and frozen peas. Sounds good to me.
They often serve patients a crustless quiche for breakfast at my hospital and I know they must use a product like this because there’s no way anyone is cracking that many eggs. Ha.
I did note how convenient it was to just pour the eggs into the Spanish tortilla, rather than cracking and scrambling 15 or so eggs like I usually do.
Yes, exactly! And imagine how true that is in a hospital.
I misread your comment and thought you had made a dessert with canned PEAS and apples...and I thought, wow, Kristin is always resourceful but I don't know about this.
Then I thought about the episode from Friends where Rachel makes a trifle with peas and onions. Thanks for a morning smile!
I appreciate the compliment, but peas and apples in a dessert sounds less "resourceful" and more "gross." 🙂 I mean, peas have some natural sweetness, but . . . no.
That sounds like one of those challenge cooking shows where they give people weird ingredients and expect them to make a beautiful meal. Ha.
Peas in desserts are a thing. I looked it up. I didn't look that closely, because I'm not really very tempted, but if I had to make a dessert with green peas and apples, I think I would have to cook the peas first, and then sieve out the pea skins to end up with a smooth pea paste. I COULD make something palatable with that combination. But I won't. 🙂
To be fair, using beans in desserts is common in Asia--red bean paste, mung bean paste, lotus-seed paste, but they're usually cooked in syrup and mashed. It's a lot more like a sweet peanut-butter filling than canned peas mixed with sugar. I think that if I had canned peas and needed to make dessert...I would forego dessert 🙂
I like to cook every other day, with a leftover and use it up sort of day in between. I took advantage of a 4 for $20 meat deal to get two packs of premade hamburgers and two packs of flank steaks.
Monday - Hamburgers with buns or rolls, sautéed asparagus
Tuesday - Leftovers or find something else to make for yourself.
Wednesday - Flank steaks, black beans, Spanish rice, corn, and salad.
Thursday - Leftovers/Fend for yourself
Friday - My son has Taekwondo at dinner time, and I have lots of ground turkey and green beans to use up, so I plan to do something easy like ground turkey, noodles, and sautéed green beans.
We had a weird week of meals, since we were snowed in Sat-Mon and didn't have time to do a regular grocery run. I spent $200 at Harris Teeter on Thursday and waited in the checkout line for 30 minutes given the run on the grocery store.
Sun - Teryiaki tofu, mushroom, and kale bowls.
Mon - Leftover country captain chicken with rice
Tues - Salmon Ceasar salads with homemade dressing.
Wed - Frozen pizza or nuggets and more Ceasar salad.
Thur - We went out to Chipotle.
Fri - No clue, but I know I'm low on fresh food!
We are BEAT.
Friday: Baked-from-the-freezer chicken schnitzel and French fries, roasted zucchini and onion, and a purchased challah.
Saturday: We were out running errands and went back to the same modest, child-friendly restaurant for the third time in as many weeks 🙂 It was excellent.
Sunday: Mr. B cooked; we had chicken
Monday: Pancakes, eggs, and fruit.
Tuesday: Mr. B made pasta.
Wednesday: Baked-from-the-freezer chicken schnitzel and French fries, broccoli on the side.
Thursday: We rushed home from work to pack into the car to look a potential rental in another city, so we stopped at a kosher burger joint on the way home.
Friday: No idea. None. Probably fish of some kind. We have some tomatoes and cucumbers that need using, so probably a salad.
Happy weekend, everyone! TGIF.
WIS: $16.31 for a 1.1 pound Rib Eye steak, at $14.94/pound marked down from $23/pound.
WIA: Marinated Rib Eye steak with baked and smashed baby potatoes and roasted asparagus. 17.6 ounces of steak lasts for 4 or 5 meals (about $3/meal), and I miss meat! Beef prices have gone from high to astronomical. And chicken, corn and cheese quesadillas with refried beans to break up the monotony.
Great that you can stretch that to so many meals. Not sure if could be that reserved! Lol
You have to leave room for the roasted asparagus and potatoes!
We have been eating down our freezers and pantry so spending was minimal....
Saturday: weiner wings and fries
Sunday: Out with friends for wings
Monday: Takeout pizza
Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas
Wednesday: French onion chicken bake, French green beans, big salad
Thursday: ham & cheese omelets, toast
Friday: we will have goulash and homemade bread
I was all over the map this week, changing up the menu as I go. I spent $95 yesterday, but its mostly food for next week and freezer restocking of meats for the freezer. This week:
M - I had a free chick-fil-A spicy sammie and some mac and cheese
T - Chicken drums baked with BBQ sauce, 3 bean salad, iceberg wedge with dressing and feta
W - Ate out at an Indian restaurant for happy hour and had curry queso and a couple of samosas with my prosecco (:
Th - A pork chop seasoned with lime pepper, the rest of a bag of chopped salad, and a zucchini
F - tonight I am fixing some cacio e pepe ravioli from TJ with a nub of ground beef and the rest of a jar of pasta sauce, both found in my freezer. On the side I will do peas or green beans.
Today is meal prep day for three days of work, so I am cleaning out the fridge as well, making sure nothing gets lost in there (like containers of yogurt). Next week I won't have to go to HEB unless I have to have a certain something.
Happy Weekend!
Still using those CSA veggies! Highlights this week were the spaghetti squash, cabbage, and green peppers. We have so many green peppers in the freezer I’m starting to wonder if we will be able to use them by the time this summer’s CSA starts!
Friday: Pastina Soup (made with cauliflower rice in place of half of the pasta) and Pickle Chicken Salad on tortillas, crackers, or lettuce leaves.
Saturday: Home alone so indulged in Girl Dinner: cheese, crackers, picked things, fruit, and raw veggies
Sunday: Spaghetti Squash Taco Bake
Monday: Cabbage and Chicken over mashed potatoes
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: It was just my son and me at dinner time so we pulled out TJ’s Birria Tacos, Spanish rice, green grapes
Thursday: Slow Cooker Pork Loin, baked barley, green beans
A produce delivery is SO GOOD for making you eat more veggies, right??
WIS: Approximately $150 on people food. This is to last two weeks. I also bought $60 in pet food.
WWA: For DH, I made chili with corn muffins, homemade pizza, and prepped fresh fruit and veggies to go with sandwiches. For myself, I had hamburger-veggie soup from the freezer, spicy yellow rice and black beans from the freezer, broccoli-ham casserole, and peanut butter sandwiches. Apples and tangerines with cheese and crackers on the side.
What a good view!
Saturday: Mushroom omelette and baked sweet potato.
Sunday: Mashed sweet potato with veggie burgers and spinach and tomato on the side.
Monday: Burritos.
Tuesday: Chilli mac and cheese.
Wednesday: Leftovers.
Thursday: Pasta with spinach, cream cheese and mushroom.
Friday: Undecided. Possibly another mushroom omelette.
Sophie, as a vegetarian, I salivate over your menus. Hope that doesn't sound too creepy!
It doesn't! I took it as a compliment 😀
This was a frugal week since I ended up buying a fruit/veggie box for $5 from Flashfood.
Sat: stuffed peppers using green peppers from above box and reduced ground beef
Sun: chili from the freezer
Mom: spaghetti with sauce from the freezer and a salad
Tuesday: chicken cutlets and roasted veggies
Wed: leftovers
Thur: leftovers again
Fri: trying my hand at copycat McDonalds fish fillet
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $180 ($39 at Sprouts, $33 at Target, $25 at McGary's Discount Groceries, $58 at Trader Joe's and $25 at Safeway - whew!). Dinners were:
- Vegetable-tofu curry over brown rice
- Butternut squash soup
- Spanish tortilla with salsa, habanero sauce and sour cream
- Salad
- Coleslaw (not that hungry after a restaurant lunch)
- Buddha bowls (x2)
$90 on ground beef, deli meat and Turkish yogurt in Finland. And $90 on milk, eggs and greens today at our usual grocery store.
Saturday: Homemade pizza using frozen leftover tortilla and other bits from the freezer like pineapple, sweet corn, blue cheese and three other different cheeses.
Sunday: Reindeer stew with mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts.
Monday: Red lentil soup.
Tuesday: Chicken thighs and rice.
Wednesday: Was at a meeting for The Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association and was served curry with chicken and bread rolls. Or perhaps more correct, a stew with lots of curry, not at all Indian curry 🙂
Thursday: Again reindeer stew with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. It’s an easy and super quick meal made from what we have in the freezer.
Friday: Ordering sushi, first takeaway meal of 2026. Yay!
Someone once commented on how flexible I am with "dinner" foods, and I think it's something I picked up from you, Kristen. Nutrition doesn't always have to be fancy!
Sunday: dinner with friends: chicken alfredo and salad, courtesy Costco
Monday: chicken nuggets with veggies
Tuesday: rice and beans with lots of veggies and avocados. This is the night sickness hit (flu? entero? symptoms have been all over the map), so we reverted to bland nourishing food mode for the rest of the week
Wednesday: baked potatoes with cheese for those up to it.
Thursday: chicken noodle soup, heavy on the broth and noodles
Tonight: leftovers probably. or maybe blueberry pancakes.
Yes! Dinners can literally be anything. BREAK THE RULES. 😉
But always remember the blueberry pancake option!
ALWAYS.
$177 @ Costco, $69 @ restaurant supply, $74 @ Grocery outlet (mostly cat food I bought 8 cases)
Sat - sports & tailgate edition
Sun - sausage and sauerkraut, crash potatoes, homemade pretzel buns, chocolate cherry cobbler &ice cream
Mon - crock pot French dip, broccoli salad
Tues - shopping day, leftover French dip, sumo oranges
Wed - lasagna community meal, garlic bread, roasted broccoli and green salad
Thur - rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts
Friday - dinner Cobb salads
$163.85 Aldi
$122.58 Costco
$46.25 Target
$56.85 Aldi again
=$389.53
I went out for a big refresh on Sunday afternoon. I hit Aldi, Costco, and Target. A big grocery haul like that fills our pantry, freezer, and fridge, but still doesn't cover a week of food for our family of 6. I have started doing another "quick stop" at Aldi on Thursday or Friday. This week even that quick stop was almost $57!
This week our family ate:
Roasted chicken breasts with roasted potatoes and salad
Roasted pork loin with penne and broccoli
Lasagna soup with rolls and salad
Lentil curry over rice
Tonight is Aldi pizzas for the kids because my husband and I are going out to dinner with friends (not yet even included in the total)
My husband is heroically trying to get our (super expensive, but it came with the house) Dacor range to work again. The oven's fixed, but the cooktop is not. He's super good at fixing mechanical/electrical stuff and it's been a nightmare.
He actually found a similar model *free* on FBM, so the most expensive part was *free* and works, but other, smaller parts are less cooperative and far more elusive.
This means I don't have a cooktop, but I do have a working oven and a microwave. I've been baking pizzas, heating up meals from the freezer (Thank you, past me.), and making lots of salads.
I spent $54 at Sam's Club for fresh things, including their lovely, ready-to-eat kale and pasta salad. Frugal hack: I mix the expensive pasta salad with their inexpensive Sweet Kale bagged salad. They taste great together and stretch into multiple meals.
I assure you, my recent menus are much crazier than yours!
I got rid of my Dacor because the mother board replacement was over $2500. I wish you good luck in fixing it. I replaced it with a $2700 Bosch 6 yrs ago as a place filler, but it has wonderful high output burners and I love the 3 stage convection ovens. Crossing fingers for you!
How do you do your tomato pan sauce?
It's all eyeballed. Generally I have browned something in the pan, so there are bits on the bottom of the pan.
I put halved grape tomatoes in the hot pan, let them cook until they're a little soft, then add in some chicken broth to deglaze the pan, add some half and half, and stir it all up. Then I season with salt and pepper.
So good, so simple!
We had a hectic week and I can hardly recall what we ate. In random order and probably incomplete:
Minestrone with cheese and fruits as sides
Yoghurt and granola (we came home from a 60th birthday party where we were spoilt with tasty food)
Potatoes and red cabbage, with braised beef
Mashed potatoes and oven grilled veg, with falafel, salad and garlic sauce,
Beetroot and ????
Salad and ???
Pearl couscous with zucchini and bacon, in creamy pestosauce
I think that's it for the week. Next week will bring salads and soups and possibly chili. Or meat loaf. For now: I will bake a cake to use up part of a jar of (homemade) raisins in rum. It will smell good and the alcohol will evaporate, double win.
WIS: $6 for Girl Scout cookies
Saturday: Popcorn and ice cream! As I recall, it was not a good day, emotionally or physically. I was too tired to cook, and I didn't care. I ate what felt like eating and called it good.
Sunday and Monday: Back on track. I had pork stir fry from the freezer.
Tuesday: Pepperoni pizza on French bread.
Wednesday: Peanut butter sandwich.
Thursday: Toasted French bread rounds with nacho sauce.
Friday: Planning to have vegetable barley soup from the freezer.
Knew I forgot something! I also had a baked sweet potato one of those days, not sure which.
Popcorn twins!!!
Beth, your Saturday menu hit all the right notes: crunchy, savory, smooth and sweet.
The four main food groups!
Kristen, this isn't related to this post but could you please share what type of pan you use to make your egg bites/egg muffins and if you use any kind of oil, butter, etc.? I've made them for years but they never come out as well as your pictures show without sticking. Do you use a silicone pan? Thanks!
Yes! It's a nonstick muffin tin made by USA pans. It's the most truly nonstick pan I've ever had!
Thank you. I see that places like Crate and Barrel sell them in Canada and I'll keep an eye out for a secondhand one in good condition. I'm not buying American goods at retail at the moment.