WIS, WWA | $18
What I Spent
I didn't realize it until I sat down here, but I guess I really haven't done much grocery shopping this week!
And that is how we can tell school is occupying almost 100% of my time currently.
23 more days, 23 more days...
I spent:
- $15 at Safeway
- $3.00 at Mezeh
So...$18. What an accidentally cheap week!
What We Ate
Saturday
I bought a rotisserie chicken, but I don't remember what I ate with the chicken. Green beans? Potatoes? I didn't take a picture so I can't remember!
But I do have a picture of my lunch from clinical that day: ravioli and spinach with a pesto sauce, cucumbers, and grapes.
Sunday
I used some of the chicken to make a salad for lunch.
And then for dinner I made blueberry pancakes. 😉
Monday
I mixed some of the rotisserie chicken with BBQ sauce and we ate that on some buns from the freezer, which I refreshed by spreading them with butter and toasting them in a skillet.
That trick revives even very questionable buns. 🙂
And an unconventional side: green smoothies.
Tuesday
The last of the rotisserie chicken on top of mashed potatoes, with sauteed broccoli on the side.
Wednesday
I redeemed a birthday offer at Mezeh! A $10 discount on a $12.29 bowl makes for a really cheap meal.
Thursday
I had a hospital work shift, so we had a late and easy dinner of Trader Joe's orange chicken and rice, with some blood oranges on the side.
Friday
I haven't decided what I'm making for dinner, but I do plan to make another batch of the egg bites because I want them for my clinical shifts the next two days!
WIS: 40 on a hungry harvest box and about 113 @Aldi, so a fairly cheap week.
WWA:
Fri: salad and focaccia.
Sat: roasted parsnips and carrots with a garlic yogurt sauce on the side, hotdogs on brioche buns with various ferments on top.
Sun: I turned the leftover yogurt sauce into garlic pita bread and my husband made some crispy tofu crumbles. We stuffed the pitas with the crumbles, shredded lettuce, diced cherry tomatoes, leftover roasted parsnips, feta cheese and parsley yogurt sauce.
Mon: we made pizzas with leftover pita bread and a salad with the leftover lettuce and tomatoes.
Tue: sliced yellow peppers with sesame oil dressing and soy eggs, bucatini pasta topped with a homemade meat sauce I concocted using a lb of ground turkey and remnants of a chipotle pumpkin sauce and a salsa jar. We also had shredded mozzarella and shake Parmesan.
Wed: I think we just had leftover pasta.
Thu: salad, Moroccan chicken, chick peas and apricots over jasmine rice.
Tonight: salad and focaccia.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
@Becca,
I have a ton of dried apricots to use up - could you
(pretty please) send me a link to the recipe for Moroccan chicken? Thanks!
@Kathy,
It’s from my husband’s cookbook “how to cook everything fast” by Mark Bittman. I’m not sure how to post a photo of the recipe, but I can email them to Kristen if you want, or maybe google “Moroccan-spiced chicken cutlets with chickpeas and dried fruit”
@Becca,
Is this the same recipe? (It sounds deelish!)
https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/moroccan-spiced-chicken-cutlets-with-chickpeas-and-dried-fruit/
@Liz B.
Yes, I think so. I just wish it wasn’t behind a paywall.
Oh, wait, and also 24 @Lidl on butter.
How on earth do you still have fresh produce on hand when you barely shopped this week? Good going!
WIS - I didn't shop last week and didn't pick up any farm orders, so nothing.
WIA - More eating out than usual, since my sister is here. We ate out for two lunches and one evening meal.
We had bunless hot dogs with homemade cole slaw and baked beans.
Local ranch chuck steaks with baked potatoes and cut up veggies with homemade ranch dressing.
Picadillo on rice with cut up carrots and cucumbers on the side, then again at lunch as stuffed sweet potatoes with the addition of sweet plantain and avocado chunks. I'd told her about trying these recipes recently and she wanted to try both of them.
Grilled ham n' cheese sandwiches on GF bread for me, regular bread for her, plus beans and cut up fresh veggies.
We ate out at the old-timey oyster house, but we both had catfish instead of oysters. I had it with salad and baked beans, plus the standard local fare of hushpuppies with guava jelly.
Tuna salad on buns with shredded onion, apple, carrot and celery plus raisins, sliced cucumbers on the side with ranch dressing.
I shop today and I will be adding in things for Easter dinner - last count is 14 people to seat - so it may be higher than usual, although I already have the ham. Tonight will be local ranch lamb chops; joining us will be my daughter and granddaughter.
From last week’s Hungry Harvest box!
I haven't been to the grocery store this week. Although there are a few things on my grocery list, I have put off going until I really need to go. Right now I'm using food from the freezer and pantry as well as the fresh produce and dairy I already have on hand.
This week's meals have included Minestrone from the freezer, served over a bed of chopped Arugula, Chicken Enchilada Casserole with a side of Green Beans, Creamy Cavatappi with Chicken, Pesto, and Mushrooms served with steamed carrots and broccoli, Lasagna with a side of Green Salad, and last night I just made myself a large Salad with a cabbage and broccolini base, cheese, bacon, green onion, cherry tomatoes, grapes, pecans, and craisins, topped with crunchy croutons and a homemade dressing. Tonight will be either leftover Lasagna or leftover Chicken Enchilada Casserole.
This week, we enjoyed:
- Leftover egg rolls, melting cabbage and zucchini fritters
- Baked potato and green beans
- Popcorn and fruit
- Salad
- Vegetables and tofu over brown rice
- Pizza from the freezer
- Cashew cauliflower soup
I spent $47 at Kroger and $5.49 at Trader Joe’s.
We also worked our way through a rotisserie chicken, with tacos and bbq chicken on the way to soup.
Last night, we had dinner out with friends. They chose the restaurant, and I think it’s safe to say that our friends aren’t frugal. SO EXPENSIVE. I know part of it is that we haven’t been to a “nice” restaurant in a long time.
I think we will have lentils tonight. Haha.
Friday: Korean Fried Chicken – ordered in because I was exhausted. I suggested popcorn and wine for dinner but my husband declined (ha)
Saturday: Jambalaya – we had friends over for dinner and this is a surprisingly easy dinner for hosting
Sunday: Salad – spinach, chicken, bacon, feta, cranberries, almonds, avocado
Monday: Sriracha Tuna Bowls
Tuesday: Sheet Pan Pork Tenderloin with roasted potatoes and wilted spinach
Wednesday: Creamy Pastina Soup
Thursday: Salisbury Steak over mashed potatoes, fresh fruit
@Geneva, I've had popcorn and wine on more than one occasion. No shame. 🙂
@A. Marie, I call that my Blue Plate Special.
WIS: $20 at Trader Joe's and $62 at Wegmans.
WIA: My highlight of the week was "Fun with Salmon." At Wegmans on Tuesday, in addition to picking up two prescriptions and returning $6.50 worth of NY State deposit bottles and cans, I was delighted to find a 1.5-lb. package of “salmon trim for stock” at $2.99/lb. But the heck with stock: There was enough meat on these babies to make the purchase well worth it, so I decadently treated myself to some fishy fun thereafter. On Wednesday, I had some gently sauteed salmon scraps by themselves with a banana on the side for breakfast; I had more of the same with some sliced tomatoes and a piece of toast for lunch; and since I was temporarily salmoned out at that point, I had the rest of the salmon in scrambled eggs with spinach for breakfast on Thursday. Just call me Ms. Kodiak Bear. 😀 And all this should have sent my omega-3 levels through the roof.
@A. Marie, "Fun with Salmon" (at Wegmans) sounds like a cooking class. 😉
@Bobi, if Danny Wegman ever wants me to teach such a class, I'm all in. 😛
Oooooo. I'd love to know what's in your green smoothie.
This one was spinach, yogurt, and frozen peaches from last summer!
WIS: $128, divided between Food Lion and Walmart Market. It's high for us because I was stocking up the pantry.
WWA: Pancakes, bacon and eggs for Sunday night supper. Salads with various protein things on the sides (eggs, nuts and cheese). Lentil-kale-potato soup with the last of the bacon chopped up and added on top. Marinara sauce and gluten-free spaghetti jazzed up with Italian sausage, black olives and mushrooms. Chocolate pudding and apple crisp for desserts.
Saturday: A made-up cheeseburger casserole featuring ground elk and potatoes, plus raw radishes, and a fruit crisp with cream.
Sunday: I made a soup for those of us who were sick that was supposed to be chicken and vegetable, but ended up being more of a potato soup with some chicken in it when I added too many instant potato flakes to thicken. It was good anyway. There was also leftover casserole and meatloaf. And Sunday dessert was small bowls of microwaved chocolate chips and coconut oil to dip marshmallows into. I have never made real fondue, so my kids think this is great. 🙂
Monday: I was out of leftovers, which is what I would have typically used for dinner on a work night. Instead, I used cans and boxes. So I made two boxes of macaroni and cheese, but used only one of the cheese packets, and then added some frozen cubes of pesto, a can of of chicken, some butter and garlic powder, and that's what the children had. My husband had a can of beef stew--it amazes me he will eat this--plus bread and butter, and cheese.
Tuesday: I made a small bag of elk fajita meat into taco meat with some beans, and then some people had leftover pasta. I also cooked the first garden asparagus this day-to-day!--and I made hot cocoa after dinner.
Wednesday: Lamb chops, beans and rice, carrot sticks with curry dip
Thursday: My sister came for Easter weekend, and she made and brought the biggest lasagna I have ever seen. It was so big that we ate half of it and the leftover still fit in my biggest 15"X10" Pyrex. I also made a salad with vinaigrette.
Friday: Last meatless Lentan Friday. I took out a container of chili beans from the freezer, I'll saute some shrimp, and we'll have burritos. My sister brought some homemade flour tortillas from her town, and I have some avocados.
Oh, I love fruit crisp. Way better than pie. 😉
@kristin @ going country, I'm amused by your remark about your husband and the can of beef stew. I grew up with a mother who, although an amazing parent in other respects, did 90% of her cooking out of cans and boxes--and if I never see another can of beef stew or beef hash, that's fine with me. 😛
@A. Marie, Oh holy cow- bad memory alert. My mom would make Dinty Moore beef stew & serve it over egg noodles. I HATED it, but was raised with the edict that you eat what you’re served. I am grimacing in memory of all that hideous softness. Ugh!!!!!!
I do hope I’m not yucking anyone’s yum
@Diane, My husband specifically named Dinty Moore stew. It's what he would buy as a bachelor. I will definitely yuck that for myself, but I'm happy he eats it, I guess.
@Kristen,
I love homemade fruit crisp (or really good restaurant fruit crisp), and I love pie. There's room for both. 🙂
@A. Marie,
My mom never bought canned beef stew - she did make a really yummy stew - but I have fond memories of canned corned beef hash that my mom would "cut" into thick slices and bake on a cookie sheet (or maybe it was in a frying pan, I forget). Yum. Crispy around the edges. Maybe this is a fond memory because we didn't have it very often. 🙂
Let's see, what did we have?
-Takeout one night, selected by DS18, who is on spring break. He opted for Greek food. My trick is to order several extra sides of gyro meat. The sides are very inexpensive, but provide enough extra meat to make 3-4 extra servings for lunch.
-Beef & broccoli noodles x2
-Grilled burgers x2
-I had a snacky plate before I taught a class last night (cashews, an apple, & cheese/crackers), and the boys had grilled chicken from the freezer.
As for tonight, all of the leftovers are gone (this is my favorite way to be going into a weekend), so I'll likely make wings & potstickers.
I spent $21 at Sam's and $79 at Kroger.
Sunday – grilled strip steaks, baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli.
Monday – hubby brought dinner to his mom on a solo visit and I ate some leftover chicken picatta and cottage cheese.
Tuesday – went out to eat for dinner since I was out visiting an elderly friend out of town all day.
Wednesday – beef sandwiches on buns made with a container of shredded beef from Kroger, with peppers and onions, oven roasted potatoes, salad. I'd never used shredded beef before. I just sauteed it in an iron skillet after I sauteed onions and peppers. I'm a bit of olive oil. I think I will add a bit of beef broth when I reheat it.
Thursday – Mexican lasagna, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.
Friday – leftover Mexican lasagna and beef sandwiches, salad.
Hi Kristen,
I just wanted to let you know you inspired me to donate blood today after reading your post yesterday. I immediately searched and found a blood drive 4 minutes from me. Whoo hoo! So easy and feels so good to put something good out in the world.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Martha
Ohhh yay!!! I am so glad. Thank you for donating.
@TimesNewRomanIT,
Thank you, Martha!
As someone who has been on the receiving end of a lot of blood products (and administered a lot of blood products in my nursing career), I am so grateful for your generosity. I always say a prayer for the donor as bag goes up
I have told my son and DIL - and put in my estate plan - no funeral , but I would appreciate them sponsoring a blood drive and a food shelf collection when I am gone.
Thank you again!
CeeCee
@CeeCee, what a fabulous idea - blood drive or food shelf donation instead of a funeral. Awesome! Thank you for all you've done as a nurse. It's not something everyone can do - I always look away when it's time to draw!
@Kristen, thanks again for the prompt. Donating this morning put me in a great frame of mind all day!
@CeeCee,
That's a wonderful idea to do a blood drive! I, too, want no funeral. If Covid taught us anything, it's that you can do anything you want in terms of final plans. I may steal your idea!
I used to give blood all the time until I had breast cancer. It may sound silly, but then I was afraid to do it just in case I still had some cancer cells floating around in me, even though they said it would be okay to donate.
@Joyce from Arkansas,
We have lost a few people lately who specified no funeral. I understand the sentiment behind it, and I love the idea of a food drive/blood donation drive at a memorial service. But in every case, it left us all bereft, wanting a way to get together to mourn and share stories of our loved one. Opportunities to be sad together are rare in our society. We actually went ahead and had a get together for my grandfather.
It wasn’t technically a funeral, but it was definitely a memorial. Some were nervous about going against his last wishes, but as I pointed out, he wasn’t even invited. The old so-and-so is welcome to haunt me if he feels upset about it.
Now I don’t think you have to set up your funeral in advance- some people enjoy this, but I told my family this is one party I’m not planning. I’m not even going to be there. But they are welcome to do whatever they want. Funerals are for the living.
Spent $127. We had:
Saturday: we worked on this house all day and were exhausted so I warmed up some leftover brisket and shredded it over nachos with salsa/olives/onions/queso. Good stuff.
Sunday: We went out with our younger son. I had a nashville hot chicken sandwich
Monday: smoked pulled pork, spinach, mac&cheese
Tuesday: tater tots with the rest of the bbq over them and salads
Wednesday: we had a turkey sandwich, veggies & hummus
Thursday: lentils with a ham bone from the freezer
Friday: we are having enchiladas tonight with all the family.
Blood oranges are my favourites. We only have them in winter so they are a seasonal treat [Much like skrei. Or, in early summer, white asparagus and strawberries]. Worth waiting for!
Your pictures are inspiring! I made a green smoothie to drink while I take a break from laundry and type this out. This week we had...
Sunday: Pizza and breadsticks. (Lunch was healthier - grilled chicken, salad, and rice.)
Monday: Fish sticks, pears, and corn casserole
Tuesday: FG orzo with sausage and asparagus - my kids all love it! - and pineapple
Wednesday: A sheet pan dinner of brats, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Then a side of cantaloupe.
Thursday: Cool ranch crunchwraps and more cantaloupe
Friday: Steak! Today's our wedding anniversary (#16), so I got all of the remaining beef steaks out of the freezer. It's a hodge podge of porterhouse, T-bone, and sirloin. Then we'll grill some asparagus and probably have salad and fruit with it, too. Maybe we'll eat ice cream for dessert since it's so nice outside today!
About the egg bites... I was finally going to make them today and had just found the recipe when my husband offered to make breakfast. Yes, please! So we'll try them another day. 😉
I've been averaging just under $100 a week and it always factors in cleaning things and air filters and personal care items. But also good deals on meat that I can portion and freeze. That being said, next week looks like it will be a cheap week. This week:
M - Chik-Fil-A kale salad and grilled nuggets
T - Italian Chicken Drums in the crockpot, rice made with the resulting juices, zucchini
W - Taco/sweet potato/cottage cheese/avocado bowl
Th - (freezer) Pulled Pork on 1/2 a giant baked potato, green beans
F - Mini meatloaf, baked sweet potato, broccoli salad
I'm doing a lot of cook once/eat twice meals and that's been lovely. My Easter lunch is the other half of my baked potato, some rotisserie chicken, and green beans. E Bunny brought me a Butterfinger for dessert. (:
Happy Easter!
$177 Big Aldi purchase because husband, and celiac daughter are both due home this week. The cupboards were pretty bare as I refused to buy more than was absolutely necessary for the past 5 weeks.
Working backwards...
F: leftover veg pizza sans cheese, apple & peanut butter
Th: GF veg lasagna, mandarins, plain nonfat yogurt w/frozen blueberries
W: veg pizza sans cheese, grapes, mandarins
T: bran flakes w/raisins & banana
M: eggs w/spinach & rice, celery w/pb, cornbread w/jam
Su: rotini w/tomatos & broccoli, plain nonfat yogurt w/frozen blueberries
Sa: eggs w/spinach & rice, apple, carrot, cornbread w/jam
Happy weekend everyone!
Sat - local organization’s fundraiser. Food was good, not a frugal night but because we’re frugal, we helped a good cause
Sun - Mexican with my kiddo
Mon - leftover Chinese with gifted egg rolls
Tue - previously grilled burgers from the freezer, leftover hash browns from better half’s breakfast
Wed - bacon wrapped mushroom/cheese stuffed chicken breasts with potatoes and carrots
Thu - boneless pork chops ($1 each) with Mac-n-cheese
Fri - dirty rice w/ground beef, mushrooms, red peppers
Sun - Birthday dinner - fried chicken, side salads, baked beans, thanks to my wonderful family
Mon - Wed - leftovers from Sun
Thurs - Pasta $.50 (bought in bulk on sale) and 2 turkey franks $.60
Friday - Major splurge - catfish nuggets for my last meatless Fri meal - $8 (mea culpa)
Thank you all for the frugal motivation.
@Steve, happy birthday!
I think $8 is quite a forgivable “splurge”. Heh.
@MB in MN,
Big thanks!! Deus vobiscum!
@Kristen,
Just trying to keep it frugal and emulate your fine example. Thank you for your kind words!
How do you make your green smoothie? It looks delicious!
WIS: Just a little over $90 at Fred Meyer. It was Military Discount day, so I got an additional 10% off on store brands, including anything that’s on sale and/or marked down. New Seasons - $13.58; Taco truck - $15.45 + DQ ???
WWA: For the first time in months, I didn’t create a meal plan for the week and I’m not sure what we ate … I know we did! Both of us were running errands on Monday, which involved meeting up to give the other a ride home. I bought some to-go things at the grocery store for our lunch. Ramen that night. Tues ??? Wed. we had to drive an hour away for a grands concert and stopped at a taco truck on the way. Then there was ice cream afterwards. Thurs. DH had a shingdig and he got dinner, but he was a guest. I bought a rotisserie chicken as I had a $1 off coupon, they’re on sale for $5 on Thursdays, plus I got 10% off … so $3.60 and we’ll have several meals off of it. So far, I’ve eaten from it, we used it for entree salads last night, and tonight we’ll have a more traditional meal with potatoes and sautéed zucchini. Tomorrow we head to our daughter’s for a family brunch to celebrate Easter. I’m bringing biscuits and several desserts.
Definitely doing a meal plan for the upcoming week!
Let's see, we had:
1. We were taken out for pizza
2. Pork & broccoli over rice
3. Ramen noodle stir fry (my mother-in-law made it)
4. Beans and cornbread, made by my daughter
5. Beans and rice
That's all I can remember
@Katy @ Practical Walk,
Beans and cornbread?? Your daughter is a genius.