WIS, WWA | Last one for 2021
Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! Time for the last menu/grocery report for 2021.
A slight rabbit trail: Lisey and I often talk about how people say very "regular" things, and we have kind of a running list of Regular Things, like,
- "It's not the heat that gets you; it's the humidity."
- "Boy, this week is just flying by!"
- "Wow, Christmas really snuck up on me this year."
- When something doesn't have a price tag: "I guess it's free, then!"
You get the idea...a Regular Thing is just a stereotypical thing that everyone says; 100% predictable, 100% benign, and 0% creative.
When I think of one of these things, I always text Lisey to tell her, and we add it to our imaginary list. 😉
Anyway, when I started writing this post, I started to say something about how crazy it is that another year is over, and I realized that this is an extremely Regular Thing to say. Ha.
I better text Lisey right away. 😉
What I Spent
I spent:
- $9 at Firehouse (see Wednesday below)
- $41 at Giant
- $16 at Harris Teeter
- $6 at BJs
That adds up to $72.
What We Ate
Saturday
Christmas Day was a group effort.
I baked a ham, made these indulgent scalloped potatoes, and made two pans of potato dinner rolls with cinnamon butter.
My aunt brought a Caesar salad and a jello salad, and my mom contributed many varieties of cookies for dessert.
Sunday
Randomly, the girls wanted McDonald's for dinner (Lisey specifically!), so we picked that up for them and Mr. FG and I ate Christmas leftovers. We did not do a date night this week due to the holidays, so I just used our date night budget for the McDonalds trip.
Monday
I made a mandarin chicken salad, which we ate with leftover rolls from Christmas Day.
Tuesday
I had a bunch of tomatoes from my last Hungry Harvest box, and they'd finally ripened, so I made BLTs for dinner.
To state the obvious: bacon is really freaking expensive right now. I saw so many packages at Giant that were $8.99-$9.99/pound!
I did get one on sale for $4.99, but still...I can't ever remember the price of bacon being so routinely high.
Wednesday
This was the day Zoe got her braces off, so I told her we'd get whatever she wanted for dinner, and she chose a Firehouse sub. I had reward points in the app, so her sub was actually free!
Mr. FG ate chicken noodle soup, Sonia had a leftover chicken sandwich, and I got a small Firehouse sub.
Thursday
I made chipotle chicken kebabs with cilantro dipping sauce. On the side, we had cut-up fruit, plus toasted homemade French bread from the freezer.
Friday
The girls plan to have a cousin over for New Year's Eve, and I need to find out from them what sort of end-of-year foods they're wanting to eat.
What did you have for dinner this week?
And secondly, what are your plans for New Year's Eve? Are you staying up until midnight?
(Me? I plan to be sound asleep at midnight. I am so not a night owl!)
We ate Christmas leftovers most of the week, alternated with Indian spiced lentil soup and salads. Which was excellent I think.
Tonight I plan to make an Italian style soup and also make a fruit salad. Traditionally we have deep fried apple and current dumplings so I need something to balance the delicious but heavy foods. I am usung my late mother's recipe which has more apple, but still. ..
The lentil soup was real comfort food and I are the last on my bioster shot day. So far no aches nor pain whatsoever.
Ooh, glad to hear you are skipping side effects. I felt under the weather for about 48 hours after my Moderna booster!
@Kristen, I did too! Achy arm and feeling weak as water for about a day and a half.
@Sandy Heath, exact same for me Sandy!
We'll eat pizza and watch a movie. We have not been up at midnight in many years and I'm sure this year will be no different.
Your week sounds anything but "regular" - just really lovely time with family. My plans for ushering in the new year include being on my third dream by midnight. It has not been a great year and I am not sad to see it go. I am cautiously optimistic about 2022, but mainly because I am choosing to be so! This week I ate:
Monday - Italian Meatballs* (using 1/2 a recipe of uncooked Bruschetta Meatloaf that was in the freezer), leftover green beans from Christmas, maybe a little pasta or garlic toast
Tuesday - Flatbread Veggie Pizza, fresh spinach (yuck - will not repeat this)
Wednesday - Steaks, courtesy of The Girl (for our New Year's Eve eve dinner...)
Thursday - Soft Tacos (freezer filling), avocado, cheese, sweet potato tortilla chips from TJ
Friday - Stuffed Salmon*, baked potato, broccoli* and early to bed!
Saturday - Ham Balls, California Coleslaw, black-eyed peas, rolls {on call for the next 6 days}
Sunday - Turkey* Noodle Soup for one!
*I was cleaning out the freezer for much of this!
Next week's (year's?) menus are going to have more variety and be things that I actually look forward to eating!
Happy New Year!!! I suspect that we will be asleep long before midnight. Tomorrow we will have our traditional New Years Day lunch - roast pork, greens, Hoppin’ John, and cornbread. Hoppin’ John is for luck, and greens are for prosperity.
I spent a staggering amount of money on food over the last two weeks as I had house guests, hosted Christmas Eve lunch, and provided much of Christmas brunch. I really noticed the increase in food prices during this time.
I’m looking forward to a January pantry challenge and simple meals.
@Bee, same! We also do a no eat out no pick up no take out 31 day challenge in January.
Happy New Year to you all. It is 75 minutes until 2022 here. I am a night owl so staying up is easier than falling asleep for me.
I will share some of the funny things that have slipped into our everyday language. My father had Alzheimers of the long and slow variety. He had some classics. The best was the himidity is huge. It was. Ear lobes became ear loaves. That's enough for now.
I did a big shop today and spent over $250 (Australian). That is for two but I include absolutely everything I buy when I shop. If it was food it would probably be about $170.
This year we did not go into full Christmas meal mode. We ate one meal with my daughters and we both found it very rich and truthfully we didn't go overboard with heavy foods. So not many leftovers to eat. We have had toasted sandwiches, platters with deli meats, cheese and fruit, spaghetti bolognaise and some steak burgers and chicken sandwiches.
Ok, I love the "humidity is huge" phrase. I am totally going to adopt that and I will have ample opportunity to use it because I frequently complain about humidity.
@Kristen,
The humidity is generally high here and it does make a huge difference. I have been out on a day that was 44 C ( about 111) with low humidity and it was okay. I didn't feel wilted at all.
We had crab cakes and steak for Christmas Eve and ham on Christmas Day. The rest of the week was filled in with using up most of our leftovers. Some ham was frozen for tasty future dinners. Last night for some variety we had pasta with homemade marinara that I froze from tomatoes I harvested in the summer.
New Year's Eve will be prime rib. New Year's Day will be bean soup with kale using my ham bone. I may or may not make it to midnight............
I really splurged on end of year groceries this year because we missed being able to be together with family last year. Having all been vaccinated and tested we celebrated being back together for the holidays. Remarkably, according to my spreadsheet we only went over our weekly budget by $2 ($152 per week average versus my target of $150 per week).
Probably the last time I was awake to ring in the new year was about twenty years ago. Even when I was young, I was old at heart. 🙂
Friday: Tamales and chocolate roulade. Which sounds so short and simple, but is definitely a commitment the way I make this. Which is to start by pressure-cooking beef ribs to get broth, meat, and fat, all of which goes into the tamales. Because I make them all myself. Ditto the roulade (flourless chocolate cake rolled around whipped cream). But at least I don't make the masa (the cornflour on the outside of the tamales) by growing the corn and pounding it with a stone, or milk a cow for my cream, so it could be worse.
Saturday: The tamales were our big Christmas meal, so on the actual day we had meatballs I had made and frozen some time ago, roasted tomato sauce from the freezer, spaghetti, mushrooms (a Christmas tradition for odd reasons), green salad, homemade eggnog to use up the egg yolks left from the roulade, and molasses cookies made from my husband's great-grandmother's recipe.
Sunday: Beef stew to use up the last of the beef rib meat and stock from the tamale preparation, plus bread and butter and cheese
Monday: For my birthday, I chose to use the last of the tamale meat with cheese and sour cream and scoop it up with tortilla chips. My son made a chocolate cake for me (using the same great-grandmother's cake recipe, but no frosting because I don't care for it), and I made some no-churn ice cream with condensed milk and leftover Oreos.
Tuesday: Rooster pot pie made with two of the seven excess roosters delivered to us. I used a biscuit crust and had some of the dough left, with which I made extra biscuits for the kids to have as dessert with strawberry jam. Heaven forbid a day go by now without extra sugar.
Wednesday: My eldest son made the "creamy" tomato soup from his ATK kids cookbook, which is actually thickened with bread. The kids had that with corn tortillas and melted cheese. My husband and I had leftovers.
Thursday: A skillet of pressure-canned bull meat and potatoes. Plus frozen peas.
Tonight: I have five more roosters on hand, and one child requested fried chicken. If I can actually get these birds into pieces (home-raised chickens, and roosters in particular, have very strong joints and are hard to part out), I will marinate the pieces in yogurt and spices to further tenderize them and then oven-fry them with a masa coating. We'll see if I have the fortitude for all of that. I'm pretty tired of the kitchen at this point.
I have no plans for New Year's Eve. I grew up skiing over the winter holiday so NYE was just another night before an early awakening to ski so the habit just isn't there. This year I went to a nearby city for a bit of vacation, just to be somewhere else, and I haven't compiled what I spent yet. Well, one bit: about $70 at two chocolate stores. Dark chocolate malted milk balls are one of my faves!
@WilliamB,
Oooooo, dark chocolate malted milk balls sound amazing! I looove dark chocolate in any form.
@WilliamB, while I'm not a big fan of chocolate (weird, I know), I am a fan of someone who spends $70 on it! Great use of funds.
@WilliamB, $70 at chocolate shops sounds like a fun treat. Enjoy 🙂
@WilliamB, I occasionally will splurge at a local store god double dipped dark choc raisins.
We were buying bacon for pizza night--the boys love bacon on pizza--but it got so expensive. We switched to turkey bacon, which is cheaper and healthier, and nobody really complained.
1.I've been making soups. My favorite you tuber chef is Domestic Geek, and last night I made creamy chicken soup with boneless chicken thighs So so easy and good! I'd never made it creamy before. I love her quick and easy one pot recipes.
2. A friend dropped off some leftover bbq her husband made for a tailgater. She taught me this: take a tortilla (or premade pizza dough, cooked), spread bbq sauce, spread the chopped bbq meat on top, top with onions, arugula, red peppers, and a little cheddar. Bake quickly in the oven. So. So good.
3. Boiled a bunch of eggs to keep in the fridge: made egg salad for dinner. Cheap protein these days is eggs.
That's all I remember from this week. 🙂
'Regular Things' sound like cliches to me. "We sure need rain. " "Oh, the snow is so beautiful." (These two frequently send me over the edge!) ; -)
@Bobi, from a South Texas girl: snow IS so beautiful! It amazes me. I’ve only seen it a handful of times.
I feel the same way because here in the Mid-Atlantic, we don't get a whole lot in the way of snow. So when it does come, I am alway awestruck.
In the "Regular Things" department, how about the many people today who will say, "See you next year!"
YES! That is a very regular thing to say. lol
I am not up to remembering what I spent/ate.....
But I do want to wish to you Kristen and your family a Happy New Year! And to all your readers and their families.
May it be full of opportunities to see and meet and embrace all those we love and care about. May we all stay/get healthy and healing to all those who struggle physically and mentally and emotionally. And healing to our planet as well!
Usually Sylvester is my favorite party of the year with friends, lots of champagne, good food, friends who play music, dancing, watching and doing the fireworks at midnight. It is a big thing here in Germany. Not so when Covid rules.
My dog is happy that there will be no fireworks this year though...
I will stay at home and watch "Gone with the Wind", share a bottle of champagne with the lodger and be in bed shortly after midnight.
No big New Year’s Eve plans here. Even before Covid and before kids we preferred to stay home on New Year’s Eve so no big change. I’m making one of our family’s favorite dinners and a new dessert though. I also bought a tiny bottle of champagne for myself (husband doesn’t like champagne) I do usually stay up until midnight, though it’s always a tough decision to make since having young kids who wake up early, means I’ll be sacrificing quite a bit of sleep!
Saturday - Christmas dinner! We hosted both our families. My husband roasted a turkey. I prepared all the sides on the 23rd so I wouldn’t be cooking all day on Christmas! I made mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, roasted carrots, peas, and some store bought dinner rolls we already had. Everything turned out very well for being reheated (I specifically chose make-ahead recipes though so not too surprising). I also prepared baked Brie and shrimp cocktail for appetizers. Christmas cookies and chocolates were dessert.
Sunday - late lunch at my MIL’s house, my husband and I ate some Christmas dinner leftovers late that evening.
Tuesday - turkey corn chowder made with leftover turkey, dinner rolls from the freezer
Wednesday - salads with leftover turkey for husband and I, pearl couscous with veggies and leftover turkey mixed in for the kids
Thursday - leftover turkey and mashed potatoes, and made some fresh gravy, steamed carrots and green beans and buttermilk rolls to go with it.
Friday - penne al vodka, banoffee pie (attempted to make this for Christmas but burned the dulce de leche so hoping this second attempt is more successful)
We celebrate noon years! You celebrate at noon instead of at midnight. I don’t enjoy staying up late and this way our young kids can celebrate too without being terrors to be around!
Now, Noon Year's is a thing I can totally celebrate. I am always awake at noon! lol
@Jenni, Noon Year’s ?! Genius!
@Jenni, Is Noon Year’s on the 31st or the 1st??
@Jenni, love it! I needed this idea when my kids were little.
Hooray for Zoe getting her braces off!
Saturday - Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, devilled eggs, cranberry salad, Happy Birthday Jesus cake (red velvet) for lunch. Then dinner was a smorgasbord of pimiento cheese, Lebanon bologna rolls, veggie tray, cookies, cheese and crackers, Tex Mex dip, Christmas cookies, fudge... Too Much Food! But a yearly tradition and so good.
Sunday - Dinner at my parents' house
Monday - Turkey broccoli alfredo
Tuesday - Burrito bowls
Wednesday - Turkey pot pie
Thursday - I ended up making a real meal for lunch to feed our home project helpers, so we had leftovers for dinner
Friday - My parents and brother are coming over and we're having pizza, mozzarella sticks, and a veggie tray. I told them I was cool with doing something for NYE as long as my kids could be in bed by 8! I'm boring and totally ok with that.
@Ruth T, more info on Lebanese bologna rolls if possible. I love middle eastern food.
We've had a very good food week here...and we will also be asleep long before midnight! We do have friends coming over (it's our friend Craig's birthday), but that's about the extent of our celebrating.
Tonight we'll have pulled pork sandwiches, roasted potatoes and carrots, a salad and slaw.
Last night I used Half Baked Harvest's Chicken Tinga Tacos filling for ground turkey burritos and we used up some leftover brown rice, pintos and quinoa on the side, plus slaw and chips.
Wednesday we had pizza with mushrooms, artichokes, a tiny bit of leftover Christmas ham...salad
Tuesday we had chicken pie and salad (lots of salad this week!)
Monday we had fish tacos
Sunday was... big salad and baked potatoes
Saturday was Christmas Eve leftovers: ham, mac and cheese, roasted brussels sprouts, and biscuits.
Christmas Eve - see above!
I was reading all of the comments to see if anyone said anything about not using a knife on New Years Day. I'm not sure where it comes from, but you're not suppose to use a knife to cut up anything such as food prep, because you will also cut your luck. I would say since we are looking for new and better things in a new year, that would be your good luck. So, since then, I have done any prep for meals for New Years Day, the day before. Just thought I would throw that out there. Happy New Year!
@Ranee, That's interesting! I've never heard of that tradition. It's too late. I used a knife for butter today.
@Beth B., I hope you’re OK, and got your cutting done, since New Year’s Day just started at midnight! On the subject of knives and superstitions, when I was an L & D nurse, several various cultures of families felt it was important to put a knife under the mattress or under the bed “to cut the pain”. A few nurses didn’t like this, but, hey, I tried to help with whatever they wanted.
@Jenny, I got my cutting done! 🙂 That's interesting. I've never heard about putting the knife under the mattress or the bed. It's nice you would do that for them. Why not, if it helps ease their mind?
Happy New Year! My husband and I collect incorrect idioms- such as “holding down the fork” (holding down the fort) or “escape goat” (scapegoat). It makes us laugh, I think it comes from people only ever hearing idioms and not understanding where they come from. I hope this new year is full of joy and the people you love.
@Jaimee Drew, my husband always says “nip it in the butt” and I can’t break him of it, even after explaining how buds are nipped. 🙂
@Sarah Heanssler, my husband worked with a bunch of guys who would say "that doesn't pass mustard" and "it just gave up the goat" instead of "muster" and "ghost," respectively. He sometimes had to leave the room so as not to burst into laughter at their malapropisms.
@Sarah Heanssler, so funny. I actually kind of love it.
@Sarah Heanssler, that’s too funny! I’ll definitely be telling my husband. 🙂
@Ruby, what WOULD pass the mustard even mean? So funny!
Regular things people say:
"It is what it is."
"Fancy seeing you here"
"Do you know what I am saying?"
"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."
I'd put up with all of those phrases if the words "fur baby" and "girl dad" would go away and never come back.
Saturday (Christmas): - Made a ham, mashed potatoes, vegetables etc.
Monday: Our Christmas Day plans were cancelled last minute thanks to the host being afraid of Omicron but we had all literally seen each other the night before at church sitting in the same pew for over an hour together so one of my wife's cousins hosted at her house. We got home relatively late and just kind of had whatever. We picked up a Happy Meal for my daughter as she doesn't have the reserves us grown ups have.
Tuesday: Christmas Dinner part 2 but with some freshly cooked vegetables.
Wednesday: Wife and daughter were out so I was on my own. I ate a large salad.
Thursday: We again, had a whatever night. I ate some ham, a random hash brown I found in the freezer, some fruit and a leftover waffle that was in freezer.
Friday: I'm not really sure. My wife was talking about getting fried chicken. We recently got a Krispy Krunchy Chicken (they are now in Massachusetts and expanding) and we talked about trying that but she also suggested getting it from the grocery store she likes it from. Chick Fil A has had a difficult time coming to the area and KFC went bye bye many years ago. If we do that we'll make our sides at home.
@Battra92,
I hate "it is what is is" so much. I'd be thrilled if it was never uttered by another human ever again. Not in love with "fur baby", either.
@Liz B., Fur baby just gets under my skin the same way as people calling a dog "their baby" or even worse, "their grand-dog." It's fine to like pets (I don't but I understand others like them) but the anthropomorphism of pets to that level is just weird to me.
"Girl dad" is one I just heard recently and I already hate it.
@Battra92, I don't mind girl dad but I loathe fur baby and grand dog, both of which seem too precious.
@Battra92, I totally agree on the pet thing. Where along the way did animals become so all important? I feel people are missing human connections somewhere. I like pets, but don’t adore and love them like people do these days.
I adore my pets--I usually tell my kids who are complaining that the other one is my favorite that my beagle is my favorite family member--but I loathe, loathe, loathe "pet mom" or "dog mom" or the worst and newest of all, "plant mom."
I always say--I'm not my dogs' mom. She was a REAL b!tch.
I have good friends who refer to their dogs, nonironically, as "the kids." I will also say "My kids have four paws. IT'S A SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITION."
I refer to myself as my dogs' mistress, which OK is a little old fashioned but a lot better than "dog mom" or "fur baby" or "fur grandbaby." Baaaaaarf.
@LaNell, I think you hit the nail on the head!
Happy New Year! And thank you for sharing your life for another year! I will be forever grateful for homemade pizza and yogurt, which I had been WAY too intimidated to make. (Turned the pizza up a notch with a 3 day fridge ferment. Wow! And makes a weeknight pizza much easier!) ANYWAY -New Year's Eve with my sweet 4 year old granddaughter. We are planning take out pizza, noisemakers and confetti. And a special movie. I'm planning for the New Year about 10 PM. 🙂 All the best to you and yours in 2022.
Saturday (Christmas): Vegetarian meatloaf, sweet 'n' sour cabbage, creamed onions, salad
Sunday: Popcorn and fruit
Monday and Tuesday: Vegetable mafe (stew)
Wednesday: Pumpkin bisque
Thursday: Egg bake with broccoli, onions and mushrooms
Tonight: Toast topped with mushrooms, peas and white sauce
Hope to be sleeping by 9:00 p.m., but may not stay that way because of neighbor's "fireworks" (I put that in quotes because they're really M-80 explosives). Wishing everyone a safe and healthy New Year!
I read your New Year's Eve plans and thought...I wish ZG was there to join 🙂
We will watch the ball drop in London and maybe watch a movie. No need to stay up late!
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Happy New Year!
We'll be watching college football playoff games today and tonight. Midnight is really late for us so we'll probably be dreaming by then.
This week was hijacked by Covid. Our son was sick, got tested on Christmas Eve, and found out on Sunday that he was positive. He was pretty sick for a few days. He is vaccinated but hadn't had his booster yet. Hubby and I have been boosted and so far tested negative.
Saturday: We canceled family dinner, just had snack foods, and opened presents on the deck on Christmas. We had cheese, fruit, meats, pepperoni balls, mini crab cakes from Costco, crockpot meatballs, and various cookies for dessert.
Sunday: Leftover from Saturday
Monday: Sausage, peppers, and onions with rice
Tuesday: Frozen chicken nuggets and rice
Wednesday: Burritos from local taco truck
Thursday: Leftover burritos
Friday: smoked pork loin and slaw
Saturday: blacked eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, and leftover pork loin
Let’s see if I can work backwards:
Tonight: chicken wings, potato skins, bacon wrapped little smokies
Thursday: chili and creamy ham & potato soup (dairy free https://allthehealthythings.com/creamy-ham-and-potato-soup/)
Wednesday: Fogo de Chao Xmas outing
Tuesday: teriyaki sheet pan chicken and rice
Monday: steak fajitas
Sunday: no idea!
I’ll probably stay up until midnight.
Happy New Years to everyone!
Our meals this week involved a Honey Baked Ham Co. roast turkey breast provided by my work, with homemade sides (mashed potatoes and green beans) + Aldi brand Hawaiian sweet rolls. I also made Skillet Tamale Pie (Cooks Illustrated recipe), which hubby and I both love. DS is on a grilled cheese sandwich jag, which is fine with me....super easy to make for my super picky eater.
Our NYE dinner will be homemade turkey pot pie, made with the leftover roast turkey. We usually stay home for NYE, even without Covid....all of our besties live out of town, so gathering together is not easy under the best of circumstances. We'll watch a movie, and likely be sound asleep well before midnight.
As for Regular Things people say - one that is somewhat specific to my profession is, "if it tastes good, spit it out" (I'm a Registered Dietitian, and work with cardiac patients). That usually generates a private eye roll from me and my fellow dietitians. Healthy food does not taste "bad"!
Hello all and happy new years eve!
Had Christmas leftovers for a few days
Made scalloped potatoes and salads
Went to red robin for a burger...thank goodness I had a 25 percent off coupon, otherwise the bill was 75 dollars for three burgers, a stack of 6 onion rings and a shared soda....yoiks! But we took our daughter to her favorite restaurant for a reason (will explain below)
Yesterday made potato soup which we had with bread and cheese
Don't know if we will eat much of anything tonight.
As to what our plans are.
Tonight we will be at the airport hugging the heck out of our one and only kid until she has to go through security to board her plane. Daughter is in the Army and she goes back to base to finish her Apache Helicopter mechanic training (I love gals like our daughters that choose to do things like this, it's not easy but it is pretty bad a**. Fist bump your airplane mechanic daughter for me) which she finishes up in February...she then goes to south Korea for three years.
We became empty nesters and military parents all in one month after she graduated high school.
Letting go in this manner is...wow...exciting, bittersweet, happy for her, worrisome, anxious, and yes, sad and there more but that is the gist of it.
All that while supporting, encouraging and cheering her on.
To all those who have soldiers in their lives...our thoughts are right along there with you. Hold them close when you get the chance.
May everyone have a good 2022.
@Anonymous, I'm proud of your daughter! Thank you to her for her service. 🙂 A couple of years ago I boarded a plane behind a female soldier, and I noticed her luggage was pink. I told her I loved that, seeing her in camo, but still a girl.
Oof, that is a lot to adjust to all at once. Big hugs to you guys!
@Anonymous, thank your daughter for her service. Virtual hugs to you. This is indeed a challenging time for you as a parent.
Braces off is the best!
Monday: salmon rice Caesar salad
Tuesday: 19 hour travel day due to weather and cancelled flights RANDOM FOOD packed snacks: pecans with cessions and protein bar then a desperate Thai chicken wrap and blueberry scone (both purchased 20 DOLLARS TOTAL WAH!)
Wednesday: Tuna tetrazzini and steamed peas
Thursday: hearty lentil stew with homemade beer bread
Friday: OUR TEAM PLAYS TODAY IN NATTY snacks! Cheeseball triscuits. Chips. Salsa. Flatbread pizza.
Saturday: grilled steaks rice with corn green bean salad
Happy New Year!
Christmas Eve was brisket,baked potatoes green bean casserole bread
Christmas was brunch foods &leftovers
Monday was more leftovers
Tuesday pan fried cod oven fries salad
We'd. Last of brisket in hash with fruit
Thurs chicken *rice in gravy with roasted broccoli
Tonight steaks
We won't be staying up late but have plans to make nachos for dinner and watch Shrek with our little kids. We will make homemade blizzards for dessert. My husbands will have hot fudge and thin mints, and mine will have raspberries and gummy bears!
"It was in the last place I looked" - um, obviously.
We pick up our new puppy tonight so we will be snuggling in the new year, watching something until we crash sometime around 10:30 or 11. Happy New Year!
I’m making beans and ham for my daughter’s family before I head home. My granddaughter will be helping with the cornbread.
Our New Year’s Eve will be root beer floats, homemade cookies, and a game my so -in-law got for Christmas. I will be asleep by midnight.
It’s been a long time since I have even attempted to stay up to midnight,ANY night of the year! I am lucky to make it to what we call. ”New York New Years..” which is 10 PM in Phoenix. My family has had so many challenges this year ( like many others) that I will be happy to go to bed at 9 PM and let this year slip away without me celebrating.. Praying for a better 2022.
We spent $137 at the grocery store, which included $20 in pet food/cat litter, $11 for trash bags, and $16.99 for beer (which I categorize as entertainment, not food). I spent $16 on fresh chicken, which was $1 over the weekly budget for fresh meat, but I was several dollars under the week before.
We ate Christmas leftovers until they were gone this week, then reverted to light meals of sandwiches, nuts, cheese, crackers, fruit, salad and hummus. NYE supper will be pan-fried boneless chicken thighs, green peas, corn on the cob, cheddar-herb muffins and applesauce.
Happy New Year.
Blessings on you.
We sort of scaled back on Christmas food since both the kids have Covid and not much of an appetite. The promised takeout from our favorite BBQ place was postponed and the individual Beefs Wellington I always make for Christmas had a lot of leftovers, which we snacked on for days.
We've mostly been eating scrappy snacky meals all week, but I'm making soup for dinner tonight, just for me and my girl. My son ditched us to go party. It's fine. I usually wake up when people left off fireworks at midnight here, sigh, which are illegal anyway.
Happy New Year, Kristen and family, and to all The Frugal Girl readers! 🙂 I am part-way through a 3 week cat-sitting job where I am staying over with 3 kittens and 2 cats. I do not have Netflix at home, so am enjoying watching Netflix with the cats every night. My favorite show on Netflix right now is "Derry Girls," which is a comedy about growing up in Northern Ireland in the 90's. The nun, sister Michael, is my favorite character.
@Beth B., I went to a Catholic convent boarding school and I love Derry Girls. My husband says he does not get it and is sort of amazed at how much it makes me laugh.
@Beth B., I love Derry Girls too. Bummed that the upcoming season will be the last. I appreciate all of the characters but I that Mary Quinn, Erin's mom, inches out all of them as my favorite.
We love love love your chipotle with dipping sauce recipe! It’s a favorite and we often serve it to guests. Thanks for the recipe!!!
I'm staying up til midnight tonight, as the clock strikes I'm going to open the front door and slam it shut so that it hits 2021 on the bum as it leaves! Won't keep the door open long as it's -30c ish right now!
Happy New Year!
Saturday- Traditional Christmas Ham and all the sides
Sunday- Christmas Lasagna with Hubby's side of the family- 5 hour road trip- we brought the bread 🙂
Monday- Driving home and stopped for "lunner" at an old favorite while driving thru the big city for a gyro
Tuesday - Kielbasa Casserole
Wednesday- Lemon Chicken and Rice- using up lemons from making pie from Saturday.
Thursday- Left over ham and au gratin potatoes
New Year's Eve- Pizza. We will be up till midnight but in bed by 12:15. The kids still think it is fun to stay up late and it is an easy "yes".
Ever since moving to Florida, bacon has been ridiculously expensive. In NY, bacon was pretty much aways BOGO. My daughter even got it over the summer for buy 1 get 2 free and the one was $5.99/lb. Here in Florida its $9.99/lb. Sorry to the pig farmers, but I won’t buy it at that price.
Happy New Year to You, Kristen, as well as your lovely readers.
Christmas was a total relax for me as I jammed on going to my Mom's (she is almost 92 and was cooking the turkey!!) because we have unexpectedly cold and snowy weather here on Vancouver Island. Instead, I pulled out an 11 pound turkey and did a very simple dinner for my son and me - roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, peas and carrots and gravy. Everything I love with no extras. We have eaten off that for much of the last week.
My BIG SUCCESS STORY is crepes! My chickens are suddenly laying again (funny what providing them with light will do) and what with the weather preventing me from sharing the eggs with my other two kids and my mom, I have a LOT of eggs. I also had a LOT of turkey and gravy. So I made a LOT of crepes (used the Joy of Cooking recipe - with extra flour. So 3 eggs, 1 T each of water and Milk, dash of salt, and (in my case) approx 1/4 c flour. I was batching so ended up doing two double batches using up a dozen eggs. As the crepes were cooked (only cook on one side, a VERY short 1/4 cup of batter per, keep the pan hot and lightly buttered but not TOO hot, so they barely brown by the time the top has cooked and dried) I just stacked them up, they don't stick. I then chopped up the rest of the turkey (got about 6 cups) and heated up the gravy (maybe 3 cups?) and mixed them together, then filled the crepes. Filled one pan and sprinkled harvarti on top and baked for 20 min, and filled another to freeze, and another half pan and froze that. IT WAS A TOTAL WIN. will do it again. #2 Son was thrilled to take the leftovers to work, and if I had kept the second pan out we would have eaten them for supper tonight, too.
As it was, final leftovers of Turkey and gravy and a bun for me, and cold turkey and a bun for him. No waste! and future Teri will have some suppers to pull out on a lazy night.
I had no intention of being awake at midnight. My Fitbit says DH and I logged 7.5 mikes today (yesterday now). We watched a documentary that we really enjoyed (Tina), then turned in around 9:30, totally bushed. Two hours later, I was inexplicably wide awake and frustratingly, remain so.
I'm enjoying this year-end wrap-up, but would honestly rather be asleep. Here's to a happier new year for everyone!
My Regular Things favorite is “It is what it is”. I like it because it perfectly sums up anything that defies logic or explanation. I didn’t plan to be awake to ring in 2022, but I was and celebrated quietly as I was trying to fall asleep. Food spending the past couple of weeks has been more than usual, which ironically is usual for us during the holidays. But I take advantage of sales on things like ham, baking ingredients, etc. We have immediate family members who are vegan so I accommodate them by buying certain things I know for sure that they like; otherwise it’s fairly easy to sub plant based milk, butter or egg substitute in normal holiday dishes. Wishing you all a healthy, prosperous & most blessed 2022.
I do not even want to think about how much money we spent on food this past week!
12/25: Just the two of use for Christmas dinner so we followed the Jewish tradition and got Chinese food.
12/26: leftovers
12/27: leftover Dijon and Cognac beef stew (Smitten Kitchen - seriously the best ever beef stew) served over noodles with sautéed green beans and bread. Triple-créme cheese and olives to start.
12/28: Out to dinner with nephew and in-laws on our Portland, ME getaway.
12/29: Still away, out for dinner, after a day of raw oysters, lobster roll, clam chowder and poutine.
12/30: I think I slept through dinner, so whatever one could scrounge from the fridge
12/31: back for more soup dumplings.
Time to reset diet and budget!
Happy 2022 everyone!
I'm with you!!! Why is bacon so expensive all the time. It seems like meat in general has skyrocketed, but bacon especially. Here's what we ate:
Saturday - Christmas dinner was nontraditional this year. Since it was just four of us, we decided on stuffed shells with salad and garlic bread.
Sunday - Leftovers from Christmas Eve's feast of garlic chicken, Mac and cheese, many veggies and homemade dinner rolls.
Monday - Leftovers!
Tuesday - Leftovers!
Wednesday - Chicken, broccoli and rice casserole and the last of the leftover Christmas Eve dinner rolls. There was a separate pan without the chicken for the vegetarian.
Thursday - Pb&j sandwiches and clam chowder. Our vegetarian had leftover rice casserole.
Friday - The hubby and I shared a sub sandwich around 3 pm to have room for the late New Years Eve smorgasbord at a friend's house. We contributed a hot wing dip, sparkling grape juice and fruit platter to the affair.