WIS, WWA | $254
What I Spent
I did finally drag myself out to the grocery store. FINALLY.
And yikes, I spent a lot of money: $254, to be specific.
This is what happens when you put off actual grocery shopping for several weeks in a row; you need to buy all of the things!
But when you average it all out for the month, it's fine; I averaged $145/week, which is slightly under budget.
This spending includes the $14 I spent on my 48 pounds of apples.
October Grocery Spending
Week 1: $224
Week 2: $152
Week 3: $27
Week 4: $69
Week 5: $254
What We Ate
Well, I made a lot of applesauce this week! But I did cook other things as well. 😉
(Here's how I make my applesauce.)
Saturday
Mr. FG and I had a takeout date night; I made chicken tikka masala for the girls.
Sunday
I made homemade pizza for the first time in my new oven, and I think I need to tweak a few things (a slightly higher temperature, and I need to put the rack lower in the oven.)
(If your homemade pizza sucks, here's how to fix it.)
Monday
We ended up getting subs because our original plans for the evening (pumpkin carving with a cousin) got postponed last minute, and I had not started anything for dinner!
Tuesday
We had spaghetti and garlic bread, plus applesauce.
Wednesday
I tried a New York Times recipe for gnocchi and chicken soup, which I had high hopes for. Sadly, it was just ok.
I do really like gnocchi, but I think I don't like it in soup; it gets sort of a gooey texture that reminds me of play-doh.
So, I will stick with gnocchi in other ways.
Thursday
I spent the day doing a bunch of painting in preparation for my dad helping us frame our original dining room windows.
So, easy night: I made gingerbread pancakes and bacon.
Friday
I think Mr. FG and I might do our date night tonight, since tomorrow night is Halloween.
This week I made a huge batch of beef and barley broth from some bone broth I had made over the weekend. This gave us four evening meals. Twice we had fresh leg ham and salad as summer is definitely on the way. Tonight I made pancakes for dinner.
As we had treated us to relatively expansive meals in the last weeks, we tried opting for more frugal vegetarian meals this week.
Saturday: easy, but not completely frugal start with ordered pizza
Sunday: canelloni with a spinach/ricotta filling and baked in tomato sauce
Monday and Wednesday: fresh bread from our local bakery, cheeses and cut vegetables and hummus
Tuesday: creamy bean stew with potatoes
Thursday: spaghetti marinara
Friday: Asian noodles with tofu, pak choi, carrots and cilantro
I spent $80 at the grocery this week buying milk, bread, eggs, sandwich meat, cheese and some chicken thighs and boneless skinless chicken breast.
On Monday I made chicken and noodles with green beans from the garden, sautéed veggies, bread and applesauce.
Tuesday we had leftovers,
Wednesday I made garlic chicken rice, pinto beans and a large pot of mustard greens. There was also leftover chicken and noodles.
Thursday I made a large pot of taco soup using leftover corn up along with black beans, kidney beans and several different peppers that we grew in our garden and froze. We ate this with tortilla chips, avocado and cheese.
Tonight we will have leftovers of soup and I will share some with a family member who lost his wife several moths ago and is struggling.
I also made two peach pies this week from frozen peaches we put away this summer. Yum.
Cooler temps are finally here in GA and we may get to have our first fire in the next few days
Have a great weekend everyone!!!
I make the chicken and gnocchi soup and push all the gnocci away and enjoy the rest. My weird food sensory kid LOVES the gnocchi which blows my mind so he eats it all. lol
Monday- I tossed a pork roast into the crock pot with a jar of kraut. Served with corn and bob Evans mashed potatoes I grabbed at Aldi!
Tuesday- I pulled some chicken and broth out of the freezer and made a stew with a bag of frozen mixed veggies and some fresh potatoes.. served with homemade cheddar garlic biscuits.
Wednesday- the girl requested meatballs subs..so homemade meatballs cooked in sauce in the crock pot all day. Served with salad and air fryer roasted potatoes.
Thursday- chicken and stuffing casserole with frozen peas on the side. Also served the last of the apple sauce in the fridge and grapes.
I have no idea what I am doing tonight.. or this weekend
..
No applesauce here this year. All the apples (and other fruit) got killed off in the blossom stage early in the spring by a terrible cold snap. Sadness.
Anyway. This week in food . . .
Saturday: Brisket, mashed potatoes, mashed calabaza (a type of local winter squash), leftover roasted green beans
Sunday: Roasted chicken, rice, roasted pepper/onion/calabaza
Monday: Various leftovers
Tuesday: Pork sirloin roast, roasted potatoes, roasted tomatoes, mashed calabaza, vanilla ice cream with chocolate shell (1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1 teaspoon coconut oil, microwave till melted and stir smooth, then drizzle over ice cream--SO GOOD)
Wednesday: Ground beef tacos WITH CRUNCHY TACO SHELLS! We never have real taco shells, just corn tortillas, but my mom brought a box of real taco shells when she visited and my kids thought they were a fun novelty.
Thursday: Fried pork and peppers, garlic bread, tomato salad
Tonight: Chicken. Stir-fry, I think.
I remember our menu for once!
Monday--African Sweet Potato Stew, a household favorite. Leftovers for both our lunches the following day.
Tuesday--BBQ Fridge Clean Out Stew. 1 lb beef, 1 lb random veggie bits, seasoned accordingly. Ditto lunch leftovers.
Wednesday--Spaghetti with Italian sausage and veggies.
Thursday--Roast butternut squash, roast cabbage wedges with mustard vinaigrette (new recipe--a keeper!), and 1/2 a piece of naan. I should have skipped the naan, as the squash and cabbage were SO filling despite modest portions.
Friday--I’ve no idea! I do know it will be vegetarian and will likely involve cabbage (generous friends clearing out their gardens = A LOT of cabbage in our fridge). We always aim for at least three veggie weeknights, plus most lunches, and we’re short one.
Monday- spaghetti and meatballs
Tuesday- stew in the crock pot (with meat I got on markdown for 97cents a pound!!)
Wednesday- ranch chicken pockets
Thursday- take out- supporting the local folks
Friday- homemade pizza (aka the Mandalorian season two starts tonight and Hubby is so excited we are making a fun night of it!
Saturday is cheeseburgers- A fun family tradition - take the slice of cheese and cut out a simple jack o'lantern face. You then have halloween burgers!
WWS: $137; WWA:
Saturday: pasta with greens and beans (this was delicious! Serious Eats). We added eggplant from the garden and Italian chicken sausage
Sunday: cast-iron skillet chicken pot pie
Monday: crepes with goat cheese and prosciutto; salad
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: baked beans with slab bacon and breadcrumbs (so good! epicurious -- they were not sweet and tasted more like cassoulet beans); roasted pearl onions with sherry and honey; salad
Thursday: roasted spatchcocked chicken; roasted carrots and acorn squash
Friday: Hungarian beef goulash over polenta
Shopping is Sunday.....
Saturday- we had Wendy's after DD soccer game (game was at 6pm)
Sunday- Mom/Dads Baked chicken, pasta w/garlic oil, Broccoli (I brought the broccoli and cake )
Monday- Pasta with homemade sauce.
Tuesday- Breakfast for dinner, scrambled eggs, bacon, breakfast potatoes, toast
Wednesday-Fish sticks and mac cheese
Thursday- easy button- ordered pizza.
Friday-I think we are going to have steak / baked potatoes, hope this rain stops!
Saturday-chicken tacos
Sunday-pizza
Monday-French toast, bacon
Tuesday-burger, potato salad
Wednesday-potato soup, tomato sandwich
Thursday-ravioli with sauce, butter beans, toasted croissant
Friday-I will probably cook a bunch of different veggies since my week didn't contain many.
Saturday: Crunchwraps
Sunday: Pizza
Monday: Lasagna and roasted broccoli
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Chicken and noodles
Thursday: The last Easter ham from the freezer (making room for turkeys!), sweet potatoes, and corn casserole
Friday: My menu board says sloppy joes, but I don't know if I am up for making buns today since there are some muffins I want to make. I may switch to leftover ham with baked beans... And... Maybe corn. Not sure.
I find that our grocery spending is not consisently the same each week as well. Like you, I try to look at the average.
~Dinners this week (In no particular order):
~Pork and Saur Kraut, Rice and Salad
~Basil Chili Pork, Rice and Zuchinni
~Chicken Cordon Blue, Potatoes and Salad
~Homemade Flatbread Pizza and Salad
~Turkey Rice Soup, with Autumn Salad (Butternut Squash, Spinach, Craisins, and Pecans)
~Leftovers
~Crabcakes and Fries @ my Mothers Place
Gingerbread pancakes? Tell us more!
Adding a link to the post right now; I should have thought to do that! https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019065-gingerbread-pancakes
Kristen,
Would you mind sharing your recipe for gingerbread pancake batter? Those sound delightful!
I'll add it to the post now, but here you go. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019065-gingerbread-pancakes
Let's see:
Sunday: Japanese style curry in the Instant Pot. I didn't feel it saved that much time but it was good.
Monday: Tacos using ground turkey.
Tuesday: Leftovers and cleaning out of the fridge. Like all stews, Japanese curry tastes much better as leftovers than it does the first night. I can't explain why.
Wednesday: French toast, bacon, fruit and hashbrowns.
Thursday: BLTs, salad and some chips.
Friday: I have no idea. I may just make a pizza or get a chicken at the wholesale club. We'll see.
Sunday - Pork green chili with fried egg, tortillas
Monday - Pumpkin ravioli in brown butter sauce with garden salad, orange slices
Tuesday - Homemade chicken tenders with roasted cauliflower, garden salad, apple slices
Wednesday - Chicken in a ginger sauce that we got at the farmer's market, naan, garden salad
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - ???
Ooooooo. Please share the gingerbread pancake recipe!! That sounds amazing!
I'm sorry-I should have added that in the post! https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019065-gingerbread-pancakes
I forgot my shopping notebook again, and it holds my menus, so let's see what I can remember:
Last night was pre-cooked taco meat and flour tortillas from the freezer, while I made fresh cassava tortillas for me. I discovered we had no cheese after I'd started the meal, so we ate tacos without cheese, and for a while I thought we were out of salsa (for his tacos), but found it. I don't eat tomatoes except rarely, so I had chopped leftover roasted beets on mine, which surprisingly, turned out okay. It was an odd taco night, for sure.
We had homemade chicken tenders with salad, I think.
We had roasted pork chops with roasted beets and roasted asparagus. I used the convection setting on my oven for this, by the way.
We had smoked Polish sausage with cabbage and carrots
We had leftover soup from the freezer
We had steak, potato and salad
I think that's it. Obviously, my memory isn't too good, re: leaving my notebook at home, but I know at least some of this is right. 🙂 Tonight will be whatever strikes me while I'm grocery shopping. Since the cooler weather is finally here today (yay!) I won't be looking only at what would keep the kitchen the coolest. I just got my Misfits box, so I will be shopping with that in mind.
I think you can put basically anything into a tortilla and it will turn into a pretty good taco, especially if you warm the tortillas!
Working backwards...
Last night we had chicken and corn quesadillas with guac because I bought a bunch of avocados at Sam's (they come in a 5pack) and a few were getting soft.
Wednesday night we had homemade pizza with mushrooms, onions, pepper, etc
Tuesday night we grilled salmon and had that with a salad and roasted veggies.
Monday was chicken tenders and roasted potatoes
Sunday was Turkey Meatloaf with creamed corn and green beans, plus I made whole-wheat Parker house rolls.
It was a rainy/snowy Sunday and Monday, so the need for comfort food was high! Fortunately I've been able to use up lots from the freezer and we have had very little food waste.
Sunday - Dinner local (take out)
Monday - Baked chicken, roasted potatoes, yellow squash casserole, fruit
Tuesday - Peppercorn pork tenderloin, rice, broccoli, fruit
Wednesday - Beef, bean and green chili burritos with green chili sauce, chips, salsa, guac, fruit
Thursday - Sausage, peppers and onions, mashed potato, mixed vegetable, fruit
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - No idea, Happy Halloween!
Saturday: sausage and potato soup
Sunday: Hamburgers
Monday: Ravioli
Tuesday: went to Hubby’s Aunts to watch the World Series had Pizza
Wednesday: left over pizza for him and a Chicken Quesadilla for me
Thursday: pork chops
Friday: will probably make shrimp and cheesy grits.
Sunday: Jambalaya (technically leftover shrimp creole with some chicken and sausage thrown in), salad
Monday: Salsa verde chicken, cilantro lime rice, green salad
Tuesday: Slow cooker Hungarian goulash, egg noodles, green beans, grapes
Wednesday: Burgers on the grill (because it got above freezing finally), cauliflower pancakes, raw veggies with ranch dip
Thursday: Chicken breast with spinach, roasted tomatoes and mozzarella cheese; cucumber and tomato salad
Friday: Jalapeno cheddar bratwurst, grilled potato and onion packets, salad
Saturday: Chicken tacos, salsa rice and some yet to be determined vegetables
Sunday - Pot Roast with potatoes, etc.
Monday- Fend for yourself
Tuesday- Ham/Cheese Stromboli
Wednesday- Ham, Corn, and Carrot Casserole with Cornbread Impossible pie topping
Thursday- Son ordered Pizza delivery for all
Friday- Grilled Cheese, Chicken Noodle Soup
Tomorrow (Saturday) - French Bread Pizzas
Curious minds want to know: what is cornbread impossible pie topping?
Monday: Chivken Tortilla soup with cornbread and pumpkin pie
Tuesday: whole roast chicken with almond rice pilaf and green beans
Wednesday: I had leftovers, hubby air fried some fish fillets
Thursday: ham and bacon quiche with salad
Friday: dinner out!
Saturday: Halloween chili! It’s simmering right now in preparation for tomorrow.
Sunday:homemade tomato basil soup with copycat cheddar bay biscuits
1.Beef Borscht and homemade rye bread
2. Spaghetti and Meatballs, sauce and meatballs frozen from previous batch cooking.Caesar salad
3. Fish fry, jasmine rice with some leftover salsa, grilled zucchini
4. Pork chops with barbecue sauce, roasted potatoes and grilled zucchini
5. Dragon noodles (An Asian noddle dish with shrimp in it.), rice, tzatzki from Trader Joe.
6. Leftover borscht and bread
7. Tonight I am making a pizza and salad.. meeting with girlfriends in driveway for socially distanced happy hour.My husband will get what ever leftovers we have! LOL!
With the rest of the tomatoes ripening on the counter we had BLTs for three dinners and then chili for three days. Neither one of us cares if we eat the same meal for days, so when I don't feel like cooking or baking we just rely on a huge vat of something to feed us for half the week. Tonight it is Filet o fish for me and a can of hash (yuck, but he loves it) for him. We over-bought oranges so he ate those every night for dessert and I ate persimmons (hideously expensive but we only see them for about a month so I just ignore the price.)
Thanks for the gnocchi soup review, I had high hopes for that one, but I can definitely see how the gnocchi could be a fail.
I, too, have to go to the store. Only two people here, but I aim to cook well for the two of us!
Monday - Chicken with gravy and biscuits, green beans DELISH
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/2020/10/chicken-and-biscuits.html
Tuesday - We didn't eat: Mexican Tilapia, sauteed brussels sprouts, small twice baked potato. I don't know what we had. I think I made dinner salads with some chicken breasts I found in the freezer.
Wednesday - Pork Chop, Hash Brown Casserole (froze half), turnip greens
Thursday - Slow Cooker Steak Soup, Mexican cornbread
Friday - Dinner is charcuterie from here
Saturday - Taco Night, seasoned pintos
Sunday - Probably the Mexican Tilapia dinner above
Its been a rough week. The charcuterie sure tastes great with some beer from our local growler room...
WIS: About $80. Last Saturday I went for the 3-day sale and stocked up. Today I picked up a bit more for stocking up. I have a ton of vegetables and burgers & chicken in the freezer. I could be good for a couple of weeks.
There is only my husband and me but sometimes we do dinner with my daughter and her family next door.
Friday: Pizza for babysitting
Saturday: Lemon chicken, potatoes and broccoli
Sunday: Left over turkey burgers, gravy, leftover potatoes and sugar squash. (This may become my Thanksgiving dinner unless I can fine the stuffed turkey roll at TJs.)
Monday: Pot roast for the whole family
Tuesday: Left over pot roast and vegetables.
Wednesday: My daughter made a corned beef and cabbage soup and I made a focaccia.
Thursday: Remainder of the spaghetti sauce and box of pasta, left over pot roast and a green salad.
Friday: Aldi prepared pizza. I went out this afternoon to get a haircut and do some Halloween shopping for my daughter's small party tomorrow. I wanted to make up some bags for the kids of Dollar Store, non-candy products. There will only be 6 children of varying ages.
We had the following:
Breakfast for dinner ( my fave, NOT my hubbies fave)
Baked pollack with roasted potatoes and peppers
BBQ chicken with quinoa salad and strawberries
Leftovers with yogurt and homade granola
Frozen pizza and fruit.
Take care everyone!
I gave up on NYT recipes years ago. So many of them are dud with a capital D.
Oh, that is good to know! I'd thought maybe since they are such a big company, their recipes might be well-tested.
I highly recommend subbing the gnocchi for cheese tortellini (we like the frozen kind) in soups. They hold up well and really increase the heartiness of any soup.