WIS, WWA | 4th of July week
What I Spent
- $26 at BJ's
- $102 at Aldi
- $35 at Weis
- $20 at Harris Teeter
So, that's $183 for the week.
July Spending
Week 1: $157
Week 2: $183
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG was at a concert with a friend, Sonia was pet-sitting overnight, and Lisey and Zoe went out with two friends.
Which meant I was home all by myself.
That has almost never happened in the last year, so I was not displeased with my Saturday night situation.
I didn't feel like putting forth a bunch of effort, so I just fed myself a random assortment of things from the fridge. Easy + food-waste-fighting!
Sunday
Lisey really wanted fried chicken, and we had points to get a free family pack. So, we picked that up and ate it with some watermelon.
I don't make desserts that often, but it was a holiday, and the girls had been asking for some angel food cake recently.
So, I made one of those and we topped it with whipped cream and berries.
Monday
I made this mandarin chicken salad with pull-apart garlic bread.
garlic pull-apart bread recipe
Tuesday
We don't have any free nights this weekend, so Mr. FG and I did a mid-week date night, using a local voucher (kind of like Groupon) for a Peruvian chicken place.
We tried plantains and fried yucca, which neither of us has had before.
Verdict:
- thumbs up to the fried yucca
- meh to the plantain; not my favorite, but not terrible
At home, the girls had a Very Healthy Dinner comprised of mini pigs in a blanket. And watermelon.
Wednesday
I made grilled chicken gyros, stuffed with tzatziki sauce, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and obviously, chicken!
And we had cherries on the side.
Thursday
I made shrimp salad croissants (chicken for Zoe).
Friday
Tex-Mex night!
I'm making pork tinga tacos on corn tortillas, and we'll have chips, salsa, queso, and guacamole with those.
My husband and middle son were gone all week, so some dinners were less involved than is typical. Where "less involved" = "less meat." 🙂
Saturday: Pasta for the kids, with some leftover beef and pizza sauce, frozen peas and grated cheese mixed in. Salad for me.
Sunday: Hot dogs, broccoli salad, potato chips, deviled eggs, and a very, um, rustic flag cake
Monday: Ham and cheese quesdadillas (with storebought flour tortillas instead of corn! childrens's culinary highlight this week), carrot sticks with curry dip (curry powder in mayonnaise), raw grape tomatoes
Tuesday: Beef pot roast, garlic bread, collard greens, roasted peppers and onions
Wednesday: Breakfast sausage patties, curried split peas, rice, green salad with ranch dressing
Thursday: Barbecue beef sandwiches made with leftover pot roast and carrot sticks with ranch dip for the kids, salad for me.
Tonight: Leftover sausage, curried split peas, and rice for the kids, salad for me. They'll have some kind of vegetable, too. Maybe frozen green beans. While I wait for my own green beans that are still in the flowering stage to finally start producing actual beans for me.
No picnic on the fourth? I made crock pot Mac and cheese for a Fourth of July potluck- a Martha Stewart recipe that was delicious and used uncooked macaroni so really easy! Then Tuesday I made a big pot of minestrone soup and have been eating it the last 2 days. Today is fish Friday- tuna and sardines lol with a nice salad. I love Angel food cake but I’m not real successful making it from scratch. Mom’s would literally melt in your mouth. I might try my hand at it again- a slice a day wouldn’t do too much damage.
Saturday: Kielbasa, salads and fries.
Sunday: We went to my Godmother's house for the annual 4th of July picnic. It was nice albeit a bit typical (hamburgers, hot dogs etc.)
Monday: Homemade pizza. I've been experimenting with freezing pizza dough and I've yet to get it quite right. I'm thinking I need to leave it out on the counter longer after it's thawed. I may also have to add a bit more yeast.
Tuesday: Pork chops, mashed potatoes and various vegetables.
Wednesday: My daughter requested tacos so we had tacos.
Thursday: We were planning on having leftovers from the previous two nights but my wife apparently hit something with her car which caused the transmission pan to get a small crack and it was leaking everywhere. Her car is in the shop until Monday and she was left stranded at work. Luckily a coworker was able to bring her to our daughter's daycamp which is where I met her.
So it was late and my daughter was hungry and we were worried about a thunderstorm coming through and we were driving through a long stretch of nothing. I'm almost ashamed of this but we stopped at a gas station / convenience store chain and my wife and daughter both got slices of pizza and I got a hot dog. When I got home I ate a salad as I was still hungry.
Sometimes I guess you have to do what you have to do.
Friday: Finally eating those leftovers in the fridge.
@Battra92, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. No shame. Hope the car situation sorts itself out.
@Kris, Thanks. It will be fine but the part is on BO until Monday. It's not the end of the world and it's so much better getting it taken care of at the first sign rather than being stranded on the highway or something.
Yay for homemade angel food cake. It is one of those foods where there is no comparison to store bought. Also, wish I had Sonia as my pet sitter!
Ohhh, you give me too much credit! I used a cake mix. Angel food cake is the only cake I will buy a mix for!
This week, I only had to physically go in to work twice, but both days I packed enough food that I wasn't hungry at work. A win!
Monday: Roasted veggie sandwiches.
Tuesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce (from the freezer), with simple lettuce salad. I took the leftovers for lunch.
Wednesday: We had an evening class, so we had sandwiches during, and then after grabbed some prepared food at the grocery store. Better than takeout, but not ideal.
Thursday: No leftovers for lunch, but I packed bread, an avocado mashed up with lime juice, some cheese, and an apple. We went to my aunt's and she made tortellini with pesto, quinoa salad, chicken skewers, and potato salad. A friend also brought pizza. It was so nice to be outdoors and social.
Friday: 15 months after getting married, we finally get to take a honeymoon! We splashed out on a nice hotel in nearby town which includes breakfast and dinner every day. I'm so looking forward to it!
Have a wonderful honeymoon!
I picked up extra days at work over the holiday since we were in town, so hubby did Monday and Tuesday's meal. We had grilled brats Monday, some sort of rice/hamburger dish Tuesday, I pushed the easy button and made spaghetti (with jarred sauce) Wednesday, and yesterday I made Greek chicken sandwiches (Kristen, it must have been tzaziki sauce week, since I made that as well) but I again pushed the easy button and bought my naan instead of making it. I think tonight will be, once again, easy. Probably sloppy joes. We are eating salads from the garden for sides. Our lettuce is winding down so I'm enjoying it while we have it. It's summertime and the livin' is easy ....
Woohoo for you for not needing to buy food at work! And have a wonderful honeymoon. 🙂
Saturday: My 3yo's family birthday party. She chose grilled chicken, fruit salad, and macaroni and cheese. Cake and ice cream for dessert. (She picked peanut butter and banana ice cream. It was better than I expected!)
Sunday: Picnic at the lake with hot dogs, chips, watermelon, and strawberries.
Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: Pork roast, zucchini from our garden, and cherries
Wednesday: I had a last-minute opportunity to see a friend who lives in France, but it meant I was gone from 4:30-6. My mom was kind enough to give us $20 to pick up pizzas!
Thursday: A mix of chicken, rice, and veggies. Though I'm pretty sure the kids mostly just had smoothie.
Friday: BBQ pork sandwiches, pasta salad, and the plan was green beans from our garden, though the kids have eaten most of them already. I feel like I can't complain about this!! So I may need to find a different veggie. Maybe we'll have enough zucchini ready.
Kristen,
You didn't list your Hungry Harvest box. Are you no longer getting it?
I get a box every other week!
We are heading into a very birthday-heavy couple of weeks, so I'm not even going to post a "what was spent" - half my grocery bill this week was related to birthday gifts/cards. In the next two weeks we have the following birthdays: my husband's, my MIL's, my FIL's, my daughters, and the two children in our "quarantine family"!
Saturday - we grilled out (burgers and hot dogs, potato chips, and watermelon), since we were going to a family thing on the Fourth
Sunday - family thing on the Fourth. I was only responsible for bringing grapes, but we also had some leftover chicken I needed to use up, so I also made buffalo chicken dip in my crockpot, and brought that with tortilla chips and celery sticks. It was a huge hit! Family thing was 40+ people.
Monday - Fajitas (grilled chicken plus peppers/onions cooked in a cast iron skillet right on the grill), since it was blazing hot and I didn't want to heat up the kitchen
Tuesday - We had my SIL and her husband over for dinner. Salad, baked beans, and bacon/cheddar/jalapeño brats from a local farmer's market meat supplier. We meant to do s'more's, but in all the fun of spending time with them, we completely forgot!
Wednesday - Leftover night!
Thursday - 3 birthdays today! We ended up doing the celebrations at lunch time (2 kids and 1 adult), had leftovers for dinner, and plan to order pizza from our favorite pizza place on Friday, as all the birthday people decided they'd rather have pizza on a Friday night with a movie than randomly in the middle of the week.
Friday - ordering pizza!
I'll make my menu and grocery list later today, and shop tomorrow morning.
Whoa, do you add birthday gifts into your grocery budget?
This week we had,
-4th of July with friends (we contributed dessert)
-easy enchiladas
-dinner out (quesadillas)
-chicken and dumplings
-tonight we will probably have pork tacos but possibly pasta
Have a great weekend everyone!
I love gatherings where all I have to bring is a dessert; that feels so easy to me!
WWS: $78; WWA:
Sat: Take out Chinese
Sun: Grilled flank steak; potato & green bean salad with mustard vinaigrette
Mon: leftover flank steak tacos with the fixings; corn, zucchini and red pepper sauté
Tues: leftovers
Wed: pasta with edamame, spinach, and pancetta (a riff on this recipe: https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/278554/spinach-lima-bean-crispy-pancetta-pasta/)
Thur: turkey meatballs in a creamy red curry sauce (https://themodernproper.com/turkey-meatballs-in-a-creamy-red-curry-sauce). This was delicious. I added zucchini and kale to the pot; jasmine rice
Fri: omelette with goat cheese and spinach; corn, zucchini, and red pepper sauté with lardons and arugula
@betta from daVille, that turkey meatball in curry recipe looks delicious, I will definitely be trying that!
It's been a busy week for us, as we road tripped, and packed/sold our vacation house.
-On the 4th of July, we had one last hurrah at the house, and had burgers, hot dogs & potato salad & baked beans. Dessert was a 4th of July themed fruit pizza
-We had a combo lunch/dinner at Costco on the road trip, of a croissant sandwich & salad. We later ate trail mix, so we could avoid stopping & get home at midnight
-We went out for dinner another night, as my parents have the kids. Our first date night at our favorite place in at least 18 months
-We had salmon (husband)/grilled chicken sausages (me) & coleslaw
-Last night my husband grilled steak & I made a caprese salad (basil & tomatoes from the garden).
For tonight, we're thinking of celebrating our vacation house sale (the transfer came through today) & going out for Thai food. We'll likely be doing more date nights than usual, as we are sans kids
We have been at a cabin on a lake in northern WI since Saturday, so everything we had we brought from home, as we do not want to go grocery shopping or eat out when we are here. Sat & Sun- roast beef and turkey sandwiches with fresh peaches on the side. Mon- grilled ham steaks with grilled potato chunks and s'mores. Tues- grilled burgers and fresh peaches. Wed- leftovers of everything. Thurs- grilled hot dogs and brats with a lime green jello salad. Today- We are heading home and I know I have the ingredients to make a home made pizza at home, so I think that is what it will be. The fishing was great here so there will be lots of walleye, crappies, and blue gill fish dinners in our future!
Our household is myself and my husband. I do a big shop every 2 weeks, Costco and a supermarket, and we get a weekly produce delivery.
We tend to batch/bulk cook and eat the same thing a few days in a row.
What I spent:
$33 for organic vegetable and fruit delivery. We support a non-profit that is farming and bringing fresh produce in our food desert city. We pay a little more to subsidize reduced boxes and a free farm stand for folks that need it.
$15 for ricotta, sour cream and bread for dinner at a friend’s house Saturday
What we ate for dinner:
Saturday: Dinner at a friend’s house: Turkey sausage lasagna, salad and bread.
Sunday: BBQ ribs, coleslaw and macaroni salad
Monday - Wed: Vegetarian Ethiopian feast: 4 dishes (lentils, collards, potato/cabbage/carrot, and zucchini/mushroom) injera and salad
Thursday: Ethiopian Wrap, we ran out of injera, so made a burrito style wrap with a tortilla. Our neighbor made baklava and shared some with us, so we had that for dessert.
Friday: undecided protein (either salmon or pork chops) with leftover Ethiopian vegetables (potato/cabbage/carrot, and zucchini/mushroom)
I keep looking for bargains when I shop, and not finding them....
Side note, my mother always made angel food cake from scratch, so I do, too. So far, they have always turned out. And they are sooooo good.
What we ate:
From-the-freezer boom boom shrimp served with a salad with homemade ranch dressing.
We had an easy night of hot dogs, cottage cheese and fruit, and jicama sticks. I love jicama - I'm so glad I decided to try it. Next, I want to try to grow it.
Hog jowl, "baked" beans that were actually cooked in the pressure cooker, and salad.
Sloppy joes - tomato sauce in his, made from our cherry tomatoes, and no sauce at all in mine and no bread, so I basically had seasoned ground beef. Leftover baked beans, fried apples.
Roasted venison (foreleg) served with cauliflower au gratin and root vegetable medley. My husband used to eat venison, but he utterly refused to even try any of this, so I had it for a dinner and a few lunches. It was very good. The dog, who got the scraps, agreed with me.
Burgers, no bun for me, French fries for him, the rest of the jicama sticks for me.
Pork chops, seasoned and fried in a little bit of fat, then okra cooked in the skillet drippings, plus cut up golden beets, steamed instead of roasted, because I didn't want to use the oven.
My main hesitation is all those egg yolks left after you make an angel food cake; how do you use them up?
Lemon curd!
@Kristen, My mother alway made a sponge cake with all those yolks. So great to have two cakes to eat for a couple days. Now I’m hungry for homemade sponge cake. Guess a dessert shell or Twinkie will have to do as I’ve never made a sponge cake. I also use angel food cake mix.
Or there’s scrambled eggs or quiche.
@Kristen, I use extra yokes in breakfast casserole, quiche and custard. There are dozens of ideas online too,
@Kristen, chocolate or butterscotch pudding!
@Kristen, Definitely the richest, most decadent chocolate pudding. Every time I make a chocolate roulade--which is a flourless chocolate cake that relies on whipped egg whites--I next make a Kitchn recipe for chocolate pudding that calls for six egg yolks. It is ridiculously good.
@Kristen, I used to work in a restaurant that made homemade pies. The most popular was a Bavarian Cream that was combined with various fruit. It is like a very rich, thick pudding and called for lots of egg yokes. I used to be given the extra egg whites that they couldn't use, so I used them to make Angel Food Cake at home from scratch. They always turned out for me. I know you aren't a pie person, but the Bavarian Cream would be delicious with just fruit as well.
Oh yes, I think bavarian cream would be delightful without a crust.
We made two trips to Kroger this week to total just over $100 for the week.
Saturday: I rescued 27 pints of strawberry jam that did not set up correctly when I canned it. That means I reversed the process and canned all 27 jars again. Fun times. While I was at it I made a pint of pickled onions, 6 pints of pickled banana peppers, and 5 pints of cranberry mostarda. All of this had me in the kitchen all day so a quick meal of ham sandwiches was enjoyed by all.
Sunday: We broke with tradition. I roasted a pork should in a lovely marinade of pineapple, orange, cilantro, garlic and lime. We shredded the meat and made tacos with flour tortillas, fresh pineapple, pickled onions, cilantro and lime. We ate these with spanish rice and black beans. Dessert was apple pie.
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Tuna salad sandwiches for some & leftovers for some
Wednesday: salmon patties, lemon parsley red potatoes, collard greens, cucumber & tomato salad
Thursday: baked chicken with peach bbq sauce, homemade macaroni & chesse, green beans, & squash casserole
Friday: Clean out the fridge night! Bits and bobs of all of the above to get rid of it and avoid waste
Happy weekend everyone!
Ohh, that is frustrating about the jam. But good on you for hanging in there and fixing the problem.
How do you make your pork tinga tacos - is the pork like a ground pork or do you slow cook the pork like for carnitas . . . ?
So, I have not ever made this recipe before! It's slow-cooked pork butt in a tomato-based sauce, from an ATK Mexican cookbook. We'll see how it is.
We had a very tight budget this week due to making big payments on our debt and helping a friend with rent, plus I found good flannel shirts on rock-bottom clearance for my husband. So I spent $64 for the week's groceries, which meant getting creative with what we had on hand.
It's very hot, so we were fine with salad and sandwiches for supper. I had Spanish rice and black beans for lunches, along with some leftover frozen chicken casserole (which I am so very glad to have eaten the last of), and made baked oatmeal for breakfasts that used up the last of a bag of frozen berries. I drank up some tea from my stash, as the box had been open for a while.
I love that you helped your friend with rent. You are a kind soul!
Sunday: 4th of July. We went with friends to a take out seafood place on the lake. I got a delicious fried haddock sandwich.
Monday:
Tuesday: It was a hot day and we had cold peanut noodles with grilled teriyaki chicken on the side.
Wednesday: Wednesday is becoming the "use what you have" night! We grilled burgers with ground beef from the freezer. In the veggie drawer, I wanted to use up some cabbage and some cucumbers. I made spicy coleslaw and dill cucumber salad. There was not enough of each for everyone to have both salads, but each person could have their choice or a tiny bit of both. I also served some little bags of chips given to me by my neighbor. She likes to buy the mixed pack and gives me the flavors she and her sons don't like. I usually give her some garden veggies in return, but she was leave for some travel and didn't want anything.
Thursday: We were going to have a picnic at the Farmer's Market and watch a free concert but it was cold and rainy. I made a baked ziti and baked a small focaccia bread to go with it.
Friday (tonight): We are meeting up with friends, will probably get sandwiches somewhere.
I forgot Monday! We grilled homemade pizzas!
My budget has taken a hit this week. I have had company for the week. I cooked very little and ate out too much. I looking forward to a normal week next week. I’m tired!
Saturday - veggie balls over polenta
Sunday - family picnic - I brought a huge salad and prepared zucchini for grilling
Monday - chicken, rice and salad
Tuesday - a trip to the museum followed by dinner out
Wednesday - taco bar with vegetarian options
Thursday - dinner at the neighborhood restaurant where I requested that my meal be prepared gluten-free. It was not so I was up most of the night and am not feeling well today.
Tonight - Friday -We are going to a baseball game. Everyone has an option of salads and sandwiches before we leave or “game”food.
My husband accidentally bought two half gallons of buttermilk instead of the kids' milk. So. We had buttermilk waffles on the fourth of July. But with cherries and blueberries, so it was patriotic. Vegan taco bowls on Mon/Tues, roasted tomato/zucchini marinara with quinoa pasta for Wed/Thurs, and I'm making a huge batch of rainbow veggie pad thai tonight for two nights in our weekend. Plus a bbq bonfire with family the third night. Generally we get local takeout one day a week. I cook three big meals a week that typically yield a second night of leftovers. Obviously, when my kids are teenagers this might be a little less feasible. But so far I love not having to plan or cook ever single night a week. And it's really helpful in reducing food waste.
Oh wow, that's a lot of buttermilk to use up! I see a lot of pancakes and waffles in your future.
Luckily, in my experience buttermilk keeps for quite a while in the fridge.
@Jen D., You can use a bunch up at once as a marinade for chicken.
@Kristen, I have frozen buttermilk before. I haven't noticed a difference in the quality of my baked goods when I've used it.
We were on vacation this week and our cottage rental did not have a kitchen or any sort of individual outdoor cooking area(there was a communal grill that could be used), really it was more like a motel room in that regard, so not much cooking last week. I actually missed it! Although being on vacation was very nice.
Saturday - takeout night, we had burritos
Sunday - we hosted a 4th of July party and made sliders, ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob, fruit and rice krispie treats for dessert.
Monday - went to my parents to drop off our dog for dog sitting, they got takeout pizza for everyone
Tuesday - the day we arrived at our cottage rental. SIL had arrived first so she got burger stuff from the store and used the communal grill to make burgers for everyone, very appreciated by us after driving for hours with two young kids!
Wednesday - we got takeout from a nearby restaurant, sandwiches and salads
Thursday - we originally were going to eat at a restaurant but the 1 year old apparently reached her travel limit that day and was melting down by evening so we didn’t think dining out would be fun for anyone involved. Husband went to the market with the 3 year old and came back with an interesting variety of items: bananas, 1 avocado, orzo salad, California rolls, a premade ham sandwich, and an individual serving size of Apple Jacks cereal. We all got fed at least!
Friday - feeling a bit exhausted after driving home today, maybe scrambled eggs and toast.
Looking forward to cooking next week after this week off!
WIS I have not been to the grocery store this week. Still working through the refrigerator and freezer.
WWA
Friday Burgers, beans, fresh cherries
Saturday Hot dog, corn, fresh cherries
Sunday Hot dog, left over beans, corn, watermelon
Monday family cook out
Tuesday work Turkey burgers, leftover macaroni salad
Wednesday marinara and sausage from the freezer with remainder of pasta
Thursday chicken, salad, corn
Friday I worked today. Thought I would stop at the Aldi that is on my way home but the aftermath from the hurricane changed my mind. So when dinnertime came around, we decided on scrambled eggs (from our chickens), bacon, toast, blueberries.
I have steaks to marinate that we can have Saturday night with my collection of vegetables from our farm box.
Saturday - can't remember what I ate, but I had the evening at home alone
Sunday - my birthday - I had lunch with my mom and dad after church - burgers and roasted potatoes
Monday - brisket sliders, potato salad, deviled eggs, and fruit
Tuesday - butter chicken and homemade naan bread
Wednesday - can't remember
Thursday - fed my son after he worked at the ranch all day - I wasn't hungry and husband was at work - kielbasa, stuffing, parmesan noodles, and green beans
Friday - frozen pizza
Your meals sound delish this week! It was a long week for us with Hubby feeling under the weather and me working 6 days out of 7. ): We ate:
Monday - Skillet Chicken Stew, buttered bread
Tuesday - Skillet Tilapia, pan roasted potatoes, broccoli
Wednesday - Tomato Basil Gnocci with meatballs , salad
Thursday - Pan Seared Salmon with cabbage and apple salad
Friday - Lemon Pepper Chicken, twice baked potato, leftover slaw
Saturday - TBD
Sunday - Ditto
It feels like we ate a lot of potatoes - it is what it is, I guess. Tonight I'm going to lobby for Mexican food!
I, personally, think cake is perfectly acceptable for dinner.......or breakfast.