WIS, WWA | $50
What I Spent
I skipped doing a regular grocery trip this week; I spent $40 on the trip I mentioned in the Five Frugal Things post (where I got the free sparkling water).
And then yesterday I did a quick stop to get a few things to make panini ($10).
December Spending
Week 1: $82
Week 2: $229
Week 3: $50
What We Ate
Saturday
We got Chick-Fil-A for Sonia and Zoe and then Mr. FG and I went out for a burger together (which we ate in his car, which is our date night spot these days. Pandemic life and all...)
Lisey picked up sushi for herself on the way home from her work shift.
Sunday
I made burrito bowls with rice, chicken and shrimp, pico de gallo, mango salsa, lettuce, and queso.
(Obviously Zoe didn't eat the shrimp, and Sonia didn't eat the queso. Burrito bowls are nice and customizable!)
Monday
I made spaghetti alfredo topped with sautéed shrimp. I tried an ATK recipe that was actually simpler than the one I usually use, and it called for only heavy cream, not a milk/cream combo.
So that was perfect because Sonia can do cream but not milk.
The recipe called for Parmesan, which I thought I had on hand.
But alas, my cheese drawer had no Parmesan!
So I did a thing that will horrify many of you: I finely shredded some provolone and used that instead (not in Sonia's serving, of course.)
This was already pretty inauthentic due to me using spaghetti instead of fettuccine, so...oh well.
Everyone here was happy and fed and that is what matters.
Tuesday
Breakfast for dinner night! I made cinnamon swirl pancakes with cream cheese glaze, which we ate with bacon and OJ.
I used this recipe for the cinnamon swirl and the glaze, but I used my regular buttermilk pancake recipe for the actual pancakes.
Wednesday
We had chipotle beef chili over lime rice with cilantro lime sauce (a Cook's Country recipe).
On the side: grapefruit halves and sliced cucumbers.
Thursday
I made panini, which we ate with cut-up produce.
Friday
I think I'm going to make a taco salad for dinner tonight, topped with homemade fried tortilla strips.
The food spend this week has been horrifying. I am determined I will not be doing a huge shop next week. It has gone over $275 and I stopped adding it up.
This week we have had very simple meals such as spaghetti Bolognese, sandwiches and sushi type stuff.
Ooh! I may need to try those pancakes! My kids love pancakes on Saturdays and it'd be nice to have something that would spice it up a little bit.
Monday: Baked spaghetti and broccoli with cheese
Tuesday: Burrito bowls
Wednesday: Beef stroganoff and corn
Thursday: Ham, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole
Friday: My menu board says fajitas and pineapple, but I might move Saturday's ham and potato soup with FG french bread over to today because today is the first day of Christmas break and we are staying home ALLLL day!! Seems like a good day for baking.
Saturday: Boneless chicken thighs fried in bacon grease with paprika and garlic powder, garlic bread or rice, home-frozen green beans
Sunday: I used the rest of the chicken thighs in a casserole of chicken and potatoes topped with cheese and bacon. We had a salad, too, which in no way balanced out the heaviness of that casserole, 🙂 And ice cream with a homemade salted caramel sauce that was delicious. I mean, of course.
Monday: Brisket tacos, pinto beans, rice, carrot sticks with ranch dressing
Tuesday: My husband's birthday, and he wanted lamb. So I pulled out the tenderloin from the ram we butchered last month. I also made roasted tomatoes and garlic, caramelized onion, rice, and a pumpkin custard with the other half of the pumpkin pie filling leftover from Thanksgiving that I had in the freezer. He requested that instead of cake. I, um, sort of messed up the baking of the custard, but it was still really good served with whipped cream and some of the leftover caramel sauce.
Wednesday: Bacon, scrambled eggs, leftover lamb, leftover rice. home-frozen green beans
Thursday: Carnitas-style pork, pasta with butter and cream cheese, sauteed green beans (whenever you see frozen green beans showing up almost every day, it means I haven't been to a store in about a month 🙂
Tonight: Youngest son is turning six. He wants the pheasant my husband shot last weekend, so I'll do . . . something with that. Not sure yet. He also wants stir-fry and chocolate pudding with whipped cream for dessert, so it shall be done.
me and DD can't wait to try the cinnamon swirl pancakes!
Saturday- we were out most of the day, ordered pizza
Sunday-mom/dad the girls made cookies all day, no one felt like cooking, so we ordered in Portuguese food.
Monday- sorry but we call it "chicken shit", its chicken tenders/thin sliced chicken, stuffing, and cream of a soup, in a casserole dish and baked., I also had a side of peas. its been a long time since we have had it, good for something different.
Tuesday- DD has soccer practice, him an DH grabbed something on the way home, DD and I had pork roll sandwiches.
Wednesday- spaghetti and meatballs
Thursday- Shrimp scampi, DS had pasta with left over sauce from yesterday.
Friday- Not sure yet, either breakfast for dinner or fish sticks.
This week we had:
1. Chilli w/Chips and Broccoli
2. Baked Lemon Pepper Cod w/Rice and Brussel Sprouts
3. Tofu Nuggets, Rice and Veggies
4. Costco Pizza for the family and I ate leftovers (bc, food allergies)-Perfect and cheap while because I was busy painting.
5. Chicken Curry Stir Fry, Rice
6. Speghetti (or Rice) w/Marinara Sauce
7. Ham, Veggies and Potatoes
Saturday - Red lentil and vegetable soup, Italian-ish edition. Exceptionally particular six year old approved!
Sunday - Husband made spaghetti with meat sauce for everyone but me. I used some of the pasta and added bits and bobs to make a meatless topping for mine. It was weird but good.
Monday - leftovers all around
Tuesday - what my girls' call "snacky dinner" for them (sliced apples, cucumbers, goldfish crackers, peanut butter, pickles and almonds); Butler's soy curls cooked up taco style to top salads for hubby and I.
Wednesday - Red lentil chili for everyone but the toddler. She had spaghetti squash with pesto. Six year old said it was her second favorite chili - Grandpa's is better because it has meat. Still a win from my perspective.
Thursday - Thai food carryout from our favorite place. They seem to be doing okay with carryout only orders, but I left a bigger than normal tip. We are really hoping they make it through this time! This was birthday dinner, round one, for our six year old. She turns seven on Saturday. My parents joined us last night. We're their only outside contact, and they help with my toddler once a week while I help the oldest navigate online school. We keep our life very low risk so we can see them safely.
Tonight - Lebanese food carryout, courtesy of my in-laws, at the request of the birthday girl.
Sunday- Husband and I were going to run a few last minute errands and I was craving a burger from a local spot... apparently they closed early to host a work Holiday party.. made me VERY sad... so we stopped at Texas Roadhouse and although the burger I got there was good, It made me very sick to my stomach and I was yuck all night.. which was expected....
Monday- I pulled out a turkey and stuffing casserole which my mom reheated and served with ham and green beans she brought over... and I slept.. off the effects of the surgery I had that day.. food made me nauseous.. I ate half a banana that night
Tuesday- A friend brought pizza and homemade cookies to my family. food still makes me ill. I ate more banana, cold applesauce and eventually the green beans from mom...
Weds- My family was thrilled at the meal delivery from another friend- wings/sammies and more cookies... I ate a cup of chicken soup my mom left.. and another applesauce.. random bites here and there but hid from the hot food smells...
Thurs- I pulled a tub of beef tips and gravy I had prepped out of the freezer.. reheated in crock pot... yeah.. still not liking the smell of hot food. Husband cooked some noodles and I actually ate a small portion of it for supper.. plus a cookie and some random bites through the day..
Friday- a friend bringing supper over.. my kids are loving this extra pampering this week.. touch luck next week back to normal PLUS all the extra help for mom while you are on break! lol
Your dinners this week sound great. Ours have been mainly meh. But we are all getting fed and not ordering take-out during the week, which would be very easy to do since its just three of us. So, winning! We ate:
Monday - Italian Parmesan Chicken Bites, twice bakeds, baby limas
Tuesday - Cowboy Casserole, forgot to fix a side
Wednesday - Tuna Bowls
Thursday - Turkey Sloppy Joes, likely chips
Friday - Last of the Thanksgiving leftovers {Shepherd's Pie}
Saturday - Crock Pot Ribs, potato salad, beans
Sunday - Bruschetta Meatloaf, green beans
This weekend is my cookie baking weekend!
Going backwards .... tonight will be turkey stew with some sort of homemade carb, last night was chicken tikka masala with rice and roasted veggies, Wednesday was cinnamon roll pancakes with sausage and applesauce, Tuesday was Mexican skillet supper with tortilla chips and salad, and Monday we had cheesy potato hamburger soup with rolls. I tend to serve a lot of soups/stews/chilis this time of year. 🙂
Kristen, I think the problem with my pancakes was that when you flip them, the butter in the cinnamon swirl has warmed and melts all over the place. Does this happen to you? It was messy and I don't care for messes like that. I made the cinnamon mixture will beforehand and chilled it briefly in the freezer to get it to the right consistency.
BTW, nope, I will never be shocked at people substituting cheese or forms of pasta when cooking--if it tastes good and saves a trip to the grocery store, then rock on!
The swirl definitely did get a little messy once I flipped the pancakes, but I was using a nonstick griddle and I had just cooked bacon beforehand. So I didn't have too many sticking problems.
It definitely leaves a sticky griddle to clean up after dinner, though!
Okay, that sounds about like my experience. I used a nonstick griddle and didn't have problems with the pancakes sticking, but they didn't turn out as pretty as I thought they would and I didn't like dealing with the melted mess afterwards. I guess you are better about that than I am! 😉
Very uninspired this week.
(December darkness arg!)
We had in no particular Oder
Cereal and fruit hot tea
BBQ chicken tenders and sweet potatoes
Naan veggies hummus everything bagel seasoning hot tea
Broiled whitefish rice green beans
Pizza
I meal plan and prepare all in containers for the week, so my meals are very repetitive... In the past 8 days I ate:
- pasta with alfredo sauce+salmon+veggies
- stuffed peppers
- salmon with roasted veggies
- Cooked ground pork+spaghetti sauce+veggies
That was a low-spend week alright? Did you buy the shrimp in that shopping trip?
We had:
From the freezer boom-boom shrimp, tostadas and sliced cucumbers
Sautéed zucchini and onions with sliced kielbasa
Soup made from homemade turkey stock, green onions, regular onions, carrots, mushrooms, and celeriac. My husband would rather not have meat in his soup, so none was added. He had crackers on the side.
Chopped and roasted turnip root, beets, and the only meat I didn't have to thaw, bacon.
Homemade chicken tenders and a big salad
Sausage and roasted potatoes for him, sausage and roasted rest-of-the-celeriac for me, and broccoli on the side
Last night was our office Christmas dinner, and we went to a hibachi restaurant, which is always tough for me, because I don't handle soy all that well. I managed it, though. We all had a good time. I left pot pie for my husband (he loves pot pie) but he made a sandwich instead.
Nope! The shrimp were purchased in a previous week and I just grabbed the out of the freezer. 🙂
I made all of my cookie dough last weekend which called for super simple meal prep.
Sunday - I hit the easy button and ordered a pizza while I made 9 different kinds of cookie dough, fudge, buckeyes and 200 meatballs for the freezer.
Monday - I roasted 3 chicken breasts and made a large pot of chicken noodle soup to have on hand for the week. I pulled a batch of the meatballs from the freezer and made sweet and sour sauce with pineapple, peppers, & onions. We ate those with rice and broccoli.
Tuesday - Leftover meatballs for the adults and the little one ate chocolate pudding & vanilla greek yogurt for dinner since he had a tooth extracted that afternoon.
Wednesday - Leftover meatballs for the little one and the adults ate chicken noodle soup and leftover broccoli.
Thursday - Last of the chicken noodle soup.
Friday - I pulled some chili from the freezer and will bake potatoes to go with. Also pulled a small batch of homemade refried beans from the freezer and will use those in so quesadillas to go along with it.
Saturday - I have absolutely no idea but there is still wrapping, baking and the like to be done so it may be a sandwich night for us.
Happy weekend to all!
Once again I cannot recall last weekend’s meals. Hmmm. Oh well.
Monday- I made meatballs, farfalle with garlic butter sauce, and green beans
Tuesday- We got panera drive-thru on the drive home from my grandma’s wake: bagels/mac & cheese for the kids; and soup/salad for me. The husband opted to have the last of some leftovers at home (once again, he’s more frugal than me;-))
Wednesday- I was watching my parents get into their car following my grandma’s graveside service, and I couldn’t bear for them to leave alone right after my dad had just buried his mom (everyone was staying pretty distant, even at the service, and then going home immediately after—which I understand of course, but it was making me sadder). So my husband and the four kids and I went out to an early dinner with them at a local restaurant. It helped perk my dad up significantly.
Thursday- Spaghetti and meatballs using the leftover meatballs from Monday
Friday- I just put some butter chicken in the crockpot for tonight. My husband has a colonoscopy today. We can’t get a sitter because of covid, so the four kids and I get to accompany him to the medical facility, and wait while he has it done. I really shouldn’t gripe: things could be so much worse..... but I’m not looking forward to keeping the kids occupied in the van for 2-3 hours. At least dinner will be easy!! ;-). And hopefully the baby and toddler will sleep!!
Ohhh, I would be dreading the hours in the van too. I hope the kids are happy and that the time goes faster than anticipated.
I did the shopping for Christmas meals, so the total was ouch-inducing.
Supper this week was take-out burgers one night, after which I swore off that fast food outlet because we were overcharged, the burgers were overcooked and were drowning in mustard. We were too tired to complain and just won't go back.
The next might I made a vat of chili with mac and cheese, which provided leftovers until we switched over to ham sandwiches with pickles, carrots chips and fresh fruit.
I bet a future week's shopping trip will be less, though. It always seems to level out.
It is so disappointing when you pay for takeout and then it's not even tasty! I feel frustrated when that happens because then I wish I had just made a grilled cheese sandwich at home.
WWS: $80 WWA:
Sat.: fried rice with Chinese sausage and mixed veg
Sun: 3-meat & ricotta meatballs & pasta
Mon: tofu, Brussel sprouts & zucchini over rice (modified from Yotom Ottolenghi recipe from The Guardian)
Tues: quiche and salad
Wed: lemon & sage braised chicken thighs; roasted potatoes & acorn squash
Thurs: homemade ramen
Fri: socca; duck pastrami (homemade); Brussel sprout, kale & cabbage salad
Betta, you seriously turn out restaurant-style meals week after week. You should write a food blog!
Tex-Mex week at Chez Frugal Girl!
I mean, that would be every week if it were up to me!
Homemade fried tortilla strips are the best! My mom asks me why we don't just use tortilla chips; no comparison!
Monday: Pork chops, rice and carrots.
Tuesday: I think we ate some leftovers from the weekend.
Wednesday: Made a top sirloin steak I found in the bottom of the freezer and had some frozen fries with it and salads.
Thursday: Cleaned out the fridge and made salads.
Friday: Roasting a chicken because it was in the freezer and I needed to make space and it will provide leftovers for next week so Christmas can be easier on us. I'm sure I'll have some vegetables and starch with it.
It was a crazy week -- holiday prep at school, holiday in general -- but we ate in every meal except our Friday treat dinner -- a personal best! 😉
Friday -- Used Pieology coupons and had yummy pizzas and a free dessert pizza. The cauliflower crust was pretty good.
Saturday -- Homemade chicken soup, using up thighs and veggies
Sunday -- Leftover soup, steamed broccoli
Monday --Big dinner salad with chicken breast on top
Tuesday--??? I think it was another big salad with chicken --honestly cannot be sure . . .
Wednes -- eggs for me; turkey burger for B, steamed broccoli for all
Thursday -- Big Dill pickle salad with turkey burgers on the side
Tonight -- Treat! B chooses takeout -- Thai from our neighborhood joint? pizza? burgers?
It's all good and Happy Friday!
is that a danish whisk for your pancakes?
Yep! I often use one for pancake batter.
I have not really participated in the menu sharing, but I will jump in with both feet.
Monday: pasta and green beans
Tuesday: cereal
Wednesday: egg sandwich
Thursday: burgers and sweet potato fries
Friday: pasta with veggies
Egg sandwich NEVER disappoints!
Friday - Chicken burritos (used up a bell pepper from the freezer, yay)
Thursday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Homemade Zuppa Toscana with kale from our produce box
Tuesday - a one-post vegetarian pasta with white wine sauce
Monday - pizza I think
Sunday - fish tacos
That's as far back as I can remember. I think tonight is going to be grilled salmon and roasted vegetables. We got rutabaga in our produce box so we'll roast that with some carrots and potatoes.
Sun - roasted bell pepper and tomato soup with grilled cheese (ate the leftovers for lunch multiple days during the week)
Mon- eggs, bacon and toast
Tues- Thai peanut chicken with coconut rice
Wed- waffles with clementines on the side
Thurs- crockpot pulled pork with sweet potato fries
Fri- pizza from a local takeout place
Re:
"We got Chick-Fil-A for Sonia and Zoe and then Mr. FG and I went out for a burger together (which we ate in his car, which is our date night spot these days. Pandemic life and all…) Lisey picked up sushi . . ."
What are the names of the burger and sushi places? During the pandemic, giving restaurants a little promotion (especially local) on your blog might help them stay afloat cause you have a LOT of fans! And, I know you actively do whatever you can to support local, family-run businesses--
The burger and sushi places are local spots, and since I try not to disclose too many uber-specifics about my location, I try to be general when I mention places like that.
If we get a burger at Five Guys, I do usually mention that, since they are a national chain. 🙂
Oh OK I gotcha! I just saw an opportunity to promote small, local businesses but, I can understand NOT wanting to reveal your location. But, it IS a lost opportunity to promote local businesses on a blog that has TONS of readers. hum. . . Like it WOULD be cool to have (just as an example) a sticker on the restaurant window "Frugal Girl Approved" ha ha or a Frugal Girl rating (like Zagat). Like Frugal Girl gives this burger joint FIVE Pennies (instead of stars), rated on quality, value and cost.
I know! Sometimes I wish I had a separate blog, unconnected to my main blog, where I could do hyper-local stuff.
I love the five pennies rating system!
Turkey tenderloin, roasted Brussels sprouts, brown rice
Turkey tenderloin, mashed potatoes, carrots
Hamburger, fries
Chicken breast cooked with salsa, black beans, spinach romaine salad
Pizza with pepperoni, mushroom, green pepper, onion
Chicken and dumplings, green salads
Lasagna, garlic bread, green salad
Sat: sandwiches
Sun: latkes, bok choi pancakes, cheese blintzes with jam
Mon-Wed: sausage gumbo w jasmine rice (it was a big pot!)
Thur: fried rice and pot stickers
Fri: veggie focaccia pizza
And we had giant salads with every meal.
We spent very little (for us) this week, as we ate out of the fridge/freezer to get ready for a road trip. We had a mash up of the following:
-Carnitas salad
-Sausage & ravioli
-Chicken alfredo
-Chicken wings, spicy breaded chicken & edamame
-Tacos
-Leftovers of all the following
Chick-fil-A... always worth the splurge!