WIS, WWA | $58
What I Spent
First up, these peaches from Aldi are SO good.
They're a holiday item, and they're not terribly inexpensive (maybe $3 for the jar? I can't remember!), but they are super tasty. The experience is sort of like eating the peaches in a peach cobbler.
10/10, would recommend.
I spent:
- $58 at Aldi
Annnnnnd, that's it. A simple week around here!
What We Ate
Saturday
Hungry Harvest sent me a little family of squash last week.
Such a beautiful color.
I roasted them with some onions.
And I blended the veggies up into a soup, with seasonings and some half and half.
Sunday
Zoe was at work, so I just ate more soup. 🙂
Monday
I cooked some tortellini and made a salad.
Tuesday
I spent the day prepping for my final exam, so I decided to press the easy button and make lazy crepes for dinner.
Wednesday
This was my last day of school, and Zoe was at work.
I almost decided to take myself out to dinner, but it was raining annnnnnd I realized I had some potatoes, shrimp, and tomatoes here, so I decided to just make my own dinner.
It was a solid choice. 🙂
And I had leftovers for lunch the next day, so double win for me!
Thursday
Whole wheat blueberry pancakes because APPARENTLY I cannot stop making these.
Friday
Sonia and I are going out for dinner and then to a Christmas symphony tonight. 🙂
Grandsons both at universities are home this weekend. They only get 4 weeks off and school ends the last week in April. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the hiatus. Will you be working some shifts? Does Zoey have finals? I wondered about Sonya- have fun at the concert.
Have fun at the concert. You will be a beautiful pair together - Sonia is always so stylish!
We ate a lot of leftovers this week to make room in the freezer .
That, plus slow cooker cooking pears and slow cooker gluhwein. We all had colds, and we had a bottle of sweet red wine that we never felt like drinking. The hot red wine with orange/apple and warming herbs did us a lot of good I must say. Fortunately a lot of the alcohol evaporates. I don't like drinking alcohol any more, although I do like the smell of creme de cassis or a really nice wine for instance.
WIS: 199 @Aldi and 2.50 @Giant.
WWA:
Fri: salad and focaccia.
Sat: salad, coleslaw, pasta carbonara with peas.
Sun: salad with ranch dressing, croissants, baked tofu steaks.
Mon: salad with ranch and coleslaw, shredded chicken, tofu and root veggie soup over ramen noodles.
Tue: carrots, apple slices, ranch and hummus plus rice and beans with cheese on top.
Wed: salad with guacamole and hotdogs on brioche buns. Yogurt and muesli for dessert.
Thu: pupusas with bean and chicken using puff pastry from Aldi's freezer section. They were delicious! We had them with salsa and guacamole plus salad on the side.
Tonight: salad and focaccia, and maybe I'll roast some root veggies along with the focaccia.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
@Becca, I love pupusas! I van never find corn flour modify my tortilla recipe. I'll have to try it with puff pastry dough next time!
Just this week I was shocked at the price of store-brand canned peaches at the only grocery store in the town I went to: $4.59! It was the big can, but still.
Saturday: Chicken taco soup made with leftover chicken and stock made from leftover chicken bones, two cans of beans, frozen corn, and rice. I also made garlic bread and, amusingly, I let everyone have some canned peaches and cottage cheese. These peaches were from Walmart, which are $3 for the big can. We used to get canned peaches from the excess commodities. I wish we still did.
Sunday: Braised elk steaks with carrots, rice, cucumbers with salt and vinegar, apple and rhubarb crisp with vanilla ice cream. My husband and I spent a couple of hours digging up, separating, and re-planting our rhubarb this afternoon, so I rewarded us with some of the rhubarb from the freezer. 🙂 Here's hoping we have LOTS more of it this coming garden year. Oh, and sad news: We didn't age the elk long enough and it's tough. So now we're going to have to grind most of it. This is actually only sad for my husband and sons, who turn the grinder. I love having ground meat on hand. So convenient.
Monday: Spanish rice made with ground beef, leftover rice, and various things in the refrigerator that needed to be used: the past of some pureed tomatoes, the last of some cheese sauce, and corn.
Tuesday: Smoked sausage, rice cooked in chicken stock, and grape tomatoes for half the family. One kid had the last of the chicken taco soup. One had the last of the Spanish rice. One had just some rice, because his stomach was iffy.
Wednesday: From the freezer before work came a small bag of beef pieces that I think I had pulled off bones when I made stock a long time ago and a container of pinto beans and ham. I combined these to make a burrito filling. There was also leftover rice for those who wanted beans and rice, and the grudging vegetable was raw radishes.
Thursday: Fried pork loin chunks sauced with the excess liquid from the leftover beans, more beans and rice, baking powder biscuits, and one crispy rice treat each that I saved from the small batch I made as a thank you to the guy who lets us cut our Christmas tree on his ranch every year.
Tonight: Today is one of our very rare Friday school days, and I have to work. Luckily, I have a small jar of barbecue sauce in the refrigerator--I stopped buying it awhile ago and am spotty about keeping it on hand--so I can take some ground beef out to thaw and make sloppy joes when we get home. Maybe more peaches. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, "grudging vegetable" —most totally excellent description.
@kristin @ going country, things have gone up so much it is crazy. I came across a close out on canned organic pineapple tidbits for .92 and bought 10 cause they are nearly $2 now for the non-organic and $3 for organic.
@kristin @ going country,
Try bromelain powder as a meat tenderizer before you grind all of the elk. I just sprinkle the powder on the steaks first before using a rub/marinate let it sit (30 min or longer). This trick was shared with me forever ago when we harvested an elderly bull elk. Baking soda also works, a little goes a long way.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I agree. I have my veggie comfort zones - some I won't touch as a side proper but in soup, casserole, stew they're okay.
WIS: $24 at Price Chopper and $56 at Wegmans.
WIA: Various things featuring the 99-cent-a-pound shank half-ham I bought at Price Chopper. First was a ham and potato casserole (the only Campbell's Soup recipe I've ever liked), and I'll probably do a black bean soup with ham over the weekend.
@A. Marie, I have 20+ lbs of ham sitting in my frig. As I've mentioned (later post), we buy as from a fundraiser for a local organization. One ham is for local kiddo, the other is Xmas Eve with some going to other kiddo. We discount local kiddo's cost as we give other kiddo some of it.
When I was pregnant with kiddo #1, ham was (and still is) nauseating. I can handle a bit of Proscuitto. So I started providing roast beef and turkey for sandwiches at our family get togethers. I will say even at today's prices, you can feed a lot of folks ham.
We had:
- Turkey bean soup
- Yassa (African onion sauce) Over rice
- pork and broccoli over rice
- burrito bowls
And that's all I can remember
WWS - It was a Costco week. I spent approximately $120 on food items. $8 at Publix and $20 at Whole Foods. $102 for dinner out (grrrrr…) For a total of $250.
WWA -
Saturday - Hamburgers (no bun for me), sweet potato fries, and salad.
Sunday - We had an early dinner out. We went to a seafood restaurant. I had grilled trigger, grits, and slaw. My husband ordered 1/2 the menu; hence, the rather large check. This is why I really do not like to go out to eat with him.
Monday - We made a big pot of vegetable beef soup. I made cheese toast.
Tuesday - It was my book club’s Christmas meeting, and we have dinner to celebrate. I was in charge of dessert. In my group, 3 of us are gluten-free for health reason. I pushed the easy button and bought dessert from Whole Foods. They have the most decadent chocolate cake. It’s even loved by people who eat gluten. DH had leftover vegetable soup.
Wednesday - We hadn’t seen my son, his wife and children since a week before Thanksgiving. They returned home from visiting my DIL’s family with RSV. Finally, everyone was well and I was able to get baby hugs. My son made dirty rice and greens. I think the dirty rice was made with wild turkey and boar.
Thursday - We didn’t feel much like eating, so I had some yogurt and fruit for dinner. I’m not sure what DH ate. I think it was more leftover vegetable soup.
Friday - We will be staying at my son‘s house the rest of the weekend. We are taking care of the grandbabies while he and his wife are at a wedding in Chicago. I will figure out meals when I get there. My daughter-in-law is a wonderful cook, and there are always things in the fridge to eat.
Have a nice weekend and bon appétit!
Congrats on making it through another semester! You're doing GREAT and are almost there!!
This week we had:
Saturday: Kristen's orzo with sausage and broccoli, then cranberry sauce on the side
Sunday: Pizza and breadsticks
Monday: Cheesy chicken delight, cooked carrots, and zucchini
Tuesday: Tater tot hot dish, broccoli with cheese, raw carrots and cucumbers with dip
Wednesday: Tacos and kiwi
Thursday: Southwest chicken alfredo and peas
Friday: I am going to a women's Christmas event at church that will include dinner. My family is having shrimp, plus I think there's a half bag of smiley fries in the freezer. I'll encourage a vegetable to be added as well.
@Ruth T, what are smiley fries??
@Central Calif. Artist Jana,
They are made by McCain's. Freezer section. They are literally what my nephew eats every night. They are french fry like on the outside and mashed potatoes inside while shaped round w/ a smilie face. I ate them as a kid occasionally.
Thanks, Jaime!
Also, funny enough... Smiley fries have been around a long time, but recently I saw someone "rebrand" them as emoji fries. I thought, "ohhhhhhkay. That's enough. We don't need to ruin smiley fries." 🙂
$3 for almost 20 ounces of good tasting peaches IS cheap!
I guess I was just comparing it to the regular canned peaches at Aldi, and these are definitely a bit pricier. But worth it!
@Kristen, where are they processed? Here in my neck of the woods we can't find canned fruit from either Canada or the US. Our fruit is picked and shipped across the ocean, processed and then shipped back to Canada...
Ok, I just checked, and these are from Greece! That's so crazy.
111 spent on Kroger pickup. I had some specific holiday baking items.
Monday: burgers fries cucumbers
Tuesday: sheet pan dinner with chicken green beans and yellow potatoes
Wednesday: breakfast for dinner crustless quiche with feta light salad bacon
Thursday: Trader Joe’s chicken taquitos in air fryer HIGHLY RECOMMEND corn and a salad
Tonight: vegetable beef soup with barley with crusty bread
Sat: I am making homemade pizza
Sun: will be making pesto salmon rice and broccoli
Stay warm my frugal friends!
@Stephanie,
That sounds amazing! I am going to follow this menu after Christmas! Thanks so much!
I saw those peaches at Aldi and wondered about them. A plus is the nice jar, as I now try to reuse all the jars since our city stopped doing pick-up of glass as part of household recycling.
WIS: $148, divided between Food Lion and Aldi, with about $4 spent at Ollie's Outlet. Relatively high total because I stocked up on meats and protein shakes.
WWA: Homemade gluten-free pizza. Ham with Sartori cheese, radishes, oranges. Salads. Soup. Fresh fruit. Sandwiches. Rye crackers and nuts. Protein shakes. Aside from the pizza, it was a low cooking week for me.
Curious as to how much that HH box runs you. For awhile, I did Imperfect Produce and it was around $50 a week and seemed pricey. This week:
Monday - kitchen closed, but I got grilled nuggets and mac and cheese from ChikfilA
Tuesday - Trader Joe's Gnocci ala Sozzentina with beef crumbles, side salad
Wednesday - Seasoned Chicken Drums in my mini crockpot, shredded over a baked sweet potato
Thursday - Skillet Tilapia, some mashed potatoes, side salad
Tonight - Thai Pork with Peppers, pot stickers
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but I have plenty o leftovers
I'm doing my best to do a freezer and fridge clean out. And that included pancakes one day that I made with half a can of pumpkin that was lurking in there. Like you, I'm a fan of pancakes!
Usually right around $30, but it depends on how I customize it!
Friday: My son had a concert at school. I defrosted a container of Chicken Posole to feed him before he had to head to the school. My parents came over to our house after the concert and the soup would have been too spicy for my mom so my husband ordered pizzas to feed the adults.
Saturday: We had friends over for dinner that are big fans of seafood so I made a pot of Bouillabaisse. My husband made his signature garlic bread and we topped things off with homemade tiramisu.
Sunday: Chicken Zucchini Poopers, roasted potato and sweet potato cubes, salad.
Monday: My son had a freezer burrito, I had Chicken Posole, and my husband made his fancy ramen.
Tuesday: My son had another concert that my parents took him to and they went out for pizza at my son’s favorite pizza place that has a BOGO Tuesday deal. My husband and I had date night at a touring Broadway show. We had steak dinner at a restaurant across the street. (When we bought the tickets to the show his concert was on a different night but it was rescheduled. So thankful my parents were able to step in!)
Wednesday: Beef and Potato Skillet. I’ve made this recipe before but for some reason it just wasn’t tasting great. I dumped the remainder of a jar of salsa in the skillet and thankfully it turned the meal around.
Thursday: Black Bean and Yellow Squash Enchilada Casserole. This was a frozen casserole I made this summer using the overabundance of yellow squash in our CSA box, thankfully this time I didn’t get any complaints about the lack of meat.
@Geneva,
What show was it? Hope you had a great time!
I am inspired by your easy squash soup method. WWA:
Saturday - Hungarian mushroom soup, baguette
Sunday- lemon chicken piccata, rice, roasted broccoli with chili crisp, shortbread cookies
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - black bean quesadillas
Wednesday - lasagna from the freezer
Thursday - turkey dinner in a pie
Friday - Mexican take-away & beer for birthday dinner
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend
Have a lovely dinner out & symphony outing with Sonia!
We had:
-Lemon chicken with rice (it was a delicious & easy Budget Bytes recipes) - 2x
-Tacos, x2
-Roasted acorn squash & leftover chicken
-Grilled burger & salad (DH only, I fasted, as I had a late soccer game to attend & had a late lunch).
I don't really have anything planned for tonight, but I have a few pizzas in the freezer for just such an occasion. I think tonight will be pizza night!
You did much better than I this week! I spent $206 at the grocery (but $110 was on a beef tenderloin for Christmas day). AND I spent about $200 eating out (which is normally my entire budget for a month on eating out, but we did it in 2 days).
Sunday- Tamales with rice and black beans
Monday - we were in the Charleston/Summerville area and went to one of our favorite italian places. We had pasta/salads/pizza.
Tuesday lunch we had a celebratory lunch that we were done with the neurologist for two years and had lunch at another local place. We had shrimp & grits and country fried steak. Just grazed for dinner.
Wednesday - bbq meatballs with a baked potato and salad.
Thursday - I made Pinch of Yum's 5 ingredient tomato soup in the pressure cooker and then added cheese tortellini at the end with garlic bread.
@Marlena,
Can I ask what Italian restaurant?
I've never thought to put tortellini in tomato soup. I'll have to try it.
@Jaime, Laura's in Summerville. Although, if I was in downtown Charleston I would go to Melfi's.
@Jaime, @Marlena - if bigger than a belly button, tortelloni not tortellini. I may have to start a crusade (a la red M&Ms or Elvis stamps) to have companies STOP calling tortelloni tortellini!
Tortellini is smaller and contains less filling than tortelloni, which is larger and has more filling.
Tortelloni is served as a main course, while tortellini is served as a soup or appetizer.
I will add NOT served as a soup in anything but beef or chicken broth.
My 100% Italian MIL taught me well. She was a good MIL.
thanks for the mention of sonia. i have wondered what she has been up to. and the chiquita photo. in your shoes i would have taken myself to dinner. but i hate going out by myself to a restaurant other than fast food more than i hate cooking. so last night after my two teens sang at their music school ocncert in nyc we went pf changs restaurant. when the meal was over our bill was $96. it said the tip was not included but the total bill was $118 and some change. i was very angry and left $115 cash in the bill folder.
as we were walking out the waitress came out and said i owed 18 cents. i said the tip is voluntary. she said not here. i said i paid all that i am willing to and if you want to put me in jail for $3 go right ahead. she walked off and i walked off but that place was awful. i should have realized when we were barely greeted at the door and it took forever to be greeted and to place our order. i won't even buy their frozeen food anymore.
@Anita Isaac, you've given me another reason to avoid restaurants, particularly chains and especially in cities! Wow, that was supreme rudeness. I believe that a tip is a gift, not a tax or an obligation, and clearly, your waitress did not earn a tip. It is called a "gratuity" because it is a gift given out of gratitude for good service. I applaud your actions!
@Anita Isaac, I have heard complaints of similar practices. Were you part of a large group or did they just add on the gratuity? I don’t think that this practice is allowed unless posted.
@Anita Isaac, UGH, crappy service and I hope the food was at least average. Service is one of the reasons we patronize our favorite Mexican restaurant almost every week (if we miss a week without giving them a heads up, they ask. Not due to money but concern). Their food is good, they treat us well, we treat them well. One of the very few restaurants that can handle tables of 16-20 people, they are very family oriented.
WIS: $0. I didn't shop this week, but I will today.
WIA: My sister and I had or I had before she arrived....
Gizzards with beet slaw and broccoli
Sheet pan chicken roasted with cabbage, plus roasted beets in a separate pan so everything wouldn't look bloody.
Pork butt steak baked with pineapple. Roasted potatoes, English peas
We went to the pizzeria where my granddaughter works and both had soup - I had the broccoli cheddar soup in regular bowl, she had the loaded baked potato soup in a bread bowl.
One night we had sliced hardboiled eggs on toast with white sauce. My sister had peas and I had more beet slaw.
From the freezer boom-boom shrimp with salads and homemade ranch dressing.
I finished off a sack of beets this week. We both really like beets, obviously.
Tonight, I don't know, because we are going to see the lights after grocery shopping, so we'll see!
$82 @ Costco and $36 @ Walmart to fill in some gaps but I haven't actually done my full on shop yet - that will come this weekend and I have about $120 left in my budget
Saturday: Turkey Tacos with all the toppings, Rice and Spanish style stewed beans
Sunday: Leftover turkey taco meat turned into bowls with rice, beans and toppings
Monday: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Soup and biscuits
Wednesday: Beef Stew with carrots, celery and onions, Mashed potatoes, and yellow squash with onions & orange bell pepper
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Roasted Pork Tenderloin, blackeyed peas, rice and some zucchini on the side
WIS: Costco $98, Winco $40, Grocery Outlet $17, Scratch & Dent $23
Sunday: Pizza, Green salad, brownies
Monday: Dinner salad w/grilled rib steak
Tuesday: Taco Salads
Wednesday: more taco salad
Thursday: Asian cabbage salad
Friday: soup dinner @ church
Saturday: Celebrating no work this weekend. Will make Family sized Chicken Tettrazini, roasted root veggies and kale salad. This dinner will use up 2 chix carcasses out of the freezer.
I got sick this week from a cold family got at work. Lots of soup, buttered toast & grilled cheese for me. And hot tea. A fairly cost effective week when no one is hungry due to sinus infection!
My cooking life is proving to be extremely challenging at this time. I am in an awful cooking slump (very fatigued), can you say eggs for dinner at least twice a week, as well as a salad. I may venture to make one meal from a nice recipe once a week, with leftovers for the next day. I am having the hardest time motivating to do food prep and to batch cook for future me.
That being said, it gets even harder - my HB has been told that his glucose levels are borderline, so I am having to re-consider the meals I usually cook. HB has stopped all sugar, so I am not bringing in any chocolates, cookies or potato chips, ergo I am also not eating (much) sugar. I'm sure this will be good for me in the long run, and even though I generally don't consume much sugars, I am feeling like I am going through a sugar withdrawal. I have the phone number for a nutritionist, from my GP, who I will call soonish, as I need some help in this area. I am aware it is not only sugars, but also carbs that convert to sugars.
A question: there are only 2 of us; sometimes I have to buy a 10lb bag of potatoes as cheaper (1.79) than a 5lb bag of potatoes (7.99), and they always sprout before I can get through the bag. I have very limited knowledge about freezing things (other than cooked meals): can I cube raw potatoes and throw them in the freezer for stuff like soups and stews. What is the consistency of the potatoes like once I defrost for cooking? can I also use them to make roasted potatoes in a 400 degree oven? same for carrots. Can I freeze celery? Any help would be much appreciated.
Much thanks, Linda
A lovely weekend to all.
@Linda in Canada, Raw potatoes do not have a good texture if they're frozen. If you want to have them for roasted potatoes, it works well to partially roast them--just so they're cooked through, but not browned--and then finish roasting them when you take them out of the freezer. You can do the second roasting right from the frozen state. Carrots also are better if partially cooked before freezing. Celery can be frozen for something like soup, but it will be much softer when thawed, so you couldn't use it for anything where you want it raw and crunchy.
@kristin @ going country, thank you very much, this is very helpful.
@Linda in Canada, I highly recommend the book "The Glucose Revolution" by Jessie Inchauspe for how to get eat to beat pre-diabetes. It is simple and full of practical "hacks". If you would rather not read the book, she is on Instagram as the Glucose Goddess. Super helpful!
@Linda in Canada, it isn't necessarily sugar - it is carbs. As in bread, pasta, potatoes. And we all process carbs differently. Better half has to watch his carbs (pasta and bread are his "thing"). Pasta, bread, and potatoes (which are my thing) don't affect me like him. He eats far more veggies than I. But my A1C "smokes" his - I did almost fasting blood work today (someone dropped the ball but I'm not irked). A1c is still 4.9, glucose less than 100 despite coffee with cream and chewing gum (my vice but better than smoking).
My grandparents always had a large potato patch - enough to get them, my family of four plus some for another relative through the winter. Storage is important (we had a potato bin in the backroom of the basement). But remove the sprouts and pretty much good for boiled, french fried, fried - I don't remember mom baking potatoes.
The peaches with vanilla look delicious. I might try adding vanilla next summer when I’m canning peaches and pears!
@Daisy, I just looked at the photo and thought, "Nope, too much sugar" and didn't notice the vanilla. Vanilla is culinary magic! (Wish I hadn't noticed. . . I will avoid the aisle at Aldi where these peaches might be lurking, waiting to catch me in a weak moment and pounce on me.)
$178 at butcher shop but $65 was for Xmas gifts and most of the rest was for Eve-Eve dinner with kiddo and spouse as well as Xmas Eve. We always buy fundraiser ham so tack on another $72 for that. Plus whatever else better half spent
Saturday - dine out Mexican (day early due to NFL schedule)
Sunday - leftover Mexican with added shrimp, mushrooms, and red pepper
Monday - Tortelloni (cheese filled) in a red sauce with shrimp, mushrooms, red pepper and onion
Tuesday - grilled cheeseburgers with pork-n-beans enhanced with mushrooms, red pepper, onion, and a leftover hotdog
Wednesday - steak 4 me, tilapia for better half (his leftovers were tilapia with avocado in wrap for Thursday lunch) with jackets.
Thursday - grilled marinated chicken, the rest of the leftover pasta and challah bread (from local shop)
Friday - eggs over easy 4 me/scrambled for better half, hash browns, butcher shop bacon, and challah toast