WIS, WWA | almost through the first week
What I Spent
I spent:
- $110 at Sam's Club
And that was it for the week.
I was too busy with school to do much shopping!
What We Ate
Just so you know....I almost always write these posts backward. I have to start with the most recent meal if I want to have a chance of remembering what I ate!
Saturday
Quesadillas made with rotisserie chicken, salsa, and cheese. Fruit on the side.
Sunday
I had a work shift and when I got home, I made myself some whole wheat blueberry pancakes when I got home. I know, I know, I eat these all the time and I AM NOT SORRY.
Monday
I made some chicken noodle soup with eyeballed measurements for literally everything. Soup is so forgiving!
I used homemade chicken broth from the freezer; soup is pretty simple once you've got that base on hand.
Tuesday
I was going to eat the rest of the chicken noodle soup, but then I realized I had mashed potatoes that needed to be used.
So, I heated those up, sauteed some tomatoes and green beans, and made a sauce with the leftover gravy plus some half and half.
I have no idea what exactly you'd call this plate of food, but it was tasty. And it used up the last of the beans, tomatoes, chicken, and mashed potatoes, so we're looking at a serious anti-food-waste win.
Wednesday
You're gonna be so jealous of me: I had two peanut butter and honey sandwiches on 100% whole wheat bread. Very gourmet.
Zoe was at work so she missed out on this culinary delight. 😉
Thursday
I don't really know what to call this, but I seasoned chicken thighs and cooked them in a hot pan with a cast iron skillet on top of them.
On the side, that's sauteed parsnips, peppers, and onions, with a sauce from deglazing the pan I cooked the chicken in.
Friday
I probably should make a salad, honestly, because I feel like I did not do a bang-up job of eating green vegetables this week.
On the other hand, it is the first week of school, and as the professors told us, the first week of fourth semester is nicknamed Hell Week.
I have one more lecture today, competency testing tomorrow morning, and then I will officially be through Hell Week. Yay me!
You might like this, Kristen - in Danish class this week we were discussing food waste!
Saturday - veggie stir-fry
Sunday - no idea
Monday - mushroom omelette with garlic bread
Tuesday - chilli mac and cheese
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursdays - tacos
Not sure what I'll eat tonight!
@Sophie in Denmark, chili mac and cheese sounds really good to me! I have all the stuff to make it, too. And you can never go wrong with tacos.
@Gina from The Cannary Family, enjoy!
I managed to spend a LOT of money at the grocery store, but I got myself stocked up on some essentials. I also made a menu for the week, but then blatantly disregarded it, because I can do what I want. *wink*
Monday - kitchen closed. I went to ChikfilA on the way home
Tuesday - It was super cold here, so I made Friday Soup, using things from my freezer
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/2025/01/5-thing-friday-jewelry-repair-home.html
Wednesday - I picked up a burger and fries
Thursday - Crockpot Chicken Chili {a bunch of this will get frozen in individual containers}
Friday - Shredded Pork Tacos with pico de gallo and whole wheat tortillas
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed
I probably should eat more veggies, too, but I've been focused on getting enough protein.
Happy weekend!
WIS: $140, approximately, split between Food Lion and Walmart Market. A good bit of re-stocking was done, as we needed canned good and fresh produce.
WWA:
Leftover roast chicken thighs with carrots and onions and a side of yellow rice.
Gluten-free spaghetti with marinara/Italian sausage/mushroom sauce.
Pork roast with carrots, onions, sweet peppers, and a side of air-fryer seasoned potato cubes.
More white bean-ham-kale soup with sweet potato cubes and skillet pasta meal with red beans.
There also was the perpetual combo of nuts, fruit, crackers and protein shakes for anyone not interested in a big meal.
WIS: 48 bucks @Aldi on some fill in items.
WWA:
Fri: salad and focaccia.
Sat: breakfast for dinner: home fried potatoes (with onions and peppers), fried eggs, blueberry yogurt pancake bake and salad on the side.
Sun: salad, grapefruit wedges, homemade sourdough bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon.
Mon: roasted sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts, pasta carbonara with turkey bacon, fresh Parmesan and frozen peas. Chocolate stroopwaffles for dessert.
Tue: nachos topped with pinto beans , cheddar cheese and spinach and served with salsa and guacamole cups.
Wed: rice and beans in tortillas with spinach and smoked cheddar cheese slices.
Thu: sliced tomatoes with a chiffonade of spinach on top, sheet pan chicken quesadilla (which handily used up the rice and bean leftovers and some leftover salsa), spicy guacamole cups.
Tonight: salad and focaccia.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
@Becca, Your meals always sound delicious to me!!!
Keep on truckin'! The end of the first week is in sight!
Saturday: Italian sausage--a very rare treat for us, as I bought it in the big city like two months ago and it's too far for regular shopping there--pasta with pesto, frozen green peas
Sunday: Green chili elk burgers, oven fries, pureed squash, cucumbers, baked strawberries and rhubarb with cream. The fruit was kind of like pie filling, I just skipped the crust and poured heavy cream over it to serve. No complaints. 🙂
Monday: Everyone was home all day doing virtual school because of the weather. Since the woodstove was ripping all day to combat the cold, I made elk and bean chili simmered on it, and then I turned the leftover strawberry/rhubarb into a cobbler by adding some more frozen strawberries and topping with sweetened biscuits. Virtual school days are no one's favorite, and having a treat after dinner helps.
Tuesday: Home again for virtual school, boo, except my son had an away basketball game in the afternoon. I made something like Spanish rice for the home crew, with rice, leftover chili, and cheese, and then I pulled out the peanut butter cookies I had stashed in the freezer. The basketball player and I had ham sandwiches, generic Fritos, and Reese's peanut butter cups. I bought all the ingredients for all this at the grocery store before the game, made the sandwiches in my lap in the car before going into the game, and then we ate as we drove home. This way we get home much sooner. The long drives we always have to get home from away games do not make me eager to delay by stopping somewhere to eat, even if it is an option. To say nothing of the cost. The price of one sandwich at Subway purchased the ingredients at the store for at least four sandwiches.
Wednesday: I had made a pot of lamb stew the day before to go along with the garlic bread I had made Sunday, figuring on an easy after-work meal. My husband ended up serving this, as I was at the emergency room with my son who got metal in his eye in shop class. We had Sonic after we got out of the emergency room at 6 p.m. because, again, long drive home. My son got a double bacon cheeseburger and onion rings. I got a kid's meal with a cheeseburger and tater tots. It's very rare for me to get actual food at a fast food place if we even go, but man, I was just so hungry and so tired. I did not feel up to waiting an hour and a half to eat at home. I discovered that the kids' meals are two dollars on Wednesdays, so at least it wasn't an expensive unhealthy meal.
Thursday: Yet another away-from-home-at-dinnertime day. Basketball again. I ate a rice cake with cream cheese and ham before we left, and then some oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies when I got home. The two kids who came with me to the game bought themselves a piece of pizza at the concession stand. My husband made elk/bacon cheeseburgers for himself and the son at home, and then more when we got home for the basketball player and the other boy.
Tonight: ANOTHER basketball game to which I will be bringing all four of my children. My JV player doesn't have a game, but my daughter is cheering at the one varsity game tonight. So I need to make something early and we'll eat before we leave at 4:30 for that. Hmmm. I have pinto beans already cooked in the refrigerator. I think I'll make refried beans to use in tostadas. They will all most probably bring money with them to buy something from concession, but if anyone wants to eat when we get home, they can share the two leftover elk burgers in sandwiches. I can finish the lamb stew before we go. And NOT eat any cookies when I get home. A bad habit I have when my schedule gets nuts. My husband has to go somewhere today and I have no idea if he'll be eating dinner at home, but he can feed himself, thankfully. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, my neighbor who hunts gifted us some elk recently, and last week I was brave enough to try my hand at cooking it. I’ve never cooked elk before! I started out making a stew and ended up with more of a soup. It was delicious! I’m eyeing your various elk dishes just in case another bit of elk comes our way.
@Ann on the farm, Awesome. My message to the world: Do Not Fear the Elk. It's pretty much just like lean beef. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, haha! I’ll admit I had a contingency plan just in case the elk was tough or gamey!
Sunday - we had leftover chili from the freezer while watching football.
Monday - We tried a new local meat market and they had BBQ pork chops. I made mashed potatoes and green beans on the side.
Tuesday - Korean Hamburger with rice and broccoli
Wednesday - I made a bean soup with a bean soup mixture, but my husband really didn't like it. Now I have a ton of this veggie bean soup and I don't know how to doctor it up to try and save it.
Thursday - Chicken with spicy peanut butter sauce.
Friday - this weekend I am going to local scrapbooking crop and I don't know if they will have food or not. My husband is on his own until I get home on Sunday for football. The crop is close to a Dunkin for coffee and a place that has really good pizza, neither of which I have had in a long time so I might have to stop. But I hope they have food so I don't have to spend my money. But with the inexpensive cost, I doubt they will.
@Maureen, In my experience with unpopular soup, the best options are to add meat and dairy. I don't know what's in yours, but maybe ground beef or chicken plus cheese or cream, plus spices to make it into a kind of taco soup?
@kristin @ going country, thanks. it was just beans, spices and veggies. I chopped up a sweet potato and put that it and my husband could not get over that. it did help to make it creamier. I have some ham leftover, so maybe I'll add that. Otherwise, maybe I'll just brown some hamburger since I have a lot of that.
@Maureen, try adding some acid to the soup to add zip. I like using Tabasco, which adds zip and a tiny bit of heat.
Another possibility is to thicken it up a lot and make patties. After you fry the patties you can add all sorts of things on top - cheese, sauce, etc - to help it along.
If none of these work, I recommend freezing it in portions and eating it over time, one by one.
"I don't really know what to call this" happens to me too. Kids will ask what we're eating but it's a random whipping up of what's on hand. Haha
1. Meal out with friends
2. Potato broccoli soup
3. Turkey bean soup
4. Stirfry
And that's all I can remember
I always think about how Amy Dacyzyn listed one of her meal as “an indescribable but successful leftover concoction.” Ha. That describes a lot of my solo meals!
@Kristen, I'm jealous of your PB sandwiches for dinner - though I'd have mayo not honey but to each her own. While it is nice to have a better half that cooks, what would satisfy/fill me up is not what would do it for him. I swear - know I know I could live on PB, Spam, bologna, steak/burgers, and potatoes.
I would call your Tuesday dinner the Blue Plate Special. That's what they call it in restaurants, why not at home as well?
I was about to ask if pancakes were your new sandwich because I don't remember a ton of sandwich meals from you lately, but then you pulled through with that PB & honey. 😉
This week we had:
Saturday - we ate dinner at my parents' house after cutting and stacking firewood all afternoon. She made a venison roast.
Sunday - Pizza and breadsticks
Monday - Turkey, corn casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas and carrots (Side note: single digit temps are perfect for freezing turkey broth on the deck!)
Tuesday - Turkey fajitas
Wednesday - Chicken (well, turkey) alfredo lasagna roll-ups and corn
Thursday - A turkey/vegetable/rice combo with mangoes
Friday - Mexican penne bake with pineapple and maybe corn
WIS: $85 at Price Chopper ($50 of this was for a Panera gift card for NDN's and her CF's January birthdays), $55 at Wegmans, and $15 at Ollie's.
WIA: The week's highlight was a chicken cacciatore I made with boneless/skinless thighs (on sale at Price Chopper) and a jar of Silver Palate brand tomato sauce (found on the clearance shelf at Price Chopper a while back). I know that the original Silver Palate has long since become a thing of the past, but this sauce was worthy of the name!
A TUNA PIE, an old family stand by from our student days.It makes enough to feed us for 3 meals! Uses ingredients I always have on hand.Served with a cucumber sauce I make in food processor.SOO tasty, one of our favorites.. it is a “pot pie.”
Farfalle pasta with sauce of jarred tomatoes sauce with mushrooms and green bell peppers sauted into it. Large green salad.
Big pot of potato broccoli soup to use up potatoes in pantry.Cornbread.
Hot honey glazed chicken thighs made in cast iron skillet with carrots and potatoes.
@Madeline,
I'm intrigued about the cucumber sauce. Mind sharing the recipe? What else is it good with?
Peanut butter and jelly is a big treat in my world.
We all got covid. Pretty miserable week here. We did test because my dad is 80 and fighting cancer.
We had lots of sourdough toast. Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. And homemade potato soup.
Some produce was wasted. Sadly. I froze what I could.
Ohh man, what a tough week for you guys. I hope you all are on the mend soon!
On Monday we had chili. When I say chili, I mean a thick stew of ground beef, kidney beans, pinto beans, tomato, and puréed dried New Mexico Chiles thickened with masa. We eat it with tortilla chips. I also made cornbread bc we were feeding a bunch of kids following a neighborhood cleanup and then no one else’s kids ate the cornbread. I don’t put sugar in it and I think all of these kids were used to very sweet cornbread. I was raised to believe that sugar in cornbread is Just Plain Wrong. The divide between how you define chili is almost as vast as the divide between whether or not there ought to be sugar in cornbread.
On Tuesday I made shepherds pie with ground beef and puréed cauliflower for the topping. So it was technically beef pie (cow pie? Naw) bc there were no sheep involved.
Wednesday we ate leftover beef pie because I had made two 13x9s of this.
Thursday we had a sheet pan dinner of potatoes, cauliflower, bell peppers, and chicken sausage. I made two sheet pans of this to accommodate my athletes (13, 9, and 46) and they ate all of it. The leftover years might be drawing to a close.
Tonight I’m planning on lentil soup which is everyone’s favorite thing, no joking. If you are wondering how this could be, here is the link to the recipe, it really is so good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap9TaNkEPxg
@Tarynkay, my epitaph (if I were going to have one) would probably be "No @#$%!! sugar in the cornbread!" Or, as another native Southerner put it, "Cornbread with sugar in it is cake. That is all."
@Tarynkay,
"Cow pie" made me laugh. Isn't that what we stepped over when we walked through the cow pastures on the farm?
@Tarynkay, what you made is called Cottage Pie.
@Tarynkay, thanks for the soup recipe. I was going through my pantry last night and found a bag of red lentils my daughter abandoned when she moved across the country, so my project today was to look for a recipe. That was easy! I make lentil soup, but never saw the method with roux!
It is rare for me to be in the first group of comments since I live in California. However, I am donating platelets this morning at 7:00 am. I am nervous and didn't sleep well.
I am diligently following my food plan to lose 5% of my body weight to keep out of prediabetic range. It is a slow process at 61. I have never experienced anything like it and I have been watching my weight since I was in 4th grade when my mom put me on a liquid diet. Sigh.
I spent about $160 at Sam's and Grocery Outlet which should last me until the end of the month.
At Sam's I bought Turmeric, Cinnamon, and Vitamin D supplement. The research I did suggests they are the natural version of mimicing Ozempic appetite suppression. If anyone is wondering about those drugs, Dr. Greger has a great series on it.
At Grocery Outlet, great markdowns: 50 cent a pound drumsticks and one buck something for boneless skinless chicken thighs. The drumsticks I cooked in the Instapot for 10 mins with a bottle of Panda Express Sweet Chili Sauce. then I put the under the broiler for 3 mins. Yum! So easy. I froze portions using my food saver. The chicken thighs I did a quick marinade then bake on a large baking sheet. Again froze small portions. Done.
I have been chopping up a couple of sweet potatoes and putting them in the airfryer . I spray olive oil on them and they are done in about 15 mins. That gives me about four lunches worth to add to salads.
Wish me luck with the platelets donation.
Good job donating platelets! Thank you. <3
@Mary Ann,
Good luck, and thank you for doing that!
@Mary Ann, good for you for donating platelets! You'll probably discover that it isn't a big deal. I never have quite enough iron to donate blood any more, so have never done the platelet thing.
About beating the prediabetes, I've been on that wagon for over a year now (I'm 65). The whole thing is mysterious, since in July I was down to 5.7 and then in December back up to 6.1 in spite of doing the same things. A couple of wise friends said to not worry about the number because stress can send it upward. I guess worrying about the number could qualify as stressful.
Turmeric and cinnamon are supposed to be real champions in the push against glucose. The other one is berberine. None of it did diddly squat for me (or perhaps it did and without it I'd be a type 2 diabetic!). I'm not overweight, exercise diligently, follow the suggestions in The Glucose Revolution, so am chalking it up to heredity. (Thanks, Grandma)
@Mary Ann,
Would you mind sharing the name of the supplement you bought? I'm interested.
@Gina,
They were 3 different. Sorry I should have been clearer. All were purchased at Sam's Club. Vitafusion for the D and the Member's Mark version of the cinnamon. The turmeric was Unol.
@Kristen,
Just came back. Low iron. It was a "no go." Nobody mentioned that since I had donated whole blood 3 weeks ago it would affect iron. I will schedule with that in mind next time. Picked up some freed salted almonds and water.
Oh goodness, I am so surprised they even let you schedule for donation! I know at my hospital you have to wait a certain number of weeks before donating again, and it's way more than three weeks.
It takes the body a while to replace a blood donation, since you are giving about 10% of your blood supply.
@Mary Ann, I looked into platelet donation but was told I’m not eligible because I spent too much time in the UK in the 90s. Something to do with mad cow disease.
I put a big scoop of turmeric in my smoothie every morning. Maybe I’ll add cinnamon?
@Mary Ann, good luck! And also with your new eating strategy. What your mother did sucks and I'm sorry you've had to wade through that.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, my doctor recently suggested tumeric to me also, but for inflammation (I have a lot of joint pain and can't take NSAIDS). She told me to be sure I got a really good quality tumeric because most are junk. I haven't researched it enough yet, but even if the tumeric isn't helping your glucose, maybe it is having other benefits 🙂
@Ann on the farm, my husband was not allowed to donate blood for years because of that, but they did lift that ban finally and he can donate now. I haven't looked into platelets
@Marlena, the irony is that, when I was there, I was in my vegetarian stage, so I promise I ate no beef!
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, Tumeric also helps lower cholesterol!
@Mary Ann,
Thank you!
@Mary Ann, Ceylon cinnamon I hope. It is the best option for blood sugar/A1C. And frankly, I'm not sure why blood sugar when good old doc orders A1C.
Congratulations Kristen on surviving Hell week!
it's been extremely cold here, so we've had a lot of soup this week!
Saturday - homemade vegetable soup and toast
Sunday - creamy Italian sausage ditalini soup
Monday - vegetable soup
Tuesday - Italian sausage ditalini soup
Wednesday - I was sick and do not remember what we had, probably leftover soup haha
Thursday - chicken sandwiches from the freezer
Friday - no idea yet
First week of school down and one more marked off the calendar, yay! I am also counting down, but to retirement, not finishing school.
I didn't shop last week, but I picked up one farm order on Sunday costing $38 and change. I was to pick up another farm order on Tuesday evening, but that got cancelled and will be rescheduled, seeing as how no one was eager to meet up at 6 in the evening with a winter storm scheduled to arrive here at 5 pm.
So that also changed my menu. WIA instead:
Croque Madame, the fancy grilled ham and cheese sandwich that should be called Croque Madame Kristen, because of the egg on top. I had a little fruit with it and that was it - it was filling.
Chicken soup made from chicken backs which I had a few times for lunches and dinner, then I transformed it into chicken pot pie and had that a few times.
It was a very chicken-y week. The farm order I did get had a whole hen in it, which I brined and roasted stuffed with garlic and lemons, because I sure have the lemons. I ate this with various sides for lunches and a couple of dinners - sautéed zucchini, broccoli, roasted beets, home canned pear sauce and green beans.
Today I go shopping so my meal tonight might be something nice on sale that I find or something simple that I have ingredients for already, like chicken (!) quesadilla. TBD.
@JD, we cheer you on in your countdown to retirement! (Trust me: Come on in, the water's fine!) And I hope you're completely defrosted after this week's storm.
@A. Marie,
Not defrosted yet! I can look out my office window and still see a decent bit of snow on the ground.
I am ready to jump in to the retirement pool.
@A. Marie, I plan on easing into retirement - 4 days a week, then maybe 3 days. Who knows - if better half leaves this side of earth, I may keep working FT. Bottom line - no hard plan in place but 3-4 days a week would work for my employer at this juncture. My skills are hard to replace, much less company specific knowledge. We'll see if my employer caves re: DEI.
I had pork carnitas with onions and colorful peppers on cilantro lime rice multiple times this week. And lots of blueberries.
I took my son to Costco with me on Monday to do a big restock. I ended up spending less shopping with a teenager than I typically do when I shop with my husband – something to consider in the future. It was too cold to go shopping, but I had been clearing out the freezer and pantry for a few weeks. My son spilled my drink while we were loading up the car and was shocked that the spill was frozen one minute later.
Friday: Luau – we had a little bit of everything at the buffet
Saturday: Odds and ends at the Sky Club buffet, Mushroom Ravioli on the flight home
Sunday: Zuppa Toscana (freezer/pantry meal)
Monday: Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish rice
Tuesday: Italian Sub Salad and Baked Potato Soup
Wednesday: Beef Tacos – hard shell for the boys, taco salad for me. Paired with Spanish rice and seasoned black beans.
Thursday: Ramen Stir Fry
WIS: $57.90 on groceries.
So far this year, $109.79 on groceries and $14.84 on a lunch out with friends. I’m having a contest with myself to see if I can keep the entire month’s grocery and restaurant spending to $200 or less. Fingers crossed! But I’m having lunch with friends tomorrow and there’s still a week to go.
WIA: I received a lovely Italian-themed wooden gift box (emblazoned with “celebraze la buona vita”) for my birthday/Christmas with a bottle of very nice Chianti, an assortment of olive oils, durum wheat semolina pasta, tomato-basil pasta sauce, whole mixed green and black olives, garlic and herb bruschetta and … artichokes!
So when my NYT subscription served up a 5-star “Crispy Artichoke Pasta” recipe, I finally knew what to do with the artichokes, and had everything else I needed. It made a LOT of pasta for breakfasts, lunches, dinners…. I may not eat (or even look at) another artichoke until next January.
Bon appetit, y'all! Or if you're in Philly, youse guys!
You are doing amazing!!
I’ve been eating through the freezer stash, so spent just $21 this week, mostly on vegetables.
We had chili two nights, burrito bar one night, chicken soup one night, baked tofu stir fry one night, and fried rice one night. That’s all I can remember!
@Ann on the farm, If you can remember 6 out of 7 dinners, AND you ate down the freezer, AND you only spent $21, you win this week's WIS/WIA contest!
@Ann on the farm, I forgot to add that I had a coupon for eggs and when I got home and looked at my receipt, they’d somehow rung up as 99 cents. I think there was a glitch in the supermarket’s software?
I used some eggs and some nearly expired milk (that I’d bought on clearance) to make custard, and we had custard for dessert all week.
@JDinNM, thanks! It was getting crazy in my freezer! Things were falling out every time I opened the door. Luckily, I got it under control before a pound of frozen beef fell out and broke my toe.
This week, we enjoyed:
- Veggie burgers (open-faced on English muffin) and steamed green beans
- Salad (to which I added cold cooked green beans - so good)
- Veggie egg rolls
- Baked potato and roasted carrots
- Restaurant turkey sandwich without the turkey! Brought the turkey home to our non-vegetarian dog.
- Cottage cheese and peaches sprinkled with pepper
- Thai peanut salad (tossed leftover green beans, carrots, and noodles with peanut sauce)
It feels like I am perpetually focused on eating down the freezer. We stocked up a bit pre-holidays to be able accommodate the comings and goings of young adults with appetites, so this will take a couple of months or more. WWA:
Saturday - winter vegetable coconut curry soup, thinly sliced roast beef on rye toast (coconut milk from freezer)
Sunday - red beans and rice (beans and ham from freezer)
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - chicken skewers, Caesar salad (skewers from freezer)
Wednesday- spaghetti with homemade meat sauce (sauce from freezer)
Thursday - Saturday’s soup (had frozen the leftovers), baguette
Friday - I plan to make sourdough discard waffles (was gifted a starter over the holidays), bacon from the freezer, and some fruit?
Wishing everyone a peaceful week ahead
I spent about $82. I forgot to write down what we ate this week so we will see what I can remember.
Saturday we used leftover steak from eating out the night before for quesadillas
Sunday was short ribs with mashed potatoes and asparagus
Monday was I think a mix of whatever was in the fridge.
Tuesday Turkey and cheese sliders with tomato soup and salad
Wednesday bbq meatballs, mac& cheese, salad and rolls
Thursday: hamburgers, tater tots, and salad
Friday: Guess I need to go check my freezer and pull something out...I haven't thought that far yet. Maybe breakfast foods.
It has been so cold here this week. Normally, that would have me baking and cooking a ton, but my kitchen is still in remodeling. It's just not a joy to be in there right now so meals are just keeping us fed, but not enjoyable being made.
It was not our best menu week. Coming back from skiing, lots of interviews & meetings on my side, two soccer games, college admissions stuff, and just generally not enough meal prep time. But, we all ate:
-Out 2x in Lake Tahoe. Once with six teens. 😉
-We ate coconut shrimp & edamame (both from the freezer) + salad when we got home from Lake Tahoe. It was a long drive.
-We had teriyaki chicken & rice (freezer) another night
-Burgers (freezer) over salad another night
-DH went out with a friend who was in town, and I ate soup (freezer)
As for tonight, DH is out of town, and DS17 has a late soccer game. Who knows what/if I'll eat anything. I seriously need to menu plan for next week!
Congratulations on making it through Hell week! I hope the last week of the semester is heaven week! When I saw your cardiac rhythm worksheet I got excited, as I spent 40 of my 42 years career in ICU and looking at the monitor every day. I knew right away in my ICU rotation that was where I wanted to be. It made sense to me, I loved cardiac nursing. I hope you find it as interesting!
I can never list what I ate for a whole week unless I write it down. On average, I would say we spend about $75 a week for two adults and we eat at least one fish dish and one red meat dish every week, we do “Meatless Monday” one night of leftovers and the rest is a variety show! But we are never hungry.
Hope everyone is staying reasonably warm and healthy.
I spent about $70 at 2 different stores this week, but did not do much cooking. I have been coming home exhausted from work and this is the result:
Saturday & Sunday - Turkey chili over baked potato
Monday - (Frozen) Margherita Pizza and salad
Tuesday - Peanut butter toast
Wednesday - leftover pizza
Thursday - Peanut butter toast
Friday - Tacos, maybe?
Should probably invest some time in meal prepping this weekend!
Saturday - can’t remember…maybe pasta of some sort?
Sunday- mom’s house - Indian Food
Monday - taquitos, quinoa salad and tortilla soup
Tuesday -Potstickers
Wednesday - lemon garlic mahi mahi, buttered pasta, baby bok choy
Thursday - tried an Asian fusion place
Tonight - udon. Need to find some Kombu (seaweed) for the broth. Daughter also wants to poach some pears so we’ll try that too.
I didn’t see an actual recipe for the pancakes
So, if you click on the coral words that say "whole wheat blueberry pancakes" that's a link that'll take you to the recipe.
But I'll put it here for you too! https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/its-breakfast-week-here-at-the-frugal-girl/
Scroll alllll the way to the bottom of that post, right before the comments, and you'll see the recipe.
$457 at Kroger, all meals at home or packed. DH's organization is taking away telework options, so he has to go in every day. He packs homemade tuna burgers.
Saturday: homemade pizzas and brownies
Sunday: homemade pizzas, and for lunch I experimented making Hungarian Potato Soup. Very few ingredients, very economical, and all 5 soup-eaters here loved it. So it's going in the rotation of my Simple Soup recipes for Mondays.
Monday: Tuna burgers courtesy of DH, and Roasted Carrot Soup. So good.
Tuesday: Roasted chicken drumsticks, salad, leftover soup and pizza fixings for anyone who wanted them.
Wednesday: Hamburger stew, courtesy of DS#2
Thursday: Lab day for me and DS#2. DH and DS#3 did the grocery shopping and DS#1 made dinner, burgers and baked potatoes and salad bar.
Tonight will be taco night.
@Karen A., I just love how everyone in your family works together to get food bought and made.
I’m a soup lover. If it’s no trouble to point me to the Hungarian potato soup recipe that your people liked so much, many thanks!
@ErikaJS, https://thestoriedrecipe.com/5-ingredient-potato-soup-without-milk/
This is the one I used. I used Yukon Gold potatoes and didn't peel them. Since I had an open box of unsalted chicken broth I used that for some of the water. Instead of making a roux with flour I just made a slurry of water and cornstarch to thicken it after mashing the potatoes a bit.
Ok...let's see what I can remember.
Saturday: Chicken tacos with all the trimmings
Sunday: Chicken & gravy, rice, squash & zucchini
Monday: Chicken & Rice, green salad
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Homemade burgers with havarti cheese, buns, lettuce & tomato, crispy onions, Fries in the air fryer
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: It has been a long week and I think tonight is gonna call for some takeout pizza
Saturday - Tuna sandwich with fruit and veggies
Sunday - Homemade chicken pot pie, salad, and fruit
Monday - tacos
Tuesday - Red beans and rice and salad
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - French toast, peanut butter, thawed frozen blueberries, and bacon
I think I spent less than $20 at the store last week, so it was a good week to eat through what I had in the pantry, fridge, and freezer. That also probably means I’ll have a more substantial grocery trip this week!
No shame in pb and honey sandwiches, even for dinner. I love them, too!
And with 100% whole wheat bread, we are at least getting some fiber in. 🙂
I talk to my sister almost daily and she always asks what we are for dinner the night before. I'm so glad other people are like me and throw stuff together and have no idea what to call it! She doesn't understand making something without fully following a recipe 🙂
@Liz, I’m just like your sister! Not very competent in the kitchen so I pretty much need a recipe. MY sister is great at just throwing things together.
I used to ALWAYS use recipes. But for some reason, I'm winging it way more lately. I think it's partly because I am often just cooking for myself, so it feels low-stakes. If my winging-it efforts turn out a little funky, it only affects me!
What I spent: $52 at Kroger, all on sale items. I "saved" $26 off full price, not that I would buy many of these things at those prices.
What I ate:
Sunday - smoked sausage with pan-fried potatoes
Monday -hot dogs and potato chips, plus a mixed berry crumble for dessert
Tuesday - gf pasta with sliced hot dogs, diced tomatoes, and dairy-free cheese substitute
Wednesday - a hot dog and I can't remember what else; also the last serving of crumble, this time with a topping of strawberry-rhubarb coconut yogurt
Thursday - gf pasta with broccoli and the last bit of df cheese.
Friday - lentils and rice cooked in chicken broth
I worked 4 long days this week but my husband did a great job feeding us- he was a non-cook until retirement 2 years ago!
Monday- Warm Salmon, arugula, and Potato Salad
Tuesday- seasoned and sautéed chicken on top of a big salad
Wednesday- GF Pasta with Kale, onions, mushrooms, and feta
Thursday- leftovers from the above (me), leftover gumbo i made Sunday night (him)
Between the gumbo and these meals I also had plenty of options for lunch at work which is much appreciated in a string of long work days.
Tonight i will make some sort of Indian curry with cauliflower/carrots/peppers from the fridge, red lentils from the pantry, and a little chicken from the freezer. Over brown rice. Or possibly i will make it soup-ish.
WIS = 13.15 at FM
I’m doing a freezer and pantry challenge, so the only money spent was on dairy products (cheese and half & half).
We had stuffed winter squash (Italian style), fruit salad, split pea soup, cornbread, pears, tamales, avocado, Tex-Mex rice, butter chicken, rice, and parsnips. Still to go this week is shrimp, grits, pizza, and something with the leftover butter chicken sauce plus veggies and more fruit we were sent as Christmas gifts.
I still don’t see actual recipe. What am I doing wrong?
It is definitely there! Did you scroll past the "recommended" list of posts at the bottom? Below that, you should see the recipe card.
Here is the recipe, but if you want a nice printable version, that's in the post I linked you to. 🙂
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 egg
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a smaller bowl, combine brown sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and egg; whisk to combine.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir gently to combine. Some small bits of dry flour are fine; don't overmix!
Heat a skillet over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles immediately. Grease surface if desired, then drop batter by 1/3 cup portions onto skillet.
Cook until bubbles form on first side, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Serve immediately with butter and syrup.
No food waste is the base of the frugal living pyramid (along with mayo and peanut butter!).
WHS: $210 of which $126 was at the butcher shop (plus $3 and change for a loaf of their sourdough bread). Figure 48 meals from the butcher shop - $2.75 per person is pretty cheap for a protein based meal.
WWE - and mind you some meals include a third person:
Upside down chicken shepherd pie (third person)
Mexican dine out
Wild rice veg soup with grilled cheese sandwiches
“Mississippi” beef with veggies.. it was edible but won’t be on the menu again.
Breakfast supper using leftover potatoes (third person)
Reduced sale pork chops - 1 lb for $2.60 and the rest of the leftover potatoes
Crockpot chicken (package cooking sauce that had a reasonable sodium content) with potatoes, carrots, onions, mushroom, and the rest of frozen mixed veggies (peas, green beans, corn, carrots). Slice of butcher shop bread for each of us (3rd person minus slice of bread).
@Selena, 48 individual meals to be more precise.
Wow that is a beat up microsoft ergo keyboard! I used to use one as my primary kb, but switched to mechanical keyboards eons ago. I dug around in my parts piles to see if I could find my old ms ergo, but I must have recycled it a long time ago, I'd have shipped it to you if I still had it.
Haha, yes, it IS! The keyboard itself is fine, but the faux leather has definitely seen better days.
I've seen some on eBay and they all have the same issue.
Maybe I should spring for a new one sometime. I see they have a new model that does not have the faux leather design.