WIS, WWA | $91
What I Spent
I spent:
- $63 at Aldi
- $4 at Safeway
- $24 on pizza out with Zoe
So, $91.
What We Ate
Saturday
Easy button: just some cheese quesadillas. 🙂
Sunday
I am completely stumped as to what I ate. I know I was off of work, but my goodness, I have no idea what I ate. I've been pretty good about snapping photos to jog my memory, but for this day, I've got nothin'!
Monday
It was a little snowy outside:
But I grilled some burgers anyway, since I don't subscribe to the idea that grilling has a season. 😉
Tuesday
Zoe and I went out to look at laptops for her (poor Zoe has still been using a very small Chromebook from 2020!), but first we got some pizza.
Wednesday
I made chicken burrito bowls (rice, chicken, cilantro-lime sauce, veggies, etc.) with the express plan of packing them for lunch the next three days.
I made a lot of dirty dishes that day, but I did do a bang-up job of prepping breakfast and lunches, so yay me!
Thursday
After work, I ate the last of my butternut squash soup plus a grilled cheese sandwich.
Friday
If Zoe's home after my work shift, I'll probably get some takeout for us. If she's not home...some raisin bran is probably calling my name, because I have another work shift tomorrow.
I love the picture of Chiquita in the cooler! Like she wasn't already cool B)
My eats:
Saturday: Aubergine curry with chickpeas over brown rice.
Sunday: Takeout.
Monday: Baked sweet potato and a mushroom omelette.
Tuesday: Chill mac and cheese.
Wednesday: Leftovers
.
Thursday: Baked sweet potato with veggie burgers. I had sauteed spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes on the side
Friday: Undecided. Possibly burritos.
The B and bracket was supposed to be the sunglasses emoji! Apologies for the typos; such are the perils with writing on a phone!
Saturday: I made a very ad hoc casserole using two chicken leg quarters, the last of the pork I had made for burritos, rice, black beans, and corn. It was sort of like Spanish rice, I guess. I had also made strawberry jam and yogurt this day, so everyone had that after dinner.
Sunday: A. went fishing with the younger three children. They caught a big trout, which we cooked when they got home. I also fried the last of the leftover pork, and there was leftover rice, too, plus salad and chocolate pudding for Sunday dessert.
Monday: Separated chicken leg quarters that I marinated in the lemon juice and olive oil sauce from the previous night's trout. I then seasoned them heavily with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano, and baked them. I had taken a container of hummus out of the freezer, so we had that, too, along with the garlic bread I had made the day before when I was baking bread. Carrot sticks for a vegetable. We also had baked apples, just because I thought I should put something else in the oven with the chicken. I used two quart jars of canned apple slices with more cinnamon and cloves and maple syrup.
Tuesday: I had some of the chicken and rice casserole left, but not enough for everyone. And four pieces of the baked chicken, which would still not have been enough. So I stretched the leftover chicken by frying it with potatoes and adding cheese. That was just about enough, although some hungry boys got themselves yogurt and/or bread and peanut butter after dinner anyway. We also had raw bell peppers and radishes with dinner, but that didn't fill them up any. 🙂
Wednesday: To make up for the previous day's somewhat skimpy meal, I made Salisbury steaks with onion and milk gravy, mashed potatoes, and frozen peas. And then they still had yogurt after dinner. They really like that strawberry jam I made.
Thursday: One package of sweet Italian sausage links, one package of jalapeno/cheese sausage links, the two leftover Salisbury steaks for the ones who didn't want sausage, cornbread, and raw bell peppers and radishes.
Tonight: My family is leaving for Tucson to visit relatives. They'll be camping tonight, so I made them a Spanish omelet. This has the two-fold benefit of being meatless (Lent) but hearty and good traveling food, and also good cold if they can't have a campfire. I'll have some chickpea stew that has been in the freezer. I'm the only one who really likes it, so this is a good opportunity for me to eat it. When I'm by myself. (I'll miss them, but yay!)
Sorry, it's a Spanish tortilla, not omelet. And A. is my husband. That's how I refer to him on my own blog. He's the one who took my kids fishing. 🙂
Lets’s see…Sunday we went to the Philadelphia Flower Show, and I was determined not to eat out! So we came home and had leftover salmon (cooked in Aldi Thai chili
Dipping sauce, highly recommend) hi”couscous/ lentil mix, and a salad.
Monday was chopped chicken bowls with marinated chicken, rice, veggies, and green salad.
Tues- I made a pasta with sausage, roasted zucchini, and a pan sauce made with 2% milk, flour, garlic, and sautéed onions. Bypassed a green salad because of the veggie heavy dish.
Wed- Mexican casserole. I made a masa crust/ base, then mixed a pack of Aldi meat free taco filling, a can of drained black beans, a can of enchilada sauce, a half chopped onion, a scoop of chipotle peppers in their sauce, and a handful of shredded cheese.
Thurs- we took my visiting mother in law out for Thai food. It was delicious!
Tonight I’ll make a semi-homemade pizza. Bought a pack with several crust bases / sauce packet at Costco, and I’ll just add seasonings and shredded cheese/ grated parm. The pack of 4 crusts/ sauce packets were $10, and it has seriously paid for itself many times over with takeout pizza money saved!
I miss the Philadelphia Flower Show! It's always spectacular.
I don't remember what I spent last weekend. Probably in the $250 range at Harris Teeter. I did not do any mid-week pickups because I'm focused on getting by with what we have at home. So that's a win!
Sunday - pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Monday - homemade chicken noodle soup. I forgot how much I like this. It was a two day process though.
Tuesday - waffles, sausage, strawberries, eggs.
Wednesday - Leftover soup and takeout for the boys (HS baseball game)
Thursday - Clean out fridge night. I also made the Spanish tortilla from Trader Joes that I'd had in the freezer to go with the soup dregs (mostly broth!). It was meh, I would not buy it again.
Friday - Maybe chicken parm using leftover pasta and Just Bare chicken fillets. I'm determined not to do takeout.
Monday – Turkey sausage, bell pepper, and onion saute
Tuesday – Baked potato bar with chili
Wednesday – Chicken burrito bowls
Thursday – Asian chicken noodle soup (a Swanson’s broth recipe)
Friday – Cheese ravioli with pesto, spinach, and roasted tomatoes
Galumpki (Polish cabbage rolls) stuffed with ground bison meat and rice mixture, which was a gift from a friend who hunts and processes meat. Served with side of roasted carrots from my CSA box.Also the cabbage came from CSA box. Made enough for 2 nights of food.
Pasta with artichokes, lemon and tuna.LOVE to make this in a flash..all trader joe ingredients.I had half a jar of the marinated artichokes and half a box of the curly pasta in pantry so I made the pasta, toss in a can of UNDRAINED TUNA IN. OIL (Always in my pantry), add the half jar of artichokes, and squeeze juice from a whole lemon over it.(It’s citrus season in Arizona) SOO yum. Servewith side of sliced cucumbers from CSA box. ANd some garlic bread from freezer.
Olive Garden Tuscan soup.Had a big bunch of gorgeous KALE from CSA box, and potatoes in pantry and sausage in freezer so made a pot of Tuscany Soup, my husband LOVES THIS..I find the ACTUAL soup at the restaurant too rick for my taste..here at home I put a SMALL splash of milk in at the end to make it slightly creamy not too rich.More garlic bread.
Mandarin Orange Chick-N (vegetarian from trader Joe in a small freezer pack) .I chope dup 2 yellow peppers and some onion and stiry fried and added thte morsels to the veggies and served over brown rice made in rice cooker. Cucumbers on side. All veggies from CSA box.
Air fryer Petite sirloin steaks , they are soo tasty and fast to cook in the A/F. I frined up some onions and mushrooms to serve over.Mashed potatoes and carrots (from CSA.) and a side spinach salad (CSA.)
I have to sayI love my own cooking, lol.Can’t help it.Restaurant food is soo expensive, and often sooo bad, and bad FOR you.. home cooked food is a luxury I enjoy!! When you make cooking a hobby it’s fun and frugal!!
We were on vacation and we love to dine out... I paid for the hotel and everything associated with the hotel, parking and we even ordered room service. My partner paid for meals out... We are fortunate to be able to splurge like this when on vacation.
Thursday - day 1 of vacation - we ordered room service. Pizza, pasta and salads. It was so good!
Friday - I had a blue cheese and mushroom burger, the others had Montreal smoked meat sandwiches and pasta ( another great spot)
Saturday - my son in law roasted potatoes, pork tenderloin and made salad.
Sunday - we had tapas and Paella another winner
Monday - Italian - salads( one was roasted Brussels sprouts and dates ), meatballs, cheese, bread, pizza and pasta.
Tuesday - sushi for the girls, the rest of us had wonton soup and leftovers
Wednesday - nothing for supper. I drove 10.5 hours to home. The girls fed themselves. ( I made it clear that I was not ordering out or cooking when we got home)
Thursday - I made a salad, and we had lasagna and garlic bread from the freezer.
I spent 125.00 on groceries on Thursday morning.
Now that vacation is done, I'll be focusing on cooking at home for the next while.
$43.72
Saturday: we ate out. We ate at Hardees. I hadn’t eaten at a Hardees in over 35 years so DH was happy that I finally decided to try it. Last time I ate at Hardees, they still sold fried chicken and biscuits.
Sunday: chicken burritos, veggies
Monday: sweet potato yeast rolls with pulled pork, homemade pickles and pickled onions. Tots and salad
Tuesday: chicken pot pie
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: spaghetti and salad
Friday: turkey subs with potato salad and cucumber salad
WIS:
$16 - Sam's
$13 - Aldi
$8 - Culver's
Saturday: bean soup, cornbread casserole
Sunday: rotisserie chicken, raspberries
Monday: hamburger, fries, frozen custard (Culver's)
Tuesday: chicken sandwich, raspberries
Wednesday: Nachos, strawberries
Thursday: Nachos, strawberries
Friday; Today I'll have a sandwich of black forest ham and Swiss cheese on seeded rye. Probably some pineapple on the side.
WIS: $30.53 at Sprouts for A LOT of chicken, an enormous bag of organic sweet potatoes, and a Sweet Corn Elote Bowl*. And $22.80 at the little Neighborhood Walmart for spinach and a couple of salad kits, a pound of ground beef and grape tomatoes for tacos, and a half dozen croissants for ham, egg and cheese breakfasts. So $53.33 for the week.
WIA: Beef tacos with refried beans. Caesar salads and elote bowl with chicken. Corn chowder (with some chicken!). Roasted sweet potatoes stuffed with creamed and fresh spinach.
*The Elote Bowl has fire-roasted sweet corn, brown rice, chickpeas, red quinoa, parmesan cheese, olive oil, potatoes, red bell peppers, and a ton of spices and seasonings: apple cider vinegar, lime juice, cilantro, serrano pepper puree, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. (Which is why I don’t even try to make it myself.) Add some chicken and you have a complete meal. Or, really, given its size, 3 or 4 meals.
Lots of leftovers. Not to mention lots of sweet potatoes. I think I ended up feeding myself pretty darn well for less than $4/day.
Forgot to mention that last Saturday was a lovely buffet lunch at a lovely hotel. It was a dear friend's 90th birthday celebration with more than 100 people in attendance, including her sister, her children and their spouses, grandchildren and their spouses, great grandchildren, and too many friends to count. Lots of lovely and loving speeches and testimonials. And although we were all there to celebrate her, she made gifts (made, not bought) for everyone single person who attended.
Sunday: In an effort to eat down our freezer, I made a turkey dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn, squash, cranberry/raspberry jello and daughter brought mixed berry pie for dessert
Monday: I made a shepherds pie from some of the leftovers...it was yummy!
Tuesday: ham slices (freezer), mac and cheese, peas, cottage cheese
Wednesday: pork chops and sauerkraut, potato patties (made from some of the leftover mashed potatoes)
Thursday: grilled cheese & tomato soup
Friday: tonight will be parmesan crusted tilapia, pierogies & green beans
The struggle is always pretty real for me to remember what I had, but let's see:
-Egg roll in a bowl x2 + Persian rice. Once over Persian rice, once with cauliflower rice. One was healthier, but the other was much tastier.
-Grilled burgers x2, similar to you, Kristen. One was on a bun with avocado, the other was on a salad.
-Crockpot chicken satay X2. Once over Persian rice, once with cauliflower rice. One was healthier, but the other was much tastier. I like the recipe, but need to remember not to put the veggies in until the end
Dinner tonight.... hmm, maybe the last burger patty? I might have mine with a salad or some ravioli in the fridge
Did Chiquita clean up the small yogurt spill I see in the cooler?
Now, WIS: $34 at Price Chopper, $35 at Wegmans, and $42 at Aldi.
WIA: I found another 50% off package of salmon at Aldi; I ate half of that for lunch yesterday and will have the other half on a chef's salad today. I also found a cart in the parking lot, so I'm 25 cents richer. 😉
And I'm also trying to use the small amount of remaining viable food at NDN1's house creatively: I made croutons with her last partial loaf of white bread, and I'll soon make a NYT recipe for "spicy marmalade chicken thighs" with her last 1/4 jar of Smuckers orange marmalade.
I spent $63 at Walmart, $45 at Kroger, $29 at Edwards Food Giant (stocked up on some on-sale meat) and $50 at Sam's on stock up items like 10 pounds of oatmeal, nuts and cheese. So $187.
An added note: gas has gone up about 30 cents a gallon here in the last few days.
– Sunday – grilled strip steaks, baked sweet potatoes, frozen mixed veggies.
– Monday – spaghetti, meatballs, sauce, garlic bread, green salad.
– Tuesday – broccoli-cheese soup, oven grilled chicken and cheese sandwiches, chips.
– Wednesday – Taco salad and refried Mexican beans.
– Thursday – fried shrimp, coleslaw, onion potatoes.
– Friday – out to eat at an Argentinian restaurant. We had a meat meal and empanadas.
– Saturday – pan fried pork chops, with beans and Rotel, cucumber salad.
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $173 ($133 at Safeway and $40 at Sprouts).
- Buttered parmesan noodles and broccoli
- Puff pastry-wrapped baked brie with mushrooms
- Coconut-curry tofu and veggie stir fry over brown basmati rice
- Vegan sloppy joes (lentils, green pepper, onions, tomato sauce and spices)
- Nachos (toppings: black beans, white beans, shredded cheese, jalapeno pepper, poblano sauce, salsa, cilantro and sour cream)
- Wild rice cranberry salad
- Crackers, cheese and olives
This post made me giggle because your photos and meals connected with my life more than usual!
• My parents have that same cooler! I have memories of it appearing at many picnics/outings throughout my childhood. It is still holding strong today and occasionally is brought to my house with lunch or dinner inside.
• I have memories of my dad grilling when it was snowing outside – inches on the ground and it coming down all because he agrees that grilling is year round!
• I talked with my son about inviting my parents over for dinner this weekend to celebrate my dad’s birthday. My son suggested I make something good and not “butternut squash soup!”
Friday: Mississippi Pot Roast (from the freezer), mashed potatoes, kale salad
Saturday: My husband brought home pizza (we had a free pizza coupon) and I picked up chicken wings to make buffalo wings at home.
Sunday: Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce over protein pasta. We went to a hockey game and got home JUST in time for dinner. Our slow cooker saved us from ordering take out.
Monday: Salmon Fish Sticks, garlic bread, and kale salad
Tuesday: Ropa Vieja (from the freezer) over rice or in tortillas for the boys. I had a meat, cheese, cracker, fruit, and pickled veggie mini snack tray in the car on my way to art class.
Wednesday: Teriyaki Chicken, cauliflower fried rice, sunomono (pickled cucumber salad)
Thursday: leftovers
I also made some cereal bars to use up some odd and ends in my baking supplies and I tried making Palmier cookies for the first time. I used a store bought puff pastry and I was not happy with the results. I’ll try again but use a rough puff pastry recipe and see if that works better.
WIS: Approximately $100. Mostly at Food Lion, but there were some snack runs to Dollar Tree for root veggie chips and fudge mint cookies.
WWA: Leftover meat loaf with baked potatoes and corn on the cob. Oven-barbecued chicken drumsticks with roasted carrots and gluten-free cheddar-herb corn muffins. Cinnamon baked apples for dessert. The aforementioned was largely for my husband. For myself, I had protein shakes with a big orange and made a tuna mac and cheese with green peas casserole -- college days poverty food that I love.
Monday: Spinach and cheese ravioli and tomato sauce, garlic green beans. The ravioli was terrible (Olivieri brand, for my Canadian friends.) Ten years ago, you could buy pretty good ravioli in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. But it seems now that the generics and the brand names just fall apart and have almost no filling.
Tuesday: My parents were back from snowbird-ing and treated us to takeout sushi and some fruit they brought. And hamantaschen from the grocery store.
Wednesday: Spaghetti with Bolognese from the freezer, broccoli. I had some fruit for dessert.
Thursday: Takeout pizza, raw veggies.
Friday: Mr. B will be home late. I think I'll pick up some tilapia after I pick up my daughter and make breaded fish with bagged salad mix in a wrap for me and Mr. B, and breaded fish with a plain wrap and raw veggies on the side for the four year old.
Your butternut squash soup looks delicious but my husband would never eat it so it would be all me.
WIS- $0 which is really odd for me but I will be placing an order today because my daughter is flying home for spring break (in her second year of law school and I cannot believe how very slow and at the same time very fast it has been)
Friday-we made sausage and onion pizza in our Ooni pizza oven
Saturday-chicken curry with lots of veggies, rice, and naan bread
Sunday-grilled chicken, salad, french bread
Monday-I was out of town
Tuesday-I was out of town
Wednesday-leftover curry, rice, naan bread
Thursday-green chili chicken enchiladas, refried beans, fire roasted corn, tropical fruit salad
Friday-tonight could be leftovers since my daughter doesn’t arrive until late so we don’t have to abide by the Friday is Pizza Night rule
Hope everyone has a great week!
WIS: $1.98 for 10 lbs potatoes
Sun family dinner was fried chicken, potato salad, 3 bean salad and apple pies
Mon - grilled sausages with leftover 3 bean salad and I made coleslaw
Tue, Wed & Thur - pizza & green salad
Fri - halibut, coleslaw and oven fries
Sat - fancy wedding