WIS, WWA | a Dinnerly week
What I Spent
So, this week I ordered a box from Dinnerly, which is a budget-minded meal kit box (like Blue Apron, but half the price).
I've done review posts about Dinnerly before, but the main post I have is a little outdated now! So, I ordered a box so that I could write an updated post.
I spent:
- $54 on a Dinnerly box
- $44 at Safeway
So, $98 for me. 🙂
I'll do a more thorough review of Dinnerly soon, but if you want to give their service a try right now, use this link for 60% off your first box.
What We Ate
Saturday
I was out with a friend and the girls fended for themselves.
Sunday
This was Mother's Day annnd also the day I saw the email about my nursing school acceptance.
So, the girls and I went out and got ramen and bubble tea together for a combo Mother's Day/YAY I'M GOING TO NURSING SCHOOL dinner. 😉
Monday
The start of our Dinnerly meals!
I made meatball subs on garlic bread, with a green salad on the side.
Tuesday
Our second Dinnerly meal was corn and shrimp tostadas with guacamole crema, but since Zoe is allergic to shrimp, I cooked up some chicken for her, and she had chicken tostadas.
I really liked the sauce on these!
We had some fruit on the side.
Wednesday
Third Dinnerly meal: baked potatoes topped with buffalo chicken and ranch-dressed greens.
Thursday
A non-Dinnerly meal! We had pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.
Friday
Do I ever know what I'm making on Friday nights? Usually not. Ha.
Do I usually figure something out? Yes.
Once again congratulations on nursing school!
WWA:
Saturday-apricot chicken, rice and peas
Sunday-chicken nuggets and whatever else kids wanted
Monday- beef bahn mi (spelling?) bowls with rice and cucumbers soaked in rice vinegar. Also some mini cucumbers cut in half long ways so kids could pretend to be ducks before eating them. And cupcakes for a birthday!
Tuesday-I was tired so we did egg rolls and fried rice from aldis freezer section. Fried rice is much better fresh.
Wednesday: leftovers because of a lengthy appointment
Thursday-I grabbed a bag of scones instead of my lunch on the way to work, so when I got home I ate a very late lunch and snacked again when kids got home 20 minutes later which meant I wasn’t hungry for dinner.
Tonight-grilled cheese sounds good. Or soup.
WIS: I did not do any grocery shopping this week, but I spent 144.65 on mediocre stadium food, plus my husband spent 111.13 @Giant on magazines and Mother's day gifts, and then 95.26 on Ethiopian take out. So the total this week was 351.04 which is not too bad, considering. I'm not gonna stress about it. I'm just gonna shake it off.
WWA:
Fri: salad (mixed greens, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese and homemade balsamic vinaigrette using up the marinade from the tomatoes for the focaccia) and focaccia (pepperoni, mozzarella, parmesan and mini tomatoes).
Sat: my husband and I took the teen to see Taylor Swift in Philly! It was AMAZING! We ate random snacky stuff in the car: granola bars, cheese sticks, moo tubes, apples, clementines, bananas, trail mix, etc and then got stadium food there: hotdogs, pretzels, popcorn, lemonade, water and a mixed drink called "Lavender Haze." It was all insanely expensive, but we had a great time. The kids at home with my mom had salad, Mac and cheese and meatballs.
Sun: take out Ethiopian for mother's day which included veggie combos (just various simple ingredients like red and yellow lentils, potatoes, green beans, carrots, collards, beets, but all made with the most delicious spices and served on top of injera) and lentil sambusas.
Mon: salad (spinach, cucumber slices, tomatoes, feta cheese, raisins, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, leftover Ethiopian food.
Tue: bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches on homemade bagels topped with mayo, mustard, spinach and tomato. These were delicious and also hard to eat. Tomatoes are slippery. But, I insist on produce in our meals. I'm the problem. Or maybe tomatoes are?
Wed: watermelon with tajin sprinkled on top because I was told it's how the cool kids use tajin (the verdict? Undecided because it was not a very sweet watermelon, so we will test again when it's in season), rice and beans (made with kidney beans, onions, red peppers, arborio rice and spices), shredded cheddar cheese, spinach salad and tortilla chips on the side.
Thu: salad (lettuce, celery, carrot, turnip, radish, yellow pepper, craisins, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning and tajin), nachos (made using leftover rice and beans and shredded cheddar cheese), salsa.
Tonight: salad and focaccia, and I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend with not a lot going on... 😉
Happy weekend, everyone!
@Becca, I do crunchy salt on watermelon, but I haven't tried tajin. I'll try it this summer, it sounds good!
@Becca, ok now I'm curious about this Lavendar Haze drink.
@CindySW,
Ha! Well, I asked what the ingredients were at the stadium but it was kind of loud. I think I heard them say blueberry something, lavender something and Tito's vodka. It was also over ice and looked faintly lavender colored. I'm assuming it was blueberry syrup, but might have just been blended frozen blueberries because it did look like there were seeds in it.
Back at home, my husband looked it up and read that it has lavender syrup (with blueberry for color), elderflower syrup, vodka or a fancy purple gin (maybe called 1805 Indigo, he doesn't remember) and a frothed egg white to make the haze. I'm pretty sure the stadium drink did not have egg white haze in it, but maybe. My husband's version was way better and might have included the vanilla vodka I made to use as vanilla...I guess I'd rather drink it than make cookies...it was good with vanilla flavor. He also added some blueberry juice concentrate for color and sweetness.
WIS: $21 at the Regional Market and $15.50 at Price Chopper.
WIA: Lovely local asparagus--two bunches of it! I usually just steam asparagus, marinate it, and treat it as healthy snack food.
I also had a container of tandoori sauce left over from an Indian takeout meal with the Bestest Neighbors (their generous treat). I marinated some 99 cents/lb. chicken drumsticks in this sauce for an hour or so and then roasted them on a sheet pan. Nom nom nom.
The essential question about the Dinnerly sauce that you liked, though, is was there enough? 🙂
Saturday: T-bone steaks with herb butter (parsley and green garlic from the garden, yay!) and the caramelized onions I made in quantity some time ago and froze. Also spaghetti with pesto (alllmost finished last year's pesto), and a green salad with ranch dressing. I used parsley in the ranch dressing, too, which meant every part of the meal had something from the garden. This makes me very happy.
Sunday: Fried pork, oven fries, green salad with ranch dressing, chocolate pudding with cream. Yup, I made my own Mother's Day dinner. Because that way, I get exactly what I want. Incidentally, in our house, we don't typically whip cream to top most desserts, instead just pouring the cream in a puddle right around the pudding/crisp/whatever. In this way, you save yourself the whipping AND you get to eat more cream without all that air added. We're always on the side of more cream.
Monday: I was at the school sports banquet with my eldest, where we had smoked brisket (benefit of living in cattle country), and then there was a big table of side dishes brought by everyone who attended. I brought carrot and celery sticks with homemade ranch dip, which proved quite popular, despite (or maybe because of) its simplicity.
Tuesday: I made some . . . meat patties, I guess? I made them like tuna patties, but I used one big can of tuna, one of salmon, and one of chicken. The salmon and chicken are frequent commodities items, so I have quite a few cans of those. The tuna I buy, so I figured if I could stretch it with the others, that would be helpful. They were good. No one remarked on any differences, so I guess I can keep doing that. We also had rooster rice and frozen green peas.
Wednesday: I had quite a bit of leftover rice, so I made fried rice with that, another can of chicken, frozen peas, carrots, onions from the freezer, eggs, soy sauce, garlic powder, and vinegar. An excellent and fast after-work meal that is very popular with my family.
Thursday: Chimichangas and margaritas to celebrate the last day of school. The margaritas were obviously not for the children, but they had PLENTY of treats at school. And that they brought home from school. I think they ate snacks steadily from about 2-3 p.m. The chimichangas were also a treat for them. I've never made them before. All I did was make burritos with flour tortillas, canned refried beans, taco meat, and cheese, then fry them in corn oil. These were very well-received. Unsurprisingly.
Tonight: Eldest son informed me he's going to make homemade pasta. I have ground beef in the refrigerator, so we'll just figure it out from there. Oh! And I had stopped harvesting my asparagus, but one of the moms from school gave me a big bag of hers, so I have that, too. Sounds like a balanced meal to me already.
Woohoo for the last day of school!!
And there was enough sauce for the tostadas, but I wish there had been some left over. Ha.
@kristin @ going country, I can't find the exact quote right now but my favorite author and farmer, Wendell Berry said something to the effect "there is something profoundly gratifying about producing all the food on your dinner table." That you have done!
Yesterday was Breakfast for Dinner Chez WilliamB as well. Eggs scrambled with sauteed mushrooms and sauteed onions, angel biscuits with whatever spreads we needed to use up, and bacon.
Thursday Me was grateful to Past Me for stirring up the biscuit dough and for sauteeing the veggies in advance. Angel biscuits are best if you let the batter sit at least a day, and if you don't want your eggs to be runny, you should use veggies that have already been cooked and drained so they don't add excess liquid.
I don't remember specifics of other dinners other than that I cooked more than my recent habit. Yay me.
I'm curious about the portion sizes for Dinnerly. My husband has a rather large appetite :).
WWA this week:
1. Chili with chips and salad
2. Curried Tofu potatoes and broccoli
3. Crab soup and salad
4. Turkey burgers with corn salad
5. On Mother's Day, I was so full from brunch that I skipped dinner. My husband scrounged up some leftovers.
6. Salmon burgers with potatoes and salad
7. Tonight is looking like grilled chicken and surprisingly salad
The Dinnerly portions are fine for us, but if you are feeding someone with a football-player sized appetite, I'm guessing it wouldn't be enough food!
My son is a big eater, my daughter is about medium, and I don't eat a lot...we found the 4-portion size perfect for us. I've made the meatball hero dinner too and liked it. Maybe I'll try Dinnerly again soon. It's gotta be cheaper than our hellacious grocery prices here.
@Rose, how do your grocery prices compare with those in Manhattan? I was genuinely shocked during my recent visit by prices on the Upper West Side--and we didn't even go to Whole Foods.
@A. Marie, About the same as an expensive city supermarket like Gristede's. More expensive than a cheap city supermarket like C Town. We don't have a Whole Foods in the Hamptons, but we do have several Citarella's, which is a very expensive city market* and of course my kids adore it. We also now have "Curated Fine Meats," which looks like a jewelry store, only behind every window is meat. No Aldi closer than an hour, and sob, no Trader Joe's.
*some national news outlet made fun of the one in East Hampton because of the 20-person line for caviar on Christmas Eve. I was there buying my son jamon iberico for his stocking. Heh.
@Rose, thanks for the comparison. Now I know why my JASNA BFF always insists on at least two trips to my Wegmans during her visits here!
@A. Marie, Ha! I did order from Dinnerly again. For about $75, I got four meals from us, which is the same price we usually spend on post-church sandwiches, pudding and juice at Citarella. (I will say Citarella's tiramisu is heartbreakingly good.) (I will also say everything is too expensive there but I'm tired and give in.)
When I was down at BFF's in Mobile last November, my eyes were as wide as saucers at the prices at her local Aldi, which she loved.
@Rose, Aldi's is coming to the town 45 minutes down the hill and after all the love it receives on this blog, I CAN'T WAIT!! There is no Trader Joe's in our county and never will be, so Aldi's, here I come.
We worked at dad's Sunday From 10-5, 6 of us. So.Much.Stuff. We are close to 300 hours worked. I am super tired but we got a lot done that day. We grilled Koegel Viennas.
Work came to my rescue! They had a retirement party for my coworker and there was so much leftover food.
Monday -leftover lasagna, veggies, cheese, crackers, & pickles
Tuesday- leftover meatballs, veggies, cheese, & crackers
Wednesday -leftover Chicken Alfredo, veggies, & meatballs with cheese
That was it for the free food but so thankful for it! It was done by a local caterer and their food is so good!
Thursday- Tacos, nacho dip with pretzels
Friday -pretty sure it will be pizza
Saturday - we had helped our daughter with a yard sale, so they kindly invited us for Chinese takeout.
Sunday - lunch out and I had a side salad and another side as my main meal
Monday - pasta topped with leftover grilled chicken from the freezer and fresh veggies (squash, zucchini, onion, tomato, carrots)
Tuesday - needed a quick meal before going to granddaughter’s school program, so made a salad of fresh local lettuce, with more grilled chicken from the freezer, thinly sliced apple, craisins,
walnuts and shredded cheese.
Wednesday - supper at church
Thursday - tacos/nachos using leftover ground beef, chicken, cheese, lettuce
Friday - we’re babysitting grands this evening so their parents can have a date night, so probably Mac and cheese with fresh veggies/fruit on the side.
I tried Dinnerly once. I liked it fine; my kids got suspicious of it.
Sunday: Chinese
Monday: Chinese
Tuesday: white chicken chili
Wednesday: Chicken parm with roasted potatoes. My daughter insisted on roasted potatoes with it; I would have rather had risotto or pasta.
Thursday: More chicken parm with roasted potatoes
Today: probably Swiss steak in the crockpot.
I think those meal kits things are great for people who have more money than time and creativity...that being said, the food does look good. Its just I think I could easily recreate it for less than $5 a serving...my two cents worth. I've been spending right at $100 on groceries lately, but it also includes non-food items like soap and tp. Here's the menu this week:
Monday - kitchen closed - I pulled together a burger patty and the rest of the sweet potato fries from the freezer, drank a remaining one glass of wine, and called it done.
Tuesday - Sheet Pan Chicken Souvlaki {chicken thighs, potatoes, yellow and red bell peppers, loads of garlic and herbs}
Wednesday - (freezer) Burgers on potato rolls, and curly fries, and I made a special sauce with fresh garlic that was pretty yum, I also made a French Apple Cobbler with four forgotten apples that was very good.
Thursday - Barbacoa Tacos with cilantro, onion, and limes, shredded monterrey jack cheese {this was a sauce poured over a roast with some sliced purple onion, cooked in the crockpot all day, then shredded} It was OK. I think roast has priced itself out of my budget.
Tonight - Chicken Carbonara Skillet (freezer rotisserie chicken, bowtie pasta, broccoli, carbonara sauce from a jar) I will freeze leftovers for future me.
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but I have my lunches already packaged up in the form of leftovers, a sammie, salads, etc. I even have breakfasts planned (: Twelve hour shifts require a bit of planning so I don't have to eat in the cafeteria, which is $$$.
Happy Weekend!
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/
I think they're mostly helpful if you are in such a busy season of life that you'd end up getting takeout instead of cooking. Then the $5/person price is better; it's hard to get takeout for $5/person!
@Kristen,
And if you have NO motivation to cook, which is my issue. To get what I like at drive thru costs almost $10.00 and I usually can only eat half. I save the other half to eat at another meal, but it seldom happens. It's hard to cook for one person.
What an interesting tostada combination! Not something I would have thought to do, but I'm also not crazy adventurous with food. Midwest girl, through and through. 😉 I'm working a good amount this week, so we are having some easy and some freezer meals.
Saturday: We celebrated my mom for Mother's Day. I made a shrimp fest (cold shrimp, baked shrimp, coconut shrimp, and lobster and shrimp bites), broccoli, sweet potatoes, and cheesecake
Sunday: My husband made brisket, asparagus, red potatoes, fruit, and dutch apple pie with vanilla ice cream
Monday: Pulled a meal out of the freezer... taco-inspired baked spaghetti. I need to make a note for next time that I need to tone down the spice next time because it was too much for my kids.
Tuesday: Burgers, fries, asparagus, and orange and red pepper slices
Wednesday: Steak fajitas, mandarin oranges... and leftover devilled eggs from a brunch I went to that morning. Weird combo, but things got eaten.
Thursday: I was catering and ate there (creamy garlic chicken on top of salad, carrots on the side) and my family had ravioli and bread
Friday: I'm catering again and I think tonight is the really good beef where you hope there's some left! Ha! My family will either eat a freezer meal or some catering leftovers that I brought home last night with some corn on the cob that I got in a produce box.
@Ruth T, the Mother's Day shrimp fest was genius. Anyone could make that for me any time.
Sounds like a yummy week! The Dinnerly meals make about 2-3 servings, right?
Sunday: Muffin tin meatloaf, with roasted carrots.
Monday: The BBQ chicken and cornbread recipe that's been on the meal plan for two weeks but kept getting bumped. We finally ate it!
Tuesday: Leftovers (I had kindergarten orientation for the incoming parents, so I didn't get home until 8pm).
Wednesday: We were out of ramen, so the preschooler chose mac and cheese. I had mac and cheese mixed with leftover meatloaf, and it was actually really good.
Thursday: Korean lettuce wraps (our favorite FG recipe!)
Friday: I'm going with some friends to see Are You There God It's Me Margaret with some friends, and we're going to hit up a taco truck beforehand.
Saturday: Leftovers
A happy week! Mine has been challenging, but I'm on vacation from about an hour-front-now onwards, so I'm grateful.
Sunday: Mother's Day! We had grilled steak and sauteed kale, at my request. Yum!
Monday: We had sandwiches with the leftover steak (I cut it thin and pan-fried it,) plus hard-boiled eggs, leftover kale, and discount raspberries for dessert. My daughter was sick in the evening (not from the food.)
Tuesday: My mom came over and looked after the baby (can I keep calling her "the baby" forever? She's getting close to 2...) I came home early and made chickpea and potato soup, green beans, and pasta with tomato sauce.
Wednesday: I watched our daughter in the morning, Mr. B did in the afternoon, and we ordered pizza.
Thursday: I was working overnight, so my shift-buddy and I went halfsies on Thai food and shared two dishes. More expensive than I usually go for, but really delicious.
Friday: Not sure. I kind of feel like fish, rice, and veggies for something light and satisfying, but we have chicken breasts that I could defrost. We'll see.
@Meira Bear, Yes, you can call her "the baby" forever. But you may not jump out of your seat at her college graduation and shout "THAT'S MY BABIEEEEE!"
@Meira Bear, my daughter started calling her babysitter a "kid sitter, because I'm a kid" at 3, so at least in my house you would have one more year haha
WIS: After spending $0 for groceries the week ending May 5, and $5 the week ending May 12 (ice cream only; I know Becca approved), I spent $118.13 yesterday, mostly for produce and salad stuff and pantry replenishment. And mandarin oranges. And ground beef, which remains stubbornly expensive. Unless you butcher your neighbor’s livestock.
WIA: Mushroom ravioli and leftover mushroom pasta sauce out of the freezer; hamburgers with leftover roasted smashed potatoes and broccoli; spinach quiche (I cheated and used a store bought pie crust); tempura shrimp with lemon jasmine rice and a broccoli slaw salad.
And ice cream...
@JDinNM,
For the official record, I also approve of produce and salad stuff. 😉
@JDinNM,
I always make crustless quiche from allrecipes. So easy and easy to vary. And none of my iffy piecrust and extra calories. Just a thought in case you might like to try it sometime.
@JDinNM,
Same as Shirley, I make Crustless Broccoli Quiche from Once Upon a Chef to great reviews. I’ve never liked the crusts anyway.
That's how I feel. Pie crust is SO overrated.
@Shirley, I'm definitely moving in that direction. This pie crust never cooked through on the bottom so it ended up being a crustless quiche because I just ate the filling and left the crust behind. Lesson learned! Calories saved!
I totally would have used meal kits, had they existed, way back when I had 4 kids to feed after a long hard work day…
WWA:
Saturday - beef and broccoli garlic noodles (a great budget bytes stand by)
Sunday - herbes de Provence roast chicken, ratatouille, mashed potatoes, Mother’s Day baked by daughter chocolate chip cookies
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - slow cooker sausage and tortellini soup
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - sheet pan fajitas (another great budget bytes stand by)
Friday - going out for Caribbean food!
Wishing everyone a wonderful long weekend
Saturday - we tried a new cheesesteak place that opened here. It was delicious, always nice to have a new place to add to the takeout rotation, especially something more unique than the usual pizza or Chinese food.
Sunday - Per my request for Mother’s Day, my husband smoked some chicken wings. We had them with French bread and raw veggies
Monday - cheesy chicken, vegetable and rice casserole
Tuesday - impossible burgers for adults, Dino chicken nuggets for kids, chopped salad kit, raw carrots and bell pepper
Wednesday - chicken and black bean tacos, corn, chopped salad
Thursday - easy night since I had a board meeting to attend, spaghetti with jarred sauce and meatballs from the freezer, steamed broccoli
Friday - I have my book club and will eat a lot of snacks there so will just make something simple for the kids like corn dogs or kraft
We ate:
- Chicken & veggie sauce over rice
- Lentil sloppy joes with Cabbage salad
- Sandwiches
- General Tsos chicken with seasoning packets I bought in the States for 39 cents each from the discount store.
- Lentils over rice
-Peanut sauce over rice
I didn't shop last week, but I will after work today.
WIA:
Well, the week's menu started off well. I made a stir fry and had that, plus one night I had an Amish hotdog with jicama sticks and cassava chips. After that, I had to quit eating for a while, so it was just broth for two days, then my meals were applesauce and plain yogurt, mashed skinless sweet potato and mashed banana. I graduated to a little pate' from the freezer and finally, today, some "curried" beef soup. I chewed everything well and ate small amounts. The rough patch is over, but I still need to eat cautiously. I actually should eat several very small meals a day, but that sure is hard when working outside the home!
One of my co-workers swears by meal kits and her leftovers always look delicious! I just have too many cookbooks with recipes that I want to try to take the plunge and order a meal kit, but I've heard they are great for a vacation rental - all the ingredients you need, no grocery shopping, an no leftover ingredients to worry about!
Friday: I tried a recipe for acorn squash gnocchi that used cassava flour. The flavor was good but the texture was odd. I won’t make this again so now I need to find a use for the cassava flour. I paired this with broiled tilapia.
Saturday: Pickle brined chicken tenders, baked zucchini fried, salad.
Sunday: My husband made pasta and garlic bread for Mother’s Day lunch (delicious!) so I made something light for dinner. I tried a new recipe for spicy salmon rice muffins and my boys loved them!
Monday: Husband and I had dinner at a fundraiser we were attending. My son had a box of mac and cheese.
Tuesday: Ramen noodle stir-fry with ground turkey. This is the perfect recipe to use up all the veggie odds and ends in the fridge.
Wednesday: Slow cooker chicken enchilada soup.
Thursday: My son was with his dad so husband and I had a sushi date night.
A week of restaurant food, need to curb that a bit.
Sunday: Mother's Day dinner at a Mexican restaurant
Monday: Chicken stir fry, as a veggie option cauliflowers and tofu over rice
Tuesday: Our kids baseball game went late, so we had a mix of grocery store sandwiches and takeout
Wednesday: Pasta with roasted veggies and green salad
Thursday: Spinach crepes from home garden harvested spinach (had happy hour snacks before)
Friday: Thinking of some easy cookout on the grill
It has been a big work week on the farm and in the veggie garden. The weather has been in the upper 80's & 90's, so dinners were simple. Protein + garden salad for Sun - Wed,
Thursday grilled burgers, potato salad. Friday - something pork as I bought 5 lbs of pork sirloin to repackage. Saturday - finger foods to take to concert in the park. I spent $76 this week.
I haven't said it yet, Kristen, but major congratulations on being accepted to nursing school!
We never doubted that this would happen, but it's beyond wonderful to see it happen for you officially! You earned it, and really, really deserve it!
Thank you!!
WIS: Just a hair under $90, as this week I did not buy fresh meat and did no stocking up.
WWA: This was one of my non-cooking weeks due to having a lot of physical therapy appointments. I made up snack boxes of fresh veggies for my husband and baked Italian herb bread in the bread machine. We ate fresh fruits and vegetables, cheese, homemade bread, the last of some smoked ham, apple-bran muffins made and frozen last week, nuts, crackers of various kinds, protein shakes and a few low-sodium frozen items. A couple of times I scrambled some eggs and made toast for DS.
Thursday we had Thai food for lunch, which was so filling that no supper was needed.
@Ruby, I know that your city (my native city) has come a long way since I left it, but I'm still amazed that you can get Thai food there. I remember when there was only one "Italian" restaurant in town (just east of the Ridge tunnels on US 11/64), and rumor had it that it served Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizza straight out of the box. We didn't even get a Pizza Hut till 1971.
@A. Marie, there are several really good Thai restaurants now. Our fave is on Brainerd Road, not far from what was the old Eastgate shopping center. Strangely enough, there are no good sit-down Chinese restaurants. My husband refuses to eat buffet style and the others are all take-out.
$370 for groceries, and about $28 on fast food during a short trip we took on Mother's Day, just DH and I.
Saturday: homemade pizzas
Sunday: We hopped in the car early to go one state over to try to visit my MIL. She was not available (long story), but we had a nice road trip together and stopped at Taco Bell, then thought better of eating there after we realized the entire place smelled like pee, so we went to a much nicer McDonald's and I got to have an Egg Mcmuffin and their delicious greasy hash browns for the first time in years. Dinner that night was homemade pizzas, as we always have leftovers aplenty to stretch out the weekend.
Monday: Grocery store deli fried/baked chicken, chips and carrots and cucumbers.
Tuesday: Burgers, tater tots, broccoli salad.
Wednesday: hamburger stew (I purposely cooked a whole whomp-load of burger patties on Tuesday, so all my son had to do was chop things up and put it all in the crockpot)
Thursday: Taco night
Friday (Tonight) DH is making tuna burgers and has promised yogurt parfaits as well. We will most definitely have to quote Donkey from Shrek: "Anyone ever tell you, no I don't want no parfait? Parfaits are delicious!"
@Karen A., Yogurt parfaits are one of my kids' favorite things to make. They insist on making them for us for breakfast in bed every Mother's Day and Father's Day.
@Kristen - YOU got into nursing school!!!! Yep I have never met you in person and NO I could not be more excited for you. Thanks for letting us go along for the ride as you go along. Tears of joy over here for you & lots of prayers too!
This week was very unorthodox as I had a business trip and the family was at home of course. So bear with me.
WIS: I hit the grocery store and spent roughly $185 before I left and prepared several meals for my crew to enjoy while I was away.
WWA:
Monday: I made a chipotle shredded beef in the crockpot and they ate it with jasmine rice, pico de gallo, corn on the cob, pinto beans and green salad. I ate a smoked salmon eggs benedict on potato pancakes & fresh fruit.
Tuesday: I made homemade Spaghettios before leaving and the family had those with garlic bread and green salad. I shared a variety of appetizers with colleagues and then I ate seared yellowfin tuna over a bed of greens, cabbage, and carrots with a light vinaigrette.
Wednesday: The family ate leftovers. I had a ticket to see La Boheme at the Metroploitan Opera House and I grabbed a slice of the legendary chees pizza from Joe's Pizza on the way. I am happy to say that both lived up to the hype 😉
Thursday: Leftovers again for the family. I had a cinnamon raisin bagel with nothing on it along with some roasted almonds on the plane home since there was no time for anything else.
Friday: I have no other plans other than dinner will be out somewhere tonight cause I did not get home until after 1 AM and I am quite tired.
Cheers to a restful weekend for all!
Thank you, thank you!
Monday-Chicken soup
Tuesday-Chicken soup
Wednesday-salad with baked chicken on top
Thursday-Eggs, bacon, toast
Friday- Swedish meatballs/ egg noodles/ green beans
I'll have to check out that Dinnerly offer since accommodating different work schedules makes it difficult to get everyone together for dinner most nights.
SAT: One of those nights when two of us were working late so we picked up the Panda Express family meal plus an order of spring rolls.
SUN: Mother's Day cookout with ribeye steaks, grilled quesadillas, and watermelon.
MON: Tried the One Pan Shrimp and Rice recipe from themediterraneandish.com to use up our bulk supply of basmati rice.
TUE: Macaroni and cheese for my son and steak quesadillas/burritos for the rest of us using up the Mother's Day leftovers.
WED: Fixing a sprinkler line that burst so we grabbed McDonalds.
THU: Calabacitas with corn cheese and sopita.
FRI: Pizza and a salad most likely.
Have a nice weekend!
Dinerly and that soup made me very happy I have pinto beans and slaw. I haven’t seen any boxes grocery meals that look good to me. I have had many wrongly delivered to my door tho.
Kristen--So often I see your beautiful food pictures featuring a fried-looking egg atop whatever. It looks SO good to me. What I want to know is do you cook the egg separately first? How DO you prepare it, if not?
Thanks for being, still, my favorite.
I'll add this to a future Q&A post but I'll also answer here! I cook the egg separately, and usually, it's the last thing I do.
I've been doing sunny-side-up eggs of late, and I don't think my method is anything super special.
I heat some kind of fat (usually bacon grease or butter), drop two eggs in, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and cook them pretty slowly, until the white turns translucent and the yolk is still fairly soft. 🙂
All the Farmers Markets opened this week! While I intend to be more intentional shopping at them...this week I was not. That being said, I didn't do much shopping elsewhere so I guess it worked out.
WIS: Farmers markets-$155; Neighborhood-$35; Milk Delivery-$19 Total:$209
WWA: Sat- Soy glazed salmon, rice, and a veg that I can't remember
Sun- Mothers day-Chicken on the grill w/ zucchini and potatoes
Mon- probably something pasta but can't remember
Tues- Kielbasa, mashed potatoes, green beans
Wed- Late lunch of Flatbread so not hungry for dinner before movie night. Mac and cheese eggroll and cucumbers when we got home.
Thurs- Kimchi salmon burgers w/ spring veg salad and Dijon vinaigrette
Fri-Burgers w/ fries (?)
Congrats on your nursing school acceptance!
I am doing copycat meals from Hello Fresh this week. 2 weeks ago my daughter gave me a box she was accidentally sent and she was leaving on a vacation. Surprisingly we liked all four meals so trying to copy them which isn’t too hard and when I make them myself I actually get leftovers which is always nice!
Yes, sometimes the value in these is that you get some new ideas to add to your repertoire.
I spent $89 at Aldi and $40 at Walmart
That Dinnerly deal sounds interesting! I’ve never used a meal service but I’m open to it!
I haven’t participated in WIS/WWA in awhile, so here goes. I feed three people, my husband, my mom who lives down the block, and myself.
Monday: Smothered pork chops, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts.
Tuesday: Beef tips over noodles, fresh green beans, homemade rolls ( a Texas Roadhouse copycat recipe. So good!)
Wednesday: Homemade chicken salad, (with red grapes and pecans), on croissant buns from Aldi, and chips, with melon.
Thursday: Spaghetti, Caesar salad, garlic bread. And strawberry layer cake.
Tonight: Mexican
I am still cooking from scratch, despite the fact that I got some rather confusing news from my doctor ( rheumatologist). I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis a year ago. I also was told, after X rays, that I have Ankylosing Spondylitis which is also autoimmune. Anyway, I wanted to find out more about the AS, so I looked at my records on the Patient Portal. Under “diagnoses” it lists all the correct ones that I’m already aware of, plus RHEUMATOID Arthritis! I was NEVER made aware of this diagnosis.
I can’t get in until a week from Monday to discuss this.
My best meal this week was tonight (Friday) - I had a friend over and we ate shrimp and grits with a side of greens. The greens were in my CSA share, the first week for this summer. Surprisingly simple and a relatively quick dinner, to boot.
I was in Tokyo for work, so I'm not sure what everyone else ate. In Tokyo, I had plenty of ramen, shabu shabu, yakitori, and a fabulous teppanyaki dinner. The teppanyaki dinner, in particular, was classic Japan, and was just fantastic. Loved it.
When I got back, my husband made my request, on a very jet lagged Friday night - baked chicken tenders on top of a salad. Saturday was a grab bag of options from the freezer/fridge (for the adults, kids were with friends). Last night was grilled burgers & a large fruit salad.