WIS, WWA | a pile o' receipts
What I Spent
I had a pile of receipts from this week!
- $19 at Giant
- $52 at Lidl (Mr. FG stopped there three times. Heh.)
- $104 at Aldi
- $18 at BJs
- $25 for a Hungry Harvest box
And that all adds up to $218.
April Grocery Spending
I seem to be on an upward spending trend this month. 😉
Week 1: $115
Week 2: $156
Week 3: $145
Week 4: $218
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I did a takeout date night; we tried a locally owned Mexican food place, and it was very....unremarkable.
It wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't great. So, we are crossing that off the list of date night options for the future.
Sunday
We got takeout from a local spot that serves a wide variety of items; Mr. FG got pizza, I got a big salad, and the girls got wings.
Monday
I tried a Cook's Country recipe for Greek chicken pita panini; I added some tzatziki sauce to dip them in, and everyone gave them a thumbs up. Yay!
I know we had some kind of produce on the side but I cannot remember what.
Tuesday
Sonia made dinner; fried cornmeal mush, French toast, and virgin margaritas.
Wednesday
I made mandarin chicken salad with homemade sesame dressing.
For a side, I cut up some dinner rolls that were leftover from the food pantry, spread them with garlic butter, and toasted them in the oven.
Thursday
Lisey requested shrimp tacos. So, that's what I made, with mango salsa, pico de gallo, lettuce, cilantro, and so on, with chips and queso on the side.
Zoe had just gotten her braces adjusted, so she opted to eat some cheese quesadillas, cut into little bite-sized pieces.
Friday
I was thinking about making pizza, but I might check with Zoe to see how her mouth is feeling first.
Pizza is a rather chewy food, which could be pretty uncomfortable for her right now.
1. We attended a wedding 🙂
2. Whiting, Rice and Veggies
3. Tofu Stif Fry/Rice
4. Sloppy Joes and Salad
5. Pork, Sour Kraut, Potatoes
6. Turkey Club Sandwhiches
7. Shrimp and Salad (I think). Maybe some fish cakes.
I used to make a pizza-ish thing that had cornmeal mush (supposed to be polenta, but I used mush) topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. A lot softer than real pizza. 🙂
Friday: Carnitas tacos with homemade corn tortillas, chocolate-dipped peanut butter balls
Saturday: Spaghetti and meatballs, roasted peppers and onions, green salad with ranch dressing
Sunday: Steaks, boiled potatoes, pureed calabaza (squash), frozen peas, peach and blueberry crisp that was not actually crispy because the topping was overwhelmed by the fruit juices, but still delicious with maple whipped cream
Monday: Pizza made with a slightly dense round loaf of garlic bread I made Saturday, leftover pork, leftover squash, carrot sticks
Tuesday: Meatloaf that ended up being some ground beef but mostly breakfast sausage, leftover boiled potatoes, curried cauliflower, sauteed green beans
Wednesday: Some of the leftover pork from Friday, broken up and simmered with a bunch of stuff to make an erzatz barbecue sauce. The kids had that as sandwiches, my husband had it topped with cheese, they all had green salad, and I had a salad with some leftover meatballs
Thursday: Bunch of leftovers, plus some tortillas and cheese with scrambled eggs for some, plus cucumbers with salt and vinegar
Tonight: Dunno. I haven't even taken anything out to thaw, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. It's not as if I have any other choice. 🙂
Oops. Should've been "ersatz." If I'm going to use fancy words, I should make sure they're spelled properly. That's one of my favorite words, though.
Ersatz is definitely a fun word. I, for one, appreciate your correction. Typos aside, internet spelling drives me nuts. The number of people who spell phonetically and don't bother to check is not minuscule. Ha! In fact so many misspell it that "miniscule" is often offered as an alternative spelling. And don't get me started on voila! 😉
When people use "viola" instead of "voila" I always giggle. It changes the meaning substantially, in a hilarious way.
I had to google tzatziki when I wrote this post because I could not for the life of me remember if there was an "s" in there or not.
When people write that they are decorating their fireplace "mantle" instead of "mantel", I get twitchy. It's a minor thing in the big picture of life and I have to remind myself that I am not the grammar and spelling police.
Kristen, do you think of flowers or musical instruments when you see "viola"?
Always the musical instrument!
What's even funnier is when people go one step further and spell it 'wa-la'. It makes me shake my head every time!
I once saw someone spell voila as, "Well ah!" It was SO hard to leave that one alone. 😮
I was so put off by the use of “wallah”several times by a blogger that I stopped reading the blog for at least a year. I didn’t know if she was being cutesy, dumbing down for the readers, or actually didn’t know the right word.
I think of Snagglepus, the cartoon character who would always yell, "Viola!" instead of Voila. This likely dates me 😉
Sunday: Black pepper pancakes with smoked salmon and sauteed spinach with onion and mushrooms
Monday: Cheese tortellini with jarred sauce.
Tuesday: Fish cakes (made some homemade Old Bay which came out...interesting), sauteed spinach with onions and mushrooms, mashed potatoes
Wednesday: Minestrone with tortellini instead of little pasta
Thursday: Grocery-store takeout! Husband had pad Thai, I had cabbage rolls and potato kugel
Today: Take-out Shabbat! We're heading out to see the cherry blossoms after work and will get takeout on the way home from our local vegan Chinese restaurant. So good.
Saturday: TBD. Maybe beef stew or kofta.
I have never heard of black pepper pancakes! Do tell us more.
It's just pancakes (not buttermilk pancakes; I used Martha Stewart's recipe) with the sugar omitted and a good amount of black pepper ground in! Enough that the batter looks nicely freckled. A few years ago, I had a fancy black-pepper waffle with smoked salmon, capers, creme fraiche, and salad at a brunch place and wanted to re-create the experience. I don't have a waffle-iron though, so I made pancakes instead. It was good! I think it would be better as a savoury crepe, so next time I'll use Smitten Kitchen's crepes from her recipe for cheese blintzes.
Last night, cassoulet. Tonight: cassoulet. For the forseeable future, cassoulet.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Mmmmmm! I made way too much. I guess I can always freeze the rest.
We had our last week of school soccer (plus club soccer), so things were busy & we opted for pretty easy:
-Lasagna (leftovers from the freezer)
-Chicken enchiladas (leftovers from the freezer)
-Grilled hot dogs & burgers + corn
-Salmon & salad
That kept us fed for the week
I am ending up week two of my two weeks' worth of groceries, but with my husband going to the hospital, I've fallen off the menu wagon.
I made chicken tenders, carrot sticks and pear sauce, but that was the night my husband started feeling bad, so he didn't eat.
We spent the next evening at the hospital, so I had Firehouse Subs on the way home, and he had IV's. Firehouse has a gluten-free option for bread, now. I had that again when I drove to visit him on Wednesday, after working till 2 p.m. - there was some stuff I had to get done. He is hospitalized 95 miles from our home, and 152 miles from where I work. I have done a lot of driving this week.
The rest of this week is a mixed up in my head.
I know I seasoned and cooked some ground pork and had it with a large salad made from the last of the lettuce in our garden.
I had a hand pie made with chicken, onion, broccoli, and other stuff, that was a freebie in my order of frozen AIP dinners that I keep for emergencies.
I had homemade "sausage" with eggs and there were some vegetables in there, but I have no idea now what they were.
Here's hoping I'll get to grocery shop today. I was told my husband might be moving to a rehab facility for therapy today, but I can't find out for sure yet. The lack of communication is frustrating.
A dinner of IVs is no fun!
And my goodness, that's so much driving for you. I hope that he can be moved somewhere closer to you today.
Oh, it gets better -- they decided since he'd had a stroke, to put him on pureed foods until he could be cleared for swallowing regular food. He was cleared on Wednesday, but the person clearing him forgot to change his order with the kitchen, and went home. He's been served unseasoned, pureed everything. The other night, it was pureed baked or steamed fish, and he just couldn't touch it. I saw it, and I don't blame him. They still don't have that straightened out.
I cannot IMAGINE eating pureed, unsalted fish. So gross.
Thinking of you and your husband, JD. I am impressed that you ate what you did, considering all the driving, work, and hospital trips you have made. I hope things go well for you, and I agree, lack of communication in situations like that just add to the stress. Take care.
JD, how frustrating about the lack of communication in regards to your hubby's rehab stay. I've experienced it both as a clinician as well as a family member waiting to hear where my mom would be placed--I think that's a real failure of our medical system and the unknowns are super hard on family members who are trying to scramble to work out the details. At work, my fellow therapists and I try to give patients/families a heads up that a rehab stay might be coming when we have our first visit--I've seen the process blindside so many people and my heart goes out to them when it happens. Who needs the added stress at a time like that?
Thank you Sue W and Kris I get an occasional update on his condition, but I have to call several times and ask to have someone call me back each of those times, before someone finally does. Since he's had a stroke before, I figured rehab was coming, but the location is very important, and no one is communicating with us about that so far.
The good wishes and thoughts are very appreciated!
WWS: $27 at Market Basket, $16 fish monger; WWA:
Sat. Cheese steak sandwiches
Sun. Baked grey sole with lemon butter; quinoa; roasted broccoli, zucchini & leeks
Mon. Veal piccata meatballs over mashed cauliflower/potato; spinach salad
Tues-Thurs: I was away in NYC for work; partner ate leftovers
Fri: turkey and black bean empanadas, chimichurri; salad
Sunday: We grilled burgers with some ground beef from the freezer. We had cut up veggies and strawberries on the side.
Monday: Asian Crockpot Chicken rice bowls and edamame.
Tuesday: BBQ chicken quesadillas using some pulled BBQ chicken from a big batch I made and then froze in 5 meal size portions.
Wednesday: Kielbasa and Potato sheetpan dinner, salad
Thursday: Cuban sandwiches, fruit salad
Spent $103 and $36 on two separate grocery runs this week.
We ate.....
Saturday...Pork robs roasted with peach salsa & bbq sauce, mashed potatoes, & white acre peas
Sunday....Green Chicken Coconut Curry with rice
Monday....Leftovers
Tuesday...Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Wednesday.....spaghetti, green salad, garlic bread
Thursday...Broccoli Cheese soup, Bread
Friday...I have no idea...most likely leftovers to clean out the fridge a bit
Happy Friday to all!
The flowers on your table look beautiful and cheery! This week we had...
Saturday - This was day 2 of our anniversary trip and the meals were a little different. The town we thought we'd eat in didn't have a lot open and the outdoor areas looked really crowded, so we snacked on some crackers and later got nachos, chili dogs, and ice cream from a local ice cream place.
Sunday - Meatloaf for lunch, pizza for dinner
Monday - Another Thanksgiving turkey from the freezer! I remember that the sides we had with it were sort of weird, but I can't remember what they were.
Tuesday - Turkey broccoli alfredo
Wednesday - Quesadillas (with turkey meat!) and grapes
Thursday - Turkey and noodles with green beans
Friday - Turkey enchiladas and pineapple
This was a massive turkey! I think it was around 23 pounds. So we'll get these 5 meals out of it and still have more to freeze!
I spent a lot as I am replacing my spices to avoid potential cross contamination with gluten. I’m a scooper from the spice jar so I very likely have inadvertently glutened the whole cabinet.
What we ate:
Chicken soup
Pork Stew
Beef Tips with veggies
Carne Asada Burrito Bowls
Marinated chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes
Zuppa Toscano
Tonight - take out!
Oh, that's so frustrating! Spices are expensive if you have to buy a bunch all at one time.
When our weather changed from spring to winter (with snow), my meal planning changed, as well. Monday we had tuna casserole; Tuesday we had sausage, barley and lentil soup with a loaf of homemade sourdough bread that was gifted to us by a coworker of my husband's--so lovely to take a break from baking! Wednesday we had a Mexican skillet supper, Thursday we had a baked potato bar, and tonight will be the last of my comfort food meals--meatloaf is on the menu. Weather really does influence what meals sound appealing to me.
Sadly, thanks to inflation I can say that my grocery budget needs reviewing. We were at $300 a month and almost never going over but we've definitely gone over the last few months and honestly, I don't think we're buying all that much extra or new but month after month I'm going over.
Anyway, this is what I ate:
Saturday: We ate at Cracker Barrel for the first time in ages.
Sunday: Sweet and Sour chicken with rice, carrots and pineapple.
Monday: I was at my parents' house fixing their faucet so I ate a salad there. I know my family ate but I have no idea what.
Tuesday: Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Homemade chicken soup. I made the stock on Tuesday while working from home (nice how hands off stock making is!) I also had a salad. Lots of leftovers to freeze and eat for lunches and such.
Friday: We're doing breakfast foods for dinner. We have leftover mashed potatoes that will become pancakes. We'll also have bacon, fruit and probably toast (or biscuits if I'm feeling ambitious.)
Grocery prices are going up...no doubt about it
Bizarrely in the U.K. both my mom and I have just discussed how much cheaper things are in the supermarkets at the moment! It’s remarkable. DS is gluten free and GF pasta was just under £2.00 fir 500g it’s now 50p, that’s at Asda for other U.K. readers. Mom and I think the
prices have come down so that they can then inflate them at a later date for more than they were originally. Who knows, we will try and stock up where we can!!
I find $300 a month very impressive! The two of us spend more than that every month.
Yes, I was thinking $300 sounds excellent.
Monday: Breakfast casserole, croissants, fruit salad
Tuesday: Taco salad, sour cream cornbread
Wednesday: cooks night off, can’t even remember what we had
Thursday: Chicken and rice, broccoli salad, cranberry sauce
Friday: possibly Mexican food out, at a tried-and-true place, so no fear of repeating Kristen’s experience!
Sunday - homemade pizza using Kristen's pizza dough recipe. Tasty but I need to learn to roll it out thinner
Monday - breakfast for dinner
Tuesday - chimichanga
Wednesday - went to visit son at college to celebrate his birthday and we picked up Chick-fil-A on the way home
Thursday - lettuce wraps
Friday - shrimp tacos
WWS - £61.90 @ Lidl, £8.00 @ local corner shop, £23.70 @ Chinese takeaway
Saturday- Chinese takeout as DH and I had driven eldest son back to college and I wasn’t up for cooking. A treat for youngest son as well, he misses his brother when he’s away.
Sunday - roast pork with crackling, roast potatoes, roast carrots, peas and green beans along with stuffing.
Monday - leftover pork in a stir fry with loads of veg and noodles
Tuesday- breakfast for dinner
Wednesday- chicken breast cooked in a sauce invented on the hoof, lots of bits of veg, chicken stock, when cooked I stirred through a tub of sour cream & chive dip which made it very creamy. DH and I had rice, DS had couscous with it.
Thursday- roast gammon with homemade cauliflower cheese and a side salad
Friday - it’s always pizza night on Fridays and that is what we are having. Frozen though as we only get homemade when both sons are home, it’s a tradition!
Hoping to use up all the food this week as I’m between jobs at the moment and I want to stretch the shopping to 9 days rather than 7!
Random question: Do you eat leftovers? Since my husband and I are empty nesters, I will make a whole receipe of enchilads, eat a few of them and then freeze the leftovers for two meals later on. We don't have any problem eating leftovers. I just read a facebook page where a ton of people just throw out their leftovers....seems like a big waster of money to me.
Ahahaha, yes, I definitely do eat leftovers! I don't always get to every single leftover in time, but I make a big effort to get them all eaten.
Saturday- we took the kids for Mexican at one of our fave local spots
Sunday- leftover Mexican
Monday- slow cooker beef stew. (YUM)
Tuesday- English muffin pizzas, steamed broccoli, steamed green beans, or raw red and yellow peppers. I thought my kids would love the concept of English muffin pizzas but they inexplicably revolted. They were begrudgingly eaten, nonetheless.
Wednesday- Canadian bacon, eggs-any-style, plums, apples
Thursday- I was worn out with trip prep. We pressed that trusty easy button and picked up a $8 Domino's pizza. Good decision overall.
Friday- We're on the road! We'll have dinner with our tripmates (brother, sis-in-law, nephews, niece) at the house we're renting. My sister in law plans to bring a pan of chicken enchiladas so I'm appropriately stoked. Also I am armed with Pepcid complete to ward off the inevitable reflux.
It's such a bummer when you make something you think your kids will really like and then they don't! Or they used to love it and now they don't.
Enjoy your time with family!
Thanks! Yes, I know... I'm not sure kids understand the difference between "I don't like this," and "I'm not in the mood for this." Haha
A friend of mine, considerably younger so with teen aged boys, often drops off leftovers because her family refuses to eat them. Last weekend her 16 year old dropped off half a roast, a huge salad, and a huge chunk of hazelnut cake. As I was thanking him I made the comment that I thought he liked cake and he said, "I do, but I don't tell my mother that. My father says if you compliment a woman she will stop trying to please you." For a moment I felt my hand twitching with the primitive urge to smack him, although it is really his father I wanted to slap back into the 50s. My husband, who overheard this said, "Does that work for you? If no one appreciates something you did, do you want to keep trying to please them? You know, fathers give a lot of advice, some of it great and some of it ridiculous. You get to decide what you believe." It was the best he could do, short of saying, "Your father is a jerk."
Anyway, the amount of food fed us for three days. I made sure to text her several times about how tasty the food was, trying somehow to compensate for the praise desert she lives in. I am old and I always think young women are much more assertive and demand more respect. It hurts me to see her so unappreciated, and I know from how I have seen her husband and sons treat her that food is not the only area.
The other three days of the week we ate salmon and halibut, to clean out the freezer of last summer's harvest, with salads and fruit for dessert. No fancy sauces on the fish, we like them plain so you really taste them.
Tonight it is McDonald's Friday filet 'o fish. I have access to come of the best seafood on the planet, but I still love them. It seems almost sacrilegious.
Aww, I love what your husband said. Kudos to him!
. . . although it is really his father I wanted to slap back into the 50s." Oh you made me laugh out loud! But yikes! Your husband's response was so measured and spot on. Kudos to him and to you.
Your husband's response was terrific!
Keep giving that boy some good advice. He obviously needs someone else in his life to help his mother.
Oh my goodness, I'm so glad your husband thought to say that. Sometimes it's hard to know what to say on the spot, especially after something so shocking! Hopefully that'll be a big moment for that young man and he'll remember that conversation for a long time.
Kudos to your husband for his quick thinking and to your friend who continues to serve her family even though unappreciated. Sending prayers up for her!! Thanks to you for your comment which made me laugh out loud and give thanks for a husband that is always praising my efforts.
Beautiful looking tacos and mango salsa 🙂
I spent less than usual cuz I am alone the last 3 weeks or so but couldn't say how much. Eating lots of stuff out of the frig/freezer/pantry and except for tonight, no meals out 😉
Friday -- The last of the braised pork ribs. With broccoli or frozen green beans? Can't recall
Saturday -- Last of the deli turkey, sliced provolone, avocado sandwich on Cauliflower "bread" -- a discount find in the freezer. Pretty decent -- Again, it was broccoli, beans or salad along with
Sunday -- Terrible Awful No Good Very Bad pizza from the deli section of my grocer's. So bad I actually tossed it. That almost never happens. Blech!
Monday - Scrambled egg, ham, mushroom & cheese sandwich on the Cauli bread -- definitely green beans.
Tuesday -- Ginormous salad with all the things
Wednesday -- Ginormous salad with all the things
Thursday -- " " " " plus crackers with ham and cheese.
Friday -- Treat night -- have eaten in (except for being treated to lunch on Sunday) since April 7.
Maybe pizza tonight but not from Ralphs!
Happy Weekend!
I really have not been to the grocery store since last 4/15 Thursday to just p/u for supper and that was about $16. I am trying to eat down the 'frig and pantry. And 4/14 I had paid my share of the grocery/harvest box $166.50 (only because when I went there I bought a "nice" loaf of bread).
4/16 It was a rainy, miserable day. I stopped in at the wake of a friend’s brother. I just did not feel like cooking and had no imagination going. But there was another pizza in the freezer.
4/17 We had kind of a late lunch and when the weather cleared had walked up for opening day at the farm ice cream stand. When suppertime came around, neither was very hungry.
4/18 Scallops, roasted potatoes and broccoli and bok choy.
4/19 Meatless Monday Pasta and a nice salad.
4/20 With milk and cheese that needed to be used, I had to make Mac&Cheese and asparagus
4/21 Grab what you want
4/23 Chickens are giving eggs, omelet and ½ priced bacon. Rest of bacon is in freezer
4/24 Steak, asparatus, baked potato and carmelized onion. I had a nice rib steak in freezer, and grabbed a couple of potatoes from my daughter next door. I bought a bag of onions before Easter, so I thought this would be a good idea. The carmelized onion recipe I used was delicious. A small amount leftover to have on burgers of some kind tomorrow.
Along the same lines as your taco night, we are doing fish tacos on Sunday - can't wait! This week:
Monday - Crockpot Italian Chicken, raid the freezer for two small leftover sides
Tuesday - Skillet Tilapia on chopped salad
Wednesday - Crockpot Sausage and Beans, rolls
Thursday - Spaghetti and Meatsauce for two, kale salad
Friday - Grilled Chicken, broccoli, 1/2 bag mini potatoes
Saturday - Free choice {pick-up party at a winery for lunch}
Sunday - Fish tacos, Greek yogurt, cabbage slaw
PLUS we are eating a Mexican breakfast at a favorite restaurant tomorrow morning...(:
I am so proud I remembered the menu for the week 🙂
Sunday- Hubby's birthday- He picked meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas and lemon pie
Monday- Tacos that some how end up being burritos as I always buy the wrong size tortilla.
Tuesday- Pork Chops on the grill with couscous and green beans
Wednesday- Brinner- Pancakes and Sausage
Thursday- Support the local spot night- We tried a new place for Chicken and JoJo's. Sadly our normal spot did not survive 2020.
Friday- Son had braces put on today. So we could have a fun interesting days in figuring out what he feel comfortable eating. He did fine tonight with Johnny Marzetti.
We are going through some challenging times in our house. I started a new job remotely, but the kids, pets, and I will be moving halfway across the country in early June. My soon to be ex and I have sold our house, but I’m still looking for one on the other end of the move. I’m sorting and packing like crazy—there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day! So for us it’s been generally easy stuff that uses up what’s in the freezer and pantry. I must confess there have been nights when I’m just too tired to cook, so we’ve been eating more takeout than usual. But I did pretty well this week:
Saturday—TJ’s bbq teriyaki chicken, rice
Sunday—grilled chicken thighs, Brussels sprouts, rice
Monday—fried egg and bacon sandwiches and fruit
Tuesday—chicken spring rolls, TJ’s pork shu mai (sp?)
Wednesday—fried egg sandwiches and fruit
Thursday—tacos, TJ’s frozen street corn
Friday—I had dinner with friends, STBX and son made pizza
Oh wow, that sounds like such a lot of stress! I hope that the housing situation is sorted soon.
Yesterday's grocery trip was $112, but $2 was cat treats and $10 was beer, which we have not had in forever. So technically $100 for food. We stocked up on bagels, cheese and coffee.
Supper was leftover roasted chicken legs and thighs with carrots, Sunday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday night we had sandwiches. Tonight I made a huge pot of chili and corn muffins, with the idea of the chili creating several days of leftovers.
I snagged a yellow-stickered package of two little beef shoulder steaks and turned them into barbecue for my work lunches, with sides of cheddar broccoli and a small baked potato. It was super-easy and fast, which is good as the second Covid shot has been kicking my behind and I keep taking impromptu naps.