WIS, WWA | a pricey week
What I Spent
I spent:
- $10 at Lidl
- $15 at Safeway
- $30 on a Hungry Harvest box
- $7 at Aldi
- $98 at Sam's Club
Annnnnd that adds up to $160.
But we know I'm not gonna do that every single week.
Besides, I cooked all my meals at home and packed all of my lunches and brewed all of my coffee here, so I am giving myself a pat on the back. 🙂
What We Ate
You already saw some of these meals in this week's Five Frugal Things post.
Saturday
Zoe was at a gathering of friends, and this is the night I made the tortellini/tomato/bacon pasta.
Sunday
Zoe was at work, and I made asparagus soup for myself.
Monday
Last two days of med surg clinicals! I made a pot of chicken noodle soup and packed that for my dinner, along with several containers of fruit.
Tuesday
A repeat of Monday because I like to not have to think very hard when it comes to packing clinical meals.
Wednesday
I used the last of the rotisserie chicken to make a small batch of chicken enchiladas for us, and I am actually quite proud of myself because I just made them without a recipe.
Look at me over here, winging it! I made a basic white sauce, using 50/50 chicken broth and milk, added green chilies and seasonings, and it worked out just fine. 🙂
Thursday
I got some chicken thighs out of the freezer, used my trusty chipotle marinade and accompanying sauce, and made a salad for the two of us, topped with homemade croutons.
Friday
We have some leftover chicken from last night, so I'll probably use that as a basis for something. 🙂
That’s quite a startling picture to open your WIS, WWA column. Woke me up though.
lol.
@Shirley, I thought it was an ad. But ... For what?
Haha, no, no, just a peek into my world. 🙂
@JDinNM, birth control? lol When I look at that picture it makes sense while I was so uncomfortable those last weeks of pregnancy. A whole baby is inside you!
@Lisa, Yes, and makes me always amazed how I managed to fit twins as well!
@Kristina M., All my babies were 10 pounds or more at birth; I was always so grateful that things in there squooshed back into place afterwards!
Isn't it amazing that we get back to anything remotely resembling our prepregnancy selves??
Do you always use a recipe? I never knew that. So foreign to me. 🙂
Saturday: Lamb chops, cheesey potatoes, raw broccoli
Sunday: This was the night we had the crazy, entirely homemade lasagna, although I had finished making it the day before. I also had a sorta pizza crust--extra pizza dough that I had par-baked in a skillet--that I made into garlic bread by smearing it with butter and finely chopped green garlic and baking more. And then there was a green salad with vinaigrette dressing. For dessert, I used the ricotta that didn't go into the lasagna to make an Italian cheesecake.
Monday: Leftover lamb chops, boudin or plain smoked sausage, leftover cheesy potatoes, bread and butter, raw bell pepper or cucumber. The sausage was a last-minute decision, as my children had lasagna for their school lunch, so having our leftovers of lasagna seemed like overkill.
Tuesday: Leg of lamb--a boned one that I seared then sliced to finish cooking in the skillet with sliced onions--rice made with lamb stock, and a green salad with vinaigrette
Wednesday: Meatless fried rice (meaning just eggs in it), leftover lasagna. Odd combination, but no one cared.
Thursday: I had pulled out some leftover chicken soup from the freezer. I added some more rice to cook in it while it was heating up, since it originally had potatoes in it that had mostly disintegrated. Then I made baking powder biscuits, because there wasn't a lot of the soup. I had also had an entire gallon of milk that was juuuust starting to go slightly off (a brand-new one with a use-by date well in the future, booooo), so I made some chocolate pudding with that and we had that this night, too.
Tonight: Well. My husband is taking all our children to meet up with his dad and brother and his family in the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona this weekend. I'm staying home to take care of the animals, So, barring something bad happening to stop that, I will be by myself at home for three days. And that would be the first time such a thing has happened since I got married more than twenty years ago. I spent about three hours in the kitchen yesterday preparing all the food the rest of my family will be eating this weekend--breakfast, lunch, and dinner, since they're camping in a place without stores or restaurants nearby--so I know they're having sausage and potatoes for dinner tonight. What will I eat? Who knows! But it will be WHATEVER I WANT, YAY. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, oh! Enjoy the rare extended quiet time all by yourself!
@kristin @ going country, my guess is that most mothers of four who are also handling school and church duties would almost rather have a completely free weekend than a trip to Paris! Enjoy!
@kristin @ going country, OMGosh, three whole days! I get giddy when I have the house to myself for a few hours! Enjoy yourself!
I typically have used recipes, yes! But lately I find myself branching out more and just throwing things together. 🙂
ENJOY your time alone. I know just how precious that is.
@kristin @ going country, How exciting, 3 days with just yourself to be concerned with. Time alone is precious, enjoy!
@kristin @ going country, I have 2 1/2 days to myself. Though only felines to feed. Blissful silence. Even though I work from home, meetings/calls. Nothing wrong with some solitude and eating what you want, when you want. Enjoy your time and please (I am somewhat guilty of this), don't try to do a multi line list of things just because you have the house to yourself. Take some time for yourself.
I had a pricey week too. Some weeks are just like that and to a certain extent, food costs what it costs. Anyway...
WIS: a whole lot because I was doing some stocking up: 54.97 @Lidl for the "loss Lidls" as we like to call them (I don't buy anything else there because my assessment is that the items are basically the same things that Aldi carries, but a slightly higher price), 73.42 on wine, 14.35 plus a 25.00 gift certificate @Whole Foods, 4.79 plus a 10.00 gift certificate @Starbucks, and 307.01 @Aldi, for a grand total of 489.54 this week. Sheesh. I should be able to spend less or maybe even zero next week, though because the fridge is bursting with yummy options. 😉 I also would not have shopped at Whole Foods or Starbucks if not for the gift cards. The entire time I was at Whole Foods, I was reeling from sticker shock. I decided to just try and buy only things I can't get anywhere else like colored cauliflower and parsnips.
WWA:
Fri: salad (mixed greens, crispy onions, sprouted pumpkin seeds, spray dressing), roasted sweet potatoes, mozzarella pizza using pumpkin chipotle sauce and yeasted dough.
Sat: salad (mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, sprouted pumpkin seeds and spray dressing), sourdough discard crackers, watermelon, Mac and cheese casserole, and oven baked chicken legs.
Sun: sauteed kale raab in butter and lemon juice, chicken meatballs, baked sweet potato cubes and feta tomato bake pasta of tiktok fame. Our verdict was that it was kind of dry. We like sauce.
Mon: grapes, leftover feta pasta with a bit of chipotle pumpkin sauce on top, leftover sweet potatoes and leftover Mac and cheese casserole.
Tue: salad (leftover feta tomato pasta mixed with leftover sweet potato cubes and added parsley, a small diced celery heart and some Italian dressing), grapes, nachos topped with a mixture of canned chicken, cream cheese, shredded cheddar and the last of a salsa jar. The nachos were good, but it would have been better as a taquito filling which was the original recipe.
Wed: salad (spinach and grape tomatoes), grilled hotdogs on brioche buns and husband had sushi from the grocery store.
Thu: salad (romaine lettuce, cucumber slices, feta cheese, blackberries, pumpkin seeds and spray dressing plus tajin), leftover pasta and sweet potato salad, mashed white sweet potato with fire roasted corn, spicy baked tofu cubes. These last two were copies from a video I watched, and they were both solid bases but we've already come up with ways to improve them.
Tonight: salad and focaccia.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
@Becca,
Yum, I love tacquitos! Though I've never attempted to make them myself. Your salads always sound so yummy.
@Liz B.,
To clarify - I agree, those nacho toppings would be yummy as tacquito filling. 🙂
@Liz B.,
Then I think you should make this recipe. The only thing that stopped us making the taquitos is we didn't have any corn tortillas on hand but we did have a bag of corn chips. I can't now remember the video I saw them in, but the basic idea was combine a package of cream cheese, a drained can of chicken, a jar of salsa, some sour cream (we used yogurt) and some shredded cheese plus maybe taco seasoning and then spread on tortillas, roll up and bake. I liked the fact that it seemed very flexible with the amounts so it could help use up things like a half opened jar of salsa, you know? I think we all need recipes/ideas like that.
@Becca,
Wait! I found it!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6xiIa5ETaBw&t=539s
And she didn't bake them, she fried them. That sounds so much tastier to me! (Although, admittedly more work and mess...)
I have seen that model so many times (or a diagram of it), and something new struck me this morning: where are the organs? the kidneys? the stomach? the lungs?! There's no room for them! THAT's why pregnancy toward the end was so miserable!
I am excited for you about the OB part of your nursing journey. I don't want to be a nurse or midwife, but I do love the idea of being of what help/encouragement I could be for laboring mothers. I hope someday to witness a birth that is not one I took part in.
I love winging it in the kitchen! Its fun to create something wonderful out of a few leftover dibs and dabs. (: This week at my house:
Monday - Eclipse Day! Slow Cooker Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, carrots
Tuesday - Fruited Chicken Salad on toast
Wednesday - Quick Cassoulet, garlic toast {this was phenomenal}
Thursday - I cobbled together a yellow bell pepper, the rest of the roast cut into small pieces, the rest of the gravy, the rest of a container of sour cream (not much), and a small portion of pasta hanging around in the pantry and made a one skillet wonder. I served fresh green beans with bacon alongside. And I made a peach cobbler for dessert. What got into me.
Friday - Crockpot Shredded Pork Tacos, pico, cheese, sour cream
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed
Happy Weekend!
@Gina from The Cannary Family, may I borrow the phrase "one-skillet wonder"?
@Gina from The Cannary Family, I always enjoy hearing about your "cobbled" together meals. They’re inspiring, as are Kristen’s and Kristin's interesting mixtures.
One Skillet Wonder is my new answer, too, to "What’s for dinner?"
I feel like the skill of cobbling things together is extremely useful when you are cooking for one!
Saturday: can't remember
Sunday: dinner out after the concert
Monday: pizza
Tuesday: burgers, potatoes and salad
Wednesday: stir fry
Thursday: takeout
Friday: something with chicken (also!)
That first picture was jarring-lol! I should get used to it if I'm going to read a nursing student blog :).
Dinners this week included:
1. Air Fryer chicken nuggets, salad
2. Salmon, rice and Brussel sprouts
3. Pasta with vegan meat crumbles and marinara, salad
4. BBQ chicken strips, mashed potatoes, slaw
5. Bean burritos, salad
6. Leftover chicken and kale salad
7. Tonight will probably be some freezer split pea soup and sandwich or salad
WIS: $96 at Wegmans, $66 at Price Chopper, and $40 at a Chinese restaurant downtown. So a "big spending" week for me too. (But, remember, JASNA BFF was here for most of the week.)
WWA: I made some sheet-pan chicken that fed us for two dinners and a lunch; the servings at the Chinese restaurant were so generous that they provided us with two meals apiece; and I made a frittata on another night. (And I shouldn't forget the four "Solar Eclipse 2024" cupcakes from Wegmans--pricey, but an enjoyable splurge!)
A little excited to be working on OB stuff, are we? 🙂
This is a first - I typically write every meal in my planner so I can see what we've eaten, but I don't have a single thing written down for the last week! Memory only here! Let's see...
Saturday - Nope
Sunday - Grilled pork chops, pineapple
Monday - Nope
Tuesday - Burgers, cantaloupe, and french fries. This was the day that I spent part of my birthday money to buy a french fry cutter and it is so fun!!! I love it. Many days of homemade fries ahead.
Wednesday - Instant Pot macaroni and cheese, apple slices, and I think we had a veggie
Thursday - Air fryer chicken legs, mashed potatoes, California mix veggies, oranges
Friday - Either chicken fajitas or Philly cheese steak sandwiches... it depends on what I find at the store today. I have some peppers that need used, so they could go in either dish.
Surely, your weekly grocery bills don’t include toilet paper, paper toweling, etc. just wondering…
@Judy, they do, she talks about it in other posts that all toiletries and cleaning supplies are included in grocery.
Most days I find winging it in the kitchen is more stressful than starting with a recipe. I usually need to turn my brain off by that time of the day….WWA:
Saturday - grilled Sonoran hot dogs in buns topped with home cooked pinto beans and veggies, tortilla chips, home-made green salsa
Sunday - rotisserie rib roast, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, peas, gravy, golden syrup baked puddings with vanilla ice cream
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - sauerkraut soup from the freezer, baguette
Wednesday - make your own subs, oven baked French fries
Thursday - Mediterranean rice bowls with roasted and fresh veggies, crispy chickpeas, tahini lime dressing
Friday - getting take-away
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend
@kj,
Your Mediterranean rice bowls sound delicious! More details, please! Did you follow a recipe? What veggies did you add? Did you make the dressing or use a jarred option? Etc...
@kj,
Curious as to what Sonoran hot dogs are? And, sigh, yum, golden syrup puddings with vanilla ice cream sound heavenly.
@Becca, the recipe is from The Mediterranean Dish cookbook. More of a method though. I top steamed rice with cauliflower and mushrooms that have been tossed in minced garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and olive oil and roasted. Also top with crispy chickpeas (I make mine in the air fryer and spice with whatever I fancy), cut up red pepper, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, and green onion. The tahini lime sauce is 3/4 c tahini with juice of 3 limes, minced garlic, salt blended together and thinned with water until pourable.
@Liz B., these are grilled bacon wrapped hot dogs. I used the Sunset magazine recipe I found on line but I think there are several variations. The one constant is topping the dogs (I used regular hot dog buns because the special ones are not available where we live) with pinto beans, grilled onions, and mayo/mustard mixed. They were quite good.
You know, a year ago I cooked almost every night. Now my 17 year old son is soooooooooooo picky, and even if I make a dinner (or offer to go out to eat!) he will turn his nose up at it. He even used to eat leftovers, and he won't do that now. I will add he is autistic, and high functioning, so I blame a lot of this - on that! He currently is happy fending for himself. He eats a big breakfast, nothing at school, and then comes home and pigs out. As long as I buy the list of stuff he eats, he is happy as a clam.
But that leaves me, having to figure out what I can eat - that does't take much effort, and doesn't have a ton of leftovers. One or two leftover meals is good, but anymore than that gets wasted. Even in the last month, I cleaned out our cabinets and gave away SIX bags of food that neither of us is going to eat. Our eating situation has changed SO MUCH in the last year! However my son could wake up tomorrow too, decide he HATES something (that he just ate the last 16 months) - and BOY does he balk at being honest with me about not enjoying it anymore! I tell him JUST BE STRAIGHT WITH ME, ITS COOL, I WON'T BUY IT IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT!
Instead he would rather not answer me, and slink off, and I am eventually forced to deal with it, or toss it. I don't necessarily enjoy the plain yogurt he eats, or rye bread. It's just a weird situation. So I see these meals, and it make me sad. I want pretty food to eat, but my life is pretty much meals for one. Could be a PBJ, or frozen pizza, or a bag of frozen corn. I just don't have the energy to pull anything with multiple steps together, and I am trying to avoid waste too! When your kids get old and to the age where they are going to graduate and possibly leave . . . things get WEIRD. Also sorry if you made it this far, I don't know where I'm going with all this - other than I miss fancy multiple step meals with people!
@Michaela, my son is exactly the same. His dad also is a weird eater. Although not officially diagnosed, his dad also most likely is on the high-functioning end of the spectrum. They both will suddenly abandon foods they've always enjoyed, especially if I just found a good sale! It's been 34 years of cooking frustration.
@Michaela, I'm sorry you are going through this season. It's a lot of things...the getting older, the anxiety of the next step, the meals being wonky, and just all the change. Some of that is the autism...some of it is just having a 17 year old that starts wanting to be their own independent self apart from parents. It stinks.
(((hugs)))
@Michaela,
Aww, mama...I'm sorry! Having to accommodate special needs at meal time is so hard!
My suggestion since you seem to miss cooking is to maybe cook something once a week that you can portion out and freeze. Then you can grab one of your made-to-order freezer meals for just yourself whenever the fancy strikes you. If you use the freezer, there should be less pressure to eat it up immediately, so you would eventually have a little stockpile of your personal faves to pick from.
Also, I think you should embrace Kristen's philosophy of "slap a fried egg on it and call it dinner."
Please report back on what you end up finding as your new normal, because I'm sure there are other folks who read this blog in similar situations and are looking for inspiration or encouragement.
Sending love!
@Michaela, Thinking of you going through this brought back memories of our sons' teen years.
The only thing I can add to the worthy thoughts above is to never take the business of cooking personally when it comes to family members' reactions. It’s a chore you have to do to feed them but it’s so not about you yourself.
If you could remember that and chalk it up to: this will be over at some point and then you will miss them terribly! Life, you gotta just laugh sometimes.
@Michaela,
I have a picky eater son who does the same thing....will eat a food for awhile, then decide he's done with it, right after I've bought a bunch of that food on sale. I can't tell you of all of the Dino chicken nuggets, boxes of Eggo waffles, and various snack foods I've given away or thrown away over the years. It's so very frustrating. I can totally sympathize.
Your winging it enchilada sauce is almost exactly the recipe I use, except I only use broth and then when I take it off the heat I add sour cream to make it creamy. It's what I make when I have a container of sour cream that is about to expire.
I spent $122. Most of that was at the military Commissary since I was near there this past week. I stocked up on items that are always cheaper there (batteries, cereal, lunch meat, canned goods).
What we ate:
Saturday: we grilled chicken breast and ate a big salad with it.
Sunday: the kids came over and we grilled pizzas on the Kamado Joe grill.
Monday: bbq ribs, brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes
Tuesday: had to drive about 4 hours that day, so I planned earlier for an easy meal. We had hotdogs, homemade French fries in the air fryer, and salads.
Wednesday: leftover ribs, coleslaw, fruit
Thursday: Chicken Parmesan with (air fryer) raviolis and salads
Friday: I think we will go out tonight. We haven’t been out in a bit.
Not a lot of cooking this week, just a lot going on both good and bad.
Saturday - picked up pizza on the way home from my cousins baby shower
Sunday - my grandma was in the ICU so I spent the day in the hospital, my husband ordered Chinese food
Monday - chicken burger, veggie burger, chicken nuggets, rice a roni, steamed broccoli and baby corn
Tuesday - teriyaki chicken, rice, steamed dumplings
Wednesday - arrived at Legoland! Kids were wiped out so we ordered room service
Thursday - first day in the park, kids were even more exhausted and did not want to leave the room again. I really didn’t want room service again, but also wasn’t going to drag cranky kids into a restaurant so room service again.
Friday - our last day here, hoping to not do room service again!
No days because I can't remember but this week I know we've had:
Crock-Pot sweet potato chili
Turkey burgers
Chili cheese tots
Crock-Pot turkey meatloaf with potatoes and carrots
Roasted potatoes, peppers, and onions
WIS: $67.48, but $8.86 of that was for the dog’s OTC allergy med, so… $58.62 for groceries, about $10 more than last week. But $18 of that was for some frozen food I bought to replace items that got eaten up over the last few weeks. So, yay. I think I’m still managing to keep the grocery spend to an average of $50/week.
WIA: Pretty much the same menu rotation as last week, but I also started an enormous pot of ramen in sesame ginger broth into which I can toss any and all vegetables and leftover chicken scraps that are teetering on the brink of senescence. Spinach and really any greens, mushrooms, bok choy, celery… Sounds like a brothy compost bin but it’s really delicious.
@JDinNM,
Everything is better with sesame and ginger imo...
We were out of town for a college tour for the weekend, but here's what we ate:
-Friday, my sister picked us up at the airport and we ate at this counter order Italian place, where they make homemade pasta. It was also pretty reasonable & absolutely delicious. Winner.
-Saturday - my mom hosted a dinner at my sister's house (closer to the college tour location for us) & we had lasagna, a ton of appetizers & my mom's famous strawberry cream cheese pie. So rich that I could only have a few bites, but the teens scarfed it down.
Sunday - DH had prepped burgers for us, that we ate after our flight.
Monday - a few of us had taco cauliflower rice (from the freezer), that I turned into burritos. DS17 had pasta & meatballs after a late tennis match.
Tuesday - Chicken shawarma with all of the sides (naan, feta, cucumbers, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, etc)
Wednesday - leftover burgers
Thursday - DH had the rest of the rotisserie chicken from the weekend, I had leftover lasagna, DS18 was out with friends, & DS17 ate Mac & cheese at 9:30 when he got home from practice
Friday - we have leftover chicken shawarma, so we'll be having that
@Hawaii Planner, I love learning about new foods on this blog. Never heard of shawarma so looked it up. I am all in on most anything that has meat in it.
WWS: 505 at Kroger. Helping a youngling set up some foodstuffs at his apartment.
WWA: Saturday/Sunday was, as always, homemade pizzas. Most use large tortillas for their crusts, but I still bake some homemade flatbreads for those who prefer those as well.
Monday: baked chicken drumsticks, roasted veggies, steamed rice. One of these days I'll make crockpot fried rice as a side, but this week was not the week.
Tuesday: Burgers, leftover chicken, salad bar, popcorn. I have an excess of tahini so I made tahini dressing for an option and that was delicious.
Wednesday: Hamburger stew, mac and cheese for the Selective Eater, leftover salad bar.
Thursday: Salmon burgers and mackerel burgers, courtesy of DH, and leftover hamburger stew.
Friday (today already? Yeesh): taco bar made by one of the kids.
WIS: Roughly $90, mostly at Food Lion. I did buy a snack item at Big Lots for $2. Pet food has a separate budget and I spent that much again on their food and treats.
WWA: For my husband, it was chili, fresh veggies and fruit, cheese, nuts and crackers, followed by pork roast with carrots and onions and a quick homemade flatbread. For me, spicy veggie tacos with fresh oranges, protein-berry smoothies, and a couple of Weight Watchers meals supplemented with extra veggies. For dessert we had some Dewey's thin cookies (lemon and vanilla) bought with a coupon.
Trying to stick to April goal of $200 for two of us:
I spent $44 at Sam's for BBQ sauce, parchment paper and 9 pounds of grape. $77 left for the month.
For two days I had a new Baked pasta recipe: 28 oz crushed Marzano tomatoes I picked up at Grocery Outlet months ago for .50: fresh mozarella, and the last of my stockpile pasta. 4 meal servings for .75 a piece. I sautéed the tomatoes with garlic and Basil olive oil. Baked the whole thing for 15 mins. Super delish. Will do again. Added a side some ancient frozen broccoli I roasted.
For two days I had 4 year old orzo cooked in an instapot - 2 cups water, 1 t. oil, salt for 2 mins. Drained excess water, added a pesto sauce I bought and froze for 1.99 a year ago I food processed three ancient hamburger patties in my fav mini cuisneart. Super tasty.
Two nights of ham steaks with rice and frozen corn mixed up with butter. hubby loves it. Ham is after easter special for 1.50 a pound.
Sat and Sunday Brought hubby a sandwich from Subway but I bought for a treat. I purchase chips, drink and desert separately.
I am making a real effort to treat hubby so he doesn't feel this is Depression Era cooking.
@mary ann,
No one would consider San Marzano tomatoes to be Depression Era fare! Looking at the price of them, you'd think they were watered with liquid gold...so jealous of your .50 find!!!
As kids we used to have the transparent man and transparent woman models. The woman had snap in abdominal sections to show progressing pregnancy. That picture brought that right back to mind. These are the kinds of toys one gets at Christmas when several family members are educators, ha. We actually enjoyed putting them together.
Last weekend I spent right at $132 for two week’s worth of groceries.
WIA:
I roasted a fresh farm chicken who had met her fate only the day before. With it I cooked garden beets and not-garden turnip greens.
I made chicken cheese quesadillas with garden lettuce and garden carrot sticks. I had that twice. Cassava tortillas both times.
It’s been a long spell without steak so I bought one and got two meals out of it, with sautéed zucchini and sliced and fried potatoes and onions both times.
Fried seasoned pork chops with turnip greens , carrots, sweet potatoes.
Last night I got home at 8 and had back to back calls from people needing to talk so I just munched on a little chicken and snacky stuff.
Tonight will be chicken or chops. I’m dedicated to my leftovers.
@JD, my oldest sister (who was going to be a nurse from her infancy) also had the Invisible Man and Invisible Woman, with the pregnancy attachments you describe. She did end up becoming a NICU nurse, so perhaps they were inspirational.
@A. Marie,
I had those, too! I loved putting them together and if I remember correctly, I painted all the different organs too.
@JD, sauteed zucchini (and yellow squash) are excellent on tacos. Also nice adds to spaghetti sauce. Thinking outside the box not only avoids food waste but keeps meals "fresh". IMHO, some folks order in/go out due to being tired of what they repetitively cook at home.
This week, we enjoyed:
* Restaurant meal: Spring flatbread (caramelized onions, portabella mushrooms, arugula, cherry tomatoes, topped with goat cheese) with asparagus soup
* Homemade veggie noodle soup
* Baked potato and peas
* Popcorn
* Egg noodles and peas
* Grilled cheese sandwiches
* Nacho bar
Oral surgery edition:
Saturday - ?
Sunday - ?
Monday - cheesy grits, ice cream
Tuesday - cheesy grits, ice cream, applesauce
Wednesday - cheesy grits, yogurt, ice cream
Thursday - salmon loaf, peas, banana cake
Friday (tonight) leftover salmon loaf, peas, applesauce
@Kathy L, I hadn't thought of grits as post-oral-surgery comfort food before, but thanks for the tip. And goodness knows, I love grits.
I see you out here eating soft foods!
Each Friday, I think back to my week and reach the same conclusions: can't remember, and if I can't, then truly nobody cares about this boring aspect of my little life. But I scan the unlimited creativity of all you all's fancy food from a huge variety of stores and restaurants. Next week is my big Winco run (about every 6-7 weeks), with maybe a quick stop at Aldi, all squeezed around an eye doc appointment and teaching drawing lessons. (Shut up, Central Calif. Artist—nobody cares!)
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I like reading what people have in different regions. I read someone's menu above and it sounded very intriguing to me, but I also figure that she's probably not in the Midwest. 😉
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, Of course we care. I think it's safe to say that anyone who reads this every week, along with every comment, is fascinated by other people's food. Including yours. So DON'T shut up. Share!
Haha, yes, we all know what we're getting here on Fridays!
@kristin @ going country,
My favorite pastime these days is watching grocery haul videos, so I am probably a bit extreme in my interests, but I LOVE to read about what other people eat and/or buy.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana,
We do care! I never post on WIS/WWA because our meals during the week are really lame, and I never remember or keep track of what we spend on groceries. I do know we spent at least $30 on Sumo oranges, because I love them, and am thrilled the local stores still have them.
Anyway, I love seeing what everyone cooks or prepares for their meals. It inspires me to do better!
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I wanted to reply to you about the Hatrigo One Gallon Yogurt Strainer. It really isn't a one off for me. It is perfect for making lemon curd. I have a huge lemon tree and I trying to use them up as much as possible. My husband is a nut farmer and we have pounds of almonds. I can use the Hatrigo for almond milk. I can make cheese with it. This weeks attempt is ricotta. It is also a nive size tupperware to keep food in.
They other fabulous feature is it is dishwasher safe. I don't put the lid in but the rest of it go onto .
Anyway, I am in love with mine.
@mary ann, great to know! Not that I plan on making lemon curd (although I also have almost unlimited access to lemons), almond milk (no access to almonds anymore), and my last attempt at ricotta was a total flop. I also don't have a dishwasher (well, my husband does most of the dishes so I guess he qualifies).
BUT, I may consider getting one. Thank you!
Saturday - fund raiser meal of pasta, chicken, salad, potatoes
Sunday- ate out Mexican
Monday - rotissiere chicken cooked in cream of chix soup, mixed veggies topped with cut up whack-em biscuits
Tuesday - $15 for two burgers/order of fries special
Wednesday - grilled chicken
Thursday - burgers
And I am going to split hairs as you had tortelonni not tortellini:
The primary differences between these two stuffed pastas come down to the size of the pasta and the traditional fillings used. Although the two share a similar shape, tortelloni are larger than delicate little tortellini. While tortelloni is traditionally filled with a combination of vegetarian ingredients, tortellini usually features a meat filling.
Hailing from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy—which is also home to celebrated traditional Italian ingredients like Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto di Parma, and balsamic vinegar of Modena—tortellini is a type of small, ring-shaped pasta traditionally stuffed with a combination of ground meat (like mortadella and prosciutto), egg, and parmesan cheese, and sealed in a circular fashion. Local legend states that the shape of tortellini is meant to emulate the navel of the goddess Venus.
It is easier to make tortelloni than tortellini (labor intensive). And tortellini is typically cooked/eaten in broth.
You can throw tortellacci in the mix too. Another similar stuffed dumpling like pasta.
Man, I'm gonna have to double check the packaging next time! I was so sure it said tortellini.
@Kristen,
Yeah...I'm gonna go out on a limb here and presume that most American companies just call it all "tortellini" on their packaging. My first hint was that autocorrect only offered tortellini as an option. Cool to read about the other pasta types, though.
@Kristen, it probably did and it was probably false advertising that no one has called them on. "ini" is small, "oni" is big. "acci" (at least to me), is amped up/more decadent "oni". I see tortellini all the time on restaurant menus. Better half's family is Italian (southern). I have participated in the work group making tortellinis - take about an inch square of fresh pasta, dot of meat/cheese filling, fold into a triangle and twist. And twist so there is a small hole in the center for the broth to bubble through. They are truly more the size of a bellybutton. And they are labor intensive.
We were gone for the first half of the week. We went to Vermont to see the eclipse. The frugal aspect was that we cooked at least 1/2 our meals at the chalet.
We also bought a ton of maple things (including syrup!), tons of Cabot cheese, and tons at King Arthur (including two 50# sacks of flour)...so despite only spending money on the flashfood app and bring food from home...our food spending was quite high (not that it will be eaten all this week).
Saturday was also the last Farmers Market for a month so besides paying for our veg/fruit CSA and a double pork meat box at the end of the month, the next month shouldn't be so bad.
Since we've been home we have eaten:
Wed: clam chowder w/ bacon
Thurs: pasta w/ swiss chard, cannellini beans, and bacon
Fri: was supposed to be steak and cheese w/ onion rings but we haven't pulled the steak from the freezer yet so maybe sweet chili chicken w/ rice and green beans???? or something w/ grilled chicken. TBD
We are in that phase of life where unless I spend at least $150 at Aldi each week minimum, we actually run out of food! And my oldest is only 13. Oh boy we are in for it, and I can't wait.
Monday we had a couple of different pastas. Alfredo sauce and veggies over tortellini. I must have also made fettuccine with Alfredo sauce and leftover roasted chicken.
Tuesday I feel like I cooked a bag of chicken strips in the oven, but I can't remember what else we had.
Wednesday my husband grilled an entire bag of burgers and some chicken on the grill. We had roasted potatoes on the side.
By yesterday we were starting to run out of food because, silly me, I thought these full Aldi bags of chicken and burgers would have lasted more than 48 hours. I bought and roasted an entire bag of Aldi salmon in the oven. I also made a big batch of mac and cheese to use up the leftover bits of cheese I have been stuffing in the freezer. I roasted broccoli too.
Tonight will be a clean out the fridge night. Between a little bit of leftovers and some produce (I have been making plates of chopped fruit on the regular, and the children devour them) I think we can clean out the fridge. I want to deep clean it tomorrow because we have guests coming next weekend--we're starting on those deep cleaning tasks you only do when guests come.
Oh, I think that's so reasonable when you are feeding growing children. 🙂
WIS: $21 @ Costco
WWA: rotisserie chix week!
Sun: Chicken w/mashed potatoes & gravy, asparagus, fruit salad
M: Chicken tacos
T: Chicken taco salad
W: Chicken and noodles, green salad
Th: leftovers w/more green salad, sent the rest home with cousin
F: grilled burgers
S: family clamming day: fresh fried clams, green salad, veggie pasta alfredo and garlic bread .
Harvesting carrots, lettuce, chard, kale, broccoli & scallions.
Impressively done though, all your cooking at home this week!! I see you and salute you!
I'm giving you a pat on the back, too, Kristen! Great job!