WIS, WWA | a tired camper
As I was writing this post, I looked down at my shirt and thought, "Hmm, I need a shirt that says, 'Tired Camper' right now." Heh.
What I Spent
I spent:
- $66 at Aldi
- $30 on a Hungry Harvest box
- $90 at Sam's Club
- $12 at Safeway
- $8 at the taco truck
Soooo, GEEZ. $206 this week.
But then again, I only spent $60 last week, so you know, the spending goes up and down. And we know Sam's Club trips do not happen every week!
What We Ate
Saturday
I baked up the rest of the thin-crust pizza dough I'd made.
Sunday
I made waffles topped with fruit and whipped cream, and we had some bacon on the side.
Monday
This was the day I passed my competency tests!
So afterward, I went and got some tacos from the taco truck while Zoe was working. And she got some Domino's pizza on the way home.
Tuesday
I grilled some burgers, made some potato wedges to use up a bag of red potatoes*, and cut up some fruit.
*here's my best tip for making potato wedges/cubes
Wednesday
Zoe and I went to the gym together and then when we came home, we had bacon/cheese quesadillas and some sautéed broccoli.
Thursday
Ham sandwiches, plus a green salad. Because Hungry Harvest sent me SO MUCH lettuce.
Friday
Honestly, I don't know. Ummmm...a salad?
Love when you post pictures of your food in All-clad cookware 🙂
I am so lucky that a friend of mine gave me her extra All-Clad skillet when I left my house.:)
It's been a hard week. Takeout every single night. Sigh.
@Rose, sorry to hear. Sometimes we just have to get through & have some help of meals…take care!
Tired...I'm right there with you...
WIS: 166.03 @Aldi.
WWA:
Fri: cheese focaccia and salads made from leftovers of injera and a chipotle salad.
Sat: breakfast for dinner: bubble and squeak made with leftover colcannon, green eggs (eggs scrambled with kale), sweet and spicy radish greens, turkey bacon.
Sun: leftovers: radish greens, focaccia, a burrito of eggs and kale and salsa for dipping.
Mon: salad (spicy mix and Asian trail mix), Chinese chicken and cabbage over brown rice, sourdough crackers.
Tue: carrots and roasted red pepper hummus, shrimp and cheesy grits with vegetables cooked in (red pepper, celery and poblano pepper) and topped with sprouts browned in butter.
Wed: salad (lettuce, cucumbers, blueberries, pecans, feta, balsamic vinegar, honey and tajin), "delish ring" (canned chicken, frozen spinach, spices and shredded cheddar cheese in a biscuit dough ring), spice cookies for dessert.
Thu: carrots and roasted red pepper hummus, spicy tofu burgers on homemade sourdough buns and topper with tomato slices, pickles and Gouda cheese.
Tonight: focaccia with chipotle pumpkin sauce and mozzarella cheese plus some kind of vegetable, not sure what yet.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
This week in random order, we had
* Homemade soup (tomato and lentil/sweet potato)
* Mash of sweet potat0/ordinary potato) with brussels sprouts and some bacon
* Cheese fondue with sourdough bread, carrot and apples
*Home made indonesian omelete with loads of veg, over rice
*A self invented vegetarian pot pie with lots of leftovers. The verdict: "It tasts incredibly much better than it looks" 🙂
*Red cabbage and homemade applesauce (I saved a jar for future me), with baked camembert or a beef sausage (prepared in suet!)
And today most likely will be more of the homemade soup, with toasted leftover sourdough bread and a salad. Possibly even yoghurt and applesauce for afters.
Also I cooked low sugar blackberry jam from my freezer stash of berries. I have three glass jars set aside for later this winter and I finished another container of jam this week - over toasted bread, in my morning yoghurt, and a spoonful with the red cabbage and camembert meal - they went well together.
We will have a little more meat next week, as I'd like to empty half a freezer drawer before our winter meat order is delivered. Why did I buy duck? Also: half a package of minced beef - hm. Perhaps swedish meat balls and duck cacciatore - they go well with beetroot and carrot/garden peas respectively
Wis: $16
WwA: Monday T bone, baked potatoes and left over baked beans
Tuesday, a new wild rice dish with sweet potato chunks, dried cranberries, pecans and a little left over t bone. We were hungry later so had some ice cream with crunchy salad toppings from Costco
Wednesday left over wild rice, sir fry roasted veggies, and shrimp
Thursday, went out to eat for family birthdays, had pan seared walleye, baked potato, broccoli and a couple pickled beets off of DH plate. Daughter want3d to buy because of birthday, luckily I had a $50 in my purse which I gave her. Not sure it covered it all snd the tip but it was close.
Friday, hmmmm haven’t had pizza for a while or chicken wings. Like to have leftovers for Saturday and Sunday.
Just a note: we have a freezer with our meat, thus our grocery bills probably won’t be too out of site until we buy a quarter of beef or a half of hog, or butchered chickens from a gal.
Friday: Leftovers, and not even on a work day. 🙂 Plus bread and butter and frozen peas
Saturday: Two small packages of boned leg of lamb that I chunked up, marinated, and fried. I also fried the potatoes, which microwaved first to cook them most of the way. And we had a tomato salad, which, given my very pathetic year in the garden, felt like a significant accomplishment.
Sunday: Meatloaf made with ground elk, bread and butter, pureed squash, a saute of few random vegetables I found in the refrigerator (calabacita, mushrooms, an end of an onion, tomatoes), and cookies.
Monday: I had a bag of pork chunks I had cut off a sirloin roast and stuck in the freezer. Those thawed while I was at work, and then I fried them in some fat I had saved from baking ribs awhile ago. And then I made rice and frozen peas.
Tuesday: Lamb chops, garlic bread, another tomato salad yay!
Wednesday: I used the leftover meatloaf and rice to make a skillet meal, with the addition of grated cheese. And since I didn't have a vegetable, I cut up some of the apples we got from excess commodities.
Thursday: I was in the city with my son, getting his soft cast off and stitches out. We went to eat before his appointment at a barbecue chain, which resulted in a lot of food to take home. It was a somewhat late lunch, and we were driving at dinnertime, so my son ate most of the leftover food on the way home, and I ate the bit that was left when we got home around 7:15 p.m. My husband fed the kids who were at home crispy cheese and refried bean tacos. And then they ate some green grapes when we got home, too. Kinda balanced. 🙂
Tonight: Thinking out loud here . . . I will be spending some time in the garden today shutting it down for the season, since we have a full week of below freezing lows starting tomorrow. I should end up with a bunch of tomatoes, so I'll roast and puree some of those. It's going to be fairly cold and windy today, so maybe I'll make my kids' favorite tomato soup with those pureed tomatoes. My husband really likes it, too. It's a recipe from my son's ATK Young Chefs cookbook. Maybe I'll make some sausage to go with it, too.
I'm tired just reading about your schedule, Kristen! I think you're doing an amazing job balancing your school, work, and home life. Especially given all you've been through.
WWS: $393.86 at Kroger, $60?? at ChikFilA
Saturday/Sunday: homemade pizzas. We discovered turkey pepperoni and the kids were huge fans, plus it is lower in sodium, so that's good. Now I'm wondering if I remembered to get more for this weekend...probably not, so we'll use up the regular stuff.
Monday: Baked chicken thighs, rice, roasted broccoli.
Tuesday: Burgers, leftover chicken, salad bar, popcorn. I am not pleased with my NordicWare microwave popper; I got it mostly because it's made in the USA unlike all the air poppers I looked at, and other microwave poppers, but my goodness it gets so hot and sometimes I have to run it longer than usual just to pop the kernels. Annoying.
Wednesday: Hamburger stew, boxed mac and cheese for the Selective Eater. I also made chocolate pudding to use up some milk I had frozen before its date.
Thursday: Four of us went to clean at the cat shelter--we managed to clean (really clean) six rooms in 1 1/2 hours! Not bad. We made quite a team. Then we went and grabbed Chik Fil A for everyone, including the two kids at home. I *think* I heard the person say it was $60. Yikes. Usually DH and I eat leftovers, but on a whim he ordered a big order of grilled nuggets, which were a treat on my made-at-home salad later. We do not get drinks, just sandwiches and fries and nuggets. As has become our family motto, "We have drinks at home."
Friday: Tonight is taco night.
Sat - Pushed the easy button and ordered pizza
Sun - Chicken Enchilada Soup and 'Mummy' Hotdogs. My girls made some desserts and we all carved pumpkins
Mon - Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta and Salad
Tues - It was ladies bible study night, so my husband grilled burgers and made mac n' cheese (blue box kind, lol) for the fam and I stopped and got a Chicken Grilled Cheese Burrito from Taco Bell
Wed - I baked some chicken breasts that I had coated in Mayo, Parm and Bread Crumbs along with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Green Beans and Corn
Thurs - Spaghetti, Garlic Bread and Salad
Friday - Not sure what we're doing tonight
This week went so fast. But that was good. Some days are better in the rear-view mirror. WWA:
Saturday- made a quick dinner of lemon chicken piccata with roughly mashed potatoes (was so tempted to eat out) before the symphony
Sunday - beef stew, sourdough bread, ice cream bars
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - cooked ‘needed to be used’ bacon wrapped scallops from the freezer and served them over pasta
Wednesday- bratwurst in buns and overcooked air fryer french fries
Thursday - chicken and veggie fajitas
Friday - likely going to be leftovers
It is clear that I need to include more vegetables in our meals. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.
It's been a tiresome, more than tiring, week here. Trying to get DH's labs done and balance that with a VA doctor appointment today, and nothing is working out, unfortunately.
WIS: $229 and change, ouch! $120 or so of that was farm orders, and about $25 of that amount was ground meat/offal/etc. for the dogs. I freeze it in 1lb. portions and spoon it out as a little topper for their dry food.
WIA:
I ate the last of the pulled pork from the freezer with sides of applesauce and longevity spinach salad. The "spinach" is good to grow in Florida, but it suffered in the excess heat and drought-then-deluges-then-drought-again-then-hurricane this summer. It's kicking back in, just before it will get too cold for it.
Farm pork chops served more than once with various sides - peas, winter squash, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.
Meatloaf also more than once, served with sides of roselle "cranberry sauce", mixed greens, peas and sweet potatoes.
Polish sausage served with cut up salad, sweet plantain chips.
Today at lunch is the Greek Food Festival and my office is going. I'll eat all kinds of things I shouldn't, such as gluten, and I will enjoy it anyway. Tonight may well be a salad.
@JD, enjoy your Greek festival. Yassou!
And I'm sorry that it's been such a struggle with your DH's labs and his doctor appointment. Solidarity forever.
These weeks have been ups and downs all over the place. Sigh. More good than bad, though, by and large. We tried two new-to-us varieties of squash.
Sunday: My in-laws came over, and we had Greek lamb meatballs with rice, salad, and roasted vegetables, including delicata squash which is so good! One makes enough for our small family, and you don't need to peel it. I would buy it again.
Monday: I don't remember...maybe frozen pizza?
Tuesday: Pasta and spaghetti squash with meat sauce (from the freezer.) I was the only one who like the spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta. I liked it a lot, but it's not worth making if I'm the only one who will eat it!
Wednesday: Leftovers, plus I made a vegetable soup with the leftover spaghetti squash.
Thursday: Homemade kitsune udon soup with lots of veggies and ice cream for dessert to celebrate that I was accepted to a fellowship program!
Friday: Mr. B is getting some white fish at the market, and we'll have challah. We also have some zucchini that I'll roast; I hate to waste it and it goes bad pretty fast.
Weekend: We'll be at my parents' for dinner Saturday night, and Sunday night we'll have friends over. Meal plan is roasted salmon, pumpkin ravioli with sage/brown butter, salad, and fruit.
@Meira Bear,
Congrats on getting into the program!
@Meira Bear, Love that delicata squash! Much thinner skin than, say, butternut or acorn squash so much easier to handle, prep and cook/roast. Easy to store. And it's delicious! So happy to see it in the stores now that Fall has come.
Sun - Popcorn (Ate a late lunch on the way back from the cabin so wasn't very hungry)
Mon - Tuna Steaks, rice, edamame (tuna and edamame from freezer)
Tue - Chicken Fajitas, salsa, chips (chic from freezer, homemade canned salsa)
Wed - Mediterranean Chickpea Soup (chickpeas and spinach from freezer)
Thur - Leftovers
Fri - Going out for dinner
WIS: $58.60 at Wegmans and $4 at the bakery outlet. ($23 of the Wegmans tab was for an eye care product; see eye update below.)
WIA: I ate free Panera products from my JASNA Panera friend twice: a reheated souffle for breakfast after I came home from my surgery, and the second of the two round Asiago foccacias for another personal pan pizza (see my September description of this). Oh, and just to keep pace with Kristen's and others' stories of dropping things all over the floor, I had a Kalamata olive cleanup on Aisle 2 after I dropped the open olive jar while topping off the pizza. Even messier than cat kibble--and no help from the cat in cleaning it up, either!
My other notable WIA was a non-Kristen recipe that definitely requires some tweaking: a NY Times recipe for one-pot chicken and rice with ginger. Next time I make this, I'm going to use half the jasmine rice and cooking liquid the recipe called for (I ended up with enough rice to feed an army); omit the citrus (I used a lemon instead of the lime the recipe called for, but I don't think I'd have liked the lime in this any better); and add a chopped onion to the garlic and ginger.
Finally, eye update: I saw my eye guy for a next-day follow-up yesterday, and he thinks that the continuing cloudy/blurry vision in the operated eye is due to corneal edema (probably a result of my pre-existing cornea condition). He recommended a Bausch & Lomb product called Muro 128 to help with the edema, and he wants to see me back in a week--but he says everything else looks good, and he thinks I should be able to go ahead with the second surgery on Nov. 8 as scheduled.
@A. Marie, Glad to hear your eye doctor thinks things are progressing! And I hope the edema clears up quickly.
Saturday - Last night of my girls trip, we made a taco and nacho bar!
Sunday - home from my trip, we ate leftover Chinese food that my husband had ordered when I was on the trip
Monday - chicken and sausage orzo
Tuesday - picnic night, we went back to the new playground, pb&j and raw veggies and fruit for the kids, a chopped salad kit for me.
Wednesday - teriyaki chicken, broccoli cheddar rice a roni, steamed broccoli
Thursday - king ranch chicken casserole (my kids absolutely hate this for reasons unknown to me, it’s basically chicken, cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream, all foods they like, I continue to make it though because I love it and it’s a good way to use up the crushed chips left at the bottom of bags of tortilla chips)
Friday - I’m hosting my book club so I’ll be snacking for dinner, Kraft Mac n cheese for the kids.
WIS: $31.97 at Sprouts for eggs, multigrain bread, salad greens and (drops voice to a whisper) dark chocolate covered blueberries.
WIA: My weekend inventory of pantry/freezer/kitchen cabinets turned up a half box of linguine, some leftover spinach and some frozen shrimp, so I made (a lot of) shrimp scampi with spinach on linguine. Also unearthed some Korean beef from the freezer and had that over jasmine rice with leftover roasted Brussel sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli.
Bon appetit!
Dinners this week:
1. Chili, rice and salad
2. Chili stuffed peppers
3. Pasta with butternut squash sauce, choice of ham/vegan meatballs and salad
4. Leftovers from the above
5. Kung Pao tofu, veggies and rice
6. Split pea soup with salad
7. I have no idea about tonight... something quick and easy for sure.
Lately its been my goal to be tired at the end of the week - that just means you got some stuff DONE. Since I seriously lounged yesterday, I will play catch up today and get myself ready for my work week. What we ate:
Monday - Beef Tacos - I ate mine like a salad with lettuce, tomato, cheese
Tuesday - Dr. Martin's Mix, garlic toast (going to eat the leftovers as a lunch today)
Wednesday - (freezer) Chicken and Stuffing, bacon-y fresh green beans (there was a tiny bit leftover and it might just get tossed because it was a leftover to begin with!)
Thursday - Schwarma Salads (romaine, gyro slices, feta, tomato, cucumber, kalamata olives, purple onion, lemon dressing) This was delish!!
Tonight - Tilapia, butternut squash bulgogi pilaf, broccoli
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed
Happy Weekend of not worrying about comps!
This week's fruit included persimmons from my in-laws' yard, pomegranates from my parents' yard, cantaloupe, too expensive moondrop grapes, strawberries, and apples
Sunday: Caesar salad & Pasta
Monday: Taquitos
Tuesday: Zoodles with veggie meat crumbles
Wednesday: Crispy Tofu over greens
Thursday: Salmon & Rice
Friday: I don't know...I'm tired. We'll see what we come up with. Maybe some easy rice/dahl.
Hope you get some rest this weekend 🙂
Pretty tired here as well. Last weekend we hosted a large party that took a lot of work, Sunday we rested from exhaustion, and Monday my husband fell ill with covid. Happily it affected the rest of us only mildly as we've had it before, but my husband had it for the first time and was pretty sick. We had some strange party odds and ends in the house but did not do our regular grocery run this week.
Saturday: Party food. Made some savory empanadas and guests brought other sides.
Sunday: Simple pasta with a side of cucumber, tomato, mozzarella salad
Monday: Chinese takeout after my husband fell ill and our normal grocery plans got cancelled
Tuesday: Cream of mushroom soup and flat breads from the freezer
Wednesday: Ferro grain with onions, garlic, and nasturtium leaves from the garden topped with feta, on a bed of grilled, then mashed butternut squash. Also breaded tilapia from the freezer and boiled egg for me as a vegetarian. (Scavenger hunt in the pantry and freezer that turned out pretty yummy.)
Thursday: Used the rest of the ferro as a base for a tomato and lentil bake topped with parmesan cheese. Rotisserie chicken and grilled halloumi, side salad.
Friday: Fridge is definitely empty! Lets see what we come up with but hoping to avoid takeout 🙂
We were on vacation most of the week, so we ate a ton of fish tacos (we were in Hawaii & the fish tacos are my favorite!) I had: mahi mahi, kanpachi, & ono. All were delicious. My parents were here with the teens, and they had a variety of things: tacos, pizza, Greek takeout before a football game, etc.
Wednesday night: plane food. I had a cheese tray, and my husband had a chicken shawarma wrap.
Thursday - our first day back. Both boys had the later soccer practice, so we could eat together. It was a lazy dinner of mac & cheese (teens), cauliflower crust pizza (husband) & chicken (everyone). And, salad, of course.
Friday - I need to figure out tonight. I'm thinking gyozas & coconut shrimp, as DS16 will be at the football game, and he doesn't like either of those things.
@Hawaii Planner, I guess this week you were Hawaii Visitor or Hawaii Enjoyer instead!
Late to the game (as usual). 🙂 Trying to get leaves done As Much As Possible while weather still good.
Spent----
$0 food
$3.91 Target for Halloween dog pjs & dog toy after using $30 gift cards that $11 refunded because not in stock when packed my order.
$8 Menards (gift card) gloves
What we ate this week---
● Potato boats for the big game (MSU got hammered by Michigan 🙁 )
● Shake & Bake pork cho]s with candied mashed sweet potatoes with bread & butter
● pizzas for teen/leftovers for me
● leftovers (again)
● meatballs (I made into sub teen ate plain)
● leftovers (again) after teen school function
● tonight ???? maybe emergency pizza from Domino's
I did SUCH a good job with meal planning! I also went out to pick a few things from my garden and realized there was actually a lot of produce out there, so I picked quite a bit of eggplant, a zucchini, lots of tomatillos, a poblano pepper, tomatoes, and a cucumber. I wish I could add a picture here, because it was kind of amazing!
I was also just diagnosed with prediabetes, and even though I know it's super common, given my family history I really need to take it seriously. So I've been tracking what I eat and realizing I do not eat nearly enough protein (I'm a pescatarian, but fish can be really expensive so I tend to eat a lot of carbs).
Sunday: Zucchini soup with salad
Monday: Twice-baked potatoes with salad
Tuesday: Tofu stir-fry with broccoli and eggplant, served with brown rice
Wednesday: Butter-parmesan baked fish with wild rice, and a salad
Thursday: I went to see Les Miserables and it was AMAZING! I got some Thai food with my sister at a restaurant near the theater ahead of time.
Tonight: I am doing a Costco order today to get Halloween candy, so I will be ordering some fresh, wild salmon (since it's cheaper than the atlantic farmed salmon, for some reason) and either a green salad or a caprese salad with the tomatoes from my garden.
We really eat a lot of salad I'm realizing!
Speaking of Sam's club (or Costco, in my case since that's what we have here), I actually budget that separately from food since I tend to go less often but spend way more. It helps me with my grocery budget to keep it separate!
@Candace, I like that idea. How do you separate the food? I just went to costco and spent $400 so it impacts my grocery budget but a lot of it is bulk items that last longer just going for weekly groceries. Can you describe what you do?
I always think of you when I see Snoopy shirts out in the wild.
Sunday: We were out and tempted to stop at Little Caesar's but we were good and went home and ate various leftovers.
Monday: Pork chops cooked with apples along with some mashed potatoes
Tuesday: I'm drawing a blank on this but I think it was something around chicken.
Wednesday: BLTs.
Thursday: Still wanted Little Caesar's but decided to have some of the frozen Aldi pizza from the freezer.
Friday: Quiche using some of the leftover bacon from Wednesday.
@Battra92, To be fair, Little Caesar's is one of the least expensive options out there. It is probably the cheapest fast food our large family can eat.
Let's see.....
WIS: $245 @ Publix
WWA:
Sat: Zoppa Toscana and sourdough bread
Sun: This was my son's birthday and by his request we had beef stroganoff, green peas, corn and yeast rolls. There was birthday cake for dessert.
Mon: Leftovers
Tues: Leftovers
Wed: Green Chili chicken in the crockpot on zero carb tortillas with lettuce, tomato and salsa
Thu: Quesadillas made with leftover green chili chicken & cheese and baked sweet potatoes
Fri: I am not quite sure but I think it might be ham & cheese sliders for an easy night
Happy weekend!!
Sun - venison skillet (marinated venison steak-sliced, onions, broccoli, zucchini, carrots & pea pods) over rice
M - Chicken Alfredo, green salad, saute broccoli
T - Late town day, hamburgers out @ a favorite diner
W - Halibut fish and chips, coleslaw
Th - Fish tacos w/spicy mango salsa, beans and rice
Fr - Big work day - Freezer soup and cornbread waffles
Saturday - Friends coming for the weekend. French dip sandwiches, sweet potato fries
caramel apple cheesecake bars
I always admire your low grocery bills. I spent $250 this week for only 2 people. My husband is diabetic so I am spending tons of money on almond flour, coconut four, monkfruit sweeteners (and monkfruit fake maple syrup and honey), keto bread/rolls and keto ice cream (low carb/no sugar). I did spend $7 on an excellent no sugar blueberry muffin mix that I need to try to make on my own. Except for very limited amounts of store brand foods, not sure where I can save money. Being able to provide my hubby with ice cream & blueberry muffins on a very restrictive diet makes him happy and keeps his A1C in check without taking meds. Do you have any other suggestions for saving money on a no sugar/low carb diet?
@Susan, Not diabetic, buuuuuut....it's probably easier, cheaper and better for you to change your diets than it is to save more money. Why almond flour and coconut flour? What does the monkfruit go in? Tea or coffee? Cut down on it.
Cut down on all of it. I stopped eating sweets/dessert etc except on rare occasions a few years ago and the less you eat of it, the less you crave it.
@Rose, @Susan,
I had the same experience as Rose. I cut out sweets a couple years ago because I needed to lose weight and get control of cholesterol. Within a week or two, I stopped craving sweets. And I used to have a mighty, mighty sweet tooth! Now they aren't even appealing. Would your husband try an experiment for a week or two and just have whatever fruit he's allowed for desert? I should note it's important to cut out both regular and artificial sweeteners. Something about the sweet taste of even the zero calorie ones tricks your system into cravings.
@Rose, I cut down drastically on sweets 3 months ago (because I learned I am in the "pre-diabetic" category by a fraction) and I STILL WANT THEM!! Haven't lost a pound or an inch, so probably trying to fill that sweet gap with too many other things. My friend's mom used to say, "Just eat the brownie!!" But, I will push onward. . . I will NOT become type 2 diabetic, NOT NOT NOT!!
I think your questions/wisdom for @Susan sounds right.
@Susan, I just read a super helpful book called "The Glucose Revolution" by Jessie Inchauspé. It is full of simple tips on keeping glucose from spiking. Another book, "Fast, Feast, Repeat" by Gin Stephens revealed that just a sweet taste in one's mouth triggers insulin, so any sweetener whether or not sugar isn't good! Still trying to grasp that shocking and upside piece of information.
@Susan,
I agree with what others have said. For a variety of reasons, we have had to adjust our diet as well, and I have found it most helpful to focus on the things we can eat (and/or should be eating) instead of thinking about what we can't eat. So, for a diabetic-friendly diet, that would look like increasing foods like vegetables and lean protein and then just limiting carbs to a smaller amount of the healthier options (brown rice, whole grains, whole fruits, etc). An example of what this looks like in our house for dinner would be starting with a large salad (a base of greens, a few other veggies like carrots or peppers, then a sprinkling of nuts or cheese on top for flavor), then the main dish would start with the lean protein as a base and have vegetables added to it like chicken stir-fried with broccoli and served over brown rice or perhaps fish broiled and served with a side of sauteed green beans. Then, most nights we don't have a dessert, but you could have whole fruit as a dessert like grapes and strawberries and maybe a couple cubes of cheddar cheese. Basically, I try to plan for a lean protein, 1 large raw veggie serving (usually salad, but sometimes crudites), 1-2 cooked veggies (usually with the protein, but sometimes on the side), 1 healthier carb option (brown rice, whole grain bread, oatmeal, grits, etc) and then dessert as fruit or cheese. We also drink only water with meals, but will occasionally have tea, coffee, seltzer or wine at other times of the day. I don't know if this helps you, but it works for us.
@Becca,
Oh, and my last tip is to embrace the cooking styles of other cultures. Standard Midwestern American fare is notoriously carb-heavy and based on less healthy proteins. If you limit your proteins to fish, poultry, nuts and beans and your carbs to brown rice, whole grain breads/noodles and other healthier carbs like tortillas, you will automatically find yourself thinking of Asian or Hispanic types of cooking. These styles of cooking are also inherently cheaper too.
I hope the weekend is restorative <3
I don't even want to look at my food budget this week. Between coming home from work exhausted, my birthday, my mom's birthday and Halloween, we have eaten almost every dinner out. This just a reminder to myself that I won't remember maybe being a bit over budget but the memories I get with my friends and family will last. But in the effort of being transparent, here we go:
Monday: I got home from work five hours after I thought I would and was exhausted, so we ordered pho.
Tuesday: It was my birthday so we went out for pizza.
Wednesday: leftover birthday pizza and salad
Thursday: hainanese chicken and rice. I am slowly getting my recipe down
Friday: birthday dinner out with friends
Saturday: birthday dinner out with my parents for my mom and I
Sunday: something at home because I need a night on the couch
Some weeks are like that! And you jusssst went back to work so this is very understandable.
@Heather, happy birthweek! You have an exhausting work schedule, living in 2 places, recovering from the broken ankle. . . so glad you were able to just let go and enjoy some easier meals. My philosophy is that all our frugality earns us an occasional guiltfree luxury.
Does it every drive you crazy to not pick your veggies? I don’t think I’d like a random box especially when my life is busy. Just curious because I’m struggling mightily to get through romaine and coleslaw salads I bought last week and I chose them! Alone all week and I guess I’m not in the mood for that many salads.
Haha, your story made me laugh!
I do usually log in and customize my box, and I did this time around too, but somehow I still got two massive heads of lettuce and a box of baby greens. I'm not sure what happened, but I am gonna be eating a LOT of salad this week.
$44 at Aldi
$16 at the apple farm (because their apples are so superior to grocery store apples)
$4 at Wawa
$60 to repay my daughter for shopping while my husband and I were on vacation.
So $124 for us
With four adults in the house and literally three different dietary needs for medical reasons, I've gone the route of "there's the food; feed yourself" mostly. I keep the freezer stocked with soups, chilis, red sauce, frozen fruit & veg, pizza, ice cream, and popsicles. the pantry and fridge are always available, and there might even be cookies in the cookie jar (not right now though, but maybe tomorrow).
But my week looked like:
Saturday: smoothie, and sea salt rice chips
Sunday: roasted chicken, baked acorn squash, roasted veggies, rice
Monday: rice & beans, fruit
Tuesday: wrap sandwiches of leftover chicken, red beans, onions, peppers, and yogurt
Wednesday: chicken salad made from Sunday's leftovers
Thursday: homemade tomato soup from freezer, cottage cheese, celery with peanut butter
Friday: more tomato soup because I love it :), part of a soft pretzel, a bag of frozen veg on sale from Aldi
Sat. Chicken thighs with cranberry sauce.
Sun. Crispy Chicken Pies
Mon. I don't remember.
Tues. Pizza
Wed. Pasta, Sausage, Meatballs
Thurs. My daughter had thawed lamb sausage, so I threw it into the sauce. It was a bit spicier.
Fri. Leftover sausage
Tomorrow we might have something different.
My husband just wants dinner but he is not much involved input or preparing. I just try to make sure there is food so I don't have to do take out--expense and the need for me to go out and pick up. So sometimes it is definitely light or leftovers.