WIS, WWA | a work week
I have spent most of my week at the hospital since I got back. But I am off today. Yay!
What I Spent
I spent:
- $53 at Aldi
- $10 at Safeway
So, $63.
And I did not buy any food out at all, which is pretty good for having just gotten home from a trip. Yay me!
What We Ate
Saturday
My flight got in very late Saturday night, so I was absolutely more tired than hungry when I walked in the door. Straight to bed I went!
Sunday
I had one day to unpack, do laundry, write blog posts, and prep food for my work shifts, so I was really busy.
Luckily, Zoe had some leftover pizza in the fridge from when I was gone, so I heated that in the toaster oven for us for dinner.
Monday
We had the stuffed shells I'd frozen a few weeks ago. Someone asked about the cooking method after freezing; I pour a little sauce into a pan, put the shells in, pour more sauce over the top, cover the pan, and let it sit in the fridge all day while I'm at work.
Then they're nicely thawed and they bake in the usual time. I know you can bake them straight from frozen too, but that will obviously require a longer baking time.
Here's the recipe I use for stuffed shells, in case you want it!
Tuesday
I had planned to grill the burgers from my freezer, but I forgot to get them out before work. And that was just as well because I was so freaking tired when I got home, all I could manage was a bowl of cereal.
Wednesday
Zoe had a late lunch and wasn't hungry, so when I got home, I just made a grilled cheese sandwich, using whole wheat sandwich bread, and then went to bed.
Thursday
I only had a five-hour new grad residency class, so I was able to eat dinner at a normal time. Amazing! I just made a fruit salad and some cheese quesadillas for us.
Chiquita took my seat when I got up, so I just scooted that chair over and took another one. 😉
Friday
Since I have really only had one day at home since I flew back, I have not had a proper rifle through the fridge. So I am going to do that today and then figure out what I need to use up for dinner.
The stuffed shells look good!
Saturday: Burritos with mixed veg, black beans, brown rice and sauce.
Sunday: Mashed sweet potatoes with veggie burgers and mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach on the side.
Monday: Baked sweet potato with a mushroom omelette.
Tuesday: Chilli mac and cheese.
Wednesday: Leftovers. I'd forgotten it was Pancake Night on Tuesday so I belatedly made pancakes ( crepe style) as well. I had some with lemon and sugar and some with nutella.
Thursday: I had a large lunch and met a friend after work so I wasn't very hungry when I got back. I made a mushroom omelette and had some crackers with hummus and avocado on the side.
Friday: I'm going out for dinner paid by the union so I don't know yet!
We love a dinner paid for by someone else! Enjoy. 🙂
Thanks! 😀
Oooh your vegetarian meals always sound so good! What sauce do you use on burritos?
Thank you! I just use an instant jarred taco sauce. In a pinch I use a tin of tomatoes which I flavour with onion, garlic and chilli flakes 🙂
I feel exactly the same way about your yummy and healthy-sounding menus, which are among those I look for each week. And, your dips in the sea in winter astound me!
Aw, thanks!
We had -
Saturday - Chinese food - I ordered lots, as we were expecting more people. They didn't come for various reasons
Sunday - leftover Chinese
Monday- ravioli with asparagus and mushrooms
Tuesday - pancakes with sausage rounds, roasted potatoes and fruit. ( I added peanut butter protein powder in them, along with a few done with chocolate chips and others with blueberries)
Wednesday - our version of ramen bowls - we seared scallops to add.
Thursday - the plan was BLTs with salad, but I didn't have any bread thawed. So we had nachos instead... We topped them with black beans, sweet potatoes and ground beef mixture we pulled from the freezer.
Tonight will be BLTs and salad...
My husband to be bought groceries - I figured he spent under 100.00
Saturday & Sunday - we were on a trip & ate out
Monday - Taquitos/Quesadillas + Guac + Salsa + Chips + Raspberries + Apples
Tuesday - Garlic Chili noodles for them & Tofu w/green beans for me
Wednesday - Salmon + mac n cheese + Roasted purple sweet potatoes + strawberries
Thursday - Tried a new pizza dough recipe for homemade pizzas
Friday - Probably ravioli + roasted cabbage + fruit
I spent $80 this week and managed to stock up my freezer. I can't remember what I had on Monday - I was so tired after work. Probably cereal. On Tuesday I grocery shopped, so I fixed ribs in the crockpot and had a baked sweet potato. Wednesday I had some freezer spaghetti with some brocc/cauli on the side. Thursday I had mac and cheese with the rest of the brocc/cauli and some baked chicken. Tonight will be the rest of the ribs and a side salad (no pasta!) I have been snacking on fruit and making healthier choices overall. (:
Ohhh, I feel that “so tired after work” thing. Do you work 12s too?
WIS: $27 at Ollie's (a lot of which was for bird food) and $84 at Wegmans (which included some of the supplements I take).
WIA: Best effort of the week involved half a family-size pack of boneless/skinless chicken thighs. (I got two of these packs Reduced for Quick Sale at Wegmans for less than Aldi's usual *sale* price. I froze the rest.) I gave the thighs a quick marination and then sauteed them and enjoyed them in sandwiches and chef's salads for a couple of days.
Your meals look delicious.
This week was a bit odd for us because we went to a cabin and then got stuck because of a blizzard.
Sunday-takeout pizza per birthday kid’s request
Monday-enchilada skillet with chips and veggies
Tuesday-leftovers for me; Raman and fruit and toast for kids (we had spent 8 hours in a pool from 6pm mom-6pm Tuesday and my kids were famished and exhausted)
Wednesday-snowed in! Sammies, crackers and cheese and fruit
Thursday-we didn’t eat lunch until 2 or 3 after clearing out our driveway so we just had Guac and chips and veggies
Tonight I think I’ll make meatballs or rice and beans with lots of veggies. We will see.
Wednesday-snow storm night
“Proper rifle through the fridge” is so cute!
Your first line reminded me of something funny: when a healthcare provider says "I was in the hospital all week" I feel you sometimes have to qualify "...working, I was working!" just to reassure everyone. Reminds of when I spent some time working on a team with a name that was shortened to "crisis" and every time I answered the phone I'd go, "Hi, this is Meira in crisis" which felt so silly until I figured out to just say, "Crisis. This is Meira." And then the next year they renamed the team anyway.
Anyway. Dinner. We all took turns being sick this week. Bleh.
Sunday: I was on call and used a meal voucher for a veggie sub.
Monday: No idea. I was feeling so sick that day. Pasta, maybe?
Tuesday: Pancakes, eggs, and fruit (used the softening strawberries with some frozen blueberries.) Mixed yogurt with milk (50/50) for buttermilk. Works every time.
Wednesday: This is when I regained my appetite. Baked-from-frozen chicken schnitzel, frozen green beans with garlic, chicken broth (from, you guessed it, the freezer) with macaroni, and Mr. B had bought a dragon fruit for dessert.
Thursday: Takeout pizza, broccoli.
Friday: No idea. Mr. B will figure it out.
I'm sorry you were all sick! I hope everyone is feeling better now.
Sorry that you have this going around your family, especially with a little one, a.ways harder. In sympathy, my DH and have have endured ugly colds for a long week now, hoping for relief soon. It adds to the drearies since our huge snowpack is only beginning to melt after four weeks now. Hello Spring please ha.
Hahaha yes, exactly! And your "Meira in crisis" made me giggle.
Saturday: Frito pie (a bed of Fritos with chili and top, and then all the toppings you might use for chili), Smitten Kitchen's chocolate budino. This was the most insane chocolate pudding ever, pretty much solid and so rich.
Sunday: Leftover chili and rice combined with cheese and sour cream in a skillet meal, a king cake sent by my mother (from Haydel's for any of you who were wondering). PSA: Should you ever encounter a king cake in the wild and are wondering who would ever eat this dry coffee cake with way too much sugar on top . . . heat it up with butter on top until the butter and sugar melt into a frosting and the cake is soft. Then you will see.
Monday: Enchilada casserole using the last of the chili, lots of beans, pieces of corn tortilla that had been hanging around too long. Also carrot sticks.
Tuesday: Fat Tuesday Feast! First we had French 75s, which are gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice topped with champagne. We also had a cheese plate with Edam, blue, and goat cheeses. And then for dinner, jambalaya with chicken (actually rooster 🙂 ) and andouille sausage, butter-swim biscuits, green salad with vinaigrette, and butterscotch pudding. I was going to make pralines for dessert, but we had a guest with us at dinner and it was his birthday, so he got to pick dessert.
Wednesday: Pasta with a very random sauce consisting of pureed canned kidney beans, tomato paste, and dairy. Plus fried eggs. There were peas in the pasta, so that was the vegetable.
Thursday: I was at homecoming all afternoon. I ate some leftover enchilada casserole before I left, and some almonds during the games. My three children with me had concession food for dinner. The two family members at home had leftover jambalaya.
Tonight: I have enough leftover pasta for a side dish, which is conveniently meatless for this first Friday in Lent. I'll make tuna patties to go with them, and take out one of the bags of caramelized cabbage from the freezer for a vegetable.
But do remember shrimp, lobster, scallops, and crab are allowed on meatless Lent Fridays. Better half was raised catholic, chucked it as soon as he moved out of his parents' home and rooted/roots for Francis and now Leo - time to join the 21st century as he says. Better half finds meatless Friday to be a bit hypocritical given the seafood options.
This week we had:
Sun - pork chops, mashed potatoes, and kale salad. The pork chops were undercooked and the mashed potatoes were a little sticky. Ugh.
Mon - pumpkin curry with tofu and rice. This didn't land well with all :/
Tues - canned soup and sandwiches.
Wed - OUT for a birthday dinner!
Thur - pancakes, eggs, bacon, oranges.
Fri - We are meeting friends out tonight.
I'm frustrated with family dinner right now, as I make dinner every night and someone usually complains. With dietary restrictions and some annoying preferences, it can feel impossible. SO I told Claude (AI) about our dietary restrictions and my teenage athlete son (who needs a lot of food) and I got a three week dinner plan, shopping list, and recipe booklet. Hopefully we'll find some new standbys.
If anyone else is in a dinner rut, I highly recommend. I've also heard AI is great at generating recipe ideas if you tell it what you have in your pantry.
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $197 ($56 at Safeway, $76 at Trader Joe's, $39 at Target and $26 at Sprouts). I am gobsmacked over high grocery prices. Dinners were:
- Mushroom tartlets, coleslaw and olives (odd combo, I know)
- Nothing as we had a late and filling lunch
- Penne with marinara sauce
- Salad (twice)
- Fried egg on toast
- Three Sisters Bowl
How thoughtful of you to preheat the seat for Chiquita! Your picture is adorable. A FG family meal.
Haha yes, when I sat down on the other chair, I did notice the slight chill through my scrub pants!
My contribution of today to the Chiquita Caption Contest: "Does this chair make my rump look big?"
And what a perfect caption it is A. Marie! Made me snort.
Ours is a combo of meals eaten out, and meals eaten when we got back home.
After getting home from our trip, we had:
-Tzatziki protein bowls x2 (made with rotisserie chicken)
-Delivery pizza before my parents left (their request)
On our trip, we had:
-Airplane food - mine was some sort of chicken that was very okay
-Dinner out - I had grilled salmon & a beet salad
-Dinner out - we shared a few Thai dishes: pineapple rice with shrimp + chicken curry
As for tonight, I think I'll be making orange chicken. Or, rather prepping orange chicken from the freezer. I do have a proper menu plan heading into next week.
This was a weird work week for me also, I worked the same hours but had 2 extra days of work in had days. Worked out well as cat has been sick and I spent a lot of time at the vet!
S - dinner at work (perks of kitchen work): crab cake & broccoli apple slaw
M - Trader Joe’s cheese & chicken enchiladas
T - stew & biscuit my dad made (he’s 90 & still cooks dinner every night)
W - pizza leftovers
Th - dad’s meatloaf & scalloped potatoes
F - likely tofu teriyaki as I try to do a fakeout takeout meal once a week.
Saturday: Husband and I had a late Valentines's Day lunch at a new-to-us diner. Two cheeseburgers with fries and mashed potatoes chosen as our respective sides. Pretty good and lunch was a two for $20 deal.
A few crackers, cheese, and Aldi white cheddar cheese popcorn (love this stuff) for later evening snack.
Sunday: Spaghetti with heart shaped meatballs. I make this every year for Valentine's Day, but this year we had it on Friday night instead. Sunday was planned for its second night.
Monday: Pork carnitas. Wasn't impressed with the brand of flour tortilla. Pork was good.
Tuesday: I had a bit of pork, just pork because that tortilla is lame, but I cannot remember what else I had.
Wednesday: A hot dog.
Thursday: Slightly stale Pop Daddy brand garlic parmesan pretzel sticks. I wasn't that hungry. I much prefer the Dot's brand of pretzels, but Pop Daddy has to be eaten. I guess I could have toasted them in oven to taste better, but lazy me did not.
Friday: I think steak if we can find it in the freezer. We have lots of venison taking up room. I don't want venison. Also, we have TONS of broccoli to use up. Like so much. Son brought some home, we had some that I forgot about, and then I bought more. Not overly fond of broccoli cheddar soup. Could use a bit in a stir fry. Mushrooms and peppers will be sauteed to accompany the hidden steak if we find it.
Yes! That's the popcorn in my lunch picture. 😉
WIS: $99 @ Food Lion.
WEA: Our kitchen was out of commission on Monday for plumbing work, so we had sandwiches. I next cooked a big pan of sweet chili pork and veggies, with rice on the side, and we had that for several days. The leftover rice was made into a yummy rice pudding with raisins. I bought a cold cooked chicken on Wednesday and made sandwiches from that.
Yesterday DH and I went to Sonic for fast food, which has not happened in about a year and a half. Although it was a lunch meal, we did not need supper after that.
Today I am going to make chili for DH and a pasta dish with chicken, spinach, butternut squash and mushrooms for myself.
White Chicken chili w/cornbread waffles
Burrito bowls, cherry chocolate brownies
Dinner salads, sumo oranges
Taco salads
French dip sandwiches, veggies and hummus
Enchiladas, leftover roasted butternut squash from Sunday.
Grilled salmon and kale salad
White chicken chili is so good. Not sure of your recipe but better half's is a short cooking time.
What a delicious-looking fruit salad! 5 stars P.S. I think you should do a little random series sometimes: Friday meals that I put together after rifling through my fridge. Inquiring minds want to know! 🙂
I love the little slide show that plays when I clicked on the Stuffed Shells recipe. I used to make them alllll the time when I was the cook in our house. Since my husband took over, we have not had them. Time for me to dust off my apron. 😉
I spent $76 at Kroger and $23 at Aldi. I'm
– Sunday – grilled steak, baked acorn squash, salad, homemade Olive Garden Zuppa Toscano.
– Monday – We went to see a new portrait of President Clinton (painted by my neighbor!) and ate a late lunch at a local German tavern so we just ate soup and grazed for dinner.
– Tuesday – baked pork loin, cooked rutabaga, penna pasta with grated truffle cheese and butter.
– Wednesday – pot pies, brown rice, roasted garlic broccoli.
– Thursday – baked salmon, boxed cornbread stuffing, steamed carrots, leftover rutabaga.
Friday – we are having oven baked brats with peppers and onions on hot dog buns with fried potatoes and homemade cole slaw.
WIS: Farmers market-$58; Neighborhood-$70; the Star-$10; Pemby's-$18.50; Milk delivery-$22 Total-$178.50
WWA: Sat- Chicken enchiladas, mexican rice, elote corn
Sun- Pizza w/ white sauce, butternut squash, apple sausage, caramelized onions, and blue cheese
Mon- Cajun fettucine
Tues- Leftover fettucine
Wed- Out w/ a friend- Chips & salsa, shrimp quesadilla and side of beans
Thurs- Leftover cabbage rolls with buttered noodles
Fri- Cajun BBQ shrimp, grits and asparagus
Do you make your own white sauce for your pizza? If you do, would you mind adding the recipe? Thank you:)
Friday: dinner out for Valentine's.
I then hit the easy/lazy button:
Sat/Sun: Work nights - leftover lasagna (pre-portioned, from the freezer). My guy made turkey meatloaf for himself
Monday - I cooked a piece of fish (Red Lobster) and asparagus, he had leftovers.
Tues/Wed: Work nights again, so I made chicken tortellini soup, using a bag of turkey and broth from the freezer, along with the frozen tortellini and frozen bacon crumbles.
Thursday: easy button again since I just finished my 4th night in 5 days: chicken chunks/nuggets (Just breaded or something like that from Costco) and a protein quinoa/broccoli/chicken frozen concoction from Costco to which we added asparagus. I'm sensing a theme here...use up stuff in freezer.
Tonight: I'll pull a protein from the freezer and make something with it lol. ? Turkey soft tacos? Shrimp linguine?
Saturday: we made Valentine's dinner for our kids/SO's...steaks, twice baked potatoes, corn, and strawberry cheesecake dump cake for desert with cool whip
Sunday: we had sloppy joes, baked beans, chips & dip at a friend's house while watching Nascar
Monday: Hubby ate pizza and I ate nothing as I was sick
Tuesday: bacon wrapped beef pinwheels, seasoned noodles, green beans
Wednesday: coconut shrimp, fries, pickles
Thursday: takeout.....calzone for hubby, I had a minis 5 cheese pizza and we shared an antipasta salad
Friday: Spaghetti stuffed cheese bread, salad
WIS: $0 groceries, $12 lunch McDonald's
WIA:
Saturday: beef stew
Sunday: cabbage salad
Monday: cabbage salad
Tuesday: beef stew
Wednesday: chicken pot pie, KFC
Thursday: chicken bbq sandwich, tomato basil soup, Panera
Friday: McCrispy chicken sandwich, fries
All food, except for today, provided by friends of the woman I am caring for post-surgery. Today's extravaganza meal from McDonald's was my treat.😊
Do you put flavoring in your fruit salad ? Or is it just fruit , looks yummy .
Just fruit! Easy peasy and very tasty on its own.
Lest you forget she’s the lady of the manor!!!!!
OBVIOUSLY.
Gotta love Chiquita!
Ramon soup w carrots, celery, 2 slices of sausage; good enough.