WIS, WWA | an uninspired week
You know how some weeks are full of phone-it-in nights? This was one of those!
Luckily, my girls don't really care. Whew.
What I Spent
This week I spent:
- $10 at Firehouse
- $65 at Aldi
- $25 at Mod Pizza
- $12 at Safeway
So, $112 for me.
What We Ate
Saturday
I have been sitting here for a while trying to remember and I am STUCK. My receipts are not helping to jog my memory either!
Sunday
Zoe and I had a little outing together; she chose Mod Pizza. 🙂
Monday
I had a partial jar of tomato sauce that needed to be used, so I boiled some frozen ravioli and topped it with the sauce and some freshly grated Parmesan. Fruit salad on the side.
Tuesday
I had a few radishes that needed to be used, so I made chicken tacos with a radish/cilantro/lime topping.
Wednesday
We had chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, plus some fruit.
Thursday
Lisey was out, so it was just Zoe and me. I had a $10 discount at Mezeh, so I got myself a bowl for $1.50 (yay!) and I got Zoe a sub at Firehouse, since she's not as into Mezeh as I am.
Friday
I haven't decided. Will I phone it in? POSSIBLY.
What did you have for dinner this week?
If you phoned it in, this is a safe place to share. 😉
Saturday - Dinner at my parents' house after unloading, splitting, and stacking firewood for them. We brought brats and veggies, they provided shells and cheese and fruit.
Sunday - Tortellini carbonara with broccoli
Monday - Ham and potato soup, salad, and bread
Tuesday - Grilled pork chops, green beans, sweet potatoes, and devilled eggs
Wednesday - Burrito bowls
Thursday - Clean Out The Fridge night. It's going to be a few days before I cook again, so we tried to get rid of stuff. Burritos, ham, cottage cheese, devilled eggs, cheese slices... it was random.
Friday - It's a surprise! My husband and I are going away for our anniversary trip and it's his year to plan, so I won't know where we're going or what we're doing until we're on the road. 🙂 I just know that I won't be cooking!
@Ruth T,
Happy anniversary! A mystery trip sounds like fun.
@Ruth T, that sounds pretty wonderful! Have you always or often taken turns planning an anniversary outing? Congratulations!
@Ruth T, love the alternating planning! That’s a fun idea!
@Jenny, Yes, we always take turns planning and it's always a surprise for the other person. It's fun! We just go away for one night, but it's been a really fun way to explore new places.
Phoning it in on my salads is a bit of a habit these days. Work, sick kid, birthdays, cat that needs insulin shots...I'm tired, so there were plenty of handful salads this week...also, so much pizza...
WIS: 21.55 on fast food, 28.60 on pizza, 20.63 on a Hungry Harvest box, and two smallish Aldi trips: 88.60 and 117.37. So my total this week was 276.75. That's not terrible for a birthday week.
WWA:
Fri: crudites: celery, mini peppers, cucumber slices with ranch dressing, pepperoni and mozzarella focaccia.
Sat: a proper salad that required lettuce washing and assorted vegetable chopping: celery, yellow peppers, grape tomatoes, and topped with sunflower seeds, leftover tomato marinade from the focaccia, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sundry spices, rice and beans with onions, red peppers and cheddar cheese.
Sun: the rest of the proper salad topped with more tomatoes and an avocado, spaghetti and meatballs using jarred sauce and frozen meatballs, topped with shredded parmesan.
Mon: back to work, so back to handfuls of mixed greens and an Aldi take and bake cheese pizza.
Tue: the teenager's birthday. We had mixed greens salad (I tried to make it sound birthday fancy, but they were indeed just handfuls), pizza (both take out and another Aldi take and bake from the freezer), sourdough brie bread ring, sparkling pink lemonade, and a cake that was constructed out of a base of brownies topped with cheesecake bites, strawberries and whipped cream.
Wed: salad (just handfuls again) and leftovers (pizza, bread ring, rice and beans, cake)
Thu: salad (mixed greens and blackberries), hotdogs on fancy brioche buns, sourdough crackers.
Tonight: probably salad and focaccia. I might wash lettuce since I'm working from home today.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
@Becca, I'm not sure if you're new to a cat getting insulin shots, but in case you are, it gets easier. One of our kitties has been getting them for almost a year now. My husband has an EMT background, so is a lot better at it than I am, but even I can do it quickly and easily now.
@Danielle L Zecher,
Yeah, the actual shots and blood testing isn't too bad. It's the rigid schedule that's killing me. Can. Not. Sleep. In. Ever.
@Becca, yeah, the rigid schedule can be pretty rough. We eventually got better at being able to go back to sleep afterward, but that's still not as great as just sleeping in.
Are you doing the ear prick blood testing or the Freestyle Libre monitor?
@Danielle L Zecher,
Ear prick and I'm using a human monitor. I'm just trying to get lots of data for now. He does seem to be doing better, and I'm still hoping for diet-controlled remission. Fingers crossed!
@Becca, we've never done the ear prick at home. Our kitty had a Freestyle Libre sensor (the same ones humans use) for a while after he had a low blood sugar crash and that thing is awesome. You just scan them whenever you need to check it.
I hope you get diet-controlled remission! We're not quite there, but he's down to just two units a day. Good luck!
@Danielle L Zecher,
So is that like a continuous glucose monitor? How does that work on a cat? Does it cost a fortune?
@Becca,
That cake sounds great!
Also, I love your dedication to salads. As we get more greens here (porch garden and farmers market), I'm hoping to do more salads.
@Becca, yes, it's a continuous monitor. Our kitty, Howard, got it at the emergency very when his glucose bottomed out (LONG story). They charged $100.00 for the monitor, which is a one-time purchase. I assume it's cheaper to buy it at the pharmacy because they also charged $100.00 for the sensor, which we've been able to get at the Wal-Mart pharmacy for around $40.00. They shave a little patch of fur and stick the sensor (there's a very small needle and what looks like a bandaid) on, and it lasts for around two weeks. We've had one monitor fail after five days, but all of the others have lasted the two weeks they were supposed to. They typically put it kind of around a cat's should blades, so they can't mess with it. I don't think Howard even notices it when it's on. A few of our other cats sniffed it once or twice, but no one messed with it.
It takes about 10 minutes for the sensor to start reading the new monitor, and then you just scan it whenever you need/want to check their glucose. It stores all of the readings when you scan them, with the times, and will show you the curve. You can also set alarms to go off for high or low readings. There's a range they have to stay in for the alarms to work, but I'm not sure what that is. Our house is small enough that Howard is always in range of the monitor if we keep it in the living room.
Our vet just writes a prescription for the sensor and we go pick it up at Wal-Mart before Howard's appointment and the vet puts it on as part of an office visit. I think, if you had clippers to shave their fur, you could probably put it on yourself. There are tons of YouTube videos about putting them on. From what I understand, using them for cats is relatively new, but seems to be something that more and more vets are doing. Howard was the first kitty our regular vet put a sensor on.
Howard isn't currently wearing one, but did for all of January and February (his low glucose incident was right before Christmas, and yes, an emergency vet stay over Christmas Eve/Christmas is insanely expensive). We basically used it as a tool to learn his curve and get his insulin regulated to his new diet.
We've never done the ear prick testing at home, so I don't know how the cost compares between the two. Howard also has asthma, and even though he's normally a really chill cat, he gets really agitated with the ear prick testing, which can push him into an asthma attack. He won't tolerate an inhaler, so we manage his asthma with oral medications. So, the Libre was a much better choice for us for him. We can even scan him while he' sleeping as long as the sensor isn't underneath him, so it works really well for not agitating him and causing an asthma attack.
Assuming he doesn't have any incidents, he goes for his regular checkup in July, and I think we'll probably have another sensor put on then, just to make sure we're still at a good dose for him. Or, if he starts to show any signs of not being well-regulated between now and then, we'll take him in for another monitor.
I don't know how often you're testing your kitty, but the big advantage for the humans of just scanning is that it's so quick and easy. I was really nervous about Howard's glucose dropping again after the December incident, so for a while anytime I woke up at night, I'd go scan him before I went back to sleep, and it was just a quick and easy process.
I'm no expert, but I'm happy to answer any other questions if Kristen can facilitate an email address exchange.
There are also phone apps for the monitor, but our phones are older and mine never has enough room for things, so I don't really know anything about the apps. This is the link about the monitor and sensors: https://www.freestyle.abbott/us-en/home.html
@Danielle L Zecher,
Thank you so much for such a detailed response! I bought an Accu Chek human glucose monitor and all the necessary equipment for about 90 bucks. I went with the human one for a couple reasons. 1. The specialized vet ones are more expensive, particularly for the test strips which you need to keep buying because they are one time use. I think a refill pack is like 10 bucks for human and like 40 for the pet ones. 2. My cat is 13 and a male, so I figure I may only have at most six more years where he will need monitoring, but hopefully the humans in my household will live much longer than that, so I figured a device that we could also use as needed made more sense. 3. There are some diabetic cat forums I have found and almost all of the cat owners use the human monitors, so I figured there was more data to compare to if I went with the human one. 4. Also, I figure I am collecting lots of data points, so the actual numbers mean less than the curve, you know?
I did have him stay at the vet to do a glucose curve there, but it cost 200 bucks and they only gave me four data points since he didn't stay all day so I figure doing it myself makes much more sense. It's definitely cheaper, and I can adjust food or insulin doses in real time-although I haven't changed insulin doses yet.
Currently I'm testing him at least twice a day right before each feeding/insulin dose. Then I try to get one or two more tests in the evening and lots of tests (like every couple of hours) on the weekends so I can plot a curve. I don't think I will always do a curve every weekend, but his numbers are already looking better, so I'm hoping to lower his insulin doses this week.
Was your kitty ever on steroids for his asthma? Mine had an upper respiratory infection and was on oral steroids in January for it which I think was the catalyst for the diabetes. That's why I am cautiously optimistic for diet-controlled remission.
@Becca,
And Kristen, I'm sorry to hijack your post for all of this, but I figure it's information that might help someone else since there seem to be lots of cat lovers amongst your readers. I believe that buying the monitor and doing my own glucose testing at home is definitely the more frugal choice!
Oh, no problem at all! I'm glad you shared!
@Becca, Yes, Howard has been on steroids (Prednisolone) for his asthma for years. He’s still on it. He’s also on Terbutaline, the one for humans, which we get at Publix pharmacy since it’s much cheaper that way. The vet says it’s extremely likely that the steroids are what caused the diabetes, but he has to breathe, so here we are. Howard is also an orange tabby, and our vet says they seem to be more prone to diabetes. He’s sixteen, turning seventeen this summer, so we’re at the stage of trying to balance out different conditions and medications. He’s still happy and seems to have a good quality of life, so we’re happy to do it as long as that’s the case.
We’ve done the glucose curve at the vet, too, and like you say, it’s expensive. It’s also not quite as accurate since stress can cause it to be higher at the vet.
I was off work for the holidays when Howard came home from his emergency vet stay after the low glucose incident, so I did about 48 hours of scanning every two hours to get as much data as possible for our regular vet. That was rough on me! But, we learned that Howard doesn’t reach his lowest glucose level after insulin until much later than what’s considered usual, so it was good information to have. And giving him less insulin is also cheaper. 🙂
I think you’re absolutely right about the actual numbers (and times) being more useful than a curve.
Is your kitty on the diabetic food? Howard is. He’s the type of cat who eats with all of the other pets, so we’ve gotten stricter about that, and he’s on a much lower dose of insulin now; one unit twice a day. We’re not likely to achieve remission since he’s still on steroids. From what I understand, though, if the one-time steroids were the catalyst for your kitty, you may very well achieve remission. I’ve also heard of cats being on an every-other-day dose, too, which is still an improvement, but not a place we’ve gotten to yet.
Which insulin do you use? We use the Lantus pen and have found Walgreen’s to be the cheapest place to get it.
It seems like the human version of things is almost always cheaper for pet medication, which explains why more people use it and why there’s more information on it. Between our six cats, we have quite a few prescriptions filled at different human pharmacies and do a lot of pill splitting.
Kristen, sorry WIS WWA is turning into a diabetic cat forum. Maybe view it as a guest post on frugal cat diabetes management. 🙂
I just wanna say that it made me chuckle that your cat's name is Howard. Heh.
@Danielle L Zecher,
I chuckled at your kitty's name, too. 😉 Does he have any cute nicknames?
Mine is named Buddy (because he is everyone's buddy) and he is on humalin, currently 3 units 2x a day, but his numbers have been nice and low for the last week, and I'm planning to try doing only 2 units tonight to see how that goes. I think the switch to canned food is making a big difference.
I about passed out when I saw how much the insulin and syringes cost at CVS because I don't have insurance of any kind on him. However, after I calmed down, I did the math correctly and realized this one little bottle should last until September, so then the 200.00 price tag didn't seem so terrible.
I know what you mean about needing to balance that quality of life piece for a cat as it ages. In Buddy's case, he is also basically an emotional support cat for my ten year old with special needs, so that has to get factored in as well. I think for our family, treating his feline diabetes is frugal in a lot of different ways, despite the undeniably higher than normal cat care costs.
@Becca, @Kristen, people usually chuckle about Howard’s name. He’s totally a Howard, though. One of my friends came up with it for him, and it really is the perfect name for him.
We sometimes call him Howie. And we’ve also nicknamed him Howardpotamus (he’s on the portly side) after the song “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Almost everyone at the vet’s office calls him Howardpotamus, and when he came home from the emergency vet on Christmas Day, we were able to say we got our Howardpotamus for Christmas.
Buddy sounds like a sweetie! It’s so much easier to deal with daily meds/injections for a cat with that kind of personality, too. I’m so thankful that Howard puts up with everything as well as he does. He’s very friendly with everyone too and loves all people and other pets.
That’s awesome that Buddy is basically an emotional support cat for your ten-year-old! Did you have Buddy before your 10-year-old or did you get Buddy to be their Buddy? We’ve gotten a few rude comments from some people about how much money we must spend on our pets, Howard in particular, but I really don’t care. They bring us so much joy and take the place of a lot of other things we could be spending money on.
Howard has definitely been expensive over the years (in his younger days, he swallowed an earring, and I had to pay for emergency surgery for that), but he has also made so many people happy. Repair/service people are always super friendly after they meet Howard, and I volunteer with Chemo Angels, and pictures of Howard are always a big hit.
The Lantus pen is about $80.00 at Walgreen’s, but it lasts quite a while since he’s on such a low dose now. I don’t know if you’ve priced syringes anywhere else, but we’ve had good luck finding them cheaper on Amazon.
@Danielle L Zecher,
Aww, I love that you got your Howardpotamus for Christmas! Buddy was born on my dad's farm and I've had him and his sister, Byelka since they were about 6 months old. They are both 13 now, so they predated my two sons and he wasn't originally a therapy cat. He's just so lovely and tolerant that he has become a tremendous source of comfort, especially during meltdowns or anxiety attacks. My husband's aunt works with therapy dogs and she was always saying how he would make a good therapy animal. It just so happened that we needed one, so it worked out perfectly. As far as spending money on animals, I think that just goes back to the idea that frugal doesn't mean the same as cheap. Being frugal means being intentional about how to use money as the tool that it is to help you live a life in alignment with your values. Also...I find it easier to stomach the costs by singing little songs to myself, like "Therapy cat, therapy cat, Buddy, you're a therapy cat. You cost a lot but you help a lot too. Buddy, Buddy, Buddy, you're a therapy cat..."
Sunday I recall grilling brats and chicken sausages... Made baked beans, steamed veggies and salads...
Monday-tried to make a lo carb pizza using ground chicken as the crust...it's not like it tasted BAD- just so weird to me. won't happen again.. I am not a fan of ground turkey and chicken.. But I did make a tray of mini naan pizzas to use up the pizza sauce knowing when the boys came home from work they would appreciate the pizza!
Tuesday-leftover sausages before track meet!
Weds-rigatoni with meatballs and sauce and garlic bread. Easy Peasy!
Thursday- family supper at a local restaurant.
Friday- no idea
Ooh, then I can share my WWA since I’ve been phoning it for weeks 😉
Friday: As mentioned in FFT it was nachos with ground beef, red lentils and black beans to eat less/save on the meat.
Saturday: Was out all day (last trip with the snowmobile for the season) so had cauliflower soup from the freezer with garlic bread.
Sunday: no idea
Monday: Omelette with ingredients from the freezer, except the eggs 🙂
Tuesday: Used the rest of the ground beef and red lentils from Friday plus carrots in a kind of lasagne. But used macaroni in the béchamel sauce. Served with the rest of garlic bread from Sunday.
Wednesday: had lots of errands, including a trip to the dump with the old floors and such we’ve been replacing. So got a takeaway burger from the gas station.
Thursday: Used the rest of the béchamel sauce to make..ehm, fishballs? I guess it’s the fish equivalent of Swedish meatballs. Served with boiled potatoes and shredded carrots.
Friday: Plan says reindeer stew, but there is high chance it get moved to Sunday and we’ll have something that doesn’t involve so many pots and pans.
It's a safe place to phone it in. 😉
This was the plan, although I didn't stick to it 100%:
Monday - kitchen closed - I ate something, just don't remember what
Tuesday - Chicken Tacos {using leftover pulled chicken from Easter} with pico de gallo and cheese, zucchini
Wednesday - Dr. Martin's Mix, garlic toast {bought groceries after work}
Thursday - Grilled Ham and Havarti wraps on giant flour tortillas, sweet potato fries
Tonight - Sriracha Honey Chicken Thighs with carrots, mashed potatoes
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but of course I will feed myself something. I haven't yet gotten into the groove of my new schedule as I've been working very strange hours...
And today, judge or not, I'm getting Taco Bell for lunch. I love the fries and I need to break away from work for an easy lunch! Happy weekend!
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/
@gina,
Curious to know what Dr. Martin's Mix is? and no judgement here regarding Taco Bell. My hubby loves...well, I forget exactly what he gets there.....but he goes there on a regular basis. 🙂
@Liz B., it’s from Peg Bracken’s wonderful book, The I Hate to Cook Book, from 1960s or 70s! Great quick meals and great dry humor- you can probably easily get a cheap copy. Her other books are equally great. Dr. Martin browns up some sausage, adds rice, celery, etc, puts in low oven, makes a house call, and when he gets home, dinner is ready, to paraphrase it.
@Jenny, Liz B., I love Peg Bracken's books! Look for the older editions. I have the Compleat Hate to Cook Book and the I Hate To Cook Almanack. I love them both.
WIS: $34 at Aldi, $20 at Ollie's, and $31 at Price Chopper.
WIA: My most impressive efforts this week were (a) a homemade olive, onion, and mushroom pizza (which fed me for a dinner and two lunches), and (b) a chicken and rice stew including boneless/skinless thighs (on sale for $1.99/lb. at Aldi this week), a can of cream of chicken soup that wasn't getting any younger, a can of corn off the recent free pile, and some fresh spinach I was able to rescue before the remnants of the bag went to the compost heap. Better than it sounds, actually.
@A. Marie,
Re: your pizza. I laughed when I saw it was olive, onion and mushroom, because my favorite toppings on a pizza are and have always been olives, onions and mushrooms.
@JD, the pizza toppings may be further proof that we're separated-at-birth twins!
Sat.: Leftover grilled burgers, potato salad, and kale salad.
Sun.: Egg za'atar and fruit salad.
Mon.: Chicken salad sandwiches, cucumber salad, and fruit salad.
Tues: Tacos.
Wed.: Cereal.
Thurs.: We both worked through lunch and were starving, so went out for an early dinner of Mexican food.
The plan for tonight is barbeque bean sliders (from Budget Bytes), cucumber salad (also from Budget Bytes), and fruit.
I do sometimes wish there was someone to answer the phone when I don't feel like cooking. Alas, I have no phone-a-friend, and thus cook every night. 🙂
Saturday: Pizza and green salad with ranch dressing. I spent a good chunk of the morning caramelizing several batches of onions for the freezer to take care of the many, many excess commodities onions that were sprouting or going bad. So one was just a cheese pizza, one had bacon and onion, and both had the last of the ricotta I had made the week before. I only had half a can of tomato sauce in the refrigerator, and didn't want to open another, so I stretched it with cubes of pesto and green garlic puree from the freezer. And then I had juuust enough of a very herby pizza sauce,
Sunday: Brisket, cornbread, sauerkraut (still working through the last half dozen or so pints of last year's sauerkraut before it's time to make more in June), raw broccoli for the children, and rice pudding. Because I always make a rice pudding when the oven is on anyway all day for brisket.
Monday: Spanish tortilla, asparagus (from the garden, yay!), leftover corn bread
Tuesday: Bull enchilada casserole. One day I will finish up the bull we helped butcher, um, two years ago. This was not that day, however.
Wednesday: Scrambled eggs, leftover rooster rice, raw broccoli. My kids prefer almost any vegetable raw.
Thursday: Leftover bull casserole, rhubarb/peach pudding. The pudding is an old recipe of my mother-in-law's that's kind of like a crisp, but doesn't have any oats in the topping. It's supposed to be for just rhubarb, but I'm mixing my rhubarb with the too-sweet peach jam right now, so it was a combination pudding. Unfortunately, my children all got cupcakes, cake, cookies, and doughnuts at a late-afternoon celebration at school for our state-winning FFA team, so they didn't have any of the pudding. It was good, though.
Tonight: I took out some ground beef yesterday with no particular purpose in mind, so I'll figure something out with that. I haven't made green chile stew in awhile, and I have a sick one in the house right now, so maybe that. And cornbread, perhaps. As always the plan will evolve--or devolve, as the case may be--as the day goes on.
@kristin @ going country, "evolve or devolve" IS the plan. Ha!
@kristin @ going country,
I like your means of using up the excess commodity onions. I have an excess of non-commodity onions that are starting to sprout, so thank you!
@kristin @ going country, I would love the recipe/info for the rhubarb peach pudding!
@kristin @ going country, you are very admirable in many ways that I read about here and on your website! Huge kudos. I remember lots of lamb at one point. Rooster rice! Canned bull casserole! Though I am wondering vaguely why you didn’t want to open a can of tomato sauce. You can freeze opened cans of it, or it would have easily been incorporated into each one of your following meals. I can see you are a person who likes a challenge and can certainly cope and improvise, or maybe you wanted to use up the pesto and garlic!
@Jenny, I don't have very much of it right now, so I didn't want to use it if I didn't have to.
@Colleen, I'll post it on my blog next week, after I figure out what I actually did. 🙂 Nothing similar is online, as far as I can tell.
@Liz B., You're welcome! If you have a food processor with a slicing blade, that is definitely the way to go for slicing that many onions.
What we spent, party edition: $488
I put "party" in quotes because not many would call what we did a party. Through a series of events, we rented a lodge at a small river-side park for our anniversary, and invited several people, but it was short notice, so just my best friend from high school came, which was lovely, as we hadn't seen each other in person in years. The kids played a long, involved board game, canoed, and played croquet. Call it dipping our toes into socializing after years of COVID-imposed isolation. But the boys all had a great time and want to do it again for their birthdays.
Saturday: pizza night
Sunday: "party"--lasagna, hot dogs, chips, veggie tray, watermelon, homemade brownies, three kinds. We ate so much during the day that nobody wanted dinner when we got home.
Monday: pizza night, courtesy of the leftovers we didn't use on Sunday night!
Tuesday: burgers, tater tots
Wednesday: hamburger stew
Thursday: tacos
Tonight will be lasagna, which we've had a lot but won't until my next shipment of noodles comes via Amazon Subscribe and Save in May. Poor kids.
WIS:$319 @ Costco
This is my Phoning it in "Plant the Garden' Edition 🙂
Saturday: We hired two helpers to move the last of the mountain (30 cu ft altogether) of dirt I ordered for the garden so I threw a pork butt into the crockpot for pulled pork sandwiches and made Amish Pasta Salad to go along with it.
Sunday: even more yard work and errands; leftovers were enjoyed
Monday: I threw some frozen chicken into the crockpot and made a new recipe for Spinach & Artichoke chicken. I served that over egg noodles and sauteed zucchini with onions and peppers.
Tuesday: I worked in the office on this day so those at home had leftovers. I ate avocado toast with eggs when I got home after a 14 hour day.
Wednesday: I made a large batch of BBQ meatballs for the freezer on Sunday so I pulled a bag of those out & tossed them into the oven with onions and a quick sauce. We had Jasmine rice and steamed broccoli alongside.
Thursday: Even more work in the garden after a full day of work so leftovers were had by all. For anyone wondering we have a 2000 sq ft garden which may be small to some but is large to us.
Friday: Truthfully I have no idea and zero inspiration. Takeout might be in our future or we may clean out the fridge and call it good. There will definitely be more batch cooking this weekend as it is vital to my getting through Mon - Thurs without take out meals.
Happy weekend everyone!!!
@Angie, Oh man, having to cook after a long stint of garden work is THE WORST. Those days of hours of digging, hoeing, watering, and planting are the days when I most wish I could phone in dinner. I usually plan on something very easy for dinner on those days.
@Angie,
I well remember splitting and stacking firewood,to many nights to count were sandwiches,unless I had fired up the crockpot in the morning.
Spent $122 at Fresh Thyme Market. This store is new to me and I just love it. This week, we enjoyed:
- Vegetarian reubens (mushrooms in place of corned beef)
- Homemade cream of celery soup
- Spaghetti squash with marinara sauce
- Stewed lentils and tomatoes (Ina Garten recipe that is more delicious than it sounds)
- Roasted vegetables
- Pea risotto
Gosh, yeah, same. This was a week of phoning it in. My view: Everyone was fed? No one died? Good enough.
Saturday: We were at my parent's house.
Sunday: I don't remember!
Monday: Salmon, rice, cucumber salad, and avocado.
Tuesday: I made vegetable soup (which my toddler hated; after taking a spoonful she yelped, held her hand out for a napkin, and wiped her tongue. Discouraging as the chef, but also hilarious.) We also had bread and cheese.
Wednesday: My mom treated us to takeout Japanese food.
Thursday: Mr. B made pasta with tomato sauce and mushrooms.
Friday: I feel like a wrung-out towel after being sick all week, and we were both up last night with our toddler. Takeout it is!
@Meira@meirathebear, HA! Oh toddlers. My husband once spent an entire dinner out (his own birthday, I believe) painting sour cream onto our then 2 year old’s tongue after he took a bite of spicy salsa. Such a funny age!
I had a phone it in week too.
Saturday - chicken parm with garlic bread and cucumber slices
Sunday - dinner with family
Monday - I had French dip meat and au jus in the freezer so defrosted that and had French dips with baby carrots
Tuesday - French dips with carrots again
Wednesday - husband and I had a big lunch and weren’t hungry for dinner so I just heated up a frozen pizza for the kids
Thursday - French toast, bacon, and apple slices.
We usually do takeout on Fridays.
I roasted a turkey, Alton Brown style, so take a guess at what I had most of the week...
This past weekend was my off-week for grocery shopping. Today is shopping day.
For starters, one weekend night I was tired so I pulled a Kristen and had breakfast for supper, something I could never do with DH here, because eating breakfast in the evening offended his very soul. I heated a couple of frozen leftover pancakes which I topped with whipped cream and just a drizzle of maple syrup. I didn't have any fresh strawberries or blueberries, so I added a dollop of leftover cranberry sauce and it turned out to be tasty. I also had a leftover homemade sausage patty with it.
And I had turkey. I had turkey for several lunches and dinners, with several sides including asparagus, cranberry sauce, green peas and sweet potatoes. I had turkey vegetable soup. I had turkey GF sandwich.
So last night I cooked a (bunless) hamburger, which I ate with a salad and ranch dressing.
Tonight is unknown. I may buy something quick to cook when I shop after work. Or I could have... turkey. At least it's almost done. I had put most of it in the freezer after cooking.
Saturday - my son’s 5th birthday! We had family over for pizza, cupcakes and banana cream pie (his request, he’d never had it before but loves bananas so was excited when he learned that such a thing as banana pie exists)
Sunday - easy meal of pasta, jarred sauce and meatballs from the freezer, and some steamed green beans
Monday - my kids’ school was closed so I’d taken the day off to do some fun things with them. We went bowling and ended up sharing a large order of cheese fries from the restaurant there so we weren’t very hungry at dinner, we all ate some cereal later.
Tuesday - tacos with ground turkey, corn, Pico de gallo, avocados, cheese, and sour cream
Wednesday - coconut rice pilaf and chicken gyoza
Thursday - fried the leftover coconut rice pilaf, served with egg rolls
Friday - salmon for adults, chicken nuggets for the kids, chopped salad kit, steamed green beans, canned breadsticks
Feeling like never ending winter here with several inches of snow over past few days…WWA:
Saturday - unstuffed pepper skillet, baguette
Sunday - we were hoping to bbq but the weather turned so we had oven baked pork chops, roast potatoes, salad, store bought blueberry pie
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday- mulligatawny soup, buttered naan, store bought apple crisp pie
Wednesday- leftovers
Thursday- baked chicken drumsticks & thighs, sweet potato fries
Friday - I hear something in the freezer calling my name
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend
Phone it in End of Tax Season Edition:
Saturday: Leftover pizza from Friday night, some kind of crab dip we got on flashfood and chips.
Sunday: Crockpot roast with boxed mashed potatoes and frozen corn
Monday: Grilled cheese and noodle soup (not chicken in it at all)
Tuesday: Special end of season dinner baked chicken, roasted broccoli and some kind of potato
Wednesday: Chicken tenders and fries.
Thursday: Mock KFC bowls
Friday???
WIS: $107 at Food Lion. $44 @ Food City, taking advantage of a sale on Bob's Red Mill products.
WWA: Breakfast for supper on Sunday. The more expensive lower sodium bacon was delicious.
Monday and Tuesday was ham with fresh fruit, veggies and homemade bread.
Wednesday, and the ham was all gone. Pulled some thin-cut beef chuck from the freezer (bought on markdown) and turned it into beef with peppers and onions, a vaguely Asian-inspired dish that made lots of leftovers and is hugely popular with the family.
To go with the beef, the bread machine helped me make a loaf of anadama bread with some rolled oats added and I made a batch of apple-bran muffins for breakfasts.
Phoned it in almost every day! The caveat is that when you ARE the farmer, you can have T-bone steak or hickory pork chops and it is still phoning it in. lol.
Sandwiches and tomato soup ... tuna casserole ... chicken-cashew-vegetable stir fry ... the aforementioned steaks (actually a mix of random cuts: T-bone, filet, beef rib, sirloin) and chops ... I'm missing a couple, but you get the idea. Easy button, all of them.
Had a suggestion for meatballs with mashed potatoes for supper today, decidedly no phoning attached to this one, but will do it.
It's been a week of stresses, our sweet Aussie ate a barn owl pellet - eewww, has been sick ever since, vet gave her meds, one very sick dog. I built a gate to keep her out of the barn that the owl calls home.
Saturday - Burritos, cabbage/radish/lime/cilantro slaw
Sunday - grilled salmon, coleslaw & broccoli
Monday - Frozen rotisserie carcass made into chicken veg soup
Tuesday - 1 slice of ham out of the freezer, cleaned out the veggie bin
asian fried rice, fruit
Wednesday - Steak, potatoes, green beans & green salad
Thursday - Leftover steak, green salad
Friday - Quilt show with friends, chicken soup & berry crisp
Saturday: I cannot remember!
Sunday: Pushed the easy button after grocery shopping and we had chicken tenders from Publix deli with fruit on the side
Monday: Homemade pizza
Tuesday: red beans and rice
Wednesday: Crockpot roast, chips and fruit on the side
Thursday: leftover red beans and rice
Friday: getting Chinese takeout for our son's birthday
Seems like a lot of us had a phone it in week! Saturday through Monday were sick days for me so DH had delivery food & I scrounged for anything bland & tasteless. WIS - $83 at Kroger. WWA-
Tue.- a-day-late anniversary dinner of steak, mashed potatoes & green beans
Wed.- chili dogs/chili buns & chips
Thu.- garlic butter sautéed shrimp, Mac & cheese, corn
Fri.- possibly some chili 3-ways (spaghetti, chili, cheese)
Lots of phoning it in. I flew to my friend's on Thursday, returned Monday, much busyness at home this week.
Thursday: Door Dash at my friend's.
Friday: made dinner at my friend's from what I found[1] - frozen shrimp and canned chick peas simmered in a jar of Thai garlic/ginger sauce; rice noodles; chocolates for dessert.
Saturday: Hack Bolognaise - ground beef simmered in jarred marinara sauce, improved with sauteed shallots, fresh basil, and whatever spices I could find that had any flavor left at all; garlic bread; caesar salad.
Sunday brunch: dimsum by Door Dash.
Sunday dinner: leftovers. Made easier by a cleaned-out, cleaned-up fridge.
Monday: fresh food from Target on the flight (cheaper, tastier, and more to my liking than airport or - much worse! - airplane food for which you have to pay through the nose).
Tuesday: dinner out with my father.
Wednesday: leftover ham, air-fried green beans.
Thursday: frozen dumplings, steamed broccoli.
[1] This is why I learned how to cook. Not to make gourmet meals, not even necessarily to save money. But to be able to walk into a strange kitchen and make a meal with what I find. It's like a puzzle and I love solving it.
I love how "obsessed" you are with your adorable cat. I also am divorcing, moved out in March, and then suffered the loss of my 11.5yo baby puppy at the end of March. It's been rough! It brings me joy to see how loved your fur-baby is, and how much joy she brings your family.
I've been getting lots of takeout because eating something is ultimately healthier than eating nothing. This week, though, I have some wins:
--pasta primavera in lemon-butter sauce, from scratch!
--a pot of Southern beans using leftover beef bone and smoked turkey leg, to be served with cornbread from my freezer (which I made back in February in anticipation of leaving my home)
And I've got ingredients to make a cottage cheese-based Ranch dressing, which I'll eat with fresh veggies.
Oh my, I am so sorry to hear you endured the loss of a pet on top of the divorce pain. Sending love to you!
Your radish topped tacos look delicious!
Friday - Domino’s takeout
Saturday - kids had frozen pizza, husband and I got Torchy’s takeout
Sunday - Random Stuff Meal: grilled brats, grilled cauliflower, salad
Monday - spaghetti, salad, clearance French bread
Tuesday - crunchy clearance beef tacos, corn
Wednesday - chicken tortilla rainbow soup
Thursday - baked salmon with garlic green beans, sweet potatoes
Friday - planning on homemade sausage and mushroom pizza
Oh man, I wish I lived near Mezeh. I'd eat that all the time!
This was definitely a week of phoning it in, but fortunately(?) my husband is always willing to oblige.
Sunday: Smoked Pulled Pork, Mac N Cheese, Coleslaw
Monday: Banh Mi sandwiches (takeout)
Tuesday: repeat Sunday's dinner
Wednesday: Tortellini with broccoli and mushrooms
Thursday: Turkey + wild rice soup (smoked turkey from the freezer)
Friday: Making some fish sandwiches with tater tots
Not a super healthy week, but did the best I could.
Last Saturday, we had Mission BBQ for after the memorial service for my mother-in-law.
Sunday- BLT salad
Monday- baked chicken and roasted vegetables
Tuesday-chicken enchiladas
Wednesday-green salad with leftover chicken on top
Thursday-green salad with the last of the chicken and a little bacon
Friday-fresh vegetable wraps using rice paper filled with Romaine, cucumber, chives, parsley and red pepper. These wraps can be dipped in a spicy soy and peanut butter sauce ( this part of the dish I haven’t made before… hope it turns out well).
Saturday-maybe Mezeh ( when you mentioned Mezeh, Kristen, I thought that sounded good for Saturday).
I actually meal prepped last week-end, yay! So I had lunchs (for me) and diners (for the 4 of us) ready for the whole week.
- stuffed peppers
- baked spaghetti (with meat, lentils and tomatoes/tomato juice)
- Pesto chicken + sweet and white potatoes+roasted brussel sprouts
- marinated honey garlic steak cubes served on rice, side of roasted brussel sprouts
And I had a white gravy poutine yesterday (guess where I'm from! 😉
Enjoy your week-end!
WIS: Wegmans: $53; Neighborhood: $30; Stop & Shop: $16; the Star: $13; Whole Foods: $21; Ice cream shop: $9; Liquor store: $20; Butcher shop: $21; Milk delivery: $24; TGTG: $15 Total:$222
WWA: Saturday: Went to a brewery, split chicken sandwich w/ Caesar salad, poutine, and soft pretzel with beer cheese
Sunday: Duck a L'Orange, homemade potato chips, green beans
Monday: Pork loin w/ rhubarb BBQ sauce, fig & mascarpone ravioli w/ brandy cream sauce, asparagus?
Tuesday: Bean and cheese tamales, refried beans, corn salad
Wednesday: Steak w/ chimichuri, roasted carrots, poblano mac & cheese
Thursday: Dinner out at Mei Mei because it was their anniversary and we had credits to use. Scallion pancake tacos w/ pork, cheddar potato dumplings in a cheese blanket, harvest dumplings with a sauce, kewpie mayo, & bonito flakes. Mochi cake for dessert.
Friday: African style sausage, polenta-like side dish traditionally eaten w/ said sausage, asparagus because vegetable
@Jaime, pretty adventurous!
WIS: $34.94 at Grocery Outlet, $7.26 at Smart & Final, $20.88 at Walmart, $61.24 at Costco. For the grand total of $124.30
We are a family of 2 adults and eat all of our meals, snacks and beverages at home, unless provided by work. This is about half of what I typically spend, as I usually do a “big shop” every other week. We will be going on vacation soon, so just got items to tide us over until we leave, some items that needed restocking, and snacks & food for traveling.
Sat: No Sugar BBQ Pork on homemade potato buns (www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/hamburger-potato-buns-recipe)
Sun: Cheese Burger & Fries, neighbors treated to take out
Mon: No Sugar BBQ Pork on homemade potato buns
Tues: Chickpea pancakes & roasted cauliflower and carrots
(www.camillestyles.com/food/chickpea-pancakes)
Wed: Chickpea pancakes & roasted cauliflower and carrots
Thur: Tuna melts
Fri: Salmon, broccoli & baked potato (probably)
My girls want to join in (ages 7 & 10). Here’s what we remember:) My hubby worked 3 nights/week, so it was crazy.
Sat/Sun: don’t know
Monday: Sandwiches & strawberries
Tuesday: Ravioli & peas
Wednesday: homemade Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday: Spaghetti & meatballs
Friday: out to local pizza place
86 spent at Kroger pick up. 22 at Aldi.
M. Leftover ham. Mashed potatoes. Green beans.
T. Ham and scrambled eggs. Toasted English muffins. Fruit
W. Flatbread pizzas. Semi homemade
Th. Chicken and rice. Low residue diet
F. Chicken and rice. Low residue diet
Sat and Sun. Clear liquid diet for a minor medical procedure on Monday.
I can't remember everything, but some of our meals were:
- Peanut sauce over rice
- Pizza and chips. We keep the pizza prices down by adding the mozzarella moderatly and using cheaper toppings (like onions instead of imported pepperoni).
- Leftovers
Warehouse week again, though not as big this time. For various reasons I bought a lot of drinks this week - most of my Stop & Shop visit plus a few others.
WIS: $134 at Wegman's, $227 at BJ's, and $157 at Stop & Shop makes $518 total.
WWE: Spaghetti & meatballs, chicken fajitas, tacos, chicken nuggets/homemade pizza, leftover BBQ with newly made mac n cheese
Last week was hit or miss. Had a big pot of minestrone soup and rolls and salad twice. Got RAMEN take out.It used to be $10.50 a bowl now it is $15.50.Last time we will be ordering ramen. Just too much. Made baked cod with pank crumbs, roasted with carrots and potatoes. Another night was clean out the fridge night and I had a beet salad, a regular salad and some leftover spaghetti. This week I want to make some better meals— I got a Costco chicken for tonight and we will go from there….