WIS, WWA | and we're back into a posting routine
What I Spent
We didn't do one of these last week (what can I say, it was a discombobulated holiday time!), but I'm here this week.
I know at least one reader (Hi Becca!) was feeling all off-kilter without knowing what we ate last week. So, hopefully this post will right her world. 😉
I spent a total of $157 on groceries this week.
What We Ate
Saturday
Chicken katsu, with cabbage salad.
I thought I'd posted the recipe here but I guess not; I use the one from Dinner Illustrated, a book from the America's Test Kitchen people!
Sunday
French toast for dinner, with berries and whipped cream. And some orange juice and bacon.
We all know I can't go a week without a breakfast for dinner meal. 😉
Monday
Pad Thai, which I hadn't had in ages. I think my brain kept thinking it had to have shrimp in it, and I mentally wrote it off because Zoe is my dining companion. But duh, it can be made with chicken too!
Here's the recipe I use for pad Thai (before my long Pad Thai hiatus. Ha.)
Tuesday
We ate some grilled cheese sandwiches before going to see some New Year's fireworks with friends. 🙂
Wednesday
A stir-fry, plus some frozen egg rolls. Because homemade egg rolls feel like way too much work for such a small household.
Thursday
We had chicken sandwiches with some coleslaw and fruit.
Friday
I'm thinking some pizza, probably!
Ahh...yes, this is much better...I guess I'm just a sucker for routines. Since I already had last week's menu written up, I've included two weeks worth.
WIS: 243@Aldi for about half food and half gifts, 66@Lidl but this was primarily gifts, and 85@a coffee shop in a local bookstore for lunch while we did last minute shopping, so 394, but like I said, lots of that was actually for gifts, not strictly groceries.
This week (and I went shopping on Thursday instead of Wednesday which was also all kinds of wrong...), I spent 217@Aldi.
WWA:
Fri: salad and focaccia.
Sat: salad and pasta carbonara with peas.
Sun: salad and hotdogs on brioche buns topped with homemade kimchi.
Mon: nachos with spinach, salsa and guacamole.
Tue: breakfast for dinner: waffles with syrup, scrambled eggs with spinach and red peppers topped with star-shaped cheddar cheese, roasted root veggies and pomegranate seeds.
Wed: salad, garlic croissants and homemade lasagna.
Thu: leftover salad and lasagna.
Fri: it was my son's birthday and he requested apple oven pancake, so we had that along with microwaved California veggies, some sauteed chicken breasts and a salad because who would I even be otherwise?
Sat: hmm...I have no picture of this dinner, so I am presuming that we had random leftovers-I think the last of the lasagna?
Sun: salad and tilapia filets over rice and topped with avocado butter and pan fried cherry tomatoes.
Mon: roasted cabbage and what we have dubbed "folatchkia" which is focaccia dough baked in a crust of shredded potatoes and onion. We realized we had neither apple sauce nor sour cream at home so we topped it with salted caramel Greek yogurt which was fantastic.
Tue: New Year's Eve we had salad, roasted root veggies, and a sheet pan Hawaiian chicken recipe that used canned pineapple and a homemade teriyaki sauce over rice.
Wed: the final night of Hannukah plus New Year's day, so we had salad, shrimp and cocktail sauce, a potato gratin made with daikon radishes, orange circles, scrambled eggs with turkey bacon and the year melted in Gouda cheese on top, and challah bread with honey.
Thu: salad and rice and beans, plus a can of pears that I had to open to trick my dumb cat into coming out of the basement where he was unlawfully hiding. We ate them for dessert while laughing at him.
Tonight: focaccia and salad, and normality resumes...
Have a lovely weekend, everyone!
@Becca, I would love to see that festive gratin with the year melted in Gouda or am I reading that wrong? Sounds very creative.
@Bobi,
The year was melted in Gouda, but on top of the pan of scrambled eggs. The gratin was separate. And I have to give my husband full credit for the cheese year. He's the truly creative one when it comes to food. 😉
I have one son about to move out, another will follow shortly, and I am just now getting back to where I even feel like cooking for me. But since there's little way to control salt and fat otherwise, I'm on it! This week:
Monday - kitchen closed - I'm sure I ate something at home, but no idea what. Currently I am loving grilled chik-fil-A nuggets over a kale side salad.
Tuesday - Pulled Pork Sweet Potato, salad
Wednesday - Crockpot Green Curry Chicken mixed into some pasta
Thursday - Crispy Crusted Tilapia, twice baked potato, broccoli
Friday - Turkey Pasta Soup (last of the roasted turkey and stock)
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but I eat a high protein snack when I get home from work.
Happy Weekend!
@Gina from The Cannary Family, Maybe you need to get some Golden Girl roomies. 😉
I missed Five Frugal Things this week which is my personal favorite post. I guess I, too, am a creature of habit, Becca! Happy New Year to everyone!
The last week or so seems like a blur now. WWA:
Saturday - used up some won ton filling from the freezer to make soup. Wished I had bought some spring rolls to go with it.
Sunday - the 20-somethings all came over for a gift exchange with each other and we ordered from a local Afghan restaurant (because ‘let’s try it, why not’). The food (mostly rice, chicken, and curries) was novel to us all but pretty good.
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - we decided to go to a restaurant for NYE (first time in many years), three of the 20-somethings joined and we had a really nice time
Wednesday - roasted a chicken, soufflé with left over mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, sticky toffee pudding
Thursday- leftovers
Friday - most likely meat pies from the freezer and horiatiki salad
Wishing everyone a happy new year
Determined to eat down the freezer for January.It is FULL!
Made some fish filets in fry pan with fresh dill and bagel seasoning.
Hamburger cabbage soup
Lime Dragon shrimp
Homemade posole for new year’s eve with homemade cornbread
Mushroom risotto.
Lots of salads,sauted greens and other veggies form my garden box on the side.
I have been receiving a fresh vegetable box from our local urban farm and it is a LOT! I am on the DASH diet for lowering BP (it works!) which means I must eat. 9-10 servings a day of fruits/veggies (1/2 cup is one serving.) so I have learned to follow you lead,Kristin, and I now have eggs over cabbage or vegetables or mashed potatoes for breakfast.I have salads with my eggs. ANd I eat at least 2 fruits when I wake up.
It’s been hard to get ALL the veggies in , as my appetite has been off lately due to some chronic hip pain. But I am working on it. Every time I AM a little hungry , I pop in some grapes,orange or an apple or pear. MyBP was only mildly elevated and I prefer to use diet and lifestyle to reduce it.it’s working.
I also need to lose 20# and that will help also.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
@Madeline, I also plan to eat down the freezer and the pantry during the month of January. I had a little food waste over the last few weeks. This is something that I try to avoid, but I can’t move things from the refrigerator to the freezer if there isn’t any room.
@Bee, and @Madeline,
I, too, plan to eat down the freezers (plural, sigh) and pantry over the next several months. All are totally full (one upright chest freezer and two freezers that are part of 2 fridge/freezers). There's a LOT of frozen raspberries from my garden in there, so I'm thinking of making raspberry jam, among many other things.
Saturday: I took the three children home with me--middle son was on an ultimately unsuccessful elk hunt with his dad--to a birthday party at the pool a hundred miles away. There was pizza and birthday cake at the party, which was from 4-6 p.m., so that was dinner.
Sunday: Fried ham and potatoes, leftover carrots
Monday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, still-frozen green beans (my children like most vegetable still frozen), fresh bread and butter
Tuesday: Lamb steaks in a red wine sauce, rice, frozen peas. I cooked the peas this time, though.
Wednesday: My mother is from New Orleans and has handed on her New Year's Day tradition of pork for health, greens for wealth, and black-eyed peas for happiness. To that, I have added rice, which my children say is for peace, and pecan pie, which has been assigned joy. 🙂
Thursday: Away from home at the hotel for the night. I had a burger and fries in the hotel bar, plus a vodka and soda. This was my first experience with a "smash burger." It seems to me that it's just a clever marketing ploy for a restaurant to give you a very large bun with very little meat. But! I did not cook it or clean up after it, so I was happy. At home, the older two children made tacos for everyone with the ground beef taco meat that was in the refrigerator. They also had leftover pecan pie and ice cream.
Tonight: I will be at middle son's basketball game with the younger two children until about five. Luckily, there are lots of leftovers to choose from when we get home.
@kristin @ going country, I think my kids would have agreed that pecan pie was for joy. It’s always been a favorite in the household and something that I do not do well.
@Bee, I had never made a pecan pie before last year. The Smitten Kitchen recipe is very good. Even my mother asked me what recipe I used for it. I chop the pecans, though, because I like the texture better that way, and I use dark maple syrup instead of the golden syrup called for. Similar caramel flavor, and much easier to find.
@kristin @ going country, @Bee: The best pecan pie I ever had in my life was the one that a guest brought to NDN's CF's Thanksgiving dinner in 2023. It had about half the usual amount of sugar and was flavored with Chinese five-spice powder. That one was a major joy!
@kristin @ going country,
Pecan pie always makes me joyful. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, I used your excellent recipe for a pot of black eyed peas happiness and even my vegetable averse husband declared them good.
@kristin @ going country,
Thank you. I will look for this up. I have tried several recipes, but none have come out well.
@Book Club Elaine, Yay! Happiness for all!
WIS: About $131 for two weeks of groceries.
WIA: Let's see... I didn't do really well at keeping track, and I went off menu a few times. so:
New Year's Day is easy: black eyed peas, greens and fried hog jowl.
Roasted, seasoned asparagus and sliced ham, with a side of fruit. I had ham and asparagus with another veggie of some kind on another night. No one served ham this Christmas! So I had to buy a small boneless ham for myself.
Leftover Brunswick stew
A scrambled egg skillet dish with lots of veggies in it.
Braised, sliced pork heart cooked with onions and carrots, served alongside green beans.
I'm joining y'all with eating down the freezer. I took inventory and made a list, and am determined to eat it ALL.
This week is full of soups:
Ate the last of the chicken soup from that $3 chicken I bought a month ago.
Made rosemary white bean soup. I got a cookbook by Ina Garten (love her) for Christmas and followed her recipe, substituting kielbasa for the pancetta. Ate half, froze half for future me.
Made 2 bean and ground chicken chili. I used tomatoes and jalapenos in the freezer saved from last summer's harvest. Ate a third, saved a third for the next day, froze a third for future me.
Today, I'm taking a small steak to make beef/barley/veggie soup with all of the veggies frozen in my fridge. Whenever I need to use up a veggie, have leftovers, or am going out of town, I chop the veggies and keep them in a ziploc bag in the freezer. It makes really good soup!
I bought two packages of diced sweet potatoes on the rewrap shelves for $1 each package, and roasted them for breakfast every day this week. Topped with a Kristen style fried egg! Kristen, if it weren't for you, I never would have thought to do this but it is really yummy and filling!
@MommaJo,
Have you read Ina Garten's autobiography, Be Ready When the Luck Happens? She's had such an interesting life.
@Liz B., not yet but I hope to! I got hooked on her shows last winter when I was sick and needed to rest. Watching cooking shows is so relaxing, and I tell myself I'm learning something so I'm not being lazy 😀
@Liz B., Fun read. I received it for my birthday from our culinary-minded older DS (A hobby, he’s actually a professor at Boston College, loves to cook creatively for his family, and would be good friends with Becca's DH, I suspect!).
WIS: I spent $104 @ Costco but I plan on one more stop to get milk, yogurt and a few other fresh items to round out our meals this week.
Saturday: hodgepodge from the fridge
Sunday: Ham & potato salad
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: hodgepodge from the fridge
Wednesday: Turkey Meatloaf, Lemon Parsley Red potatoes, & fresh green beans
Thursday: we celebrated the New Year with a traditional Puerto Rican dinner including garlic roasted Pork sirloin, arroz con gandules, green salad, collard greens and a coconut cake for dessert
Friday: it is freezing cold outside and that means soup or chili! I will use the last of the pork roast to make a chili verde and serve it alongside cornbread I think
WIS: I'll have to skip this today, since I've mislaid my grocery receipts for the last two weeks!
WIA: Nothing special, except for the goodies at the neighbors' New Year's Day party (described yesterday). But I'm making a beef bourguignon tonight with stew meat from my 1/4 steer, plus some beef stock from the freezer and some red wine and tomato paste left over from Christmas Eve.
@A. Marie, do you use the Julia Child’s recipe, the Ina Garten’s recipe, or some other to make your beef bourguignon? Last time I made it, it was too rich. I think I used Julia Child’s recipe.
@Bee, I'm trying this one this time around (https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8451258/easy-beef-bourguignon/)--in part because it does look pretty easy, and in part because it'll produce a slightly smaller quantity than either Child's or Garten's recipe does.
@A. Marie,
Thank you! I have all the ingredients in my refrigerator and freezer. I may put this on my menu next week. Happy weekend.
It has been a busy couple of weeks. My last houseguest - my middle child — left yesterday. Surprisingly, my spending is not too out of whack.
WWS - $135 at 3 different stores. The cost of two items really shocked me - marshmallows and dried black-eyed peas. The cost of these two items has increase by 300% over my price book cost.
WWA-
Saturday - roasted chicken thighs and breasts, rice, lima beans, and salad. (DH’s favorite meal).
Sunday - I cooked a ham that I purchased the previous week. We had that with leftover scalloped potatoes and steamed broccoli.
Monday - Ham sandwiches and fruit
Tuesday - Stayed for New Year’s Eve. All of us were and are tired of eating. We had rotisserie chicken, rice, and salad once again. DH could eat chicken and rice in some form five days a week.
Wednesday - I had family over and made the traditional New’s Year’s Day dinner here in the South - roast pork, black-eyed peas cooked with the leftover ham bone, collard greens, rice, and cornbread. My plan was to roast marshmallows and make s’mores in the outdoor fire. However, no one felt like eating dessert. We all have had enough of the holidays I suppose.
Thursday - Leftovers!
Friday - I am making chicken soup with the leftover chicken carcass. I’m not sure if it’ll be chicken noodle or chicken vegetable.
Have a great weekend and bon appétit.
76 at Sam’s.
Sunday: pesto salmon. Rice. Broccali
Monday: no idea holiday haze
Tuesday: homemade pizza I also made homemade granola when the oven was hot. We did not eat these together.
Wednesday: grilled steaks. Sweet potatoes. Green beans.
Thursday: we had an Applebees gift card. We both got the 9.99 lunch special. Chicken Sammy fries and beverage.
Friday and Saturday: split pea soup with hambone from Thanksgiving from freezer. Cornbread.
I love these posts too even if I am totally shamed reading about your healthy meals while I munch on my morning donut. 😉
It has been a blur with holidays and house renovations, but I am not spending much on groceries and still using up what I have because all my kitchen stuff is all over my entire house. Meals were weird this week because the entire kitchen is tore out except the sink cabinet. So, a sink and nothing else. BUT we get cabinets installed Monday...then appliances can go back in and regular meals can happen even though we will be waiting on countertop stone to be measured and cut.
This week I spent about $35. Bread, fresh veggies, and some sodas.
I cooked a few meals before we started knowing I wouldn't have a kitchen for about a week and had some in the freezer. Between the instapot and air fryer...we've done ok.
We had:
A take on carbonara, but with the leftover Christmas ham in place of the guinciale. I made this in the instapot...first time for pasta in there, but it was surprisingly really good.
White bean stew in pressure cooker with the last of the ham
steak/veggie quesadillas with some leftover prime rib from the holidays.
pulled a brisket that was already cooked from the freezer...had that with leftover potatoes.
My brother came to help with some foundation issues one day and I picked up lunch for us all. It was enough that we had the leftovers for supper that night.
Greek chicken, asparagus, potatoes in the air fryer.
tonight is butter chicken that I made the chicken bites in the air fryer and the sauce in the pressure cooker...will cook the rice in the pressure cooker.
I had last week's ready to go as well so here is two weeks in our kitchen:
Friday: Birria Tacos – I had a taco kit in the freezer that included the meat, sauce, cheese, and corn tortillas that I put aside when I made the tacos. It was the perfect serving for two.
Saturday: I was feeling overwhelmed, so I requested pizza at a local restaurant.
Sunday: Trader Joe’s Japanese Fried Rice. I added some shredded chicken and chopped mushrooms.
Monday: Low Country Boil Packets.
Tuesday: I made a lasagna that we brought over to my grandparent’s house for Christmas lunch (my side of the family celebrates on Christmas Eve). For dinner, my husband made a beautiful prime rib roast that we paired with mashed potatoes, roasted brussels, roasted asparagus, and sautéed mushrooms.
Wednesday: We hosted brunch for my husband’s family: French toast bake, biscuits and gravy, hash browns, egg frittata, bacon, sausage, berry salad. It was just the two of us for dinner so we made French bread pizzas to enjoy while watching movies.
Thursday: It was our anniversary and I made one of my husband’s favorite, Jambalaya!
Friday: Anniversary Date Night – the restaurant that we went to for our first date closed during Covid, but the owners reopened in a new space with a similar menu. We had a great time ‘revisiting’ our first date.
Saturday: “Soprano Pasta” – we had friends over for dinner and they requested the pasta dish I made for them when their family was going through some medical issues. Paired of course with my husband’s garlic bread. The dish is a take on Carm Soprano’s Baked Ziti.
Sunday: Bahn Mi Meatball Rice Bowls.
Monday: Italian Pulled Pork, Zucchini Fries, Rice Pilaf.
Tuesday: Chinese take-out to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Wednesday: Friend’s over for dinner again! Butternut Squash Soup, Chicken Posole (from the freezer), homemade focaccia, garden salad, odds and ends cheese and crackers plate. We’ve been friends for so long we feed each other leftovers – and announce that they are as soon as we walk in the door!
Thursday: Tex-Mex Turkey Tacos, brown rice and quinoa, fresh fruit.
Happy New Year everyone!
WIS: Approximately $110, split between Aldi and Food Lion.
WWA: Paprika chicken made with boneless, skinless chicken thighs served on a bed of Dixie Lily yellow rice. Pot roast with carrots and sweet yellow onions. Chopped sweet kale salad with apple and walnuts added. Nuts, cheese, protein shakes, and oranges for snacky dinners. A skillet meal that's basically homemade Italian hamburger helper, but made with some Italian sausage and lots of veggies instead of hamburger.
WIS: $73.68 which was $0 for me because I used a $75.00 debit/gift card from my health care provider, and another $9.96 (mine) on shrimp for some Old Bay seasoned shrimp salad. (No lobster tails, A. Marie!)
So $9.96 to start off the New Year.
WIA: Marinated London Broil with roasted smashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus (3x and still have leftovers); roasted Delicata squash stuffed with wild rice and sausage (2x); spinach, mushroom and feta cheese omelet (1x); and high protein Greek yogurt with cinnamon baked apples (that I baked because they got a little overripe) (1x). So a couple breakfasts-for-dinner snuck in there.
This time shopping I not only took a detailed list of what I needed (not wanted) but also kept a running total on my phone’s calculator, because I didn’t want to run over the amount I could put on the debit card. And it helped me stay on the straight and narrow and not mindlessly toss extraneous stuff in the cart. And using the self-checkout registers helps because they give you the running total as you go. And now I have a refrigerator full of eggs (so expensive), salads, fruit and vegetables, and a freezer full of marked down chicken and salmon and about half of the London Broil.
An odd week, for sure. We were out a lot.
Sunday: We were at my parents' house and had fish, latkes, roasted vegetables, salad, and sufganiot for dessert. I'm always disappointed by sufganiot, I have to say. I think next year I'll have to make some the way I want them to be: less sweet, tiny like bombolini, non-goopy fillings.
Monday: I don't remember.
Tuesday: Pasta bolognese, baby carrots on the side.
Wednesday: We were at my brother/SIL for the last night of Chanukah, and they served pasta, salad, crackers, and various dips. And some sweets.
Thursday: Chicken noodle soup with broth from the freezer, chicken from the freezer, some vegetables, and rice noodles.
Friday: Mr. B will make us salmon, broccoli, and he'll pick up a challah. I have some butternut squash already cut that I have to use up, so I'll just microwave it with a bit of water and mash it with butter, salt, and pepper.
I always love reading what everyone is having for dinner. Lots of variety.
I, too, am trying to eat down my freezer. I spent 36 dollars and change at Walmart to fill in a few gaps.
Last Friday we had Spanish rice, which is just leftover taco meat mixed with leftover Mexican rice and cheese. And we had oranges.
Saturday was homemade chicken noodle soup and oatmeal bread.
Sunday, half a turkey breast leftover from Thanksgiving, Stovetop stuffing, peas and cranberry relish.
Monday we had beans and cornbread -- canary beans cooked with the bone from the Christmas ham.
Tuesday was pork soft tacos (Pork cubes I canned earlier in the year), refried pinto beans, guacamole and chips.
Wednesday the traditional ham, black-eyed peas, greens (chard frozen from my garden) and cornbread (leftover from Monday)
Last night was peanut noodles with lots of veggies and pot stickers. I made homemade eggrolls before Christmas (I make a big batch and freeze them) and had filling leftover, so I made two dozen pot stickers. We ate half of them last night and I will definitely make them again.
I'm making two loaves of sourdough french bread today and plan to stuff one of them with pepperoni, mushrooms and cheese and have pizza bread for dinner.
Sat - grilled chicken and a combination of a couple types of leftover potatoes
Sun - dine out Mexican
Mon - grilled burgers, box taco rice enhanced with mushrooms, peppers, onions. Sodium content not bad for a box mix. Each of us had an homemade (gift) egg roll which better half cooked on the grill.
Tue - steak for me, salmon for better half, jackets, asparagus
Wed - further enhanced the leftover taco rice with ground beef crumbles, more of aforementioned veggies, leftover rice from Sun
Thu - stuffed leftover jacket with sauteed peppers. mushrooms, some of the leftover steak, and cheese. Better half had leftover pizza (out of freezer), rest of enhanced taco rice, and leftover asparagus. Each of us had an appetizer of homemade egg roll, baked in oven this time. Both types of preparation were good but oven makes it easy.
Fri - carryout Chinese with oven baked egg rolls.
WWS: $13 (but I'm going grocery shopping today); WWA:
Sat: tortelloni en brodo with mushrooms, cabbage, and mirepoix.
Sun: lion's mane mushroom steaks in a balsamic cream sauce over polenta, sauteed cabbage.
Mon: roasted root veg with garlic and herbs
Tues: roasted chicken with lemon, roasted parsnips & carrots, served over sourdough croutons (Ina G.) and gravy; sauteed cabbage
Wed: muffaletta grinders
Thurs: lasagne Bolognese (homemade pasta); roasted cabbage "Caesar salad" with artichoke hearts
Friday: [leftover chicken] pozole verde
Betta, your meals are always so impressively fancy! I want to come eat at your house.
I came here for Food Fridays. I would like a fridge Friday where people post a picture of what’s in their fridge each Friday. I’d also like a Caturday where people post a picture of their cat each Saturday.
Calendar dreaming on such a winters day.
@Tiana, you could start a blog. Call it Calendar Dreaming. You'd have a ready-made audience from this commentariat.
@Tiana, I post a picture of my refrigerator on my Friday food post every week. I started doing it because I am always fascinated by other people's refrigerators, so I thought maybe everyone would like seeing mine. 🙂
I'm only the occasional dinner cook, grocery shop about every 6-7 weeks, and purposely ignore what Husband spends at the local market to supplement (produce and milk for his coffee) each week.
I am the breakfast cook, always eggs in one form or another. So, these days I'm trying to not panic about the horrendous price of eggs and shocking lack of chicken (the only meat I ever learned how to cook with), hoping this doesn't go on indefinitely.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, this made me smile!
I also hope that the egg/bird flu/chicken/supply chain thing will stop soon. I started buying all my own groceries in 2017, and I still remember the egg prices: $2.75 CAD a dozen, or $1.90 USD. I'd about faint if I saw those prices again. My local grocery store doesn't sell a dozen under $4.00 anymore.
@Meira (meirathebear.wordpress.com), I hope she is wrong… “disease epidemiologist Meg Schaeffer of the SAS Institute said: “In my opinion, avian influenza is going to become either a pandemic or a virus … that will become a very widespread and significant health issue for us in the next one to two years.””
it looks like the high prices may be around a while
Cats are catching it too from raw food. My cat has asthma and is allergic to chicken and all birds. She eats some food made from soy.she can bring me soup when I catch it
@Tiana, I too fear avian influenza will be the next pandemic. I watch/read the news and thankfully my underlying health issues father does too. Side note, he fully understands why once a chicken in the flock has it, the flock gets destroyed. He remembers a farm that had hoof and mouth disease (cattle) as well as the polio epidemic inthe 1950s.
The feral I've been feeding/"caring for" has not been seen as of late - longer period than usual of not being around. Last thing I saw him doing was consuming a bird he'd caught (after I'd fed him no less). Makes me wonder.
@Selena, the CDC has a nice updated bird flu page. It could just disappear but the way it’s gone from chicken farms to dairy farms to wild birds, cats and some people makes it seem more determined. And if the government decommissions healthcare watchdogs could be another oops moment.
@Meira (meirathebear.wordpress.com), it was $9.50 for 18 eggs, limit 2, $12.50 if you wanted more and $6.50 for a dozen. So I bought 2x18 and 2x12, and am hoping that will carry us through until my next shocking stock-up. They are $9/dozen here in our little local store!
That chicken katsu looks scrumptious!
We had:
1. Baked potatoes (brocoli,cheese sauce, bacon pieces, etc)
2. We went to a New Years potluck and took posole
3. Really drawing a blank here....but I know we ate other food, just can't remember! Ha!
I've never made Pad Thai. Might have to give it a try. We have made egg rolls and they are worth the effort. We just make a bunch and freeze them so we have them to pull out when we want them. It's been a while. I should plan to make them soon. The HMart coming down the street here opens in a week or two so maybe my first trip there will be for egg roll ingredients. Who knows.
WIS: Milk delivery-$20.50; Flashfood-$76; JP Licks-$9.50 Total: $106
WWA: Sat: Likely leftovers from Christmas
Sun: Arrabiata chicken thighs and pasta w/ asparagus
Mon: We ate the chicken thighs 3 times so if it wasn't a lunch then it must have been this day???
Tues: Leftover chicken thighs and pasta
Wed: Dinner at my parents- Beef braciole, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy. Cheesecake for dessert
Thurs: Chorizo and butternut squash enchiladas w/ rice
Fri: Likely leftover enchiladas and rice
WIS: $0, WWA: I worked 4 straight again and I believe in my heart that this is the end of working more than 4 shifts/month. I cannot be away from the farm that long and as my mom's dementia progresses, she does not do well with me gone. I came home to broken mirrors and piles of laundry. I had a nursing student/family member staying with her, but if you not familiar with the challenges of dementia, then it can be scary for both.
12/29 Work: freezer taco soup/chicken salad sandwich, apple
12/30 Work: freezer cheeseburger soup, green salad, cottage cheese w/avocado
12/31 Work: cobb salad, apple, gf peanut butter blossom cookies
01/01 Work: Asian cabbage salad, apple & mandarin oranges
01/02 Tuscan bean soup & cornbread
01/03 more bean soup, green salad & cornbread
01/04 slow smoked brisket, potato salad & 3 bean salad
Ordered Spring veggie seeds, started a new batch of mixed lettuce greens.
Have a safe & happy weekend!
@Blue Gate Farmgirl, I'm so sorry about your mother and about the broken mirrors, etc. As I know well, mirrors can be scary for folks with dementia--and as you've said so well, dealing with folks with dementia can be scary for other folks. Hands across the miles.
@A. Marie, @Blue Gate Farmgirl - tis an ugly disease that I wish those who put it in writing when of sound mine could opt to not suffer. I know my mom would have taken that option in a heartbeat.
What I spent: $0
Like many of you, I'm making a serious effort to eat down the pantry and freezer this month. I haven't bought any groceries this week.
What I ate:
The past couple of weeks are a bit of a blur. I know we had ham and sweet potatoes for Christmas dinner. I also made focaccia that week.
This week I have been eating smoked sausage in a few different ways: with homemade biscuits and a vegetable (sweet potato or broccoli); in a version of the poor man's meal from Depression Cooking with Clara, which is diced potatoes and sliced hot dog (or sausage) cooked in a skillet, which I served in corn tortillas like tacos; and chopped up in pasta sauce on gluten-free pasta. Tonight I'm going to make pancakes.
Frugal Girl, how do you like to cook your bacon? I just thought I'd ask since I am also a smaller meal (2 person) household over here too. (We usually bake it in the oven)
I usually just cook mine in a pan on the stovetop since I'm generally just cooking for two people. It seems odd to heat up the whole oven for just a few slices, but it makes sense for a family!
Although you know I am just realizing...I could try baking mine in the toaster oven. That wouldn't be such a big use of electricity and would fit a small batch.
Yeah, I know what you mean - turning on the oven for two is kind of a lot of energy expenditure + fuss... Usually though, I make a few extra slices that we can have for leftovers. I probably wouldn't use our toaster oven for bacon since ours is pretty small. Your toaster oven sure looks nice, though! It's definitely larger than mine is. Could be a good option for that bacon! We might be getting a new slide-in double oven soon though and the upper oven is quite small. Maybe that one would make more sense for my bacon endeavors. 🙂
@Kristen, I was cooking a pork chop in my toaster oven. At the end I put it on the middle rack with the broiler function on to caramelize the sauce on top…it started flaming inside the oven. Everything was okay but I’m just wondering if the typical fat splatters from bacon might cause issues.
@Maddie, That's why you don't use the broiler setting for making bacon in a toaster oven. You use a bake setting (350 - 400 degrees) and put the bacon on parchment paper on a sheet pan or the bottom of a broiler pan in the middle of the oven.
@JDinNM, good to know! thanks!
@Kristen, someone's super power here is cooking perfect bacon- we should have them give us some hints!
Here's my go-to method, which work well for small portions. I bake a whole pound or two in the oven (separated on cookie sheets lined with foil for easier cleanup). +/-375 for +/-20 mins typically works well. I cool and drain the cooked bacon, then freeze it. The bacon fat gets poured into a jar in the fridge to have on hand for future cooking. Then, anytime we want some bacon we pull a few pieces out of the freezer and pop them in the toaster oven (usually on some repurposed foil...). It only takes a minute or two, and the bacon crispens up beautifully.
@PD, Your method for cooking (and then freezing) bacon sounds really great! I'll have to give that a try.
@Kristen, do people ever cook bacon in a microwave? I don't have a microwave and don't eat bacon, so just wondering. . . (inquiring mind as usual)
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, it can be done and it can be messy.
We were skiing (and, in a hotel), so I'll just cover what I ate. It was definitely not the healthiest eating week:
Friday - arrived at ski hotel #1. Took all four teens out to dinner at an Irish pub. I hate the potato leek soup + a beet salad. They served it with sourdough bread topped with some sort of chili oil. It was fantastic.
Saturday - took four teens out to dinner at the pub style restaurant in our hotel. I had a Cobb salad.
Sunday - carried on to ski hotel #2. Now it was just the adults + 3 teens. We went to an appetizer style restaurant at the hotel. I had appetizers + a lobster Cobb salad (delicious).
Monday - we went to a pasta restaurant at the hotel with 3 teens.
Tuesday - NYE. DH & I were invited to a 21+ party, so we ordered Chipotle for the teens & we had a pretty unremarkable dinner at the party. I ate the fish, he had steak. The dessert was a standout.
Wednesday - driving home from skiing, and ate at In & Out. I had an animal style cheeseburger.
Thursday - everyone has a bit of a head cold. I once again fed 3 teens (although a different combo this time, as DS18 invited his GF over). We had grilled chicken, garlic bread, salad & gyozas (mostly because we somehow ended up with 3 bags & are trying to work our way through them.)
Friday - I'm about to head off to DS17's soccer game. I'm guessing DS18 won't be home (he heads back to college tomorrow) & DS17 is always unlikely on a weekend. Probably just me + DH, so we will likely have the remaining grilled chicken over salad. Roasted acorn squash on the side, if anyone desires.
WIS $0
WWA - Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we were still cleaning up Christmas week leftovers of pulled pork, bbq brisket, beef roast, (no condensed soup) green bean casserole, cornflake potatoes, baked beans, homemade cream corn, homemade bread, blackberry dumplings, pumpkin roll and mounds of cookies. TOO MUCH FOOD! But they finished off the bulk of it Monday night.
Tuesday - white chicken chili, Hawaiian bread ham sammies, chips and dip
Wednesday - chicken strips, mashed potatoes
Thursday - homemade pasta with our canned pasta sauce, garlic cheese biscuits
Friday - leftovers
M-pot roast w/bread
T- Indian takeout with a friend (vegetable balls in korma sauce)
W-Indian leftovers
R-tofu cream cheese fancy toast with guacamole & fried egg
F-didn’t eat due to migraine
S- pot roast juices over potatoes with braised lentils
Sn- will be eating out with a friend somewhere
This week was more pantry style meals & eating out than I usually do. I feel it has a nice balance of splurging and economical home meals.
Forgot my cost analysis - Tuesday’s meal was $23 (but I got 5 meals from it between lunches & dinners).
Grocery for the week was: ~$40, I shopped before Christmas. It just covers me, my husband doesn’t really eat when he drinks so this year I am not including him in grocery or cooking for him due to high food waste.