WIS, WWA | Bones: yes. Cooking: no.
What I Spent
I felt like I spent this week kind of easing into the swing of things, especially since I had an exam right away after I got home, and then I promptly got an enormous bone terminology assignment.
I've been working hard on memorizing the six pages of bone terms (!), and I am making good progress. But I haven't spent much time cooking, so there will be no chef-ing awards for me this week! I flew by the seat of my pants with a few slightly disorganized grocery trips, and no menu plan at all.
The good news is that despite my lack of planning, we did manage to mostly eat at home.
Here's what we spent:
- $22 at BJ's
- $13 at Giant
- $23 at Lidl
- $47 at Harris Teeter
- $5 at Potbelly Sandwich (see Wednesday)
So, $110 altogether.
What We Ate
Saturday
I came home from the airport on Saturday evening around 7:30 and I ate a sandwich.
Sunday
Mr. FG and the girls had not eaten the Trader Joe's orange chicken that I'd left in the freezer, so I threw that into the oven, made some jasmine rice, and cut up some produce.
Monday
Mr. FG picked up a rotisserie chicken on the way home, and I made some gravy using the juices from the bottom of the chicken container. I also thawed some homemade rolls and made a fruit salad.
Tuesday
Another easy-button night!
I made a grilled ham sandwich for Sonia, grilled cheese sandwiches for the rest of us, and I also heated up some canned tomato soup.
We had raw veggies and fruit on the side because: easy.
Wednesday
It was a night of conflicting schedules; I made lazy crepes for Sonia and Zoe:
And then after I dropped Zoe at youth group, I got a bowl of chili and a free cookie at Potbelly ($5 for the chili) and did some studying while I waited to take her home.
Mr. FG had a late lunch so he just ate a bowl of oatmeal when he got home.
Thursday
I got a bag of homemade pork tinga out of the freezer and we used it to make tacos. Raw fruit and veggies on the side (oh hey, do we see a theme here??), plus chips and salsa.
Again: easy!
Friday
I think I might make chipped beef on toast, which is, no surprise, easy. 😉
Our meals have been extremely repetitive. On Saturday I made potato and leek soup and that fed has for three meals. On Monday I made a pot of minestrone and we ate that on three nights. Last night we had lamb burgers which were cooked just as a huge storm took out the power for close to four hours. Tonight it was steak and noodles with fresh fruit. It has certainly been a cheap week for meals and we have used many little things that we taking up space.
@Suzan,
I think repetitive meals are a great frugal choice and help save time. My husband and I love leftovers (if the original was good). I typically cook a lot on the weekend and reheat through out the week.
This coming week is burrito/taco week. Today I am making slowcooker "refried" beans and tomorrow I will make slowcooker Orange Ancho pork and we will eat that 'til it's gone.
I'm all about the easy dinners, especially if you have people at your house who can basically fend for themselves! Our dinners this week:
Monday - Mole Chicken Drums (crockpot), chard, steamed carrots
Tuesday - Apple Gouda Chicken Sausage with charro beans, spring mix salad
Wednesday - Tilapia with onions and peppers, skillet potatoes, broccoli
Thursday - Turkey burger on ciabatta, sliced onion and tomato, tortilla chips and guacamole {mom on-call}
Tonight - Cranberry Gorgonzola Salmon Patties, green beans, acorn squash {mom on call}
Saturday - {mom on call} TBD
Sunday - wine club pick-up for lunch, probably take-out for dinner
I can't wait for the weather to cool so I can justify a crockpot of soup at least once a week - talk about pressing the easy button!
This was a busy week and I need to think if I can remember-
Spuds with beef and onion stew and bra
@J, whoa! How was it?
Saturday: Beef fajitas, pinto beans
Sunday: We despatched our very last meat chicken, which weighed in at 13 POUNDS. That's crazy. It definitely had big enough breasts on it that I could use them separately, so I made breaded chicken strips. I've never made them before--since I never have chicken breasts--and my children were appropriately excited. After making chicken strips with a bird that had been running around the day before, plus bread crumbs made from bread I also made myself, and eggs I gathered in our porch, I served it with . . . generic frozen tater tots. Inconsistency, they name is Kristin. 🙂 We also had corn on the cob, cucumbers with ranch dip, and pots de creme for dessert.
Monday: I pressure-cooked the rest of the chicken carcass to make stock, then used some of that and some of the meat to make a soup kind of like chicken minestrone, with tomato and beans. We also had bread and butter and cheese.
Tuesday: Bunless cheeseburgers, rice, green salad with ranch dressing
Wednesday: Italian sliders (very small hamburgers seasoned like meatballs and covered with marinara and our mozzarella-like asadero cheese), pasta, the zucchini-like calabacitas fried with tomatoes and onion, another green salad with ranch dressing
Thursday: More chicken soup to use up the last of the chicken meat and stock, this time with a can of black beans, tomatoes, frozen corn, leftover rice, and sour cream. Not sure what to call it, but it was good. I also made cornbread.
Tonight: Dunno yet. It's chilly and pouring rain and we have to drive 200 miles to pick up a vehicle at the mechanic, so possibly something stew-ish I can make this morning and have ready when we get home. Gotta go freezer diving. Wish me luck.
@kristin @ going country, that was one HUGE chicken!
Um, whoa. That's, like, a small turkey!!
@Kristen, That's actually exactly what they looked like. It was always startling to see them next to our normal chickens.
1. Pad Thai Noodles and Whiting
2. Vegetarian Shepard's Pie w/Salad
3. Nachos
4. Leftovers
5. We went out for Mexican Food-and I am reminded why we rarely eat out-Eating out w/our family of 3 cost us 50% of our weekly grocery budget.
6. Indian-inspired tofu, rice and veggies
7. Veggie Burger Wraps w/Salad
I spent $136.32 at the grocery store, of which all but 79 cents was food. After a few weeks of low totals, we had to replenish the pantry.
Supper on Sunday was meatloaf with baked potatoes, cooked spinach with garlic and butter, and baked apples. This made made yummy leftovers we ate until they were gone and then switched over to sandwiches.
Saturday and Sunday we were on an anniversary trip so we ate two delicious dinners out!
Monday - we got home from our trip this day and had eaten a late lunch on the way home so just made the kids pb&j with some fruits and veggies on the side and ate snacks later for myself.
Tuesday - easy oven fajitas and corn
Wednesday - blue apron miso butter steaks with bok Choy and carrot rice
Thursday - roast chicken thighs, mashed potatoes, Cesar salad, biscuits
Friday - blue apron turkey and shawarma-spiced rice with carrots, currants and lemon labneh
@LB,
Let's see....I spent $87 @ Costco of which only $50 was food.
Saturday...Leftover roasted pork, arroz con gandules, green plantains, and salad.
Sunday...Ham, mashed potatoes, green beans from the garden, yeast rolls from dough lingering in the freezer, & peach cobbler from the last of the peaches frozen from the summer
Monday...Leftovers
Tuesday...Savory Biscuits made with leftover ham & shredded cheddar & scrambled eggs with onion, peppers, tomato & cilantro. Theme = using up odds & ends in the fridge.
Wednesday...Easy button was pressed and we got pizza
Thursday...Stroganoff and broccoli sauteed with peas, onion, & peppers in a bit of bacon drippings
Friday...We will clean out the fridge tonight. Temps are expected to drop a bit next week and we may get a bit of rain so soup or stew may appear in my kitchen next week.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!!
Another busy work week, but I think the worst is now past me (hurrah). Here's what we had (we have green salad with every dinner):
Friday - potstickers & chicken
Saturday - out, at a soccer tournament. One kiddo went home with a friend, who treated them to Korean food. Another kiddo & I stopped at McDonalds (which, was really not great, but the only thing close to the tournament, & it was 9:00). My husband had salmon & salad at home.
Sunday - beef kebabs & rice
Monday - chicken curry (freezer) with leftover rice
Tuesday - leftover kebabs & rice
Wednesday - spaghetti & meatballs (freezer)
Thursday - I used a gift card to pick up Chipotle between soccer practices
Friday - I think we'll do chicken wings & zucchini "fries". My picky eater will be at his school football game, so we'll take advantage.
If your family got fed, that's what counts.
We had:
Brats, sauerkraut, and mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes
Burgers, GF bun for me, with French fries for him, jicama sticks for me, melon for dessert.
Chicken and dumplings with green beans for a birthday dinner. I wanted glazed carrots, too, but the honoree didn't. We had watermelon and cantaloupe for dessert.
Locally made sausages that didn't name all the spices in their ingredients. They listed "spices", yet they listed salt, pepper, garlic, and a few other ingredients separately. There was red pepper and I don't know what else in there, and it was too much for my tummy to handle. With it we had fried okra and roasted sweet potatoes.
I know companies don't want to give away their recipes, but for those of us who must avoid certain ingredients, those generic terms "spices" and "natural flavorings" in their ingredient lists do us no favors. I normally don't buy foods with generic ingredient listing, but it narrows my selection so much, I sometimes give in and take a chance, as I did this time, unfortunately.
Burgers again - busy night - with chips, cucumbers, and melon.
Last night was a really easy button night. A vendor brought in Panera sandwiches and chips for a lunch and learn for some of the guys on one of our projects. He brought in plenty, and I was encouraged to take some, so I brought home two sandwiches. I took mine off the bread and put it on a GF bun. I also brought a single serve bag of chips home for my husband, and had fruit and cucumbers with my sandwich. He had fruit for dessert.
Oo, I may have to try those crepes - somehow I completely missed that recipe in all the years of reading here!
Saturday: Homemade pizza. The kids had a cross country meet Friday night, so we moved our "traditional" pizza night to Saturday.
Sunday: We were at my niece's 3rd birthday party that afternoon - I brought rice krispie bars shaped like popsicles, and helped make mac and cheese when I got there. We were all still pretty full from the party, and no one ended up wanting any dinner.
Monday: I ended up having to work SUPER late, but fortunately I'd planned hot dogs and coleslaw, which my husband put together. Walking in the door after a VERY long day at work to a completely-made dinner is simply delightful.
Tuesday: Spaghetti and meatballs. I was out of my stash of frozen meatballs, but fortunately, making meatballs doesn't take very long. I always make way more than we will eat at one meal, then freeze the remainder (without sauce, so they're easier to thaw later) for future "emergency" meals. I also made a quick salad and my "20-minute" breadsticks (which actually take 30 minutes total, but only bake for 20 minutes).
Wednesday: We hosted game night this week with our neighbors! I made a big pot of chili, plus cornbread, and served toppings and tortilla chips on the side (they have 2 members who are gluten-free, so I wanted to have something besides the cornbread).
Thursday: Thursdays are always leftover night at our house. I had some pizza left from Saturday, along with some chocolate and a few really yummy cashew "cookies" from Aldi. I like the salted caramel flavor the best. These are a fun snack for me to keep around the house because they're relatively low-sugar and NO ONE in my family likes cashews except me and my husband (and he doesn't like them in sweet things), so everybody stays out of them 😉
Friday: No school or sports events, so homemade pizza night!
When I first read the title I thought you picked the TV show Bones over cooking! I may have done that a few times in my life and felt no shame.
Well, now I'm going to have to look up that show!
Here are our meals for this week. Can't remember the what days we ate them at so I'm just going to list them.
1) Chili dogs with fries
2) Penne pasta with sausage, mushrooms and broccoli
3) Chicken patties with macaroni salad and chips
4) Tacos
5) Left overs
6) Left overs
7) TBD
* Desserts: Brownies, ice-cream, soda
I love chipped beef on toast. What do you use specifically for your chipped beef? Where is that in the grocery store? Thank you !!
I use dried beef, and I opt for the lower salt version if it's there because chipped beef is so salty! The stores here usually have it near other processed meats, near the ham/bacon/hot dogs, etc.
I just make a basic white sauce and put the chopped-up dried beef in there. Or sometimes I chop the beef and heat it with the milk to let it hydrate a bit before I put the milk into the white sauce.
@Kristen, it’s in refrigerated section and not near canned meats like spam? THX.
( gonna go for it!)
Yep, it's always been in the refrigerated section at my stores; not by the beef jerky.
@Kristen, here it IS by the canned meats. But when I was a kid, my friend’s Mom (her name was Bethel!) made this with the Buddig really thin beef and that seemed much better. Maybe it’s called smoked beef?
Ok, that's so weird! In my stores, it's in the same area that the Buddig beef is stocked.
I don't know that I've ever frozen homemade rolls before. I may have to give this a try! I like the thought of having something like that available in the freezer.
Saturday - Burrito bowls and strawberries
Sunday - Pizza
Monday - Hot dogs, brats, strawberries/blueberries ... Hmm... There was something else, but I don't remember what and didn't write it down
Tuesday - My husband was gone and I didn't want to cook, so we did a movie night and dinner was popcorn, fruit, veggies, cheese cubes, and then cookies for dessert
Wednesday - Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Thursday - Dinner had to be at the soccer field between practices and we packed a picnic of pb&j sandwiches, apples, chips, string cheese, and carrots with hummus. Side note: I needed a bag of apples in a hurry this week and had to pay $4.79 for a 3-pound bag! During apple season. In a state that grows apples. It was painful, especially thinking that we probably ate $2.50 worth of apples with our dinner.
Friday - My husband is in charge of dinner and will be on a time crunch, so I got dino chicken nuggets and frozen veggies.
I love it when you are honest! I work 40 hours a week and I am always looking for ways to make a quick dinner. We used to do a lot of take out but have found that takeout food just makes me gain weight. Have a great weekend (sorry about the studying)!
This is why I do my posts like this instead of sharing menu plans. Menu plans can be awfully aspirational, but this is an accurate record of what ACTUALLY happened at dinnertime. 🙂
Last Sunday I made breakfast burritos to freeze, they should last us a couple of weeks. I also made a huge batch of chicken & dumplings, a side salad and apple crisp with caramel sauce for dessert. I'm in a fall mood, even though temperatures are still in the 90s. We got Thai takeout one evening, and we had poached salmon w/ rice and vegetables another. The other days we kind of just ate odds and ends.
Working backwards and loving you guys' easy meals!
Friday we had pasta with mushrooms and parm and a side of roasted cauliflower. I used up some leftover marinara as a dip for the cauliflower.
Thursday we had fish tacos with leftover rice and beans
Wednesday we had chicken tenders, salad and roasted potatoes.
Tuesday I used leftover roasted chicken to make fajitas with rice and beans and slaw
Monday we had pasta with pesto from the freezer and cherry tomatoes from a friend's house.
Sunday we had roasted chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and sliced tomatoes.
I appreciate an easy button week! It's also always inspiring to get that reminder that dinner doesn't have to be a curated main + 2 sides 🙂
Our week:
Sunday - Knockoff takeout BBQ chicken pizza (used leftover grilled chicken breast, red onion, BBQ sauce, cheese and a flatbread crust I had on hand), plus made yogurt ranch dressing with ranch seasoning
Monday - Stuffed acorn squash with farro, gouda, herbs, toasted almonds, golden raisins (sounds fancy but very easy)
Tuesday - Soyrizo & potato tacos with red onion & bell pepper
Wednesday - Grilled ranch-seasoned chicken breast strips, roasted brussels sprouts, and I think we still had leftover farro
Thursday - Salmon, green beans, & couscous (in the rice cooker - so easy)
Friday - Takeout Chinese! We've discovered a place that's 5 min away that does a dinner combo that comes in at less than $12 and is PLENTY for two (A huge entree + fried rice + chow mein + one egg roll + one crab wonton). So this is one of our occasional takeout treats.
Here's what we ate for the week. It was a busy one with my sister visiting from NYC and helping our daughter move out of her apartment.
Saturday - Scallop skewers with sautéed greens and potatoes.
Sunday - I honestly don't remember, so it must have been completely boring and unremarkable.
Monday - Egg, cheese and sausage sandwich with hash browns after a late night at work.
Tuesday - Pork and fried potatoes with green beans.
Wednesday - Scrambled eggs and toast.
Thursday - Veggie fettucine alfredo.
Friday - Dinner invitation out with another couple. They paid!