WIS, WWA | but first some tulips
Hello! Groceries in a second, but first, look at these tulips from my sister-in-law's yard.
I gave up on growing tulips myself because the voles ate every last one. But since my neighbor's cat has seemed to reduce the vole population, maybe I will give tulips another go.
What I Spent
We spend $145 on groceries this week; I did a $55 trip at Giant, but the rest was small trips by Mr. FG to pick up things.
He's getting pretty stir-crazy working at home, so he is actually quite happy to run out multiple times. If we got super organized and put together a bi-weekly shopping trip list, that would be less gratifying to him!
April Grocery Spending
Week 1: $115
Week 2: $156
Week 3: $145
What We Ate
Saturday
I had book club scheduled so it was a fend for yourself night (I ate leftover pizza myself.)
Sunday
We did our takeout date night; Panera bread this time around.
Monday
Breakfast for dinner! Waffles + bacon + OJ + mandarins.
Tuesday
I made fettuccine alfredo topped with shrimp (chicken for Zoe), with these sauteed green beans on the side.
(Please pay no mind to the green bean image in that post with terrible text on it. I made it in the Extremely Early Days of Pinterest and I really should fix it.)
Wednesday
Mr. FG and I both got multiple free chicken sandwich offers on the Chick-Fil-A app, so we redeemed those for dinner for us and the girls.
Thursday
I made grilled sandwiches with ham and smoked turkey.
On the side, we had more sauteed green beans, plus raw red pepper slices.
Friday
I'm planning to make homemade pizza tonight.
What did you have for dinner this week?
P.S. The gardening/sustainable living bundle sale ends tonight, so go get yours now if you were wanting one!
Reader Traci: "I got the bundle, and I’ve gotten a lot of helpful gardening tips already. I definitely feel like it was worth the money, and I haven’t even started your part yet!"
I LOOOOOVE breakfast for dinner. My hubby does not. I try to fix it anytime he is busy in the evenings!
Monday: our sweet neighbors dropped off bbq ribs. I made air fryer asparagus to go with it. And cottage cheese.
Tuesday: baked ravioli casserole. Asparagus again.
Wed: leftovers
Thurs: big salad topped with air fryer chicken and cottage cheese. RED BAG BREADED CHICKEN IN AIR FRYER tastes very close to CHICFILA
Friday: pizza and salad
Sat: air fryer cod. Steamed broccoli. Kale salad.
Sometime last week we had guacamole and chips for an appetizer. Our avocados went from hard to mush quickly!
Love the tulips! They are one of few flowers that will continue to grow in water after being cut. There are undoubtedly tricks to try to keep them straight, but I like how they twist for the light as well.
Tulips and daffodils are such happy flowers!
Sat: takeout pizza to celebrate my manuscript being submitted to the publisher.
Sun: Carnitas over giant salad; sautéed zucchini
Mon: Roasted Moroccan spaghetti squash (smitten kitchen) with sautéed chickpeas, zucchini, broccoli, sumac & feta
Tues: Ramen in homemade pork and duck broth with marinated egg, Chinese bbq pork, shredded cabbage, radish and crispy garlic in chili oil
Wed: Cannellini pozole topped with avocado, cabbage, radish & feta. Served with arepas
Thurs: Brussel sprouts and marinated tofu (Yotam Ottolenghi/The Guardian), served with rice and a cucumber radish salad
Fri: French omelette with goat cheese & ramps, roasted sunchokes, spinach salad. But, since it is currently SNOWING in New England (on the daffodils!), this might change....
Right, this snow is crazy...even in the city we got some...and Monday it will be 70 lol
congrats on the submission of your manuscript, that must be a milestone 🙂
Thank you! A huge boulder was lifted from my shoulders.
Saturday - hamburger gravy over rice, roasted zucchini, carrot salad and bread
Sunday - fried rice, pineapple, bread
Monday - enchiladas
Tuesday - hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes, zucchini, carrot salad
Wednesday - fried rice, pineapple
Thursday - last of the leftovers
Friday - either breakfast for dinner or quesadillas
Every single time I make hamburger gravy, which is not that often, my husband says, "I love you but I love you even more when you make hamburger gravy." He would eat it several times a week if I would agree to it. I do add finely shredded zucchini to it, to try and make it marginally more healthy...
I added some onion, peppers, celery and cooked carrots to make it healthier.
For the first part of the week, the home crew ate various combinations of ground beef, steak, rice, mashed potatoes, and peas. This is what I ate, though, at my parents' house.
Friday: Chicken parmesan, roasted asparagus
Saturday: Grilled steak, roasted vegetables, green salad, and I made a chocolate roulade and chocolate pudding for dessert.
Sunday: Southwest Airlines snack mix, spiced almonds, and a Kit Kat on my way home.
Monday: Home again, home again, jiggity jig. And working, so no jigging. I made some frozen pulled chicken in barbecue sauce a neighbor gave us, plus a green salad. The kids had the chicken as sandwiches, I had it in my salad with some leftover peas, and my husband had leftover lamb.
Tuesday: Baked chicken legs, mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans with onions, tiny carrots from the overwintered garden ones, and some brownies my son had made while I was gone and mistakenly baked in a far-too-large pan. This made very crispy brownies that were a lot like the cookie part of Oreos. Spread with peanut butter, they made a dangerously delicious dessert.
Wednesday: I had frozen some of the giant pan of shepherd's pie meat mixture the week before, so I topped that with the potatoes left from Tuesday and we had shepherd's pie again.
Thursday: Breakfast sausage patties, bread and butter, frozen green peas
Tonight: Pork carnitas, homemade corn tortillas, pinto beans, maybe calabaza (squash) from the freezer. Or maybe I'll just use the very last of the lettuce and count that and the salsa as a vegetable. 🙂
Your Sunday meal made me laugh. And your jiggety jig comment reminded me of my mom, who always said that! 🙂
Gorgeous tulips! I love all the spring flowers but I think tulips are my favorite.
I spent $65 at the grocery store this week just picking up odds and ends. Meat was absurdly overpriced at Kroger so a trip to Costco is on my list for later this afternoon.
This week we ate....
Saturday...I made a large pot of chili. We ate this over spaghetti for a bit of variety and had fresh pineapple on the side. I also put a gallon of chili into the freezer for a quick meal another day.
Sunday...Leftovers
Monday...Fried Chicken tenders, with some leftover rice, roasted asparagus, corn on the cob and tomatoes & cucumbers in vinaigrette. Fresh pineapple too.
Tuesday...Leftovers and a lovely corn salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red pepper, and cilantro
Wednesday...Turkey and black bean enchiladas from the freezer topped with leftover corn salad, salsa, and sour cream.
Thursday....Hubby got the second vaccine shot and we had to put together a bicycle so the easy button easy pushed and we got chickfilA for dinner.
Friday...I confess that I have no plan in mind but pork chops sound rather good so I may add those to my grocery list.
Have a good weekend everyone!
1. Thinly sliced pork chops, rice and vegtables
2. Pasta w/meat sauce, salad
3. Chicken/beans/rice/veggie bowls
4. Omelets (chicken/veggie/cheese) and pancakes
5. Crab cake sandwiches, veggies
6. Tacos, refried beans, rice and veggies
7. Tofu stir fry is the plan tonight... I think.
Spent $170 at the store this week, which brings my April total to $270. We're going out of town next week, so the $170 covers at least 10 days.
Friday: Scallops & the tomato + feta pasta that's popular on social media right now
Thursday: Frozen pizza, steamed broccoli, and raw veggies
Wednesday: Leftover night
Tuesday: Salads topped with shrimp
Monday: BLT sandwiches with zucchini on the side
Sunday: Tacos
Saturday: Garden vegetable lasagna roll ups from budgetbytes
You are right, the tulips are the right way to start the post. I love tulips, but they are not fun to grow here in Florida -- every type I've looked at needs to be lifted and chilled during the winter. I am not digging twice a year to plant and un-plant my bulbs, sorry.
Are you still cool enough for indoor-cooked pizza? We reached 88 degrees on Tuesday, which I hated.
What we ate:
"Flanken" steak, which is just beef short ribs cut the other direction, with gravy, onion, cauliflower rice, and peas n' carrots.
Pork loin chops, roasted orange beets (beets cooked with orange juice and grated peel, not the color orange), leftover peas n' carrots, and some leftover mashed white potatoes for my husband.
My mom's favorite old summer dish, "fried corn," that can be made with fresh or frozen corn -- corn kernals sauteed in some of the bacon fat left from frying several slices of bacon, then diced fresh tomato and sweet green peppers stirred in after the heat is turned off. I used chives in the place of bell pepper, as I had chives, but not peppers. The bacon was served on the side instead of crumbled in, this time. Homemade pear sauce as a side.
Cassava spaghetti (Jovial brand), with spaghetti sauce with ground pork for my husband, pesto, ground pork and shredded spinach leaves for me. Some kind of raw veggie on the side; I forget what.
Vegetable beef soup in the pressure cooker, with celery, garlic, onion, carrots, and peeled radishes as the vegetables. No tomato in the broth.
Thawed Easter ham, served with "slaw" of shredded jicama, onion, mint, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil, leftover fried corn for my husband, and pear sauce for me. It was supposed to have radishes in it as well, but I can't stand raw radishes, so I didn't add them or miss them.
How did you cook the flanken steak? We love short ribs but they are over $6/lb even at Aldi.
I cooked them in a covered heavy skillet with a little water, seasoning and sliced onion for about 30 or so minutes (I can't remember!) until tender. These are cut cross-wise on the ribs; the pieces are about are 3/4 inches thick, maybe 8" long and 3" wide. I make gravy with the juices left in the pan. These were on sale for, um, $4.99, I think.
I went to Costco with our brand-new membership! Oh, it was FUN! Interesting to see the prices. Produce, meat, and bread are great value deal, but the canned goods are 50% cheaper at our local discount grocer.
Monday: Tortellini with tomato sauce, both from Costco. Super simple.
Tuesday: Baked cod fillets (from frozen fish) in soy-ginger sauce with rice. We'd snacked on raw veggies all day, so no side dish.
Wednesday: I made vegetable soup and we snacked on cheese, hardboiled eggs, and popcorn.
Thursday: Grocery night! My husband stopped in the hot food section and picked up pad thai for himself and a chicken schnitzel for me, which I ate on a bun. I also made fried rice for lunch, since I was home. So easy, such a great leftovers meal.
Friday: Burgers, sauteed green beans, and a hearts-of-palm salad.
I spent $65 at Sprout and $32 at Trader Joe's. My Imperfect produce box came in last week so I should be good on veggies produce until next week. Maybe a small run to my local co-op farm for salad mix but I am trying to work w/ a barebones fridge when I can.
Mon- jackfruit fajita enchiladas
Tuesday- chickpea and kale soup (one of the last cold days we will get in SoCal until after Thanksgiving and I had to take advantage)
Weds- BBQ chicken sausage, pepper and pineapple flatbreads
Thurs- Veggie bibimbap bowls with a fried egg bc everything is better w/ a fried egg
Fri- I defrosted some scallops and I am thinking some version of scallops and grits or seafood pasta
WIS: approx. $45 at the store and $150 for harvest box, which was loaded. We get a box every 2 weeks. It is $300/month. I share it with my daughter. It is filled with products from truly small businesses, many of which are local. New things to experience. New businesses to experience. It has been another innovative, creative way for small businesses to stay in business throughout this past year.
Fri: We shared a fried fish platter from a local restaurant. I made a reservation but on the way my husband realized he did not have a mask in the car. So I called ahead to cancel the seating and order take out. Actually it was more frugal—no drinks, no dessert.
4/10—Shepherd’s pie, roasted asparagus and brussel sprouts
4/11—Leftovers with some more brussel sprouts, some left over corn
4/12—Chicken patties and potatoes
4/13—Chicken soup with thighs from the harvest box, remaining potatoes, carrots, pasta.
4/14—I have a 5 p.m. meeting Wed. Just grab whatever satisfied the hunger.
4/15--A frozen pizza and chicken soup. I had taken care of my 2.5 yr old grandson during the day.
I don't think I really need to "go grocery shopping". Weekly I check one store for their "special priced items", which is 3 or 4 items. They don't have anything I want this week. And even last week, nothing I really needed to run to the store.
Saturday- Family outing to our favorite local ice cream stand that makes amazing burgers, cheesesteaks, gyros, you get the idea. Plus ice cream of course. So happy they're open for the season now!!
Sunday- impromptu outing due to unforeseen good weather: our first family bike ride of the year. This is always accompanied by dinner at a favorite local spot which is right by one of the places where you pick up the biking/hiking trail. So that's what we did. Terribly frugal? No, but fun to keep with our family tradition.
Monday- grilled hamburgers, deviled eggs, raw cucumbers and bell peppers
Tuesday- leftover hamburgers (two lbs of meat feeds us two dinners), sweet potato fries, strawberries
Wednesday- I needed something incredibly easy and fast. Turned out to be sandwiches. So glad my kids could care less whether we eat gourmet meals or macaroni and cheese from a box.
Thursday- chili over spaghetti
Friday- naan pizzas
Have you tried growing daffodils? They seem to withstand the critter invasion better than tulips, at least for us.
In no particular order .... I think I'll make pizza tonight since it's chilly in the mitten state today; sweet/sour chicken yesterday in which I experimented and tried making rice in a crockpot--I think it would have worked in a timely manner had I turned the heat setting to high, not low!. Tomato/barley/venison soup with Russian potato bread (I was feeling ambitious), sloppy joes/oven fries, and .... huh. No memory of our other meal.
Oh yes! I have tons of daffodils around my yard because the voles do not bother them.
I have to plant daffodils instead of tulips as well...the moose eat tulips, but not daffs!
This week was kind of a win/fail on the food waste front. I made a beef stew and used up this old can of Guinness and didn't care for that. But I forced myself to eat it. I also made myself a pasta, bean and mushroom dish to take for my lunches cause hubby hates mushrooms. Well I didn't care for that either! I tried to fix it up (I pizza-fied it by adding sauce, seasoning and cheese) but after 4 days of it I'm tossing what's left. And I'll feel guilty. On the other side I made pulled pork which we had with my homemade BBQ sauce and that was delicious. Slaw on the side. And last night hubby cooked some chicken with maple mustard sauce and asparagus. Yum! Plenty of leftovers so won't cook again till Sunday.
I have no idea what we ate this week....
Sunday-Tuesday are a blur
-Pizza Wednesday
-Home-made spicy panko chicken with green beans last night
-Meatballs and pasta & a vegetable tonight
Saturday-Pizza night-We made a white pizza with asparagus and sausage tortellini and one with sweet chili bacon and broccoli.
Sunday-We had the monkfish that was pushed off from Friday. I can't remember the sides.
Monday-Shrimp Viennese recipe from blog
Tuesday-Sausage, orzo recipe from this blog
Wednesday-Cuban sausage tacos w/ slaw
Thursday-Gumbo from the freezer with rice and corn bread
Friday-Hake & Ayocote beans
We had borscht for three nights running, with a different bread each night to try and rescue us from dinner boredom. Fruit for dessert.
The next two nights we had orecchiette with shrimp, pepperoncini, and basil from a Cook's Country recipe. Fruit salad for dessert.
Night six we had homemade burgers and salad with homemade ranch dressing. Fries. Cookies for dessert.
Tonight it is a HUGE $5 sub from Safeway. We share one and the chickens get the thick ends of bread that we cut off. They only offer these subs every so often on $5 Friday, and when they do we try to take advantage of it.
WIS: $161, of which about $30 was non-food. We stocked up on Italian-made pasta found on clearance: I made two trips to get it, and it had gone down to 99 cents a pound on the second trip.
WWA: Spaghetti! I cooked a huge pot of marina sauce and livened it up with sweet Italian sausage, mushrooms and black olives, then cooked a pound of the clearance pasta. My husband and I ate that and sandwiches for supper Sunday through Thursday. Tonight is every man for himself.
My parents were in town for the kid spring break, and we had a weekend in Sonoma, then came back & had house guests this week:
Friday - dinner out
Saturday - also dinner out
Sunday - I made beef tacos with guacamole & pico de gallo (jalapeno & cilantro from the garden)
Monday - my husband made kebabs & rice
Tuesday - my dad made lasagna, which we had with bread (my son made) & salad
Wednesday - my dad made chicken enchiladas
Thursday - my dad cooked again, making homemade chicken strips. We had corn & salad
Friday - I think we'll have leftover kebabs & rice, after a soccer game
We are in the middle of some minor home renovations, so trying to be frugal with other spending. Today we priced an exterior front door. The estimate for installation is over $400. Minds thoroughly blown.
Monday: Cashew chicken, rice, egg rolls. Not takeout!
Tuesday: Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, cauliflower and fresh green beans. And for my mom, a homemade roll from my freezer.
Wednesday: fend for yourself- leftovers for hubby, sandwich for me? I think.
Thursday: steak sandwich with chips. Pioneer Woman recipe.
Friday: we have a gift card to Chili’s. None of us is very crazy about the place, but free is good.
Saturday: date night at a very fancy French/ Japanese place
Sunday: I roasted a chicken and tomatoes (Alison Roman's recipe, but I spatchcock the chicken) with homemade toasted bread
Monday: I made a tofu and mushroom stir fry. The tofu was crumbled as the idea was to make a dish resembling ground pork. No, thanks. That did not work.
Tuesday: made chicken noodle soup out of a couple of chicken backbones and scraps in the freezer. forgot to add the chicken to the soup. 😀
Wednesday: leftover soup
Thursday: pasta with leftover roasted chicken, leftover roasted tomatoes and kale. It was completely improvised but really good and I was sad there weren't any leftovers!
Friday: Dim Sum at a restaurant with a friend
That single chicken really carried us through the week!
Sat - warm sunny day so we did brats, grilled green beans (I’m very partial to the French beans Costco carries!), and baked beans
Sun - Dinner at a friend’s, we brought chips and bagged salad
Mon - tortellini with roasted fridge-cleanout veggies and leftover brats in pesto
Tues - your Apple Pfannekuchen recipe (family favorite!) with fried eggs and banana slices
Wednesday - tried a new recipe - chicken zucchini meatballs with peppers and a coconut curry sauce. I followed the recipe and it turned out spicier than I would usually make. Kids didn’t love the spice, husband doesn’t love meatballs, but I loved it so I’ll probably make it again anyway 😉
Thursday - it snowed and I’ve been craving a casserole (Midwest roots!) so I made a turkey noodle casserole - I had planned on tuna but didn’t have enough, so I used up a baggie of leftover thanksgiving turkey from the freezer.
Friday - made a special run to Trader Joe’s for mandarin orange chicken for family movie night. We usually make pizza but I think everyone will be pleased with a substitution this week!
Wow - you would probably think all of my photos are terrible, but that's Ok because most of the time they are, and as long as they illustrate a point I'm making, I don't mind. (: This week I had more food purchased than we need, so i guess that will make my next trip to the store much shorter. We ate:
Monday - Leftover sliced Pork Tenderloin, collard greens, a small amount of corn casserole
Tuesday - Grilled Shrimp on chopped salad with pickled okra on the side
Wednesday - Fajita Bowl, easy on the rice!, with bell pepper and onion
Thursday - Grilled Chicken, yellow squash, Kale and Apple Salad
Tonight - Salmon, steamed broccoli, 1/2 package baby potatoes
Saturday - Link sausage, green beans, the rest of those potatoes
Sunday - (freezer) Eggplant Parm, tossed salad
I'm looking forward to lunch OUT on Sunday and have my fingers crossed for Mexican food!
Haha, it's not the photo itself! It's that that is VERY not how you are supposed to make a Pinterest pin these days. I know they're supposed to be vertical, you're supposed to have white space for the text, and so on.
I have to work backwards to remember!
Friday - I was home alone tonight - husband is playing poker and 21yo son is away visiting his girlfriend at college. I ordered fajitas from our favorite local Mexican food place, and I have enough leftovers for at least 2 more meals.
Thursday - peanut noodles with veggies and chicken
Wednesday - we always have cheeseburger baskets (takeout) from our favorite pub because they are only $6 on Wednesday, and it is a nice break in the middle of the work week.
Tuesday - I made a huge pan of roasted veggies with beef kielbasa. The boys had jambalaya rice on the side.
Monday - Instant Pot broccoli cheddar soup. The boys had garlic toast.
Sunday - leftovers from Saturday
Saturday - Nashville Hot fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans
My eldest son did not sleep through the night on a regular basis until he was two years old. There wasn’t anything wrong with him. ( Trust me; we checked). He was just happy, engaging, inquisitive, bright and busy - very busy. Fast forward 33 years, and he is still all these things. If it wasn’t for my husband, who did not need as much sleep as I, I not sure that we would have made it through those years. I’m very grateful to sleep through the night now. I am also thankful for my sweet husband and wonderful son. I’m truly thankful for his brother and sister too. Fortunately, they slept.
Today, I’m also feeling grateful for:
My sister and Rescue Pup. We had a nice walk this morning.
The blooming jasmine and gardenias that are in my garden. They smell divine.
The cool ocean breeze. The sun is beginning to get hot. The breeze keeps the temperature down.
The big tree in my backyard that provides us with shade.
My husband is finally feeling better after his second immunization. My family has now all received our vaccinations. I’m grateful that Covid will soon be in our rear view mirror!
I’m not sure how I managed to put this in the wrong place, but I did.