WIS, WWA | Cafeteria prices = up
We all got an email this week alerting us to an upcoming 10% hike on cafeteria food, across the board. Sooo, it just got a little extra motivating to be a lunch-packer! 🙂
What I Spent
I spent:
- $35 at Safeway
- $99.92 at Aldi
- $9 at Giant
So, $148, which is a lot more than I've spent the last few weeks!
What We Ate
Saturday
We had green salads with chicken.
Sunday
I boiled a bag of cheese ravioli, topped with jarred sauce and some Parmesan cheese.
And I made a simple green salad.
Monday
I got a rotisserie chicken, made some potato wedges, cut up some veggies, and called it good.
Tuesday
I made a batch of stuffed shells and froze half of them for a future meal. Such a nice feeling; my future self will be very appreciative!
I also prepped some egg bites for breakfasts the next few days.
Wednesday
Workday ⅓! I had egg bites, toast, and some fruit for breakfast.
For lunch, I ate mashed potatoes and rotisserie chicken.
After work, well...you already know. 😉
Thursday
Work again! A lather, rinse, and repeat on all fronts.
Friday
Shift 3/3 for me, and I'm switching it up very slightly; still egg bites for breakfast, but for lunch, I'm having leftover stuffed shells.
Odds are good that cereal will still be calling my name before bed, though. 😉
Happy Friday everyone!
This week's eats:
Saturday: I ordered Indian food
Sunday: I went to my friend's place for dinner and she made courgette pasta. We ate a lemon cake she baked for dessert.
Monday: Cheese and potato frittata with green salad on the side
Tuesday: Aubergine and spinach pasta bake with green salad on the side
Wednesday: Leftovers with garlic bread
Thursday: Burritos with mixed veg, black beans, brown rice and sauce
Friday: Undecided. Possibly salad with some eggs and potatoes.
Your lunches always look very tempting.
Easy meals here every day, with sourdough bread being replaced by wholemeal crackers to reduce food waste (warm and humid).
For dinners we had soup, salads, pasta pesto, all with fruits as sides. One day eldest and I had sushi as husband was away. At my request, eldest picked up the sushi instead of having it delivered. I gave him a cooler with a freezer element to keep things cold. And then I realized that if nights get too hot for sleep, I can pre-cool the bed!
Anyway sushi was delicious and we have no tummyaches.
Today will be omelet and remaining fruits and raw veg, and then tomorrow morning earliest I will do a vegetable run. I am thirsty but not hungry. We keep cold water (as is and with fruit infusion) and I may try steeping tea in cold water, I read somewhere that it is tasty.
Enjoy the weekend!
Here in Texas, we often make Sun Tea instead of brewing it on the stove: Get a clear pitcher or other such container, such as clear glass carafes. Fill will tap water; room temperature or cool water is fine. Put the usual amount of tea bags in, enough for a container that size, and cover with something that is also clear. Plastic wrap, clear glass plate, clear lid to the container, etc. Make sure it won't blow off. Set it out in the sun until the liquid is the color of dark tea. It will be very warm by then. Bring it in and remove tea bags. Put it in the refrigerator to cool or ice it down. Serve in tall glasses over ice. If desired, add sugar (or artificial sweetener such as Stevia or Sweet'n'Low) and/ or lemon to taste. (The cruise ships serve it with lime instead of lemon.) I also sometimes crush a sprig of spearmint in there. Voila! Iced tea. A great thirst quencher in hot weather.
That sounds like a great beverage when it is hot!
Thanks! 🙂
I put a jar outside in a sunny corner near a wall and it is already starting to darken! This is like magic - I 'll be patient until it is really like dark tea. And I'll put limes on tomorrows shopping list.
And, guys, if you have a bay window, no need to put it outside. I’ve been making Sun tea for years by placing the pitcher on the bay window sill all morning since we get the am sunshine there.
I don't put mine outside either. In fact, I've made tea on the counter without any sun at all, and it still tastes good to me and my guests who are none the wiser.
My best friend's mom did this sun tea) when we were growing up and I'd forgotten about it. Thank you for the fond memories 🙂
It's been a very yummy week here!
Monday was nuts, but I was smart enough to pre-game/make cumin lime chickpea salad the night before. That with naan was dinner.
Tuesday it was cool enough to use the oven, so I made Four Cheese, Four Bros pizza from the TMNT pizza cookbook. The leftovers make an excellent breakfast!
Wednesday was shakshuka. I prefer chickpeas to white beans, so that's what I used. I need to make this more offen--soooo good!
Thursday was Tandoori mahi-mahi in the crockpot (wrap in foil, cook for 1 1/2 hours = perfect fish every time) over cilantro lime rice.
Tonight through Sunday are my husband's nights to cook. I know tonight is burgers, and tomorrow is likely venison steak. Sunday remains a surprise!
OFTEN!!! What a typo.
While I'm here, the chickpea salad, shakshuka, and cilantro lime rice recipes were all thanks to budgetbytes.com.
ohhh I used to make sun tea all the time when I lived in South Carolina. So good!
@N- love TMNT!
I spent about $200 between mostly Aldi with a little bit of Harris Teeter for stuff Aldi doesn’t have.
On Sunday, I dropped my dairy averse kid off at camp, so I made toasted tortellini with prosciutto and wilted baby spinach. I’m still working my way through Milk Street: The World in a Skillet, so Monday Japanese style chicken meatballs with broccoli and rice. Tuesday was broiled chicken thighs with Lebanese style spicy potatoes with lemon and cilantro. I added chopped asparagus to the potatoes. Wednesday was Persian eggs with spiced beef and tomatoes with roasted garam masala cauliflower and naan. Thursday was pork in Veracruz sauce with pintos and rice. Today I will pick up my camper and I don’t know about tonight at all.
WIS: $23 at Ollie's, $34 at Price Chopper, and $4 at Wegmans (which would have been $11.50 before NY State container returns).
WIA: I defrosted a family pack of boneless/skinless chicken thighs on Monday and made a large order of ersatz chicken cacciatore, with half a jar of red sauce plus some tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and onions I needed to use up. This fed me through Thursday. In between, I've been feasting on local strawberries and snow peas. And I'm continuing to use redroot pigweed and lamb's quarters in salads and scrambled eggs. In fact, the weeds are doing so much better than the spinach I planted that I think I won't bother with the spinach and will just eat the weeds from now on. 😛
Bravo, A. Marie for returning those containers! You're saving money and saving the environment!
Thank you, Lisa. And in addition to the environmental and financial aspects of bottlepicking (I make $350 to $400 a year in 5-cent NY State deposits from this), it has two other benefits: (a) It gets me out in the early morning for fresh air and exercise; and (b) it keeps my wits sharp in deciding which route to walk each day, spotting containers in odd places, etc. The (b) is not something AARP is ever going to publicize as a senior brain exercise, but it works for me. 😀
Wait!!! Pigweed is edible?!!! Do you have any idea how much pigweed is in my garden?!! The green beans are nearly overtaken by it, and we need to get out and save them. Now we will each have a bucket or something for the pigweed. Thank you, thank you! I knew you picked weeds, but I didn't know pigweed was one of them. It is, by far, the most prolific weed in our very large garden.
Yep, Jody, redroot pigweed is really wild amaranth. I find that it's best picked for salad greens when fairly young; I've never experimented with cooking the greens, but I imagine that cooked greens could be a little older.
Saturday: Toasted burritos with meat and beans and cheese in them, corn on the cob, and ice cream
Sunday: Our priest's brother is staying with him until he goes to college this fall, and he wants to learn to cook. He is not learning this from his priest/brother, who can feed himself, but not particularly well. 🙂 My family all left this day for a camping trip, leaving me home by myself with the time and focus in the kitchen to teach someone else. So. We made corn tortillas--I don't think he'll be making those much, but he really wanted to try using my tortilla press--plus refried beans and very simple taco meat. I ended up feeding three people, since it was the younger brother, the priest/brother, and yet another brother of theirs (there are six in the family) who happened to be coming into town that afternoon and who I know from when he lived here a couple of summers ago. So I just exchanged my own three boys for three boys from this family. Boys seem to be my lot in life.
Monday: I was just feeding myself this night, and I made fried potatoes with an egg. And canned peas.
Tuesday: Still just me. I had leftover taco meat with tortilla chips, a green salad, and ice cream. It was almost 100 degrees this day, and I was SO happy I didn't have to cook anything or plan ahead to cook so I wouldn't be heating up my kitchen in the hottest part of the day. It was hot enough in there even without turning on the stove.
Wednesday: My husband and younger two children returned this day but weren't hungry for dinner, so I just had a salad with hardboiled egg and cheese.
Thursday: Cheeseburger patties (no buns), garlic bread I had made the day before when I was baking bread, green salad with ranch dressing, watermelon. We got three (seeded, hooray!) watermelons from excess commodities, so we're going to be eating a lot of watermelon in the near future.
Friday: The older boys return from their FFA leadership camp today, although I don't know if they'll be home in time for dinner. I'll make enough for them anyway. Tuna patties, mashed potatoes, carrot sticks with ranch dip, and watermelon.
How great that you gave cooking lessons to the priest and brothers! I bet a lot of parishes don't have housekeeper/cooks as in the olden days, so he will probably find your lessons helpful wherever he gets posted.
The brother’s brother is very lucky to have lessons from someone so resourceful.
Hmmm, I should written the father’s brother…
Two of us for dinner -
Saturday - ham and cheese omelet, toast, green salad
Sunday - homemade minestrone, sliced fresh peaches
Monday - pork chops, steamed broccoli, leftover pasta
Tuesday - leftover minestrone, green salad, garlic bread
Wednesday - turkey burgers on buns with lettuce and tomatoes
Thursday - spaghetti with chicken sausage, green pepper & mushrooms in pasta sauce plus green salad
Tonight - leftover turkey burgers on buns with lettuce and tomatoes
WIS: $15 Aldi
Winging it here, with my failing memory:
I had bean and cheese quesadillas twice.
I had peanut butter and pickles on sourdough bread.
I had chicken and black bean soup.
I had macaroni and cheese with broccoli and other veggie scraps mixed in.
Today I'm going to make spaghetti sauce, and also finish the Mac and cheese.
I'm surprised your cafeteria price hadn't already gone up.
I've seen prices rise across the board. It's a little bit at a time and seems odd since gas prices are going down. But I guess prices on diesel, that fuels all those trucks that transport our goods, are still high. I shop mostly at Walmart nowadays. I've noticed canned vegetables have gone up 10 cents a can, milk was lower and has jumped up again to $4.42 a gallon. Other things I buy have gone up a nickel or more.
Amazingly, even though Arkansas officials boast about our state budget surplus every year, we are the most food-insecure state in the nation. I find that pitiful and embarrassing. While we have always supported food groups and feeding organizations, I've recently decided to buy extra food when I shop and donate it to our local food pantry which has a food distribution every week at our library. I dropped food off the other day and I was stunned by the number of people waiting in line to pick up food. It made me feel so thankful that we have enough. My next letter to the editor of our newspaper will be about the irony of having a big budget surplus but so many hungry adults and children. Something needs to change.
WIS/ WWA this week
I spent $68 at Walmart. I might go buy some pork chops and a few other things on sale at a local store over the weekend.
Friday – baked pork chops, cole slaw and onion potatoes.
Sat – beef enchiladas, sliced tomatoes from the garden, tortilla chips and salsa.
S – grilled ribeye steaks, frozen green beans, sliced tomatoes, leftover onion potatoes, fresh baked sour dough bread from our neighbor.
M – rotisserie chicken from Sam's, brown rice, cucumber salad.
T– sloppy joes, corn on the cob, cucumber salad.
W – chicken broccoli divan made with leftover rice, rotisserie chicken, sliced tomatoes, leftover cucumber salad. I also made broth from the chicken bones and froze the rest of the chicken for later.
Th – leftover chicken broccoli divan, cole slaw, cucumber salad.
F – we are going out for the day to a museum and we'll probably eat out at lunch. So we will probably just scrounge for dinner. We have leftover Sloppy Joe meat, buns and we can eat a sandwich or have a bowl of cereal if we need to.
Joyce, kudos to you for writing the letter. Be sure to copy your elected leaders!
WIS: $36.12.
WIA: Steak frites at lunch out with friends (medium rare charbroiled/grilled beef tenderloin with fried rice and beautifully thin and crispy frites, and onion garlic and creamy Bleu cheese dipping sauces), that was plenty for two lunches and two dinners, which I supplemented with roasted asparagus; chicken and beef fajitas with refried beans and corn salad. It’s been very hot (“But it’s a dry heat!”), so the only baking was a dozen banana walnut muffins, because the recipe called for four large and overly ripe bananas which, miraculously, were on my kitchen counter because I hadn’t gotten to them in time. Waste not, want not!
We got a ton of rain last night (yay!) and the temperature has dropped into the low 60s (at least temporarily) so this may be a day for at least a little cooking.
I don't keep track of what I spend, though I did stop at a farm stand last weekend and spent $55 on fresh fruits and vegetables which we ate all week.
Sunday - Fathers day cookout (with inlaws): potato salad, corn, burgers, watermelon, peaches, and a lemon poppy seed cake. MIL complained to husband that I "made" him cook burgers on Fathers Day. Sigh.
Monday - Out for dinner!
Tuesday - Leftover burgers and restaurant meals, caprese salad, potato salad, leftover fruit.
Wednesday - lemongrass chicken, rice, cucumbers and leftover fruit.
Thursday - leftovers, with some Mac n Cheese for the teen.
Friday - I think we are going to find something ready made at the grocery store and go to the pool.
WIS: Approximately $120, divided between Food Lion and Walmart Market with one trip to Dollar Tree for almond milk.
WWA: DH had leftover spicy pork and veggies stir-fry, a day of salami and ham sandwiches, and roasted chicken with roasted carrots and baked potatoes. Additional sides were cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers from the garden. I had homemade soup with crackers and fruit or strawberry protein smoothies with peanut butter toast until last night, when I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich with salami, applesauce, and a brownie mug cake. That meal was my reward for powering through five straight hours of housecleaning and laundry.
We had a summer cold that resulted in ear infections for 3/4 kiddos and pinkeye for the 10 month old, so our big win of the week was cooking all but one meal (fast food after a pediatrician appointment while waiting for antibiotic prescriptions).
Monday- Zucchini boats to use some garden produce
Tuesday- Banh mi bowls
Wednesday- Vampiro tacos (seasoned steak, guacamole, salsa verde)
Thursday- Chicken sausages, corn fritters, and roasted broccoli
Friday- Nacho/movie night
This weekend we will eat up leftovers and probably make a more time consuming meal.
Goodness, Kyndra, I'm amazed that you did any cooking at all with four sick kids! Kudos!
I second that! Way to go, mama!
Thankfully my husband works from home, so he was able to come from his office and take over baby snuggling while I completed two-handed cooking tasks. Teamwork!
Friday: Husband and I spent the evening making freezer meals for his dad who had surgery earlier in the week. Dinner for us ended up being leftovers which felt strange after all that cooking.
Saturday: My son was in Chicago with his dad and his team for a tournament. My husband had friends over to celebrate one of them getting engaged and he made smoked ribs, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. I went over to a friend’s house to offer some comfort/company, she made stuffed bell peppers and I brought ice cream.
Sunday: Father’s Day Dinner – Smoked ribs, potatoes au gratin, vinegar coleslaw, strawberry rhubarb crisp.
Monday: Smoked pork enchiladas, watermelon
Tuesday: Creole chicken red beans and rice soup, sourdough toast
Wednesday: My son and I went to a friend’s house to watch the World Cup, the host made sloppy joes, salad, and a variety of chips. Husband worked late and had leftovers when he got home.
Thursday: My husband’s company treated us to dinner at a local seafood restaurant as a thank you for my son doing a little manual labor after hours. All three of us enjoyed various types of fish sandwiches.
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $63 at Trader Joe's.
-- Last of our neighbors' gift of stuffed pasta shells with marinara sauce, French bread, salad, and chocolate chip cookies
-- Grilled vegetable sandwich at a restaurant followed by an ice cream treat at a local stand
-- Concoction of brown rice, navy beans, peas, chopped tomato, soy sauce and black pepper
-- Fried rice with peas and plant-based chicken
-- Crackers, cheese and apple slices
-- Baked potato and peas
-- Leftovers from Chipotle bowl that I had for lunch (it was enough for three meals!)
Peas were in heavy rotation this week. They were from a bag of frozen peas that I used as an ice pack on my knee over the last two months. The partial thaw back to frozen over and over again made their texture funky but they tasted fine.
I am still basking in the joy of cooking in my own home. WWA:
Saturday - I made Kristen's butter chicken recipe. DH, who loves Indian food, raved about it - “a keeper”, “make this again”, “best he has had”. Hats off Kristen!
Sunday - last minute Father’s Day edition with grilled steaks from the freezer, baked potatoes, asparagus, and store-bought fruit-topped cheesecake with the company of, and bit of help from, DS 25 and his amazing SO
Monday - homemade falafel, tzatziki, chopped veggies in pita bread
Tuesday- the leftover butter chicken
Wednesday - smokies from the freezer in buns with sauerkraut on top, chips on the side
Thursday- just me eating freezer chilli on a baked potato
Friday - am thinking spaghetti with homemade freezer meatballs and a quick homemade sauce
Happy weekend everyone
$65 @ scratch & dent, $104 @ Costco, $38 @ Winco, $20 restaurant supply
It was very hot this week, we ate taco green salads 3 days, kale salads with grilled marinated pork chops, lots of fresh fruit and honey yogurt fruit dip.
Thursday I took mom to In N Out and met up with friends, tonight is fresh cod fish and chips, Saturday is fish tacos. Sunday family dinner is ham, salads and more dirty soda bar...so fun!
I just want to say God bless you and all the nurses! I don't think I would be a very happy camper after 2 12-hour days let alone 3!
Saturday - we got back from camping this day and it is our usual takeout day anyways. An agreement could not be reached on where to get food from so I got Taco Bell for my son and myself (black bean Crunchwrap, Taco Bell has the best vegetarian options for fast food in my opinion!) and Nations hamburgers for my husband and daughter. Luckily these two places are near each other which is why I agreed to pickup both.
Sunday - we went out to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant for Father’s Day, delicious food and the kids did very well (they still sometimes find it hard to sit for so long in restaurants but it is getting better as they get older)
Monday - I had a Girl Scout troop leader appreciation dinner to attend, I let the kids choose what I made for them before I left, daughter wanted a grilled cheese and a bean burrito, son wanted spaghetti and meatballs and a bean burrito. They have been extra hungry since going to summer camp, I think because they are so active and they rush through lunch there and don’t eat enough. My appreciation dinner was catered by a taco truck, you could just go up and order whatever you wanted, it was really good!
Tuesday - We had two hot dogs leftover from camping so I cooked those along with some egg noodles sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and steamed broccoli and carrots for the kids. For myself, I had carrot soup from the freezer and two pieces of sourdough bread, toasted with one topped with hummus and one topped with avocado.
Wednesday - our usual bean burritos, Trader Joe’s Spanish rice and frozen corn for the kids. I had tostadas spread with homemade black bean dip, topped with avocado and mango salsa.
Thursday - Shrimp or veggie dumplings, udon noodles and steamed broccoli for the kids. I had minestrone soup I’d made earlier in the week, along with toasted sourdough topped with hummus, sliced tomatoes, and balsamic glaze.
Friday - Book club tonight and we are going to a restaurant (we normally just have it at someone’s house but occasionally do field trips) My husband is going to take the kids out to get dinner somewhere.
Fresh Copper River salmon is in and Fred Meyer had it on sale. That fed us nicely for two meals and the final piece became the protein on salads with a base of broccoli slaw mix.
Father’s day was a bust as I was not feeling well. We fended for ourselves.
Several weeks ago I’d had lunch with a friend at a Lebanese restaurant. They bring a huge, piping hot pita to the table. My friend ate a small piece torn from the edge. I brought it home and froze it. Found a reduced price gluten free pizza crust in the refrigerator section. I used the pita as a crust for my husband and we had BBQ chicken pizza with homemade apple BBQ sauce I’d made last fall with apples from our tree. Turned out just fine and we’ll have a lunch from the leftovers.
We had tamales ($18) from the farmer’s market and will have that for a lunch, too.
Tonight we’re eating a friend’s and I’ll bring dessert.
Love your plans! Repeating = such a rewarding, less thought effort system.
Random thought: On leftovers, did you have them available as much when raising all your kids? Or is that new now? Also, do you make more meals now that you enjoy? Or were you doing that all along? Just curious how that all changed or stayed the same in a different season:)
The person I was married to did not think it was ok? acceptable? ideal? to eat a dinner meal twice in a row.
So yes, that has changed for sure.
And yes, I now eat a lot more things that *I* want to eat!
Aldi $64
& I've come to the realization that I seem incapable of remembering what was for food on any particular day, so...
this week I ate (at some point in time)
salad
tuna, baked potato, & mixed veg
tacos
salad
quinoa w/Texas caviar
shredded wheat w/banana & blueberries (walnuts on the side)
eggs w/veggies, toast w/jam, & yogurt w/preserves
and LOTS of tea!
Mostly I stayed out of the grocery store, except to pick up sunscreen, a deli snack tray, Gatorade, and two bananas. I went to the beach for two days, but mostly I have been eating down my fridge and freezer while at home.
M - I made a turkey quesadilla after work, and I think I also had some popcorn (:
T - Ate a huge breakfast/lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the road. Dinner was snacky snacks from TJ's - sweet and spicy rice crackers, trail mix, a banana.
W - Another big lunch, so dinner was cheese, crackers, grapes, turkey chunks, wine
Th - I threw together a gyoza skillet with chicken breast, sliced carrots, and an easy stir fry sauce. I was so tired I could only eat half of it, so the rest was breakfast the next day.
F - I have a tilapia filet, about 10 tiny potatoes, and half of an orange bell pepper to use up. I did some meal prep today and have plenty of containers in the freezer for work lunches for the net month! Three of them will be my S/S/M meals. Then on Monday I will continue eating down what I have without grocery shopping.
Happy Weekend!
My kitchen is being renovated, (by me), so I am learning hard into prepared/easy food.
Not sure what I spent this week. I aim to spend about 150/week for food/household supplies, but I try for a balance of frugal and enjoying life. We rarely eat out as I enjoy cooking and it’s so much healthier overall. If I want a food item, I buy it, but look for the best price, etc.
Here goes: Main Meals
Sun- Took my son and his dad out for Mexican to celebrate Father’s Day.
M-Tex mex bowl from Aldi and a Mexican corn salad from the package
T-Artichoke stuffed chicken breast with the rest of the salad and some pasta
W-cheese ravioli with jar sauce, sliced peppers
Th-Domino’s pizza
F- Butter Chx from Aldi with rice and steamed broccoli and a beet/goat cheese salad. I recommend the butter chicken. I will eat the other half tomorrow.
All other meals were also somehow being eaten out of our construction zone of a kitchen….my son usually has some variation of what I am eating if he is home.
Expensive week due to quarterly cheese delivery, 5lbs of honey, and some improper planning. It was what it was.
WIS: Farmer's market-$116; Farm store-$20; Neighborhood-$20; Wegmans-$70; Trader Joes-$26; S&S-$7; the Star-$7; WI cheese-$68; Milk delivery-$21 Total-$355
WWA: Sat- We were up to our elbows in strawberries and didn't plan ahead and pull from the freezer so we did take out meatball pizza and zucchini fries
Sun- Lemon marinated chicken w/ a lemon, asparagus, gnocchi dish
Mon- Peach and fennel salad, leftover gnocchi dish w/ lemon pepper shrimp
Tues- Meatball subs w/ asparagus on the side
Wed- Duck breast w/ cherries, mashed potatoes, and green beans
Thurs- Leftover meatballs w/ spaghetti, and green beans
Fri- some haddock and snap pea dish from the NYT likely over rice
Tell us more about a quarterly cheese delivery! I am intrigued.
Do you have a recipe for your egg bites? Mine don’t seem to hold their form very well.
What I spent: less than if we ate away from home but too much in general (lol-kids home from college means lots of snack food)
What we ate:
Chili dogs
Chicken tomatillo casserole
Pizza
Egg rolls and veggie fried rice
Cajun chicken and rice with veggies
Mushroom ravioli