WIS, WWA | funnel cakes for dinner
What I Spent
I spent:
- $32 at Aldi
- $6 at Giant
- $9.50 at Safeway
- $20 at the mall
- $20 on funnel cakes
What We Ate
Saturday
I grilled some burgers for us, and I realized, wow, hamburger bun packages are really not designed for households of two.
And you will see on Monday and Tuesday, I made efforts to serve meals that used up the rest of the buns!
(I know I could freeze them but man, I'm tryin' to eat down my freezer right now, not add random things to it.)
Sunday
This was the day that Zoe and I finished up her last math lesson! To celebrate, we went to the mall and got a Lego set of Zoe's choosing, and we ate dinner at the mall too.
Monday
I salted and peppered some marked-down chicken thighs, sauteed them in some hot oil, let them cool, shredded them, mixed the meat with BBQ sauce, and served it on buns, with produce on the side.
Tuesday
I only cooked half on Monday, and on Tuesday, I dipped the rest of the chicken thighs in a beaten egg, then in flour, and fried them in oil I'd saved from a previous frying occasion.
We ate those on buns, with lettuce, tomato, and a spicy sauce.
Wednesday
I was out with Zoe and one of her besties riding some thrill rides and we got funnel cakes. And then we weren't hungry for dinner at all.
But we usually only do this once a year, so, you know, no biggie.
Thursday
I boiled some Aldi cheese tortellini, topped them with sauce from Aldi, and made a green salad on the side, with homemade croutons.
Friday
As per usual, I have not decided yet. Maybe a main dish salad because I have some lettuce that I need to use up.
What did you have for dinner this week?
P.S. If you need some dinner ideas, I have a roundup of main dish recipes right here. 🙂
Hilarious - we too (also two) have been working our way through an 8-pack of buns for exactly the same reason! Our meals included hamburgers, tuna melts and Cubanos. I'm curious...which Lego set did Zoe pick out?
I don't know the exact name but it was one of the ones based on Hocus Pocus. 🙂
And about the buns...I was thinking about how when I made homemade burger buns, I'd often make at least 24. Those days are gone!
We're working the carnival tonight; the funnel cake dinner is an excellent idea!
Dinner's this week include:
1. Lemon pepper tofu, rice, veggies
2. Grilled chicken, corn, sweet potato and salad
3. Shrimp and sausage stir fry, rice, veggies
4. A leftover day
5. Used up a Groupon and got some Greek food
6. Grilled chicken and salad
7. Tonight-IDK, maybe funnel cake-lol!
OK, now I must try that fried chicken thigh sandwich! Wow, that looks good. This week:
Monday - The plan was for Chicken Salad with apples and celery, but I wasn't feeling that, so I used a BOGO coupon and got us Big Macs, fries, and apple pies and it was actually quite good.
Tuesday - Garlic Green Bean and Shrimp Bowl
Wednesday - Skillet Tilapia, (freezer) Fettucine Alfredo, the rest of the green beans (it was a big bag for two people)
Thursday - Bolillo Paninis with bacon, colby jack, tomato, garlicky mayo, some kind of super sweet cantatloupe cut into chinks, and a kale salad from the HEB deli.
Tonight - Chicken Strips Salad with romaine, chickpeas, mint, yellow bell pepper, red onion, lemon vinaigrette-marinated cucumbers, and croutons.
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, so I am taking food from home for late lunch at work, and I will enjoy a nice cold bowl of cereal for dinner, but if I had a funnel cake I would have that instead! Happy weekend!
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/
First, I'm so glad that you and Zoe have been enjoying some treats and fun to celebrate her graduation!
WIS: $19.50 at the Regional Market, $8 at Ollie's, $9 at the bakery and grocery outlets, and $25.50 at Price Chopper.
WIA: Notably, two more variations on stir-fry noodles--one involving shrimp and the other involving chicken, and both including julienned carrots, local snow peas, and extremely local weeds!
Funnel cakes are the bomb!
Monday-BLT salad
Tuesday- Over the weekend, someone in the family asked for a meal to include sweet potato. I made a sweet potato casserole( sweet potato , pear, celery, onion, maple syrup, pumpkin seed oil, salt, pepper) that I typically make for autumn/winter meals. I added some sausage leftover from the weekend. I also tried a new recipe, baked parmesan carrots, which we all loved.
Wednesday-salad with chicken on top ( I baked the chicken on Tuesday while the sweet potato casserole and carrots were baking and followed with baking banana bread while the oven was still hot.
Thursday- leftover sweet potato casserole and Parmesan carrots
Friday-will be salad with chicken on top
Have no WIS/WIA but wanted to comment about the "funnel cake for dinner" In the late 70's-80's there was a popular cookbook in our circle called "More with Less," by a Mennonite author. One of the ideas she gave with meal planning was just that type of thing. If you're making homemade ice cream, plan around it. Watermelon feast, plan around it. As long as most of the time you were fixing, eating balanced meals it made for a good change of pace.
@Chrissy, I got a later version of that cookbook for our wedding - we used lots of great curry/pulse/soup recipes, but I didn't pick up on that meal planning idea; that's great! I like the idea of a homemade ice cream meal plan...
@Chrissy, the Mennonite author was Doris Janzen Longacre. I have both the cookbook and her follow-up book, Living More with Less. Both are well worth owning. Sadly, Longacre died of cancer at age 39, just before Living... was published.
@Chrissy, I’ve been lucky enough to read that book a few times through inter-library loans. It’s a good read in appreciating the small things.
@Chrissy, that cookbook has been my main source of recipes since 1980. It has shaped my philosophy about food waste, about over-processed foods, and cooking from scratch. The honey whole wheat bread is what I make every 2-3 weeks (although minus the powdered milk and using coconut oil for the fat.)
@A. Marie,
I have her cookbook (of course!) but I didn't know about the follow-up book. Now I'll see if I can find that.
@Chrissy, I had a copy of that book and loved it--especially the fried rice recipe!
@Chrissy,
I also had the two books back when I became a stay at home mom. My local La Leche League chapter had then to borrow and I bought them. Must have gotten rid of them cause I don't have them now. I most likely gave them to the library book sale so someone else hopefully got them and used them well.
@Karen A., I agree! The Vietnamese Fried Rice is excelllent!
@Chrissy, delurking to say that I had never heard of Doris Janzen Longacre but I just ordered both of her books and they should be coming on Monday. Big thanks to you, and to the subsequent commenters who supplied more information! I am looking forward to reading them.
I am an empty-nester frugal wannabe, married 33 years with three grown children, and a very busy life. Fast food and carry out is our frugal Achilles heel but we do live in a smallish older home furnished largely with family heirlooms and hand-me-downs, and drive old cars, so there is that.
My Aldi has 4 packs of brioche buns. We’ve switched from regular hamburger buns to those to avoid having too many for our small family.
Let's see....one night was chili, one was ribs and burgers on the grill (only Son likes ribs, I'm mostly indifferent), one was pizza, one was chicken enchiladas, and last night was soy-butter corn ramen from a New York Times recipe. I added chicken to Son's as he will stare in disbelief if there's no meat.
I think tomorrow I'll grill again and maybe Sunday make Mrs. Scorsese's red sauce with spaghetti. I still have some veal in the fridge, so all I need else is sausage and meatball meat.
@Rose, I saw that ramen recipe in the NYT too, and I'm planning on trying this as my next variation on noodles.
@A. Marie, It's delicious, fast, and cheap. What more could you ask for?
@Rose,
Chicken, I guess... 😉
@Rose,
Just bought a dozen ears of corn. I think this will be on next weeks menu.
Leftover hamburger and hotdog buns make awesome croutons. Just break or cut into pieces on a sheet pan, spray with oil and sprinkle with seasoning. Then bake till brown and crisp, yuuuummmmm.
@Patricia, Garlic bread from the hot dog rolls.
Even my finicky family liked them.
I like the variety of sandwiches! It feels like a summery menu. And congrats to Zoe. I feel for the kiddos who've been so impacted by COVID. Onwards and upwards! I could never believe when adults told me that high school would be the best time of my life (really? it's all downhill from here?) and they were wrong! Adulthood ROCKS!
Monday: Mr. B made pasta and meatballs.
Tuesday: Leftover pasta and meatballs, with butternut squash soup on the side. I made the soup, which was a bust. I used boxed broth, and it was way too salty.
Wednesday: Mr. B and I went on a date to the fanciest restaurant I've ever been to in my life. In Toronto, restaurants participate in a program twice a year where they offer three courses at a fixed price; it's cheaper than eating at those restaurants usually...but in this case still very expensive. A fun, rare experience.
Thursday: I made sausage and potato sheet-pan, and spicy cucumber salad on the side.
Friday: Mr. B will make salmon and salad, and I'm making inari sushi for the side. I finally found a store that sells seasoned tofu pockets (inari age)!
@Meira Bear, Oh, and my restaurant meal was a salad (greens, roasted corn, cheese, vinaigrette,) salmon with farro, vegetables, and corn puree, and then a very fancy dessert of vanilla panna cotta with rhubarb compote, sorbet, those fancy cripsy things, and GOLD FLAKES. It was, honestly, kind of ridiculous. Certainly an experience!
And Covid was really the least of the difficulties in Zoe's life during high school, which is sort of terrible! Poor kiddo.
I really do think her post high-school years are gonna be way better!
And your dinner out sounds so fun. 🙂
@Meira Bear, as far as that “fancy” meal my grandmother would say “you can’t cry all the time” if we had a little splurge outside our routine.
@Meira Bear, I use a boxed broth which you can get in Toronto and the GTA, I use the PCBM (President's Choice Blue Menu) chicken or beef boxed broth NO SALT ADDED. This way I can control how much salt I add in myself. (My freezer is so small I am not able to make or store home-made broth).
@Linda in Canada, thanks! We keep kosher, so the only brand available is Tabatchnik's. I think we'll probably have to go back to homemade. It's not that it's hard to make, but just a bit of a pain.
Since I am gone 10-12 hours a day working. I usually don't even eat dinner or cook at home.
Oof, those are some long shifts!
WIS: $40 at Ollie's (had a coupon) stocking up on coffee, nuts, spices, crackers and trail mix. About $100 at Food Lion.
WWA: The usual hot weather meals of salads, fresh fruit, homemade bread and muffins, nuts, cheese, protein smoothies with berries and chia seeds, cantaloupe, homegrown tomato sandwiches with Swiss cheese. We ate out Sunday at a venerable hippie pizza place where you can order by the slice. Delicious and economical.
Thank you for the recipe roundup. I have it saved in my notes app for future inspiration. Also that chicken sandwich…great idea. WWA:
Saturday - went to a bbq at a friends place. Compliments to the chef as the food was knock down gorgeous (hello watermelon, strawberry, tomato & basil salad with sweet balsamic that I need to try to replicate)
Sunday - grilled pork chops, risotto, salad, mixed fruit crisp using frozen fruit
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - spaghetti with meat sauce (everything but the dried pasta was from the freezer)
Wednesday - was supposed to be stir fry but after a long day at the office, I hit the easy button and ordered 5 guys burgers & fries
Thursday - chicken stir fry originally intended for Wednesday (from frozen veggies and some needs to be used fresh veggies)
Friday - making a slow cooker beef stew
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend
@kj, that salad sounds delicious! If you successfully replicate it, please share!
@kj, that watermelon salad sounds delicious. I would never have thought of that flavor profile.
Although my husband and youngest son have been gone in New York all week, I'm still cooking. It used to be that when my husband left and it was just me and small children, I copped out with sandwiches and things a lot for dinner. But now that I have two children who eat more like men, I can't get away with that anymore. 🙂
Saturday: Bunless cheeseburgers, fried mushrooms, oven fries, roasted sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, carrot sticks, watermelon, mexican wedding cookies
Sunday: Nachos made with leftover taco meat and the blue corn tortillas I bought because I was actually at a store, and my daughter asked about them and wanted to try them. At that same store, I bought blocks of Australian chocolate in two different flavors. The cashier told me they have a lot of Australian candy at that store. Why, I do not know. It's a tiny store in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and as far as I know, the owners aren't Australian. Whatever. I got the chocolate. We also had carrots from the garden.
Monday: Tuna melt sandwiches, dilly beans, more chocolate.
Tuesday: I had some pork in the freezer from the last time I made a pork shoulder, so I shredded that and fried it in bacon grease. We also had leftover plain egg noodles that I heated up with butter, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese, a green salad with vinaigrette (so glad I cut and cleaned two HUGE bags of lettuce from the garden a week or so ago, as it's now all flattened), and the last of the vanilla ice cream.
Wednesday: Pork fried rice with the last of the freezer pork, and the very last Otter Pops from last year's county fair parade. My children get dozens from the floats every year. I finally finished last year's just in time for the this year's parade in two weeks.
Thursday: We hadn't had a lot of red meat lately, and one of my sons requested it. So, sheep rib chops, choice of leftover noodles or rice, corn on the cob, peanut butter/almond cookies
Tonight: This is the coolest day in our forecast, so I'm making bread and will use some dough to make pizza. I'll make two half-sheet-pan pizzas, as always, with the expectation of having lots of leftovers for another meal since only three people will be eating the pizza, not five. (I usually only have just a half a piece.) Green salad with ranch dressing, though the ranch will have to be made with dried dill, as the dill in my garden got stripped down to broken stalks in the hail. And more cookies.
We often turn leftover hamburger and hotdog buns into garlic bread. Put some butter, garlic powder, oregano, and Parmesan cheese on them and pop them under the broiler!
Are funnel cakes a regional food? I don't know what this is!
@Central Calif. Artist, I think they are pretty regional. They're northeastern, mostly, and I had never had one until moving to New York. Although I think they've spread around due to the fact that they're almost exclusively found at fairs and carnivals, the vendors for which travel the country. In the west, you're much more likely to get just fry bread. Funnel cakes are also fried, so it's a similar idea, just a different preparation of the dough/batter.
@kristin @ going country, NM State Fair. Funnel cakes and also Navajo Fry Bread. Something for everyone!
@kristin @ going country, Not to mention green chile peanut brittle, bacon green chile corn dogs, deep-fried green chile cheesesteak ... Yes, a lot of green chile.
Ok, I had no idea that they were regional! I figured every carnival all over the country served funnel cakes. So interesting!
@Central Calif. Artist, I had never tried a funnel cake until I met my husband, who is from Pennsylvania. In my portion of Michigan, we prefer elephant ears - my husband had never heard of them until he moved to the Midwest. 🙂
@Kristen,
They are carnival/festival food in TN. And delicious!
@Kristen,
Here in Ohio, funnel cakes are a thing! you always find them at carnivals, fairs, and similar places. The food service director in the hospital where I work sometimes makes them to order to celebrate his staff (luckily, that includes me. :-)) Yum!!
@Central Calif. Artist, they have them at fairs in Southern California. Along with fried Oreos, of course!
@Sandra, I just don't get out much. Haven't had a reason to go further south than Bakersfield for many moons. Carnivals and fairs are too peopled for me, so maybe there are funnel cakes in Central Calif. , but I haven't gone to places that sell them. Time for me to explore DuckDuckGo.
@Central Calif. Artist,
Boston here! While I do know what a funnel cake is...we don't have them.
We have fried dough. Carnivals, at the beach, fourth of July...always fried dough.
@kristin @ going country, these are at every Texas fair type thing I have ever been to. But they had to originate somewhere, right? (:
Last Friday I shopped and spent about $130 at the stores and $59 and change with a farm. Oh, wait, another $27 and change with another farm. A bit of a spendy week. I splurged on a goat sirloin at one of the farms, so...
I have been so utterly bored with my meals lately, and I don't know why, because heaven knows, I only cook what I like since it's just me at the house. Anyway, I branched out this week after a little googling, making just a few ingredient swaps to accommodate my food issues.
Tuna salad with veggies in it for two nights. Fruit on the side.
Turkey from the freezer with cranberry sauce and peas (yes, I have a five pound bag of cranberries in my freezer; I love homemade cranberry sauce)
Polish sausage with mashed white-colored sweet potatoes and pickled cabbage.
Gai Tod Takrai, or chicken with lemongrass. I grow lemongrass in my yard. I had green beans on the side.
And Oyakodon, the chicken and egg dish.
Tonight is up in the air still.
We had Salisbury steak that I requested my husband make for our anniversary. (I'm a simple woman with simple needs.) We had the leftovers this week with mashed potatoes and peas. When the potatoes ran out we had them on Martin's potato hamburger buns, YUM!
Last night I had a late PT appointment so afterwards we went to the local diner and had eggs and bagels for dinner.
Hamburgers tonight, we need to use up a couple of patties we had frozen and since we had the potato rolls... We'll enjoy them with the rest of the frozen tater tots.
We had neighbor kids over for dinner and I thought "perfect, now we won't end up with a bunch of extra hot dog buns!" Well, joke's on me because both of them ate plain hotdogs with no buns. So now we have extra buns and no extra hot dogs to eat with them haha
Sunday: Manicotti with Bolognese. I normally don't fuss with manicotti, but a neighbor just moved and gave us some things out of their pantry, including manicotti.
Monday: This pasta salad https://juliasalbum.com/corn-pasta-salad-bacon/#recipe It was good, but we decided that next time we would add more corn and more bacon.
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: I had only baked up half of the filled manicotti on Sunday (we have a small family), so I baked up the rest this night.
Thursday: The aforementioned hot dogs
Friday/Saturday: Who knows? A mixture of leftovers and easy pantry stuff.
Have a great weekend everyone!
64 dollars spent grocery pickup 13 spent at dollar tree
Monday: tacos and chips with homemade salsa
Tuesday: string cheese manicotti from tiktok ( it was good). Salad, lemon pepper green beans and bread.
Wednesday: quesadilla and margaritas
Thursday: Cobb salad without bacon
Friday: out to dinner with cousins. Prob pizza and salad
Saturday - earlier that day my husband was driving my daughter past a Panda Express and she got very excited and said she wanted to eat at the “panda restaurant” We’ve never taken the kids there before(we usually just order Chinese food from a local Chinese restaurant) , so we decided to try it. Food wasn’t as good as our usual Chinese food place but the kids enjoyed all the pandas and that their meals came in little panda boxes so a fun experience at least!
Sunday - made my favorite quick meal, pasta, jarred sauce and frozen meatballs.
Monday - sloppy joes made with ground turkey, coleslaw, steamed broccoli
Tuesday - one-pan crispy chicken with lemon mushroom orzo
Wednesday - Italian sausages, baked beans, steamed broccoli and carrots, chopped salad kit
Thursday - make your own personal pizza, kids requested pineapple and pepperoni as the toppings.
Friday - we are going on a mini trip tonight, just an overnight at a nearby City to check out a new museum and new playground. Also to get a bit of summer weather for my kids, we live on the coast and it’s been in the high 50’s/low 60’s all summer (which is normal) Although we will be experiencing the other extreme, over 100 degrees in the City we are going to!
Saturday: homemade pizzas, same on Sunday, as always.
Monday: burgers and salad bar--I finally got out of the rut (and everyone shockingly agreed) of serving fries or tater tots with burgers, and started putting out a really awesome salad bar. Lettuce, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrots, red bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and extras like cheese, garbanzo beans and harboiled egg. About four of the six of us enjoyed salads with our burgers, the others chose sliced cucumbers and carrot sticks.
Tuesday: ham and bean soup, courtesy of a ginormous ham butt DH bought a while ago when I asked him to get a ham steak with a bone to make said soup a few weeks ago. I cut it up and froze two thirds of it; this week I used the second portion. My youngest, who despises stew or soup in any form, had chicken nuggets.
Wednesday: hamburger stew; those who are not a fan of soups or stews *ahem* had boxed mac and cheese.
Thursday: I was down in the big city doing a volunteer shift at a cat shelter and afterwards went out to dinner with my best friend, who also volunteers there. It's been great to be able to meet up more regularly! I had spring rolls, seaweed salad and edamame. Everyone at home had taco night.
Tonight: DH is making tuna burgers and he got cocktail shrimp as well.
@Karen A., what's hamburger stew?
@Rose, Literally hamburger (you can use ground beef, but my son, who makes this regularly, likes to cook burger patties and chop them up, he likes the texture better), chopped russet potatoes, beef broth, some seasonings, cooked in the crockpot. Then an hour before it's ready he puts in 3 cups of frozen mixed veggies (the kind with corn, carrots, peas). I think I found the recipe first on Budget Bytes and tweaked it a bit. Nearly everyone likes it.
Thrill rides and funnel cakes instead of dinner? You are SUCH a fun Mom!
WIS: $66 for groceries and $10 for treats (Oinkies!) for the dog, who is A Very Good Girl. Among other things got some good buys: big BOGO trays of fresh asparagus (4 for the price of 2) and containers of parmesan cheese (2 for the price of 1) and hummus (2 for the price of 1), and pita chips (for the hummus) marked down 50%. Made up for the price of tortillas ($6?!).
WIA: Fresh asparagus, parmesan cheese and hummus! It was way too hot to cook so I did it only once, and made a big pot of tortellini and asparagus en brodo – the en brodo being a lovely lemon, thyme and vegetable stock broth in which you cook the tortellini and then, with about 3 minutes cook time left, add the asparagus. Serve in a bowl with grated parmesan cheese and lemon zest. And eat it repeatedly because you can reheat it in the microwave and not heat up the oven or even use the cooktop. Open a bottle of a nice Gabbiano Chianti Classico. And if you’re Becca, have a salad!
Bon appetit! Or I guess Buon Appetito in honor of the tortellini and parmesan cheese. And the Chianti.
Haha, well, I am not ALWAYS fun. Sometimes I have to do things like insist we do algebra. 😉
@Kristen, What's the saying? "Into each life some rain (and algebra) must fall." I think Charles Schultz had Charlie Brown change that to "Into each life some rain must fall. Usually on weekends."
This week my son is participating in the largest international youth soccer tournament in North America! We’re really lucky that it’s taking place in our metro area so we are saving money on lodging and eating out but the scheduling gymnastics has been the stuff of legends.
Friday: air fryer walleye nuggets, baked zucchini fries, salad
Saturday: Our family attended a Minnesota United soccer game (our kickoff to this soccer heavy week) so we met friends at a food hall before the game for dinner. I tried pizza from a restaurant that has been on my foodie wish list, my husband had Korean fried chicken, and my son had a burger.
Sunday: Mississippi Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, roasted green beans
Monday: (game day 1) California Roll Bowls
Tuesday: (game day 2) air fryer salmon, French fries, fresh cut veggies
Wednesday: (game day 3) Enchilada Roll Bowls – ALSO slices of pizza and sodas for my son and two of his teammates that they ate while we hung out at a grocery store waiting for a lightning storm to pass
Thursday: (game day 4) I packed almonds, fruit, pretzels, fig bars, and a friend brought sandwiches. I’m pretty sure my son mostly ate freebie protein bars
I also made a batch of rhubarb jam, a batch of raspberry jam, and a batch of zucchini chips.
WIS: $145 @ Walmart, $176 @ Costco & $87 @ Publix
WWA:
Sat: Spaghetti with whole wheat pasta and from scratch sauce using the bounty of tomatoes we are harvesting from the gardens
Sun: Leftovers
Mon: Chipotle bowls for some, Chipotle salads for others
Tues: Turkey Meatloaf, Homemade mashed potatoes & sauteed green beans from our gardens
Wed: Leftovers for some; takeout for some
Thurs: Salsa Chicken cooked in the crockpot - I shredded that and made a bowl with rice & all the usual Mexican toppings for my son, the rest of us had salads with it, sun gold tomatoes, cucumbers, romaine. Fresh pineapple for dessert.
Fri: Clean out the fridge night!
Canning season is in full swing and I literally have a bushel of tomatoes to put away every other day. So 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce was frozen and 7 quarts of diced tomatoes were canned. All of this to say that we might eat more takeout, leftovers or sandwiches in this season than we normally do. And I am ok with that!
@Angie,
I hear you on the canning season. We don't get into tomatoes until late august/early sept though.
I'm with you on the buns. There are four of us, but my husband & I typically have our burgers without the buns, so we always have lots leftover. Our freezer is reflective of this. 😉
As for dinners, we had:
-PF Changs dupe lettuce wraps (delicious) & fried rice
-We also had burgers this week, and then the teens had them again another night, while I was at a work dinner. I had a delicious salad, but didn't enjoy the pizza. And, as an avid pizza lover, that's an unusual situation.
-We had chicken shawarma x2. I love shawarma, and it's easy to make. The sides really make the meal special.
-2x I had a big salad (typical ingredients, plus sliced cherry plums, & feta - leftover from shawarma) & chicken on top. This was a cool meal that was easy to prepare. On the nights I had this, my husband had salmon.
As for tonight, my husband is out of town. No clue if the teens will be home for dinner, and I'm meeting friends for a "porch drink". We started this during COVID, but basically have a glass of wine on my friend's incredibly fancy back porch area. I'm thinking I'll eat leftovers before I head over there.
WIS - $8.99 @ scratch & dent store for 3 gal carton of vanilla ice cream
$6.99 watermelon @ Costco
WWA - Saturday BBQ ribs, coleslaw, zucchini tots and fruit salad
Sunday - leftover ribs made into pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad & grapes
Monday - big work day - smash burgers, potato salad & homemade tin roof sundaes
Tuesday - go to town day: Big veggie salad with grilled steak, ice cream because I had softened the 3 gal container to put into 2 qt containers that would stack in the freezer.
Wednesday - Hot dog day! Homemade hot dogs served with fresh sauerkraut, fresh cucumbers & onions, watermelon
Thursday - chicken salad made from chicken thighs from the freezer, served over green salad and watermelon.
Friday - Friends coming over for stitching (all types of handwork) in the garden.
I made a 7 layer salad, fruit salad and focaccia bread & lemon bars
There will be leftovers!
Saturday - family reunion - burgers & potlucky stuff. I made brownie bites in a silicone mold that I bought at a cake decorator's garage sale. They are 2" square with a 3/4" indent on top. I filled half with cheesecake and the other half with caramel. I made 50 of each.
Market Basket last Thurs approx. $80 + Saturday $26
It was
Friday: Waffles with the couple of slices of bacon remaining
Saturday: Burgers, homemade air fry french fries, and salad. I called my sister-in-law to see if she wanted to come over for a burger. My plan was to get the ground beef/brisket mix--it's the hot item I guess on the restaurant circuit and I have been eyeing it at the market. Well, Saturday they were all out. I used the ground beef I bought on Thursday, so I used that. I had to buy a pack of 8 rolls, which we used during the week--I even toasted them and spread with jelly for breakfast.
Sunday: 1 leftover burger and hot dogs, leftover salad and potatoes.
Monday: Pork shoulder slow roasted and potato salad
Tuesday: My work day. Leftover is good. Leftover pork shoulder.
Wednesday: Steak, side. The steak was from the Father's Day gift my girls sent.
Thursday: Well, I spent 4 hrs in the ER with my daughter. While gardening in sandals, she slipped and wouldn't you know there was a piece of glass that cut her heel area and also broke in the cut. When I got home, I toasted a Naan, took my shower, put my clothes out for work. I read 10 chapters of The Rose Code while waiting for my daughter. I keep a stash of books in my car in case of emergencies.
Next time I see the brisket/ground beef mix, I'll buy it to give it a try. I had seen a FB restaurant review. The writer said they own a butcher shop and they sell that. I know it is a little more expensive but it certainly will be less expensive than they paid at the restaurant for the burgers--$25.
Oh man, I don't think I have had a funnel cake in years. That really takes me back to going to the LA County Fair and wandering the exhibition halls with my dad.
This week was a "use up whatever we have because going grocery shopping is such a pain week." I managed to go until Friday before breaking down and hitting the stores (plus my knee scooter came in, so life is way easier.)
Sunday- Greek chicken salad
Monday- Grilled mahi mahi w/ a pineapple/dragonfruit salsa (which was amazing)
Tuesday- Vaguely Asian inspired rice bowls....I basically just wanted to eat avocado
Wednesday- Ravioli that needed to be eaten with frozen chicken meatballs and marinara sauce that needed to go lol
Thursday- I got my stitches out (yay for normal showers) and clearance for 25% weightbearing, so we got takeout sushi to celebrate
Friday- Skirt steak tacos
Saturday- Sun dried tomato turkey meatballs w/ pasta and homemade tomato sauce (I am trying to clear space for this years canning. Wish me luck canning 20 lbs of tomatoes on one leg!!!)
@Heather, Depending on what you need them for, I have found the fastest and least labor intensive method of tomato canning is to cut them in slices (for slicing tomatoes) or halves (for Romas) put them in one layer with olive oil and salt on a baking sheet and roast them until they're much reduced in size. Then I puree them with my immersion blender and can the puree. No peeling necessary, a lot fewer jars needed, and much more flavorful tomato concentrate. I always puree tomatoes when I use them, anyway, so it works for me.
@kristin @ going country, that sounds really good. If I got more than a handful of cherry tomatoes and one golfball sized tomato every other day, I would definitely try that!
You are spot on about the hamburger buns! We became empty nesters a few months ago and I’ve fed the birds and squirrels very healthy lately. LOL
I spent $123 at Aldi, and $49 at Kroger.
Sunday: loaded baked potato, salad, and homemade bread
Monday: Crockpot smothered steak with mushrooms and onions, rice, broccoli and cauliflower medley (frozen)
Tuesday: Brisket sandwiches, coleslaw, chips
Wednesday: Whataburger
Thursday: Spatchcocked chicken in the air fryer, dressing, squash casserole, cranberry sauce
Friday: out for Mexican!
Saturday: Grilled basil chicken (a freezer meal - yay!), baked beans, and cantaloupe
Sunday: Fajitas for lunch and stromboli for dinner
Monday: The same tortellini Kristen made this week with salad on the side
Tuesday: Chicken tenders (it turned out there were only 4 in the bag, not 5, so everyone but me had chicken and I had a salad), summer squash from my neighbor's garden, and waffle fries
Wednesday: My son's family birthday party was this night and he picked steak (some beef, some venison), shells and cheese, cucumbers, and pumpkin pie.
Thursday: All afternoon plans (like getting groceries and making something healthy for the day between 2 birthday celebrations) went out the window. Instead, the kids and I each ate a whole bag of popcorn and a few veggies while watching the Super Mario Bros movie over the dinner hour, then when my husband got home from work at 7:00 we went out for ice cream. After the day we had, I don't regret any of it and it meant a lot to my kids that we would do something like that.
Friday: Today is my son's actual birthday - 7! He was so enthralled with the stromboli that I made on Sunday that he requested it for tonight. We were originally going to go out for ice cream, but since we did that last night we just picked up some ice cream treats to share at home. If he changes his mind and wants to go out for ice cream again tonight I will absolutely say yes, though.
WIS $0 - I did a “big shop” last week
Saturday: pizza
Sunday: Salmon, broccoli and potato
Monday: Thai green curry over cauliflower rice
Tuesday: hubby worked late, so I had a PB&J sandwich
Wednesday: free sandwiches & salad (leftovers from an event at work)
Thursday: Ethiopian food
Friday: Ethiopian food
Even if we are 3 eating the burger buns, the remaining ones always end up being used at breakfast (toasted, with peanut butter)
This week, we had
- Pizza
- sausages+brussels sprouts
- chicken sandwichs with salad/veggies/soup
- charcuterie board (cheese, salami, peperonni, crackers, corn chips) and soup
- salmon and veggies
Had my first Cherokee purple tomatoes of 2023. Still on the hunt for some
brandywines.
We went to Outback to celebrate hubby's retirement and daughter's admission to grad school. I had a $25 Fetch gift card and used my 15% off AARP discount. I got a huge piece of cheesecake to bring home and at it all. Made my tummy hurt and it just wasn't that good.
We had:
salmon
spaghetti with meat sauce
Wednesday was fend for yourself as it's just daughter and I and dh plays golf that night
Thursday was stir fried shrimp
Tonight is another fend for yourself night as daughter is working a split shift and won't be home at dinner time. We have frozen pork dumplings in the freezer so hub and I might have that. I wonder if he saved the rice from last night - then I can make egg fried rice.
I am a household of 2, and the extra hamburger buns get used as "pizza buns"; I usually throw them in the freezer, and when I do not want to cook, I pull them out and put on tomato sauce, grated cheese, pepperoni, green olives for HB and hot pickled banana peppers for me, into the toaster oven at 400 until the cheese melts and the buns have gone crispy. But I do like your ideas with the chicken on a bun (both ways you did it), I will be adding that into my menu ideas sheet.
I threw away my menu list from this past week, so I'll see what I remember.
BLT sandwiches, with a small green salad. (one dinner and one lunch).
Green salad with all the vegetables in it, plus a hard cooked egg on top, homemade Greek salad dressing.
Raman noodles with bacon, spinach and a fried egg on top. (I do not use the stock packet that comes with the noodles; after I have drained the noodles, I add in sesame oil and soy sauce with the spinach and chopped cooked bacon, and top it with the fried egg; this is totally delicious).
On the BBQ (might I add in the middle of a raging thunderstorm; I have an awning), chicken thighs, potato rounds, zucchini, carrots and sweet peppers.
For dinner tonight, the leftover chicken thighs and vegetables, and most likely I'll make a small green salad or a carrot salad.
Happy weekend to everyone!
Being someone from a household of two adults (plus two kitties), I SO get what you're saying about the struggle with hamburger/hot dog bun packaging! haha I look forward to seeing your menu planning each week and your continued creative efforts to use up things like your extra burger buns, now with a smaller household. I need your inspiration! I'm thinking about using up some leftover bread soon to make homemade bread crumbs that I will use to make things like breaded oregano chicken. I haven't done that for a long time.
Yesterday I had ice cream for dinner..and potato chips. Hey it had been a day. 😉
@Joyce, I think that qualifies as dairy + vegetable, right?
Kristen, I would love to see you do a post on “all things sauce!” You are the Spice Queen and seem to get very creative on incorporating it into your various meals. Do you make most of your sauces or purchase them? Do you have a variety of spicy and not so spicy versions? I think we could learn a lot from you on this topic.
@Lisa, That should’ve said Sauce Queen!
Welp, another better late than never comment because I've been busy summering. Sorry, not sorry. 😉
WIS: 46.54 on take out pizza, 20.42 on wine, 247.30 @Aldi on mostly groceries but also some lunch boxes and coordinating reusable baggies for the kids (not strictly necessary, but cute), 40.00 on an ice cream card for our pool, 155.10 @Whole Foods because we were there to return an Amazon purchase and my husband temporarily lost his mind getting sushi and fancy cheeses, then 36.90 on more take out pizza. So, 546.26 this week. Like, woah. Moving on...
WWA:
Fri: spinach and arugula salad topped with shake Parm and crispy onions as well as balsamic vinaigrette, sourdough focaccia pizza with mozzarella, parmesan, cherry tomatoes and pepperoni.
Sat: sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, take out pizza.
Sun: salad of cucumber spears and tomato wedges, Korean steak and pepper stir fry with caramel sauce over white rice.
Mon: a simple salad of sliced heirloom tomatoes (actually, it was just one tomato, but it was so large that four of us didn't eat it all, and I had some slices leftover), roasted eggplant tapenade over egg noodles and topped with feta cheese and fresh basil.
Tue: sliced cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes, assorted leftovers: egg noodles, eggplant, zucchini fajita filling, sweet and spicy swiss chard and feta cheese. The kids had strawberry swirl cones for dessert.
Wed: This was shopping day, so we had Aldi take and bake cheese pizzas, but I had my husband jazz them up by adding diced green pepper, minced garlic and slices of heirloom tomatoes from our farm share. I also made a lazy salad of prewashed spinach and arugula topped with balsamic vinaigrette and crispy onions.
Thu: We ate at the pool: cucumbers, carrots, roasted red pepper hummus and strawberries. Then we grilled turkey hotdogs and veggies I prepped beforehand (peppers, onions, and squash marinated in olive oil and spices). We had our dogs on brioche buns with mustard and ketchup, and I packed all our pool meal ingredients in the new lunch boxes and made the kids carry them. We got ice cream at the pool for dessert.
Tonight: After eating sushi and fancy cheeses for lunch, we had pizza delivered to the pool. It was a day of decadence.
And yes, I am aware that we had pizza for half of our dinners this week. I am not ashamed. We also ate a lot of gigantic heirloom tomatoes. They are delicious and I am not at all sorry. Have a great weekend, everyone!
@Becca,
Also, congratulations to Zoe on graduating and congratulations to you for a successful finale to your homeschooling career!
I like to use leftover hamburger, or hot dog, buns for garlic bread!
Funnel cakes are a uniquely American thing, and despite reading lots of American blogs over the years, had never heard of them when I first say them advertised at Coney Island on a vacation! I, of course, tried them, but I think I can pass on eating them again
That I can believe...they seem like a very classic American fair/carnival experience.