WIS, WWA | Guys, I ate pancakes
What I Spent
This week, I spent:
- $7 at Safeway
- $89 at Aldi
- $16 on a dinner out after orientation (see Thursday)
That's $112, which means I would already be an abject failure on the $45/two weeks budget!
A $16 meal would be a terrible no-no on such a budget.
However...I got through a whole 'nother week of orientation and aside from yesterday's meal out, I packed all my meals, ate all my prepped breakfasts, and also brought all my own coffee from home.
Sooo, I did make my $112 work for me.
What We Ate
Saturday
I rectified my no-pancakes-for-two-weeks situation by eating pancakes plus a green smoothie.
Ahhh, order has been restored.
Sunday
I went to a friend's house for a game night and had dinner there. This is where I learned the Barilla protein pasta is not terrible.
Which is more than we can say for the 100% chickpea pasta. 😉
Monday
I bought a case of chickpeas* from Sam's Club a little while back, and while I have made a dent in my stash, there are still quite a few cans left.
*I have no objection to eating chickpeas as chickpeas. I just maintain they aren't pasta material. 😉
I made some falafel pitas with tzatziki sauce, and now my pile of cans has shrunk ever so slightly.
Tuesday
I made a chicken taco salad for Zoe and me, with cilantro lime dressing and some fried tortilla strips.
In other news, Chiquita tried to take my seat.
Wednesday
Zoe was gone, and I fried up the rest of the falafel mixture for a repeat of Monday night.
Thursday
As you know, it was the first nurse-rate payday for all of us new grads on my unit! So we celebrated by going to a local Mexican restaurant after our last day of boot camp.
I ordered a chimichanga, but failed to take into account both the size and also the overwhelming nature of it being covered in queso.
So I ate half and took the rest home.
Friday
Well...Zoe will be working, and I have the other half of my chimichanga on hand. So I will probably eat that along with some veggies.
Wow. That chimichanga is . . . something. And covered in queso, to boot. I've never seen that.
Saturday: I very, very rarely make macaroni and cheese, so I have no idea why it seemed like the thing to do this night, but it did. My daughter wanted to help me, which is great, but then I was making it/supervising her and also frying pork chops at the same time. Not my best planning. It was stressful. Good meal, though. We also had frozen peas, and ice cream.
Sunday: We went to our parish potluck, to which I contributed coleslaw and some Rice Krispie treats my daughter helped me make. She's into the kitchen lately, which I am happy to encourage. Maybe it'll stick this time, unlike with her brothers.
Monday: Lots of leftovers, plus some extra smoked sausage to bulk things up a bit.
Tuesday: Ram/split pea curry with rice.
Wednesday: I had several sausages left, so I diced those and combined them with a quart of cooked pintos from the freezer--plus a roux, onions, garlic, and tomatoes--and served that over rice. I also made cornbread and cut up some cucumbers.
Thursday: Cottage pie made with store ground beef. I am really looking forward to getting our whole cow for the freezer in a couple of months. Store beef is just so . . . wet.
Friday: I'll be in town until almost dinner time. Luckily, I have both cottage pie and curry left over, so that will be divvied out according to preference.
I tried the Barilla protein+ pasta this week. It has multiple ingredients beyond the chickpeas. Honestly, I could not tell the difference from my regular Barilla pasta. Of course, I did have my homemade marinara (yummy) and some mozzarella cheese "balls" with it.
It always amazes me how some places provide huge portions. Great if you are sharing,not so much if you are one person. I can only manage a second meal of any leftover that can't be frozen. Enough is enough.
I've got to watch my carbs so pancakes are just not an option and I do miss them although I've never wanted them for dinner.
Question: Do you eat three meals each day? Wasn't sure. If so can you maybe do a post that shows what is in all three meals, each day for a week? I'm curious to see where leftovers show up and how frequently. I am a one-person HH and it is really challenging in terms of using up even minimal fresh, other food items each week.
@Irena, Try almond flour pancakes - very low carb and I prefer them to wheat flour ones. Basic recipe is 1 c. almond flour, 2 eggs, dash of salt, vanilla, 1/2 t. baking powder, and 1/4 c liquid (water/milk/cream). Sweetener if you want it. They cook more slowly than regular pancakes, so expect a few in the first batch to fall apart (still yummy). Play around with the recipe to make it as you like - I always add fruit, usualaly cinnamon or nutmeg. Enjoy!
Yes, the Barilla one is surprisingly good! It helps a lot that they do add in some regular flour.
I'm glad you've restored the balance of the universe with your pancakes. 😉
This was the first week of me back to classes (just one class until November and then things get REALLY crazy).
Saturday/Sunday: homemade pizzas. Generally I make the pizza crusts on Thursday or Friday, as well as the sauce and any toppings, so no work on Saturday, our Sabbath.
Monday: I made pasta (yes, chickpea pasta for some of us, regular for the others), homemade sauce, and roasted broccoli. We had some raw cauliflower to use up, so I roasted that too.
Tuesday: DS#3 made crockpot veggie chili (not vegetarian, but with lots of vegetables), and I prevailed upon him to chop up a lone zucchini and add it, before it got very sad. He was skeptical but did it anyway. We had tortilla chips for scooping.
Wednesday: DH had the day off, and made burgers and some tilapia filets, as well as some salmon filets I found in the freezer. To this he added some potatoes that he found in the pantry and decided to bake, and some corn on the cob in the crockpot. He also was prompted by the recent hike in canned garbanzo bean prices (now a buck a can, which he took as a personal affront) and had ordered some dried beans, and experimented with boiling his own. His goal was to make roasted chickpeas for snacking, and very good they were, too.
Thursday: DS#3 made tacos, and they were excellent. This week we decided to start the plan where if you're making dinner, you shop for that dinner. This offloads some grocery shopping for me and DH, and they're using the shopping skills they've (hopefully) learned from accompanying me for many years to the grocery store! I was very delighted to see that DS#3 stuck to his list and looked for sales!
Tonight: DS#1 is making beef stew, and DS#1 wants to make mac and cheese, as he is not a beef stew fan.
WIS: $78.50 at Wegmans, $20 at the Regional Market, and $18.50 at the local grocery outlet. I'm definitely not in the $45/fortnight club this week either.
WIA: More of the usual summer round of ratatouilles and stir-fries. But I should mention the monster zucchini that Bailey dog's mom brought me on Aug. 18. Since then, I've made two stir-fries and a ratatouille with it, and I still have a quarter of it left. The Zucchini That Wouldn't Die!
@A. Marie,
That must have been a huge zucchini! I used to belong to CSA. One week, I was sent carrots that were the same size as my spaghetti squash.
@A. Marie,
I once received one zucchini out of which I made a whole batch of zucchini relish, about five or six half pints. They can get huge, can't they?
@JD, Like baseball bat size! They seem to double in size overnight.
@JDinNM, @Bee, and @JD, yea, verily, this one was almost the size of a Louisville Slugger. Remarkably, though, the flesh wasn't at all tough, and not even all that seedy.
And now that I've closed the pickle factory for the season, I should also note my grand totals for refrigerator dills: 14 pints and 12 quarts. If I ever get around to actually learning to can, there'll be no stopping me.
@A. Marie, Have you shared your refrigerator pickle recipe and I missed it ? I do love a good pickle!
@Cheryl, I've shared it before, but I'm happy to do so again. The recipe is Andrea Chesman's, from her book The Pickled Pantry. It's available online here (https://ediblevermont.ediblecommunities.com/recipe/recipes-refrigerator-quick-dills-0/). My main tweaks are that I substitute a whole dried chili pepper per quart for the black peppercorns, and that I generally use a while flower head's worth of not-quite-ripe dill seeds per quart instead of just two sprigs. My many pickle recipients assure me that these changes make these pickles "da bomb."
@A. Marie, Regional Market? Is it next to the mall and Train/Bus depot? And what is the "local grocery outlet"? I think we are neighbors.
@Joyce, you're correct on both counts about the Regional Market. We are neighbors.
And the "local grocery outlet" is the Lyncourt Grocery Outlet, at the corner of Teall Ave. and Court St. It's next to the former home of the late lamented Freihofer Bakery Outlet--but the grocery outlet has been taking up the slack by carrying Pepperidge Farm breads, rolls, etc., for 99 cents a package. (As always in a grocery outlet, check the best-by dates. But I've gotten some pretty good bargains here.)
@A. Marie,
"The Zucchini That Wouldn’t Die!" sounds like a (possibly black and white) B-horror movie that we will someday see on Svengoolie's Sat. night show on ME TV. Maybe we should write in and suggest it to him....a horror flick for vegetarians, LOL!
WIS: $0 for groceries, $20 for a “catch up” (not to be confused with ketchup) lunch with a friend.
WIA: Still too hot to do any “real” cooking, so BLTs with what may be the last of the season’s heirloom tomatoes; Old Bay shrimp salad (one of my favorite seasonings kicks up the flavor) in lettuce cups; cold noodles with zucchini (from an NYT recipe with what may be the last of the zucchini); and leftover shrimp scampi on ramen noodles. And a lovely “Catalina” egg and avocado salad at lunch out (with enough left over for dinner and another lunch).
Hope everyone enjoys a 3-day weekend!
We tried chickpea and also red lentil pasta. Neither one was that good, but like Kristen, we finished them to avoid food waste. We now stick with the Barilla Plus and the Barilla whole grain. I have found that if you use them for baked pasta dishes, it helps to add a bit of water to the bottom of the dish before reheating to soften the pasta.
This week we ate a variety of items as we are trying to use up what's in our freezer. I can't recall all our meals. Hubby tried a pork and green bean stir fry that came out really good. We had it pork and chive dumplings we got for free a while ago and needed to use up.
This weekend we will be making chicken broth and then our version of Scottish Cock-a-Leekie soup because leeks were on sale and they taste amazing in chicken soup!
@AnnieH, to quote the most famous line Julia Child never actually said, "First, take a leek!"
@AnnieH,
I meant to mention this when Kristen posted about the chickpea pasta - we like Aldi's whole wheat pasta. I don't think it's particularly high in protein, but higher in fiber.
@A. Marie, HA!HA!HA! Thanks for the chuckle!
I picked up stuff here and there this past weekend since I took my daughter out for her birthday all day Saturday and didn't have time to do a full-on grocery run. So around $90. Once I am retired, I won't have to cram everything into the weekend, ahhhh.
WIA:
The meal out with my daughter was lunch, but I thought I'd mention it was a crab patty salad that was very good. We both had it and we both cleaned our plates.
I realized I had somehow opened two packages of Lebanon bologna, made by the Amish in Lebanon, PA, (!) so I fried some of it and had sautéed kale and sliced orange bell peppers with it. I have finally finished the kale this week, hooray.
Beef cubed steak, braised with mushrooms and onions, plus green beans and mashed cauliflower.
Cubed steak leftovers with broccoli and a baked potato.
More fried bologna, with okra from my garden cooked in a dab of bacon grease, cucumber and sliced carrots.
Turkey hearts with broccoli and sliced red bell pepper. I'm supposed to eat "innards" now and then, and I can eat gizzards and hearts a lot more than I can liver.
A salad made of chopped pigweed, longevity spinach, sweet potato leaves off my vines, chopped carrots, bell pepper and cucumber, capers, sliced olives, sliced grapes and about a half a can of tuna. Topped with a small amount of homemade ranch, more to hold it together on my fork than add a lot of flavor, because this was flavorful on its own. I would add a little minced sweet onion next time, too.
The office sponsored a table so we are all going today to a fundraiser brunch for the Charlie and Tonja Ward Foundation, which is building a fabulous faith-based sports/youth center in Tallahassee, so my meal tonight is TBD, depending on what I eat at lunch.
@JD, We love Lebanon bologna!!!! My husband is from that area and we always bring a couple of packs back to Michigan with us when we visit Pennsylvania. Rumor is that a meat store 20 miles away might carry it... I need to make it there sometime to look. Did you get yours in Florida or Pennsylvania?
@Ruth T,
I get mine locally from a farmer who has Amish contacts in Pennsylvania, where he is from. He trucks cheeses and some meats down to Florida from Lebanon. I have a strong suspicion from things he’s said that he is former Amish.
Kristen, if you made the falafels from scratch, I would love to have the recipe!
Also, the best chickpeas in my opinion (plump and not mushy) are the ones coming in the Goya cans, as a tip to any lover of chickpeas. They are usually in the Hispanic section of the grocery store and not in the main legume aisle. I have tried cooking dried chickpeas but they tend to remain hard.
We often roast chickpeas on a pan and throw them on pasta or in a salad, but prefer pasta as just regular pasta. I have heard that good quality pasta has a low glycemic index due the kind of pasta flour used, so there's always that. And it's fairly high in protein, especially with parmesan.
For dinners, we had pasta (no surprise, we love it!) with marinara sauce (high points to the Mutti brand) with grilled zucchini, onions and pine nuts in olive oil.
Hot dogs, falafel (frozen from TJs) for me, sweet potato fries and green salad.
Oven roasted potato halves, cauliflower (and some other veggie I can't recall), chicken and tofu.
Ravioli with a mozzarella, tomato, basil and fresh pea salad.
For lunches, we have leftovers, but have found that a nice lavash flat bread made into a grilled cheese sandwich roll takes care of little bits and pieces of leftovers tucked in. Trader Joe's also sells the lavash.
I did! I used a recipe from Dinner Illustrated, but I could put it into a post for you all.
The case I bought from Sam's was actually the Goya brand! I am rich in Goya chickpeas at the moment. Ha.
@Kristen, I'd love to have that falafel recipe, too!
@Kristina M., Hiya! Those chickpeas that are hard after cooking mean they need to soak overnight, cook longer, or are very old beans to start with. Check your sell by date, and if its a couple of months away from its expiry date, they are much older than you think.
It seemed like a never ending ratatouille kind of week. WWA:
Saturday- grilled hamburgers and possibly a green salad
Sunday - roast chicken, baked potatoes, ratatouille, peach and yellow plum crisp
Monday - sandwiches
Tuesday- leftovers (including ratatouille)
Wednesday - grilled pork chops, buttered egg noodles, ratatouille (remaining ratatouille headed for the freezer after this)
Thursday - sheet pan fajitas
Friday - unsure, may be a fend for yourself kind of meal
Wishing everyone a wonderful long weekend
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $73 at the discount food store.
- Popcorn
- Salad; raw cauliflower and dip
- Baked potato and salad
- Spaghetti and plant-based meatballs in homemade marinara sauce
- Broccoli-mushroom-rice casserole (x2)
- Salad (at a restaurant)
Oh, yes please! I too would love the falafel and tzatziki recipe! Thank you!!
Ok! I'll do that; I use a recipe from one source for the falafel and from another for the tzatziki, so it would be kind handy for me to have both in one place too!
our favorite way to eat chickpeas (besides making hummus) is to make them in an Indian butter sauce (like butter chicken, but chickpeas). That's one of our go to dinners when I haven't planned ahead or taken something out of the freezer.
I spent way too much this month on groceries. This week was $161. I'm not sure why my spending was so much higher this month. We didn't use much of our dining out budget though so I guess it balances.
Sunday was like a spaghetti Bolognese with salad
Monday: bang bang chicken, rice, brussels sprouts
Tuesday: brats, mashed potatoes, asparagus
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: new to us recipe of navy beans cooked down with some garlic/onion/lots of garlic/tomato paste…smoosh half the beans to a creamy texture…add to the other beans with a bit of chicken broth to get a thick mixture. Spoon over a piece of toasted sourdough bread. I added some smoked pork loin from the freezer on the side and a salad. The beans were excellent. I will keep that recipe for fall.
Friday: steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, and whatever veggies I can scrounge from the fridge with dip.
Congrats on the nurse pay and orientation graduation! To the floor!!!
Does your hospital serve mostly the middle class and upper middle class?
Oh my goodness, no. We do have well-to-do patients, of course, but we also serve unhoused people, people who are coming from jail, people who live in public housing, and so on. I thinl most hospitals take care of people from all walks of life.
Now, if I worked at a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon's office, it would be a different story. 😉
I have never seen a chimichanga covered in what appears to be nacho cheese (based on the color)? Yours also looks to be of a grande size. Push comes to shove the chicken has plenty of uses.
It was queso with chorizo mixed in! 🙂
I feel compelled to point out that you did not have a $16 meal; you had two $8 meals.
🙂
Wow, that is a lot of chickpeas to have to use up! I would have a real problem with that as I struggle with the flavor of chickpeas. I keep trying them though and am hoping to learn to like/tolerate them better since I know they are a healthy protein source. Maybe sometime you could try making crunchy roasted (and seasoned) chickpeas as a snack recipe on your blog? I hear those can be a fun way to prepare and eat canned chickpeas!
@Dori, We make those on the regular. Just take a can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (but save the liquid, it can be used in place of eggs in baking!). I line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper and spread the chickpeas out and first bake them for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Then I drizzle maybe 1 tablespoon of oil on top and swish them around to cover the beans, and bake another 15 minutes, same temperature. Finally: turn the oven OFF but leave the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. The first baking dries them out so they don't steam in the oil, and the last baking is to really crisp them up. They are SO good. I'm allergic to nuts, and so is one of my sons, so these fill that crunchy snack void! You can salt them if you want, or add any seasonings. I usually don't put garlic or onion powder on them while baking, as it can burn in the oven, but add it afterwards.
@Dori, My husbands favorite way of eating them is this; Drain and rinse 1 can of chickpeas, Chop 3-6 cloves of garlic. Warm your frying pan then add in olive oil and get it good and warm. Throw in the chopped garlic and sauté a minute until it smells good, add the chickpeas and stir really well. Sprinkle of salt and pepper and keep frying until you think they ae done, while not letting them or garlic burn. So good mixed into salad or in a bowl meal. He loves bowl meals, bits of this and that all mixed together. I can get him to eat more veg that way!
My favorite way is pour into a pot straight from the can, heat until bubbling, spoon some into a bowl and add butter, salt and pepper and maybe some chopped green onion, if I have any.
What I spent: $0
What I ate:
Friday, gluten free vegan mac and "cheese" with broccoli
Saturday, rice and beans on corn tortillas
Sunday, chicken and gravy on mashed potatoes
Monday, leftover chicken and potatoes, this time with a side of canned mandarin oranges
Tuesday, same as Monday, plus a gluten free biscuit
Wednesday, a use-it-up dinner: the last of the chicken, the last of a bag of frozen broccoli, and the last two gf biscuits with a little margarine
Thursday, I made a vegetable soup and ate that with crackers.
Tonight, I think I might make pancakes. I'm out of blueberries, but I have strawberries I can add to them.
Saturday: Corned beef in the crockpot with carrots, onions and celery & mashed potatoes
Sunday: Pork Chops in the crockpot with leftover mashed potatoes and green peas
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Pizza
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Dinner out after a long day and I have zero remorse
Friday: I am thinking that wings and celery & carrots will make a fine Friday night supper
I woke up to my sweet Scotchie (butterscotch Maine coon) had crossed on. He was the sweetest kitty that had ever owned me.
I actually went shopping this week. $53 @ scratch and dent,
$137 @ Costco (mostly dog & cat food) & $17 @restaurant supply
Sun Family dinner - fresh caught cod fish and chips, coleslaw & potato salad, fruit salad and apple hand pies.
Mon fish tacos
Tues more fish tacos
Wed. Green salad with rotisserie chicken, plums
Thurs. Green salad and chicken w/bbq sauce, cucumbers and onions and split an ear of corn
Fri - a big batch of marinated Greek salad to take in my work lunches.
I buy chick Peas in the 15 lb bag, we eat them oven roasted with spicy bbq rub as seasoning. I also make them hot-sweet.
Just rinse your canned ones well and dry on a tea towel.
Spread out on cookie sheet, drizzle with oil of choice (last batch I used avocado oil). 425 f @ convection roast for 25 min makes them extra crispy. Toss with your spices. Curry blends, chili blends, teriyaki experiment.
@Blue Gate Farmgirl, I am so sorry to hear about your Kitty.
@Blue Gate Farmgirl, condolences on the loss of your cat. Maine coon cats are special!
@Blue Gate Farmgirl, I am so sorry about your kitty. Those sweet little lives leave such a big hole in our hearts.
@Susan,
Thank you for the sweet words. It really is special when a barn cat chooses you. We had a kitty dumped on us 7 yrs ago and she was wild. She would not enter the live trap so I could get her fixed. By the time she did get into the trap to eat the soft food, she was expecting and got vet care. She had 7 Maine Coon kittens! I kept 3 and gave 4 to friends. They are going to be 7 next month. I call them barn cats but they come in the house at night.
@Blue Gate Farmgirl, I am so sorry about Scotchie.
@Blue Gate Farmgirl,
I’m so sorry to hear about your cat’s passing.
I spent $66 at Kroger
– Sunday – grilled strip steak, peas and carrots, salad.
– Monday – dinner out at relative’s home. I made a salad for dinner .
– Tuesday – marinated chicken on the grill, corn on the cob, lentils cooked with meux poix, spinach and mustard ( a recipe I saw on Cooks Country on PBS and had to try)
– Wednesday – leftover chicken, salad
– Thursday – spinach, feta, onion quiche with patty sausage, garlic bread, leftover lentils
– Friday – we will probably have beef and broccoli in the crockpot over rice.
I have a quick question about the $45-for-two-weeks situation. Is this per person, so that for seven people it would be $315? It makes me curious where we come out. I do not budget or track grocery spending for an array of reasons, but my sense is that for us and our pretty straightforward (boring) menus, this would be very doable, and I might manage to track it long enough to see.
This week has been truly a blur. (I keep saying things like "when this all slows down" but that, I'm concluding, is a fairytale story line.) Other than last night's crock pot casserole, a beef and potatoes concoction that was actually really good because of the cheddar cheese involved, I don't know that I could tell you what we had.
This week I spent $208 at Mariano's (Kroger).
We ate:
Sunday we were traveling back from my daughter's move in on I80 tollway so stopped at an oasis for burgers. Not included in my total.
Monday I made grilled shawarma bowls with pita, tahini sauce and cucumber salad. It was fantastic -bhg.com recipe.
Tuesday grilled pork chops with bbq sauce, grilled zucchini/peppers/sweet onions and roasted potato wedges.
Wednesday I took my son out to a brew pub with a patio and enjoyed the beautiful weather and had a good conversation.
Thursday I made slow cooker bbq chicken salad bowls (Bbq chicken on a salad not chicken salad in the mayonnaise sense) from allthehealthythings.com. I used dairy free plain yogurt in the cilantro ranch and it held up well to the substitution.
I made egg sandwiches and iced lattes for my breakfast all week and leftovers for lunch.
Tonight my husband and I are going out for a date night!
I feel like this week I just ate a lot of salads with added protein, although last night I cooked some skillet shrimp to mix into a batch of Suddenly Salad pasta mix. Its so hot and humid and that really zaps whatever desire I have to cook. That queso burrito looks so good!
Salads with a protein are a solid hot weather choice! I support.
That falafel wrap looks so tasty!
Saturday: I went to a friend's house and she made a delicious veggie lasagne.
Sunday: Burritos.
Monday: More burritos!
Tuesday: Pasta with spinach and cream cheese.
Wednesday: Skillet lasagne with aubergine.
Thursday: Baked sweet potato with a mushroom omelette.
Tonight: Ordering pizza!
WIS: $41 @ Food Lion and $15 @ Dollar Tree.
WWA: Leftover meat loaf with peas and baked potato . Chili with cheddar-herb corn muffins. Sweet chili chicken with lots of veggies. Tomorrow will be BBQ ribs in the crock pot with carrots added.
I have been on a mission to use up odds and ends and made a big batch of banana-walnut-bran muffins that used up open bags of bran and walnuts, two frozen bananas that had been lost in the freezer for a while, and the last few spoonfuls of both brown sugar and pancake syrup as the sweetner. Also chopped and froze the double handful of little tomatoes straggling in from the garden.
Love your stories. Post your falafel recipe !!
That chimichanga looks amazing!
We had:
- Baked potatoes with broccoli, sausage & cheese sauce
- Pasta bake with Mexican chorizo
- Vegetarian (beans and no meat) taco salas
- Fried rice with chicken & misc veggies
- Boudain with rice and buns and clearance brussel sprouts
Friday: My son and I did a Costco run while my husband was at a work dinner. We stopped by the café on the way out for a hotdog and a slice of pizza.
Saturday: Fish and chips and grilled Caesar salad.
Sunday: Woodfired pizzas, bagged Caesar salad – we hosted my husband’s aunt and she was tickled by the pizza oven.
Monday: Chicken Caesar salad, tomato soup (freezer), grilled cheese sandwiches.
Tuesday: Green Bean, Mushroom, and Ground Beef stir fry over rice.
Wednesday: Sheet pan dinner: chicken sausage, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini and a side of mashed potatoes.
Thursday: Chicken and Rice – kind of chicken and rice soup but without the soup part.
CSA veggies used: mushrooms, green beans, cucumbers, radishes, zucchini, cantaloup, carrots
I love canned chickpeas on a salad, or a salad of chick peas, chopped red onion, olives, feta cheese (or if too salty any other fresh, crumbly cheese), maybe cold cooked green beans and chopped cucumber with a vinaigrette dressing. High protein salad, and yummy.
Have you ever tried making hummus from the canned chickpeas? Delicious, but unless you peel the chickpeas (they fall right off of canned chickpeas) it has a bumpy texture. Some people prefer that texture.
Last month I inventoried my pantry. Was very chagrined to discover an embarrassing amount of food that was either past or kissing the best buy date. So was born the "Shelf of Shame Grocery Store" which is housed on the top shelf of my baker's rack. I have been slowly working through the stock. Was a little concerned by the recent conversations about chick pea pasta, because I had 2 boxes of Barilla 100% chick pea spaghetti! Last night made spaghetti with a jar of "shameful" Ragu sauce with mushrooms and 1 box of the pasta. Browned ground turkey that was edging to "shameful" with garlic and a healthy dose of Worcestershire sauce before adding the sauce. Rinsed jar with about half a jar of water dumped into pan to make it soupy. Broke up the pasta into halves and cooked it in the sauce. When I plated it a used more than the usual amount of parm., because you all scared me. It was not bad. Today for lunch it was really pretty good. I do not love the pasta. But maybe because the pieces were smaller, spaghetti is thinner and it was cooked in the sauce it was a decent dish. Won't buy it again, but it wasn't torture either.
Oh boy, we spent close to 550 in groceries this week. A Costco run. 280 170 Walmart and another 100 at the Superstore.
We bought Mandarin oranges, peaches, cherries, avacados, chicken wings, rottesserie chicken, ham, prosciutto, watermelon. Eggs, coffee, chocolate chips.
We also bought 3 small boxes of sugared cereal, 3 boxes of pop tarts, chips, pretzels, vinegar, sugar, and a bunch of other stuff.
Non-grocrey purchases are also included ( mini food warmer, a Stanley style cup, a new bed shirt,
Our first exchange student is here, and my partner told her to pick out what ever she wanted to try. It was an eye opener for her! She was a smidge overwhelmed with both Costco and Walmart. I did let her know that we don't usually eat that type of food, but it will be interesting to see if she enjoys the taste.
We did eat burgers with homemade mustard beans, beets, snap peas
Rottesserie chicken with potatoes, green and yellow beans
We also tried a new food truck, I had a smash burger, he had brisket. Both came with homemade fries that need no ketchup.
Bruschetta with leftover chicken, and tomato/feta salad
We'll have corn on the cob with pork tenderloin and a beet and peach salad ( I'll make some type of pasta salad too).
I'll bake something too, maybe a blueberry/ lemon loaf... And cookie's for lunches and snacks.
@It's me, Sam,
I was an exchange student in France when I was in high school, and it was a great experience. I loved going to the markets on Saturday and Sunday, and the food was simple but amazing. Where is your exchange student from, if you don’t mind sharing? I wish we had been able to host when my sons were in middle or high school.
WIS: 26 bucks on treats @Aldi
WWA:
Fri: broccoli and focaccia.
Sat: sliced tomatoes, sausages in brioche hotdog buns.
Sun: youngest turned 11, so we had lasagna, sourdough bread ring, watermelon and brownies, and all were shark-themed.
Mon: salmon, jasmine rice, fresh fruit
Tue: leftover lasagna and leftover fruit
Wed: I think we had pasta carbonara, but I didn’t take a picture so I’m not sure. Whatever it was, there were no leftovers.
Thu: homemade ramen bowls with soy eggs and leftover salmon
Fri: salad and focaccia
Tonight: maybe spaghetti? I have a lot of tomatoes that need to be dealt with, so I’m planning to make a giant batch of sauce.
Happy weekend, everyone!
I usually don't post on What I Ate days, and this is a day late, but I'm here munching on a hot lunch I had to tell you about! Ergo, here is my new product evaluation.
A few months ago, I saw a pizza cooker on Aldi's Aisle of Shame, and bought it. It's official name is Ambiano (brand) "The Everything Pizza Grill". Thought it'd be good thing to buy bc (1) I live alone (except for Snuggles Dog of course) and (2) my 1964 oven does not work (and it's ridiculously small measurement of 24 inches wide means I'd have to spend a fortune replacing it with something that fits the built-in space.)
Procrastinator that I am, I put off taking the pizza cooker out of the box. But since it's raining today, I figured why not? and did it.
Wish I'd done this months ago!
This thing is like a supersized George Foreman grill without the ridges. It is non-stick and large enough for a huge pie. I baked an Amy's brand organic tomato, cheese and basil pizza in it. Talk about heaven! I intended to only eat a couple of slices, but it's like finding a wonderful pizza on the pizza buffet. Aldi is not currently selling it's pizza cookers right now, but if they come back, be sure and get yourself one. They are great, they are easy to use and they don't heat up the kitchen. Oh, and the crust is crisp, not at all soggy.
Bonus: Its instruction book also comes with recipes for things like baked sweet potatoes; pita sandwiches; Italian-style omelets; and more. I want to try those!
Bottom line, IMHO: This thing is a great help for those of us who are cooking for one. If it comes around again, it'd be the perfect gift for any singles, widows, college students, studio apartment dwellers.....or to take along if you're going on a road trip and want to cook in your motel room.
Perhaps this item is for sale elsewhere, but I got mine at Aldi and haven't seen it anywhere else. I think I paid about 20 or 30 bucks for it IIRC, but it doesn't have a price sticker on it so this may be wrong.
Our meal plan Thursday 8/28-9/05 allowance 175$ for 2 adults, whatever cash is left at the end of the week goes to the bulk shopping envelope. (nearest food overstock store is an hour away so I don't go to it, but i do go to Costco for some things. Don't do shopping online, very oldschool, as I don't really like other people doing my shopping for me).Also we are dairy free, grain free, legume free, sugar free. We don't buy alcohol or processed meats. We make our own sausage, son-in-law smokes our porkbelly to get bacon that I can eat, without swelling up with inflammation. Every dinner we cook gets doubled for lunch the next day, he works and right now I don't. Adult kids and grandkids come over often and raid the fridge too!
Th-fish and salad=we had cod
Fr-fast day
Sat-Meat sauce over roasted cauliflower
Sun-roasted chicken with roasted carrots and parsnips, plum tart
Mon-chicken salad-from roasted chicken
Tue-taco salad
Wed-turkey patties,oven roasted sweet pots, steamed broccoli
Th-Fish and slaw
Fr-fast day or slaw with fried tofu, (I don't do well with whole day fasting but I give it my best.)