WIS, WWA | half Hawaii!
What I Spent
I'm mainly skipping this part again. 😉
I did make a small trip to Aldi when we got home ($39) and I got a Hungry Harvest box ($30).
What We Ate
Saturday
We walked around Waikiki and saw the sunset there.
For dinner, we visited a food court, where Zoe got Raising Cane's, and I got a BBQ chicken meal from a local Hawaiian grill spot.
Sunday
We got up early and went on a super challenging hike at Koko Head. It's a trip right up the mountain, on some old tram tracks. SO exhausting.
How exhausting? Well, it's not uncommon for people to puke on the way up.
But we made it to the top, and views were pretty good. 😉
I thought that going down the tracks was gonna be terrible, but it wasn't nearly as hard as going up!
We spent most of our last day at the beach, and we popped in super quick to McDonalds on the way back to shower and then head to the airport.
Zoe got on the plane that night, but I got bumped. Soooo, Lisey came back to pick me up.
Monday
My flight left for Maui at 3:45, and then I hopped on another plane for the trip to Chicago (that flight lasted until about 5:30 am Tuesday, Chicago time).
They fed me some kind of cold pasta dish with greens on that flight; all things considered, it wasn't terrible.
Tuesday
This was the day I finally made it home. I had eaten a sandwich right after my flight, so I wasn't hungry at dinner time. And after her work shift, Zoe picked up some fast food for herself.
Wednesday
I had a meeting in the evening, so I made myself a quick sandwich before I left, and I think Zoe had some ramen while I was gone.
Thursday
We had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, plus some sliced oranges.
Friday
I dunno, BUT I do know that today I'm going to make a meal plan for next week.
School starts Monday and I know it will be helpful to have a plan going into that.
That hike! I am a little lost for words when I see the track. I am super impressed by your stamina (and leg muscles).
I was away for work most of the week and decided to let the guys fend for themselves. In the past I would stock up on vegetables only to find them go snotty on my return home. Tonight, I will heat up some leftovers I froze for later use and then next week will find me in the kitchen again.
While I was away, my swim buddies got to do a dip in a hole in the ice and I was regaled to exhilerated accounts of that occasion. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that the roads are safe for biking tomorrow so I can have a turn too!
@JNL, I love your "go snotty" description of rotting vegetables. It's a very accurate picture of many of them!
So what was the best food you had in Hawaii?
Even though half the week I had no running water, I still cooked. With no restaurants within 60 miles, I have to. I just tried to conserve dishes as much as possible. 🙂
Saturday: Elk stew, cheese, garlic bread.
Sunday: I had found a container of black-eyed peas in the freezer from last year, so I decided I really needed to use those. I had an extra ham in the freezer from the Christmas sales, so we had that, the black-eyed peas, rice, frozen green peas, and pots de creme for Sunday dessert.
Monday: We had leftovers, but not enough rice for everyone, so I microwaved a few potatoes, chopped them, and fried them with the ham while I was heating that in a skillet. And then everyone had second courses of granola, and some had third courses of bread and butter.
Tuesday: Still no water, so I decided it would be a good night to use the extra tamales I had frozen on Epiphany. They were already steamed, so they could just be heated in the microwave. I had made cookies earlier in the day, too, which used exactly four dishes (bowl, spoon, measuring cup, pan). So everyone had cookies after their tamales.
Wednesday: I had a small bag of processed bull meat in the freezer that I used to make a skillet meal by frying it with some microwaved potatoes, spices, and grated cheese. That was gone when my basketball player got home, but he went on a feeding frenzy with the leftover tamales, granola, and bread with peanut butter. Methinks he will grow a lot very soon.
Thursday: For the third night running, I used the big cast iron skillet that had started with frying the ham and potatoes on Monday. I didn't wash it until this night, though. Seasoned cast iron is good like that. I used it this night to make cube steaks, which were browned, then simmered in a tomato sauce. Then I added sliced carrots and potatoes to the skillet and cooked those in there too. It was kind of like a skillet pot roast. My husband and I managed to get the water running this day (YAY), so in celebration of that (plus the fact that the oven was on anyway for the skillet roast) I made brownies. Plus plus, we had been to the honor roll assembly at the school this morning, at which every one of my kids old enough to do so had received their honor roll certificates for last semester, so I also said they were honor roll brownies. 🙂
Friday: I am very low on groceries right now, and also am leaving at 1 p.m. to drive 90 miles to a basketball game. The basketball player and I will start the drive home around 5:30 p.m. Stopping to eat in town would get us home pretty late, so my plan is to make tuna salad for him to eat in the car with some crackers. The ones at home can have tuna salad quesadillas (like tuna melts, but with corn tortillas, because we're out of bread) and carrot sticks. I'm not thrilled about the drive, but I will get to go to a grocery store by myself before the game, and that's always fun. For me, anyway.
@kristin @ going country, You deserve a prize or, at the very least, a very big pat on the back! Way to go, mama!!!
@kristin @ going country, Impressive.
@kristin @ going country, I hope you got yourself a treat at the grocery store; living without running water is the worst! No one realizes how much they take water for granted until the tap is dry.
@kristin @ going country,
Serious props to you for making do without running water! And I know my son has always chowed down big-time before a growth spurt.....I think your prediction is spot-on. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, you are the **real** "Pioneer Woman," m'dear!
@kristin @ going country,
Well done last week! I’ve been without water and I don’t think that I handled as gracefully as you did. I believe there was some whining involved.
Your teenager’s feeding frenzy will be the first of many. One Thanksgiving - about an hour after our feast—my nephew came into the kitchen while we were cleaning up. He took out a mixing bowl - the kind you use to bake a cake — dumped a box of cereal into it, pulled out a gallon of milk and had a snack. Teenagers can eat!!!
Bee: My brother used to do that with cereal when he played football in high school. I only have one official teenager at the moment, who can also eat astonishing amounts. Tamale Boy is the middle son, and is only 11. The 9-year-old actually eats as much as his brothers already, so I'm really in for it for the next few years . . .
@kristin @ going country,
I am taking my hat off to you!
You are a queen.
@kristin @ going country, Respect for cooking at those levels under those conditions.
@kristin @ going country, you make me see what a big spoiled baby I am! Grocery stores on every corner around here!
What a beautiful place! I would love to go some day. Was it very hot? I was in southern California over New Year's and it was perfect hiking weather with cool evenings.
Sunday: I don't remember fully, but I know that I made quinoa and forgot to wash it fully because I'd worked the night before and was tired. It was inedible.
Monday: Toddler had pinkeye so I got called from work to pick her up. Made the best of it by making beef stew while she napped. I put a parsnip in, to use it up, and it was delicious.
Tuesday: Mr. B picked up some frozen pizzas, and I had leftover stew.
Wednesday: tilapia, cucumber salad, and I made a beet/zucchini soup from "French Kids Eat Everything." Predictably, our toddler wouldn't touch it but Mr. B and I thought it was fine.
Thursday: Mr. B made pasta with tomato sauce, I sauteed some broccoli, and I ate some leftover soup.
Friday: Mr. B will make something!
What is Raising Canes??
That stairs/tracks looks pretty steep. My stomach & legs would definitely need a break going up. But what beautiful views!! 🙂
What I spent--- $20 Subway $32 Sam's Club
What we ate---
● Bbq chicken wings
● Subway
● pancakes with smoky links & eggs
● pulled chicken with fries/mashed potatoes
● pancakes & smoky links
● ham sliders with shells & cheese
● grilled cheese & soup
@Regina, delicious fried chicken strips with sauce that rivals Chik-Fil-A! Bit pricey, tho. Around here we also love Chicken Express. Yuuummmm.
@Regina,
A takeout chickens strip place that is amazing. Better IMO that Chik Fil-A and is open on Sundays and super late. It has fed me many a time at 2am
Yep! I had it in Texas with my friends a few years ago. We do have them in my area, but not very many.
Beautiful pictures!
Welcome back to the cold, wet snow!
That was a cool hike! I remember we hiked Diamond Head (many years ago)-such a fantasic place to hike.
Dinners this week included:
1. Turkey/Squash Chili with Rice
2. Chicken Rice Soup
3. Turkey Burgers with Roasted Veggies
4. Salmon with Rice and Veggies
5. Broccoli, Ham, Potato & Cheese Soup
6. Tonight will probably be a mix of leftovers
I wanted to do Diamond Head, but there were no reservations available by the time I looked. I will plan better next time!
What beautiful pictures! Both the Hawaii and the snow pictures are beautiful, just in very different ways. 🙂
School has been cancelled all week long, so I got to take all of the kids with me to get groceries this week. My older two were amazed at how much it cost.
Saturday: I had a really big cooking day, so I'm going to list what I made for both lunch and dinner! For lunch I made a turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. For dinner I made stuffed-crust pizza and breadsticks.
Sunday: Turkey fajitas
Monday: Turkey broccoli fettuccine alfredo
Tuesday: Chicken noodle soup (but with turkey) and bread
Wednesday: Shrimp, chicken nuggets, pear slices, and salad. I have one kid that doesn't like nuggets and one that doesn't like shrimp, so it worked out.
Thursday: I got a bunch of marked-down chicken thighs at Aldi, so I made chicken thighs in the air fryer and we had sides of zucchini, applesauce, and cut veggies with hummus
Friday: Tater tot hot dish and fruit. At least that's what the menu says, but I'm not sure what fruit we're going to have with it. Perhaps some canned peaches from the basement.
@Ruth T, Even though a little more difficult (maybe) to take kids shopping, it's good for them to see prices & how much it takes to get the groceries. Sometimes I think others think we/moms have magic & it all appears/done (no work). My teen has to help with groceries (sometimes) & is very aware of food costs, yet still says we have nothing (good) at home (occasionally). 😉
@Ruth T, tater tot hot dish is a monthly topic at work - if someone brings it in for leftovers we all discuss our recipes which are all different enough to bring laughs around the lunch table. The one thing we all agree on is that our mom's recipe is the best!
@Regina, It's definitely harder to take three shopping than one, but it has helped them gain a good understanding of money. And it helps them understand why we don't buy raspberries in January. Ha!
Geneva - that's so fun! I've only tried one recipe, so I may have to change it up sometime!
@Ruth T, taking all of your kids to the grocery store reminds me of when I was at Target recently, in the same food aisle as a mother and a teenage son. Teen was acting all put out and mom wasn't having it. She turned back to him and said forcefully, "Just so you know, this is what I do every day; I take care of our family." Then she turned on her heel and kept shopping. Good for her. I hope he heard that message loud and clear. I'm certain your kids are better behaved!
Its been a week here of wildly veering weather temps! I do have a grocery order to pick up today, but its small. I am going back to my $50/week plan and am going to let the boys fend for themselves more often. At any rate, I will cook less food. We ate:
Monday - I fixed Chili and Spaghetti, topped with chopped onions and lots of cheese
Tuesday - Jalapeno Sausage links with South Texas Rice, Caesar Salad (this made enough to save for a future meal)
Wednesday - Beef Stroganoff Noodles, steamed carrots
Thursday - Pork Tenderloin with new potatoes, green beans (this was so good!)
Tonight - Cheese Tortellini with pork sausage crumbles, broccoli (man am I getting tired of pasta and rice, so I might rethink this one...)
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but we have a lot of food in there to eat and since my fridge water is turned off, I need to make space for ice trays and an ice bucket. ):
P.S. I consider myself strong, but I am very afraid of heights, so that hike would have done me IN.
Did Pachick make it to HI?
@PD, I've been wondering the same thing.
Sadly, no. We were flying United, which makes you pay for checked bags. So we both did the trip with just a carryon. If I ever fly to Hawaii on a Southwest flight, I will pack a bag and stick a vaccum-packed Pachick in there.
Welcome back to the snowy cold!
I made two loaves of French bread last weekend that accompanied several suppers and lunches this week. Main courses were:
Ham, potato, and cheddar soup
Waffles, sausage, pineapple and blueberries
Ham, baked macaroni and cheese, peas and corn
Tacos
I think I am making a beef and broccoli dish in the crock pot today. Better get on that 🙂
I love your Hawaii pics! I'm so vicariously there. 🙂
WIS: I did not grocery shop this week, but I did spend 705.00 on a farm share that will start in May. I decided to only buy one this year instead of two because I think I can do more u-picking now that my kids are bigger. We shall see what will win out-my love of veggies or my laziness...
WWA:
Fri: salad (mixed greens, cucumbers, craisins, cherry tomatoes and Asian trail mix topped with spray dressing), focaccia that used up some leftover tomato sauce. Toppings were Parmesan cheese and fresh mozzarella cheese.
Sat: snacky dinner of crudites (carrots, celery, peppers, cucumbers, hummus, craisins and pomegranate seeds) and fancy cheese (English cheddar and double Gloucester with chives) and crackers (from Aldi).
Sun: breakfast for dinner: mixed green salad, scrambled eggs with sausages, onions and sweet peppers, sourdough rye toast with butter and jam.
Mon: salad (mixed greens, carrots, cucumbers, red and yellow peppers, craisins, celery topped with crispy onions and spray dressing. I made an extra large salad so it would last two days), fettuccine pasta with peas and turkey bacon, egg and shredded Parmesan, sourdough discard crackers.
Tue: leftover salad topped with fresh crunchy onions, leftover pasta with peas and bacon, cornflake crusted chicken breasts.
Wed: arugula and spinach salad with feta and spray dressing, cubed watermelon, spicy tilapia filets over brown basmati rice and topped with avocado butter and tomato wedges.
Thu: Halloween shaped pasta and vegan meatballs with pumpkin chipotle sauce topped with Parmesan cheese and parsley. We had sliced apples on the side.
Tonight: salad and focaccia-the plan is for a pesto topping this time.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
With how many veggies you eat, I know that farm share will not go to waste!
Glad you made it back!
Sunday: Our favorite tomato, cheddar, and chicken soup with homemade croutons. We serve the chicken and the croutons separately, our daughter prefers it this way.
Monday: In laws were in town on their way to the airport, and they took us out to eat! We went to our favorite Italian place.
Tuesday: Our daughter's night to choose, it ended up being spaghetti.
Wednesday: Went out to eat with a friend, and had a delicious pastor torta.
Thursday: Build your own sandwiches.
Friday: It's national popcorn day, so we're going to have popcorn with a variety of toppings along with other snacky type things for dinner.
Saturday: Soup and games with some friends.
@Natalie J,
Thanks for the tip on National Popcorn Day! We will be having some tonight too.
WIS: $13 at the Regional Market, $3 at the bakery outlet, and $40 at Wegmans.
WIA: This week's highlights were a squash/carrot/red lentil soup (which included a slightly softening Honeynut squash from a previous Regional Market trip, plus a year-old quart of homemade chicken broth from the freezer) and a family pack of chicken drumsticks from Wegmans for 99 cents/lb.--a huge savings over Danny Wegman's football playoff "special" of 20 takeout wing pieces (not even whole wings!) for $20. I can cook up a family pack of drums and nosh on those for a few days; this is one case where I don't find it too much for one person.
Were those tracks right by the ground in most places or high up? I don't think I could have done it if they were high up! What beautiful views though!
I have continued my efforts to lean down my pantry and freezers from the holidays…
WIS: mostly veggies/fruits/dairy/bread/eggs/soda I did buy a few packages of Hebrew National Beef Hotdogs because they were less than $3 a package and the only hotdog we have found that doesn’t bother my husband’s gout. So, $15 of my week’s total was hotdogs, but we will go through them.
Lowes Foods: $7.12
Hollywood Feed (pet store): $22.46 (I include the pets foods as part of my food budget)
Food Lion: $42.98
Food Lion: $14.26
Lowes Foods: $12.81
Total of $99.63
WWA:
Saturday: a chicken taco soup with hatch green chilis. Had some corn chips with the soup.
Sunday: carbonara/salad/garlic bread
Monday: carnitas/refried beans/corn
Tuesday: ham and potato cheese casserole with a salad
Wednesday: Husband was out of town. I made a instant pot 5 ingredient tomato soup from Pinch of Yum and then thickened it with some white beans (you blend it all together)…that made a thick tomato bisque with grilled cheese.
Thursday: breakfast for dinner. I made biscuits and gravy, added the leftover ham/potato casserole, eggs.
Friday: the plan is ribeyes, baked potatoes, and broccoli. We will see if the weather cooperates with grilling. We may go out cause I think they are calling for it to be pretty cold. We can do steaks on Saturday during the day instead of at night.
There was a short section that was not on the ground, but there is a little bypass trail for that part. I took the tracks on the way up over the chasm, but not on the way down. I felt too unsteady to do that!
@Marlena, I just cooked up some dried white beans for the freezer. But first I'm going to try blending some in my tomato soup recipe. Thanks for the tip!
@MB in MN, I saw the tip on Wyse Guide and thought it was a bit genius!
I'm thoroughly enjoying the armchair tour of Hawaii. So glad you had the opportunity to go!
I have tried to keep us at home for as many meals as possible with all that is going on. It's tough but I keep my head down and just keep going.
Saturday: I cooked a whole chicken and shredded it for burritos along with pinto beans and Spanish rice; leftovers made great lunches all week too
Sunday: Batch cooking day; I made a pot of potato & corn chowder using the last of the ham, BBQ chicken drumsticks in the crockpot, and a huge batch of green beans with red potatoes & kielbasa. I also made a large batch of Kodiak cakes & breakfast sandwiches on whole wheat English muffins for the freezer.
Monday: Soup along with sourdough bread; fresh fruit
Tuesday: BBQ chicken & green beans
Wednesday: More leftovers from Sunday's batch cooking day & more fresh fruit
Thursday: a day full of contractors and errands landed us at McDonald's for an easy dinner
Friday: I am putting center cut pork chops in the crockpot, will make some rice and you guessed it green beans are the side.
I'd wait for the tram!
What did we eat this week? Ravioli, takeout, potato-leek-sauerkraut soup with kielbasa, matzoh ball soup because my daughter can't get enough, and probably something else.
Well, it's a non-functioning tram now. Ha. But we were saying it would be a very exciting tram ride DOWN the mountain.
I just had to say, the trip back down that tram line DOES look even worse than the trip up! (I picture someone tripping and rolling like an Indiana Jones doom boulder knocking hikers askew.) Big congrats on your stamina; how cool you made it up to see those fantastic views!
Full disclosure: I stopped to catch my breath many times, as did most people on the trail.
I made a trip to Costco this week and spent $125 on food including a 25-pound bag of rice, GF bread, organic, milk, half and half, apples, ground Turkey, a rotisserie chicken and large bag of russet potatoes.
Saturday - We had lunch with friends. The company was good the food was terrible. We then went to Costco. I bought a rotisserie chicken. We had chicken, rice and salad at home. I ate very little. I had a tummy ache from the terrible food.
Sunday - A frozen GF pizza that I doctored up with many veggies.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday - I made a big pot of clean-out-the-freezer soup. It never comes out the same twice, but it is always delicious.I ate this with cheese toast.
Thursday - We attended a funeral out of town. I knew I would not want to cook when we got home. So I took a container of chicken chili out of the freezer. It made an easy dinner when we got home.
Friday - ?
Happy weekend all. Stay warm!
@Bee, we don't go out to eat but about twice a month. I get disappointed when we go out and it isn't very good, or even just down right bad. It seems lately that the quality of food has really gone down. We went out last week to a place we go routinely, and they had changed my chicken sandwich. It's not good. I'm not sure if I get more upset that I wasted money on it or the calories on it Ha!
@Marlena,
We usually eat at home too and save our outings for special occasions and vacations. The restaurant where we ate lunch is a institution in our community having been in business for 40 years. Some of the best seafood that I had ever eaten once came from the kitchen of this restaurant . Unfortunately, it was recently sold to someone who changed the menu and obviously did not retain a skilled kitchen crew. Now I would rather eat fish sticks. So sad… Every thing changes.
I just booked our Hawaii trip for March and your pics are making me so excited for it!
Saturday - takeout ramen
Sunday - butterfly shrimp (not homemade, from a box in the freezer), pearl cous cous, steamed broccoli and carrots
Monday - baked ziti, although I didn’t have ziti so it was baked spiral pasta
Tuesday - mini garden turkey loaves (made with ground chicken instead), leftover Kraft Mac n cheese, steamed broccoli and carrots (two vegetables both kids will reliably eat so we have this a lot)
Wednesday - pressure cooker split pea soup using the leftover ham bone from our new years ham (no one in my family likes split pea soup except for me so I essentially made this for myself), leftover alphabet soup for the kids, homemade corn muffins
Thursday - bratwurst for the adults, hot dogs for the kids, cheese and potato pierogis, steamed broccoli and carrots
Friday - I’m going out for some wine and cheese with some other moms, so they are on their own here! I imagine they’ll have Kraft Mac n cheese though.
Ooh! Are you going to Oahu? That's where we were.
@Kristen, No, Maui, but I assume it’s all lovely!
Such beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing.
Yesterday I had the day off from subbing and we got a one-day reprieve from the cold weather; it actually got into the 7os. So I ran errands, including one downtown, and I decided to eat at a favorite casual restaurant. Talk about sticker shock! My veggie plate and tea were more than 15 bucks! I knew inflation had been creeping into all the eateries' menus, but was not expecting this. Oh well, I had a nice day and the rest of it was frugal. (More on that later.)
So glad you had a good, well deserved trip!
Pics are beautiful
That is some weather whiplash for sure! Going from 24/7 shorts to snow had to be a bit of a trip but I am glad you got home. And that you got some local food bc Hawaiian food is the best.
Low/no buy January is going pretty well. This week was a bit more expensive bc it was my husband's birthday and I hadn't done a decent shopping in awhile.
Monday- at work. I think I made a dumpling ramen for lunch and broccoli stuffed potato for dinner.
Tuesday- work again. leftover Italian wedding soup and sourdough toast. The local bakery makes amazing bread w/ a decades old starter and bc our local water is so good, the bread is incredible. A little pricey but worth it to support a small business and quality product
Wednesday- home after a 4+ hr drive. Sushi takeout. I let myself have 2 takeout nights a month on my low buy
Thursday- husband's bday. I made a batch of meatballs with Marcells Hazan's tomato sauce. Which is incredible if you haven't tried it.
Friday- Pizza night for husband's birthday. We are also allowed a celebration going-out dinner on my low buy bc you gotta enjoy life.
Saturday- My parents are taking us out for husband's bday and they are buying lol
Sunday- I have a massive amount of collard greens to use so probably some form of grits and greens
@Heather, I looked up Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce and it sounds like utter perfection—very few ingredients that aren't expensive or difficult to find, and almost zero attention while cooking. The version on Simply Recipes sounds like the way I would make it. https://www.simplyrecipes.com/marcella-hazan-tomato-sauce-7962977 Thank you for introducing the Commentariat to yet another excellent frugal item!
I think it was about $30?
Sat: A Middle-Easternish roasted cauliflower and chicken with lemony yogurt. I didn't have fennel so I substituted Persian cucumbers. It was our first time making the recipe and it was delicious. https://www.andybaraghani.com/recipes/warm-chickpea-bowls-with-lemony-yogurt
Sun: pork larb over lettuce, rice, sauteed green beans and sliced cucumbers
Mon: I had leftover cauliflower and chickpea mixture from Sun, so added beans and made them into tacos with all the fixins.
Tues: The cat sitter had left 1/2 jar of Rao's Bolognese, so I made it into soup with cheese tortellini and some veg.
Wend: I went out for sushi with colleagues.
Thurs: PB&J in the car! Unimpressive, but I was quite proud of myself for this rather than stopping at a convenience store.
Fri: roasted broccoli Reubens with homemade potato chips and carrot salad.
Man, you always win the award for Most Interesting Menus. What is a roasted broccoli Reuben?
Since you are a foodie, what's your opinion on Rao's? I hear good things about it, but it's so pricey!
@Kristen, I first had a roasted broccoli rueben at a restaurant that no longer exists. For those who get the Boston Globe, Sheryl Julian had a recipe for it, but it is behind a firewall. So this time, I used this recipe (although I put a slice of cheese on both sides, next to the sauce and finished for a few minutes in the oven so that the cheese was fully melted): https://www.thekitchn.com/broccoli-reuben-265100
Oh, I'm way too frugal to buy Rao's! We make our own sauce and can it and make our own Bolognese and freeze it. But I do have several friends who swear by it.
I kind of want to buy a jar just to see what the hype is all about!
@BettafrmdaVille, thanks for sharing this recipe! As a vegetarian, I'm always looking for yummy variations.
$34 at Aldi, $36 at Jimmy John’s – the freezer/pantry clean out is still going strong
Friday: Sloppy Joes, home fries, raw veggies
Saturday: Pork pillards with sour cream sauce, brown butter orzo, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed brussels sprouts
Sunday: Air fryer salmon, tex-mex rice and beans
Monday: Chicken zucchini poppers, potato wedges, raw veggies
Tuesday: Turkey cheeseburger soup
Wednesday: Chicken and brussels sprout stir fry, scallion soy noodles, eggrolls
Thursday: Jimmy John’s (we had a house showing during dinner time)
Our roads have been iced over since Monday. When you live in the deep South and snow/ice events are rare, there is not really infrastructure to deal with it, so we haven't left the house since Monday. Glad I stocked up on groceries on Sunday.
Sunday: chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese, and fruit
Monday: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls
Tuesday: leftover meatloaf, mashed potatoes and rolls
Wednesday: sandwiches, onion rings, and fruit
Thursday: potato dill soup
Friday: leftover potato dill soup
Yes! We are lucky here in the Mid-Atlantic...we get snow just often enough for there to be infrastructure to deal with it. There are snowplows and salt trucks aplenty.
"Bridge may collapse without warning"!?? And yet it is a popular hike. . . maybe those people are puking from fear of falling through!
As always, your photos are excellent and tell the story of your weather whiplash, along with an uncomplaining but realistic peek into your world. Thank you, Kristen, for showing us how to face the good, the bad, and the beautiful, all with grace.
It looked awfully sturdy to me. And most of it is not a bridge; that was a small section, and there's a route that bypasses it. I took the bridge on the way up but I bypassed on the way down!
We had a combination week of being sick, traveling for a college tour/visit with my nephew, and now we're mostly recovered & needing to make real meals again.
-Last weekend, we ate: at a fun bar near the college. The next night we ate at the "Cowboy Cookout" at the ranch where my nephew works. I had barbecued chicken & all sorts of delicious fixings. We had In & Out on the way to the airport for our return flight.
-I think I had soup 3x for dinner
-I did make ground beef tacos for dinner one night
-And, last night I put together an actual meal, because I was finally feeling better. I made spaghetti & meatballs, garlic bread, & green beans.
For tonight, we are likely having leftover tacos.
My dad would have been stationed in HI if he had stayed on after his tour of duty in WWII. I'm sure he would have been moved again before we came along, but my sibs and I always dreamed of what could have been, had we grown up there.
Last week I spent $131+ for two weeks, which isn't bad, since it's almost all organic. I'm not counting the half-pig, because we haven't had the processor's bill yet, so I don't know the final cost. It will depend on how many pounds he gets after cutting and trimming. Plus, I'll be splitting it with the daughter who has trouble digesting beef.
WIA:
Bacon, with chard sautéed in some of the bacon fat plus roasted sweet potato. I had that twice. I had to buy the chard. I've been unsuccessful every single time I've tried to grow it.
Farm brats with a salad made out of English peas, chopped celery and chopped green onions, so it was a "green" salad. I also had some actual potato chips that DH hadn't wanted and were going to get thrown away if I didn't take them.
I found a simpler recipe for oyakodon, the Japanese egg dish, than I had first used, and I had it with fruit on the side. Instead of rice, I served it over cauliflower rice. I had this twice, too.
Trimmed and sliced turkey gizzards, marinated and baked slowly, with mashed white (!) potatoes and spinach. Two turkey gizzards, untrimmed, weighed a little over 18 ounces. They were huge. My dogs got the tough trimmings, which I baked along with the gizzards. They gave the trimmings a five-barks review.
One night it was late, I was tired, I'd come in late from work, I had too many irritating things like Medicare, home insurance, doctors, etc., going on, so I just scrambled some eggs and had a banana and some thawed cherries out of the freezer.
Tonight, I'm not sure, but it's a safe bet it will be easy, whatever it is.
And given that you've lived in Florida for so long, I'm guessing you are the kind of person who would appreciate Hawaii weather!
Such beautiful photos today, both of Hawaii and the snow at home. We presently are buried in snow and ice.
Monday- baked potatoes with toppings
Tuesday- grilled cheese
Wednesday- potato soup from Monday leftovers
Thursday-pork loin, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut
Friday- tonight will be beef roast with roasted vegetables
Saturday- leftovers from pork meal and beef meal
That hike looks awesome. I would totally do it.
Saturday: we were on the road back from Florida, so we ate up what foods we could for breakfast and cleaned out the rental house fridge (anyone else get skeeved out by people leaving expired food in rental fridges? I tossed some very dubious foods), and hit the road. We stopped once for Chik Fil A for the kiddo and bathroom breaks for everyone, and made it up to a hotel north of Atlanta for Saturday night. Hit the grocery store for some delicious frozen meals (no, really, there are some healthier choices now, I was happy to see!) and heated those up for dinner. Those back in Ohio, holding down the fort, made themselves tortilla pizzas.
Sunday: Second leg of the trip from Atlanta to Ohio. We had a hearty complimentary breakfast at the hotel, then got on the road and I think we didn't stop until somewhere in Tennessee, or was it Kentucky? Chick Fil A being closed on Sundays, my son chose Burger King over a sit-down restaurant and it was the right choice. Quick and fast, and not crowded. We made it home in time for homemade pizza night, Pt 2!
Monday: Oldest son had stocked us up on quite a few groceries, but we needed fresh chicken and veggies, so DH took a kid for driving practice and stopped at the store. Baked chicken thighs, rice, roasted broccoli.
Tuesday: Burgers, popcorn/Cheetos (leftover from the Florida trip), baby carrots. Also some leftover chicken and hamburger stew.
Wednesday: Hamburger stew, mac and cheese for the Selective Eater.
Thursday: Back volunteering at the cat shelter, but we've decided to dial back on getting Chick Fil A--it was really a time saver when DH had a class to teach, but he's in a non-teaching term, so he has time to make dinner. He made his famous tuna burgers, yogurt parfaits, and roasted brussels sprouts.
Friday--tonight is taco night. We have lots of leftover, but one of the kids wanted to make dinner, and who am I to stop him?
@Karen A.,
Hello from a fellow Ohioan!
@Liz B., Hello to you! We made it back just in time for what my kids call a polar spike. It was a shock after 70 degree weather in Florida!
``We spent most of our last day at the beach, and we popped in super quick to McDonalds on the way back to shower``
You took a shower... at McDonalds? What am I missing here? lol
@isa, lol, just got it. On the way back to take a shower, you went to McD. Took me a minute there. English is not my 1st language, you'll have to excuse me on that one, ahaha
@isa,
I was picturing sort of a tropical Hawaiian shower situation inside a McDonald's too, and English is my first language...
@isa, I misread it the first time that way too. So you're not alone.
Haha, I wasn't very clear about that, was I? We left the beach to go back to our place to shower, but on the way, we stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite to eat. Is that better?
This week we enjoyed:
* Homemade butternut squash soup
* Homemade carrot soup x 2
* Veggie gyozas with sweet chili sauce
* Spinach salad with raisins, sunflower seeds, celery, cucumber and vinaigrette
* Noodles with green beans, walnuts, butter and parmesan
* Scrambled eggs with noodles and broccoli mixed in
WIS: $85 @ Food Lion on the only day this week that the roads thawed enough to leave home.
WWA: We have been snowed/iced in for the better part of the week. Despite our best efforts, the water to our kitchen froze, so we have been eating a lot of sandwiches, homemade frozen meals and items that just require microwaving or cutting up. We do have water to our small laundry room sink and can wash dishes, but paper plates are starting to look very tempting!
Before the kitchen was put mostly out of commission, I inventoried the freezer and did a lot of cooking, thank goodness.
Welcome Home, Kristen!
This week the PNW had quite the winter storm. I made double darn sure that the outside was winterized, we had a big pile of wood close to the house to safely access for heat and then onto the inside prep. Food has been achingly boring, but we managed to be fed.
I made a large meatloaf, baked potatoes and mixed up a large batch of ginger/molasses/oatmeal cookies. So that fed us for 3 looong days. Knock on wood, we never lost power. But present self was grateful to past self for trimming all the trees. The ice storm only showed me one limb that I need to take care of. Got it marked to trim next.
Back to dinner. Next, I made white chicken chili w/frozen cannellini beans and freezer chicken carcass, w/cornbread and added a green salad.
Last night I finally broke loose, even though we experienced another ice storm last night, I grilled t-bones, green salad and artisan bread and invited 3 neighbor families to dinner.
Today is a big pot of spaghetti sauce cooking low and slow on the woodstove @ a nice simmer, tonight will be noodles/sauce/green salad w/fresh lettuce from the greenhouse and tomorrow a lasagna w/fresh ricotta.
128 at Kroger pick up. 23 at ALDI.
Monday: club sandwiches on sourdough and salad
Tuesday: minestrone with ground beef and biscuits
Wednesday: roasted potatoes and chicken sausages
Thursday: big salad and leftover potatoes
Friday : pizza and double choc brownies
Wow, just wow over your hike up and down. Down looked more scary than the going up part.
The husband is still gone, so meals continue to be random. Popcorn and cottage cheese, ramen and cottage cheese, egg and cottage cheese (finally finished the cottage cheese)...just finished an earthquake that set Pound Hound to barking and knocked over a glass. They are not usually this strong in this part of the state. But when they happen we automatically think of the one that hit Anchorage years ago when the earth literally opened up in spots.
@Lindsey, an earthquake?! So glad you're alive!
@Lindsey, I still remember the 1960s National Geographic article about the big quake in Anchorage. Those photos certainly had me going "Whoa!!" as a 10-year-old.
Down looked more scary, but going up was FOR SURE more exhausting!
Spent an embarrassing (for a frugal blog) amount this week due to stocking up at BJs and an infrequent but expensive trip to Eataly. January hasn't been frugal...It adds up fast, especially in a VHCOL area. Some stuff will last months so hopefully the next few won't be so bad.
WIS: Farmers market-$107 (got cash, didn't spend all but for ease of tracking will add to the week it gets taken from the account); Flashfood-$57; Neighborhood-$13; Milk Delivery-$19; Eataly-$143; Bjs-$261 Total-$600
WWA: Sat- Homemade chicken tenders, fries, and onion rings
Sun- Chicken fajitas w/ homemade tortillas
Mon- Mushroom/short rib ravioli, mushroom ragu, broccolini & cheese sausage
Tues- Brown sugar glazed ham steak, mac and cheese, green beans
Wed- Shrimp scampi w/ linguini, can't remember what vegetable but there was one
Thurs- Steak & cheese, salt & vinegar potato chips
Fri- We had to cook a kale chicken sausage last night before the date passed so probably this w/ some kind of pasta and veg
WIS: $36 fish market; $35 meat market; $20 Trucchi's; $15 Walmart
Friday: Clam chowder and stuffed clams
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Hamburgers
Monday: Egg and vegetable casserole with sausage
Tuesday: Pizza
Wednesday: Turkey dinner
Thursday: A burger
There is a local fish market and restaurant near where I work. I wanted to try their clam chowder. It was pricey for a quart of chowder from the market. They also had some good looking stuffed clams that I decided to buy. The chowder was rather expensive. After I saw that our local meat market had chowder for $8/qt. I did buy some and will give it a try.
At one market I found a couple of pizzas marked down. Can't make them at home for that price. When I came home from work Tuesday, my husband said throw in the pizza for a quick meal.
I had a boneless turkey breast I purchased before Christmas. We'll have leftovers tomorrow night I think.
Good luck on a successful spring semester.