WIS, WWA | hello, symphony!
What I Spent
I actually spent $0 at the grocery store (I just ate from the fridge/freezer/pantry), but I did spend $30 on poke bowls last night. 🙂
What We Ate
Saturday
After quite a long hiatus due to weekend clinicals, I went to the symphony!
But beforehand, I had an early dinner of sauteed fish and veggies plus leftover mashed potatoes.
Sunday
Post-work meal: the last of the mashed potatoes, some more sauteed fish, plus cucumber slices and a glass of agua de pepino. 🙂
Monday
I worked a 12 hour shift and when I got home, I just ate a ham sandwich and had a glass of agua de pepino.
Tuesday
I baked some sweet potatoes, added some spicy Italian sausage and some baby broccoli, and called it a meal.
Oh, and also some avocado in lime juice on the side.
Wednesday
I actually went to a trivia night with some friends after work. Was I very good at it? No. Did I have fun? Yes.
I got a margherita pizza flatbread there and my friends kindly treated me since it was my first time there. 🙂
Thursday
Miss Fashion is in town doing some dog-sitting, and she and I hung out in the afternoon and then went to get poke bowls together.
Friday
I have another 12 hour shift today, so...probably another ham sandwich tonight. 😉
Good mornin', good mornin' ! Kristen, I'm so glad you got to go the symphony. You look so pretty!
I have not been to the store. I did drive thru Hardee's for the big breakfast, Monday after work. And only ate half. I do like biscuits and gravy, but the eggs were the only thing not tooo salty.
My main things I've eaten this week are sweet corn and cherries. I did fix a toasted ham and cheese sandwich with sliced tomato and bacon jam for brunch one day. I've also had cantaloupe with cottage cheese and turkey almond salad from Hy-Vee. One morning for breakfast, I had peach cobbler. Some meals have been accompanied with fresh Japanese cucumbers. They are so good.
I know my eating is all over the place, but so is my sleep because of working nights. And the heat/humidity has been unbearable for this summer girl.
Have a great weekend, All!
I dunno how you manage the night shift life. I hate it so much whenever I have to do it!
I spent about 75.00 on groceries, including 12 boxes of crackers ( they were on sale for 2.00 a box, we're set until December!).. . I bought coffee, chips, fish, a salad, cherries, hummus and pretzels.
We picked up our first CSA box. There was blueberries, raspberries, romaine lettuce, garlic, onions, carrots, snap peas, mint and eggs. It was 360.00 for 12 weeks, so 30.00 a week. I was quite happy with it.
Meals were stuffed chicken, ham sandwiches, chickpeas Tika masala, pork tenderloin.
Happy Friday all
Saturday: I made a cottage pie, not knowing if my husband would be home from his camping trip with the three younger children. They got home around dinnertime, but only a couple of kids were hungry. They had some of the cottage pie. I had a collard-green salad with some ground beef in it.
Sunday: The travelers went fishing in Colorado and came home with eight trout. We had them this night, broiled with butter, lemon juice, and parsley. I also broiled some garlic toast, and heated up some frozen corn. I had made Mexican Wedding Cookies the day before when I had the oven on anyway for the cottage pie, and we had those for our Sunday dessert.
Monday: I used the leftover trout to make fish patties, and then I made rice and pulled out a bag of last year's caramelized cabbage from the freezer. We had some leftover cookies, too, which made everyone very happy.
Tuesday: The meat sauce I had taken out for my eldest son several days earlier never got eaten, so I used it this night in a baked pasta casserole that was very popular. Frozen peas for a vegetable.
Wednesday: I had all kinds of leftovers. I put it all out and let everyone make up their own plates to heat up in the microwave. They enjoyed the novelty of this, as usually I'm just assigning food to make sure I have enough for everyone. We also had ice cream, because the children had helped me unload the car when I got home from Walmart, so they knew we had it. 🙂
Thursday: Pizzas--one pepperoni and sliced garlic, one just cheese--carrot sticks with ranch dip, and watermelon
Tonight: I think I'll take out some of the pork ribs my husband bought and cook those this morning while it's cool, along with some cornbread, and then I can just re-heat them at dinnertime. And a green salad.
My grocery spending seems to have leveled out to around $75, but if you add the two times I ate out, I was right at $90. (but there are always non-food items on there like printer paper and a 9V battery...)
M - Southwest Chicken and Rice with queso fresco (this made three servings so I froze two meals for future me)
T - Tilapia, can't remember what else! But I think it was peas? salad?
W - Mini Meatloaf, 2 tiny baked sweet potatoes
T - Chopped salad with chicken, romaine, pickled okra, apple, queso fresco, avocado
F - I've got plans to thaw out some shrimp and toss in a lemon pesto sauce over fettucine, with broccoli on the side. Wishing I had not picked up extra hours at work today, so it needs to be easy!
Happy Weekend!
Silly question, how do you prep your sweet potatoes?!?! I bake mine, but they never come out as yummy as yours look!
I poke a few holes in them and bake them at 450 in my toaster oven until they're soft. The timing depends on the size of the potato but usually it's somewhere between 30-60 minutes. They do turn out so soft and sweet this way; they are good even eaten just plain!
@Kristen, oh! I think I need to up the baking temp. Thanks.
@Kristen, my sweet potato report… cooking at 450 helped a lot. I used my oven ( gasp) in the heat of Las Vegas! My sweet potatoes came out so much better at the higher temperature, thanks for the pro tip!
YAY!! I wonder if the high heat caramelizes the sugars in the potatoes more; when I bake mine this way they are nice and sweet.
I bake a bunch at a time and then just reheat the other ones for future meals. That way I don't have to heat up even my toaster oven a bunch of times.
And hey, in the winter, sweet potato baking works with our efforts to heat our homes. 🙂
Happy Friday, everyone! This week, we enjoyed:
- Orzo salad
- Handful of cashews (had a big lunch)
- Broiled open-face sandwiches: sauteed zucchini and onions, egg salad, tomato slices, shredded cheese
- Tortilla chips and guacamole, apple
- Farro with green beans, green onions, tofu and sesame vinaigrette
- Spinach salad with blueberries, walnuts and poppyseed dressing
- Baked potato and peas
@MB in MN, oh, and I spent $83 with no eating out. A good week.
WIS: $27.75 at the Regional Market, $21 at Trader Joe's, and $25 at the no-name grocery outlet.
WIA: The usual nothing that would impress Martha Stewart, with the possible exception of spaghetti with fresh basil and cherry tomatoes from my garden. And I used an Ina Garten recipe as the jumping-off point even for that. Eat your heart out, Martha. 😀
@A. Marie, I saw there have been mountain lion sightings in Wegman's and been meaning to ask if you've spotted any in yours? 🙂
@Bobi, this story somehow got under my radar, and I'm a bit peeved with JASNA Panera (who lives in that city) for not letting me in on this sooner. Meanwhile, various merchants in that city have been having some fun with the meme (https://tinyurl.com/29jaf8ax).
@A. Marie, Well, that WAS fun! I especially loved the midair attack on the park bench couple. Thanks for the chuckles to close out a distinctly un-amusing week!
I spent very little this week...$29. I've been using up items that have been in the freezer for a bit. Also, refusing to turn the oven on in the heat. So, toaster oven, instant pot, or air fryer only.
We ate:
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: we ate out at the chinese buffet
Monday: chicken sausage brats, sweet potatoes, salads
Tuesday: spaghetti, salads, bread
Wednesday: chicken cutlet, mashed potatoes, fried okra
Thursday: burritos with some carne asada meat from the freezer, black beans, corn, veggies, and rice.
Friday: grilling pizza since it will be too hot here today to turn the oven on.
I spent $54 on food at Winco, trader joes and Raleys, and another $40 at restaurants and a local coffee place. This was one of those weeks where all my meal plans went sideways.
Saturday - i was treated to another birthday meal out at a local soup and sandwich place. I had Chicken pot pie soup and salad with mixed greens, dried cranberries, almonds and blue cheese. I love soup, even when its 95 degrees outside.
Sunday - leftovers from Saturday.
Monday - planned to make chicken but just snacked on whatever was in easy reach, instead.
Tuesday - ran errands after work and grabbed fast food on the way home. Made me feel icky and reminded me why I don't do fast food anymore. I was determined to have real food the rest of the week so I prepped some chicken for salads or tacos and some ground beef to make a meat sauce for cheese ravioli. Woke up in the morning to discover I failed to put the ground beef in the fridge the night before. Argh!
Wednesday/Thursday - the chicken never made it into salads or tacos. I just had cold chicken and cantaloupe both nights.
Friday - will probably have leftover Thai food from lunch with coworkers yesterday.
Thank you! This particular shade of red works for me because it's a warm-ish, muted tone of red, I think. 🙂
Red is such a pretty color on you!
WIS: 83 @Aldi
WWA:
Fri: salad and focaccia
Sat: salad, watermelon and fried rice
Sun: salad, watermelon and leftovers
Mon: salad, watermelon and pasta carbonara
Tue: salad and pizza from my husband’s favorite pizza joint
Wed: salad, broccoli and turkey burgers
Thu: salad, mashed potatoes and rotisserie chicken
Tonight: we are visiting family, so not focaccia. I think we’ll have salad and spaghetti.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
That pizza looks so tasty!
I don't remember the order of these meals but I know I ate veggie burgers with mashed potato, vegetable stew and pizza. I'm not sure what I'll be eating tonight but I'll be eating early because I'm going to a party. I also enjoyed going for breakfast with my friend again.
This has nothing to do with meals but I thought this article was interesting - it examines the difference between American and Swedish attitudes to nature and argues that while the US sees nature more as something to be conquered, Sweden sees it as an intrinsic part of life:
https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/essays/sweden-nature
As with most things, I think the UK is somewhere inbetween, both culturally and geographically!
Friday: Mushroom and Leek Pasta. I needed something easy and quick since I had been cooking to prep for Saturday.
Saturday: Ted Lasso themed dinner party at our house for 10! We had trivia, show clips, a costume contest and an 8 course tasting menu – tea sandwiches with tea, fish and chips, jollof rice with chicken, kebabs, chicken vindaloo, shepherd’s pie, peanut butter, and baklava. I also sent everyone home with shortbread (biscuits). Drinks included a tea punch, greyhounds, and rose. It was exhausting but such a fun night!
Sunday: Brats on the grill, roasted corn, roasted beets, fresh cauliflower and broccoli.
Monday: Taco Stuffed Summer Squash. I swapped out the ground beef for black beans and leftover roasted corn. Served with a side of cilantro lime rice.
Tuesday: Baked walleye (a gift from one of my husband’s coworkers), mashed potatoes, sauteed yellow squash and zucchini, zucchini cheddar herb bread.
Wednesday: Leftover night
Thursday: Zucchini lasagna rolls.
CSA veggies used this week: mushrooms, leeks, corn, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, yellow squash, potatoes, zucchini.
@Geneva, your party sounds absolutely fabulous!
WIS: $205 @ Kroger, $19 on takeout pizza
WWA:
Saturday: a lot of house projects got completed; baked pork chops, squash casserole from the freezer, rice, & okra and tomatoes
Sunday: an hours long power outage sent us out - deli sandwiches for two, and a salad and baked potato for me
Monday: baked ziti in the crockpot, Caesar salad, and garlic bread
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: exhaustion hit me and takeout pizza got everyone fed
Friday: roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and peas
The kitchen sink was out of order for the first half of the week, so I've been eating finger foods and things that use very few dishes.
WIS: $37 at Aldi last Friday for regular groceries, followed by $52 on Monday for reinforcements, as I hadn't bought enough things that didn't need cooking.
WIA: chips and bean dip, hot dogs, chicken salad wraps, cereal, bananas, pineapple, fruit cups
I spent exactly 100 dollars between grocery and farmers market.
We had lots of cherries and berries this week. Lots of salads.
Burgers on the grill. Chicken sandwiches. Salami and cheese sandwiches. Pesto salmon. Breakfast for dinner.
I spent $48 at Kroger and $243 at Sam's club (most of it on steaks for the next few weeks)
– Sunday – we had a big Chinese food lunch with local relatives and out of town kin. Since I had eaten a good breakfast, I wasn't very hungry. Hubby ate my leftover Chinese meal for dinner and I wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat.
– Monday – grilled strip steaks, sweet potatoes, 3 bean salad, fresh sliced tomatoes.
– Tuesday – out to eat with family. I had a steak salad, hubby had Seafood Newburg with rice.
– Wednesday – a store bought Kroger brand plank salmon with applewood, orange and ginger seasoning, (that was very good), leftover three-bean salad, fresh sliced tomatoes from our garden, potato gnocchi with pesto, onions and garlic.
– Thursday – we ordered pizza and salads for dinner with relatives at our house. The heat index was 100+ so I decided not to use the oven.
– Friday – we will probably have leftover pizza and salad. There were 11 of us, including several big eater men, but we have a lot of leftover pizza and salad. So no cooking for me on Friday! And I'll probably free some of the pizza, too.
Stay cool! We are frying here in Arkansas!
WWS: $356 at Kroger.
Saturday/Sunday: homemade pizzas, and I think we had some leftover watermelon. I've been choosing really good watermelons so far, no duds, or maybe we just are having a good watermelon season. I always get a cantaloupe or two as well, as DS#1 is not a fan of watermelon (and everyone but me is a fan of cantaloupe. Weirdos.)
Monday: tuna burgers and homemade tomato soup. And leftover pizza stuff.
Tuesday: DS#2 made baked chicken drumsticks and corn on the cob (in the crockpot). I had gotten another watermelon and an Athena cantaloupe (they were on sale and are larger than the usual cantaloupe!) and I showed DS how to cut them up.
Wednesday: I made my favorite mostly-vegetable chili (adding a bit of ground beef to please the carnivores) and the tastiest cornbread ever. Egg-free and, if one wishes, dairy-free as well. https://shaneandsimple.com/vegan-cornbread-recipe/
Thursday: DS#3 made taco meat and we had taco bowls/burritos.
Tonight DS#1 is making crockpot hamburger stew. DS#4 will probably make himself some mac and cheese.
Love that dress on you!
As is our current season, we never knew if we were feeding just myself + DH for dinner, or a full house, with GFs, friends, etc. It makes meal planning.. tricky!
-One night we hosted 7 (collection of my guests + teen guests) & had chicken shawarma with all of the sides. My BFF marinated the meat while I was working, and didn't follow the recipe, but it turned out great.
-Another night we grilled burgers, and hosted 6 or 7. DS19 + his GF for sure. Maybe others. DH made tater tots to go with them.
-And, DH made beef kebabs & Persian rice, and we hosted maybe 8 people? My guests, GFs, DS18's friends that stopped by...it was a full house!
-We then had leftover burgers one night
-I made spaghetti & meatballs x2, because we weren't expecting teens to be home (they confirmed they wouldn't be home for dinner), & then.. they were. So, that's my go to freezer meals. Bonus that one night DS18's GF joined us. 😉 We added garlic bread, because she's a tiny girl with a huge appetite.
As for tonight, I believe all of the entertaining leftovers are gone, but now DH has fish that DS18's friends caught in Alaska & shared with us. So, he'll have that & I'll find something easy in the freezer & serve it with salad. And fruit, because summer fruit is so great.
Not me realizing you and your girl are both FG, Fashion Girl and Frugal Girl! I love this so much!
WIS: $0
WWA:
S - fresh salmon grilled, roasted baby potatoes, kale salad w/hot bacon dressing, blackberry cobbler & homemade ice cream
M - salmon patties, sauteed zucchini, more kale Salad
T - smoked turkey leg from the freezer, green salad
W - fresh crab, green salad, solar baked sourdough bread
T - green salad, sauteed elk steak, watermelon
F - green salad & watermelon
S - work
I spent far too much at the fruit stand as the summer fruits are becoming available but can’t resist fresh peaches, cherries, and apricots. WWA:
Saturday - made a quiche to use up some eggs that weren’t getting any younger and added a bit of ham from the freezer
Sunday - sliced roast beef from the freezer, boiled baby potatoes with dill
Monday - baked pork chops, boiled baby potatoes with dill, asparagus
Tuesday - leftovers and a Caesar salad
Wednesday - air fryer chicken thighs with bbq sauce, oven fries, green salad
Thursday - sausage tortellini soup and sourdough bread (both from the freezer)
Friday - the oven baked trout and veggie packets & rice that were originally planned for yesterday
Wishing everyone a happy week ahead
I strongly advocate cooking ahead on your days off. At least, that works best for me.
WIS: Nothing last week
WIA: I prepped ahead on the weekend and ate off that for much of the week. I made:
A pressure cooked chuck roast with mushrooms, onions, and green beans which I ate for a few meals, lunch included. I had beets with this one time.
Chicken shawarma served variously with cole slaw, salad, maduros, also eaten over a few meals, lunch included.
Goat chop with sliced zucchini and cranberry sauce.
One night was simply cottage cheese with pitted cherries, sliced cucumber and sliced carrots with ranch dressing. It's been so hot and humid, that was all that sounded good.
Tonight, it may be an omelet stuffed with veggies or an omelet with salad or something else entirely.
I often do prep lunches and breakfasts ahead of time, but hmmm, I haven't really done dinner!
WIS: Having spent $0 and $9.38 the previous two weeks while I ate down the refrigerator and freezer, this week I spent $46.56 at Sprouts on heirloom tomatoes and salad greens, chicken, roast beef, and a lovely boneless top sirloin filet marked down from $17.41to $11.32. And a gigantic sweet potato that weighed in at 1.68 pounds when I checked out.
So over the past three (3) weeks I’ve spent $55.94, or $2.36 less than the USDA’s one (1) week “Thrifty Food Plan” of $58.30. But that was thanks to a pretty full refrigerator, freezer and pantry to start off the month. So I guess that’s cheating.
WIA: Roasted sweet potato! Morning, noon and night. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Stuffed with creamed and fresh spinach and served with eggs (breakfast) or steak (dinner). And BLTs for lunch, because I had a pound of bacon in the meat drawer that needed to be cooked, and those heirloom tomatoes always need to be eaten pretty darn quick. And yet more summer squash, “free” from the garden.
Bon appetit!
Sunday: friends invited us over for fresh walleye, and I took homemade mac n cheese and watermelon
Monday: Leftovers from a weekend party
Tuesday: chicken parmesan, artisan bread
Wednesday: out for my birthday.....I had a chicken, bacon, cheese, pesto panini with chips. Homemade peach pie (my favorite) at home for dessert, courtesy of my mom
Thursday: chicken salads
Friday: will be at camp and we are having big homemade subs, chips, green grapes
I have definitely spent more than normal the last couple of weeks. I'm going with the thought that anything eaten at home is cheaper than eating out and anything other than pizza is a win. Moving has left no energy or brain cells for cooking and all of my freezer meals are gone. So lots of easy meals!
Saturday - My son's 9th birthday party... we had pizza and breadsticks from Little Caesar's, fruit salad, and ice cream cake.
Sunday - We celebrated his birthday with family and I was thrilled that he requested spaghetti and meatballs and breadsticks with just ice cream for dessert. So easy!
Monday - His actual birthday... we made steak on our camping stove (our grill is still at our old house) plus baked beans, chips, and veggies. We ate dessert at our county fair.
Tuesday - Clean out the fridge night
Wednesday - Enchiladas (thanks, Stouffer's!)
Thursday - Aldi's steak tips in gravy over instant mashed potatoes with frozen mixed veggies
Friday - Aldi's carnitas that we'll make into tacos with chips and queso
I'm finally starting to feel like I can start cooking again. Hopefully next week will be more normal.
I have no idea what we spent! Probably too much bc my husband did the grocery shopping.
Sunday- Bobotie (this is a South African ground meat casserole with a sort of custard topping- first time making it! It was delicious.) We ate it with mango chutney and broccoli.
Monday- Yassa (this is a Senagalese lemon olive chicken dish- it was so good.) We ate this with broccoli and rice. I cooked the rice in the pot with everything, which is my favorite way to make rice, where you sauté it first.
Tuesday- Greek salad of cucumber, chickpeas, grape tomatoes, olives, bell pepper, chicken, and feta. For you cottage cheese eaters- I have found that this Greek salad is actually really good with a scoop of cottage cheese on top. Feta is betta, but cottage cheese is pretty good.
Wednesday- chickpea tomato soup and bread
Thursday- leftovers
Friday- more leftovers
What an interesting week of food at your house!
The kitchen was closed A LOT this week. I was out of town this weekend and started a little behind unfortunately
Monday: Ghanaian corn beef my stepmother stocked our freezer along with rice
Tuesday: sausage with peppers and onions and mashed potatoes leftover from the weekend
Wednesday: instapot chicken lo mein
Thursday: leftovers of choice with salad
Friday: tuna sandwiches and then ice cream at a local community event at the park
I’m going to try to meal plan this week so I can feel less frazzled, but no one starved so another success!
Last Saturday Farmer's market $39
Sunday at Big Y $25 & farmstand $30
Wednesday at Crocetti's (butcher) $23
Saturday--farmer's market again $16; Dave's Market $27
I prefer to shop for food to clothes. I like going to different markets and roam around Each have different items that may entice me.
Saturday--waffles. I was trying to be creative. They were edible but I would not try that recipe again unless I have the exact ingredients.
Sunday--I had two small containers of remainder tomato sauce in 'frig, which I combined and got two nights of dinner. And at the market prepared meatballs were marked down. A 1-lb package (12 meatballs; just the right size for us) cost just a little over a 1-lb package of ground beef. Sauce in the 'fridge over pappardelle
Monday--Remainder of pasta sauce with remainder pappardelle. One thankful thing about my husband, he does not complain about what I put down for dinner. If he did, I would tell him to plan and make the meal.
Tuesday--Pan roasted chicken breast
Wednesday--oven baked coconut shrimp Even though my husband is not excited about shrimp, he ate it.
Thursday night--burgers and panfried potatoes
Friday night--Steak, salad and orzo
I am pretty close to clearing out the freezer.
I really do need to get better at meal planning so that I have on hand what I need and know each night what we will have. I hate getting to 4 p.m. and thinking "what's for dinner?". I would be happy with crackers and cheese.
I’ve never heard of a “poke bowl”.