WIS, WWA | I am complaining about the clouds
Hello, frugal people!
It's been kind of dreary and rainy here, and I'm feeling a little bummed out from all the clouds.
Here's hoping for some sunshine soon!
Zoe and I DID get to see our very plump friend at the cat rescue center, though, and she is kind of like sunshine. 😉
What I Spent
I actually did not go to Aldi at all this week (!!), and I spent $99.50 on groceries elsewhere.
So, that means February is starting out quite on budget.
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG took Sonia and Zoe to go see the latest Star Wars movie, and Lisey and I stayed home.
(Neither of us is much for sci-fi.)
Before they left for the movie, we ate a very random assortment of things for dinner, scrounged from the freezer/cupboards...like soup and a grilled cheese for Zoe, some shrimp + tomato basil bread for Mr. FG and Lisey, and I can't remember what Sonia and I ate.
Sunday
Sonia and Zoe went to a friend's house, so Mr. FG and I did our $20 date night on Sunday instead of Saturday.
Monday
I made a chicken taco green salad with homemade fried tortilla strips on top.
I grabbed a loaf of egg bread from the freezer and we had that as toast on the side.
Tuesday
I guess I was in a taco mood this week (when am I not??), because I made chipotle chicken tacos in corn tortillas, and we had a fruit salad on the side.
Wednesday
I tried a recipe from the latest Cook's Country for cheesy grits topped with sausage and tomatoes. Quick and delicious!
And we had these easy roasted carrots on the side.
(I felt inspired to eat an orange vegetable after writing an instagram post about a $55/month antioxidant drink. Ha. Carrots = much cheaper.)
Thursday
I made another meal from Washington's Green Grocer, this time a buffalo chicken salad.
(I will do an actual review post about WGG soon, but if you live in the DelMarVa aread and you want to try it out, they sent me a coupon code worth $10 off your first order...go to WGG and use code FRUGALGIRL.)
Friday
I think Mr. FG and I are going to do our date night tonight. Which means I just have to think of something to feed the girls!
Saturday: German-style sausage that was far too salty for me, mashed potatoes, green salad
Sunday: Bunless cheeseburgers, oven fries, steamed broccoli, mashed squash, and a disappointing lemon pudding that was far too cornstarch-y
Monday: Scrambled eggs, bacon, bread, raw radishes
Tuesday: Pizza elk (elk+marinara+mozzarella), pasta with pesto from last year's basil that I froze and hoarded till now, green salad
Wednesday: Pizza grilled cheese (marinara+mozzarella in the sandwiches), vegetable soup
Thursday: Elk bites--just chunks of elk marinated in a vinaigrette and then seared. My kids ate them with ketchup, which is one of the only ways I can get them to eat elk almost plain like this. Also roasted potatoes and another green salad.
Tonight: Dunno. I finished this week's bag o' elk, so maybe I'll get out some beef stew meat or something. I need to go freezer-diving and see what I come up with.
Congrats on another successful elk week! 🙂
I've been curious for a long time... Do you do bunless cheeseburgers because you prefer them without the bun or because of a lack of accessibility to fresh buns?
Half my family does better--digestively speaking--eating only the sourdough bread I make, so I don't buy buns. Honestly, I am not very motivated to make sourdough buns, which is a process, or serve the burgers with just bread as a sandwich, because then my young children tend to eat the ketchup-smeared bread first and then be too full to eat the protein.
Interesting! Thanks for answering!
Saturday: H made a large pot of curry...even though we had just finished the last pot of curry he made. It was delicious, but we didn't finish it until yesterday (Thursday). Safe to say, I'm not going to be in the mood for curry for a while, ha!
Sunday: We had leftover Curry for lunch and I made crack chicken in the crock pot with sweet potatoes and green beans
Monday: I had crack chicken leftovers for lunch, and we had fried eggs and toast for dinner (it was snowy and cold, and I wanted basic comfort food)
Tuesday: I had leftover curry for lunch, and we had spaghetti for dinner
Wednesday: I ate salad for lunch, and we had random bits and bobs from the fridge for dinner. Cheese sticks, toast, celery and peanut butter, etc...
Thursday: We finished the curry!! I also ate some crack chicken for breakfast (curry for lunch), and meatloaf for dinner...with roasted potatoes and broccoli
Friday: I have the last of the crack chicken and sweet potato for my lunch today, along with a smidge of curry from a previous lunch. I'll eat meatloaf for dinner before heading to a church event. Not sure what H and the boys will do, but the boys have been asking for tacos...so either beef tacos or meatloaf would be my guess.
I spent $180 at the store last week (!) and while we ate everything we cooked, we have a lot of things in our fridge/freezer to use up. I'm hoping to do a very light grocery shop this weekend and then eat out of the fridge and freezer for next week's meals.
You deserve many props for eating that much curry!
My SO was still sick, so we spend the weekend quietly so we had time to cook.
Saturday: Roasted eggplant with basmati rice, bok choy and a mushroom vinaigrette
Saturday: Spaghetti with long-cooked sauce bolognese
Monday: fresh bread, cheeses and radishes
Tuesday: Pasta with home-made spinach pesto from last week
Wednesday: bread rolls, cheese, cold cuts and snack tomatoes
Thursday: molten cheese with fresh baguette for dipping
Friday: probably going out for burgers
I hope your SO is feeling better now!
Are bread rolls buns? It's so interesting to hear about different foods and/or different names. Cold cuts = lunch meat? Molten cheese = fondue? Queso? Welsh rabbit?
Sure hope you and everyone gets/stays healthy. It's a rough year, it seems.
Queso=cheese dip
Is that what molten cheese is? I love “queso” and wondered if those are two names for the same thing-
It was so cloudy and dreary all of January! We keep getting glimpses of sun now, and I swear it feels like summer because of it. I always love these food recaps 😀
Rain and cold is just the worst combo, in my opinion.
Cold and sunny? Ok, fine.
Rainy but warm? All right, I can deal.
But cold AND rain is just dumb.
Kristen, I feel for you. January was crazy dreary here in Michigan. It's amazing how much more alert I am (and motivated to do work!) when the sun comes out, which it finally has this past week. It seems like you have found a good solution by loving on a cute cat!
I agree completely. If it's cold and rainy I'd rather just have it drop 10 degrees and snow. Like Kris, I'm from Michigan and am currently enjoying the (rare) feeling of the sun shining through the window as I type this!
Although I’ve wanted to for a couple years and haven’t, this year I bought the Flowering Branches from Trader Joe’s and it is well worth the $8 price tag to have a taste of spring in my house! If this is an option, 14/10, highly recommend.
I have never even heard of those. But now I am intrigued.
Hi Stacy, what is that... 14/10?
I paused Imperfect Foods for the week because I lost the credit card I use on their subscription! Also, we had a lot of stuff building up, so frugal week for us using up what we had. New card, back on my regular boxes next week...
Monday - Some pre-made Italian Cod that was meh, zucchini
Tuesday - Grilled Chicken Breast, chard, chunky mashed potatoes with garlic
Wednesday - Pork Rib Chop, Brussels Sprouts, salad, leftover masheds
Thursday - Sausage Farro Skillet with green bell pepper, onion, baked sweet potato
Friday - Cheese Enchiladas, salad with avocado, tomato
Saturday - We eat out!
Sunday - Turkey SOS on toast, steamed carrots
The farro is a new thing for us - I used it just like I would have brown rice - SO GOOD
My husband and I both have had the flu the past two weeks, so not eating much of anything but toast, dry toast. I felt a bit better the other day, so I made a pot of potato soup from a mix from Scott Farms. They are here in Oklahoma and have great soup mixes, etc. Tonight is usually date night, but I’m thinking we’ll just stay home and play games.
Last weekend I decided not to shop until I inventoried and organized everything in the pantry, freezer and fridge (except the spice shelf because that is a whole 'nother project) So I only bought milk, bananas and steak at the grocery store. Unfortunately my savings were pretty much obliterated by buying lunch out several times this week, plus one dinner, so . . . yeah.
Sunday - potstickers, asparagus and brown rice.
Monday - Chicken meatballs, mashed potatoes and more asparagus.
Tuesday - chicken sandwich from Chik-fil-A.
Wednesday - bacon and cheese omelet with fruit and toast
Thursday - Steak, baked potato and asparagus (again!)
Friday - the jury is out. I am going to Costco after work so I may get a hot dog if the line is not too long.
Happy Friday!
Saturday: the company i work for had an employee appreciation dinner, Prime Rib/Chicken/Baby Reds/Asparugus/Greek Salad - DELISH
Sunday: Chili Beans / Toppings / Crackers
Monday: Left Over Chili Beans
Tuesday: Mahi Mahi w/ mango salsa / brown rice
Wednesday: Hamburgers w/ Sweet Potato Fries (baked)
Thursday: Was my birthday yesterday, so we went out to eat Mexican Food!!
Tonight: Think I'll make some corn and potato chowder.. it's been chilly here in central California, so.. feel like some comfort food 🙂
have a great weekend all!
I hope your very plump friend gets adopted soon!
We do too, although we will miss seeing her!
Monday - Brats, potato chips and dip, oranges
Tuesday - Turkey (I think I'm down to one Thanksgiving turkey left in my freezer after this), zucchini, fruit salad
Wednesday - Turkey broccoli alfredo with strawberries and blueberries
Thursday - Pork BBQ sandwiches, chips and dip, broccoli with cheese
Friday - Burrito bowls
We have sun today, but we had that storm front yesterday that was wild and wicked. I'm glad to see those clouds gone.
We lost our power yesterday evening, so we scrounged for our meal. After it finally came back on, it was too late to cook, so I heated a few leftovers and that was it. So much for that meal.
Earlier this week I made meatloaf and served it with cauliflower rice and carrots. We had it again with different vegetables, but I can't remember what they were.
I spatchcocked that chicken with celery, mushrooms, onion and carrots, and we had it twice.
Over the weekend, we had burgers (bun for him, not me) and parsnip fries one night, and steak and salad another.
It wasn't an inspired week for cooking, really. My grocery budget was more in line, but my husband's constant requests for specialty foods are killing my pocketbook. I've about decided to separate them from my grocery budget to see the difference, and just have a line item for his snacks. Maybe this will help me see what we truly eat as everyday food, and what he eats as snacks. I've thought about just not buying them, but he can't get out himself and has so little enjoyment in life these days, that I go ahead and get the snacks.
My husband has A LOT of things he can't eat, so while I thrive on saving money at the discount grocery and the clearance rack, I try not to begrudge him the one kind of (expensive) potato chips and the (super-expensive) chocolate that he enjoys. I try to stock up during sales and have even bought them online when possible. Like your husband, these things bring him some happiness, and that is worth the small budget hit to me.
Yes, this widow agrees that we must try at least somewhat to indulge our mate's cravings! Within reason! My husband was a many-years-sober-recovering alcoholic, and as often happens, sugar cravings sort of kick in with that. He would have liked nothing better than to eat tons of cakes, cookies and ice cream, so I tried where I could to make some healthier versions and keep the REALLY indulgent stuff for special treats like holidays. Also filled us up with vegetables and protein as much as possible to counteract the sugar habit. And when he was really sick and his time was very limited, Oreos all the way! Same with my Mom in her last days. I believe Kristen's husband has a certain Starbucks drink that is important to him. I am more disciplined for myself now, but if I get the news some day of my impending demise, I will be eating pizza and chocolate like you wouldn't believe!
It was a difficult week in a lot of ways but somehow I made it work.
Saturday: We were away so no cooking!
Sunday: Made some homemade calzones via a King Arthur Flour recipe.
Monday: Lemon garlic chicken thighs with mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli.
Tuesday: I was sick so I caved and made frozen fish and fries and vegetables.
Wednesday: Clean out the fridge night. I find lately that my fridge and both freezers are quite full so I shouldn't have to buy any groceries (save for fruits, veg and milk) for a long while.
Thursday: Breakfast for dinner including some pancakes I found in the freezer.
Friday: Salads and loaded baked potatoes, I think.
I'm so sorry to hear that you had a rough week! I know that makes it so hard to cook, so you get a big gold star for making food.
If those were my clouds, I'd complain, too.
Awww, that round-headed kitty is adorable! #WantWantWant.
Isn't she? Her head is such a circle. Ha.
It's been a hospitalization week (RSV) for us, which usually results in faster, less healthy meals.
Sunday--steak for husband and kids (not sure they had a starch or veggie with it. Husband was in charge after an allnighter, and I was at the hospital). I had leftover chicken/brown rice and green beans from a meal friends brought on Saturday because our son was already pretty sick.
Monday--bone-in chicken with spicy beans, mac and cheese, and green beans and something else, all courtesy of a friend who made the executive decision that she was going to figure out dinner for us so we didn't have to think (decision fatigue is real, ya'll). Friends are the best.
Tuesday-leftovers
Wednesday-BLTs with frozen veggies
Thursday-pasta with red sauce and frozen veggies
Friday-Tostadas fron an ATK quick Dinner cookbook with more frozen veggies
Thanks to friends, this week turned out to be not that bad food wise. And now almost all of us have gotten the virus, so things should start getting a bit easier.
Ugh, I'm so sorry to hear about the RSV! I hope you get to stay out of the hospital this week.
Here's my lineup, backward and forward:
Sunday: Baked potato, corn and green salad
Monday: Scrambled eggs with skillet potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms; orange wedges
Tuesday: Pumpkin bisque with bread; cauliflower and dip
Wednesday: Veggie tofu coconut stir-fry
Thursday: Yogurt with blueberries and granola
Friday: Spinach-avocado quesadilla
Saturday: Big bowl of popcorn with a movie from the library
I love rainy, dreary days, coldish weather, barren woods so we can see all the way through to the top of the hill in our backyard, watching the turkeys, deer, crows, hawks...anyway we’re eating mostly soup this week...we made a huge pot of soup. Tomorrow I’ll probably make cornbread to go with it. I’m recovering from a broken leg for the last 6 months so we’ve had a very limited menu. We learned that we actually like it that way and will probably continue...so much easier.
Orange kitties are the best kitties.
Saturday: prosciutto-wrapped pork loin, roasted savoy cabbage with walnuts and lemon (smittenkitten), sautéed carrots, arugula and citrus salad.
Sunday: (Superbowl-at-home): homemade fried mozzarella with homemade sauce, baked chicken wings with red curry sauce, tortilla española, salad.
Monday: Vietnamese bun cha with sticky spicy tofu (Jamie Oliver)
Tuesday: beef stroganoff (from the freezer) and salad
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: tuna fish sandwich and popcorn
Friday: barley vegetable soup with horseradish and cheddar tartines
SmittenKitchen! NOT SmittenKitten, which apparently is a VERY different website! (NSFW)
Love the sunny, chubby friend -- the cloudy picture is moody and beautiful.
Besides meeting for a super bowl luncheon ($12.99 for sandwich and beer of choice -- but we bought extras 🙁 I have eaten dinner in all week. Husband out of town so have been cleaning out the pantry a wee bit. Several nights involved using up $5 rotisserie chicken in sandwiches and using up the giant box of lettuces -- still a WIP.
After stuffing self at a big birthday celebration at work, ate a collection of weird, snacky stuff 3 nights running: cheese, crackers, tomatoes, frozen meals, frozen veggies resembling permafrost, etc. While not winning any prizes, they were fun and did the trick.
Tomato basil bread sounds delicious.
Is it home made?
If so please share the recipe.
Sadly, this was the end of a loaf from Panera, which I found in the freezer! Mr. FG loves that bread and I should probably see if I can find a copycat recipe somewhere.
Saturday: Homemade pizza and oranges
Sunday: Our turn to host the Super Bowl lunch for husband and three of his friends. I plan the food budget with this in mind, so I can order in a huge sub platter and spare myself the cooking marathon. The platter is designed for 10 mixed people or five men. I was left with only one cookie…worth every minute of it. I Set it out and go into the other room and read. This is the only time my husband watches football and I am thrilled to leave him to it.
Monday: Coconut shrimp and oranges. I made way, way too much, which is why we ate it for the next two days, too.
Thursday: Toasted cheese sandwiches and oranges (Citrus purchased to help a friend with her church’s fundraiser and so we are now plowing our way through 25 pounds of the stuff)
Friday: Filet ‘o Fish!!
Yay for the filet o fish!
I received gift cards for our local grocery store for Christmas (my dad and kids know how practical/frugal I try to be and gift them to me) and have spent just about nothing out of pocket so far this year!!! Have about $50 left.
Here's what we ate:
Saturday-We went to a surprise birthday party and ate there.
Sunday-Used grocery gift card to buy Superbowl Sunday tailgate food.
Monday-Onion, pepper, spinach and cheese omelette using eggs from the neighbor's chickens.
Tuesday-Sloppy Joe's and garden salad.
Wednesday-Leftovers
Thursday-Tacos
Friday-Crock pot goulash that was wonderful to come home to after the nasty drive to and from work today.
My husband made pulled chicken for my birthday last Sunday and so he was wasting that much of the week. I was finishing off some sausage and lentils. And I got creative with some left over rice-a-roni and turned it into fried rice with the addition of bacon and scrambled egg. On really cooked Friday night when I made Pasta e Fagioli out of a Cook’s Country magazine. Pushing the budget for the month already. Time to get creative!
Eating, not wasting. Stupid autocorrect.
Sunday: Superbowl snacks. We have friends who host a party every year, but they're our kind of people: It's about talking and eating food, not about football
Monday: Snow day! Soup for dinner.
Tuesday: Another soup day, this was chicken fajita soup in the crock pot. Lots of shredded chicken and soft beans that are easy for the baby to pick up and eat.
Wednesday: We realized that we forgot to thaw the chicken for dinner, and none of us had slept well the night before (yay teething!), so we ended up caving and getting a Little Cesar's pizza.
Thursday: Halushki, to use up some sad looking cabbage.
Friday: Leftovers!
Saturday: Leftovers again 🙂
Yay, more kitty pictures! It makes me happy how two things I love (your blog and cats) are coming together. 😀
Super Bowl Sunday: at DH request I made Mac n cheese, meatloaf w/mashed potatoes and we picked up wings from our local wing place. I also made brownies and cooked up some sausage w/green peppers and onions while I was in the kitchen, hoping not to have to cook for a few days
Monday: leftover meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans
Tuesday: left over wings and Mac n cheese with raw veggies and cut up apples
Wednesday: crockpot chicken with carrots and stuffing
Thursday: chicken corn rival soup, salad and locally made Italian bread
Friday: for lunch I turned those sausages I made (and nobody ate) into a casserole with leftover pasta, broccoli, and an Alfredo sauce and baked it. Yum! For dinner, chicken corn soup, bread.
Everyone here had the flu and mine went into pneumonia so last week it was everyone for themselves (all are capable adults in the kitchen). We did lots of toast, cereal and soups.
......Don't even get me started on "Goop"......I'll just say her stuff is appropriately named!!!
Wondering what "goop" references. Is it a concoction from a cookbook or
some blog?
Goop is a "wellness and lifestyle" company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow. This is a good article on the company and it's humouroushttps://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/08/what-goop-really-sells-women/596773/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/08/what-goop-really-sells-women/596773/
That's too funny -- both for what I thought it was (some gooey recipe) but even more for what it is! Thanks for the laughs and bringing me up-to-date, Elizabeth.
What kind of garlic press do you have? My last one lasted for many years but has finally fell apart. I need to replace it. I saw the picture of yours in the post and am wondering what kind it is.