WIS, WWA | I did not blow my budget at Costco. (!)
What I Spent
I made it out to Costco, where I spent $45. Then I spent $73 at Aldi plus one other regular grocery store, and $16 at the produce stand.
So, amazingly enough, I went to Costco and did not have an over-budget week.
WHAT EVEN IS THIS????
I'm at $134 for the week.
August Spending
Week 2: $134
What We Ate
Saturday
I made chicken and biscuits again, with a few tweaks. I shared the recipe yesterday, in case you missed it.
We had broccoli with our chicken and biscuits.
Sunday
Mr. FG grilled a marinated flank steak (topped with unpictured chimichurri sauce)
He also grilled peaches (topped with cinnamon butter).
I contributed potato wedges, corn on the cob, and watermelon slices.
Monday
I cleaned out my kitchen freezer and found some bacon. I also happened to have some tomatoes from my parents' garden, so...BLTs were the very obvious choice.
We had some fresh fruit with our sandwiches, along with some veggie chips.
Tuesday
I made shrimp fried rice, and as we so often do in the summer, we had watermelon on the side.
Wednesday
I tried a Cook's Illustrated recipe for piadine, an Italian flatbread (from the latest issue).
They gave a few filling suggestions to choose from, so I set out prosciutto, salami, lettuce, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, mayo, and also some bacon.
We thought these were good, and I'll make them again. They make a great hot weather dinner!
Thursday
I tried a recipe from the latest Cook's Illustrated magazine for rice wraps, filled with rice vermicelli, pork, shrimp, and lettuce.
We liked them, but we'll definitely use less mint next time. It was a little overpowering!
Friday
Yesterday was our anniversary (#22 this year!), but tonight we have reservations for a celebratory dinner at our favorite restaurant, with our favorite waiter.
Happy anniversary.
I can't remember all of our meals this week. But we have had pumpkin and sweet potato soup, braised oxtail and vegetables, steak and chips, toasted sandwiches and as I have been sick and very weary we have had fruits of some meals.
Happy anniversary! I always like to look up the gifts by year for anniversaries. There are lists for "traditional" and "modern." The modern ones are often hilarious. For example, for the first anniversary, the traditional gift is paper. The modern gift is plastic. I guess you don't want to splurge on anything lasting in the first year if you're not sure if the marriage will last? Apparently there is no traditional gift for twenty-two, but the modern one is copper, which is a lot better than plastic. So go ahead and invest in some copper pots or something, now that you know you're gonna make it. 🙂
We ate this week, obviously, but this comment is long enough as it is, so you can just jump over to my blog for the exhaustive list if you so choose, and I'll leave you with enjoy your dinner out!
Monday we had casserole made with leftover veggies & chicken sausage from the weekend. Tuesday was chicken&veggie wraps w/ tomato soup. We had eggs, turkey sausage, and avocado toast as breakfast for dinner on Wednesday. Frozen mini chicken wontons & steamed veggies from the garden on Thursday, and tonight we’re having pork tenderloin, fried potatoes, and kale salad.
Those rice wraps looked SO yummy on CI's IG, but alas, no shrimp for me.
Zoe can't eat shrimp either, so I just made hers with the pork and all the other fillings. She was happy!
I'm always surprised how often you all eat shrimp since Zoe can't have it!
I only make shrimp recipes where it's easy to sub it out for some other protein in Zoe's serving. So, for instance, I'm not gonna make a dish with shrimp broth.
But I can easily just cook a little chicken or pork for Zoe when the shrimp is added near the end of the recipe.
Happy Anniversary!
I managed to balance out grocery spending over the last 2 weeks so I'm on target for my budget this month with a high week, then a low week.
Sat - new fridge was finally installed! We finished off some misc leftovers and I made extra turkey bacon
Sun - frozen pizza
Mon - chicken Alfredo with broccoli
Tues - tacos
Wed - hot dogs, Mac and cheese
Thurs - date night - we went out for hibachi, which we can only do when we have a babysitter for Toddler, who isn't quite ready for long sit down meals like that. I had scallops which are my absolute favorite food.
Fri - salmon sushi bowls
Happy Anniversary! Is it me, or are you getting fancier in the kitchen? (: Grilled peaches with cinnamon butter sound amazing!! This week we ate:
Monday - Hoisin Chicken Bites, green bean with mini red potatoes
Tuesday - Pork Tenderloin dinner salads (with romaine, pear, green onion)
Wednesday - Shrimp and Grits, mustard greens
Thursday - Beef Stir Fry with Chinese noodles
Friday - Fruited Chicken Salad sammies, chips
Saturday - Family BBQ (ribs, jalapeno poppers, baked potatoes, chopped salad, jell-o poke cake)
Sunday - Kitchen will be closed because we are visiting a couple of wineries - let's order pizza!
Haha, well, the peaches were all Mr. FG. He has a co-worker who likes to cook and he sends recipes to Mr. FG to try. 🙂
I’ve never heard of piadine, but it sounds easy and delicious!
Sunday: We choose another Mexican dish from our new cookbook: enchiladas rojas with bean-based filling which were very tasty!
Monday: As we had tortillas left, we made quesadillas with a sweet potatos and red bell peppers.
Tuesday: fresh bread rolls with butter, cheese and salami slices.
Wednesday: as fall seems to be close, we made flammekueche (kind of French pizza): thin pastry with a thin layer of sour cream, thinly cut onion rings and bacon bits. Normally it is accompanied by Federweisser, a parially fermented young wine. However, as I couldn’t find „local“ wine, I didn’t buy any. Next time...
Thursday: Went out for Chinese noodle bowls. I chose a vegatarian bowl with plenty of colorful vegetables and seitan which I hadn’t tried yet.
Friday: As we will be visiting friends for the weekend, we will eat leftovers and clear out the fridge. So I will put together a dish made of potatoes, mushrooms and spinach.
I had never heard of it either! But piadine were in the latest Cook's Illustrated magazine, so I decided to give it a try.
Monday we had pulled chicken made in the slow cooker (Yum!) with potato cubes and beans.
Tuesday I made turkey meatloaf and we had that with sweet potato fries and baby spinach.
Wednesday we finished the meatloaf and baby spinach with mashed potatoes.
Thursday is pizza night but we substituted pizza popover for pizza with a crust because my dental issues continue. (Sigh.)
Tonight we're having chicken with leeks and tomatoes along with noodles. Noodles with sauce make me happy!
Happy anniversary!
Let’s see Monday we had spaghetti
Tuesday was date night. Children had macaroni and cheese with the babysitter and Hubby and I went out to our favorite restaurant.
Wednesday was a fend for yourself as we had an appointment in the afternoon then were rushing off to church.
Thursday was suppose to be a scallop potatoes with hamburger crock pot meal but the recipe turned out nothing like the picture showed. It was edible but didn’t taste cheesy at all 🙁
Today we are having grilled chicken, mash potatoes, some veggie, and then fruit salad for dessert.
Tomorrow is slated to pizza.
Sunday should be a crock pot of something.
Sunday: My wife invited over a friend of ours who is going through a rough patch and she brought her kids. We cooked a ham that I found in the freezer. I also had mashed potatoes, salads etc. I also made homemade biscuits to keep the kids occupied (let them do the cutting.) We sent her home with a good chunk of the leftovers
Monday: A repeat on Sunday.
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner with ham, eggs, pancakes etc.
Wednesday: My wife and daughter were out and I worked overtime. We ended up with an Aldi pizza.
Thursday: Fish filets and fries etc.
Friday: Probably just baked potatoes and tossed salads.
I've been feeling uninspired lately. This week I used a bunch of new-to-me recipes.
Su Thai Curry Chicken & Vegetables. Used a curry paste, so this was super easy.
M Layered Doritos Casserole. Made with Fritos because I was having a craving for something I remembered from childhood. This came close.
T Chicken and Egg Noodle. Reminded me of chicken and dumplings.
W Thai Drunken Noodle. Teens asked for a repeat.
R Chicken Bacon Ranch Pull-Apart Rolls +fruit
F Garlic and oil pasta
Sa / leftovers night.
This was a week reliant on the freezer for meals because I needed to stay away from the store. My Costco trip, unlike your’s, made a sizable dent in the grocery budget. Womp-womp.
Sunday: chicken Caesar salads as a big, late lunch, and then random, leftover things for dinner
Monday: crispy chicken thighs, salad, cornbread
Tuesday: ham and beans from the freezer
Wednesday: Thai chicken soup from the freezer
Thursday: chicken pad Thai
Friday: I have a new cookbook called Indian-ish, and I’ve been waiting for the right time to make a dinner inspired by the book. We’re having people over for dinner, one of whom has been to India, so we’re having Matar Paneer, Aloo Gobhi, and Potato Parathas. I’m so excited!
Happy Anniversary! What’s your favorite restaurant?!
It's a local restaurant on the water that mainly serves seafood. It's more expensive than what we usually pay for a dinner out, but it's a good special occasion place! And they do offer a free appetizer and dessert on our anniversary, so there's that. 🙂
Happy Anniversary!
I'm so impressed with your $45 trip to Costco! My last trip was over $200. There was one item on sale that I stocked up on and several other things that I had run out of at the same time. (My grocery budget can really ebb and flow weekly)
Anywho... what we ate: (I'm on an elimination/aip type diet, so my meals look different than my families sometimes)
Monday - Tacos (mine was more of a salad without some items)
Tuesday - Ground venison, rice and steamed beans from our garden. (I had fried cabbage instead of rice)
Wednesday - Venison steak, millet, salad and green beans.
Thursday- chicken stir-fry (mine was without rice)
Friday - Venison tenderloin with rice, steamed broccoli and cauliflower and a salad with lettuce, beers, carrots and a maple vinaigrette. Yum.
I found bacon in my freezer this week, too! It was just a little half package, and I thought it was Friday night so offered to make it for breakfast “tomorrow.” Well, during the week my husband leaves for work before the kids and I eat breakfast. My older daughter and I are vegetarians, and so my little one had all the bacon to herself. She was in heaven.
Friday: grilled chicken and veggie burgers, tomato and cuke salad with basil, grilled zucchine, pickled green beans
Thursday: black beans with onions and chard, rice, cheese
Wednesday: pizza night, leftover sauteed squash for me, salad for the kids
Tuesday: saucy tofu, sauteed squash, rice, pickles
Monday: homemade baguette, goat cheese, tomatoes, olives, kale
If you enjoyed grilled peaches, one of my all-time favorite grilled items is bananas. Cut them length-wise, grill, then sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with honey. Mmmmm!
I'm late to the party. Happy Anniversary!!!