WIS, WWA | I had no plan
What I Spent
I went into this week with absolutely no menu plan...I was just winging it all week long and still, we didn't eat out at all.
I don't know if this is a change in me, or if it's just a function of it being easier to wing it with two people, but I will say: my self from 10 years ago would be shocked at my behavior. Ha.
I spent:
- $30 on a Hungry Harvest box
- $74 at Sam's Club
- $6.50 at Safeway
Sooo, $110.50 for me this week.
What We Ate
Saturday
I made spaghetti and meatballs, which I hadn't done in ages. Although...this wasn't EXACTLY spaghetti and meatballs. It was angel hair pasta and meatballs, because angel hair is what was in my pantry. 😉
I did not take a nice picture, so here's an older one of some actual spaghetti.
Sunday
I made some burgers and I turned some small potatoes from Hungry Harvest into small potato wedges.
Monday
I found a package of chicken tenderloins in the freezer, so I thawed them and then seasoned and sauteed half of them. I shredded those, mixed them with BBQ sauce, and we ate that on buns.
I think we just had some fruit on the side.
Tuesday
I sauteed the rest of the chicken tenderloins and used them in a green salad, with homemade croutons on top.
I love homemade croutons; they make a salad 10 times better, at least!
Wednesday
Zoe and I were home at different times; she made herself soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.
I saw some leftover angel hair pasta in the fridge, so I took that out, added some half and half and some red pesto, plus some asparagus. And I topped it with some Parmesan.
Thursday
I rummaged through my freezer and found some chili.
I heated that up, and we topped it with cilantro and Mexican crema, and chips (sort of!) I had some tostada shells left from when my friend Mia and I had made potato/chorizo tostadas, so I just broke up some of those for our chips.
I also made a green salad.
Friday
Umm....to go along with my pattern for the week, I have no idea. I will be winging it, based on what is in my fridge/freezer. 😉
Homemade croutons are the best! Having leftover bread to freeze makes me happy just because of homemade croutons haha.
Also, one of my days on my meal plan for next week says "We will figure something out", some days/weeks are just like that!
Let's see....It's been a while since my Friday morning schedule has let me participate in one of these!
Sunday: Lasagna soup to use up some leftover ricotta
Monday: I went to a horror themed burger restaurant with a friend. We went because the friend loves those types of movies, but the food was actually really good!
Tuesday: Preschooler's choice, she requested hot dogs with buns.
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Chili with tater tots
Friday: Kristen's lettuce wraps, it's one of our daughter's favorites!
Saturday: Zucchini casserole. My daughter likes to help cook on the weekends (although that doesn't guarantee that she'll eat the finished product haha), and zucchinis are soft enough for her to cut.
Have a great weekend everyone!
@Natalie J,
So I needed to know more about this horror themed burger joint...alas there is quite a few of them. I find it a fun concept so if I ever end up in one of the 3 places I found I might have to check it out.
@Jaime, this one is called Burgatory, it's in Utah. If you're ever nearby you should check it out!
I love that you're winging it. You only have two people to feed, neither of you are picky eaters, and no one to impress. You are in a different phase of life than you were ten years ago. I love that your meals are simpler these days. As empty nesters we have gravitated that way over the past several years.
Inspired by you, Kristen, I made croutons out of some bread ends this week. I wish I had looked up instructions for it, though. They were fine, but not amazing. I at least felt good about not throwing them away.
Saturday: We had a late lunch to celebrate my brother's birthday, then my husband, brother, and I trekked over to Grand Rapids for a comedy show. We had delicious fries and some pita chips with spinach artichoke dip to go with our Cherry Pepsi and water.
Sunday: Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and applesauce for lunch, then I made turkey enchiladas for a potluck dinner.
Monday: Turkey fajitas and oranges
Tuesday: My husband was at a meeting, so I took the night off cooking. We reheated some pizza in the air fryer and had fruits and veggies. I had gotten a couple of bags of fresh "stir fry veggies" from Meijer that morning that were marked 75% off for being near their date - the bag was prewashed carrots, snap peas, and broccoli. We just ate one bag plain! Why not!
Wednesday: Leftover turkey enchiladas and strawberries
Thursday: Turkey stir fry and cantaloupe
Friday: Finishing off the turkey! I'll make turkey pot pies and we will probably have strawberries with them.
That's what I love about turkeys - we can get so many meals out of a $10 Thanksgiving turkey!
I usually make my croutons by sauteeing bread cubes in butter for a few minutes, mixing them thoroughly, and then I finish them off by baking them in my toaster oven until they're crispy. Very easy but very tasty. You can also add garlic to the butter if you want, or really any spice you want.
@Kristen, Ah! That explains it! I had the first step (only I used bacon grease instead of butter because I figured that bacon grease makes everything more delicious), but missed the final part to get them crispy. I'll have to get out my air fryer next time since I don't have a toaster oven. Thanks so much!!
@Ruth T, Turkey is our favorite bird. With four hungry boys and DH who loves turkey I'm lucky to get three meals plus stock out of one!
I make mine by tossing olive oil with garlic and onion powder, dried oregano, thyme, parsley, s&p and then mixing with cubed bread and spread on a baking tray. I bake off in the oven until crispy. They are delicious!
@Karen A., IMHO, you can't go wrong with turkey. I could eat it day one then every single day after until it was gone. I love dark meat so I only have to share the legs with the daughter's BF.
I think all of your un-planned meals look and sound great! I have been on a mission to use up what I already have in my fridge and freezer, so I spent $76 this week at HEB, mostly for produce, deli items, eggs, breakfast sausage, protein waffles, coffee, and cereal/oats. (so mostly breakfast and lunch items, plus fillers) This week's menu:
Monday - kitchen closed, and as usual, I can't remember what I ate when I got home at 9 pm-ish. Might have been grilled cheese.
Tuesday - Mole Chicken Thighs, leftover Spanish rice I had in the freezer, calabaza squash
Wednesday - (crockpot) Pulled Pork on potato buns, coleslaw
Thursday - Pinto Beans and Black Pepper and Paprika Sausage with onions and peppers, corn muffins
Tonight - Chicken and Cream Cheese Tamales, the rest of the coleslaw, and maybe some mac and cheese
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but I have plenty of bread, cheese, deli meat, and fruit.
And next week's menus reflect some freezer clean-out, too. The Christmas ham needs to gooooo....
Happy Weekend!
@Gina, we love buying ham when it's cheap around Christmas, dicing it, and keeping it in the freezer pre diced. It's easy to throw it into fried rice or eggs or whatever that way.
Way to wing! You know I'm all about that. Like so . . .
Saturday: I had soaked a giant pot of dried pintos, and then canned seven quarts of them. The rest of them I made into baked beans. I know pintos are not at all traditional for baked beans, but those are what I buy here in 10-pound bags, so that's what I used. The one boy who doesn't care for baked beans used the last of the spaghetti to make a spaghetti sandwich. He had read about this in an old book ("It's Like This, Cat"--a good book) and wanted to try it. And it reminded me that I used to eat spaghetti sandwiches as a kid. All those carbs sure are filling. 🙂
Sunday: Boneless leg of lamb, roasted (and overcooked . . .), with baked potatoes, frozen green peas, and chocolate ice cream for Sunday dessert
Monday: I used a frozen bag of the beef pulled from soup bones when I made stock to make taco meat. There were also baked beans left, and a serving of the lamb for my husband. I do not remember if we had a vegetable. I think we didn't.
Tuesday: Three kinds of sausage (boudin, andouille, plain smoked), potato salad made to use up the rest of the tartar sauce my husband had made for fish on Friday, and raw broccoli
Wednesday: A beef and vegetable soup that every child HATED. Two kids don't much like soup, two were mad there was zucchini in it. But everyone ate it, because that's what there was. They added so much sour cream to their bowls that they might as well have just eaten the sour cream plain, but they ate it. Also there was cheese, and then bread with butter and honey. After they ate their detested soup. 🙂 I used another can of Veg-All in this because I was low on vegetables, and I discovered that there are different varieties of Veg-All. The one I used last time was "Original," which had lima beans in it that I didn't care for (and I actually like lima beans, just not canned, I guess). This time, it was "Homestyle," which was just potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and pea. That was better. Not that anyone uses Veg-All anymore except those of us who get it from government programs, but now you know. 🙂
Thursday: I was in the city with the post-surgical son getting his cast off and stitches out. We got fried chicken at the grocery store to make the copycat Popeye's sandwiches (chicken, pickles, mayonnaise) so beloved of one of my sons. Some people had the sandwiches, some had just the chicken with the garlic bread I had made and forgotten to serve with the soup, one who doesn't like fried chicken had leftover beans and garlic bread.
Tonight: I made chile beans with pintos this week to have for our meatless Friday, and I got flour tortillas at the store yesterday, so I guess bean and cheese quesadillas. Maybe a salad. Or maybe the raw radishes and mini bell peppers I got yesterday. So many possibilities when I've been to the grocery store recently.
@kristin @ going country, my daughter has definitely eaten sour cream plain with a spoon before, she'd probably finish off a container if we let her haha
@kristin @ going country,
Wait, "doesn't like fried chicken?" That hurts my southern heart!
@kristin @ going country, I love the book "It's Like This , Cat" . I still have my childhood copy, worn from much reading.
@JD, Maybe she just doesn't like the grocery store fried chicken. Although I do all kinds of insane things in the kitchen, I really dislike deep-fat frying, so I don't make real fried chicken. She might like it homemade, though.
@kristin @ going country,
I have my BFF'S mother-in-law's recipe for chicken pot pie that calls for a can of drained Veg-All. I had no idea there were different types of Veg-All, lol! I generally use whatever canned mixed vegetables are least expensive (usually a store brand).
@JD, fried chicken isn't exclusive to the south - a farmer's meal here in farm country aka the midwest.
287 Sam’s pick up. Monthly stock up
At Sam’s I like their salmon. Honey. Maple syrup. Nuts. Olives. Pretzels. Oats. And sour dough loaves. Paper products too.
Monday: leftover pasta and steamed green beans
Tues/ Wed: sausage tortellini soup toasted sourdough slices
Thurs: tack chicken meat in freezer bowls and chips n salsa
Lent Fri: grilled cheese and progresso tomato basil soup
Tomorrow I am making something with beef chuck stew meat.
I FILED MY TEACHER RETIREMENT PAPERS ON WED. 30 years of public school teaching. Last day is June 7. FEELS GREAT and a little scary.
@Stephanie, Congratulations! Great work behind you, exciting times ahead!
@Stephanie, congrats on setting your retirement date - I bet it's very exciting to have that next chapter clearly in sight!
@Stephanie, thanks for teaching. It is absolutely not in my skill set and I admire you for your three decades.
@Karen., thx. The pandemic teaching broke me!
@Stephanie, after 30 years of public school teaching, I think you've earned not only a great retirement but a crown in heaven!
@Stephanie, Congrats!!
@Stephanie, teaching for 30 years is a real accomplishment. Congratulations. And I hear you on the little bit scary part with such a big change.
@Stephanie,
All caps are indeed required with such an announcement. Congratulations!
@Stephanie, is it the upcoming lack of structure that feels scary? You can make a lightweight schedule for yourself, or a list of things you want to do by priority. Or you can just float for awhile and relish the lack of a schedule. Way to hang on for 30 years—positively heroic!
@Stephanie, Woah! That's huge! Congratulations
@Stephanie, congrats on the retirement! Yay!
@Stephanie, Big congratulations on a dedicated, important career! You will love being your own time and content manager, I assure you!
@Stephanie, congrats. the best is yet to come!!! i promise you. don't be scared. i have been retired 10 years. retired early. they should let young people retire. it is the best. of course it helps that my kids are 13 and 15.
@Stephanie, YAY! Excited for you! 30 years of anything is an accomplishment, but 30 years of teaching is a special accommplishment.
@Stephanie,
Congratulations on having retirement in sight, after *30 years* as a teacher! That's such an accomplishment!
Saturday - takeout ramen, udon noodles for the kids
Sunday - my favorite easy meal, pasta, jarred sauce and meatballs from the freezer
Monday - broccolini, chicken sausage and orzo skillet
Tuesday - teriyaki chicken, ramen noodles, steamed broccoli
Wednesday - monthly date night, we went to a Mexican restaurant in the town we used to live in, still delicious and so nice getting to talk without being interrupted by small kids!
Thursday - cheese and corn quesadillas, rice a roni, steamed green beans
Friday - I have a board appreciation event for a board I was on last year, that includes free food and drinks so everyone at home is on their own tonight.
Your Wednesday meal was similar to my Tuesday lunch — leftover fettuccine with chicken pressure-cooking liquid and green beans and a bit of sour cream. It was fine. Served its purpose. 😉
WIS: $11.50 at Trader Joe's, $21.50 at Price Chopper, $13 at Ollie's, and $59 at Wegmans. ($20 of the Wegmans order was for a 12-pack of Guinness bottles for a Guinness-loving friend on his March birthday. And, as usual, all of the orders included some personal care items or other non-food.)
WIA: As usual, nothing that would impress the heck out of Martha Stewart--with the possible exception of the pasta sauce I made (I think I mentioned this earlier in the week) from olive oil, garlic, Trader Joe's Campari tomatoes that were ripening faster than I expected, and mushrooms. Yum!
Oh, and I think someone mentioned Gorton frozen fish last week? Wegmans had Gorton beer-battered fish filets on special, so I bought a bag of those and had a couple on brioche hot dog buns (from the freezer) with homemade cocktail sauce (ketchup and horseradish). They weren't the equal of Fish Company sandwiches, but they sure weren't bad. So thanks for the recommendation!
This week had some hits and misses!
Sunday: Pasta Bake
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Veggie Chilli
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: I went to an evening dance class so just had a plain omelette and toast
Tonight: Probably pitta bread with veg and some kind of spread
Monday: I made vegetarian chili, cornbread (slowly using my failed batch of yogurt as buttermilk,) and baked potatoes. COVID messed up my tastebuds and I don't make as much heavily-seasoned food as I used to, because it all tastes weird to me. But Mr. B said the chili was good, so there you go.
Tuesday: We had chicken, rice, and stir-fried bok choy.
Wednesday: Toddler and I had mac n' cheese that we bought at the grocery store. Mr. B was working late and his work bought dinner. This was my big exam day--I spent a FORTUNE on a full breakfast at the hotel near the exam site (where I stayed the night before) and then went out for lunch with my study group afterwards. It was spendy, but worthwhile.
Thursday: Mr. B and toddler were out at a hockey game and got hot dogs. I stayed home and had a thrown-together soup that was not very good.
Friday: I'll make salmon, roasted sweet potato, challah, and cucumber salad. Usually Mr. B goes to a local market to get the fish and challah, because there's no challah in our neighbourhood. But he's unavailable, and I find it easier and more enjoyable to just make the challah. So that's what I'll do.
Happy Friday, all!
@Meira@meirathebear, Congratulations on taking your big exam. I hope you get the result you want, but at least you can relax from the preparation now.
@Meira@meirathebear,
Hooray that the Big Scary Test is over! Hoping you did well, and get a good grade (or certification, or whatever result the test is for).
As long as you can make your meals work, not having a plan is actually fine. I waste food without a plan, so as much as I detest it, I continue to make meal plans. I actually plan a lot of it as I shop, since I might not find out until I get to the store that the sale option is still not as cheap per unit as the store brand, etc. My shopping list and menu are in the same little pocket spiral notebook so, easy peasy.
Anyway, now that I've made that public service announcement....
I spent just under $83 for two weeks because almost all of the protein is already in the freezer.
In no order, I ate:
Cassava pasta with crumbled Italian sausage, using up the pack of sausages. I added a lot of greens from my garden in with the sausage and had fruit on the side. No sauce on the pasta.
I had a hot dog with celery (cole slaw with celery in the place of cabbage) slaw and some white cheddar crispy cheese curls. No bun.
I made chicken shawarma and had it with a salad from my garden one night and with the last of the celery slaw another night, fruit on the side both nights.
I had a pack of ground beef and was uninspired by my menu, so I made a knock off of beef stroganoff minus the noodles but with extra mushrooms. I served it with English peas and some applesauce. I seemed to have craved fruit this week.
Last night I ate a few carrot sticks and later a small bowl of grain-free cereal, because my office took me out for lunch and I ate a large lunch.
Tonight, I'm not sure, but it will be great, because my daughters and son-in-law are cooking it! It's my one-day-delayed birthday dinner, and I'm looking forward to a good meal and enjoyable time with the family. We decided on Friday so no one has to go to school or work the next day. Plus, Saturday is a grandchild's birthday, so we can celebrate a day ahead with her.
@JD, I'm glad to hear that your Leap Birthday celebrations are stretching over several days! And give my (and, I'm sure, the whole Commentariat's) regards to your assembled family.
@JD, happy belated birthday
@JD,
Happy belated birthday! And I'm curious....what is grain-free cereal made of or include?
This week, we enjoyed:
* Charcuterie
* Tomato basil soup
* Big salad with spinach, sliced radishes, shredded cheese, walnuts, and raisins topped with olive oil, rice vinegar and pepper
* Restaurant meal - I had Thai Zoodle Pasta and husband had a Veggie/Tofu Bowl. We shared an appetizer of cracker bread with whipped feta/pistachio dip. Had leftovers the next day.
* Saucy White Beans and Greens on Toast
* Winter carrot casserole and roasted cauliflower
we also winged it a bit this week because we had things going on at our normal dinner time, but we all were fed.
I spent $79.01
We ate:
Saturday: we ate out at a new place...it's a bar/restaurant that has a driving range. We ate by the windows and watched everyone hitting balls for the afternoon. I had a fried chicken sandwich and my husband had a reuben. And mostly I was glad to find somewhere with pretty good food about a mile from my house.
Sunday: Baked chicken with hashbrowns and salad (what I could find to make quick that day)
Monday: we were looking at houses during supper...walked in the door starving so I dumped the ingredients in the instantpot for tomato soup and made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches to go with them.
Tuesday: smoked pork butt with roasted carrots and brussels sprouts (I planned ahead this day and made sourdough buns to go with the pork butt)
Wednesday: leftover soup and bbq sandwiches
Thursday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, but like you I didn't have spaghetti so I used linguini. We hadn't had spaghetti in ages.
Friday: tonight is chili and hotdogs with the kids coming over.
Have a great weekend!
Kristen, your freezer is a treasure chest! You just open it and TADA!!! dinner!
It all looks yummy!
We had:
- Smash burgers, homemade fries, oven roasted veggies and carrot cake for my sons birthday.
- Smash burgers (with leftover hamburger) and potato salad
- potato, chorizo, egg, and cheese empanadas for a road trip. We also had drinks and other snacks.
- Now we're at my father-in-laws, so he's feeding us
My planning is to compensate for having zero energy left by dinner time (or we would end up eating mostly peanut butter on toast). This week wasn’t the healthiest of plans though. WWA:
Saturday- leftovers
Sunday - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, impossible pie (retro desserts fascinate me)
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - ham & Swiss cheese sliders, oven baked French fries
Wednesday - pizza bagels
Thursday - enchiladas (using leftover Christmas turkey meat from freezer)
Friday - veggie (clean out the crisper) and chicken stir fry with rice
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend
We've been flying by the seat of our pants this week as well after the arrival of our grandson. Lots less cooking for me this week than usual as I was at DD's helping out with the baby.
Saturday: Sub sandwiches on the way home from the hospital
Sunday: chicken tacos (pre-made from BJs)
Monday: chicken alfredo (pre-made from BJs)
Tuesday: leftover chicken tacos
Wednesday: broccoli soup and fruit
Thursday: baked potatoes topped with last of chicken from taco kit
Friday: no idea!
WIS: 230.39 @Aldi and 206.57 on protein powder. Actually both of these were my husband because I'm down for the count with the flu. I would've been fine just eating ramen all week, but other people insisted on eating...the nerve of them...
WWA:
Fri: salad and focaccia with mozzarella, Parmesan and turkey bacon.
Sat: salad and homemade chicken noodle soup-I put my greens directly into my soup so they got all nice and wilty.
Sun: salad and pasta carbonara with peas.
Mon: salad and assorted leftovers.
Tue: steamed mixed veggies, scrambled eggs and mini waffles.
Wed: salad and meatball sandwiches on homemade Italian loaves.
Thu: salad, pasta and chicken Marsala using a simmer sauce from Aldi that we didn't love. It was too sweet and sort of resembled snot. We ate it anyway, but won't get it again.
Tonight: focaccia and salad
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Oh I wish I could wing it. I do wing it for lunches, but with six people here I need a solid plan!
WWS: $368 at Kroger.
Saturday/Sunday: homemade pizzas, now and always and forever.
Monday: baked chicken drumsticks (I removed the skin which made them 1000% easier to cook without a mess, and eat as well), roasted asparagus and broccoli, steamed basmati rice.
Tuesday: Burgers, red lentil soup, popcorn.
Wednesday: Hamburger stew, leftover burgers.
Thursday: DH's fish burgers, this week a combo of mackerel and tuna. Also leftover soup for anyone who wanted it, and yogurt parfaits.
Tonight: Four of us are fasting this weekend, so one of the kids who is not will make some dinner for himself and the youngest. Maybe tacos/quesadillas.
I am both inspired and challenged by your ability to consistently wing it this week! (*Off to go check my fridge and freezer for ingredients I could use to make dinner tonight . . . *)
WIS: About $85, all at Food Lion.
WWA: Leftover pork pot roast with veggies and rice. A roasted chicken with salad and baked potatoes. A barge load of salad, having finally hit on ingredients my husband will eat. Whole wheat crackers, rye crackers, extra thin sliced smoked provolone cheese (yummm!), smoothies made with protein powder and mixed berries, fresh fruit, some sandwiches. DH ate out with a colleague one day, but otherwise everything was made at home.
Sounds like a delicious week to me! Along with white nectarines, apples, strawberries, dragonfruit, raspberries, and blueberries, we had:
Saturday: Younger daughter's choice - Olive Garden takeout for the kids, leftovers for us.
Sunday: Fettucine Alfredo for them, French Onion lentil bake for me
Monday: Taquitos for them, spanikopita for me
Tuesday: Dominos
Wednesday: Dahl, rice, naan and butter chicken
Thursday: Sesame Chili tofu (new recipe - it was a bit too sweet for me), rice and potstickers
Tonight: I have no idea yet...maybe salmon & rice or a quick indian dish.
@CrunchyCake,
french onion lentil bake sounds yummy! Could you share the recipe?
I ate the same stuff as always, nothing worth mentioning, spent too much at Winco (prices have gone UP again), and my husband spent too much at the local grocery store. So, here is the list of today's thoughts:
1. Kristen, I am impressed that you always manage to put together balanced meals on the fly; my natural tendency when winging it is to skip vegetables. As usual, you set a fine example.
2. About croutons: my husband used to ask me to buy them but I thought they were a waste of money (dried out white bread in a box, really?). So he said that he would use all his overtime money buying croutons. (He didn't.) Now I make them if we have bread on its way out.
3. @Lindsey, I have it on good authority that there are just a few more picking days remaining for Sumos this year, weather depending. . . huge storm predicted for this weekend. So, they should continue to make their journey from cold storage northward for a little while longer.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana,
I am a HUGE lover of Sumos....is this also the case for the Lower 48, do you think? (She asked, hopefully...)
@Liz B., it is probably truer for the lower 48, more so than Alaska. But I don't know about the marketing and distribution, only the picking. They are grown here in my county and a very close friend is the farm advisor for all the Sumo growers.
This week has been a challenge to say the least with trips to the ER for both family and emergency surgery for my sweet Boxer pup. I am in a word overwhelmed. Given all the emergencies there was no plan but we still ate.
Saturday: We had a gender reveal for my niece's first baby - it's a girl 🙂 We had pizza and cupcakes there so no one was very hungry come dinner time. I made sheet pan nachos with some ground chicken.
Sunday: I had some chicken breasts that I put into the crockpot with BBQ sauce earlier in the day but we ended up in the ER. Some had a sandwich, the hubby had BBQ chicken, and I had a hot pocket and a pop tart from the vending machine.
Monday: I made baked potatoes and we topped those with the shredded BBQ Chicken and had a mixed green salad on the side.
Tuesday: Dinner was a mixed bag of leftovers but we were all fed.
Wednesday: I deboned a rotisserie chicken and made a pot of chicken soup. SO yummy and easy.
Thursday: Leftover soup for all.
Friday: It has sadly turned cold so we are having chili tonight.
Happy weekend to everyone! Goodness I hope that this one is less eventful than the last 🙂
Gosh, what did we eat this week?
-Grilled burgers x2
-Chipotle at a soccer banquet (where, they ran out of protein immediately after the teens ate, so I was left with chips, queso & pico de gallo. Definitely the dinner of champions. ;-))
-A chicken & rice dish that I had high hopes for, but was pretty bland. x2, because it made plenty
-Chicken pad thai (a cheater Costco kind) after a late meeting at the school
I'm heading to Napa with my mom & sister tonight (for an expected to be very rainy half marathon on Sunday), so we're eating out. DH is in charge of the teens, and isn't expecting anyone to want to spend Friday night with dad. So, likely he'll have salmon.
I made lasagna, which I haven't done in forever. At least 5 years!! I made 1-1/2 of the recipe and split it into 2 pans, freezing one. Also tried a new Potato Soup recipe. It was delish, but a little spendy with 2 cans of Cream of Soup, cream cheese, cheese, Polish Sausage and a bag of frozen hash browns. I will probably make again, but try to reduce the cost by using regular potatoes, and just one can of soup. Not sure what else we ate! Most things are good for 2 meals for us.
Who are you? You're a student and two in the household on different schedules? There are only two of us too and I am chief cook and bottle washer. If I don't have anything out, I may do eggs--practice an omelet making sometimes or pancakes/waffles--Because if it would be take out, I'm the person who has to go get the take out. This week we cleaned out the 'freezer, so now the CC,BW,take out person has to decide what to go buy at the store that she would like to cook and eat.
Sat: Pizza. I made dough. Had some leftover sauce in 'fridge and some leftover cheese. My crust was good.
Sun: My daughter offered food from her house--I had cared for dogs, chickens and kids over the past couple of weeks.
Mon: I had some chicken cordon bleu in the freezer, plus broccoli, and a baked sweet and regular potato.
Tues: My husband pulled some stuff out of the freezer.
Wed: Frittata with leftover broccoli and some sausage from the freezer (I'm going to make another one of these and freeze it)
Thurs: Leftover frittata, 2 frozen sandwich fish, and some onion rings.
It is Lent and the rule of thumb is to not eat meat on Friday; but I feel it is more important to not waste. I work at it throughout the year but I back into it each Lent. This idea came from one of your posts many years ago.
What is red pesto? I've never heard of that!
I think it's a tomato-based pesto, vs. basil-based. I got it on a special purchase at Aldi a little while back, on a whim!
I made carrot chowder w cheap baby carrots and potatoes.
Made spaghetti w summer sausage into lasagna with cottage cheese.
Lots of cheap potatoes so cold potato salad for husband and mashed potatoes for son and me.
Steak and roast with meat from our animals.
Son and husband do heavy work so protein is needed.
Green salad in quart jars for the win!
WIS: $0
WWA:
Sun: Grilled Salmon filet, coleslaw, broccoli
M: Pork chops, taters, corn on the cob from freezer, green salad
T: Chinese Pork noodle soup, oranges for dessert
W: Brisket, oven hashbrowns, broccoli salad
Th: Brisket and green salad, healthy oatmeal squares (new recipe)
F: Brisket empanadas, green salad
S: Funeral, kitchen closed
Based on your post and many of the comments, this was a wing it kind of week.
WIS: $41 at IGA - 2 trips for sale/stock up items
WIA:
Saturday - crockpot roast beef, homemade fettuccine noodles with a copy cat Olive Garden Alfredo sauce, broccoli, homemade crusty bread
Sunday - homemade pizza (sausage, mushroom and carmelized onion)
Monday - grilled pork chops, creamy sun dried tomato and spinach orzo
Tuesday - shredded bbq chicken, salad
Wednesday - pork steaks, baked sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, salad
Thursday - cheesy chicken tortilla soup
Friday - leftovers
It occurred to me that your weekly totals seem to have a fairly regular average, so I looked back over the last few years. They've dropped about $40 since The Great Unpleasantness (~$150 to ~$110). Going from five to four people didn't have a huge impact, and going from four to two (no Lisey or Sonia) had a pretty small impact. Do you have any insight into why that would be?
My wife and I tend to eat on the somewhat expensive side, but this makes me feel better about our per-person average than watching you feed five people on what seemed like about the same amount of overall spending as ours was doing a few years ago....
That's a good question! I have some theories, but maybe that would work better in a Q&A post. I'll add it to my next one!
WWS: $35 (mystery shop grocery, will be reimbursed); $13 grocery store
WWA:
Sat: out to dinner with friends - brisket sandwich (that is served with roasted broccoli, peanut shmear & chili jam and it is AWESOME!) and kimchi latkes
Sun: homemade fried chicken, sauteed spinach
Monday: broccoli and cheddar quiche, cabbage salad & sliced cucumbers
Tues: Greek-inspired sauteed shrimp, herby grains (it was a new recipe that I wanted to love but only found it okay: https://www.andybaraghani.com/recipes/grains-in-herby-buttermilk), roasted beets
Wed: tortilla española, cabbage salad, roasted beet salad
Thursday: ditto Wednesday
Friday: pork and vegetable dumplings, sauteed cabbage and broccoli
Sunday - Mexican, took home leftovers
Monday - killed leftovers from freezer/frig/Sunday meal out (chicken and rice).
Tuesday - planned on sushi - forgot place is closed on Tuesday so $15 for two quarter pound burgers and fries to share.
Wednesday - yes we had that carryout sushi. Leftovers part of Wednesday lunch for better half.
Thursday - pork w/stuffing (from butcher shop, $9 for 3 pieces, one leftover shared outside our home) w/potatoes, carrots, home grown garlic
Friday - a quite tasty crusted tilapia from aforementioned butcher shop, asparagus, leftover potatoes from Thursday.
I can't think of the last time (or any time for that matter) that we've at out where we did not bring home what we didn't/couldn't eat.
Eating out is pretty much not inexpensive (I am excluding corp america fast food) but if you bring home and eat leftovers, the $ sting isn't so bad. Most but not all leftovers can be frozen.
This week was a busy week so we relied a lot on the freezer and simple salad items had:
Sunday: Fish fingers and baked cauliflower & broccoli
Monday: Chicken nuggets, chips & salad
Tuesday night: Baked white fish fillets from freezer with garlic and lemon, and side green salad and feta.
Wednesday: out for dinner, ate a burger - delicious
Thursday- Spinach and cheese agnolotti with a roasted homemade roasted pumpkin and pinenut sauce
Friday- weekend away, takeaway pizza
Tonight- Subway
I love adding HWC or half and half to my leftover pasta for a creamy delicious dish! We go meatless on Fridays and had fresh (frozen) Atlantic salmon with oven fries and homemade coleslaw with a side of homemade sourdough bread. Delicious!