WIS, WWA | I overbought
What I Spent
So, here's what happened.
I made a menu plan, went to the store on Monday, and bought the things I needed for the week. Aldi looked too crazy, so I went to another store and spent $176.
That is why I shop at Aldi. Geez.
So, I got home from shopping and then I remembered I forgot to cancel Dinnerly after the free box I got last week (accidental $38 expenditure).
AND I had another free box from another company coming my way for review purposes (though that review will have to wait until things calm down. Meal kit companies are very overwhelmed right now!)
So, I didn't end up using a lot of the groceries I bought, which means that hopefully this very expensive week will be offset by next week!
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I could not exactly go on a date night (!), so we got Chick-Fil-A from the drive thru and ate it with the girls.
Sunday
I made lettuce wraps plus frozen potstickers.
Monday
We had breakfast for dinner, which used up the last of the buttermilk quite nicely!
Pancakes, bacon, and orange Julius were on the menu.
Tuesday
The dinner kit box came with two meals for two people. So, I made both at once so we'd have enough to eat.
One was pan-fried gnocchi (I've never fried them before but it was, of course, a good option! )
And the other was a cod, rice, and veggie bake.
Wednesday
The box Dinnerly sent me was for two people, so I had to make two meals at once to feed us.
One was chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and the other was lasagna roll-ups.
And I have pictures of neither. It was just that kind of night.
Thursday
It was Lisey's birthday, and she picked shrimp tacos with mango salsa and cabbage slaw, plus yogurt parfaits (a very traditional taco accompaniment. Ha.)
Friday
I think I'm going to make some pizzas to use up the mozzarella from my freezer challenge.
This week we have elk AND mutton. Keeping it interesting is my goal. 🙂
Saturday: Pan-fried elk and mutton (we slaughtered a sheep this day, and we always take off the tenderloin before doing the actual butchering a few days later), cornbread both with and without cracklins (cracklins are the bits left after rendering fat, which I did with the mutton tallow this day), frozen green peas
Sunday: Elk stir-fry, rice
Monday: Creamy green chili chicken stew, cheese, root beer float popsicles
Tuesday: Barbecue pulled pork, sourdough biscuits, baked beans made with already-cooked pinto beans, frozen green beans
Wednesday: This was the day we actually butchered the sheep, and my youngest son spent quite a bit of time cutting one piece of mutton into tiny pieces. He was so proud of them, I cooked those for him. The rest of us had leftover pork, roasted potatoes, and carrot sticks with ranch dressing
Thursday: Italian sausage, pasta with butter, cream cheese, and garlic powder, green salad with ranch dressing
Tonight: Tuna patties, mashed potatoes, another green salad
You are always out here eating interesting meats!
I read the comments specifically for your weekly meals !
Thank you, Kris. I feel seen. 🙂
We moved into our new "1925" house last month and had been living with just a microwave. This week we got the stove and toaster oven out of storage.
Monday - Chickn fries and fruit
Tuesday - homemade pizza
Weds - I ate Oreos (working from home will do that) and made a burrito and spanish rice for my husband.
Thurs - Daughter came home for a visit so we used Waitr for Sushi
Fri - plan is to make curry
I don’t have a cost, but I do know we have eaten at home the past 2 weeks, which is absolutely amazing for us! Not even take out to support our favorite restaurants. Sorry!
I cleaned out part if my freezer by giving away rations of soup I made for a friend. Just saw him last week and he gladly took them. So more room for my stuff!
Hubby bought double for pizza fixings, but decided to only make 1 pie, so the rest is in the freezer. I have used some fruit from in the freezer to make a smoothy. Tonight I’m finally going to make my corned beef and corn chowder with the leftover food from St Patrick’s Day. We just celebrated last Saturday, so things are still good. Also found 1 cooked sausage in the freezer that my husband used on his egg sandwich today.
Using up meals from the freezer feels great.
Also used leftover rice & beans and made burritos one night. Hubby doesn’t care for quesadillas, so I made burritos instead.
I also have been working from home for close to 20 years, so I always have breakfast and lunch at home.
Monday - Fresh caught ling cod, coleslaw and oven roasted veggies
Tuesday - Taco Salad w/double batch meat and beans*
Wednesday - Venison, potatoes, frozen green beans & green salad
Thursday - Super Nachos with leftover *beans and meat
Friday - Slow Cooker Bean, Bacon & kale from the garden soup *double batch to share with family & neighbors in need
Saturday - pizza!
Quaranteam edition
Monday— hamburger stew in slow cooker
Tuesday— burgers on the grill baked chips and cucumbers and ranch
Wednesday- homemade pizza
Thursday- sloppy joes on homemade buns , pickles, carrots and ranch and chips
Friday — tuna melts on homemade buns pineapple chunks
We have not left the house. We are out of fruit and milk. We are almost out of flour and yeast. I guess I will bravely venture out. I live in a corona hot spot SE Michigan.
Stay safe frugal friends!
A west-side Michigander says stay healthy! I couldn't find yeast at our local Meijer on Monday--just a head's up that apparently the rest of the world has discovered bread baking.
I couldn't find bread flour anywhere in Annapolis last week. Bought the large bag of AP flour from Sam's and hubbie found a recipe to make it into bread flour. Waiting on the delivery today of vital wheat gluten. Then off to the races... breadmaking, that is.
Um, I went in the opposite order, starting with tonight and backtracking to Saturday, March 21st.
Friday: Thinking of carry out pizza tonight. It will especially be a treat and it supports a local business.
Thursday: Kristen & Kristin, we had sauteed broccolini (my new favorite vegetable), PAN FRIED GNOCCHI, and VENISON loins with juniper berry sauce. Apparently we were eating in solidarity with you two ladies. 🙂 I've been making the gnocchi with mushrooms. The mushrooms are first cooked very slowly in butter in which you don't touch them in the pan. They release water and cook down until they are very savory. 4 out of 5 members of this family love them.
Wednesday: Spaghetti with sauce from the freezer and Jacques Pepin's recipe for Caesar salad.
Tuesday: Burger Night #2
Monday: Made cheeseburgers. For two of us I made them thin so each sandwich was a double patty with cheese. The other two diners chose thick burgers. Homemade french fries. Pretzel sandwich buns using King Arthur recipe.
Sunday: Leftover night of chicken saltimbocca and potatoes, corned beef & boxty (from Saint Patrick's day), Skyline chili dip (using store brand of canned Skyline found at Walmart) with tortilla chips.
Saturday: Chicken saltimbocca made with Aldi's prosciutto and provolone, crispy redskin potatoes (Aldi again), and asparagus. Boiled the potatoes for 10 minutes before oven baking. Will make all of my crispy potatoes this way from here on.
Nice to know there are others out there cooking wild game, though personally I want to eat the burgers with the pretzel sandwich buns and homemade fries. YUM.
The upside from working from home: no commute = lots of time to cook dinner! (and it helps that I love to cook)
Saturday: Tortilla Española with salad
Sunday: Grilled piri piri chicken with gilled gyro bread, Balkan cabbage salad, sliced cucumber and avocado
Monday: Ribollita
Tuesday: homemade fettuccine with 3-meat and ricotta meatballs
Wednesday: Ribollita with grilled cheese
Thursday: Grilled bavette steak with salsa verde, grilled 'baked' potato, grilled broccoli and mushrooms. Apple crisp for dessert
Friday: Bolognese lasagne (a 2-day process!) with Brussel Sprout Ceasar salad
Working from home edition:
Instead of cooking more, I'm spending my former commute time on projects. This results in me having no more time to cook than I did when working at the office. Oh, well.
I started the week by cooking a big batch of locally farmed pork chops, which fed us for a few meals. We had different sides with them, but all I can remember are carrots, Italian seasoned zucchini, and steamed asparagus (to hot to roast them). The zucchini came from the bruised and ugly produce at my food coop - I got six or seven zucchini for $1.49.
We had acre peas slow cooked with pork neckbones one night. I pulled the fork tender meat off of the bones and served it with the peas. We had asparagus with this as well.
We had a steak and baked potato at one point. I find I can tolerate small white potatoes.
I had a doctor's appointment 2+ hours away yesterday, and it wasn't cancelled, so on the way home that evening, I stopped and got chicken for me and shrimp for my husband from a drive through. Not a prime meal nor cheap, but it got us fed without me cooking late in the day after a tiring day.
I'm going to go to the grocery store today, so wish me luck.
Locked at home addition! also working from home, not sure I like it or not. do like the non commute! and getting up at 5:20!
Saturday-did a few quick errands, Had a Lasagna in the freezer so that is what was for dinner, picked up a loaf of bread when we were out.
Sunday- Beef stew-rolls.
Monday- breakfast for dinner- French toast, pork roll
Tuesday- nice out, cooked dogs on the grill, mac and cheese.
Wed- Got takeout that they delivered, calzone for me and dh, cheese steak for dd, ds had meatball parm. got a side of zeppoli's stuffed with nutella
Thusrday- another nice day, burgers on the grill, tater tots.
Friday- think its going to be breakfast for dinner,
What We Ate - Shelter in Place Edition
I’ve found ways, websites, vendors to get interesting food delivered to us for almost everything we need/eat. We aren’t leaving the house (my son has asthma).
We are eating more interesting meals now since I don’t have to help with homework and there aren’t any after school sports!
Monday - bratwurst, brussels sprouts and potato sheet pan bake with a honey mustard glaze (this is from The NY Times and is DELICIOUS!)
Tuesday - I made pastizzi and had a ton of cheese filling leftover so I made pasta with pastizzi cheese, peas and bacon
Wednesday - DH roasted a chicken in his infrared roaster, roasted potatoes and salad
Thursday - I made a sugo using duck breast I ordered from Liberty Duck in Sonoma (first time cooking with duck). We had the sugo over farro pasta (another new thing) and had a romaine salad with a Parmesan frico.
Friday - we will have teriyaki grilled salmon and tempura vegetables over brown rice.
It’s nice to have the energy to cook at night - I’m not looking forward to homework eventually starting back up again.
I’m spending more on groceries too, just because I have to buy what is available. Not much room to comparison shop lately. Tonight is tacos and refined beans.
Forgot to the rest of the week!
Monday - frozen breaded shrimp and salad
Tuesday - Salisbury steak, roasted potatoes, roasted broccoli
Wednesday - pancakes and bacon
Thursday - hamburgers and salad.
I was able to do a curbside grocery pickup Monday, we are avoiding contact as much as possible with high risk people in the house
Yes. And going to one store vs multiple stores seems like the wisest choice, even if it does cost more.
My husband is a huge news watcher.. so he was watching this epidemic unfold across the world before it hit home...I don't fret things too much but to placate his anxiety I do as he requests... So in early February we had hit Aldi and done a HUGE pantry and freezer stock up( which was totally fine as we had really depleted our storage resources in the previous months from his unexpected lay off). Every few days he would panic again and I would oblige and buy another few things to calm him... When it really hit the news in CA I did a reload of basics and that is what we have been casually working through now...
Sunday: Vegetable beef soup and homemade rolls
Monday: Meatloaf, scalloped potatoes and some veg
Tuesday: Chili
Wednesday:Grilled Keilbasa, oven roasted cauliflower, pierogis, applesauce
Thursday:Mom's night off!! All the leftovers have been eaten and the fridge is clean!
Friday: Buffalo chicken and potato dish
Monday: Sloppy joes and broccoli with cheese
Tuesday: Vegetable beef soup with french bread
Wednesday: Chicken and noodles with corn on the side. We ate outside because the weather was so nice and had s'mores over the fire for dessert.
Thursday: Spaghetti pie (a new recipe that 4/5 enjoyed, though I think the one that didn't was just having an overall hard night after 2 weeks of quarantine), cantaloupe and grapes
Friday: Fajitas with some sort of fruit. I'll have to check on what's ripe versus what can wait until next week to be eaten.
We've spent less on groceries during "safer at home" mostly because we have limited options. Hopefully the supply/demand will even itself out soon. We've not had leftovers at dinner, so I am making homemade bread for peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.
Sunday-popcorn and quite possibly nothing else
Monday-pork chops with vegetables and homemade bread maybe?
Tuesday-beans and rice with keilbasa, peppers and onions
Wednesday-mac&cheese with broccoli for the kids, salad with chickpeas for me
Thursday- pasta/red sauce and salad
Friday-blackened tilapia with frozen vegetables
I filled my freezer. My husband is also a news junky and was feeling a bit panicked about the lockdown. However, I am happy not going to the grocery store. I receive a small farm basket every week and this is my starting point for my meal plans.
Saturday — I can’t remember
Sunday - Chicken with roasted fennel and lemon
Monday - Salad with stuffed baked potatoes
Tuesday- spaghetti with red sauce, gifted homemade Italian sausage and salad
Wednesday - roast swordfish with garlic & ginger, stir-fried veggies, and rice
Thursday — roast beef ( cooked enough for 3 meals) and roasted root veggies
Friday — Roast chicken, brown rice and green beans
I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well.
For everyone still grocery shopping right now instead of hunkering down, here is a video made by a doctor about how to safely sanitize your groceries when you get home.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&feature=emb_title&v=sjDuwc9KBps
My plan when I do finally have to go out is to bag my groceries into two categories: those that need the fridge or freezer, and do need immediate sanitation, and pantry items that I can leave bagged up and untouched for three days before putting away/using.
You could say it's being over cautious, but I say better to be safe than sorry.
Happy birthday, Lisey. Sorry the world is insane.
Saturday: perogies and cukes. Sliced apples for dessert.
Sunday: eggs, hash browns, sausage. Grapefruit for dessert.
Monday: Started the freezer challenge, so we each had different soup leftovers---borscht and cheese cauliflower. Sliced mangos for dessert.
Tuesday: Cream of mushroom and more cheese cauliflower soups. Brownies for dessert.
Wednesday: Cheeseburger soup and salmon chowder. Brownies.
Thursday: Found another container of salmon chowder and one of beef barley. Apples for dessert.
Friday: I am making another attempt at a home version of Filet o' Fish, this time with haddock instead of halibut. Halibut was a bust. Husband is having a container of pea soup made about two months ago and lost in the bottom of the freezer. The rest of the brownies for dessert.
We cooked very traditional meals every day, with potatoes, rice or pasta for carbs and plenty of braised or steamed vegetables. We had vegetarian meals 3 nights out of 7, which is good as I try to cut down on meat a bit.
As we limit our errands in the circumstances (NL Europe), this was an excellent opportunity to not buy cookies or sweets. If you are at home all the time you need to help yourself abstain from what is not good for you. I am so grateful for plenty of healthy foods being available and all kinds of initiatives to get those to people who cannot shop for themselves.
We very much feel for the people all over the globe who are affected by the virus, directly or indirectly. For those in areas where the virus is not yet spreading: wash your hands and practise social distancing. You may be going from disbelief to shock in only a few days. This is not to be trifled with. Keep your heads cool and your hearts warm everyone!
Your shrimp tacos sound amazing. Here is what we ate:
Monday - Enchilada Chicken over rice, a frozen veggie {order produce box}
Tuesday - Pot o' beans with smoked turkey leg, corn muffins, chopped onion
Wednesday - Scalloped Potatoes with ham and carrots
Thursday - Ordered pizza and chicken nuggets out - keep local restaurants going!
Friday - Beef Sloppy Joes with all of the chips we have leftover from various lunches
Saturday and Sunday - TBD but youngest requests taco soup so I am soaking some black beans. And probably some fried chicken to go with stewed cabbage.
I really don't want to go grocery shopping, but I may do a tiny run for stuff today...
In no particular order:
It was a leftover week.
Monday - I think - big crock pot to-do. Layers of sliced potatoes, corn, hamburger, topped with cheese. For the two of us the last of that one made it through to Saturday.
Big pile of pasgetti with red sauce and hot Italian sausage. Got 3 days of lunch/dinner leftovers out of that one.
I remember one night was a big take-out pizza. Because... pizza! I was eating slices off that one for 3 days.
Friday made Turkey soup from stock in the freezer. Had it again Saturday.
So I know we ate dinner stuff and leftovers were involved. But who ate what on which day is a little fuzzy after this week, news being what it was and all that jazz.
Oh! I forgot the spinach egg drop soup. We made that on one of those days. lol Beats the pants off all those "cream of..." recipes out there. Here:
https://rantsfrommycrazykitchen.com/spinach-egg-drop-soup/
You can whip it up in about 15 minutes.
It’s been a chaotic week. A project at work got messed up adding to an already high stress level. Thank goodness for soup and crockpots!
Sunday - split pea and ham soup
Monday- split pea and ham soup
Tuesday-chicken cacciatore with noodles
Wednesday- cacciatore sauce over rice
Thursday- don’t remember probably leftovers
Friday - Mac n cheese
Saturday - last of the chicken cacciatore