WIS, WWA | Kind of a non-cooking week
What I Spent
Let's see.
I got my Hungry Harvest box on Saturday.
On Sunday night, our snack food run to Aldi was $27.
And then my more responsible grocery shopping ran me $78.73.
So, I'm at $121.
January Spending
(Budget is $150/week)
Week 1: $187
Week 2: $111
Week 3: $121
What We Ate
Monday
This was the night after our hotel sleepover, so I needed something easy! I bought a ham on discount at Aldi, made some mashed potatoes, cut up some oranges, and called it dinner.
The hams at Aldi were $5 off, so I found the smallest one I could. Because that is how my frugal brain works. 😉
Tuesday
The only ones here to eat dinner were Sonia, Zoe, and me. Soo, we headed out to Chick-Fil-A to use our cow calendar offer for this month (free chicken nuggets).
I didn't happen to feel like eating nuggets, though, so I bought a salad.
Wednesday
We were here and there and everywhere. Sonia and Zoe were actually the only ones who ate dinner at home, and they ate cereal and grapefruit. Ha.
Thursday
Sonia made ravioli and shrimp in pink sauce, and she did it with fairly minimal help from me. Yay Sonia!
Friday
Given how much I didn't cook this week, I'm thinking I should opt for homemade pizza tonight.
What did you eat this week? And what's for dinner tonight?
That ravioli looks tasty!
This week I made two spaghetti squash bakes using frozen tomato sauce from the garden, so we at that Monday and Thursday for dinner.
Tuesday - fancy salads with lots berries!
Wednesday - fajitas
Tonight I’m going to make some cauliflower “wings” with a spicy peanut sauce!
Spicy peanut butter; excellent idea. The oil sugar variety seems so tame by comparison.
Artificial Vanilla! An excellent way to go. Been using the artificial for some 20 years' now!
& If a baking recipe calls for 2 large eggs - I use ONE. Or, 2 Tbls of water with 1 Tbls of water.
& this: Using a little less yeast for baking bread from scratch seems a workable idea. Some readers' will remember this Vancouver BC resident has endured challenges baking bread from scratch. My bread making is improving!
One More: I buy 3.25% whole milk on a one to one bases. One cup of milk added to one cup of cold water in baking. Skim milk powder simply lacks something in my humble opinion.
Praying for sunshine here in Vancouver BC. Gail force winds further north on Vancouver BC island...Pray for sunshine!
I hear you on the rain! Victoria had apparently four times it’s normal rainfall for January!! It does feel like spring, but many of the fields and trails are just about unwalkable.
Monday: My wife needed new eyeglasses. She is one who will not buy online and the place ended up taking two hours to just simply get to her, get her prescription verified and fit her for glasses. So there we were, an hour from home (we live in the middle of nowhere) and we had a hungry toddler. So instead of going to a sit down restaurant we went to the cafeteria at a local grocery store. It was $11 for the three of us so that wasn't bad at all.
Tuesday: Because of the unexpected dinner out, we had Monday's planned dinner on Tuesday. I made a pork fried rice dish of my own invention. It was basically made up of pork scraps from when we bought a whole pork loin pan fried and cooked with egg, leftover rice, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger soy sauce and curry powder. Basically it's a "clean out the fridge" kind of meal. I like it and my kid adores it.
Wednesday: My wife made a pork roast that had garlic and bacon. It was okay.
Thursday: Leftovers from Wednesday
Friday: Since we have some leftover bacon in the fridge I am either going to do breakfast for dinner or BLT's.
Shopping wise we did okay. I scored big at BJ's Wholesale because on their clearance rack they were getting rid of their brand of Frosted Flakes for $4 for a 61.9oz box (two very large bags inside the box.) So yeah, I'm happy!
I also bought my yearly 25lb bag of Jasmine rice. That should last us a while!
Jasmine rice is so good, isn't it?
Yeah and it's that good middle ground between the tasteless stuff we all grew up eating and more expensive stuff like Basmati. I don't consider $17 for a year's supply to be all that bad, either. I store it in a repurposed popcorn tin and a jar we got from Ikea.
Yes! I LOVE Jasmine rice. When hubby and I didn't have much money, we bought the Kirkland brand rice just to fill our stomachs with something.
After Mr. FAF started working, however, we have switched to Jasmine rice. And I could tell the difference immediately. I was so happy that day I ate a whole bowl of white rice without adding anything to it. It was delicious!
I made some clear out the fridge fried rice myself, this week. It included:
- rice from (really cheap, really good, unexpected find) Asian supermarket food court bulgogi,
- pork from a braise that turned out to be bland,
- onions, celery, carrots (cheap veggies),
- stock from the pork bone.
It's been far too long since I've been to the grocery, so this week was a "clean out" kind of week, before I finally make it to the store on Saturday. Sometimes clean out weeks make for some very interesting meals, but this week wasn't bad at all.
M - ham and green bean soup
T - hot dogs, eaten on hamburger buns, w/ baked beans
W - chicken chili, w/ random beans, and random bits of dairy instead of the prescribed cream cheese and half and half.
T - leftovers
F - crock pot cheesesteak sandwiches
What do people eat when they're out and about? That's getting to be an increasing occurrence with us as DC1 gets older and has more after-school activities. Occasionally he'll be at one where food is provided, but most of the time they assume meals before or after (but there's no time before and after is pretty late!). I am embarrassed to say that my kids had trailmix (emergency snack in the car) for dinner at least once this week (after that they weren't hungry for dinner when they finally got home).
Ehh, you could do much worse than trail mix!
To answer your question, one of the nights this week, Lisey went out with a friend to dinner, and Joshua ate at work (the coffee shop where he works has good food and he gets 50% off while he's on shift).
Or sometimes if Joshua comes home late and hasn't had dinner, he eats leftovers or fries up some eggs.
Our meals were way more orderly and predictable and tidy when my kids were all small and we all were at home at dinnertime. There were things I liked about that, of course...but life is what it is, and I've found I need to lower my expectations about meals sometimes!
I have teenagers who do sports with varying practice times. My swimmer practices at either 6pm or 7pm with a 30 minute drive time upfront and a 2 hour practice. My rugby player practices from 4-6pm again with a 20-25 min drive time on either end. Impossible on the days they are both practicing to eat together. I cook early so my swimmer can eat before she leaves and then my rugby player reheats when he gets home (or I use the crock pot so it is hot for both). The rugby guy eats a big snack before he leaves, maybe a bowl of cereal, half a sandwich, etc. I agree, you could do worse than trail mix. Throw in a yogurt and a banana and call it good!
Chiming in and agreeing with others that trail mix is no big deal. Been there done that! Were a crazy busy family like so many others...from work, to sports ect, ect.....I'm with Susan (Hi Susan!) throw in a banana and call it good..
Oh and I love my crockpots to...they are a huge timesaver and busy mom (and dads) helper.
Trail mix is healthy isn't it? I don't have kids but my sister home schools & the kids activities interfere with a traditional meal plan, this may not be an option for you but she started making lunch the main meal of the day so that dinner in the car or between activites could be more snacky. I don't see anything wrong with sandwiches/fruit/snacks for dinner if you plan to have vegies at lunch or even breakfast if they will tolerate it - eg mushroom/spinach omelette. Or whats wrong with raw vegie sticks in a snap lock bag, soup in a thermos with bread.
As a frugal & healthier habit I learnt from my mum when out shopping to buy a banana & single baked bread roll from the supermarket for a quick sandwich and now I carry nut bars in my handbag to avoid buying take-away on the go.
Did your mum make a sandwich using the banana on the bread???
Yes, she would buy a plain bread roll, split it and then peel the banana and put it in the roll, its quick easy and cheap.
I still eat banana sandwiches now and then at home just using a fork cut up the banana as you partially squash along but not too sqashed not mushy.
They're also great in toasted in a sandwich press and then dusted with icing sugar, as kids it was a cheap easy dessert.
I should add that when toasted the banana gets very hot owing to the sugar content of the fruit and we only make these in a jaffle sandwich press that seals the bread all around and is best eaten with a knife and fork when its cooled down a little.
Hubby and I are on different eating plans and schedules right now...
Monday: Enchiladas with steamed green beans, also chicken and sweet potato for hubby
Tuesday: Leftover enchiladas, broccoli, avocado (the toddler was sick so he didn't eat very much), chicken and sweet potato for hubby
Wednesday: Leftover enchiladas for me and the toddler, chicken stir fry with veggies for hubby and the toddler (toddler grazes off our plates, even when he's had a full meal already)
Thursday: Leftover enchiladas with steamed broccoli for me and the toddler, leftover bacon from breakfast for the hubby, and I think he had some chicken too?
Friday: I've invited a couple of friends over for pizza...homemade, using your dough recipe/methods, actually! It's my first time attempting it with a pizza stone, so I'm excited 🙂
On a side note, Monday's HUGE pan of enchiladas was made to use up some beef that I'd defrosted prematurely and some beans languishing in the fridge. The toddler and I managed to eat almost all of it this week in the form of leftovers, and I have one serving in the freezer for a lunch next week. So far, I haven't wasted any of it!
That's awesome, well done you.
Finishing week two of the elimination diet that is putting my food budget over....
Monday, the last of the Emerald Salmon (roasted with green veggies and topped with a green sauce.)
Tuesday, Hidden Liver chili. Okay, I cheated. I am disgusted by the smell and texture of beef liver, so I added some chopped chicken giblets that included one liver to the ground beef, instead of the 1/4 pound chopped beef liver. The chili was nothing like a chili, but was pretty good
Wednesday, Curried Chicken salad. I can't have any red pepper, but the garlic and ginger spiced this up decently, and it was good. I served it on spinach leaves, instead of kale, because I don't like kale.
Thursday, more of the chili (planned leftovers)
Friday, more of the chili, planned again. My husband has been limping by, eating a little of my food or eating something quick he cooks. I offer him mine, but so far, he's only been willing to try two dishes.
My budget is about blown for groceries -- I have about $30 left for another week and a half, which isn't going to cut it. I've cut down some other categories to try to cover this. I've not really been hungry, and I've lost a little stubborn holiday weight, so bonus, there.
I'm wondering what you eat for lunch on days after you haven't cooked a meal? Most of our meals stretch out over a couple of days as lunch leftovers.
Also, regarding kids with different evening schedules, we often make stews and soups that can easily be reheated when kids have missed dinner time.
Sounds like a good week! You just gotta take care of business and keep everyone fed, after all. 🙂 And bravo for the kiddos cooking on their own! That'll be an awesome life skill once they're on their own.
This week we ate:
Monday: Butternut squash zoodles in pesto topped with sundried tomato chicken.
Tuesday: Grilled burgers with tater tots.
Wednesday: Spaghetti squash with meatball marinara and side salad. This wasn't super great because the meatballs I made were dry. Ugh.
Thursday: Subway. We were supposed to have poblano chicken bisque with grilled cheese, but hubs wanted something a little easier. We used a coupon to get meal deals at Subway.
Friday: Either pho with my SIL or we'll make chicken stir fry.
mmm. Poblano chicken bisque sounds so good to me!
Oh I love pho
Monday- We were out of school for MLK, Jr. Day. I made lasagna with garlic bread and green onions.
Tuesday - Snow Day! I finally used the attachment to my mixer and made homemade noodles for the chicken and noodles. With that we had mashed potatoes and I made a homemade pineapple upside down cake.
Wednesday- Another snow day! I put a beef roast in the crock pot with potatoes and gravy. I pulled the last of the garden green beans from the freezer. We will have to plant more this summer.
Thursday- Homemade mac & cheese, broccoli, and applesauce.
Friday - We are back out school although attendance is very low today. Since I cooked all week, I think tonight will be pizza night.
I'm working on a freezer cleanout, but bottom round and potatoes were on fabulous sales last week so they moved to the front of the line. Onions were on a more regular sale. I'm going to need to focus in more on the onions and potatoes next week or prep them for longer term storage as I don't have a great root cellar option.
Saturday - Beef stew, oatmeal bread, carrot sticks
Sunday - Lemon chicken, pan fried potatoes, broccoli
Monday - Fish tacos (Kristen's recipe except that I put all the chipotle peppers in the sauce), guacamole, pico de gallo
Tuesday - Spaghetti & meatballs, spinach salad
Wednesday - Tacos (ground turkey)
Thursday - early: hot dogs & carrot sticks, late: homemade pizza
Friday - I'm going out so I'm fairly sure it will be takeout pizza for the rest.
Sometimes I caramelise onions and freeze in portions to add to sandwiches.
French onion soup! Uses a ton of onions, and if you have a good homemade beef broth, it’s amazing. Sometime I don’t bother topping it with the bread and cheese, just serve with some good bread or grilled sandwiches
Baked potatoes are actually pretty good blended into soups, if you have a good blender. It’s one of the ways I get around the whole “potatoes don’t freeze well” problem
Cubed/diced potatoes- they become mushy and change in texture. I don't add potatoes to stew or soups if I know I'll be freezing them but mashed potatoes freeze fine IMO.
This week is the week of flu. Thanks, H3N2. (Side note: The vaccine helped in that my symptoms aren't nearly as bad as vaccine-less friends who had the flu). So we've been doing a lot of easy meals:
Sunday: Lunch with church friends (this before I showed symptoms)
Monday: frozen chicken nuggets and frozen veggies
Tuesday: Nepalese take out
Wednesday: Pasta with sundried tomatoes, garlic, lemon, basil and chicken and cheese
Thursday: tortellini with salad and clementines and green beans
Friday: Not sure yet. Maybe potato skillet (keilbasa, peppers, potatoes, carrots onions garlic) although that's a lot of chopping. Maybe my husband will get home early tonight and have culinary inspiration!
I seem to have been somewhat lazy this week . . .
Monday: Last of the lamb chili from the freezer (over rice for the kids), cheddar cheese, carrot sticks
Tuesday: Beef pot roast with potatoes and carrots, green salad
Wednesday: Dumped the leftover pint of chili in with a pound of browned ground beef to make soft tacos with all the toppings. Plus asparagus, which doesn't go with tacos but my husband had randomly bought some and I kept forgetting about it because I never buy asparagus at the grocery store (it's a sad comparison to garden-grown asparagus). So I needed to cook it pronto.
Thursday: Leftover pot roast and its liquid went into a pot of beef and vegetable soup. We also had some cheddar cheese with that, and my husband ate a random assortment of leftover beef (taco meat, some slices of top round steak, and a little of the pot roast) fried together with extra tomatoes and topped with mozzarella cheese. Because vegetable soup with small bits of meat in it is just not enough to satisfy a raging carnivore, you know.
Tonight: I have a venison roast thawed. I think I'll cut it into thick steaks and marinate them, then pan-fry them. We have leftover rice, and I guess I'll make a salad.
So I am way over budget this week, but I took the bus to Market Basket and stocked up on cheese for the next few weeks, and my house has so much food in it right now, that I shouldn't need to go shopping until the end of next week, if at all. So hooray for that.
Monday - rice and black beans, mango and cuke salad
Tuesday - pasta fazool, broccoli, beets
Wednesday- rice and curried chick peas, green beans
Thursday - bbq tofu, kale, rice, mango and cuke salad
Friday - homemade bread, leftover soup from the freezer and whatever else is in the fridge that goes well with bread
Monday- Homemade veggie pizza
Tuesday- chicken noodle soup, saltine crackers and a lettuce salad
Wednesday- Salmon, sweet potato fries, mixed veggies
Thursday- appetizers: cheese sticks, wheat crackers, apples, and Doritos.
Friday- walking beef tacos: Crush small bag of Doritos. Put hamburger, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, black olives and grated cheese in the bag and add some salsa.
m-Chicken Alfredo, I had some leftover salad with it. (home made alfredo sauce) the sauce is very easy to make!
t- left over homemade lasagna from the freezer (son had waffles, daughter had cereal) (after daughter soccer practice)
w- cheese burgers, and tater tots (added avocado on my burger) daughter had pizza bites)
th- ate out Wendy's 4/4 menu (daughter had basketball game)
Friday- we are doing your snacks for dinner, going to make homemade pigs in blankets, bagel bites, popcorn, cheese and crackers, and some fruit I think. (going to see how this goes over.) (after sons soccer practice)
sat- might be homemade chicken pot pie.
sunday-???
I think that Chick-fil-A salads have ruined fast food salads for me forevermore. Once you have one from Chick-fil-A, one from someplace like Wendy's just doesn't come close to comparing to the awesomeness that was the last salad you had from Chick-fil-A.
I agree completely. Their Cobb salad is delicious!
Same with chicken sandwiches or nuggets from Chik FilA. No other fast food chicken is good after that! BUT, it costs a whole days food budget to eat one lunch there!
Monday - Black bean, corn, and sweet potato taco casserole (do ahead meal), fresh pineapple, corn chips
Tuesday - Chicken and chilies soup (crockpot), leftover pineapple, rolls
Wednesday - Leftover soup, tomato and cheese sandwiches on sourdough (I miss fresh tomatoes and basil)
Thursday - Hello Carbs!! - Homemade macaroni and cheese with some leftover ham (do ahead meal), spinach salad, leftover rolls
Friday - Baked acorn squash, green beans and tomatoes, turkey sausages and the last of the rolls
Saturday - I've been wanting a peppers and cheese omelet all week so I'm thinking omelets and toast for dinner...
I have been recently fairly successful in finding new crockpot recipes that the family really likes (aside from one picky eater) now that one of my kids has finally decided they like meat. Woot!
Sunday I made Sloppy Joes in the crockpot, and they turned out great. Had those with chips and coleslaw.
Monday was mostly leftovers, and soup and grilled cheese.
Tuesday was Chicken Parmigiana from the Cook's Illustrated Healthy Kitchen Cookbook--I even put my big girl pants on and made homemade breadcrumbs when it was clear I wasn't making it to the grocery store thanks to a big snowstorm and super cold weather. But I had everything else on hand.
Wednesday I made it to the grocery store, with any luck not to have to go back until next week (I was averaging two trips a week, I'd like to get it down to one); we had Steak Tips with Mushrooms over egg noodles (from the website Damn Delicious)--this was a big hit with everyone, so I have a new recipe to put in my files.
Thursday: I went running in the evening but made twice baked potatoes ahead of time for DH to put in the oven and we had those with burgers and hot dogs.
Tonight is pasta night, and I have a was-on-sale pork shoulder waiting for pulled pork on Sunday. Yum.
Sun/Mon/Tues - had the same - braised mixed vegies/beef mince/pasta, & for a pantry challenge with a bag of dried barley I think I bought to make risotto with had a go at a barley salad with carrot/celery/cucumber/lettuce/spring onion/chicken balls & a soy/honey/lemon/mirin/sesame oil dressing that turned out so yum I think it will be a regular lunch for me.
Wed - was supposed to be risotto from freezer but work went late so had gluten free pikelets I made to share at work with strawberry jam and my joghurt
Thurs - the chicken/veg risotto
Fri - spaghetti bolognese (mine has lots of veg whizzed up in it) with chilli oil & parmesan on wholemeal pasta as a pantry challenge which is growing on me
Tonight - not sure yet.
Chicken balls!? I know in Iowa they have turkey testicle festivals!
Pikelets? Wow! What is that?
One amazing benefit of reading Frugal Girl is learning about new interesting foods and customs!
Ha ha, just realize how that sounds - I mean chicken meatballs - chicken thigh mince mixed with seasoning & spring onions, made into balls & rolled in sesame seeds then baked, we use them in different things & found they freeze well so I put some in small portions to add to salads.
Pikelets are like little pancakes; (also called drop scones) & originate from Scotland I think. The mix is thicker than normal pancakes we make them with flour sugar & milk & you drop a dessertspoon full at a time on to a greased pan at medium low heat and cook for a few minutes each side and they go golden brown, they're yum with jam. Many recipes use eggs but one sister is allergic so we leave out the egg and it's really not necessary. I made these ones with egg as I found a GF version on a website and thought it might need the egg.
Yum! Both of these things sound delicious!
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity! These sound pretty good!
I'm reading up on all of this after a looong day off, full of driving to Brenham and doing chores at my mother's house, then coming home to chore. Yay, Friyay, tho since I am off today. (: I put a roast in the crock pot and poured in come water, chipotle chilies, and garlic and onion. I will shred it for tacos, and serve with homemade pico de gallo, shredded cheese, and sour cream. Leftovers will be lunch tomorrow!
I have had a gross week. On Saturday I bought a chicken for dinner and when I broke the package open it was off. So I cooked roast lamb instead. I can't remember what was made on Sunday. Monday night we went to Taco Bell as they have returned to Australia and my son wanted to try them before he returned to work on Tuesday. He works in the Gulf of Carpentaria and it is very isolated and even the groceries have to be barged in or ordered from Cairns. Tuesday was a quiet night and we had steak and many vegetables. Wednesday we had chicken tacos made at home. Thursday was leftovers. Friday night was another disaster. I had a piece of ham and when I opened that it was rotten. Dinner became chicken burgers.
I guess our heat waves contributed to the bad meat but I cannot believe I had bad meat twice.
Can you please share a recipe for the red sauce Sonia made? Looks great. Thanks!