WIS, WWA | I don't know how we are spending less!
What I Spent
How about another bullet list?
- $17 at Harris Teeter
- $38 at Giant
- $36 at BJ's
- $8.50 at Sprouts
- $25 on a Hungry Harvest box
That adds up to $124.50, which means that we have had three weeks in a row of being under budget.
I'm not quite sure what to attribute this to unless it's that small stops to get a few particular items make us spend less than a big stock-up trip does.
That would be odd indeed since that would go against all the traditional grocery shopping wisdom, which says that multiple stops cause higher spending.
May Grocery Spending
Week 1: $98
Week 2: $106
Week 3: $124.50
What We Ate
Saturday
The girls had a friend here for a sleepover and I made homemade pizza for them. And then Mr. FG and I went out for a date night, where I was reminded once again that hot restaurant food > takeout!
You know what's funny? I made pizza for the girls, and then Mr. FG and I ended up at....a pizza restaurant. Ha.
Sunday
We picked up wings from a local restaurant. Over the course of the last year, we've been getting takeout from a locally-owned restaurant each Sunday night, in an effort to support them during restrictions.
But now almost all of the restaurant restrictions here are lifted, so I guess we need to decide if we want to keep this up or not. Hmm...
Monday
I made chicken pita panini, and we had raw veggies on the side (cucumbers and carrots this time).
Tuesday
Sonia made chipped beef on toast, and we had our first watermelon of the year on the side.
So good!
Wednesday
I made chicken sandwiches, using this brinerated chicken and this red pepper/basil mayo.
More watermelon with our sandwiches = happy me!
Thursday
I was feeling pretty uninspired about making dinner, but I found some ravioli in the freezer, so I boiled that for dinner, topped it with a jar of sauce + shredded Parmesan, and called it good.
I got some mushrooms from Hungry Harvest this week, so I sauteed those and added them to Mr. FG's serving, since he's the only one who really likes mushrooms.
So far, we have been unsuccessful at finding dairy and nut-free ravioli for Sonia, so she had penne topped with sauce.
I cut up celery, carrots, and red peppers to eat on the side (again, uninspired!)
Friday
One of my sisters-in-law had knee surgery this week, so I'm bringing her family a meal tonight.
I plan to make a big batch of this pulled pork, so I'll deliver that to them and we also will eat it for dinner.
My thought on your eating takeout dilemma to support local businesses--it doesn't have to be an all or nothing approach. Maybe doing it every other week instead of weekly?
It's been a busy week and so a mishmash of meals. Sloppy joes, tacos, leftover grilled chicken, corned beef hash with fried eggs. Tonight will be mac and cheese (homemade). It suddenly got hot here so I'm much less motivated to cook. Ha.
Saturday: Leftover green chili pork from the night before, frozen chicken patties made into sandwiches for the kids, carrot sticks with curry dip. This was my uninspired night. 🙂
Sunday: Roast beef, roasted potatoes, sauteed sprouting broccoli (from my garden--an overwintered plant that produces individual florets in the spring, rather than one big head), blueberry/apricot oat crisp that was not at all crisp because of all the blueberry juices. Kind of like very sweet, fruity oatmeal, actually. But tasty.
Monday: Pizza made from garlic bread I had baked the day before and saved to make pizza with the some roasted tomato sauce from the freezer and asadero cheese. I made pizza omelets for my husband and me, with garlic powder and dried basil in the eggs, the cheese inside the omelet, and the sauce on top. Not as good as real pizza, but pretty good as a substitute. We all had salad, too, with lettuce, arugula, radishes, and green garlic from the garden, along with some whild chive flowers my son brought to me. That salad made me very, very happy.
Tuesday: Stew meat cooked with green garlic puree and the remaining tomato sauce, plus carrots and calabacita (like zucchini), pasta for the kids with cream cheese and a couple of frozen pesto cubes from last year, steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Steaks, leftover rice or roasted potatoes, frozen green peas
Thursday: Last day of school! I actually was physically in a grocery store last week--in the past 18 months, that has happened exactly four times, not because of COVID necessarily but because it's almost always my husband who makes the long drive to the Outside World--so I could get indulgences that would never occur to my husband. Which is why I had both hot dogs--with buns!--and tater tots for our celebratory summer break dinner. We also had leftover vegetables and baked beans I had made awhile ago and frozen.
Tonight: Um. Maybe hamburgers? It's going to be pretty warm today, so I'm not going to slwo cook anything in the oven. Other than that, I got nothin' so far. It'll come to me, though. It always does.
Sorry about the typos. Some of my children got up early with me and are being very distracting. That's what I get for sleeping in until 5:30 a.m. 🙂
Ooh, the blueberry apricot crisp sounds delicious!
Dinners have been pretty much uninspired at my house, but next week I start a new schedule and will get to enjoy a FRESH dinner, not one I prepared at 8 a.m. that morning! (:
Monday - Crockpot Mexican Chicken Tacos (with salsa, cheese, and plain Greek yogurt), borracho beans
Tuesday - Salmon Patties I didn't fix on Sunday, green beans, small baked potato
Wednesday - Pork and Veggie Stir Fry Lo Mein (this was meh)
Thursday - Pot of bean soup from the freezer, low salt fritos
Friday - Grilled Chicken, couscous, broccoli
Saturday - TBD {we have an evening wedding to attend with dinner to follow!}
Sunday - Ditto, but maybe Tuna Salad on whole wheat buns
I don't see where you include the money you spend on the meals you eat out/take out. Do you calculate this is your budget? If not, has your total food budget change this past year since you seem to have eaten out more?
The takeout date night has been a separate line item in our budget for years, so no change there ( we budget $20/week).
The pandemic local restaurant night thing...I didn't even write a line into our budget for it because I figured it was a temporary expense. I haven't added it to my grocery budget, although if we make it a permanent thing, then I will handle it differently.
So returning from vacation led to a stock up trip for my family. I spent $60 at Costco and $162 at Kroger.
Saturday.....pork roast, spanish rice with pigeon peas, and green salad.
Sunday......Leftovers. I roasted our last turkey from the freezer with lemon, onion, tarragon, & garlic.
Monday.....roasted turkey, rice, gravy, and peas.
Tuesday....roasted turkey, gravy, peas, cauliflower, and a pan of homemade dressing that I pulled from the freezer and baked.
Wednesday....more roasted turkey, yellow squash and onions, a pasta dish with lemon cream sauce, basil, asparagus, zucchini, onion, & tomatoes
Thursday.....we ate leftover bits and bobs since my son had pre-k graduation and then went out for an ice cream after the ceremony
Friday....I am without inspiration but I am thinking of making some turkey pizzas and the freezing the remaining turkey along with the stock I made to make soup with at some later date.
Saturday....I have a craving for chicken Caesar salad so I'll roast some chicken to make the salad with, cut up a watermelon, and bake a bit of garlic bread. Lots of yard and house work to do this weekend so we want to keep meals simple.
Enjoy the weekend everyone!
Sunday: We grilled marinated chicken breasts and made sandwiches with them. I served this with chips and cucumbers.
Monday: Over the weekend, I noticed we had quite a few random sausages in the freezer. I grilled these (1 brat, 2 hot dog, 3 chicken/apple sausage, 1 spicy chicken sausage) and we had a big green salad and homemade pita chips and some cut up pineapple.
Tuesday: Penne with smoked mozzarella and arugula
Wednesday: Orange chicken with rice, edamame and sesame noodles
Thursday: We walked to to the Farmer's Market and picked up some yummy things from various vendors: thai spring rolls, chicken samosas, empanadas, kettle corn. We brought it home and enjoyed all that with carrots, cucumbers, red pepper and strawberries.
Friday: Usually we do local take out on Fridays, but both kids have been asking if we could have grilled burgers, so maybe we will do that.
Saturday- Daughter's 9th birthday party. We served Digiorno pizzas with a veggie tray and chips. And cake of course.
Sunday- We got some burgers from our local place and went to the park.
Monday- For my daughter's actual birthday, I told her she could choose our dinner; she wanted all her favorite foods together: sloppy joes, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato fries, strawberry shortcake for dessert.
Tuesday- buffet of leftovers
Wednesday- there was a box of matzoh ball soup mix languishing in the pantry, so I made that (six year old LOVES it) applesauce, and steamed broccoli. Strange random meal but it filled us up! The kids were so ravenous from playing outside in the heat all day they scarfed up everything and asked for more.
Thursday- I filled the crockpot with potatoes, green beans, and chicken sausages. Made a very yummy, easy, comforting meal.
Friday- trying to decide between pizza (to use up a crust mix that's been in the pantry taunting me), or grilled sausages served on buns with peppers, veggie chips and raw veggies. It's a beautiful day so I'll probably go with the latter!
Laughably, the humans and the cat came in about the same this week, with $50 for us and $50 for him. My old man cat's teeth suddenly became quite sensitive, so he's now enjoying the pricey glory of soft food. (Our vet assures me this is natural for his age [14] and he's in great health otherwise, with the blood labs to prove it.) I'd be interested in a post about frugal homemade pet food or recommendations, as I was unable to find anything on the internet that I was willing to trust. We still have quite a bit of his hard food left, too, which I've been softening with pumpkin puree and/or mixing in with some of his wet food. I want to take care of my boy frugally but not accidentally shortchange his nutrition in the process!
We fed plain chicken to our late senior cat. We'd buy the cheapest we could find, pressure cook it, shred it, make chicken broth for her, and feed her that. It was cheaper than canned cat food, and the vet ok'd it because she would eat it (a problem in the last few years). Good luck.
WWS: $42 at Market Basket; WWA:
Sat: we ended up having a big "shore food" lunch (when did fried clams become so expensive???) so we just grazed through dinner with random bits from the fridge.
Sun: piri-peri chicken (used thighs instead of spatchcocking -- recipe from Epicurious.com), grilled broccoli, rice.
Mon: turkey and black bean empanadas (I tweak the Argentinian Beef Empanadas recipe from bonappetite.com), salad
Tues: I had leftover empanadas, while partner made himself a cheese-steak sandwich
Wed: grilled brats (first simmered in beer & butter with onions), potato pancakes from freezer & salad.
Thurs: eggplant that we had planned on using went bad (frugal FAIL), so we ended up going out to dinner with friends. (Jeezum: after a year of cooking, the cost to eat out is killing me! $22 for a burger entree!)
Fri: homemade pizza & salad
Oh my gosh, every time I go home am shocked at clam prices -- more expensive than scallops and closing in on lobstah. They used to be the cheapie shellfish. Clam strips were always the kid's choice
I'm taking a gamble on groceries... I signed up for a Sam's Club membership. From what little research I did, it looks like most things we buy will be cheaper at Aldi, but I don't really know what all Sam's has. It was one of those special deals (membership for $28, free rotisserie chicken and pack of gourmet cupcakes) and I figure it's worth a shot. Even if it doesn't pan out to be a good deal for food on a regular basis, $28 isn't bad on the entertainment scale. We'll get at least one family adventure out of it! And since I'm currently reading The Tightwad Gazette, I know to make a price book while I'm there. 😉
Sunday: Meatloaf, sweet potatoes, peas
Monday: Spaghetti carbonara (a new recipe that will go into our rotation) and leftover peas
Tuesday: BBQ chicken leg quarters, fried potatoes, grilled asparagus
Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas with chips and salsa
Thursday: Hot dogs and brats, potato chips and dip, strawberries
Friday: Date night! I have chicken nuggets for the kids. Not sure where my husband and I will end up.
My 2 cents' worth on Sam's — my favorite thing to get there is flour. Red bag (bread) flour is reasonably priced, ranging from about 7.25 to 8.50 per 25 pounds. Blue bag is always the same price as red bag but from time to time a grocery store deal can beat that price. (My in-laws have a Sam's membership. It is about 65 miles and in a direction we never go; they go to medical experts that direction and are willing to get the few Sam's things we can easily choose via combing the website, which is pretty awesome IMO.)
Looking at your menu for the week I would check out hamburger/hotdog buns, Chips, fresh salsa, and definitely cream (if you use it for your carbonara). All much cheaper for us at Sams.
Thanks so much! Those are really helpful tips. I don't like Aldi's buns (ones of the only things I don't like from there) so I usually get them somewhere else. I'll look at Sam's!
Cheese. Cheese is much cheaper at Sam's (I don't have an Aldi's, but compared to the regular grocery store)...Feta, Blue Cheese, Parmesan...all very inexpensive at Sam's.
Thanks, Julie! We go through a lot of cheese, so I'll definitely have to check that out!
Have you ever tried La Pasta vegan ravioli? I have had several of their vegan and non-vegan flavors and they are delicious. I don't see any nuts in the ingredients in the link below.
I've found them at several grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Publix.
http://lapastainc.com/products/dairy-free-spinach-cheese-ravioli/
Also, I see where Vegan Essentials sells it online with ship to home option.
Oh! No I haven't seen that one! I will have to check in at our local Whole Foods. Thank you for the idea!
I have had a busy week, what with bringing my husband home yesterday and all the arrangements to find a caregiver for him. It became obvious that he has to have one, at least for now.
So meals were mostly leftovers:
Ham and vegetables and leftovers, pork chops and vegetables and leftovers, and last night, fried wild turkey breast from my husband's niece (who's older than me, so more like a cousin or sister to my husband) and her husband, who was the hunter and chef. I cooked some frozen peas and carrots and sliced a big juicy Black Krim tomato for my husband, the first picked off of his vines - which I tended for him while he was in hospital and rehab. And I didn't kill them!
So how was the turkey breast? I have heard from other hunters that the breast is the only part of a wild turkey that's very palatable, but I haven't had a chance to try one yet. My husband plans to take two sons turkey hunting in the fall, though, so I probably will have one sooner rather than later.
Also: Black Krims are my very favorite tomato and I was excited to see you had one (or rather, your husband did. You don't really eat tomatoes, as I recall.) I planted some this year, though I don't know if such a large tomato will do well in our difficult-for-tomatoes climate. Smaller ones have more of a chance to ripen and not get eaten by birds.
I hope you and your husband both settle in to something more approaching normal now.
The turkey was delicious and we have eaten other portions from another hunter before. It takes some prep, like soaking in buttermilk, injecting or rubbing and using a thermometer for doneness but it turns out great for them.
Black Krims are so good! I miss tomatoes but not the mouthful of ulcers they give me! Have you tried black or brown cherry tomatoes or Cherokee purples, (which always grow a little smaller than Krims for us)?
I have chocolate cherry tomatoes for the first time this year, so we'll see how those are.
How did you get out of Sprouts for under $10...I swear that's always our biggest spend (besides Sams)
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Ha, well, I knew I needed just mozzarella and a can of tomatoes (for homemade pizza) and I didn't browse around.
Although I did look at the markdown shelf; it's just that nothing good was there this time!
Sat/Sun/Monday: cheese and onion and sausage quiche and cucumber sticks each night, with fruit salad with whipped cream for dessert. Neither one of us minds eating the same thing several nights in a row.
Tuesday: homemade mushroom soup and cheesecake that has been hanging out in the freezer since October.
Wednesday and Thursday: chicken artichoke casserole, using up the leftover mushroom soup. Watermelon.
Friday: naan pizza for the husband, and McDonalds filet 'o fish for me.
What else is in a chicken artichoke casserole (besides the obvious)? It sounds good.
The sauce is a cup of mushroom soup (I make my own, I don't like the taste of canned) and a cup of sour cream (which we have an overload of since I won 8 containers of it with the Safeway Monopoly game so have to use it up). I throw in leftover chopped up chicken and a drained jar of marinated artichokes. The amounts vary by what I have, but usually is two cups of chicken. Since I have shredded zucchini from last year's garden in the freezer, I thawed, drained and squeezed dry a cup of it and threw it in. With summer's garden coming up, I need to use the zuke up, but ordinarily I don't put zucchini in it. Anyway, I bake the chicken/sauce/artichokes at 350 for about 45 minutes. I pull it out and sprinkle on crushed Ritz crackers (or whatever else I have around. My friend uses potato chips.) And then I sprinkle on about a half cup of poppy seeds, if I have them around. Put under the broiler to get the crackers a little crispy and serve. My husband is a big fan of casseroles so I make this about once a month because he likes it, usually the day after I serve mushroom soup since I always have soup left over. The soup is really just sauteed mushrooms and onions, which are then just barely covered with chicken stock. I use a hand blender and the pureed mushrooms thicken the soup, so no cream needed. It makes me feel better about using a lot of sour cream for the casserole! I love sour cream, I use it instead of butter on my toast.
Thanks! I love artichokes but hardly ever eat them for some reason. I'll have to give this a go as it sounds delicious. We have tons of leftover chicken from last week and slightly over a lb of mushrooms so I see this using some of it up. Friday is supposed to be cooler whether so maybe then...
Saturday- We went to the cemetery for a small immediate family only service for my uncle...due to covid restrictions we couldn't go out after for lunch like we normally would do. We ordered takeout back at my parents, enough that we didn't need to eat dinner later.
Sunday- Leftovers from Saturday, chicken piccata gnocchi w/ spinach
Monday- We got a ham on quick sale after Easter (we did lamb this year so I missed the ham) so we cooked it up to eat during the week and freeze the rest. This night we had ham slices with green beans and mashed potatoes
Tuesday- We made fried rice with ham and pineapple
Wednesday- I was at my parents so we had pastrami sandwiches, potato chips, and pickles
Thursday- Swedish meatballs/egg noodles and broccoli on the side
Fri- Leftover Swedish meatballs/egg noodles with some veggie on the side
I spent $111 at the grocery store, which was all people food this week, if I remember correctly.
I baked a chicken-black bean-veggie casserole for my lunches, made a huge pot of beef and barley soup for my husband, and we had Sunday night family supper of pancakes, scrambled eggs, link sausage and applesauce.
I have found that Covid style shopping, as in going every 2-3 weeks, and buying things just in case they were unavailable next time increased the base volume of stuff in our pantry. We are also spending less on food this year because we are eating things that are already in our pantry. It's like a huge time delay balance.
M: Beef brisket, green beans, mashed potatoes, and grapes
T: Fend for yourself
W: Grilled Chicken, potato au gratin, green beans,
R: Baked beef nachos on a random bag of Doritos, salad, chili beans
Right? That's kind of what I'm thinking...that buying just what we need in the short term is probably overall decreasing the extraneous food that we buy. And I also probably have a backlog of food here like you!
This week we were camping, so we were able to eat some meals out of the freezer for that...
Sunday - Honey Lime Cilantro grilled chicken, coconut rice, roasted carrot "fries" (we have an abundance of carrots from our produce box) with wasabi ranch dressing
Monday - Leftover/frozen pasta with red sauce and mushrooms (from the produce box) and salad
Tuesday - Leftover/frozen Turkey Burgers, some sauteed potatoes, and slaw
Wednesday - Canned soup, homemade french bread, salad
Thursday - back home - Pizza with turkey bacon, avocado, onion, swiss chard, red sauce, moz
Friday - I think tonight we're having Thai Style Stir Fry Shrimp with leftover Coconut Rice.
I honestly can't say what we ate this week but we did from the refrigerator. We did buy from a local small business last Saturday--we shared a fisherman's platter.
I did not do a big shopping last week, just picked up milk, bread, breakfast yogurt & fruit topping
5/5 $8+
5/9 $86
5/16 $15
5/21 $48 Aldi I did buy a couple of extra "try-it" items.
$52 Shaw's but it included the wine for chicken marsala and beef bourguinon or stroganoff.
Today I went to the store and spent a little more than expecting but it will fill in the balance of foods for the week
$48 Aldi I did buy a couple of extra "try-it" items.
$52 Shaw's but it included the wine for chicken marsala and beef bourguinon or stroganoff.
I know I spent more than usual this week -- celebrations at work -- so not very frugal but worth it 😉 We did it in all week:
Saturday -- Big salad, chicken (I think)
Sunday - Wildly discounted Kroger's frozen Buffalo chicken nuggets, 4 servings purchased for $1.49. 4 servings came with a hot sauce packet and a dry ranch mix packet to put on the nuggets. Sauces were okay (and there is a lot of it) but the chicken was great. Ate 2 servings, 4 are left so figure 38 cents per. Plus a big old salad.
Monday - Homemade chicken soup, thanks to spouse
Tuesday - Leftover chicken soup, repurposed as Tortilla soup with the addition of many pantry and freezer items. Even thawed out some corn tortillas and baked them into strips. Used up Lots Of The Things. Also a lunch for husband the next day. Steamed broccoli with (I think)
Wednesday - Turkey tacos, salad
Thursday -- Leftover tacos, salad
Tonight -- ahhh treat night! Happy Weekend, all!
I don't have a real clue what we have eaten this week because we are out of state for the birth of our grandchild. We are babysitting our 3 year old vegan grandson, so since hubby is full on carnivore, our meals have been a mismatch of what we all can eat
We were looking forward to eating at restaurants again, however, once restrictions lifted, a lot of businesses have been unable to hire enough help ( apparently unemployment with the federal add on is more than a salary would be) so quite a few places are still unable to open for inside dining. I have been bummed, and concerned for the future of some of my favorite spots that can't pay enough to match the current unemployment benefit. I'm not sure how things are in other states, but here in Georgia it's just one more covid related obstacle for small businesses to overcome. So, if you can, consider continuing your Sunday evening ritual of eating out until business is stable for your local spots.
I, also spent much less this week than the previous weeks. Not sure why either; except, that I had to spend so much the previous several weeks. I'm glad for a break in cost. Prices have really been going up here.
Wish I could remember what exactly we ate last week but all I can remember is leftovers (we've had a lot thank goodness). However, I do know DH and I had sandwiches once or twice cause we were worn out by the end of the day. The incoming summer heat and humidity is here.
We have been Sam's members for awhile. We do the higher priced membership to get free shipping. I order all our paper goods,dishwasher detergent,oils &over the counter drugs. We have bad allergies &use musinex &generic allergy pills . In Illinois Sam's has curbside pickup also. We use that also.
Saturday - We were at my nephew's first birthday party, so dinner was salad, mac and cheese, and dino-shaped chicken nuggets. 😉
Sunday - Chili and tortilla chips, plus our usual "sundaes on Sunday" ice cream night
Monday - Tacos
Tuesday - I had really rough day, we decided last-minute to go out to our favorite local restaurant. It was our first indoor restaurant meal as a family, and I actually loved the "order from the table via phone app".
Wednesday - Leftover night
Thursday - Lemon chicken, pasta, and broccoli
Friday - Pizza!
We had kind of a crazy week. We had our windows replaced last week, and the guy who was painting the trim was scheduled for this week (took him 2 days to do all the trim, I'm so glad we paid a little extra rather than trying to tackle it ourselves), and our driveway replacement project wrapped up this week. On top of that, the plants I'd ordered came early (Friday instead of this week as expected), and my beds weren't quite ready, so I spent most of the weekend tackling that.