WIS, WWA | Thumbs up to Local Flavor
See Saturday's eats for my thoughts about Local Flavor.
What I Spent
I did not get a Hungry Harvest box even though it was my week. And that's because our credit card number got stolen, so we had to get a new number, and now we are finding out all the places we have to update this number!
So, my payment didn't go through. No Hungry Harvest for me.
But I got the card updated now, so in two weeks, I'll get my box.
Aside from that, it was a very here-and-there grocery shopping week at our house:
- $35 at Trader Joe's (me)
- $10 at Target for two bottles of conditioner (the ones I mentioned in this curly girl post)
- $4 at Lidl for a frozen pizza (Mr. FG)
- $27 at Weis (Mr. FG)
- $16 at Harris Teeter (me)
- $39 at BJs (Mr. FG, obv. He is the BJ's shopper here!)
- $32 at Giant (Mr. FG)
And all of that adds up to $163.
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I used a LocalFlavor voucher for a sandwich place, where I tried a Nashville hot chicken sandwich.
It was really tasty, and also very filling because it had two chicken breast fillets on it.
Mr. FG had a Philly cheesesteak; a date night is a perfect time for him to eat one of those because I do not really like cheesesteak sandwiches. This means I am very not-prone to making them at home!
By the way, we've found quite a few good 50% off vouchers on LocalFlavor recently, and they've been helpful in stretching our date night budget.
Local Flavor is a site that's a lot like Groupon or Living Social, but it's mainly for food in your area. Go give it a look before you go out next time; as long as you're not super rural, there's probably one for your area.
Sunday
I made French bread pizzas to use up a loaf of bread from the food pantry extras.
I've been using Cook's Country's version lately, which calls for brushing the bread with garlic butter and baking it for a few minutes before adding the tomato sauce and cheese.
This definitely upgrades the experience a bit!
Monday
Monday was the day I tried making fish sticks with the frozen catfish.
I wrote all about the experience here, but suffice it to say, it was not good.
Mr. FG was the lone one who thought the catfish was edible, and God bless him, he even ate some as leftovers for lunch the next day.
I could not. Blech.
Tuesday
I tried an orzo recipe that someone had posted on Instagram from a TikTok user who reviews Trader Joe's products.
I had to make a TikTok login in order to see the ingredients, so now I have a TikTok account but I am not planning to actually use it. I just wanted a recipe!
(I need more social media distractions like I need a hole in my head.)
Anyway, it was chicken sausage, orzo, chicken broth, cream, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach.
It turned out pretty similar to the orzo and ground sausage dish I often make, but the sun-dried tomatoes made it a little different.
Wednesday
I made these Korean lettuce wraps (we got a package of ground beef in the food pantry extras) and we had some frozen Trader Joe's potstickers on the side.
Thursday
I used an ATK recipe for pork tinga meat, and we used it to make tacos in corn tortillas.
Friday
I'm planning to make pasta alfredo.
What did you have for dinner this week?
P.S. If you've read the comments here over time, you are probably familiar with Gina, who blogs at The Cannary Family. Gina suddenly lost her husband recently, and if you'd like to send some support her way, you could leave a comment on her blog.
P.P.S. I have oodles of posts in the archives that I'd like to update and reshare. So, I'm going to start a habit of re-publishing an older post every Saturday. Some of 'em might be new to you!
Catfish is best served with spicy seasoning that will overwhelm the flavor of the fish. Do you have any gumbo recipes you could throw it in? Blackening it with a heap of pepper also helps.
So the name of the game is "disguise what you are eating". Ha.
@Kristen, the best catfish that I had was blackened with cajun spices and served with a chipotle mayo....
@Kristen, look at it this way: Catfish is a vehicle for other (better) flavors. 😛
Saturday: Bull meat with pesto and asadero cheese, garlic bread, roasted carrots, green beans
Sunday: Oven-fried chicken (my kids were getting tired of having roasted chicken every time we, um, "processed" one of the meat chickens), pasta with pesto, raw cucumbers, steamed green beans, chocolate chip cookies
Monday: Spaghetti and meat sauce I brought home from the school cafeteria leftovers, cucumbers
Tuesday: The younger kids had leftover bull meat and pasta with pesto. Eldest son had leftover chicken and spaghetti when he got home from football practice.
Wednesday: Bunless hamburgers, sauteed calabacitas (much like zucchini) and tomatoes, leftover green beans from the school cafeteria, cucumber spears
Thursday: Chicken salad sandwiches to finish up the leftover chicken, carrot sticks.
Tonight: I have some more spaghetti to use up, some marinara sauce I made in the food processor after I made pesto, and some ground beef I didn't cook when I made the hamburgers, so I think I'll make meatballs and there will be spaghetti and meatballs. Should make for some happy kids. Probably whatever raw vegetable I pull out of the garden, too, because it's that time of year.
Did the catfish have a sort of oily taste? Sometimes it does but that is not typical & not what it is supposed to taste like. If that is the problem, I don't think any cooking method can help.
Hmm, yes, I think oily would be a good way to describe it. Maybe fresh-caught would be tastier?
@Kristen, I think the oily taste comes from what the fish has been feeding on. Catfish are known to eat anything. If the label says Farm Raised, I would hope it would taste clean, like it should.
Yeah, it says farm-raised, so I'm stumped.
Oh! First of all , thank you, and to your kind readers who are leaving me sweet thoughts. Its amazing to know there is a community of bloggers who care and would take the time to leave me encouragement. I am humbled.
This week, my daughter and I have been cooking more at home to avoid the fast food trap. Plus, it makes us feel better all the way around! We've also been enjoying smoothies for breakfast, since neither of us wants much until lunchtime.
Monday - (leftover) Carne Guisada over rice, fresh green beans
Tuesday - Caesar broccoli and kale with eggy toast (tasted better than it sounds)
Wednesday - we had a burger from Mighty Fine and it was GOOD
Thursday - Shrimp Stir Fry
Friday - tonight we are doing chicken taco salads
Saturday - who knows
Sunday - all of my peeps are coming for late lunch/early dinner and we will talk about planning a memorial for Hubby. Next week I may be on my own for dinners so I'm going to have to figure out this cooking for one thing...
@Gina, I am so sorry for your loss. I wish you and your family all the best in navigating these unfamiliar waters.
@Gina I am sorry for your loss. I will be praying for you and your family.
@Gina,
I am truly sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Virtual hugs, too!
We're still in a heatwave, I'm still pregnant, and my husband did a lot of the cooking and meal prep. I'm doing a lot of cooking during the day for the freezer, but we can't eat that stuff yet!
Saturday: We met another couple for the first time at a restaurant that they chose. The food was fine, but not worth the cost.
Sunday: We had a baby shower! It was so fun. We served tabbouleh, bagels, lox, and cream cheese, hummus, sliced veggies, macaroni and cheese, fruit, and cake, and had leftovers for dinner.
Monday: Pasta and tomato sauce.
Tuesday: We had a friend over, so we did a snack-y spread of crackers and cheese, hummus and pita, and vegetables. I also wolfed down a bagel with a fried egg and cheese before he arrived.
Wednesday: Homemade burgers. Mmmm. We needed something hearty.
Thursday: We went to a fundraising BBQ but it was so crowded that we didn't feel comfortable staying. We grabbed some pizza on the way home.
Friday: I'm thinking some sort of chicken stir-fry. I bought a huge pack of chicken breasts at Costco but didn't get to cooking them before they had to go in the freezer. I think I'll make a stir-fry and freeze half. Pad prik king is delicious (Thai red curry chicken with long beans/green beans--it's quick to make and spicy; you might like it, Kristen!) but I don't know about freezing cooked green beans, so maybe something else. Suggestions welcome...
Ooh yes, I do love Thai red curry; so tasty!
How many more weeks until your due date?
@Kristen, two! So really, any day now.
Sweet! You have almost made it.
@Meira @meirathebear, Pad Prik King is my absolute favorite Thai dish - but I've never made it at home, because all the recipes I've found use kaffir lime leaves. Would you mind sharing your recipe? thanks in advance.
@Liz B., I use this recipe from Pailin's Kitchen. I typically replace the palm sugar with brown or white sugar, and replace the lime leaves with the zest of one lime. It doesn't provide the same fragrance as lime leaves, but it's still really good! I serve it on coconut rice (not scientific; one can of coconut milk plus however much more water I need to have 1.5 times more liquid than rice).
https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/gai-pad-prik-king2/
@Meira @meirathebear, thank you so much! I'll have to give it a try.
Saturday - dinner at my grandparents
Sunday - takeout pizza
Monday - crispy chicken with buttery lemon mushroom orzo
Tuesday - chicken patty sandwiches, French fries, steamed broccoli and edamame
Wednesday - cheesy cottage pie
Thursday - ground pork and zucchini stir fry
Friday - pizza (original plan was for homemade but we’ll see how it goes, it’s been an exhausting week!)
Happy weekend everyone!
Speaking as a long time catfish lover, I have to say that I have usually eaten fresh catfish but my family would also freeze the filets sometimes and they were still tasty. I know some people just don't like catfish, but some fresh blackened catfish is one of my favorite dishes, and next comes pan-fried catfish, rolled in cornmeal only; none of this egg/milk stuff, which would be a sacrilege where I grew up. 🙂
So, after that exposition on catfish, here's some of what we ate:
Homemade pizza on cassava crust, with tomato sauce, uncured pepperoni and veggies on his half, extra cheese and lots more veggies on my half. Thank heavens I can eat cheese. I'm not a fan of pepperoni.
Celery cole slaw with pulled pork and cantaloupe.
Tacos - no salsa or tomatoes for me, cassava tortillas. Raw veggies on the side.
Pork, onion, cabbage, sweet potato and mushroom skillet dish.
Tuna salad made with veggies, watermelon
Today is the "shopping for two-weeks of groceries" again . I always hope for better sales, and lately, I'm always disappointed. Maybe this time?
We're really into a busy season of work (my busy time of the year) + sports & activities for the kids. I'm reminding myself how lucky I am that our (vaccinated) kids can once again play sports, to try & not feel so overwhelmed by all of the driving. 🙂
Here's what we ate this week:
-We all went out to eat on Saturday. My husband & I went on a date, and a friend took our kids out to dinner.
-We had steak & caprese salad (salad to use up garden tomatoes & basil)
-Chicken fajitas (peppers from the garden) & guacamole (tomatoes, jalapenos & cilantro from the garden). If only our avocado tree would get a bit more mature, we could do guacamole entirely from the garden
-Carnitas & salad (kids had quesadillas instead)
-Steak & salad again
-Pot stickers, spring rolls, & baked chicken
I spent $61 at the grocery store, which included the ingredient and kitchen implements for making sushi. This was an activity my youngest and her best friend have on their summer bucket list. It was so much fun and not as hard as we thought it was going to be. We will definitely be making sushi again!
Here's what we ate:
Saturday - Leftover Italian sausage with peppers and onions and poutine.
Sunday - Hot dogs and mashed potatoes that were leftover from hubby's race food cache.
Monday - Veggie frittata and bagels.
Tuesday - Meatball subs and macaroni salad.
Wednesday - PB&J and leftover macaroni salad.
Thursday - Homemade sushi filled with choices of avocado, carrots, cucumbers, mangos and shrimp. Made with rice on the outside of the nori and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.
Friday - Planning Peruvian Chicken and rice.
In no particular order:
- Pasta with broccoli and marinara sauce (I used up the whole wheat spaghetti my husband normally dislikes since he can't taste or smell right now due to COVID - so he could totally eat that catfish if we weren't vegetarians! I'm also using this hopefully temporary can't-taste-anything opportunity to add way more whole wheat flour to his baked goods.)
- Veggie-tofu stir fry over rice
- Corn on the cob, green beans, red cabbage slaw (to which I added diced about-to-go-bad celery - so good)
- Veggie tacos in lettuce wraps
- Popcorn and fruit
- The rest is a blur
If you can't taste anything, that's a great time to eat everything healthy!
I marvel that you had 7 grocery stops altogether and not one of them was Aldi! Though I don't even know if we have 7 different grocery stores in my entire city, so it's been quite some time since I've had that many options available to me. Is Aldi more out of the way of where you go these days or did it just work out to go other stores?
This week we had:
Saturday - BLT's, green beans, zuchini, and a mix of green grapes, blueberries, and strawberries
Sunday - Brats and summer squash
Monday - Turkey broccoli alfredo
Tuesday - Tacos
Wednesday - Chicken sandwiches, fruit, corn on the cob
Thursday - Fish sticks, corn on the cob, zucchini, pork BBQ flavored chips (I hadn't planned on using the chips that night, but my husband saw them and wanted to try them - Aldi special find!)
Friday - Either ravioli and green beans or pizza. We're doing a movie night and it's the first Friday of the school year so I may just need to make pizza.
I live in an area with an embarrassment of grocery stores. It is seriously wild how many are within ten minutes of my house. So yeah, he and I were just popping into whatever was nearest at the time!
It is a week of using up food before leaving for vacation. WWS: .65 cents (one can of cat food to get $5.00 store credit). WWA:
Sat.: Shortened trip #1 early to try to make it back to New England before "the worst hurricane in 30 years" (we had a lot of rain and some wind but it was no hurricane....). Tried White Castle for the first time. Meh, at best.
Sun.: Toast?
Mon.: 3-cup chicken (Woks of life website), rice, sautéed summer squash, chopped cucumbers and red peppers with Ippudo dressing (pantry No. 7 website)
Tues.: out to eat
Wed.: pasta alla norma (tomatoes & eggplant from garden, added capers, subbed feta for ricotta salata)
Thurs.: Gazpacho Córdobes (tomatoes & cucumber from garden, epicurious, my favorite gazpacho recipe)
Fri.: fridge remnants.
I also canned 9 pints of tomato sauce. First time canning without a more seasoned canner and I'm still feeling a bit giddy that all sealed and none broke....
Yes, such a good feeling when all the lids seal!
I stopped using Groupon and the like since the restaurants & other businesses really lose out: let's say it's $20 for $50 worth of food. The restaurant *maybe* gets $10, and the site takes 50%. Then, if people don't become customers, it's an outlay without any ROI. Do you know if the one you mentioned has the same pricing structure?
Hmm, I don't know! My understanding is that restaurants offer these as a sort of one-off, to introduce people to their restaurant, hoping they'll become a regular. Sort of like a loss-leader, to get you in the door.
But I don't have any inside info about this!
It was just me this week so I spent moderately on fresh stuff and used up lots of pantry/'frig/freezer items:
Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues/Wednes : Homemade chix soup and either salad or steamed broccoli. It did get a bit tiresome but I soldiered on 😉
Thursday : Spouse returned and I attempted chicken flautas. Realized I do not know how to fry. They were okay and he seemed to like them. With salad and guacemole.
Tonight -- Friday -- treat!
oh and catfish -- yeah, I hear ya
Happy Friday to all!
$145 @ Costco but only $80 of that amount was actual food.
Saturday…skirt steak marinated with sofrito and lime, sautéed onions and peppers, cheese dip and home canned salsa verde and tomato salsa. We ate this with tortillas.
Sunday…batch cooking day. I made a large pot of vegetable soup using up lots of garden veggies, double chocolate muffins, cornbread muffins, roasted chicken with a lemon parsley pan sauce, squash casserole.
Monday…smorgasbord of soup, cornbread, steak tacos.
Tuesday…got some not so great news. Hit the easy button and went to a local Mexican spot for empanadas.
Wednesday…browned ground beef added to remaining veggie soup, cornbread.
Thursday…another rough day. Little guy had a happy meal. Hubby ate a sandwich and I had a scoop of ice cream.
Friday…Grandma took the little one for a date and fed him dinner…I think a milkshake was involved. Hubby and I had Lebanese food at a local spot.
The weekend is here. Hubby has requested lasagna so I think that will be our plan for Saturday.
Happy weekend everyone!!
How spicy was your Nashville hot? When I tried something similar, it was physically painful (my lips!) and I couldn’t eat more than a few bites. And did you have a bad Philly cheesesteak experience? I think you must have- they can vary, but a good, real one seems like something you would like.
Looking forward to the nostalgic archives posts!
Mine was spicy, but definitely edible!
Cheesesteaks are just so...greasy. At least in my experience.