WIS, WWA | makin' up for last week
What I Spent
Well, it was a pretty quiet week on the grocery front!
- $21 at BJS
- $30 at Harris Teeter
- $5 at Giant
- $16 on chicken and waffle sandwiches
So, that adds up to $72.
December Food Spending
Week 1: $266 (!!!)
Week 2: $72
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I did a Five Guys date night, where we did our usual thing:
I ordered a burger with eleventy-twelve toppings, and he ordered a burger with one topping.
It's a very, very good thing we do not have to share a burger because neither of us would be happy!
Because we are the ultimate in fanciness, we walked over to Dollar General after our burgers and we each got a candy bar.
(Actually, that's one of the tips in my post about how to have a cheap date night: skip the restaurant dessert and go buy chocolate at a drugstore. Or, you know, Dollar General.)
Sunday
Usually, Mr. FG cooks on Sunday nights, but he was at his sister's delivering an early Christmas gift and he didn't get back until dinnertime.
So, we got chicken and waffle sandwiches from a local spot for $16.
Monday
I pressed the easy button; grilled chicken sausages in buns, plus potato chips and fresh fruit on the side.
By the way, if you buy the cheap $0.99 buns (like I did!), you can give them a serious upgrade by lightly buttering the cut sides and then toasting them, cut side down, in a skillet. It only takes a minute or two, and it makes the whole gustatory experience way better.
10/10, would recommend.
Tuesday
Zoe got a cold and requested chicken noodle soup for dinner. Easy enough for me! I made grilled cheese sandwiches as well.
Wednesday
I got a request from Sonia for chicken katsu (a dish she swears she could eat every week for the rest of her life!), so that's what I made.
I use the recipe from Dinner Illustrated for this dish.
Thursday
I made a pot of zuppa toscana and a loaf of this French bread.
Friday
I think I will make pizza, but I'm not sure if I will go with regular pizza or French bread pizza. I made two loaves of French bread last night, so I could use the second one for easy pizzas.
I love how you are so creative about using the food you have. This week we have had simple meals. We bought take away once. Mine was a chicken kebab and mum's was the worst side I have ever seen. I have cooked shin of beef and this has done several meals. tonight was a a homemade salmon pate on toast. Fruit has been eaten several times. We have had severe thunderstorms several days this week so very easy meals like sandwiches have been dinner. Sometimes we have a more substantial lunch.
As it get closer to Christmas, I am pressing that easy button, too! I find it really challenging to cook for one - but I won't give up! This week:
M - Leftover chili I found in the freezer, tortilla chips
T - Baked Chicken, twice baked potato, peas
W - Take out Chicken Chimichanga. I could only eat half, so I ate the other half for breakfast the next day!
Th - Meatball Soup at my daughter's apartment
Friday - I have some tilapia thawing and a chopped salad I need to fix before it goes south.
Sat - TBD, and Sun - Bruschetta Meatloaf with steamed broccoli and the last two twice bakeds* for daughter and me.
*I'm growing weary of these so I will be glad for them to be out of my freezer! My grocery bill doesn't seem to be shrinking by feeding one but there are lots of things stored in the freezer that will make future groceries trips less pricey. It will all get eaten eventually!
Saturday-mac & cheese, peas & carrots, baked apple
Sunday-bacon & egg croissant, hashbrowns, orange
Monday-leftovers
Tuesday-pancakes with bananas and blueberries, bacon
Wednesday-baked potato, salad
Thursday-grilled cheese, chips & dip
Friday-not sure but I will scrounge up something
Hi Kristen,
I looked up the chicken katsu. Turns out it is chicken Schnitzel. Now what makes it "katsu"? A sauce or relish? Or is this ketchup I am seeing on your picture?
So, it's basically a Japanese version of a chicken schnitzel. The chicken is breaded in panko (Japanese bread crumbs) and topped with tonkatsu sauce, which is kinda like a Japanese BBQ sauce. And of course, it's served with rice. Chicken schnitzel usually is with noodles, right?
@Kristen,
Thank you for explaining! Schnitzel is a Schnitzel. The original one "Wiener Schnitzel" is made of veal, dipped in flour, egg, breadcrumbs and fried in "Butterschmalz" (clarified butter which stands high temperatures. In Germany in any restaurant when listed "Wiener Schnitzel" you can be certain it is veal as it is a protected name. If you read only Schnitzel than it is pork or sometimes chicken breast.
In Israel chicken Schnitzel is extremely popular!
Anyway - thank you for reminding me of this via your post today. I haven't prepared this in ages but it will be soon coming up on my menu.:-).
Schnitzel is usually served with potato salad or any kind of salad. Potato salad in the South of Germany is NEVER prepared with mayonnaise but with a dressing consisting of beef stock, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard (optional) and onions.
If it is not accompanied by a potato salad than it is usually served with pommes frittes (potatoes cut in strips and deep fried in oil).
Another question" when you say chips - would that equal pommes frittes?
I think pomme frittes is equivalent to French fries in America. Chips are really thin slices of potato, fried until they are crispy. They would crumble if you tried to bend them, so they are much thinner than French fries.
Is schnitzel ever served with spaetzle? My family (German heritage) sometimes makes spaetzle.
@Lea,
Got it! Pommes frites = French fries
@Lea,
No, no Spätzle with Schnitzel. By the way my part of Germany is the home of Spätzle!
Spätzle must be served with some of gravy.....some say that's what Spätzle were invented for - to hold lots of gravy.
Or you layer with grated cheese from the mountains (Bergkäse) and bake this in the oven. Alongside you serve lots of fried onions and of course some kind of green salad. In Switzerland they might also serve applesauce with this. That's what I do at home.
Which part of Germany is your family from?
Hmm, I will have to ask my dad! I'm not sure where specifically in Germany his family came from.
It was a Kristen week at our house, instead of a Kristin week, because we ate fruit WITH our dinner, twice. Kristin with an "i" never does that. 🙂
Saturday: Barbecue pork made with canned pork and barbecue sauce, bread, leftover rice, orange slices
Sunday: Cheeseburgers--I actually made buns for the kids since I was baking bread anyway), green salad, green beans, pots de creme that did not set and so was basically chocolate soup
Monday: Leftover chicken tacos from the school cafeteria, grapes
Tuesday: Pork steaks and sauerkraut, baked potatoes, green salad
Wednesday: Many and varied leftovers, squash, still-frozen green beans
Thursday: A sort of taco skillet with shredded bull meat, rice, and cheese, plus steamed broccoli and I had a salad.
Tonight: Breakfast sausage, form to be determined. Possibly I will cook it loose with lentils, possible I will make patties and the lentils will be separate. I also have quite a bit of leftover rice and lots of lettuce. We shall see what ends up on the table . . .
@kristin @ going country, your chocolate soup sounds like a delicious fail!
@Jenni, It was! No one minded it. Except me. I was kind of annoyed. 🙂
Saturday - takeout pizza
Sunday - visiting friends, they treated us to takeout sushi
Monday - sautéed chicken, pearl cous cous, green beans (3 year olds request, he says cous cous is his favorite food)
Tuesday - I was in the office This day and my husband had lasik so I was very happy I’d frozen most of a lasagna a few weeks before. So nice to just come home and put it in the oven without doing anything else.
Wednesday - coconut rice pilaf, I defrosted a single serving of leftover sesame chicken and 2 cooked pork ribs that have been in our freezer a long time. I chopped it all up and added it to the rice, it was delicious!
Thursday - fried the leftover rice from the night before, served with chicken and vegetable potstickers
Friday - beef and mushroom stroganoff
My grocery list this week was huge as it included the Christmas lunch shopping. Total came to $153 and some change. Of that, $21 was a ham, $10 was cleaning supplies, $8 was paper towels (which is mostly in the pet supply category), $10 was cat litter, and $7 was cat food and treats.
Sunday night supper was pizza. For the week, I made a huge pot of very delicious beef-barley-veggie soup using some beef that was marked down on manager's special. Anyone who didn't want soup was welcome to have a sandwich. For my work lunches, I made black bean-chicken chili, which includes diced tomatoes, corn, spinach, and sweet potatoes, so it's heavy on the veggies. The side dish was a quinoa-grains mixture, chosen because preparing it would use up an open bag. Dessert was a frozen yogurt parfait made with the last few berries in the bag and a lot of grapes, which were on sale this week and are yummy frozen.
I've been finding cooking a bit overwhelming lately, so we've added a regular takeout night--which we used to do as part of our weekly run to the farther grocery store but we don't do that anymore--and I'm trying to plan better for leftovers.
Sunday: Roast chicken breasts and root vegetables.
Monday: I copied Costco's cashew salad kit (cabbage, carrot, almonds, sesame seeds, green onion, cilantro, sesame/soy/ginger dressing) and sliced in the leftover chicken. This is how I learned that the baby gets an upset tummy when I eat cabbage. Whoops!
Tuesday: Takeout burgers. I got a spicy lamb and beef burger. Delicious, easy.
Wednesday: We had guests, so I made vegetarian chili the day before (when my mom was over) and cornbread that day (while my brother was over). A friend brought dessert.
Thursday: I was out all day visiting family, so my husband made tomato sauce and pasta with meatballs that I'd made and frozen two weeks ago.
Friday: We still have a lot of spaghetti and meatballs, plus a tiny bit of chili, so I think we may have leftovers. If not (as in, if my husband eats all of it), maybe we'll have some fish.
If I can kind of throw a request for advice? I feel like no matter how much food we buy it's just GONE immediately. I think I'm not properly estimating how much we eat--when I was single, a pot of chili would last all week, but the chili I made this week lasted one meal, with one tiny serving left over*. How do I adjust? I realize the answer is probably "If you make twice as much food, it'll last twice as long" but I'm struggling to make the mental leap. It's thankfully not a matter of affording the food, just of my looking at a pound of meat or can of beans going, "Yes, that's enough, I won't have to cook tomorrow," and being...so wrong.
@Meira@meirathebear,
Yes, double what you’re making. I batch/bulk cook for my family of 2 for efficiency. I remind myself if we get sick of it, I can always freeze it.
Other thoughts:
with chili, serving it over rice will stretch it.
Measure portions.
Check the recipe for the amount of servings it makes and adjust accordingly.
@Meira@meirathebear, I have the opposite problem, usually. There are only two of us and I seem to always cook like I'm feeding a crowd. I tend to make a lot of soups, pasta, rice dishes, and bean dishes, so maybe those just make more. Depending on where you're getting your recipes from, the serving sizes may be pretty subjective. People have different sized appetites, so a recipe may be X number of servings for the person who wrote it, but only W number of servings for someone else.
It may help you to make meals you can build on, too (i.e., make a lot of grilled chicken and some side dishes, then just make one or two more side dishes the next day).
@Meira@meirathebear, something our beloved family doctor recommended to help men stop eating so much at the table: do not put the cooked food on the table. Have them plate their food at the stove or do it for them. The tiny extra effort of going back for seconds, plus not having the visual stimulus of more food in front of them, cuts people's appetites.
Otherwise, lay on a healthy, filling side, like a big baked potato to pour the chili over or a quick spinach salad as a side for any meat.
@Meira@meirathebear,
I don't remember how many kids you have (just the baby? more?) but if you happen to have multiple children.... It's been helpful to me to be particularly mindful of how much I'm putting on their plates. If I overestimate how much they'll eat we end up throwing away a lot of food. But if I give them smaller amounts and they end up needing seconds we're much better off.
I remember the time that it really hit me that one pound of meat (like taco meat or sloppy joe meat) was no longer enough - now I have to make sure I either do at least a pound and a half or add lentils to the meat to stretch it.
With other things like chicken thighs I've cooked an entire tray and planned on having leftovers to use in something else, only to end up having the entire tray get eaten in one meal. So now I only make one per person so the meat can last for as many meals as I plan. (Or you could cook the whole tray but make sure that some of them never make it to the table.)
I hope something there is helpful. I've learned from my expectations-gone-wrong experiences and I'm sure you'll do the same!
@Meira@meirathebear, It's hard to balance at times. Make sure you have enough in the pantry so that you're not just eating the food you just bought. I get caught in cycles like that - all of the recent grocery food I brought home is gone - because there was no filling side dish or other snack food on hand. (Why do the kids and husband eat all of the cheese every single time? I go to make tacos and the big bag of cheddar has evaporated....) Augment meals with rice, potatoes, or filling side dish of choice. See if your eating preferences have changed (are you nursing? I ate incessantly while nursing. ) Try to make double if you have the freezer space.
I don't have this trouble much anymore, but I do make too much. After having college kids home during assorted lock downs, I haven't made the cooking switch back to having just the littles at home. My husband is not fond of leftovers, nor are the kids, so the extra can go to waste. This week we're eating a lot of grilled cheese because I am so tired of having food no one wants to eat.
Good luck in finding that balance!
@Meira@meirathebear, Charles Spence and others have done a ton of research on food, eating, and the senses (also pink food is perceived to be sweeter than white food. If you are trying to cut down on sugar, making your yogurt pink will require less sugar...). If you use a larger plate, people consume more food. If you switch to smaller dinner plates, the amount consumed should actually go down. Likewise if you are eating in front of the tv or computer.
Whenever possible, I've been trying to add a can of beans to my food to stretch it a bit more. But I hear you; my partner eats far more than I think is necessary.
I had never heard that about pink food. So interesting!!
Sat.: Stouffer's ravioli, salad, and garlic bread. I'm NOT a fan of frozen dinners, but we were at Wal-Mart for our booster shots and were already tired from a very long week, so decided frozen dinner would be cheaper than takeout.
Sun.: Cube steak and gravy with carrots and egg noodles.
Mon.: Broccoli cheddar soup.
Tues.: Leftovers.
Wed.: Lentil soup and bread made with quinoa flour.
Thurs.: Tacos.
For tonight, I'm trying to decide between veggie pizza, quesadillas, or spaghetti. I may get hubby to decide.
Do you have the recipe for the zuppa toscana you made? I'm still trying to find one we really like.
My menus as of late are decidedly uninteresting. Oh well we were all fed.
Saturday - We were at my Aunt's house packing and cleaning so we got take out from Jason's Deli. After a long day's work a salad and a sandwich was SO good!
Sunday - I made a big pot of potato soup adding in some leftover ham from Thanksgiving that I pulled from the freezer. We ate garlic bread alongside. I also pulled the turkey carcass from the freezer and made 8 quarts of homemade turkey stock.
Monday - Leftovers for some, Peanut butter sandwich for some.
Tuesday - I used the turkey stock made on Sunday and some turkey from the freezer to make a large pot of turkey vegetable soup. I used lots of veggies from the garden for this as well.
Wednesday - Leftovers, toast, pb&j, fruit
Thursday - Leftover soup, stovetop macaroni & cheese, & wings
Friday - I have no idea honestly. There are many, many errands and tasks so it will likely be a night of leftovers again.
Saturday & Sunday - I have to finish Christmas shopping this weekend as well as the shop for holiday baking & meals. Thankfully this should not be a huge event as we have a well stocked pantry but it is on the list nevertheless. I will be prepping a large batch of meatballs for the freezer as well as some of the cookie dough & breakfast items for Christmas that I can make ahead and freeze.
Happy weekend to everyone!
So unfair! You got seven free toppings and Mr. FG had to pay .80 for a slice of cheese!
I know. My toppings are much more frugal. Ha.
I wonder if cheese really costs them so much more than jalapenos and onions!
We kept things pretty simple at our house:
- Ants on a log, olives, and a banana
- Baked potatoes and broccoli
- Frittata with green peppers and wild rice
- Walnut-mushroom-broccoli-brown rice casserole
- Tomato bisque
- Plate of veggies: broccoli, squash and mushrooms
- Popcorn and fruit
@MB in MN,
to me your menues look delicious, varied and best of all, very healthy.
But what are "Ants on a log"?
@Lea, celery sticks with peanut butter in the middle (that's the log) and raisins stuck on top of the peanut butter (the ants). It sounds weird, but the blend of flavors is suprisingly delicious. A very popular snack for kids (and adults!) in the U.S.
I've also had it with cream cheese in place of the peanut butter.
@kristin @ going country,
Oh, that sounds good! Thank you for explaining. Salted or sweet peanut butter? I want to prepare this tomorrow! Certainly als quite pretty with three distinctive colours.....
@Lea, Almost all peanut butter sold here is salted. Most also has some sugar in it, although that isn't the dominant flavor. Depends how sweet you want it, I guess. I eat mine with unsweetened peanut butter, because the raisins provide sweetness. My kids, of course, prefer peanut butter with some sugar in it.
I can't imagine eating unsalted peanut butter. That's way too virtuous for me! I love me some salt.
@kristin @ going country,
OK. Thank you. I have seen both in the shops here. I will buy the salted one then.
I am still hovering around 100 bucks per week. I use Kroger app and digital coupons and do not go into store. I miss going into store but know I would spend 125 or so if I went in…
Monday: air fryer baked potatoes with sour cream sharp cheddar and green onions with leftover split pea soup and cornbread.
Tuesday and Wednesday: use it up casserole odds n ends of fresh wilted spinach half wilted onion half containers of sour cream and cottage cheese and bits of three kinds of cheese. ( plus one egg and garlic powder) Made a layered baked pasta casserole with the above mentioned and one jar of pasta sauce and one box of pasta!
Thurs: sheet Pan dinner with other odds n ends. Smoked Turkey sausage 3 not so great potatoes one not so great sweet potato two sliced Wilted jalepeno sand our last three carrots. Sprinkled olive oil paprika garlic powder onion flakes but if brown sugar and salt and pepper. It was good!!
Friday: pulled homemade chicken noodle soup out of freezer. Will make some kind of bread. And maybe smoothies.
Saturday: picking up CHIC FIL A we both got the free milkshake cards!
Happy weekend! Finally picking up groceries in the morning. IT HAS BEEN 10 days!! WAH
S: Salmon patties, fried okra, salad
S: Black bean tacos, fruit
M: Green chile burritos
T: FYO
W: Chicken noodle soup
T: Leftover chicken noodle soup since I was gone from 4-8.
F: Blueberry pancakes, bacon and eggs
I really should look at these posts more. Lots of good ideas here. I get stuck in my rut of cooking the same things over and over.
Saturday - Chili and sweet potatoes. This is the first time I've ever put chili over a sweet potato and it was DELICIOUS!
Sunday - Pizza
Monday - Meatloaf, corn, devilled eggs
Tuesday - Tortellini, garlic knots (thanks for the inspiration and recipe, Kristen!), peas
Wednesday - Ham (yay for Christmas hams being on sale!!!), pineapple, sweet potatoes
Thursday - My husband, oldest kid, and I had goulash, salad, and rolls at a pre-rehearsal dinner. My mom and youngest two kids had leftover ham, canned peaches, and mac n cheese.
Friday - Plan A is ham and potato soup. But there's a solid chance our outdoor performance for tonight will be cancelled due to rain, in which case I'll make pizza and we'll do a Christmas movie night to help curb the disappointment. The soup will keep until tomorrow!
So much chicken! I know it's so inside-out for non-ag people, but our home-raised beef is so much cheaper than chicken is right now, we haven't had chicken for months.
Yes, I know. Never look a gift horse, etc.
This week we've had pasta alfredo with bacon and green peas, spaghetti with meat sauce and broccoli, chuck roast with mashed potatoes and a vegetable (I forget), leftover roast made into a gravy with some onions over yet more mashed with yet more peas, canned tomato soup with just-cheese quesadillas, and homemade pizza with breadsticks.
Tonight, maybe baked potatoes — probably ought to figure that out.
WWS: $75 (which is really high, but it includes $20 worth of meat for a dinner party tomorrow night, and does not include takeout. But, it is the last week of classes, and so survival mode). WWA:
Sat: leftover pork snitzel, sautéed zucchini, baked mac and cheese
Sun: leftover baked mac and cheese
Mon: corn chowder from the freezer
Tue: out for Thai with a friend
Wed: tuna fish salad, raw veg on side
Thurs: take out pizza
Fri: Hungarian mushroom soup, cucumber salad
I had a week of cook, eat, repeat, mostly.
Pressure cooked pork butt with ginger and orange juice, cauliflower rice, garlicky kale, and cinnamon-orange cranberry sauce.
A big pot of homemade chicken soup.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Tuna salad made with carrot, onion, celery and raisins, with sliced cucumbers and ranch dressing on the side.
That's it!
Heavy on beef this week for us. Made a hash of ground beef,potatoes,onions peppers onions &no salt spices. Made a ton so we had it in tacos 1nite &burritos another with salad or fruit. A meatloaf, leftovers again . Chicken breast tonight, going German I think after heading about it
Oh my, am I out of touch. $4.39 for "Little Fries"? Oh, my goodness!
Well, in Five Guys' defense, their "little fry" is not at all little. Mr. FG and I share them and they're often too many for the two of us to finish!
Grilled jalapenos -- you go!
I lost track of how much I spent but trying to keep it down, especially this time of year.
Saturday -- I was under the weather so Arby's sounded great. We used coupons and it came to $13 for the two of us.
Sunday -- nuked the chicken breast and served with big salad
Monday - Salmon with sweet chili sauce, roasted carrots, potatoes, red peppers, onions and last of the aging mushrooms, plus green salad. Used up a lot of stuff.
Tuesday -- Leftover salmon --plain for me; in sandwich for husband; and salad for all.
Wednesday -- Rotisserie chicken deal (marked down plus free jar of Marzetti dressing), big salad.
Thursday -- Chicken quesadillas, using last of the rotisserie chicken and pepper jack cheese with big salad.
Quick note : Was reluctant to try the frozen wild caught salmon but it was on sale and very tasty -- absolutely NO FISH SMELL. The texture was a bit mushy but it may be how I cooked it? Anyway, I would recommend it!
And tonight, some kind of easy treat -- Happy Friday to all!
If I threw away bread I'd have none for croutons! Also I love "gustatory"!
I've been on a freezer clean out mission.
Last night we had...pasta with turkey Italian sausage (from the freezer) and a sauce with roasted tomatoes (from the freezer). Also French bread I made earlier in the week.
Wednesday night we had Thanksgiving leftovers (from the freezer) and roasted Brussels sprouts.
Tuesday night we had red beans and rice leftovers with salad and french bread.
Monday night we had turkey burgers (from the freezer) and roasted potatoes, slaw
Sunday we had red beans and rice and french bread.
Tonight we're having "freezer fish" tacos with a mix of beans and rice from the freezer! We are making great progress!
My daughter wholeheartedly agrees with Sonia re chicken katsu!