What I Spent, What We Ate | a no-plan week
Normally, I take an hour on the weekend to plot out my week, and that includes picking out meals.
I did not do that this week and oof, that made dinnertime much more stressful this week.
I hate planning a menu, but I hate not having a menu plan even more!
What I Spent
We spent $138 on groceries this week, plus $45 on the random fast food on Tuesday.
March Grocery Spending
Week 1: $101
Week 2: $183
What We Ate
Saturday
We didn't do our usual takeout date night; it ended up being a fend for yourself type of night for us all.
Sunday
Pizza from a local spot for four of us, and a rice-noodle bowl of ramen for Miss Sonia.
I happen to like a lot of vegetables on my pizza, and no one else in my family shares this preference. But this time I decided to order a small pizza JUST for me, with all the vegetables I wanted.
Extremely luxurious!
Monday
I made a buffalo chicken salad with cornbread on the side (the gluten-free kind in the cast iron pan, and I finally remembered to use the correctly sized pan this time.)
Some of you asked for the cornbread recipe; I just use the one from Cook's Illustrated, which calls for heating bacon grease in a pan in the oven and then adding the grease to the batter before pouring the batter into the hot pan.
Tuesday
My lack of planning led to us getting fast food.
And this is why I blog about what we ate, not what I planned for us to eat. Because if I only posted plans, you all would start to think I am more perfect at this cooking-at-home thing than I am.
Better to share the real than the aspirational!
Wednesday
I thawed a container of homemade sausage ragu and cooked two partial packages of pasta to use them up.
Green salad on the side and dinner was done.
Thursday
Sonia requested hot ham sandwiches, and I was grateful because that way I didn't have to think of a meal idea!
I gathered all the random fruit in the fridge and made a fruit salad to go with our sandwiches.
Friday
I have book club tomorrow night, so maybe we will do our takeout date night tonight instead.
I finally reached the point where I couldn't bear to make the same recipes again one more time, so I found a few new ones to try this week. This is always a challenge because of the many, many food issues in my family, but I found a few and all were big hits. The first was a beef and sweet potato curry. My husband usually can't eat any Indian-style food because there are too many ingredients that might be unsafe for him. He LOVED it and has been thanking me for days! The next one was a mac and cheese recipe topped with a bacon, onion, and garlic mixture after baking. A family vote showed half liking it the same as my usual mac & cheese and half liking it more, so the new recipe stays! The third one was - baked sweet potato fries with a homemade aioli, another thing my husband can never eat out. I wound up making a second batch of the aioli for him last night because he enjoyed it so much and just wanted to put it on everything. The only problem this week was that everyone loved all the meals so much that they ate all the leftovers for lunches and there were none left for Thursday's usual leftover night! I get worn out sometimes finding and making safe food for my family, but this week my husband's overflowing gratitude reminded me why I do it.
It is SO nice when everyone loves the food and yours sounds delicious!
Thank you! It was definitely a good food week here. 🙂
We were blessed with 10 lbs of free frozen chicken breast on Sunday. Coincidentally, this blessing occurred exactly 1 day after I stocked up our freezer. So, I threw out our meal plan or the week cooked up the entire bag.
Saturday: Shrimp w/Pasta or Riced Cauliflower
Sunday: Chicken Soup/Salad
Monday: Grilled Chicken w/Salad and Breadsticks
Tuesday: White Chicken Chili with Quinoa
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Basked Fish w/Asparagus and Cheesy Grits
Friday: Probably Chicken Stir-Fri with Rice
I'm with you - when I don't get around to planning my meals and grocery shopping on Sundays, my whole week is out of whack and I end up eating take out a lot. I love when I end up finding something tasty, like your sausage ragu, during those weeks!
I planned a bunch of meals this week that I did not end up cooking for one reason or another. I did make a couple of tasty things: last Sunday, I made a traditional German Sunday dinner of Spaetzle and Sauerbraten. Spaetzle are a type of fresh egg noodle and Sauerbraten is a type of braised beef that is marinated and then cooked in a wine/ vinegar mix (hence the name, "sour roast"). It's something I always ask my mom to make when I visit home, but I never tried making Sauerbraten myself. I served it with a green salad and it reminded me of home so much. I haven't seen my family since December 2018 (!) so it was nice to have something that made me feel close to them.
I had thawed some homemade chicken stock for the braise and had some left over, so I used that plus fresh chicken legs to make chicken and dumplings. My first time making/ eating it, and it won rave reviews from my boyfriend.
I got to use my brand new dutch oven for both, so I was quite pleased with that. I've wanted one for quite some time and finally bit the bullet on a Lodge piece last Friday!
I also made a simple cake with plums. Tried 3 new things in a week - not bad for a low cook week!
Great picture of clouds, Kristen! I missed the thankfulness post yesterday but your photo reminded me that I am thankful for Yaktrax--I tried some for the first time this past week and, hooray, I could go hiking with hubby on icy paths through the woods.
Back to business. I don't remember which days we ate what meal, but so far this week we have had bangers and mash with onion gravy (bcuz Aldi is selling bangers--Irish chicken sausages--currently!), hubby made corned beef and fried apple sandwiches on rye for dinner last night (prompted by my purchase of rye bread--it was on sale, ya know!). I finally got around to trying my hand at making savory galettes for dinner and that was definitely a hit. Can't lose with pie for dinner! I found chicken thighs lurking in the freezer so I pushed the easy button and made chicken and rice (yes, using a can of cream of chicken soup--I'm still embracing my midwest retro girl on occasion). Tonight will be sheet pan kielbasa with whatever veggies I find to roast with it. And now my stomach is growling. Time for breakfast.
I used to use that all-cornmeal Cook's Illustrated cornbread recipe. Now, however, I can't easily find good cornmeal, but I CAN find a ton of corn flour (also known as masa--finely ground, used for tortillas and tamales here). So now I make Edna Lewis' corn muffins, but sometimes as bread. I like that recipe a lot. Really easy. Just for what it's worth.
And coincidentally, I made them this week! Along with a lot of other things, including, annoyingly, dog food, because we ran out of kibble.
Anyway. Food.
Friday: Tuna melt sandwiches, carrot sticks
Saturday: Cheese pizza and still-frozen peas for the kids, a very random soup made primarily out of mashed squash and pressure-canned bull meat for the adults. It turned out surprisingly well, given the complete improvisation of its creation.
Sunday: Rib steaks, fried potatoes, frozen peas, overbaked chocolate cake with maple whipped cream
Monday: Bunless cheeseburgers (I made them in the oven this time, and will do that going forward--not necessarily easier, but I can make more of them and it's a lot less grease on my stovetop), corn muffins, frozen peas. By the way, my above comment about the corn muffins made me realize they were inexplicable not in my own post about food today. And then I realized I completely forgot to write about Monday's food. So thanks for the inadvertent help. 🙂
Tuesday: The three remaining steaks I hadn't cooked from the day before, plus the other half of the bull meat in the jar I hadn't used to make the soup. And corn muffins, pinto beans, and carot sticks with ranch dip.
Wednesday: Pounded bull steaks with sauerkraut, rice, steamed carrots and broccoli
Thurday: Bean and ground beef chili, eaten either as is (me), over rice (eldest son), or as tacos in corn tortillas with cheese (remaining three children). My husband, who doesn't eat beans, had leftover steak and carrots.
Tonight: Tuna noodle casserole for the kids, scrambled eggs with feta for the adults, green salad for all
Kristin, you could write an entire book of meal plans or menus and I would read it. Your eclectic food choices, terrific explanations and hilarious comments are priceless! (And I mean this sincerely and in the nicest way possible.)
Thank you, Bobi. I'm afraid the Friday Food posts on my blog are as close to a book about food as I will ever write. I rarely use (or write down) recipes and I don't make meal plans, and I should imagine it's kind of hard to write a cookbook like that. Although, if I ever get around to collecting my own recipes in a book for my children--as I have promised them I would do before they leave home--I'll let you know. 🙂
Agreed!! 🙂
Yes, I would buy that book!!
If it's the masa I'm thinking of, you should try making arepas! Easy and delicious 🙂
I've never had those, and actually didn't know what they were. The masa I get is masa harina, which is the masa used for corn tortillas. That's what I generally make with it. From what I read, the masa used for arepas is a slightly different kind of corn flour known as masarepa (logically enough). I don't know if masarepa is common in stores here, because I've never looked for it. Have you tried making arepas with masa harina?
On Sunday, we had macaroni and cheese and salad and I made a double batch of the macaroni, which made good lunches during the week.
Monday, we had black bean soup and corn muffins.
Tuesday, I made a baked ziti. I froze the leftovers in several lunch size portions.
Wednesday, we had broiled flank steak with rice pilaf and salad.
Thursday, I had planned to make Swedish meatballs, but the weather was warm and we got unexpectedly busy so we had a snack dinner with veggies, cheese and crackers, etc. and I will likely make the meatballs at some point over the weekend.
Friday, we usually get some local takeout. I will suggest subs but I bet we will end up getting pizza.
Sometimes weeks go by like that at my house, too. Eh. I work. Hubby works. We deserve to have an off week, food-wise. BUT having said that, we have been very on track lately:
Monday - Grilled Chicken on Asian-inspired chopped salad
Tuesday - Salmon, fresh green beans with yellow bell pepper
Wednesday - Ground turkey tacos on whole wheat tortillas, cheese, plain yogurt, pico de gallo
Thursday - Leftover Chili Beans (frozen, from last week)
Tonight - Spinach and Salsa Chicken over rice
Saturday - Grilled pork chops and asparagus
Sunday - Ravioli and marinara, possibly a salad
We continue eating down the freezer and pantry over here....we can see the bottom but there is still quite a bit to go. For reference we have a 14 cu ft chest freezer.
We spent $115 this week buying cheese, green chilies, sour cream, tomatoes, pineapple, dish washing liquid, coffee creamer, mandarin oranges, bacon, corn in the cob, and a couple of other items that escape my memory.
We ate...
Sunday....I had planned to roast a turkey but it wasn’t thawed quite yet so I pulled a small pork roast out and roasted it. I made a large pot of black beans, rice, and roasted asparagus to go along with it.
Monday....I diced up some of the pork roast, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and fired some corn tortillas. Tostadas for dinner & corn on the cob.
Tuesday...I roasted a huge turkey and we ate some for dinner along with leftover rice, beans and veggies from the fridge. We also had fresh pineapple.
Wednesday...this was a fend for yourself night. My little guy ate my leftovers from lunch. Hubby had hotdogs. Mom and I made a sandwich.
Thursday...I used leftover turkey and black beans along with onions and a random
Assortment of peppers from our garden to make enchiladas. We enjoyed a pan of these and I delivered a pan to a neighbor and some friends that have been busy with projects around their house.
Friday....no specific plans yet but we tend to do takeout pizza on fridays. We may clean out the fridge instead.
I have zero cooking plans for the weekend but I am certain that will change by end of days today.
Happy weekend everyone!!
It sounds like you have a new strategy for meal planning; everyone gets to recommend one dinner per week alleviating you of 3 dinner decisions. 🙂
For us, we always keep a variety of frozen veggies on hand and have some thawing in the refrigerator to which we add whatever meat (sometimes two types) was on sale that we batch cooked. Sometimes we add a simple split pea daal to add a a sort of "sauce" that we cook in the Instant Pot or just add different seasonings to the dish. We never get bored with it and it's always delicious.
last weeks shopping, I was around 154.00. no shopping this week, but I may go and pick up a few things. Its the crazy season, practices, games..... But they are only kids once.....
Saturday-We went out for my Birthday dinner. Portuguese. was a new place for us.
Sunday-mom/dads, mom made dinner for my birthday. eye round roast, mashed , carrots, Ice cream cake for dessert.
Monday- Ds had practice, we picked up something on the way in, everyone else fended for themselves.
Tuesday-Ds had something before his practice, the rest of us had shrimp scampi, salad
Wednesday- fend for yourself. due to practice, most just stopped and picked up something.
Thursday- Beautiful out today, hamburger/hot dogs on the grill, steak fries,
Friday- It might be fish sticks and mac and cheese tonight, or grilled cheese, we will see.
Happy birthday!
I am so excited because I finally know what I ate in a week because not only did I have a meal plan, but I stuck to it!
Saturday- braised oxtail/chuck roast with onion strudel and cucumber salad
Sunday- homemade hummus, carrot sticks, cheese, crackers, other finger foods (?)
Monday- really horrible-tasting flounder, roasted carrots, parsley potatoes, broccoli
Tuesday- knoefla/knephla (who knows how it's actually spelled?) with sauerkraut and smoked sausage, roasted beets
Wednesday- taco salad
Thursday- chicken tenders, pirogies, roasted zucchini, and coleslaw
Friday- Tonight we are supposed to have lasagna, salad, and applesauce.
Thanks, Jody, it's always fun to learn a new word. I've never heard of knoephla. Had to Google it. Interesting. Similar to rivels which my grandma put in soup. Do you cook it with the sauerkraut or separately?
Well, I cook it not the soup way. I cook smoked sausage and sauerkraut together. I boil the knoephla in water (I cut the dough in using scissors) and drain it. I mix the cooked knoephla, the sausage (which I have sliced while the knoephla cooks), and the sauerkraut all together and serve it that way-- the same as my Oma made it. I have a few recipes like that which most haven't heard of unless they have a Germans-from-Russia background.
And I'd never heard of rivels until I moved here where the Pennsylvania folks very nearby put them in soup. I haven't tried doing that myself, but it's what people around here put in their chicken-corn soup.
I did a double take when reading your entry, because where I am from "Knoepfle" (this is how we spell it back home) are a slight variation on "Spaetzle", which I made this week. Funny that we had them both in the same week 🙂 it's so interesting seeing how food traveled the world throughout the centuries, I certainly never thought Americans were making Knopefle or Spaetzle!
Monday: curried vegetables and mashed sweet potatoes
Tuesday: potstickers and edamame
Wednesday: butternut squash ravioli with green beans
Thursday: Egg sandwich
Friday: Homemade hot pockets (FG recipe!) - they are currently in the freezer.
I haven't been very creative this week, but we got fed:
After a day in which I had driven almost 200 miles, plus going grocery shopping after that, we had hot dogs, fried corn, cole slaw and chips. I was too tired to do more, and the slaw was already made. No bun, very little corn and only diet approved chips for me,.
Uncured Polish sausage, cabbage and onions, and fruit
Beef chuck roast cooked in a Dutch oven with a ton of carrots, onions, mushrooms and peeled radishes (radishes are my potato subs - I like them roasted, hate them raw)
Brined Orange-Ginger pork roast, with summer squash and onions, and applesauce
A break from roasts! Tuna salad, made as I usually do, with shredded carrots, celery and onion, and with raisins. My husband had it as a sandwich with chips and pickles -- I had it by itself, with cucumbers as a side.
Leftover chuck roast with the saved juices made into gravy, to go over cauliflower rice, with English peas on the side.
Leftover pork roast, with sautéed okra, Russet potato sliced and roasted in butter (for him), cubed sweet potato (for me)
Tonight will be burgers - bunless for me -- and French fries for him, tostados for me, plus raw veggies or something. Maybe cucumber or carrots.
I need to pick up three or four items this week, but that should be it. The biggest expense this week is a sale from the farm where I buy my dairy and some meats -- they had the no-pepper-added sausage on sale, so I got five packs of it. It works really well for my breakfasts.
We (including the kids) like our tuna on lettuce leaves. . . I call them tuna boats.
I used to adore it on wedged tomatoes, but since I have to really restrict tomatoes now, I've been eating it naked. I'll try tuna boats, thanks!
My week to cook this week.
Sunday - quinoa spinach salad, soup, pears, naan
Monday - mushroom ravioli, broccoli, apples
Tuesday - takeout from local BBQ restaurant with more broccoli and oranges
Wednesday - chicken tacos, roasted cauliflower, pears
Thursday - leftovers with green garden salad
Friday - pork green chili over fried egg, oranges
Saturday - something from the freezer
Waiting on a massive snowstorm to arrive here so glad to be stocked up.
I’m in south Denver, waiting on that same storm! I went shopping Wednesday afternoon and the stores were already extra busy. Lots of soups on my menu for this weekend.
After all the build-up, it would be funny if it snowed 2-3 inches, rather than 23.
I'm also in CO and awaiting the same storm! We're fully stocked and ready as well. 🙂
WWS: $75 Market Basket, $18 local butcher; WWS:
Sat: homemade baked mac n' cheese; broccoli
Sun: Bahn Tom over salad greens; roasted Brussel sprouts with cilantro & mint
Mon: homemade lasagna Bolognese; salad
Tues: TJ gyoza; Asian-y slaw
Wed: leftovers
Thurs: grilled skirt steak with salsa verde (NYT); grilled summer squash; arugula & feta salad
Fri (tonight): Herb-Crusted Cauliflower Steaks with Beans and Tomatoes (epicurious)
Did you like the salsa verde skirt steak recipe?
We did! But we used cilantro and mint (no parsley). We served with arugula, instead of romaine, and I used a small amount of the salsa verde with more evoo and lemon juice to make a dressing. That was really delicious.
What is a Bahn Tom?
This is why I love your blog! You keep it real!
Last week my "Party of 5" was living the Covidy-quarantine nightmare.. I had friends dropping off food, birthday treats dropped off etc so I did not much!
Saturday- baked and ate the homemade chicken pot pie abandoned on my front porch by a coworker. Served with whatever canned or chopped fruit was in the fridge.
Sunday-Defrosted the container of sloppy joes, baked a bag of tater tots (both gifted to us by a friend when she dropped birthday treats off)- whatever fruit was lying around.
Monday- I was released back to the wild. My kids made steakum sliders on dinner rolls and I have no idea what they ate them with.. I ate leftovers when I got back from coaching out volleyball rec league team
Tuesday-beautiful weather so I grilled chicken and baked potatoes. Heated up some canned corn and canned green beans... keeping things simple!
Wednesday-Bought pizza from a school fundraiser- mama is tired from being back to the grind!
Thursday- made 2 boxes of scalloped potatos and heated up some honey glazed ham from the freezer. Pulled the random stuff from the fridge- orange slices, cottage cheese, canned peaches... cleaning house!
Friday- I have a tone of stuff to do today and cooking is low on my list so I pulled a container of chili out of the freezer and a pack of hot dogs/buns.. Simple and filling!
Hope everyone is doing better!
Thank you! We are getting there- the last one gets let free Saturday night! lol
Glad you are "released to the wild" and so impressed you cooked at ALL this week --
Still getting through the pantry and freezer...
Saturday- eggs, pumpkin pancakes, blueberries, bacon
Sunday- takeout from our local Chinese place
Monday- baked chicken legs, baked corn, rice/quinoa blend
Tuesday- leftover everything
Wednesday- Found a box of matzoh ball soup in the back of my pantry, so we had that with bread and butter, and some grapes and cheese
Thursday- the older kids were away at grandma's, so husband and I ate butternut squash soup (the kind from a tetra-pack) and grilled cheese made with tomato and onion.
Friday- since we'll have just the baby again this evening, I have a feeling the husband and I will end up getting dinner out (quietly cheering because this makes me so happy). If we do, probably sushi or Mexican. If we don't, I'm thinking flatbread pizza since I have flatbreads in the freezer I need to use. Either way, yum! It's a gorgeous sunny day and I'm excited for the weekend. 🙂
Kristen, I forgot to say that I like it that you got yourself a little veggie pizza. That's totally what I would do. I'm the only one in our house who will eat salmon and I happen to love it. It dawned on me recently that it's ok for me to make it for just myself. So I bought a small pack of frozen salmon just for me. No reason why I can't have some salmon while everyone else has chicken or whatever it happens to be!
Yes! Sometimes it IS possible to have something in particular that we like, even if no one else shares our taste.
That veggie pizza made me very happy! Just like your salmon.
Kristin,
I remember that Friday often used to be homemade pizza night. If GF works long term for Sonia, will you look for a good gluten-free recipe for pizza dough? Please post if you find one. I'm also gluten free and pizza is the thing I miss most.
The challenge here is that Sonia also cannot have cheese! A gluten-free, cheese-free pizza just seems like too sad of a thing to even attempt. Sigh.
I am GF and Dairy Free and I still eat pizza!! It didn't work out very well when I tried to make it myself, but I think it's quite good when I buy it out... But maybe I just forget what real pizza tastes like 😉
If you are interested in trying it out and have Blaze pizza in your area, they have GF dough & vegan cheese available that I like. My favorite is a local place though 🙂
I forgot about the cheese problem. Gluten-free and cheese-free is a hard combo. I experimented with Dairy-free and soy-free years ago to see if it would help with my health issues and I remember the advertisements for fake cheese. "they melt" but they are expensive and nothing like cheese.
Rebekah, I've been GF for more than five years, and the best frozen GF pizza I've found is Udi's. It's expensive, but worth it to me to have as an occasional treat. If you're interested in making your own dough, I'd try the Cup4Cup: https://www.amazon.com/Cup-Gluten-Free-Pizza-Crust/dp/B00H8ZRX14/ref=asc_df_B00H8ZRX14/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309811627177&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6682724716551459291&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031195&hvtargid=pla-762159351752&th=1
Their flour mix is seriously the BEST for all-purpose baking. I use most of my pre-GF recipes for cookies and the like, and my teens say they can't tell that I used GF flour. Again, it's definitely pricier but to me and my family it's well worth it to have a taste of normal.
Was going to make your red sauce chicken enchiladas last night, but my son asked me for pizza, and the siren song of not cooking was too strong to resist. So we'll have that tonight.
Wednesday was white chicken chili. Tuesday was leftovers from Monday. Monday was Jamaican oxtail stew. We're fiends for Jamaican food here.
Sunday - Can't remember - maybe buttered noodles with parmesan at daughter's request?
Monday - Onigiri for the kidlets, beyond burgers over greens for the adults
Tuesday - Taquito Tuesday for the most of us, cheesy zucchini bake for the one who didn't want that
Wednesday - Grilled cheese and french fries
Thursday - Pasta with blistered shishito peppers on the side
Friday - Fried Tofu rice for most of us; tortellini for the one who doesn't want it.
As usual, fruits and veggies on the side. Found dragonfruit at trader joe's so my daughter was thrilled and we had watermelon this week so I was thrilled! Looking over this, I'm realizing that we didn't have the most nutritious week nor did I clear much out of the pantry, probably because I didn't plan either. So I'm going to correct that and meal plan this Sunday.
My week's plan changed dramatically as I came home on Monday with 19 quarts of strawberries (along with many other fruits and veggies), which left no room in the fridge to thaw the turkey I had planned. I'm making jam today and am hopeful the turkey will make it onto next week's menu. This week we had...
Saturday - Pizza
Sunday - Pork roast, zucchini, and asparagus
Monday - Burrito bowls with strawberries and bananas
Tuesday - Cheeseburgers (on the grill because it's warm!), asparagus, and blueberries
Wednesday - Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Thursday - Baked spaghetti and green beans
Friday - Brats and hot dogs, asparagus, peas, and maybe some fruit on the side. It's so nice to have the grill out again!!
Have you tried making pizza on the grill? It's one of our favorite things to grill!
We have! We do it often in the summer. I make individual pizzas when we do it because I'm never successful at flipping a big one. But the kids have a great time with it!
Saturday - tried a new instant pot recipe - Asian spare ribs and rice, and sautéed bok choy on the side. Ribs+rice were just okay.
Sunday - had my parents down to celebrate my bday a day early and I cooked for all of us: bbq chicken thighs, biscuits with jam, Mediterranean salad, and brownies with whipped cream and strawberries for dessert. It was delicious, but I need to remind myself in the future that I don’t want to cook my own bday dinner.
Monday - actual bday so we ordered from a local taco place I love. Delicious, but man it’s expensive to feed a family of 5 from a restaurant!
Tuesday - spaghetti, and I tossed in some leftover chicken from Sunday, so 2/3 kids dubbed it “too chickeny” ... whatever, babies!
Wednesday - roasted veggies with tortellini and pesto, so good! Sautéed up some Italian chicken sausages I got on clearance at the grocery and they were not amazing - weird flavor.
Thursday - Pan-seared pork chops, cheesy baked potatoes, peas ... 20 minute dinner and it was a win for everyone. Note to self: quick and easy dinner is really nice!
Tonight - pizza from somewhere ... probably Dominos carry out special.
We’re supposed to have a blizzard hit tonight and last through the weekend, so I have soups on tap for the weekend! They’ve downgraded the snow forecast from 28” to 18”, so we’ll see what we actually get.
Happy Birthday!
My husband's family is from Australia &my mother in law. Made a soup dumpling from stale bread &potatoes. My kids love it. It's super cheap(that woman was very frugal), easy to make &served in either chicken broth or cut up in eggs. I love reading how we can carry on family favorites.
In no order we had
Chicken strips either in salad or pita bread with salad, steakums with onions & peppers,meatloaf &bp,pork tenderloin&fried potatoes baked ziti, chicken with veggies &terrikki sauce. We had assorted salads or veggies with above meals
Thanks so much for keeping it real!!!
This was one of those weeks where I was dealing with the balancing of spending over time. First, I went to BJs for the first time since before Thanksgiving so that was a big number. Then I paid for fresh scallops off the boat. This is my local support spending, instead of eating out. So, a big week. But, last week was small and I would anticipate future weeks to be smaller.
Sat - chicken sandwiches, veggies, tater tots
Sun - beef roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, creamed spinach, popovers
Mon - chicken & walnuts, brown rice, veggies
Tues - kids had hot dogs & veggies, adults had homemade pizza after a late meeting
Wed - chicken noodle soup: This was a budget balancer because the only "fresh" items in this were an onion, a rotisserie chicken, and the dry noodles. Everything else was something that had been put in the freezer when on the verge/bones/fridge leftovers/water to kick off the broth.
Thurs - scallop night, with brown rice and salad
We slipped a bit mid-week
Friday -- Treat night! -- Chilis -- the special that includes a shared appetizer (guacamole/chips), 2 entrees, and a shared dessert. I had ribs, husband had chicken fajitas, and we split cheesecake. There may have been margaritas . . .
Saturday -- Beef burgers, big salad.
Sunday - Highly discounted salad kit with chicken we added. Kit came with 3 different sauces so it felt kinda like a cheap Blue Apron entree 😉
Monday -- Last of the burgers, steamed broccoli
Tuesday -- Turkey tacos (discounted taco seasoned ground turkey), steamed broccoli
Wednesday - Broke down and got Pollo Loco -- fast food strikes again
Thursday -- Leftover turkey tacos, big salad
Tonight -- treat night, not sure. Happy Friday!
Sunday: We had extra broccoli from our Misfits box, so I made the broccoli cheddar soup from the Budget Bytes website. It was so good, and even better as leftovers!
Monday: White bean and spinach quesadillas. Sounds weird, tastes delicious.
Tuesday: Lentil stew, we eat it like a dip with tortilla chips. It's a nice "super cheap" recipe to have in your back pocket.
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Thai peanut noodles
Friday/Saturday: Leftovers
I love budget bytes!
Me too! I check her website, and she also sells e-book cookbooks. I have her 30 minute dinner one, and it's awesome!
Fri: Stuffed clams; taco casserole
Sat: Pizza
Sun: Salisbury Steaks
Mon: Tuna Sandwiches
Tues: Turkey Burgers
Wed: Chicken
Thurs: Beef stew
Still have not done take out. Working hard to eat from 'frig. I spent $60 today, some of it is in preparation for our St. Patrick's Day celebration that blew up last year (We are having it this year.) and some for the weekly "specially-priced" items".
I am going to make a pistachio cake (add a little more green coloring) with a white frosting and top that with green sprinkles and gold stars.
We had celebratory take out last Saturday and it was a lot of food, so it lasted 3 nights plus we had some leftovers for lunches. I was supposed to get out of work early Monday, go to Aldi and then cook. Instead I got caught up on a project and didn't finish until late. So Tues lunch was fend for yourself. Tuesday night we did the Aldi trip but I was tired so frozen fish and tots it was. This is our typical emergency meal. Wednesday I had my vaccine appointment and didn't cook then either! More fish and tots. Thursday I finally cooked- chicken pot pie noodles and Mexican rice, enough servings of each to have for lunches and dinners the next few days. Also made a spinach egg bake for breakfast. Phew!
This week coincided with all of the kids activities going back to pre-COVID times, but no ability to carpool (due to COVID - we're not vaccinated yet). Yikes. Things are wild here. I'm reminding myself to be grateful of this reopening and return to normalcy. My son made the high school team, adding an additional wrinkle to our schedules. 🙂
It was not a meal plan I remember, would recommend, or hope to repeat, so I really need to get ahead of our planning for next week...which is even wilder.
We had: spaghetti with meatballs (bolognese sauce from the freezer), kebabs & rice x2, a pork loin with roasted veggies, a grilled chicken & rice dish, and I can't remember.
Tonight we're having pizza. I'll doctor up a cauliflower crust veggie pizza for my husband, and the kids will have a Digornos. Their favorite. They were on sale, and couldn't be easier. Done & done!
Spent $110 at the grocery store + $40 on a meal delivery box.
Going backwards:
Friday: chicken fajitas
Thursday: cherry glazed meatballs, carrots and mashed potatoes
Wednesday: pizza delivery
Tuesday: chicken scallopini, zucchini and mashed potatoes
Monday: fried pork chops, stir fried cabbage, and rice
Don't remember what we ate last weekend.
I spent $126 at the grocery store, not all of which was spent on food. Trash bags, cat litter and some personal hygiene items also wound up in the cart.
For supper, we did takeout pizza, chicken casserole, grilled cheese, ham or salami sandwiches, hot dogs, and waffles and sausage. Sides were fresh fruit, fresh carrots, or some very yummy little crunchy dill pickles.
Friday- Western Burgers, chips, strawberry jello
Thursday- Hot Turkey Sandwiches, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Wednesday- Butter Bread Chicken Breasts, Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Tuesday- Swiss Steak and veggies
Monday- Spagettio's (yes from the can)
Sunday- Bnless pork ribs, baked potatoes
An average week for us, but I am thankful that spring sports are will happen this year- 1st baseball practice of the season is this weekend, and softball should be starting soon.
Monday- pork chops with rice
Tuesday- Brinner- pancakes and sausage
Wednesday- Crockpot- potatoes and chicken
Thursday- Indian takeout- our weekly support of a local restaurant
Friday- meatloaf with baked potatoes
Saturday- not sure yet
Sunday- pizza pie and for dessert- some kind of pie- Don't forget it is Pi (3.14) day!
Some how, I managed not to cook very much this week. It was an oddly social week and it was so nice to have a break. I feel restored and will be ready to cook again this weekend.
Sunday - My son invited us to dinner. He and his SO were making homemade pasta. We stopped at TJ’s and picked up GF pasta for me. They are always so kind and accommodate my allergy.
Monday - Baked Sheepshead ( fish) with garlic and ginger butter that my husband had caught. We had jasmine rice and fresh green beans.
Tuesday- Chicken pumpkin chili that I had made last month and frozen.
Wednesday- We had dinner at a local restaurant with my SIL who I hadn’t seen in nearly a year. She had her second vaccine and was happy to be out. We ate outside. The weather is great right now in FL. I had forgotten how expensive it is to eat out and how mediocre it can be. However, the company was good.
Thursday- I had my Zoom book club. We had a fend for yourself night.
Friday - We went to a back yard get together.
Saturday - I will see what comes in my farm share today and plan around that.
Have a great weekend everyone!
F: foccacia and salad
S: chicken and waffles, sautéed arugula
S: leftover tofu fried rice, steamed broccoli, salad (kale)
M: leftover tofu fried rice, salad (arugula)
T: bacon, eggs, toast, warm kale salad
W: turkey and avocado sandwiches, leftover chicken wings, leftover kale salad
T: chicken and Swiss chard, brown rice, tomato and cucumber salad
F: foccacia (mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, cheese) and mixed greens salad
S: breakfast casserole (eggs, tofu, red peppers, onions, cheddar cheese), lettuce and sorrel salad with blueberries
We had:
BBQ baked chicken wings, sweet potatoes, and cheesy cauliflower bake
Tomato, vegetable, noodle soup & garlic bread
Cheeseburgers, baked beans, & asparagus
White chicken chili
Lentil sloppy joe cornbread casserole
Ham & pineapple homemade pizzas & side salads
We typically try to plan out our week as well - and we meal prep together on Sundays and freeze the remainder of our food for the rest of the week. This week, we focused on rice, carrots and peppers and chicken. We try to be a little creative with the food so we don't get too bored with our recipes throughout the week, so one night we had chicken and pasta, while the other night we just had chicken and rice. Although this is a thrifty way to save money when it comes to grocery shopping, it's not always easy to resist going out to eat or ordering take out, so on Saturday night, we both ordered Indian food from our local Indian restaurant, which cost roughly $45. I'm OK to splurge a little once in a while!
Thanks for sharing your tips!
Cheers,
Fiona
We spent $28 on groceries this week. It included a side of salmon which I will make three meals out of and corned beef brisket for our traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner.
Here's what we ate this week:
Saturday - Venison steaks, mashed potatoes and salad.
Sunday - Garlic parmesan chicken and mixed veggies.
Monday - Eggs and toast.
Tuesday - Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Wednesday - Fried chicken, potato salad and green beans.
Thursday - Dinner date with another couple at a local restaurant. Felt wonderful to eat out again.
Friday - Homemade mac and cheese, salad and fresh baguette.