WIS, WWA | no takeout for us!
What I Spent
Since I spent some time last Friday doing a thorough job of planning, I did actually make an organized trip to Aldi this week.
Annnnnnd we did not get takeout this week, probably because of the planning. 🙂
I spent:
- $71 at Aldi
- $6 at Safeway
So, $77 for us this week.
What We Ate
Saturday
Leftover chicken noodle soup, and I again added cream to mine. Will I ever eat regular chicken noodle again?
PROBABLY NOT.
Also, I took the suggestion from one of you and added my leftover tortellini to the soup. Thumbs up!
Sunday
I made a simple chicken taco salad; I just coated chicken breasts with an eyeballed combo of cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper, and then I pan-sauteed them.
I made an eyeballed* approximation of the cilantro/lime dipping sauce that is in this chipotle chicken recipe to use as a dressing, and I fried some corn tortillas to make some crispy tortilla strips.
*It was an evening full of eye-balling. I feel like eyeballing is more feasible when you are making small quantities of things. I eyeball a lot more now that I'm just cooking for two!
Monday
I made a pot of chili, which we ate with chips, sour cream, cilantro, and cheese.
And I used the last of the chili powder that Kristin from Going Country had sent to me.
Tuesday
Zoe and I ate together, but we had different things; she had a grilled cheese and tomato soup, and I had leftover chili plus a cheese quesadilla.
On the side, we had cucumber slices and some small colorful peppers (from my Hungry Harvest box).
Wednesday
Leftover chili.
But somehow I didn't take a single picture of the chili, despite plenteous opportunities. Whoops.
Thursday
I made baked potatoes topped with buffalo chicken; it's an idea I initially got from a Dinnerly meal earlier this year.
The Dinnerly meal came with ground chicken, but since I like unground chicken better, that's what I subbed this time.
I sliced chicken thighs into thin strips, coated them with flour, salt, and pepper, fried them with in very small amount of oil, and then added buffalo sauce.
Friday
Zoe has another 5:00-9:00 pm shift, so..maybe she will have some French toast when she gets home. And maybe I will eat up some random leftovers.
I made broth with the turkey that I had in the freezer from smoking during the summer. Then I made a batch of smoked turkey chili and brought half of it with me to my brother in law's. Then I made turkey soup with the rest of the broth and turkey pieces that were also in the freezer. That was 4 dinners. I am done with turkey till November. Now I have 2 pork butts and a ham to use up from the freezer. We'll smoke one of the pork butts this week for pulled pork.
WIS: 130.12 @Aldi
WWA: It was another week of September, so all salads were basic prewashed greens and bottled salad dressing and/or shake parm.
Fri: salad, focaccia with tomatoes, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
Sat: salad, leftover focaccia and leftover chicken and rice with peppers and onions.
Sun: salad, watermelon, leftover rice and beans with cheddar cheese, broiled zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant rounds.
Mon: salad, watermelon, broiled salmon with maple syrup, buttered sourdough bread slices.
Tue: salad, pasta with egg, Parmesan and peas
Wed: I had Back to School night and ate leftovers from my lunch plus some spring rolls I begged off another teacher. My family had scrambled eggs, pancakes with blueberries and small peanut butter cups mixed in, and salad with nuts and dried fruit.
Thu: salad, watermelon and spinach biscuit ring (frozen spinach, shredded cheddar cheese, turkey lunch meat and mustard wrapped in biscuit dough)
Tonight: watermelon and focaccia.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Was the mild last to go because you used the hot first? 🙂 Meanwhile, I'm over here fanning myself when I try to eat mild salsa. You should live in New Mexico. You'd love all the spice.
Speaking of which! I made a very mild Mexican casserole this week, which everyone but me and my daughter added habanero hot sauce to . . .
Saturday: Pizzas--one cheese, one pepperoni--because I was baking bread. And that means I can steal dough. I never make dedicated pizza dough. Too much of a pain with the two-day process that is sourdough baking. We also had a green salad with ranch dressing. It must always be ranch dressing on pizza day, because a few family members insist on dipping their pizza in it. Something they learned from the kids at school, I suspect.
Sunday: I started feeling a cold coming on this day, so I did not make an elaborate Sunday dinner. I wasn't going to cook at all, in fact, but then the kids got into the leftover pizza I was planning on heating up for dinner, so I had to make something else. That something else was a skillet of leftover diced smoked sausage, leftover rice, diced and sauteed onions from the freezer (I will never be without a bag of these in my freezer ever again--so convenient), and some frozen peas. This is my version of fast food.
Monday: This was the wimpy casserole I mentioned already. I made it with processed bull meat, black beans, corn tortillas, grated cheese, and an enchilad-ish sauce I made with pureed tomatoes, spices, and those handy frozen onions again. The hot sauce used on it by the male members of my family is an extremely hot habanero sauce from Mexico that I found in the clearance section of the grocery store for .69. It is beloved by the boys. I, on the other hand, treat it like a radioactive substance. We also had raw cabbage chunks this day. Grudging vegetable, yes.
Tuesday: My husband and I cut up the sheep that died Sunday and ground quite a bit of the meat in our manual meat grinder. I used some of that to make a spaghetti sauce. And then there was raw broccoli with ranch dip.
Wednesday: Kids had leftover sheep spaghetti, husband had leftover bull casserole, I had a salad. And there were some cucumber slices with more ranch.
Thursday: I cooked a big pork picnic roast in the morning, then pulled pieces off, mixed them with mustard and a bit of maple syrup, and broiled them until crispy. I also used one of precious jar of sauerkraut--I only canned I think four pints this year--which was so good with the pork. Then there was garlic bread--another thing I steal dough for when I'm already baking bread--and steamed carrots and broccoli. Cooked vegetables because my parents were visiting. The dreaded cooked broccoli was apparently deemed acceptable by dipping it in the habanero hot sauce. Which is also what everyone put on their pork. Yuck.
Tonight: The school play is tonight. My children will be at school late, where they will be fed dinner. I will probably use some of the leftover pork to make tacos for my parents before we go to the play. I can even make corn tortillas, because making enough tortillas for four adults is a much more manageable task than making corn tortillas for eight people, including three very hungry boys.
@kristin @ going country, mmmm, I love food extra hot and spicy. Which reminds me, I haven't made Jamaican mac and cheese with extra scotch bonnets lately.
@kristin @ going country, Thank you for making me think of my Mom. She had several dislikes. I'm not quite sure how we got to be more adventurous eaters than she, but her expression to what we liked that she didn't was also "Yuck."
Hahaha, yes, I bet I WOULD like the spicy New Mexico food!
@kristin @ going country, the local pizza restaurant offers ranch dressing, and one of their popular menu items is simply breadsticks with ranch. I wonder where this originated.
I'm with you on the habañero—no thanks to the super-spicy. It hurts my mouth. (So does the mild. . . what a wimp.)
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I believe pizza-with-ranch originated in the midwest.
Here in NY, people would riot if anyone asked for ranch with pizza.
@Kristen, You'd probably like Jamaican mac and cheese then. It's quite spicy, then you drizzle honey over it to serve. I don't even like honey and I just adore the combo of sweet and spicy.
I am POSITIVE I would enjoy that!
Here you go! I just looooooove it. Recipe given to me by Jamaican friend.
Jamaican Mac and Cheese
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1 tsp salt
1 pound dried macaroni
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
Scant cup flour
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp honey, plus extra to taste
1 tsp chili powder
1 scotch bonnet pepper, deseeded and diced (I use 2-3 because I'm nuts)
2 cups sharp cheddar
1.5 cup mozzarella, grated
Crushed Cheez-Its or Doritos, optional (I use white cheddar Cheez-Its)
Preheat the oven to 350. Put a large pot of water plus the salt on to boil.
Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat then add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft. Set aside.
When the pasta water is boiling, toss in the macaroni then cook for 10 minutes (it will go in the oven, so should not be completely cooked). Drain, return to the pot, add the butter and 1 tsp black pepper and mix.
For the sauce, pour the milk into a bowl then add the eggs, flour, mustard, paprika, honey, chili powder, remaining pepper, scotch bonnet and softened onion. Add 1 cup of each cheese to the mixture and whisk.
Pour the sauce on to the pasta and stir. Get a large casserole dish and spoon in a layer of macaroni, about one third of the dish height, then sprinkle with a third of the remaining cheeses. Add another layer of macaroni and sprinkle with more cheeses. Repeat these steps until you’ve used all the pasta, saving a good amount of cheese for the top layer.
Once the top layer is covered with cheeses, sprinkle over the cracker crumbs, then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the inside is bubbling and the top is crispy. To serve, drizzle extra honey over each portion.
Oh, the mustard is dry English mustard powder. I should amend the recipe.
Kristen, you have it under control ☺️
It takes a week or two to figure out your new rhythm and schedule. I think you are doing great!!
I am so happy you love your classes and the nursing program so far. I am a career changer to the medical field and went to professional school in my 30’s. I appreciated and loved school in a way I didn’t when I was a traditional college student.
You will be such a fabulous nurse!
Mother of three here- once my kids graduated from HS I did not worry about feeding them. Mine went away to school and were on their own. I think Zoey needs to do some cooking for herself and you eat what you want to. Does she grocery shop for you? I just made my list and am headed for Aldi at 8:15 since they open at 8:30. I have paperwork to complete for my job and I’ll be working tomorrow. Tonight is leftovers and tomorrow a new recipe for butternut squash soup. My freezer is my friend.
Nope, I'm the one that does the grocery shopping, although she's happy to pop in and pick something up too.
Zoe's a busy college student with a job too, so she's not particularly long on time, and her work shifts are such that they are not very cooking-friendly. She does manage almost everything else about her life (cleaning, laundry, clothes shopping, driving herself everywhere, etc.), so I don't mind doing most of the cooking. There's not much else I do practically for Zoe anymore!
(aside from emotional support, of course. 🙂 )
@Kristen, it is great to see the self-sufficiency that you have taught all your offspring. You have done a fabulous job of rearing capable adult humans. And it is obvious that cooking is a creative outlet for you, along with being one of your "love languages".
@Kristen, Thank you for replying so politely. I don't think I could have done that. If fact I've been biting my own tongue. You're an excellent role model for constructive blog dialogue. ;-}
@Kristen, my boys were the same when they were in school. Between school, work, homework, etc....they hardly had a social life or time for anything. I was cooking anyways, so they didn't have to worry about that chore. They did the rest of their stuff. Even now my younger son lives a couple miles away and works fulltime along with finishing his MBA. His current two classes are overwhelming and extremely time consuming. I've just been cooking a bit extra each night and giving him 2-3 meals at a time that he can take home and reheat because he just needs the support right now. Not cooking and cleaning can save him an hour of his night to get some homework done. If I can support him in some way to help, I'm all for that. He supports me with help in doing yard work or washing my car or things that may not be my favorite things to do. When I broke my foot...he jumped right in to help.
Side note: He does cook and actually enjoys it. He can cook most anything...when he has the time 🙂
@JDinNM, She really is. Plus, I don't even have a child named Zoe, but "Zoe" as it is is pronounced "Zoh-ee." It is Greek. It should not be pronounced like an English word, nor does it need a Y at the end. It means "life."
I remember back in college, I asked the name of a customer's little girl in the store I worked in. She laughed and said, "Her nickname is longer than her name. It's Zoe [pronounced Zoh] but we call her [Zoh-ee]." I said, "But Zoe is pronounced Zoh-ee. It's Greek." Boy, was she flummoxed.
I think Americans are so used to the name "Joey", it seems that Zoe should also have a y at the end! Joey and Zoe are pronounced the same way, but spelled differently. And yep, it's the Greek that's the issue here. 🙂
@Nan, one of the nicest and most "mom" things you can do for your young adult children is cook for them. Bonus points if they sit and eat with you, sharing their day. Its not always about whether they can cook to fend for themselves, food-wise. Sometimes its just about nurturing them in other ways. I cook for mine, too. They help in other ways. Win, win for us both.
@JDinNM, was just thinking I would not have been so kind if I had to reply to that rude comment. My oldest just started college this fall, and although she is away for school, when she returns I will happily cook for her anytime. A family takes care of each other!
@Anne,
Maybe I'll be crucified for saying this, but I honestly don't think Nan was all that rude. I think she was just making a suggestion based on her own experiences...fwiw...
I'm sure Nan has our best interests at heart, which is why I didn't respond in an offended way. But of course, no one knows my situation or my child's situation as well as I do, and no one on the internet has all of our schedule and personal information. I'm doing my best to manage life in a way that is as healthy as possible for Zoe, given all the factors that only I am privy to. 🙂
It's all good!
@Kristen, such a great way to foster independence. Your doing an awesome job ☺️
@Kristen,
I totally agree with you which is why I try as much as possible to abstain from giving unsolicited advice. You never know what someone else is really dealing with, but I did just want to comment and say that I didn't perceive the original comment as rude. I think it can be hard to determine intent behind something that is written (not always, of course, because sometimes it is crystal clear) but one of the things I like about this blog is that mostly the commenters are gracious and gentle with each other and tend to assume good intentions. It makes this blog quite unique in that unlike the rest of the internet, it feels like a real community of people who care about each other rather than a place where people's comments are torn apart, characters are impugned and virtue signalling abounds. It is so hard not to let that human tendency take over and I want you to know that I personally appreciate how careful and thoughtful you are in all your responses. I am sure others appreciate it too. Sending love.
What a coinkidink, I also have Buffalo Chicken on the menus for next week, but mine will be cut up over salads. I also found a recipe for a Frank's Red Hot sauce dressing - yum! This week at my house:
Monday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish rice {one of my sons cooked}
Tuesday - One Pot Pasta with Meatballs, side salad
Wednesday - Glazed Meatloaf, chopped Italian Salad, corn casserole
Thursday - Ba$tard BBQ Chicken, carrots, the rest of the corn casserole
Friday - Teriyaki Chicken, brussels sprouts, skillet sweet potatoes
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed (but we have a lot of pre-packed leftover containers in the freezer)
Lots of chicken it seems, but I got a good deal on some pre-marinated breasts for tonight and I thought it sounded good - I will use my cast iron grill pan since its still a little too hot for the outside grill.
Happy Weekend!
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/
Sunday: Chicken tortilla soup, one of my favorites. We have a recipe that involves blending tortilla chips and avocado into the soup, and it makes it nice and thick and kind of creamy. I'm glad it's soup weather!
Monday: Biscuits and gravy casserole. Not my favorite dinner (I just don't love sausage gravy), but I wasn't the one who made it so I don't complain haha
Tuesday: Preschooler's choice, she's on a mini hot dog kick. But she says she wants mac and cheese for next time, so we'll see if she actually remembers that by next week.
Wednesday: Pizza salad
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday/Saturday: Leftovers, maybe eating out Saturday. We haven't gone to our favorite Puerto Rican restaurant lately, and we've been craving it.
Have a great weekend everyone!
WIS: $13 at the Regional Market, $18 at Ollie's, $20 at Trader Joe's, and $21 at Wegmans.
WIA: My best buy this week was six turkey thighs at Wegmans, which have kept me fed for the last 3 days or so, and the last bits of which are going into a turkey noodle soup today. And I think I'll take a leaf out of Kristen's book and add a little half and half (I don't have any cream on hand) to the container of soup I plan to take over to my next-door neighbor. NDN's GP says that she is underweight, so she can use the extra calories. (Which is not something I can say for myself!)
And speaking of New Mexico-based pepper products, my Grad School BFF sent me a package of Hatch goodies as a belated birthday gift: a jar of salsa, a jar of onion dressing, two jars of chiles (one all green and one red and green), and a packet of freeze-dried green chiles. All mild, of course--GS BFF knows I like my heat turned low--but this should keep me in pepper products for the next few years!
Let's see.
Last night, pot roast with carrots and mash.
Wednesday, chicken and wild rice soup. So glad I splurged on wild rice.
Tuesday: fig pizza.
Monday: penne with vodka sauce.
Sunday: more sliders. We use roast beef instead of ham because I am not a ham fan.
Tonight: daughter is at a concert, son can eat leftover soup.
Tomorrow: daughter wants to turn the rest of the pot roast into sliders.
158 Kroger pickup.
Monday: loaded baked potatoes ( air fryer). Turkey sausage from grill.
Tuesday: egg sandwiches on English muffins. Microwaved some random odds and ends of bacon. Cottage cheese with fruit.
Wednesday: air fryer chicken lightly breaded strips your choice dipping sauces. Lettuce salad. Light on lettuce but heavy on cucumbers and celery. Instant mashed potatoes. Yes from the flakes. Yes we all like them in a pinch. I do doctor them up a bit.
Thursday: sams rotusssue chicken. Leftover mashed potatoes. Sliced tomatoes. Garlic toast from random bread and bun pieces.
Tonight: I will be only one home. Prob an air fryer loaded potato and leftover sams chicken.
Tomorrow: BIG FOOTBALL SAT. GO NOTRE DAME. we are having dips and snacky food including air fryer wings and dill pickle dip and whatever else I find at home!
We were without an oven and I think we managed admirably with only a hotplate.
Monday: Scrambled eggs, sauteed zucchini, and miso soup (requires water from a kettle but no "cooking")
Tuesday: Sauteed zucchini, sausages, toast-- but the sausages took so long to defrost that my daughter had a big snack of crackers and fruit before dinner. She still ate more sausage than Mr. B and I!
Wednesday: We ordered pizza, and my mom brought us radishes and corn, so I also made radish/cucumber salad and boiled corn.
Thursday: Mr. B booked the BBQ in our building and grilled lamb burgers and cooked frozen french fries on a pan on the BBQ. Best fries I've ever had.
Friday: Our local butcher is going out of business and we drowned our sorrows by buying a lot of meat. Depending on the timing of the arrival of our new oven, we'll either have roast beef or BBQ steak, with roasted squash and sauteed broccoli on the side. We will buy a challah. My brother and SIL are coming over, the first time since their wedding last month.
Oooh, I hope your new oven arrives sooner rather than later!
Last Friday we went to hubby's work Family night...they had a food truck there and an ice cream truck. I had a roast beef burger and fries, very good! Hubby had birria tacos. I also had blueberry chocolate chip ice cream.
Saturday we had roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, applesauce, italian bread.
Sunday we got takeout....hubby had a pizza calzone (build your own) and i had a small fish sub. We shared a antipasta salad.
Monday: hubby had the rest of his calzone and I made a toasted sandwich with a roll, ham, salami, pepperoni, cheese and i ate a banana.
Tuesday: hubby made a beef shepherds pie with the rest of the leftovers from Saturday and he added some peas to it. We had homemade bread with it.
Wednesday: our daughter invited us to her house for dinner. We had chicken or beef crunchwraps and hubby and I took homemade apple pie for dessert (made the night before)
Thursday: same daughter and her boyfriend invited us to dinner as he won big on 2 scratch off lottery tickets....we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and had their special of BOGO boneless wings....we all had our choices and we shared an order of fries and queso and chips.
It was another off-menu week. I just didn't feel like cooking all that I had planned. I known part of this is stress about the hurricane and the mill closure.
Last Friday night I broke my diet of eating no or very little nightshades and my rule about not buying a meal out when I can cook. Folks, I went through McDonald's and got a large order of fries and a diet Coke on my way home and that was my supper. It was late, I was hungry and I pass a McDonald's on my way home. I used some of the money I got for selling my aluminum cans the other day.
I ate at home the rest of the week. I had:
Omelet with spinach, onion and mushrooms.
Chicken and dumplings with green beans, cranberry sauce and homemade cupcakes. This was a combined birthday dinner. My young grandkids love homemade cranberry sauce and wiped it out.
I cooked a whole chicken but only used about half the meat in the dumplings, so I seasoned some of the cooked meat in whatever spices and had it with fresh summer squash from my plants, and leftover green beans.
I got home really late one night but managed that time with a Lebanon bologna sandwich on GF bread and fruit.
I got a small strip sirloin in my beef order and cooked that with baked sweet potato and the last of the green beans. I cook a single potato in the microwave by wrapping it in my soup-bowl cozy and it comes out very much like one baked in the oven.
PSA: Don't do like I did the first time I tried this, and wrap the potato in an all-cotton towel. That's how I found out that all-cotton towels can still have polyester thread and can catch fire. Fabric, padding and thread must all be microwave safe.
I used up the last of the cooked chicken by processing it with carrot, onion and celery then added mayo and raisins to make chicken salad. I admit to just eating it by itself. It was 8:30 and I was tired.
Fortunately, I had cooked a crock-pot turkey and vegetable casserole then froze it in portions that I thawed each night, which made breakfasts easy and helped get my veggies in.
I didn't grocery shop last week, but I will today.
@JD, I cracked a got late night McDonald's drive through this week too! Not my finest hour but you are not alone!
@JD, sometimes only french fries and a McDs diet coke will do.
@JD, thanks for your PSA. That helps me understand why a potato in my friend's homemade potato warmer was fine... but why I had a similar mishap to yours when I tried to replicate it with my own potholder. Good to know!
I love baked potatoes with pulled pork bbq and cheese..yum!
We had a busy week so I had to plan ahead a lot, but we ate at home, except for Sunday afternoon which was planned to go out. We ate Indian food (curry and butter chicken) at a restaurant.
Monday: husband was out of town so I had a sandwich and snacked
Tuesday: enchiladas made from leftover birria meat and salad.
Wednesday: White chicken chili and tortilla chips
Thursday: harissa chicken, brussels sprouts, and some rice
Tonight: Burgers and home fries.
WIS: $54.75 at the little Walmart Neighborhood store (including a lot of Black Forest Ham on sale that went into the freezer) and $64.55 at Albertsons (including 2 pounds of half-priced pre-sliced beef “for stir fry” that is perfect for fajitas and $27.50 of treats and a toy for the dog who has been a Very Good Girl), so $91.80 for me and $27.50 for Maisie. Oh, and $13.78 on Amazon for 2 containers of “Bragg Premium Nutritional Yeast Seasoning – Vegan, Gluten Free (neither of which I am)—Good Source of Protein & Vitamins.” Now I have to figure out how to use it. Any tips? I hear it tastes like parmesan cheese.
WIA: Leftover kale and mushroom pizza. Mushroom ravioli with Portobello Mushroom sauce. Brazilian-style marinated steak and roasted smashed potatoes, brussels sprouts and cauliflower. (It’s Fall! Time for roasting!) I cooked up a double batch of beef fajitas, peppers and onions and put 3/4ths in the freezer and ate the rest for dinners this week. The last of the strawberries for dessert.
Next Week: So much in the freezer I hope to not do any grocery spending. Maybe just a trip to the mid-week Farmers' Market for fresh fruit and vegetables.
@JDinNM,
Nutritional yeast does have a cheesy flavor. It can be sprinkled as a low calorie option for cheesy popcorn, used as a sub for real cheese in cheese sauces and sprinkled on vegetables to add some cheesy flavor. Look up dairy-free recipes and you'll probably find other ways to use it as well. It's a popular choice in elimination diets such as AIP diets.
@JD, Thanks! First I'll do some reading, then I'll do some experimenting. I was interested in the B vitamin fortification in the Bragg product. Putting it on vegetables sounds ideal.
@JDinNM, I love nutritional yeast on homemade popcorn! Once you add salt and olive oil or butter... super yummy. I haven't personally enjoyed/had success using it as a cheese replacement (for example on homemade pizza), but YMMV. 🙂
WIS: $16 @ Publix
WWA:
Saturday: I took all of my leftovers in the fridge - chicken, peas, carrots, leftover mashed potatoes and threw it into the crockpot with some chicken broth and spices. We ate this soup along with some ham & cheese sliders that I baked in the oven
Sunday: Cubed steak in the crockpot, Jasmine rice & green peas
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Homemade Swedish meatballs with egg noodles and green peas
Wednesday: Turkey Chili with homemade chili beans...so, so good!
Thursday: some had hotdogs at home, some had a taco from Chipotle
Friday: leftover chili and I will bake some potatoes
I must say thinking up dinner options can become a loathsome tasks - even though I meal plan I am constantly thinking about prepping for dinner. Gracious. Hopefully I will get inspired this weekend since I need to do some batch cooking for the week ahead.
Happy weekend all!
I have a strong feeling that the house would fall apart around my ears and everyone would go hungry if I didn’t plan. WWA:
Saturday - a quick, not fancy, charcuterie board before going to a concert
Sunday - grill-finished ribs, boiled baby potatoes, corn, coconut cream pie squares
Monday- leftovers
Tuesday - red lentil soup, no-knead bread
Wednesday- freezer meals (curry & rice, unstuffed peppers)
Thursday - prawns (frozen, needed to be used) on angel hair pasta with lemon cream sauce
Friday - have the day off, so planning on stuffed pork chops along with the ratatouille that didn’t get made last Sunday
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend
It was a very "phone it in" week for us this week. I'm jetlagged, lower energy than usual, and we had a lot of college application deadlines to be working on with one teen. So, please be prepared to be very underwhelmed.
-Dinner out (with a gift card that a neighbor bought us).
-DH made Philly Cheesesteaks on a night when I need him to pinch hit. Bonus, used up two bags of sliced steak, hoagie buns & a package of provolone. 3/4 items from the freezer.
-I made breaded chicken & mac & cheese ahead of a soccer practice that got moved a lot earlier than normal (to avoid air quality issues)
-We had tacos one night, using ground beef from the freezer
-I baked a frozen pizza last night, in a true sign that we've had minimal planning all week
-Can't remember what we had the remaining night
As for tonight, I doubt either of the teens will be home. I'll likely make wings & gyozas + a veggie tray for anyone who is around. We also have a salad every night, so there's slightly more nutrition happening than it may sound like.
Hey, a salad every night is better than I often do! Gold stars for you.
Doesn't it feel good to get back in the groove? After a chaotic difficult year full of changes I'm trying to do that myself. It's slow going ~and~ I'm celebrating the progress I'm making.
My stove still smells like its leaking gas even though the expert and his tech didn't detect a leak, so there's not a lot of cooking going on. I had Japanese with my dad, with enough leftovers for 1-2 more meals; frozen food; Canadian bacon sandwiches with Canadian bacon from Canada - called back bacon there; Cinnamon Chex, farmer's market fruit.
Ooof, I would be nervous about the gas smell too!
@WilliamB, Does the stove use propane or piped gas? Because if it's propane and the gas smells, it means your tank is almost empty. It doesn't necessarily imply a leak. Propane companies add a harmless chemical to the gas because naturally it has no smell.
The variety of your menus is highly impressive! My husband BBQs cheap steaks, chicken thighs, or salmon and makes an enormous salad almost every night. I NEVER complain, but your variety definitely looks enticing. However, I'd rather eat the same menu over and over than retake responsibility for dinners. "Eyeballing" is the way I cook, often resorting to what I call "slop in a skillet". This is whatever meat and veggies and seasonings that seem to go together, occasionally with a pasta or tortillas.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, "Slop in a Skillet" would be a wonderful name for a cookbook. I'd buy it!
Oh, I agree; if I were in your shoes, I'd probably adopt the same attitude. Anything you don't have to cook is perfect. lol
I girlbossed a little too close to the sun in terms of eating out our fridge and freezer. I ended up having to do a pretty big shopping trip. But most of what I got will last at least a week or so.
Sunday- migas but I added a bunch of veggies that were on their last legs
Monday- shrimp/tofu kimchi rice bowls
Tuesday- chicken chili verde
Wednesday- pumpkin gnocchi with butternut squash, kale and chicken meatballs
Thursday- I had no desire to leave the couch, let along make dinner so we got sushi.
Friday- date night that my husband planned, so we will see where it takes us
Saturday- probably going to grill a big top sirloin I got on sale. It will feed both of us and have leftovers
Lol at your girl bossing. Good job eating down your stash, though!
The husband was out of town this week, so it was just me for dinner.
Sun - Baked potato with all the fixings
Mon - Bagel with cream cheese and a fresh tomato slice
Tue - Dinner with a girlfriend
Wed - Cottage cheese with homemade salsa and chips
Thur - Leftovers from dinner out on Tue (1/2 steak sandwich, 1/2 house salad)
Fri - Funeral and going out for dinner after
oh let's see--
Don't remember days ate, but remember what we ate.
•Breadsticks & cheese rigatoni
•chicken strips & garlic mashed potatoes
•popcorn
•chilled green grapes
•cookies
•(Applebees) burgers & fries on National Cheeseburger Day (Monday)
•Chicken fried rice with veggies
•Breakfast bowl (fried potatoes, scrambled eggs & cut up smokey links)
•Bacon, egg & cheese sandwiches on English muffins
•Pizza (possibly tonight)
Applebees $29
Meijer $91
We got cream of chicken soup only when sick when I was a kid and I loved it. I still just love creamy soups.
WIS: $103, all at Food Lion. Still doing a little stocking up, as I bought shredded cheese to freeze, extra canned beans and some other items for the pantry.
WWA: Leftover roasted chicken with fresh veggies. Nectarines, peaches and the first mandarins. Cheese, crackers, and the last of the cherry tomatoes from the container garden. Black bean-turkey chili. Ham and Swiss cheese sandwiches. Mini ice cream sandwiches for dessert.
Friday – last minute invitation to dinner with two of my cousins and their partners. Our 6:30 reservation at a one restaurant turned into an 8:00 reservation at Benihana because it was one of my cousin’s late mother’s favorite restaurants and it was right across the hall in the mall, so an easy switch to make. Our chef didn’t arrive to our table until 9. I think we finally left at 10:30/11. In the end, I had more time with my cousins than I normally would have, and I was thrilled with the company.
Saturday – Family wedding! I enjoyed the dinner buffet and dessert and grabbed a Happy Meal on the hour drive home.
Sunday – We received poblano peppers in our CSA so I made husband’s favorite Potato and Poblano Gratin along with steak and Caesar salad.
Monday – Tomato Eggplant Soup and grilled cheese
Tuesday – Stuffed Anaheim Chilis and brown rice
Wednesday – Salmon, braised kale, brown rice, Ikea meatball sauce (I thought I had a cream sauce mix but I was too far into dinner and this was what was in the pantry)
Thursday – Tomato Butter Pasta and Caesar salad
I was thinking earlier this week about how I appreciate this stage of life where I've been cooking long enough that I can eyeball spice measurements from time to time. Less dishes. 🙂
This week we had...
Saturday: Fajitas and kiwi
Sunday: We were at my parents' house to celebrate my dad's birthday for most of the afternoon and ate lunch there. Then we got Little Caesar's pizza and breadsticks on the way home for dinner.
Monday: Beef roast, corn on the cob, zucchini, and raw green beans (my kids prefer green beans raw over cooked)
Tuesday: Chicken noodle soup and bread. Two things about this day: My schedule was full, so I bought bread instead of making it from scratch. It felt like a little dose of giving myself grace. Also, I forgot to add the heavy cream!!! That was the whole reason I put it on the menu plan in the first place! Ughhhhh... So now I have more cream to use up in the next few days.
Wednesday: Pork, zucchini, applesauce, and sour cream and onion Pringles. Do the Pringles seem out of place? Yes. Did they taste out of place? Yes. Were my children happy? Also, yes.
Thursday: A pork/rice/mixed veggie combo with pear slices on the side.
Friday: I'm still not sure! We're heading to a volleyball game tonight to watch my dad coach, but I think we're going to squeeze in dinner before we go. Maybe some leftover pork, a can of yams, aaaannnnndddd.... TBD. Maybe more pear slices since my kids love pears.
Sunday - Beef Short Ribs, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob & green salad
Monday - froze corn - hot dogs, tomato slices, red peppers w/ranch
Tuesday - Refrigerator Soup, Green Salad, biscuits & fresh triple berry jam
Wednesday - oven fried halibut, coleslaw & green beans
Thursday - Fish tacos, pico de gallo, pintos refritos & GF cinnamon swirl loaf cake
Friday - Blt's, fresh veggies with Greek yogurt ranch
Saturday - helping neighbor w/farm sale: potluck - I'm bringing hamburgers
to grill and a healthy low sugar Applesauce Zucchini cake w/browned butter cream cheese frosting
I also made 2 freezer lasagnas for the next farm over as she just had baby number 5.
She is an excellent Cardiothoracic nurse practitioner. I also gave each sibling a coupon book for one on one time w/me doing fun things just for them. I've been doing this on their birthdays and find they use them up pretty quickly. We go bug hunting, building hay forts, planting flowers for their garden, baking, sewing, building birdhouses, painting rocks and the older kids (school age) are starting to make pillowcases for the casa kids backpacks and help pack the bags with needful things.
Dang, that chicken soup looks soooo good!! Gonna have to try your tip of adding some cream.
Monday- salad topped with baked chicken
Tuesday- sausage/ noodles/ spinach in a tomato sauce
Wednesday- leftover sausage/ noodle dish and salad
Thursday- salad with deli ham on top
Friday- salad with deli ham on top and pumpkin muffins
Saturday- I’ll be making my harvest casserole ( sweet potato/red onion/ pear/ celery cooked sausage). That should give us a few dinners this weekend and we’ll have BLT’s for lunch Saturday.
Husband is out of town.I am trying to eat healthy just by myself. I made a pot of split pea soup and have some delicious bagels and onion chive cream cheese from Trader Joe to eat with that. I have had some stir fy chicken with veggies over rice, and also tuna fish sandwich and soup.Plus I eat TONS o ffruit for snacks and at night.. it keeps my blood pressure in check (the DASH diet helps reduce blood pressure without meds in many cases;it has for me!) Made some homemade applesauce from 99 cent bags of apples from grocery overstock bin. Tonight my son will come for dinner, making a Chicken Shawerma from Trader Joe with tabooli,hummus, tzatiki and a small greek salad. I slice the Shawerma and serve over rice.. will make leftovers for tomorrow too.
Tried the Aldi near me for the first time.It is right next to my REGULAR store:WINCO.ALdi here was too small, not enough choice, missing MANY items I usually need. The pet food section ONLY had DOG FOOD! No kitty food! I was disappointed but bought 4 jars of sauerkraut on sale as we eat it regularly and it was a great sale.Won’t be returning there.WINCO is best for our needs.I shop those bins! We eat a lot of grains,brown rice,lentils,split peas.
I buy a few regular things from Trader Joe too, for me there is a MAX of TWO stores I will go to each week for groceries!
Kristen, are you bringing lunches to school? That would be an interesting post. I take leftovers to work most of the time, but when there are no leftovers I find it hard to think of what to take.
I am, I am! I'm not there every single day at lunchtime, but a lot of days I am.
Maybe I should take a picture each day for a while and then share them all in a post. Is that the kind of thing you have in mind?
@Kristen, that sounds great to me. I like the lunch planning & eating, but hate the carrying, especially dirty containers afterward, so PBJ sandwich & cut up raw vegs is about it for me.
Yum! I love chili. This week we ate baked potatoes topped with chicken and other stuff, grilled pork chops, honey mustard chicken sheet pan meal with potatoes and broccoli, tacos, stir fry, chicken nuggets and basic bean soup. It was a week of big meals to replenish the freezer of lunches for us adults. We also had whatever fruit and veg was handy. We ate the last of the huge bag of garden tomatoes from my uncle-in-law.
It all looks so yummy and flavorful!
- Beans and rice made by my daughter for her home ec class. She cooked the beans in the pressure cooker.
- chicken curry rice
- Bean soup (kinda like a meatless chili)
- red sauce over rice
- Peanut sauce and rice
- And this weekend I'm thinking of taking a break from rice and making pizza.
I mealplanned last week and we pretty much stuck to the plan
Roast potatoes with chicken and salad, homemade dressings
Leftover chicken, potato cubes and roast red beet root
Fend for yourself, as I was at an event
Homemade tomato soup with chicken broth and a dollop of mascarpone, with toasted bread. Will make again.
Fend for yourself as I was travelling. I did not have French fries, although I did have a delay on the way home 🙂
Deconstructed salade nicoise as I was worn out from a busy week.
I am now cooking mash potatoes with cooked greens and a salad and porc chops. I am trying to clear out the fridge and make some room in our freezer, since one of the kids will move dorms and needs a place to temporarily store food.
My husband and I will be away for a few days and my husband has firmly announced that he plans to have restaurant dinners every day. I think our home dinners have been a little too improvised to his taste lately!