WIS, WWA | Oh right. There are five Fridays this month.
I did my end-of-month numbers round up last week, because I forgot that May actually had one more week. Whoops.
I'm just gonna add them into today's post, with updated numbers.
What I Spent
I skipped my Hungry Harvest box this week because I had too much produce to use. I love that they are flexible about delivery skipping.
I spent $144 at the grocery store, plus $41 at Costco (they had a sale on laundry detergent, toothpaste, and dishwasher soap).
So, it's a good thing I skipped Hungry Harvest because even so, I'm at $185.
May Spending
Week 1: $119
Week 2: $191
Week 3: $181
Week 4: $130
Week 5: $185
Year to Date Grocery Spending
January: $619
February: $485
March: $702
April: $791
May: $806
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I went to Potbelly for sandwiches, and I downloaded their app to get a free cookie.
The girls had mac n cheese at home with a friend.
Sunday
We visited Mr. FG's parents, where we had burgers and bratwurst, and I brought homemade buns. Of course.
Monday
It was Memorial Day here in the U.S., but since we'd had burgers the day before, I opted to make BLT sandwiches.
And I tried Lisey's method, which is sort of like a cross between a grilled cheese sandwich and a BLT. You set up your BLT like usual, except with bread instead of toast, and then you grill it on both sides as you would a grilled cheese sandwich.
Verdict: very good.
Lisey is wise. 😉
Tuesday
We had chicken tacos topped with radishes, cilantro, and queso fresca (from Dinner Illustrated).
Wednesday
We had potato salad, grilled pork tenderloin, and some kind of fresh produce that has fallen out of my brain at the moment.
Thursday
I made shrimp and grits with a fruit salad on the side.
Friday
I had put grilled pizza on the menu, but I forgot that the dough has to sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Ha.
So, I'm gonna figure out something else for dinner tonight.
Saturday- Monday we were out of town at a volleyball tournament...
Saturday night I shared a pizza with the 2 kids with us and hubby had a meatball sub at a restaurant close to the hotel....
Sunday- we shared chinese for lunch and kids ate leftover pizza late at night.. I think hubby and I just ate hotel snacks
Monday- subway sandwiches for lunch on the way home and homemade pizza rolls from the freezer were reheated by those who wanted them for late supper
Tuesday- I made creamed chicken and veg over store bought biscuits
Weds- Spaghetti meat balls, sauce and garlic bread... fresh fruit
Thur- ham(from easter) and scallopped potatos and fresh fruit and steamed broccoli...
Not sure about tonight...
Tonight ended up being Smorgasbord
Husband got yard all mowed after work, kids were forced to pick up rooms and straighten after school...
I decided a quick freezer/fridge clean up was in store to prep for a big grocery haul..
I tossed into the oven-
3 corn dogs
the last of a bag of chicken tenders
1 pepperoni roll
3 chicken bacon cheese rolls
I found a bag of lil smokies so I tossed that frozen block into a pot with the end of a bottle of BBQ and some ketchup to cook...
The last of the grapes, strawberries, 2 clementines and a kiwi...tossed into a bowl on the table...
the last of a bag of potato chips
the last of a bag of frozen shrimp- so this was all about husband as he is the only one who eats this.. I totally assumed he would just finish it off with the cocktail sauce..He decided to get fancy and made a beer batter and friend them... AHHHH The house stunk SO BAD.. but he said they were delicious..
So there are far less random things in my freezer.. I also pulled a container of frozen baked beans out for tonights supper.. I will fry up some bacon and refresh the beans!
Time to grocery shop and find some deals on grilling items and things I can toss into the crock on working days!
Winter's coolness has arrived and I am enjoying the change. Three times this week we have had potato and leek soup. We had a roast lamb and vegetables on Sunday night and the left over meat was made into a curry. I honestly do not remember our other meals but there has been a concerted effort to eat at home. Even vegetable meals cost a lot as leeks can cost up to $4 each here.
And we are getting into hot days here where soup sounds like a terrible idea! Salads, smoothies, and cold fruit are sounding good again.
I am over salads and we cannot afford to buy steak so I am tired of meatballs, rissoles and other cheaper options. I welcome the break but am very worried about providing meat over winter. My mother is chronically anaemic and I try to serve her an iron source with every meal. Oh well times have been far worse and somehow I will work it out.
I have to admit last night I was cold. It was just above freezing and tropical homes are not built with heating in mind.
Enjoy your weather.
Hi! You probably already said, but, Suzan, where do you live?
I made a thin crust no rise pizza dough. Of course now I can’t find the recipe, but if the family really wants pizza that’s an option.
Saturday- DD 11th family birthday- hamburgers/ dirty water dogs, potato salad, slaw, mac/cheese, home baked beans, and of course birthday cake.
Sunday- Cook out over friends house, hamburger/hot dogs- all the friends brought sides, we brought homemade mac/cheese, and brownies
Monday- leftover salads from sat, dirty water dogs, and ribs, left over bday cake.
Tuesday- chicken cutlet, butter noodles, corn,
wed- me and dd had homemade Belgium waffles, after dd practice, she had tortellini, dh, heated up some left over buffalo chicken strips, and a slice of pizza.
Thursday- spaghetti for all, bread, and salad for me.
Friday- DD actual birthday, dh and ds have something to do, so dd and I are going out for something, her choice.
I just have to ask: What are dirty water dogs?
Thanks for asking!!! lol
I assume it is boiled hot dogs? I cannot wait to know her answer!
I continued cooking and eating at home. Mostly. Nothing exciting but it gets the job done.
Sunday - After a long day out, I purchased take-out of really good bulgolgi and good supermarket sushi. The place is an hour's drive away so I usually go there when I'm in the area.
Monday - Smorgesborg supplemented with ribs, fruit smoothies.
Tuesday - WF Italian sausages, tomatoes, carrots, farm stand strawberries, sliced apples.
Wednesday - Taco night (no guac because I forgot to buy some), farm stand strawberries, supermarket blueberries.
Thursday - "Tenderized" steak from my Happy Meat purveyor, asparagus cooked in the drippings, CI's most recent mushroom recipe (A+ but takes longer than just sauteeing mushrooms), homemade applesauce.
Friday - CI bulgolgi, cherries, DIY salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cukes).
I also made Nasi Goreng (Malaysia's take on fried rice) from leftover take-out rice (last week's Chinese, this week's bulgolgi), with surimi instead of shrimp because that's what I had on hand.
This week has been odd with me driving three of the days to see my husband in the hospital, 2 hours away. We did eat normally before he went in, but all I can really remember is the Memorial Day ribs, corn on the cob and salad, and last night, when I came home from work instead of driving to the hospital, I made a meatloaf with roasted parsnips and green peas on the side. I'd had the meat in the refrigerator most of the week, and I was afraid to let it wait any longer. It turned out fine, but I really would have preferred less cleanup and cooking on that day of finally not getting in at 10 p.m. or later. I've been leaving the house at 7 a.m. every morning, so I'm tired.
I know I spent about $140 last week, which was over budget. This whole month went over budget, and now my gasoline expense is over budget. Darn.
So sorry for all the trips to the hospital! Sometimes life gets crazy, and our budget has to absorb some of the craziness. Give yourself lots of grace during this season 🙂
That's a tough week! <3 I'm impressed you cooked at all.
What a tough week you have had. Lots of loving hugs.
Still adjusting to life with a newborn (How long can we call her a newborn?), but we're starting to cook again which makes me happy 🙂 Don't remember the exact days but this week we've made Mediterranean chicken and orzo in the crock pot, gingery pork ramen, and a veggie version of PF Chang's lettuce wraps. The other nights we had leftovers or cereal. Cereal has been our friend these last few weeks haha
Cereal is a very good dinner. And you can eat it with one hand while holding a newborn!
I'm amazing myself at the number of things I can do one handed while holding a newborn haha
You have new superpowers!
Do you pick things up with your toes? I did that a lot, and actually I still open some cabinets and drawers with my feet. Ha.
Saturday: dinner out for Mom's 75th birthday
Sunday: zucchini and fresh corn fritters, spiced yogurt, salad
Monday: grilled ponzu-marinaded chicken thighs, grilled potatoes, charred green beans with miso-cilantro dressing (epicurious.com)
Tuesday: leftover fritters
Wednesday: ate at work
Thursday: sandwich in the car for the 3-hour drive home
Friday: pork chops (if they thaw in time?) with white beans and bitter greens
That’s how I felt about May too... “wait, there’s another week?!”
Do not recommend the Cook's Country one pan glazed salmon with rice, mushrooms and broccoli. It was hard to get the rice cooked soft-- maybe we didn't have the tin foil on tight enough? But tightening tinfoil is non-trivial compared to making rice separately. The broccoli got a little burned while the salmon was still not quite cooked through.
But the worst part-- it dirtied bowls that would not have been dirtied if we'd used a pot for the rice (and then thrown the broccoli and mushrooms into steam with it) instead. All I can think of is this would be useful if your stovetop was broken and you only had an oven?
Sometimes I think one-dish meals are not all that convenient. I'd rather dirty a pot and have everything cooked properly. Also it's how I feel about crock-pot meals oftentimes. I would rather get more dishes dirty and have things cooked to a texture I prefer.
And yeah, I have a stove AND an oven so there's no need to use only one.
THANK YOU!! People rave about crock pot meals and I feel like something is wrong when I say that everything made in slow cookers tastes the same--mushy and steamed.
I think crockpots are good for things that are supposed to be on the stove all day, so bean dishes where you start with dried beans and some potroasts (especially the kinds with tough cuts of meat that need hours of softening in an acid) maybe chicken cacciatore (though to be honest I can't remember the last time I made that). But there just aren't that many things we eat like that these days. We buy canned beans instead of dry and cheap hunks of meat no longer seem as available at the grocery store (or maybe I just allow myself to look at the nicer cuts... we bought a lot of leg-thigh combinations in graduate school...).
Yes, I think they're good for a limited number of things. But things like broccoli cheese casserole? No. Too mushy!
Personally I loathe chicken cooked in a crock pot. It seems so greasy.
THANK YOU! I love using my crock pot for cooking single item, long roating time items like pork shoulder, pulled beef/chickens etc.. but the whole trend of cooking a chicken in the crock .. it is SO greasy.. even when I pull all the skin off it pre cooking..
Back in the day when the only meat we could afford was leg thigh combinations when they were on sale we would stew the meat and then remove it from the bones and freeze them (separately so we could make stock from the bones and add smaller amounts of meat to later recipes). For meals with chicken, you can refrigerate it after it’s done and then remove the solid fat. I never used chicken fat for cooking (only bacon grease) but some people do.
Now we are well of and I only buy boneless skinless breasts and almost never have stewed chicken meat.
Me too. Only beef stew, beans, some soups...and a pot on stove or in low oven does fine
Monday: Hot dogs and sweet potatoes over the fire with some watermelon
Tuesday: Just me and the kids. Leftover fajitas with guacamole.
Wednesday: Brats, honeydew, and peas (in which we learned that my oldest 2 kids only like frozen peas, not canned).
Thursday: Chicken, butternut squash, and kiwi.
Friday: Brats (again), green beans, and maybe macaroni and cheese.
We grilled steaks and burgers on Sunday, along with a batch of black beans and rice. Dinners most of the week were just leftovers, which was good with me, since I was diagnosed with pnuemonia and not really up to cooking a bunch.
I think we also ordered pizza somewhere in there because I know the leftovers became lunch a few days.
Hoping to get back to regularly scheduled cooking again this upcoming week tho. Our budget cannot take any more take out.
Monday- Memorial Day party at a friend's house. We brought mac salad, who cost $4 and fed us for 2 more nights
Tuesday and Wednesday- vegetarian pizzas because we have a ridiculous amount of sundried tomatoes
Thursday and Friday- baked beans over baked potatoes and mac salad
I was out of town, eating PB&Js out of a van (running a relay), so the kids ate frozen lasagna (a LOT, as they report ;-)), & went to a salad bar one night for dinner. Since then, we've had grilled salmon, kebabs & rice, & tacos.