WIS, WWA | on cheap lunches
What I Spent
I was thinking...I often spend around $110 in a week, and even if that was feeding only me, that would average out to a little over $5 a meal (dividing by 21 for three meals, seven days a week).
Given that I am also feeding Zoe a number of meals during the week, I'm likely spending less than $5 on each of my meals.
And that tells me that my packed lunches are cheaper than cafeteria food. You can't usually get a decent meal there for less than $5!
I spent:
- $97 at Aldi
- $8 at Safeway
So, $105, which is pretty close to the $110 figure I mentioned above!
What We Ate
Saturday
I did a great job of taking pictures of every other meal for the week, but I'm missing Saturday, and my brain is coming up empty.
I can't even say, "Oh, I probably had pancakes." because I know I had blueberry pancakes that morning. And even I rarely eat pancakes for two meals in a single day. Ha.
Sunday
BBQ chicken sandwiches, broccoli, and cantaloupe.
Monday
I made a pot of chicken gnocchi soup with carrots and spinach, and I packed it up for lunch for my following two work days.
Tuesday
St. Patrick's Day! I wore my modified green-ish shirt, and reader Kristin reminded me to look in my pack of Halloween earrings, where I found a pair of green studs to wear. 🙂
Anyway, Zoe baked a pan of ham and Swiss sandwiches and we ate those after I got home from work.
Wednesday
I switched to the peep bunny badge holder since Easter is the next holiday. 🙂
After work, I made some chicken quesadillas with cilantro sauce; easy because the chicken was already cooked and the sauce was already prepped.
Thursday
I just had my monthly new grad residency class from 8:00-1:00, so I had time to cook some dinner. I sauteed some fish fillets, made some potato cubes, and a spinach salad.
Friday
I'm working a regular 12-hour shift today, which means I might just have raisin bran for dinner. 😉
I'm thinking of taking out x amount of cash next month and seeing if that will cover my food budget!
This week's eats:
Saturday: Burritos with mixed veg, brown rice, black beans and sauce.
Sunday: Veggie stir-fry with the leftover beans and ramen noodles.
Monday: Baked sweet potato with veggie burgers. I had avocado and tomatoes on crackers with hummus as a side.
Tuesday: Chilli mac and cheese.
Wednesday: Leftovers. I was sick that day so was very thankful to Past Me that I didn't have to make dinner!
Thursday: Burritos again. I was out of beans and there weren't any in the shop so I used a tin of chickpeas.
Friday: Undecided. Possibly a fritatta.
Do you eat snacks, or only 3 meals a day? If you do snack, what snacks do you have?
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $216 to restock our fridge, freezer and pantry ($86 at Trader Joe's and $130 at Target).
- Parmesan risotto with peas
- Salad: butter lettuce, Parmesan cheese, English cucumber, homemade croutons, vinaigrette (twice)
- Spanish tortilla with cilantro lime sauce (yes, Kristen's recipe)
- Rice, garbanzo beans and cilantro lime sauce
- Veggie pizza (twice)
Saturday - We had macaroni and cheese with chunks of brats and hot dogs (depending on preference) to add in, plus asparagus and roasted broccoli. When I was picking my 6th grade daughter up after a rehearsal some of her friends heard we were having mac and cheese for dinner, they declared her "lucky" and one told me that she was suddenly up for adoption. Ha! I had no idea that mac and cheese was such a big deal for middle schoolers.
Sunday - Our youth group was doing a taco fundraiser after church and we ate there.
Monday - Parmesan herb chicken tenders, devilled eggs, rice pilaf, and roasted broccoli
Tuesday - My husband was at a meeting, so it was a lot of kid requests: garlic knots, french fries, popcorn, veggies, and fruit
Wednesday - Burrito bowls
Thursday - My husband cooked since it was my birthday. We had steak, baked potatoes, peas, and cheesecake.
Friday - Chicken wild rice chowder