WIS, WWA | please enjoy the baby mushrooms
What I Spent
Unrelated to food: when I went for a walk yesterday morning, I spied some very tiny white mushrooms.
So of course I stopped to take pictures.
I don't love eating mushrooms, but I do enjoy spotting them in the wild. 😉
I kind of think they might be baby oyster mushrooms, which are edible. But even if they are, I will leave them for some trail-goer who enjoys mushrooms more than I do. 😉
Ok, on to the actual topic for today's post.
This week, I spent:
- $53 at Safeway
- $67 at Aldi
- $30 on a Hungry Harvest box
So, exactly $150.
What We Ate
Saturday
I was prepping some shrimp to add to a green salad for my lunch at work the next day, so I also ate shrimp at dinner, and I made mashed potatoes. I don't remember what my vegetable side was, though!
I don't have a picture of that dinner, but here's part of my work lunch the next day.
Sunday
After my work shift, I sautéed some chicken and ate that with leftover mashed potatoes and a sliced red pepper.
Monday
This was the night I went to Ledo's after my shift to get my free pizza (with my coupon from donating blood).
Tuesday
We had pulled chicken sandwiches, some potato chips, and...watermelon! So good. I am eating watermelon at pretty much every meal right now. 🙂
Wednesday
A very basic meal, but it got the job done: sautéed tilapia, mashed sweet potatoes, and red pepper slices.
Thursday
My power went out after some thunderstorms rolled through. But luckily, I had some leftover pulled chicken so I used that to make a green salad. No power required!
However, I did need some power to write this post, soooo, I am typing from my local Starbucks, with a decaf iced coffee that I bought with a gift card. 😉
Friday
Well, I know I have some fresh corn I need to use (from my Hungry Harvest box). I also have quite a few red and yellow peppers.
I also have some tortilla chips that need to be used up. Soooo, I think a taco salad or burrito bowl might be in order.
Thanks for the inspiration for tacos - we are expecting a hot and humid weekend and some TexMex meals will be appropriate. I will do a quick errand run in a few minutes before it is too hot to cycle from the shops with leaf vegetables, berries and possibly also ice cream.
This week we had
grilled salmon with dilly beans and a green salad
pickled vegetables ("atjar tjampur") with peanut sauce and a boiled egg, over fried rice
pulled pork with a salad and dilly beans
oven dish with smoked salmon and green asparagus
I cannot recall last Saturday, and yesterday I had BBQ at the office, which was more healthy than I expected (lots of green salad and fruits also available).
Tonight I will make a vegetarian oven dish with grilled vegetables and humus. For the weekend: foods that require little prep.
Have a good weekend everyone!
I love mushrooms! I wouldn't forage for them unless I had an instructor though!
I had tacos last night (and some wine after getting my language certificate) but am hazy on the rest. I'm trying to eat more protein and it's hard, especially since I am a vegetarian!
LOVE the Snoopy bag!
@Sophie in Denmark, I was just thinking that Kristen's little mushrooms looked downright tasty. But you're right: There's not much margin for error in mushroom hunting, so I too would want an experienced mycologist to come along.
@Sophie in Denmark, This is completely off-topic for Friday, but I wanted to let you know my copy of McCall Hoyle's "The Thing With Feathers" arrived in yesterday's mail. It's actually a pretty recent book (2017) that came (slightly used but in great condition) from the Idaho Youth Ranch for $6.47 (US$) via Amazon with no tax, no shipping and handling charges. A book plate on the inside front cover reads: "Howdy! Hola! Bonjour! Guten Tag! I'm a very special book. You see, I'm traveling around the world making new friends. [Like us! Virtually!] I hope I've met another friend in you. Please go to http://www.BookCrossing.com and enter my BCID number (shown below). You'll discover where I've been and who has read me, and can let me know I'm safe here in your hands. Then ... READ and RELEASE me!"
@JDinNM, I love it when books came with bookplates or names inside! I hope you enjoy the book - I've read it a few times.
@A. Marie, I've learnt a new word! Mycologist - I'll have to remember that.
@Sophie in Denmark, And I guess you'll have to learn the Danish word for mycologist as well. ;-} Do mushrooms grow in the wild in Denmark?
@JDinNM, I believe so! I don't know the word for mycologist but Danish for mushroom is champignon, which is the same as French! The overall word for mushrooms/fungi is svampe (less French haha).
@Sophie in Denmark, Champignon I know because of years and years of French lessons, and great-grandparents who only spoke French. But svampe is new to me!
@JDinNM, Perhaps it's where the word swamp comes from! I studied French at school but my memory is pretty faded!
@JDinNM,
Thanks for reminding me of Bookcrossing! I used to do it a lot, and have fond memories of Bookrings and Bookrays. I stopped in the end because I ended up with more books then before - I always felt that the orphan books should find a home. Nowadays I lean more towards using the thrift shop as an additional (low cost) library. But through Bookcrossing I did manage to read a number of more unusual books, and also find a home for some books that I enjoyed and wanted to pass on to someone really interested (such as Thoreau's Walden, which our library did not have)
@Sophie in Denmark, That was my immediate reaction to "svampe": It sure sounds swampy!
@JNL, Thank you! This is my first BookCrossing experience and I've been really charmed by it. I do completely understand the "ending up with more books than before" syndrome (I have an entire room in my house that is nothing but wall-to-wall bookshelves, and a sofa bed for guests!), but am getting better about obeying the "Read and Release Me!" request.
@A. Marie,
Foraging for wild mushrooms makes me a bit nervous. Many mushroom look similar. I read this article last spring and was a bit shocked. It is interesting in it's own way. I hope this link will get you behind the paywall.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/03/als-outbreak-montchavin-mystery/682096/
@A. Marie, we have golden oysters here and that is not what they look like when small. Nor do they "sprout" in a line like that. If I remember, I'll get out my mushroom book
Saturday: Pork fried rice to use up some pork shoulder. It included collard greens, garlic scapes, and asparagus from the garden, as well.
Sunday: My husband wanted to do a big seafood fry for Father's Day. He had bought pollock fillets, shrimp, and octomari. He's the fryer in our house, so he breaded all of that with a flour/cornmeal/Old Bay mixture and deep fried it in lard. I made cold sides--German potato salad and green salad with ranch dressing--so everything would be ready when the fried food was done. I also made tartar sauce and cocktail sauce. I don't even like fish, but he did a really good job and I even ate the shrimp. For dessert, I made a two-layer Bonnie Butter cake and layered it with rhubarb compote and Chantilly cream. Fancy. And very large.
Monday: Leftover fried seafood, re-heated in a skillet. There was some potato salad left, and some people had leftover rice. The adults had pureed calabaza (squash), the kids had still-frozen green beans, and there was leftover cake.
Tuesday: My husband and eldest were in town and got hamburgers for their drive home. I made tuna salad and two of the remaining three kids at home had that heated in tortillas with cheese, and the last kid had a sandwich. I also made a dessert sort of like a fool in which I folded crumbled chocolate chip cookie bars--they were very crumbly anyway--into the extra whipped cream from the cake.
Wednesday: I had some pork fried rice left, to which I added the last of the leftover rice, some cooked collard greens, and a few more scrambled eggs. Three of us had that. The other three had the leftover tuna salad in flour tortillas with cheese. This is kind of like a tuna melt wrap, I guess. Those three also had, at their request, raw sauerkraut from the batch I just made. Weird combination, but they seemed happy.
Thursday: I used some of our "primal blend" (ground elk and cow heart) to make a meat sauce for spaghetti. We also had garlic scapes from the garden--the flower stalks that come up in the center of the garlic plant and that are removed before they actually flower so the plant puts its energy into the garlic bulb underground. I just cut them into short lengths and saute them. They taste kind of like slightly garlicky green beans. And I made a green salad to use up the last of the washed lettuce and a bit of ranch dressing.
Tonight: We're driving to my sister's house in Colorado today, arriving just as she gets off work, so I told her we'd pick up a couple of pizzas before we get to her house. My children are very excited. Take-out pizza is not a part of their everyday lives. I'll also stop at a grocery store to get provisions for my troops. It didn't seem fair to land on my sister's doorstep with five extra people who eat as much as we do and expect her to provide all the food. So I'll get some salad stuff there to go with the pizza. Too bad my lettuce all got bitter in the heat, or I could have brought that with me.
@kristin @ going country, Tuna salad sounds really good... especially since we're about to get very toasty! I'm adding it into my plan for the next few days.
@Ruth T, Yup, it's a hot-weather food in my house, for sure.
@kristin @ going country, as a girl who grew up a block from the ocean, I never heard of octomari!
I needed to look it up ☺️
@kristin @ going country,
We always have salad with pizza. Then I don't feel quite as guilty eating it!
@kristin @ going country,
I've never heard of Bonnie Butter cake, OR octomari! Off I go to look both of them up. 🙂
The goal was to work through the freezer/pantry this week to clear out and reorganize.
Sunday we grilled steak and served with baked potatoes and steamed broccoli for Fathers day. Dessert was saucy strawberries and whip cream with either angel food cake or almond poundcake.
Monday the kidult was in charge and be made a breakfast pizza for those who were home.
Tuesday-Leftovers of baked potatoes, sliced steak, broccoli, some spinach and artichoke dip with chips to munch on while everything warmed up.
Weds- Hubby left for a solo camping trip and the oldest wanted to go out so he took mom and sister with him! Great for me b/c work was a dumpster-fire of a day and it was gonna be fruity pebbles otherwise!
Thurs- Work was closed and weather was yuck so I found a bag of frozen bananas and made banana bread and tossed a frozen whole chicken into the Instapot. Deboned the meat and flip the pot back on to make stock.. Used 1 huge potato and a bag of mixed veggies with some chicken and stock to make creamed chicken and veggies.. made homemade cheddar garlic biscuits. So good on a cool rainy evening!
Friday- told the kids I will make sliders sandwiches for supper- already pulled a pack of King Hawaiin rolls from the freezer and will use the boxes of steamkumms. No doubt will be eaten with watermelon and berries from fridge!
I am seeing white space in the freezer!
@jes,
A great job on the freezer! I was digging through my rather full freezer earlier in the week, and there is nothing of much in there. Just an over abundance of chicken carcasses to make stock. I have had the Instapot out for several days trying to get through these. Now I have a freezer full of stock. Of course, I live in Florida where it will be too hot to eat soup for months.
I took some pictures of mushrooms growing on a tree this week and thought, "Kristen would love finding these!" 🙂
This was our first holiday having both sides of the family in the same state, so there were lots of big Father's Day meals. This week we had:
Saturday - I hosted my side of the family for dinner. Between me and my mom we made grilled chicken, asparagus, chips and dip, corn on the cob, and devilled eggs. Strawberry shortcake for dessert.
Sunday - I made two big meals (one to celebrate my husband, one to celebrate my FIL), but only wrote down one. We had steak, macaroni salad, baked potatoes, and green beans. Then my 11yo made chocolate-drizzled strawberries.
Monday - Brats and hot dogs with chips. Leftover strawberry shortcake for dessert.
Tuesday - Beef stroganoff, peas, and mango.
Wednesday - Stir fry and cantaloupe.
Thursday - Pizza at church. We've had Kids Camp (VBS) in the evening all week and they fed all of the volunteers and their kids.
Friday - There's a family party at church and we will have dinner there. I know there will be hot dogs! After starting with a FULL weekend of cooking, it's nice to end the week with two nights off.
WIS: $15 at Aldi, $63 at Wegmans, and $26.50 at Price Chopper.
WIA: The week's highlight was probably the stir-fry I made Sunday with boneless pork from the freezer, snap peas from Aldi (which weren't very good as fresh eating but were fine in the stir-fry), carrots on hand, and spinach and green onions from the garden. Ah, stir-frys, frittatas, and soups--the Big Three of food waste avoidance!
WIS: About $78 if I recall all the receipts correctly, divided between Food Lion, Walmart Market and Dollar Tree.
WWA: Leftover chili. Fresh veggies with salami, cheese and grapes. Sandwiches made of homegrown tomatoes, cheese and pickles. Roasted pork butt with a big green salad. Chocolate pudding for desserts.
I normally have more variety than I had this week, but I was so hot each evening after tending to goldfish, bird feeders, garden, and flower pots outside, that I didn't have the oomph to cook much at all.
WIS: A bunch! I had three large farm orders this past week, so my total was $265 for two weeks. Ouch.
WIA: On Sunday I cut up a fresh hen (butchered the day before) and did something I only do once or twice a year these days - made fried chicken. I breaded it in cassava and tapioca flours and it filled two skillets, not including the backs, which I froze. It was a big chicken. I made mashed potatoes and green beans with it, but no gravy, because I am not a fan of leftover gravy. I only make it when I have more people to feed.
On Monday, I cooked a small beef roast in the Crock Pot with a ton of mushrooms and onions, then cooked cauliflower and my one garden zucchini to go with it.
Those two dishes made several lunches and dinners.
There was some leftover beet slaw worked in there, and of course, there were blackberries every day.
I also had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich on GF bread with plantain chips as a side one night, and Saturday night, I had leftover chef salad from the lunch my local daughter bought me.
I have ground goat thawing out to make burgers tonight and I will use the last half of a bag of frozen fries to go with it. I never buy fries and I can't remember why I bought this bag, but I did, so I'll use it up.
@JD, I found a 1-lb. package of ground goat Reduced for Quick Sale at Wegmans this week. I'm fond of lamb, and DH and I always enjoyed pieces of goat stew meat in both Indian and Caribbean cooking, so I'm looking forward to trying the ground goat.
@A. Marie,
I find it very like beef, although what it eats might affect it, I'm not sure. Mine comes from a farmer who raises goats for milk, so when males are born....well, they have to go somewhere. I fed it to my sister without even realizing, and she never asked me what it was, but enjoyed it heartily. It was later that I realized I had thawed out goat, not beef.
We were traveling & eating out for about 1/2 of the week, so the dinners were much more indulgent than usual;
-We went to a Mediterranean seafood restaurant and had incredible fish, brussel sprouts & a Greek salad
-We had steak & incredible sides another night, plus cake, cheesecake & chocolate souffle for DH's birthday
-On our final dinner out for the trip, we went to an Asian restaurant & I had a lobster fried rice that's 10/10, incredible
-After all of that, things at home were pretty basic, and included chicken from the freezer & a leftover beef/tomato/rice bowl, also from the freezer
We are flying to Portland tonight, to meet up with DS18 & his friend group to celebrate their graduation at my parents house. We will probably eat something at the airport lounge, because we don't land until 8 pm.
I am also quite fond of mushrooms but would be too scared to consume without prior expert identification… WWA:
Saturday - spicy garlic shrimp over pasta
Sunday - Father’s Day bbq of steaks, boiled baby potatoes with dill, asparagus, honeyed carrots with chickpeas and goat cheese (DS24’s GF brought the fancy veggies), and homemade banana cream pie
Monday - air fryer drumsticks, leftover potatoes, green salad
Tuesday - stir fry beef and clean out the crisper veggies over noodles
Wednesday - Jamaican beef patty for me, sandwich for DH
Thursday - sausage tortellini soup from the freezer, bread
Friday - going to the informal event for my 30-year law school reunion tonight and understand that there will be hamburgers, hot dogs and other snacks….
Wishing everyone a happy week ahead
These are no oyster mushrooms for sure, wrong color. Plus wrong wheather. Oyster mushrooms sprout at temperatures below 0 Celsius. It is enough, if it is that cold in the night.
Mushrooms grow all over the world in the wild and interestingly the same kinds everywhere (depending on climate). So, when you know your mushrooms in Europe, you can go mushroom picking in the Americas as well.
I am not a mycologist, but I plan to do the Mushroom-Pro-Certificate (very free translation) here in Germany at some time. With this certificate one can volontate to check mushrooms from other persons, if they are eadible.
Best Silke
I also take lots of pictures of mushrooms, but I do not eat mushrooms. The texture and I do not get along.
Spent: $41.79
We've switched to summer meals as it has been HOT! here. Supposed to be even hotter next week. We have family coming to visit next week and it will be way too hot to go anywhere outdoors (zoo isn't fun with a "feels like" temp of 107 and huidity).
This week we ate (heavy on the instant pot cause it causes no heat in the house):
A lot of salads with chicken from the rotisserie chickens I caught on sale for $2/each.
Used some of the rotisserie chicken and put some taco seasoning on it and warmed in a skillet. Made rice in the instant pot and had Arroz con pollo with veggies and tortillas.
Made a corned beef in the instant pot for corned beef one night and corned beef sandwiches another night.
And I pulled a pack of smoked bbq from the freezer one night for bbq sandwiches with raw veggies and fruit.
Tonight....maybe club sandwiches.
This may be the summer of sandwiches. I work in the yard so much during the day that by supper, I'm just done with the heat.
WIS: $67 @ Winco, $17 @ scratch & dent
WWA
Sun - worked ate leftovers from family dinner
Mon - bbq burgers, homemade air fried chips
Tue - pasta carbonara, green salad
Wed - salad with elk bits quick fried in garlic ghee
Th - Asian cabbage salad
Fri - Cherry picking day! probably more Asian cabbage salad
My friends begged for pickers because we will get drenching rains tomorrow that can ruin the fruit if left on the trees.
Sat & Sun work 2 more weeks until I'm officially part time.
I gave blood last week, and their incentive was a $20 gift card to the local grocery store! I am happy to give blood, but the gift card was really nice, too!
Oooh, the gift card is a very nice bonus!
I can only remember half of it. The big win of the week was discovering my son’s wheat-free baguettes plus earth balance (dairy-free) margarine make a great garlic bread the whole family likes.
- Chicken kebabs, roasted broccoli, garlic bread
- Hamburgers, corn on the cob, sautéed green beans
- Meatballs, green salad (from the garden) with carrots and homemade dressing, garlic bread.
- Perch and some sort of leftover noodles? My kids wanted to try a new fish.
Next week, I predict some garden zucchini on the menu.
Anyone else wondering what's written on the cup?? It looks like "you are lard". It DEFINITELY doesn't say that but my brain can't see anything else. Lol
@Heather, Hi! I think it says, “You are loved.”
@Heather,
It says you are loved 😉 I thought it said lard at first, too!!
Ooh let’s see:
Saturday - nice dinner out with friends (they had a 25% off coupon + big giftcard so we offered to get the overage and tip … which was more than I had hoped, but overall fun still.)
Sunday - burgers with salad, cherries, and sweet potato fries
Monday - shredded rotisserie chicken tacos
Tuesday - leftovers
Wednesday - chicken apple sausage and cabbage with cubed baked sweet potato (tasty, easy, but a little light on the carbs since my sweet potatoes had significant bits that needed to be tossed. Prob ended up with 1.25 potato out of the 3 I started with, as a side for 5 of us for dinner.)
Thursday - pasta with leftover ground beef, salad.
Friday - trying to clear the fridge pre-vacation … not sure if I’ll have enough to cook or just order pizza.
And I spent about $6 on eggs and milk that will still be good post-vacation - the rest of this week’s food was using up fridge/freezer/pantry stuff.
Easy corn on the cob. Do not shuck corn. Cook in microwave for 4 minutes for one ear or 8 minutes for two ears. Chop off butt end. Grab top end including silks and shake. The corn will slide out of the husks clean of silks. I don't know why this works but it does!
Mdrive around southeastern Wisconsin lost in the heavy rainstorms for hours, because of faulty directions but it’s beautiful country, and we sure needed that rain! I bet mushrooms will be showing up all over after that. Your photos are really cool!
at - chili and a cheese quesadilla w/guacamole and lettuce
Sun - better half had pizza, I had fettuccini Alfredo which came with chicken I did not order (nor was charged). Plenty of leftovers.
Mon - leftovers night - 1/2 ribeye steak sandwich (Fri) and sautéed fettuccini Alfredo with added veggies (pasta side dish for me, meal for husband and STILL a side dish of leftovers). Chicken saved for enhancing another meal.
Tue - Carnitas meat (from frig section at grocery store) w/cheese, pickled Jalapeños, avocado, and the rest of the guacamole. I also had this for lunch on Wed but no avocado/guacamole
Wed - beef stroganoff
Thu - Freddy’s combined with stealth stock up errand
Fri - baked tilapia/orange roughy, mashed potatoes with leftover gravy for me.
As usual, your photos are amazing. I am jealous of your Ledo’s Pizza. I miss it since moving away.
This week spending has gone out the window along w/ the planning. Next week the planning must come back as it's supposed to be 100 degrees on Tuesday 🙁
This week we ate:
Saturday: Can't remember
Sunday: Father's day-Grilled at my parents-Shrimp, steak and veggie kabobs, chicken and pineapple kabobs, corn, asparagus, and cake
Monday: Chinese style marinated pork stir-fry over rice
Tuesday: Supper Club- Various dishes from an Ottolenghi book- we made an upside-down lemon maple butter cake...there were rave reviewed, highly recommend
Wednesday: Lobster Bao, pad thai, korean pancake thing
Thursday: Fried chicken, mashed potato, a corn side, biscuit, and frisee salad
Friday: Artichoke chicken meatballs, pasta, and either asparagus or snap pea salad
Sometimes what I love most about your posts is how they remind me that the very simple things are the most pleasing and juicy, in life.Long walks,noticing the foliage and plant life, simple hearty healthy meals prepared at home, and an attitude of gratitude! YAY! Thanks for sharing.
PEPPERS: I am Italian and when we have an abundance of bell peppers we make PEPPERS AND EGGS..I saute the peppers in olive oil till nice and soft with some garlic salt or powder, or fresh garlic if you want, then scramble some eggs into all that.So yum.We eat it on sandwiches, but I prefer it just on its own.It might be really good over mashed potatoes too!!!
WATERMELON: I HEAR YOU! We eat it DAILY ALL SUMMER!!! I follow the sales,from one grocery store to another!
It’s summer and I am loving the vibe.
I think I spent around $60 with my goings and doings, and that includes some treats out as well as groceries. I can't remember everything I cooked, though I have been enjoying chopped salads with protein, and one skillet meals. One night I prepped two mini meatloaves and cooked one, one night I did tilapia with some dirty rice. Tonight I might eat leftovers and popcorn. Such is the life coming off a 12 hour shift and working two more in a row! Happy Weekend!
I spent $56 at Kroger and $88 at Sam's.
– Sunday – T-bone steaks, eggplant casserole, dilled cucumber/onion salad.
– Monday – a crockpot tortellini dinner made with cheese tortellini, spinach, tomatoes, onions and cheese, leftover eggplant casserole and garlic bread.
– Tuesday – oven fried chicken legs and thighs, onion potatoes and broccoli, dilled cucumber/onion salad.
– Wednesday – leftover crockpot tortellini, leftover dill cucumber and onion salad.
– Thursday – Taco salad on tortilla chips. Refried beans.
– Friday – I was visiting a friend out of town all day and hubby went to a funeral. He wasn't very hungry so he had the salad bar at Jason's deli and I had a Reuben sandwich and chips.
– Saturday – we will eat baked pork loin, sauteed to collard greens, brown rice.
A great podcast called Mushroom Case daily. It’s a trial that is currently underway in Australia about a woman who foraged mushrooms and fed them to four people. Three who died. Trial is expected to finish next week.
It’s fascinating.