WIS, WWA | Plus one!
Lisey arrived this week! So we are temporarily a household of three (plus a cat and hamster. Ha.)
What I Spent
I spent:
- $111 at Aldi
- $6 at Safeway
- $30 on a Hungry Harvest box.
So, $147 for this week.
I feel like I still do not have a good idea of what a "normal" grocery average is going to be for me, since my pantry/freezer are still not quite stocked to a normal level.
And Lisey will be here over the summer anyway, so we are going to have a summer normal, and then a new normal in the fall anyway.
What We Ate
Saturday
I salted and peppered some chicken thighs, let them sit in the fridge for a few hours, cooked them in a skillet, and then shredded the meat, tossed it with BBQ sauce, and served it on toasted buns.
Sunday
I made BBQ chicken naan pizzas with the leftover chicken from Saturday.
Monday
Remember how one of my neighbors brought me a lasagna when we moved here? I'd frozen half of it (a whole lasagna was too much for Zoe and me!), so on Monday I thawed the other half and baked it. Lisey had arrived on Monday, so she was here to help us eat it. 🙂
My parents had kindly given me some strawberries from their garden, so in honor of Lisey's arrival, I baked an angel food cake, which we ate with strawberries and whipped cream.
Tuesday
I made one of Lisey's favorites: quesadillas with a corn, lime, cheese, and cilantro filling.
Wednesday
I roasted a pork tenderloin, roasted some baby potatoes, and cut up some fresh fruit.
Thursday
While Lisey was away at airplane mechanic school, she finished up the requirements for her associate's degree from the community college (she just needed to take a few more CLEP tests), so we went out for sushi to celebrate.
In another year or so, she'll graduate from the airplane mechanic school, and then because those credits also count toward a four-year degree, she'll be pretty close to a bachelor's degree.
So, if she's not TOO tired of school by then, she may take a few classes just to reach the bachelor's degree level as well. We'll see...one step at a time!
Friday
Boy, I'm not sure! I need to see what the girls' Friday night plans are so I know how many people I'm feeding. 🙂
Great photo! It’s always a great day when the “kids” are home,isn’t it?
We’re eating out of the freezer this week and pantry.
Linguine and Clams
Pork Chops with stuffing baked in oven
Chana Masala and rice
BLT Salads
Barbecue ribs for Memorial weekend coming up
Chili and cornbread
Eating at HOME is the best savings right now.Grocery prices are high but if you’ve been frugal as many years as I have you know how to work the sales and eat seasonally and plug in some vegetarian meals.
Yup, that's what I always think: prices are up, including grocery prices, but eating at home is still by far the cheapest way to feed yourself.
Congratulations, Lisey! You're sure doing education a smart and frugal way. 🙂
Love that Lisey is back for the summer! I can feel the love in that photo.
Dinners for this past week:
Homemade pizza
Salad with lettuce from the garden
Lentil wrap from Trader Joe's
A dinner cereal/granola bowl (fancy, I know)
Tonight: looking forward to more garden salad and probably black bean and sweet potato quesadillas
@Rachel, I do not have time to eat cereal in the morning so I loooove cereal for dinner!
You are going to have a fun summer! I hope Sonia gets to join you often.
Well, I knew last week would be expensive, since I made some big farm orders in addition to my usual two weeks' shopping, and it was - $256! Ouch! But I will finish this month under budget by $31, and maybe next month will be a good month, although with inflation, I'm not holding my breath.
I am still usually cooking two or three times and eating leftovers most of the week, so:
I had burgers three times - twice at home and once at a cookout. I had planned them twice at home, but didn't know I would be invited to a cookout the same week. I'm glad I like burgers. Sides were salad, jicama sticks, apple, and cucumbers.
I pressure cooked a rump roast with root vegetables. I had this twice along with cauliflower rice.
I slow cooked a stew with beef cubes, white-fleshed sweet potato, carrot, celery, mushrooms, and onion. I ate a couple of buttermilk biscuits out of my freezer with this.
A break from all that beef - I had uncured hotdogs with cabbage slaw and applesauce.
Tonight is a mystery, but it will be cooked at home for sure.
Another busy week in the books. I did not make it to the grocery store this week which is a great win for the budget - hooray!
Saturday - leftovers
Sunday - leftovers
Monday - I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot and we ate it with leftover green beans and jasmine rice
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - I made fettucine alfredo with the leftover chicken and we had a green salad
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Surprise dinner for my little man since he has finished kindergarten; pizza and cookie cake for dessert
Saturday - a pot of black beans is on our menu and maybe some carnitas that we can turn into tacos over the course of the week
Happy weekend all!
If I can remember, this week we had:
Sat: We were at my parents for my dad's birthday. We had fried artichokes with garlic aioli, grilled chicken, and an orzo salad. Ice cream cake for dessert
Sun: It was hot...like 90 here. I can't remember what we had...might have been buffalo chicken mac n cheese with leftover chicken we roasted the end of last week?
Mon: We gardened and didn't finish til 8pm...Chinese take out it was
Tues: Steak frites with amara
Wed: We had lunch out for my sisters graduation. Wasn't too hungry for dinner but knew I'd be starving in the middle of the night so we picked up some cheap ramen from the grocery store
Thurs: Turkey feta meatballs from the freezer w/ pasta, green beans and scali bread
Fri: We got a tri-tip from the milk delivery on Monday so probably that---fajita style
We had a kind of strange week as we are recovered from COVID but still feeling tired.
Sunday: Linguine Amatriciana
Monday: Chicken patty sandwiches using some frozen patties.
Tuesday: Stir fry with veggies and pork, white rice
Wednesday: Older daughter ate at work and the rest of us had grilled chicken sausage on buns and cut up veggies.
Thursday: We grabbed some food at the Farmers Market before younger daughter's concert
Friday: We plan to have a snacky dinner with cheese, crackers, veggies, etc.
Saturday we had a highway clean-up during the afternoon so I opted for take-out for dinner, but I can't remember what we all agreed on
Sunday - Pizza Burgers, tots and fresh veggies
Monday - Low Country Boil (new cookbook recipe)
Tuesday - Picked up tacos on the way home from an out of town soccer game
Wednesday - Korean beef rice bowls (another new cookbook recipe)
Thursday - I defrosted some soup and paired it with sandwiches before another soccer game
Friday - I have a few recipes I'd like to try so I'll raid the pantry to see what works
So what I'm thinking is that considering Zoe and Lisey's hair, it's time for Kristen to go purple. WHO'S WITH ME?
PARTY LIFESTYLE, amirite folks?
@Rose, I was thinking the same thing!!!!!!! I had to double-check to make sure it really was Lisey and not Zoe.
Ha, yes, they both have about the same hair color right now. But you never know when it will change; from month to month, they both change their hair colors!
True to my “pioneer” heritage, I have used a small chest freezer for 30 years and, after the household tripled in size (new partner with 3 kids in tow), also an additional upright freezer for the past 10 years. I try to keep an inventory so things don’t get lost and to help with meal planning. Am in inventory reducing phase now, so WWA:
Saturday - Jambalaya (all ingredients from freezer/pantry!)
Sunday - stuffed pork loin roast (from freezer), applesauce, mashed potatoes, broccoli, banana cream pie
Monday- leftovers
Tuesday - leftovers
Wednesday - black bean quesadillas (Budget Bytes, so good!)
Thursday - special birthday dinner for spouse of bbq steak, bbq potatoes, corn on cob, red wine, mocha Bundt cake with Irish cream frosting
Friday - tbd pre-made freezer meal
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend
Looks like your summer is off to a very good start. Change is super scary and stressful, in my experience. I'm glad a new normal is shaping up for you! This week at Camp Rustown's Empty Nest:
Monday - Freezer meal
Tuesday - Tilapia, Olive oil and Sea Salt Quinoa blend, kale
Wednesday - Chicken Tacos with grilled onion and bell pepper
Thursday - French Toast Pizza (freezer) and side salad with The Girl
Friday - Happy Hour at Oskar Blues with a friend, so probably food truck dinner
Saturday - I'm thawing out some crock pot mole pork to have with the rest of the salad from Thursday (its cabbage-based so it keeps well)
Sunday - Brinner (eggs, lo salt bacon, biscuit)
I'm 100% positive I will find a good burger and fries this weekend as well!
Happy Weekend!
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/
That quesadilla filling sounds great!
Woo-Hoo, Lisey!
Saturday - Returned from camping and was too tired to cook - ordered Poke bowls
Sunday - Saved some zucchini that was about to go by making zucchini bake (like lasagna but with zucchini for the noodles); Rice and lentils for the red sauce hater. Bok Choy salad for me.
Monday - Baked Salmon w/Caesar salads and fruit for them; vegan garlic chili noodles for me.
Tuesday - Taquito Tuesday (plus fruit on the side)
Wednesday - In n Out for everyone
Thursday - Pasta, fruit and raw veggies for the kids, Peanut butter and pickle sandwich for me
Friday - Haven't figured it out yet....
@CrunchyCake, Ooh! I've not had zucchini lasagna before, but that sounds like a great way to use it up! I found a recipe that I'm saving for a month from now when I hope to have some from my garden.
It was not a good week for eating at home. An old foot injury flared up badly, so I skipped a few nights of being on my feet cooking.
Saturday: We had a combination late lunch/early dinner of takeout from a local hotdog and burger place.
Sunday: Barbeque bean sliders (Budget Bytes recipe) with slaw, fruit salad, and cucumber salad (also a Budget Bytes recipe).
Monday: Enchillada pasta.
Tuesday: Applebee’s takeout.
Wednesday: Pizza delivery.
Thursday: We went out to Chili’s. Hubby loves it, and we hadn’t been in a while. It was disgusting! Hubby was able to eat most of his, but mine was literally making me gag, so I ended up snacking on cookies and ice cream for dinner when we got home. It was so frustrating that we spent the money on eating out and didn’t even enjoy it.
Tonight: It’s a work-from-home day for me, so I had time to pull some homemade meatballs out of the freezer, so we’ll be having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight.
I’m hoping to spend some time over the long weekend (now that my foot is feeling better) making some individual freezer meals for the days I don’t feel like cooking. The Chili’s dinner last night has me wanting to avoid eating out for a while.
Just FYI, you usually have to take your last 45 or 90 credits from the school you are trying to graduate from. You can't just take a last few classes. Also her credits will need to match a major offered by the school which might be uncommon with what she is studying. Details would be something to ask the specific college. Hopefully she will love her job and won't need the Bachelor's degree anyway.
I'd have to double-check with her to confirm, but I think she heard about this opportunity through her school; I believe they partner with the aviation mechanic school to offer this opportunity. Otherwise, I don't know that it would have occurred to her!
@Kristen, Sounds like a great opportunity for her to earn her Bachelor's degree. Glad Lisey is home for the summer!
My spending was high this week. I'm thinking that this weekend I should map out most of our June meals so that I can use up what we have, then hopefully in July we will start having a good garden crop.
Saturday: I worked catering. My family ate leftovers from Friday's catering event. I ate at work.
Sunday: Chicken cordon bleu and veggies (both Saturday's catering leftovers) and asparagus from our garden
Monday: I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich early; my family had vegetable beef soup and crescent rolls. Amazingly, they ate almost the entire pot of soup and the 4 of them ate 2 entire cans of crescent rolls!!! I was finishing up some volunteer hours at my kiddo's school and got to spend a couple of hours cleaning the library, which was delightful! I was happy to eat PB&J and then be surrounded by books for the evening.
Tuesday: Spaghetti with meatballs, asparagus
Wednesday: Burritos with chips and salsa
Thursday: My husband had to work late and I lost motivation for veggies. We had pigs in a blanket, strawberries, and ice cream.
Friday: Leftover spaghetti and meatballs with green beans and asparagus
I love that you and the girls are so happy to see each other. You can tell that Lisey is so stoked to be spending the summer with you. As a fellow rainbow-hair person, I am loving the blue on her.
This week was an absolute whirlwind and probably will be like that for awhile. I came home from work training Sunday night and Monday morning, we found out that my father in law had passed away extremely suddenly. Luckily we live about 45 minutes away from his house and the rest of my husband's family, but everything got flipped.
Monday- Spent the day at FIL house, so dinner was Thai takeout.
Tuesday- My body needed a reset from the 8+ days of restaurant food so it was a comfort meal of rice, avocado, kimchi and a fried egg. Highly recommend
Wednesday- my close friend brought over homemade vodka sauce and pasta so I wouldn't have to cook (along w/ cheese and wine bc she knows me), but just as I was getting dinner ready, my BIL texted that someone tried to break into FIL house. So off we go and no dinner was had by anyone
Thursday- FINALLY got to have delicious vodka pasta
Friday- either chicken tacos or veggie flatbread, depending on my energy level
Saturday- date night to a local Mexican place
Sunday- whatever I didn't make on Friday
Oh, I am so sorry to hear of this sudden loss. Hugs to all of you.
@Heather, I'm sorry about your FIL. And it's beyond disgusting that someone tried to break into his house. Hands across the Internet to you and your family.
Saturday - I went to a mom’s appreciation night which was free and included dinner. My husband ordered Chinese food for him and the kids
Sunday - I’d spent the day visiting with some friends and we snacked the whole time so I wasn’t very hungry when I got home. The kids were in a snacking mood around dinner so I just fed them a bunch of snacks (sliced fruit, cheese, popcorn) and I ate a small snack later. My husband microwaved leftover for dinner.
Monday - Spaghetti Al limone (from Cooks Illustrated), broccoli the kids picked from my MIL’s garden
Tuesday - King ranch chicken casserole
Wednesday - salads with chicken, biscuits
Thursday - daughter’s 2nd birthday so the favorite dinner of both kids: spaghetti and meatballs
Friday - beyond burgers, tater tots, broccoli
Saturday: Ground beef and bean chili, bread and butter
Sunday: Ram ribs, rice, green salad with ranch dressing, chocolate cream pie that was way too involved of a recipe for the result (I thought, but my children loved it)
Monday: Sausage (both plain breakfast, and hot Italian), spaghetti with a tomato/pesto/cream sauce, raw radishes, sauteed green beans
Tuesday: Country pork ribs with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, baked carrots, frozen green peas. My parents arrived for a visit, so you'll see a bit more effort in food preparation in the subsequent days. 🙂
Wednesday: I cooked on the boneless ram leg roasts and used that meat to make gyros with homemade sourdough pita and homemade tzatziki. We also had a strawberry-rhubarb pie that I did not make (the owner of the place my parents stay when they visit us always leaves one for them/us) but that was very good.
Thursday: Steaks, dill potato salad, green salad with ranch/tzatziki dressing (I just added some mayonnaise and bunch of fresh dill to the leftover tzatziki)
Tonight: My parents are gone, so my food effort will now fall off a cliff. I have leftover pork and sauerkraut, leftover steak, leftover rice, a TON of fresh produce my mother brought, and I can fill in with eggs as necessary.
Welcome home, Lisey! Hope you get lots of time to spend together.
We had:
-Egg roll in a bowl
-Grilled chicken (freezer, from a prior batch) + rice
-Chicken yakisoba
-Leftovers of all of the above
-Salmon (husband) & the kids had chicken sandwiches, conveniently using the last of the buns we had around. I had a late lunch at work, so skipped dinner.
It was a late week for me, so it was a bit haphazard. I'm thinking we'll have one of our standard Friday fares this week - gyozas & wings. And always, green salad 🙂
That is a very sweet photo of you two! I am still trying to find a good rhythm for getting dinners on the table as I navigate this newly single mom phase. Here is what we managed to cobble together:
Leftovers
Green chicken enchiladas for me and McDonalds for the boys.
Eggplant parmesan with thin spaghetti
Baked fish sticks, rice and mixed veggies
Orange shrimp with vegetables over noodles
Caprese salad for me and Campbell's soup for two boys, oldest ate at work
Tonight is our usual fun family Friday with pizza and a movie, still trying to maintain some of our normal routines for now. 🙂
I feel you! Figuring out a new rhythm is tough.
Yay that Lisey is home for summer! I am excited to stay with my parents next month!
This week I don't know what I spent exactly but I do know food is expensive in Denmark haha!
Saturday: I can't remember
Sunday: veggie stir-fry
Monday: spaghetti with vegetables and beans
Tuesday: leftovers and a mushroom and garlic omelette
Wednesday: aubergine with mushrooms and tomato and pasta
Thursday: stir-fry again
Friday: burritos
WIS: Hungry Harvest 30.33, farm share bag 15.00, bulk spice order 50.28, Aldi 5.96, total: 101.57
WWA:
Fri: salad, potatoes baked in solar oven, grilled salmon and leftover rice
Sat: salad, cinnamon biscuits baked in the solar oven and leftover chili
Sun: salad, green beans, baked apples and la-sun-ya (lasagna made in solar oven, apples too)
Mon: salad and pasta primavera
Tue: salad, rice and sweet and sour ground beef and broccoli
Wed: salad, cheesy baked cauliflower, pan fried chicken breasts and sourdough pretzels
Thu: salad, leftovers and cinnamon raisin bread
Tonight: salad, asparagus and focaccia
Have a great holiday weekend!
Oooh-- Strawberries and whipped cream and angel food cake! What great celebration food! Or great ordinary day food!
Because I didn't know and don't know much about food chemistry, I looked up why angel food cakes are cooled upside down. As the egg whites rise during baking, turning the pan upside down while the cake cools keeps them from collapsing and "sets" their structure.
Ahh, ok! That's interesting to know!
What a wonderful picture of you and lisey, enjoy your summer together, it's always nice to have family come to visit.
Yay Lisey!
As another mom whose daughter came home from college for the summer earlier this month, I can wholeheartedly confirm that the feeling is indescribably wonderful.
Bought a pound of red potatoes to make potato salad. Needed mayonnaise, oh my goodness, last time I bought Hellman's it was 3.50 a jar, 4.99 now. I need to lower my tastes or give it up. Costco rotisserie chicken is still 4.99 but I have frozen tenders to use up. Been having Costco frozen beef burgers on bun with mustard and pickles. I buy Costco 2oz hummus and have with carrots. I like it & it freezes well and can stick in purse for a snack. Apples from Aldi, they have nice smaller apples. I get almond butter that you grind up in the store for my apples or with chocolate chips mixed in.
I toast Bob's gluten free rolled oats and mix with nuts and dried cranberries for a take along munch. By the pound popcorn I pop in microwave with some cheese shredded on top. I eat a lot a snacky mini meals with protein & fiber. I've been looking for a tasty gluten free pasta but haven't found one yet.ew.
I have eggs, cans of beans, dry quinoa, frozen vegetables and fruit to make quick meals. It's almost time for fresh cherries that will probably be so expensive. I hope they taste good.
@Tiana,
I've been reading about Aldi's frozen cauliflower pizzas lately. I've not tried them yet, so can't confirm, but they are supposed to be pretty good and it looks like some of them (I don't think all) are gluten free. Since you already shop Aldi, maybe they are worth a try? They are in the freezer section and I don't think they are super expensive (at least not yet). I'm planning to get a couple different ones to try next week because I've been consumed with cauliflower pizza curiosity lately, so I'll let you know what we think!
@Becca,
Oh wait, just saw you said gluten free pasta, not pizza! Sorry! I think Aldi has a pretty decent gluten free section, so they might have a good pasta too. I've had lentil pasta before and it was ok, and rice pasta was also fine, but neither taste as good as wheat, to my tastes so I'll defer to all the people who actually are gluten-free and know what they are talking about! 😉 There's also always squash, like spaghetti squash or yoodles/zoodles. I do like both of them, but they are a bit more work than dumping a box of pasta into water.
@Becca, I've had Aldi's gluten free pizzas and they are good. I like Costco better and I think they are cheaper .
Grilled chicken with white onion gravy, blanched asparagus from our garden, and cheddar onion biscuits. We had an avocado going brown so we ate chips and guacamole while my husband grilled the chicken.
Tacos with grilled chicken, avocado, carrot/purple onion/cucumber pickles, and lime sour cream sauce.
Chicken quesadillas and tomato soup
Vegetable coconut curry and rice
Pork chops, pasta salad, and green beans
Split pea soup from the freezer. We had a big late lunch for my Grandma’s funeral so we needed something light and quick.
121 spent in Kroger pickup.
Sunday and Monday - grilled beef hot dogs. All the fixings. Baked beans. Jalepeno chips.
Tuesday- Turkey and cheese sandwiches on sub buns. Cucumber salad. Chips n salsa.
Wednesday- breakfast for dinner
Thursday- I was running errands after work and right by a Sonic. Two shakes were picked up. Later I had a cold of cereal with blueberries. No idea what everyone else ate.
Friday- went to see TOP GUN MAVERICK ( loved it). Matinee after work. We had movie popcorn for dinner and I made smoothies when we got home.
Today- taco bowls with brown rice and all the fixings!
You can be so proud of Lisey!