WIS, WWA | Sandwiches x 3
When I put this post together, I realized I ate sandwiches three nights in a row. That's pretty classic for me. 😉
But before we get to that, some cat pictures. Shelley had a checkup this week, which is not her favorite thing.
I held her while we were waiting for the vet, in an effort to try to help her feel less nervous, but I think it was only marginally helpful.
Chiquita doesn't go to the vet that often, being the young, spry thing that she is. But when she goes, she is not scared at all. She runs around the room exploring.
Speaking of Chiquita, here she is, monitoring my nightly teeth brushing.
Wherever I go, there she is!
What I Spent
I spent:
- $71 at Aldi
- $10 at Safeway
So, $81.
What We Ate
Saturday
This was the night Zoe and I used my Panera gift card to get dinner.
Sunday
A work day for me! I packed the chili and rice from my freezer:
And I had a bowl of Cream of Wheat after work.
Monday
Another work day, and this time I packed the baked ziti that I had frozen. Brittany and I took our lunch breaks at the same time, though, so I got distracted and did not take a picture. I was too busy socializing. 😉
Tuesday
Zoe was at class, so I opted to make a tuna sandwich. Very easy, and not too shabby nutritionally in terms of protein (28 grams in a can of tuna) and fiber (because I use 100% whole wheat bread).
Wednesday
We had ham and Swiss sandwiches (using up the rolls from my freezer challenge!) plus some sautéed broccoli.
Thursday
I made these burgers, with these sautéed green beans on the side.
Friday
I'm visiting my college girl today because she needs some headshots for a school project, and I'm pretty sure we will grab dinner together somewhere.
Shelley has the loveliest little toes.
This week we ate
Vegetarian millet dish with leek, parsnip, coconut and almonds
Pork and salad
Meat loaf with salad and braised red cabbage ( the cabbage was the last freezer stowaway)
Spicy bahmi with scrambled eggs and smoked chicken
Tonight will be onion soup with cream cheese buns.
I read sometimes that smoked foods are bad for your health. What are your views?We do have smoked sausage season ahead and I have discovered smoked tofu only recently. If it is wiser to adapt our menus, it would be good to know.
Have a good weekend ahead all!
I too have read that smoked and preserved meats are not too good for colon health, which is a bummer because they are very delicious and convenient. I am trying to reduce my consumption of things like lunch meats and cooked sausages, but I am not entirely cutting them out.
Certainly, other factors, such as smoking, are much more established causes of cancer. But there does seem to be some evidence that it's better to reduce consumption of smoked and processed meats. Here's an article for further reading: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2661797/
Thanks Kristen,
All things in moderation then as usual. We definitely eat differently from, say, 15 years ago! Over the years, we cut down on processed foods a lot, after I started reading up on hardened vegetable fats in for instance peanut butter and cookies.
It is rather depressing being in a supermarket and seeing aisles of "products" rather than foods. The vegetable and fruit aisle now, immediately lifts my spirits (colours, smells, and anticipated taste).
I feel the same way about the fruits and veggies aisle in the stores. I often overbuy there but happily add more of them to our dinners. Yes, we have fruit, too, with most of our dinners-yum.
And I feel the same way about visiting either our Regional Market or the smaller produce market on the west side of town that I plan to visit tomorrow. Especially at this time of year, both have pumpkins and other colorful squashes galore!
Our usual "Monday through Thursday vegetarian" schedule was thrown off big time this week!
We thawed a chicken to roast Sunday, but my husband made so much pork soup (he cooks on the weekends) that roasted chicken moved to Monday. Since my husband has had an extra tiring work week and will be cooking Friday through Sunday (I have a work event all day, all three days), I made his favorite barbecue mac and cheese last night. It's healthier than it sounds (minimal cheese, no salt, homemade sauce) but does include 1/2 lb of burger. (He's using the other 1/2 lb for cheeseburgers tonight when I get home.)
We'll make up for the cheating next week, as I have to pull/harvest everything in the garden that isn't cold-tolerant. I especially look forward to using Jimmy Nardello peppers and amaranth for the first time!
Let us know how you do with the amaranth, as the Seed Savers Exchange magazine just ran an article about amaranth, and I'm curious. Will you be using the leaves or the seeds?
I've been growing and consuming amaranth for decades. I grow 1 acre, my cousin grows quinoa and we barter. I use the flour in my breads, I pop it like popcorn, I add it to my granola and my newest family favorite is to make a porridge, cool overnight in a sheet pan, cut up in bite sized cubes, toss in seasoned flour, fry like tater tots. So good!
If you soak the grains overnight, rinse and then cook, the grains are easier to digest.
What she said! :). I grew Red Garner Amaranth this year, which is so striking!
I've been on a sandwich kick, too. Its easy and filling and I look forward to it more than a bowl of cereal. (: This week:
M - sandwich!
T - Meatloaf, 1/2 a baked potato, green beans (3 meals)
W - Mexican Tilapia, corn, rice (2 meals)
Th - Butternut Squash soup from Trader Joe's, grilled cheese and ham
F - Teriyaki Chicken with Trader Joe's fried rice (going to make 3 meals' worth)
I've been doing so well at eating at home that my fridge is pretty empty, so I will shop today and maybe even eat lunch out!
I'll have several containers in the freezer for future work me!
One of our cats is a total Velcro kitty- to the point I cannot sit down without him claiming my lap!
Have fun at the meetup. I’m sorry I won’t be able to drive there. Pinched nerve in my neck that would make driving a few hours each way pretty miserable 😞
Oooh those burgers looks good. I can't remember the last time I had one.
I'm working on modular meals; i.e. Mr. B and I get to eat something flavourful, while my daughter gets the components plain.
Friday: Tofu and vegetable stir-fry with rice; plain vegetables and rice for my daughter.
Saturday: We had dinner at synagogue. Challah, pasta with sauce, lentil soup, and salad.
Sunday: Dinner at my parents.
Monday: My mom joined us. I roasted a chicken cut into eight pieces, freezing the wings for broth, served with rice and a use-it-up salad of leftover quinoa, a can of palm hearts, cherry tomatoes, frozen corn, and red wine vinegar dressing. It was really good, but I missed the green onion.
Tuesday: My daughter had an early dinner of rice and soy sauce, peas, seaweed, and chocolate milk. Mr. B and I had a later meal of chicken fried rice with frozen veggies, from the leftover chicken and rice.
Wednesday: Pasta with lemon, broccoli, parmesan and lots of black pepper. All components separate for my daughter.
Thursday: Carrot-chickpea soup, naan with zaatar, and hard boiled eggs. Someone wouldn't try plain naan and had a slice of whole wheat bread instead.
Friday: Salmon with pesto and green beans, plain salmon for my daughter, and rice.
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $57 at Target.
-- Veggie burger with mayo, lettuce and tomato
-- Salad (twice)
-- Noodles and homemade spaghetti sauce with mushrooms and eggplant
-- Cheese, crackers, and an apple (twice)
-- Popcorn and fruit
P.S. Kristen, thank you for reminding me about Cream of Wheat. I have rather suddenly developed an aversion to cooked oatmeal, my go-to breakfast, so Cream of Wheat will be a nice alternative.
My Mother always made is Cream of Wheat (on top of the stove in a pot!) in the winter, we were never an "oatmeal" house......it is for this reason, I always like mine with lumps 🙂
It's very high in iron!
Lumps were the best part of Cream of Wheat.
My children call the lumps in Cream of Wheat baby heads, which is what their uncle called them, apparently. I find that very off-putting, as does my daughter, but of course the name makes them more appealing to my boys. 🙂
My mom was sick a lot growing up so Gran was there taking care of us.
You could literally hang sheetrock with that stuff that cooked on the stove and left me with an almost life long aversion to it,I can tolerate the instant stuff in small amounts,lol
In total agreement with making it on the stove and making sure there are lumps in my Cream of Wheat!
Hahaha, I have always considered it a failure if mine has lumps!
We always had oatmeal with raisins growing up. I think it lost any claim to health from the amount of margarine and salt Mom put in it, but it was good.
I have been using Cream of Rice as the base for the food I cook for my dog who can't tolerate chicken or corn. It creates just the right texture -- somewhat on the fluffy side of soupy -- when mixed with blenderized meat and vegetables.
Were your raisins added at the end? Or boiled the whole time? I like raisins sprinkled on top at the end of cooking, but I loathe the boiled raisins from my childhood oatmeal. Ha.
When I was growing up in South Africa, we had hot porridge every morning before school. (I hated it so much). We had oatmeal, we had Cream of wheat, and we had Maltabela, which is a brown (chocolate) cream of wheat. I hated this one the most while my sister (twin) loved this one the best.
My mom never, ever made ANY kind of hot cereal when I was a kid. I think it might be one of those "I don't like it, so I don't make it" things. I found out as an adult that I love oatmeal - cooked on the stove, instant, steel cut made in the crockpot, baked - I eat it almost every day. I've never tried cream of wheat or grits.
My mom cooked several kinds of portidge every single day for afters. There would be combo's: buttermilk porridge after a heavy stew, oatmeal after beetroot, cream of wheat after runner beans or french beans. The buttermilk porridge especially had to be cooked carefully and I can still see her stirring eigth-wise in the pan with a wooden spoon. I know no one else in my age group (early 60s) who grew up with these porridges. Many people abhor them but they only ever ate the ready made.
My mom was very patient and precise and an excellent housekeeper. She was sent to work in other people's households when she was 14 (boys at 15 would be sent to work on farms). She did not dislike household work, but she would be pooring over a medical encyclopeadia on a regular basis to understand complaints and sicknesses.
Thanks for the porridge topic, that brought my mom so vividly before me!
I also make porridge on the stove 🙂 I haven't added buttermilk though!
Your mother sounds like my grandmother in that she also had to leave school at fourteen, but she worked as a nanny rather than being a housekeeper. One of my great-grandmothers was a servant in the city where I grew up in, though.
Cook it in the microwave and it can become scream of wheat.
We had Cream of Wheat, Malt-O-Meal (get on the Malt-O-Meal mobile and yes, I am dating myself), and Coco Wheats. Coco Wheats also made an excellent brownie recipe.
Saturday: I used one quart container of frozen pinto beans to make beans and rice by sauteeing onion and garlic for the beans and adding a little tomato sauce, and then cooking the rice right in with the beans. I also broiled some breakfast sausage patties made from loose sausage, and when they were done, I dumped the rendered fat/liquid from the sausage pan in with the beans and rice, too. And then there were carrot sticks and this week's snack cookies (peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips.)
Sunday: I had quite a bit of frozen Pollock left from Friday's dinner (on purpose), so I made a fish pie that I used to make a lot when we lived on a lake and had fish more. It's like shepherd's pie, with a potato top, but the bottom part is fish. For the fish part, I had saved all the liquid used to cook the fish, which included cream and leeks, and then added more leeks and reduced that before pouring it over the flaked fish. Also lots of herbs in there, this time parsley from the garden and dried thyme. The recipe I very loosely follow calls for mushrooms and peas in with the fish. My kids don't care for mushrooms, so I never have those and didn't use them. I kept the peas separate, and everyone liked the fish pie. Hooray. I also made a coconut sheet cake using some yellow cake mix we were given, with various coconutty things added to it. Also very popular.
Monday: Not quite enough leftover fish pie as a main dish, so I used it as a side dish and also cooked a package of smoked sausage. Cucumbers for a vegetable, and just a little leftover cake, o happy day.
Tuesday: I had baked bread the day before, so I made some hamburger buns too and we had cheeseburgers this night. I also fried some potato cubes. Pickles on the side, and I had made a cranberry-pecan oats/yogurt/honey quick bread that everyone had for dessert.
Wednesday: I spent all afternoon cooking for a gathering of priests, which meant I was VERY over the kitchen by dinnertime. I had made a giant pot of baked beans for the priest party, some of which I used for my own family. I just cooked two-pounds of ground beef and dumped some of the baked beans in there, along with some of the juices left from cooking barbecue-spiced chicken last week, and reduced that a bit. Served over rice. The last fresh cucumbers of the year with ranch dip. At least, I think those were the last cucumbers I'll get from the person who has been sharing with me from her garden. Sadness, but so grateful she did, given I got not a single cucumber this year. (I gave her bread in exchange. A great trade for me, as I always have bread.)
Thursday: I was at a volleyball game with two kids. They had concession food for dinner. I had a salad before I left, with some of the leftover beef and beans in it. The three at home had the leftover beef and beans and rice. Or maybe baked beans and rice. Whatever they found in the refrigerator. They also had the crispy rice treats I had made for a silent auction at school. I saved three for them. And then at the auction, I bid on and won pumpkin fritters and shortbread cookies. I don't typically bid on anything at silent auctions, preferring to contribute things to be bid on, but I did start the bids on a lot of things just to get everything going. This auction was to benefit one of our high school students who has been in and out of the hospital for a month with a recently discovered condition they are finding it very hard to treat effectively, so I made my starting bids pretty high in order to raise the most money possible. The only two things that no one else bid on after me were the fritters and the shortbread, which surprised me. Maybe no one knew what fritters are? Anyway, everyone had some of those when we got home, and the fritters were very good.
Tonight: My one son has been asking me to make broccoli with cheese sauce, so I guess I'll make that tonight because I have some broccoli that needs to be used. And then I can use the leftover rice--also good with cheese sauce--and I'll bake some fish sticks we got from commodities. My family, curiously, LOVES fish sticks. Better make tartar sauce for those, now that I think about it.
Hi Shelley! I hope you got treats for being such a brave girl!
This week's eats:
Saturday: Burritos with sauteed veg, brown rice, black beans and sauce
Sunday: Mushroom and cheese omelette with chips and hummus on the side. Not the healthiest but I got home late that evening and it was quick and easy to whip up!
Monday: Takeout
Tuesday: Chilli mac and cheese
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Ratatouille with roasted vegetables, red pesto, feta cheese and a baked egg
Friday: I'm going out this evening so will probably have a potato frittata with some vegetables on the side 🙂
Love your site and reading about you and family.😃 sometimes I get ideas for meals, since I’m chief cook and bottle washer here! Also, there is quite a variety of protein breads out there so check that out and maybe sandwiches will one again be an option for you.
Patricia
thanks for the shelley photos. and the chequita one too. love the cat photos. they are two cuties. shame they don't like each other.
On Saturday my main meal was fried eggs, toast, sausage and prunes.
On Sunday I didn't feel well and had no appetite. I think I nibbled on crackers.
On Monday I made beef stew, and I ate that on Wednesday and Thursday as well.
On Tuesday I ate a deconstructed Reuben sandwich on sourdough bread.
Today I think I will have hot dogs and sauerkraut, both of which I need to use up.
Don't believe I bought any groceries this week.
Saturday - I was on a weekend trip with friends, we rented a house and ate all meals there except for this one, we went out to dinner for our last night. I had mushroom risotto which was delicious.
Sunday - I got home from my trip this day and made Swedish meatballs and steamed broccoli for the kids (I think they ate takeout the entire time I was gone so they were happy for a home cooked meal, especially one of their favorites). I had some of the leftovers from the trip: a chickpea salad sandwich.
Monday - I had made creamy tortellini soup last week and one kid said they liked it (but still hardly ate any) and the other said they didn’t like the tortellini. I froze the leftovers. I had an inspiration though and defrosted one container, removed the tortellini (it was big so pretty easy to remove), cooked some new pasta and then poured the soup over it more like a sauce and gave them Parmesan to sprinkle on it. It was devoured! So happy when I’m able to save a rejected food item. For myself, I had toasted sourdough with hummus, sliced tomato and peach balsamic glaze.
Tuesday - My mom fed the kids dinner before soccer practice, I had a bagel with hummus and tomato after the practice.
Wednesday - bean burritos, Spanish rice and corn for the kids, homemade black bean dip spread on crisped corn tortillas and topped with avocado and mango salsa for me.
Thursday - veggies and shrimp dumplings and udon noodles for the kids, I had a sautéed cabbage, tofu and bean burrito I defrosted from the freezer and had that with avocado and mango salsa.
Friday - I think I will make kfc bowls for the family (mashed potato topped with corn, breaded chicken - meatless chicken in our case, and gravy) I will probably have soup from the freezer and a bagel.
Every time I read tortellini I hear my late MIL and her sisters in my head. It is false advertising to put tortellini on the package when it is not.
Local legend states that the shape of tortellini is meant to emulate the navel of the goddess Venus.
What Is the Difference Between Tortelloni and Tortellini?
The primary differences between these two stuffed pastas come down to the size of the pasta and the traditional fillings used. Although the two share a similar shape, tortelloni are larger than delicate little tortellini.
Let's see, we had:
1) Grilled chicken & rice x2
2) Fajita chicken & rice x2
3) A bean & sausage dish that I really screwed up this weekend (I blame DH for making me a pomegranate martini while I cooked ;-)) x2. We valiantly ate the rest
As for tonight, I'm making chicken fajitas.
Saturday: We ate dinner at our church's Fall Fest. Hot dogs, chips, cookies, cider.
Sunday: I made corn chowder for lunch, then we had pizza and breadsticks for dinner.
Monday: The girls and I ate snacks at my oldest daughter's volleyball game, then got a little more food at McDonald's on the drive home. I had a smoothie and fries.
Tuesday: Chili and baked potatoes.
Wednesday: Chicken tenders and chips before a volleyball game, then a random assortment of snacks after. Candy was also consumed.
Thursday: Southwest chicken alfredo and corn. This was my first time using GF pasta (for me - the rest of the family had regular pasta) and it went really well!
Friday: I have fresh chicken tenders and a purple cauliflower... not sure what we will have beyond that. But it's a start!
WIS: $42 at Wegmans, $17 at Price Chopper, and $20 at Aldi.
WIA: My best effort this week was the meatloaf I made to take to dinner at a meatloaf-loving friend's house, as described in this week's FFT. Both the friend and I think that the Worcestershire and BBQ sauces really make this meatloaf sing. (It's not, of course, to be confused with the late singer named Meat Loaf...) 😛
Reading how the commentariat is feeding their families makes me so grateful that I have just Hubby and myself to worry about during this season of my life.
This week we are working on using up Canadian Bacon that some how escape rotation. Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches to the rescue.
I have frozen rotisserie chicken and a pack of gnocchi. Any ideas?
How about copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup?
Excellent
We ate out entirely too much this week. I totally blame it on Mister working from home all week and talking me into going out.
But the meals I did cook were great. We've had a venison Indian curry with all the sides, blackened fish tacos with all the sides, and tonight we're having pulled pork sandwiches with chickpea fries.
I forget how much I love fish tacos! I need to add those to my menus.
I also forgot until this week. I'm going to have to add them to rotation more often; the whole family was praising them, and I must give the masses what they want lol
WIS: $137 @ Costco $137 @ scratch and dent mostly dogfood, a whole wheel of blue cheese & a whole prosciutto ham plus some balsamic vinegar, tomato paste in a tube.
$78 @ restaurant supply for 50 lbs cane sugar, 1 gal rice vinegar, 1 gal gf soy sauce, 1 gal molasses & the huge pkg of pork butt
Sunday burgers, sausages, baked beans, salads & apple pie
Mon - bacon and egg salad, sour dough bread
Tues - drop in friends, I made pizza with freezer sauce, green salad & apple pie bars using my canned apple pie filling.
Wed - leftover pizza & green salad
Thurs - Asian cabbage salad
Fri -Stir fry with leftover cabbage, zucchini, carrots, onions, peppers and peas.
Saturday - tailgating!
Came across some good books to read.
meet the frugalwoods by elizabeth willard thames
the simple path to wealth jl collins
collins led me to thames and thames has led me to others i have not read yet.
Anita, I hate to say this, but Ms. Frugalwoods (EWT) has a bit of a shady reputation. I never really liked her blog back in the day anyway; she always struck me as a little...too...perfect. And then she started giving out financial advice on the blog and orienting it toward that--and then she got busted by the state of VT for "providing investment advice for compensation in Vermont without registering as an investment adviser or investment adviser representative and without qualifying for any exemption from registration. She agreed to a fine of $7,800. The order states no-one was harmed." (The quote is from humbledollar.com.) And her website doesn't seem to have been updated in several years. Harrumph.
I agree A. Marie - IMHO, she got a bit too big for her britches when she decided she could charge people for advice. Face it, when you are dinks with well paying jobs, it is easy to save money. Retiring in your 30s isn't it all its cracked up to be.
I do see on her website as of May 2024 she is not taking on any more new customers.
Yep. I was already side eyeing her because she said she and her husband 'retired' to the homestead because they didn't want to keep working, but her husband was STILL working and earning an extremely high salary! I mean, I wouldn't even have cared if they had just said that; ie, we are moving to a homestead but the husband will continue earning the paycheck which allows this. Instead they made it seem like anyone could save enough money to do the same and stop working altogether.
,
I also found her blog kind of frustrating as she never wrote about some of the downsides of living in such an isolated area and I got the sense that she missed city living. Of course, I don't know her, and she is not required to write about anything she doesn't necessarily want to share, but I felt like she was really trying to sell (no pun intended) that everything was sunshine and roses all the time. There must have been frustrations besides an apple crop failing. I also wanted to know if she ever found it hard to be so insanely frugal (and there were times where I thought she could have been less so, but that's just my opinion). I am so curious about how they are these days!
She hasn't updated her Instagram in over a year, either. I think she and her husband quietly left the internet.
I am out of town this weekend and I wanted to make sure I cleaned out the fridge before I left. My husband cooks food that he is a fan of that I don’t enjoy while I am out of town (I do the same when he travels) and I knew he wouldn’t be eating any leftovers or odds and ends.
Friday: Noodle Stir Fry (Asian pork, assorted veggies, ramen packets with their sauce)
Saturday: Chicken Noodle Soup and toasted naan
Sunday: Brats, mac and cheese, braised cabbage
Monday: Chile Verde Enchiladas with Spanish Rice
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Pot Roast with potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions
Thursday: Team dinner on my work trip – super yummy chicken enchiladas (my boys at home had beef and broccoli)
WIS: $74-ish. Mostly at Food Lion, though there was a run to Dollar Tree for applesauce, olives, and almond milk.
My husband continued his streak of eating sandwiches with sweet peppers, carrots, plums, protein crackers and pickles.
I had a serving of Jamie Oliver's fish pie from the freezer, a veggie burger, and made a pot of red beans-veggies-tomato soup. My sides were tangerines and cheese. The soup leaves me a bit low on protein for the day, so I made scrambled egg whites as a side when eating it. I also made chocolate pudding for dessert for the whole family.
Actually, you've expired me to do a freezer and pantry cleaning. I'm bad about buying things when I have a craving, and they just get stuck in the pantry and not used.
So last night, I actually planned a menu for the next entire week to take care of some of that. Anything from roasted garlic pasta to pepperoni pizza pasta to grilled sandwiches and homemade chili. Desserts will be mandarins and roasted nuts. Thanks for the encouragement
We have started to track our grocery spending by the month. After changing up the stores we go to (used to be just Kroger, now it is Meijer, Kroger and Aldi), this month's grocery bill ended up being around $1000 for six people, all meals eaten at home. To be fair, we have also changed up the kinds of food we're eating--and I think we could stand to work more vegetables into our diet (working on this) but that's anywhere between $800 and $1000 less than we were spending per month.
Since he's retired, DH is doing most of the grocery shopping (I tag along on Aldi trips because I like Aldi!), and our meals are pretty simple--chicken sandwiches or homemade turkey burgers with oven fries, pasta, or fish. We always have fruit on hand for snacks. If our youngest bikes with us to Aldi he gets to pick out some chips. We used to buy chips just to have on hand, not anymore.