WIS, WWA | so cheap until Sam's!
What I Spent
I spent:
- $7 at Aldi
- $14 at Safeway
- $30 on a Hungry Harvest box
annnnnnd then I dropped $121 at Sam's Club.
So, that's $172 for me this week.
What We Ate
Saturday
We made BBQ chicken naan pizzas, to use up the leftover smoked chicken I made on my grill.
Sunday
Lisey's birthday! She wanted to get wings from a local place, so that's what we did. 🙂
Monday
I made sloppy joes (here's the recipe I use) and we had some fresh produce on the side.
Tuesday
Beef ravioli...and I tried topping mine with pesto but I found it to be sort of a weird combination. I like pesto on cheese ravioli but something about the beef wasn't right!
Wednesday
Leftovers from Monday and Tuesday. 🙂
Thursday
I picked up a rotisserie chicken at Sam's Club and we made chicken sandwiches on croissants. We just had some fresh fruit on the side.
But I did have plenty of greens with my breakfast:
Friday
I think Zoe and I are gonna make some enchiladas together, using some of the rotisserie chicken from yesterday.
You had salad for breakfast,
Cuz antioxidants protect us!
That is what we sing here when we eat salad in the morning, and yes, we are definitely weird.
WIS: Well, I did go to Aldi this week and spent about 160, but all of it was on snacks/gifts for my classroom, so I'm not counting that as groceries. I also went to Target for a super specific list of q-tips, Epsom salt, and Brita filters, so not sure if that counts either...if so, it was about 22 bucks. I did not buy any groceries this week, however, so I'm gonna say 0.00 because it's been such a long week and I need a win even if I'm manufacturing it myself. 😉
WWA:
Fri: salad (just mixed greens and dressing because I have been too tired to include add ons lately) and focaccia (pepperoni, tomatoes, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses)
Sat: I think this was a salad and crockpot ground beef soup. Maybe with biscuits? I forgot to take a picture so I'm relying on my faulty memory which is never a good idea.
Sun: salad (mixed greens and balsamic dressing), Aldi take and bake cheese pizza and some leftover focaccia air fried.
Mon: I had an after school event, so I had terrible pizza and not enough of it plus whatever I packed in my lunch and hadn't eaten yet (I think a clementine and an apple...) My people at home had Mac and cheese and crudites.
Tue: spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette, chicken and veggie rice with lots of toppings: avocado, salsa, sour cream, cilantro, etc.
Wed: salad (just a bunch of lettuce and balsamic vinaigrette), cheeseburger ring (using actual beef this time and prepared pastry dough from the pop tubes because it turns out Aldi has changed their formula and my kids can eat it now. Hurray for the easy button!)
Thu: leftovers: (even the salad bc I washed extra lettuce on Wednesday) All we did was microwave two types of rice, a container of pork sucre, and a tub of soup, sliced a cucumber to stretch the salad and opened a bag of oyster crackers for the soup. Easy peasy dinner squeazey.
Tonight: We shall be at my mother-in-law's house, so I'm not entirely sure. Hopefully some sort of salad or my short people will revolt...
Have a great weekend, everyone!
@Becca, Always SO disappointing when there isn't enough terrible pizza. And $0 on groceries? Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is very, very pleased to hear that, and has decided interest rates will only go up a trillion percentage points, instead of the planned quadrillion percentage points.
@Becca, I spit on my screen when I read "I had terrible pizza and not enough of it." Thank you for the laugh!
@MB in MN,
Isn't that always the way with food at school functions, though?
@Becca, your phrase "I need a win even if I’m manufacturing it myself" is SO on point for me this week. Thanks for that, and your cheerful salad listings...
This week was dominated by finalizing our new-to-us car to replace my husband’s dead ride, professional commitments, a cat UTI, and a doctor’s appointment. In short, trying to plan ahead to lessen the budget bruising on nights I knew I’d be at full apathy come dinner time!
Monday: Shrimp and asparagus with a garlic pepper sauce over noodles. A few weeks ago, Target had a $2 off coupon for their plain frozen shrimp, which make for quick suppers. We can get 3-4 meals out of a bag since we always go heavy on the vegetables.
Tuesday: Steak and potatoes. This was Car Day, and I crashed hard into beat/grumpy once all the stress was over with. I happily had the good sense to thaw and marinate the steak (low sodium soy sauce, pepper, garlic) starting the day before, and the potatoes were cut and seasoned already.
Wednesday: Wing night! One of my husband’s doctors is two hours away, which means checkups require a four hour round trip. Once home, we used our app credit to get half price takeout wings from the gas station next door. Yes, this cheat constitutes his salt intake for the week, especially since his dietary crackdown had exactly the affect on his lab results that the doctor wanted. (His doctors have excused the occasional rare cheat, RARE being the key!)
Thursday: Shrimp and spinach over noodles again. This week has been all about the easy food!
Friday: I haven’t the faintest. There is half a can of tomato sauce in the fridge that needs used, so that’s my starting place! Maybe homemade pizza?
Happy Birthday to Lisey!
This week,we ate:
1. Ham and cabbage fried rice
2. Swedish mock meatballs over rice or noodles with broccoli
3. Chef salad
4. Stuffed flounder, rice, salad
5. Lettuce wraps
6. Chili, baked potato, salad
7. Tonight will probably be soup or sandwhiches and salad
I never had a Sam's card, but always wanted one. I guess there would be no point in it now, but the place always sounds so intriguing, with its mix of things! This week at my house:
Monday - Roast Chicken Thighs, brussels sprouts and carrots
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday (beef filling, HEB bakery tortillas, cheese, etc.), sauteed zucchini
Wednesday - Polenta Lasagna with mushrooms and Italian sausage, with a veggie I can't remember. Dead tired coming home from work, but the effort on this meal as was so worth it.
Thursday - One Pot Meatballs and rice with shredded kale - another delicious thing and the leftovers are my lunch today.
Friday - Bruschetta Salmon Patty, couscous, the last zucchini, picking up groceries after work. Total spent for March averaged out to $69/week which is not terrible, I guess.
Saturday - Kitchen Closed
Sunday - TBD, but I will find a way to use up dibs and dabs of items from the week
*starting next week, I will phase into not cooking on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday because those will be my work days. So I need to come up with some sort of plan on how I will feed myself those days! Happy Weekend,
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/
@gina, we have pre-planned leftover nights most weeks, for the evenings we know are going to be busy. I also have a friend that does popcorn and smoothies for crazy dinners, because those can be eaten on the road if needs be. Whole grain, fruit, and veg are all covered in that meal!
@gina, polenta lasagna? Do you use thin sliced polenta in the place of noodles?
@Bee, yes! I pretty much make it up as I go along, but I do not add ricotta.
@Natalie J, I imagine will pack two lunches on work days, which are 12 hours long!
@gina, sounds like a big pot of soup (if it’s not too hot where you are) or a main dish sort of salad would make your workdays easier!
Saturday: We spent the afternoon at Legoland, a couple of hours away from home. It's inside a massive mall - Great Lakes Crossing. We did an early food court dinner where one picked Taco Bell, one picked Sbarro pizza, and one picked an A&W burger. My husband and I would have preferred to get food from the cheesesteak place but didn't want to wait in another line (everybody and their brother was out on Saturday and food lines were long at 3pm) so we got burgers from A&W, too.
Sunday: Haluski with smoked sausage and a side of corn
Monday: After fun plans being canceled due to sickness and being inspired by Monday's Meet the Reader post, I changed gears and made a pan pizza, a regular pizza, and breadsticks for something fun.
Tuesday: Burrito bowls
Wednesday: Chicken wings, peaches, salad, and broccoli with cheese
Thursday: Fish sticks, potato salad, and cantaloupe
Friday: Everyone's healthy enough to get out of the house again!! There's a family that we had 2 fun things planned with for this spring break week and we couldn't do any of it, but we're going to their house tonight for dinner. I'm waiting to hear back on if I can bring anything to contribute.
Saturday: Ground beef. Not sure what to call what I did with this, which was brown it and then add onion, garlic powder, ginger powder, soy sauce, and vinegar. I had made some rice with rooster stock, and had a very vague plan to make fried rice with the rice and meat, but by the time we got home from church at 5:15 p.m., I just heated up the beef with some frozen peas and the last of a jar of sauerkraut, and put that over the rice. So perhaps we can call it Aspirational Fried Rice.
Sunday: Pizza--one with just cheese, one with cooked onion--green salad with ranch dressing, and a big batch of pudding that I messed up by using whole eggs instead of only yolks and then heating it too fast. Grainy pudding is no good. I didn't throw it away, though . . .
Monday: I made it into cake. Two cakes, actually, this was the first one, that I mentioned in the Frugal Things post. Grainy pudding, flour, more sugar and salt, baking soda, canola oil, brewed coffee, maple syrup, and a glaze of powdered sugar, milk, and salt. That's what my kids had for breakfast, since I made it at 4 a.m. (no, I did not need to be awake, it just happens sometimes), and then they had it again for dessert. Our actual dinner was meatloaf I had made the day before, leftover pizza, and frozen peas.
Tuesday: Pork shoulder, slow cooked and then fried in its own rendered lard with spices. While the pork was in, I used my last industrial-sized can of pinto beans (6.75 pounds!) from the school to make baked beans. And while both of those things were baking, the lady came by with the excess commodities, which this week included about half a dozen pretty sad peaches. I peeled and sliced those, added maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves, then topped them with a few packets of the maple-flavored oatmeal that also came in commodities mixed with more sugar and butter, and made a crisp. It was pretty good. We also had rice and a green salad with vinaigrette to round off the meal.
Wednesday: Leftover pork made into barbecue pork sandwiches, leftover baked beans, and cucumbers
Thursday: Sirloin steaks, leftover rice fried in the pan the steaks had been cooked in to soak up all the flavor and grease still in there, carrot sticks with curry dip (mayonnaise+sweet curry powder), and . . . another cake. This one used the other half of the pudding. It had the addition of two mashed bananas that were getting overripe, plus more oil and sugar, and then I made a chocolate peanut butter frosting for this one. The cake had a better texture, and the frosting was excellent. Definitely will be using this recipe again:
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-frosting/
Tonight: I'm baking bread today, so I'll pull out some dough and let my kids make their own individual garlic breads. They get to choose the spices to go into their own small ones and knead them in. And then we'll have tuna/salmon patties (I like to mix the two kinds of canned fish, because I don't like the salmon on its own but I get it free from excess commodities), and maybe some raw cabbage for the kids. I got a lot of zucchini from excess commodities, which the adults will be eating for the next week or so. And of course, there's more cake. 🙂
I hear you on the accidental early wake-ups sometimes. I hate it when that happens. Most often I lie in bed trying to go back to sleep. But I like your method of getting up to bake a cake instead!
@Kristen, From a health perspective, neither cake for breakfast nor that little sleep is great, but at least my children benefitted from that unfortunate waking time.
Sunday: Chicken tortilla soup, using leftover rotisserie chicken from the previous week
Monday: Gnocchi and garlic naan, both from Trader Joe's. A bit of an odd pairing, but it helped clear the freezer!
Tuesday: Leftovers, which for me included some naan with melted cheese on top, dipped into some Peruvian green sauce. It was really good!
Wednesday: Preschooler's choice, which meant mac and cheese and fruit
Thursday: We call it cheesy ham skillet, but basically it's angel hair with cheese, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and ham. We buy the ham after holidays when it's cheap, then dice and freeze bags of it.
Friday: Going out to a Puerto Rican restaurant, I'm excited 🙂
Saturday: Leftovers
My shopping habits aren't normal and I don't keep track of what we ate. Still, I like reading the tremendous variety here, and have definite grocery store envy (Trader Joe's and Aldi, oh you lucky ones!)
One evening this week I threw together the easiest dinner ever: boiled some dried tortellini (from Winco's bulk bins), put in chopped fresh broccoli for the final 1-2 minutes, drained it, and added pesto from a jar. Delicious, fast, and definitely frugal. (In no way do I want to know the ingredients in those little dried tortellinis—ignorance is bliss.)
@Central Calif. Artist,
I'm planning to visit a friend soon and we are planning to make a big meal and grocery shop together, so I asked her if she had an Aldi near her. When she said no, I was like "Don't talk to me right now! I'm taking deep breaths!" Haha!
@Central Calif. Artist, WIS: $7.49, because I sprang for $7.49 for 20 ounces of *fresh* cheese tortellini! Fresher is better. I had everything else I needed – which NEVER happens. No meals out because everyone was out of town on different days/different weeks, so rescheduled for April.
WIA: Tortellini & Asparagus en brodo. Really yummy if I say so myself. A nice lemony broth really complimented the asparagus. Only used half the tortellini so saved the rest; I don’t mind eating it for a whole week but 2 weeks? Nah. Also chicken and cheese quesadillas to break up the monotony.
@JDinNM, I am still a little new to tortellini, so any version seems magical to me. I am a little bit afraid to try the fresh, because then I will be ruined for the dry!
@Becca, rumor has it that an Aldi is coming to the big town 35 miles away. I have yet to hear any specifics, but hope springs eternal. . . I learned about Aldi's from this blog. 😎
@Central Calif. Artist, I think that used to be called the "Revolution of Rising Expectations", but I don't think they were talking about fresh vs. dried tortellini. And any tortellini is better than no tortellini.
I forgot to put my menu in my purse. This will be by memory, and my memory is not that good, ha.
WIS: I spent just over $137 last weekend (for two weeks) if we don't count my dogs' food and a specialty OTC probiotic my doctor orders which is not approved as a prescription ($63 for 60 caps!) I hereby refuse to count the dogfood or the probiotic in my grocery budget.
WIA: I remember I braised a cut up chicken in my Dutch oven, except for the bony back pieces, which are stewing in a crockpot right now to make chicken soup. The chicken made a few lunches and dinners, and with it I served any combination of mashed celeriac I had in the freezer, orange-ginger beets, gravy, and cranberry sauce.
I also made a pot of "chili" that has no tomatoes, no beans, no chili powder and no cumin. It uses pumpkin for the base. It's actually good, but it isn't real chili, of course. I had this for several lunches/dinners as well. I'm freezing the rest of the pot in containers for lunches later.
Oh, and one night I finished the last of the frozen shrimp, served with a salad, and one night I ate no-red-pepper Polish sausage with... something.
I remembered most of it. It helps that I mostly cooked two things and ate that all week.
@JD,
I see you didn’t include your non-food items in your totals, I don’t either, but I wonder what others do. I do count meals eaten out in my food totals unless I am going out on a special occasion.
That cat tongue is so cute!
Right?? It's a terrible quality picture but it made the girls and me laugh!
@Kristen, I love that picture because normally, your cat looks very dignified and regal, and then you have the picture with her tongue out. It's like seeing an entirely different side of her personality!
@Ashley, and I just loooove her whiskers! She is too cute.
77 at Kroger. 22 at Aldi.
Monday: baked pasta mango and cinnamon applesauce
Tuesday: fried fish rice pilaf cheese bread
Wednesday : potato bacon soup saltine crackers other half of cheese bread
Thursday: pizza
Friday: LENT cheesy broccoli carrot and potato soup with garlic toast
Tomorrow I am brining and grilling chicken then adding bbq sauce air fryer side of some sort
Oh, tell me about mango and cinnamon applesauce! Or wait, are those two separate things?
Sunday: cassoulet
Monday: leftover cassoulet
Tuesday: Chicken marsala on spaghetti
Wednesday: Pizza
Thursday: chicken fajitas
Friday: Supposed to be stuffed peppers, but Lord, I feel just physically terrible. Who knows.
I forgot to add
HAPPY BDAY TO LISEY!
Saturday - this was my husbands birthday, we got takeout fish and chips and I made an apple pie for dessert (he always prefers pie to cake)
Sunday - my sister was able to babysit for us so we went out to dinner for more birthday celebration. We went to an Austrian restaurant and it was all delicious, really enjoyed getting a date night too without kids interrupting our conversation!
Monday - king ranch chicken casserole (my favorite recipe to use up the leftover broken pieces at the bottom of tortilla chip bags)
Tuesday - the corned beef I cooked on st Patrick’s day was dry and flavorless and I was so disappointed since I really look forward to having that one time a year. So I bought one from a different grocery store (and it was marked down since it was after st Patrick’s day) We had that (and it turned out great this time!) with mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and Irish soda bread
Wednesday - Swedish meatballs
Thursday - I was meeting some friends but made a quick dinner of sausage, pearl couscous and steamed green beans before I left. It was the kids favorite meal of the week, I find that the simpler the meal, the more they like it haha
Friday - frozen pizza, we have a way too busy day tomorrow so I’m trying to mentally prepare myself now and take it easy this evening!
@LB, Those left over broken pieces of tortilla chips? That's why we invented spoons.
@JDinNM,
By legal definition I have 3 adults living here with husband and I (18/18/20) so leftovers are not really a thing. I simply pour the remains of any chip/cracker bag into a dish and leave on the counter.. I find the dish in the sink later.. often times with a spoon!
I ordered all of our groceries from Amazon Fresh for about $60 and dug deep in the pantry/freezer for everything else.
Friday – Homemade pepperoni pizza. I tried out a recipe for crust that uses no yeast and Greek yogurt for the wet ingredients. It was delicious! I had more control over the timing because there is no need to let the dough rise, and I had more flexibility over the amount of dough I was making. I still love my tried-and-true dough recipe but I may reach for this one more often.
Saturday – Lasagna Soup, garlic bread, and Greek Salad
Sunday – Chipotle Pork Enchiladas, cauliflower rice, black beans
Monday – Baked potato soup and buffalo chicken melts
Tuesday – Spicy glazed salmon, brown rice, and roasted cauliflower
Wednesday – Shepherd’s pie and Greek salad
Thursday – Asian chicken lettuce wraps and vegetable fried brown rice
Happy Friday! WWA:
Saturday - went to a restaurant and used a gift card DH received as thank you for giving bagpipe lessons
Sunday - pork chops with Dijon cream sauce, egg noodles, peas, cookies
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - beef barley soup using leftover roast beef from the freezer, baguette
Wednesday - baked drumsticks, sweet potato fries
Thursday - everyone scattered and fended for themselves
Friday - likely the Mennonite sausage, spaetzle, and sautéed red cabbage that I was going to make last night
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend
@kj, your DH plays the bagpipes well enough to give lessons? Tell us more!
A. Marie! Hiii! Was just thinking about you yesterday and wondering if you'd be back soon.
@A. Marie, did you see Jane Austin's childhood home is for sale? I forget how many million pounds. It's not the original house she lived in, her brother had that torn down and built this one.
@A. Marie, lol, I suppose it sounds somewhat unique…inspired by his Celtic heritage, he picked up the pipes about 30 years ago. He currently plays with the regimental pipe and drum for fun. He is a decent player and a natural teacher so the band asked him to give lessons to new members. I have heard pretty much every kilt joke on the planet…. 🙂
@Candy, you're right that the house for sale is not the Steventon rectory that Jane Austen herself lived in. I believe it's a much-remodeled version of the rectory her brother had built for his son in the 1820s or so, when the son was about to become the rector.
WIS: $65 @ Publix
WWA:
Saturday: Roasted turkey & roasted vegetable salad with orzo
Sunday: Turkey Meatloaf, Mashed potatoes, Green beans & dutch oven yeast bread
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Turkey Meatloaf, sweet potato & green beans
Wednesday: Cheeseburger Salad
Thursday: Ham, Green beans with onions & mushrooms, crowder peas, sweet potatoes, & buttermilk biscuits
Friday: Clean out the fridge
Happy Weekend All!
Sat - My sister spent the night with me while she was travelling home from vacation, so I put a pot roast in the crockpot, with a side of rice, green beans and roasted some carrots, zucchini and asparagus.
Sun - Fend for yourself night - I pulled out the leftovers
Mon - Baked some pork chops, sides were mashed potatoes, green beans and corn
Tues - Green Chicken Enchiladas and some rice seasoned with Sazon and Saffron
Wed - Grilled Burgers and Fries
Thurs - Chicken Kielbasa Pasta and Salad
Fri - Normally we eat out but both my husband and I have late afternoon appointments in 2 different towns (that isn't our town, lol), so I'm going to grocery shop after my appt. and pick up some steaks that he's going to grill. Not sure what my sides will be.
WIS: $80 at Food Lion, $12 at Ollie's Outlet
WWA: DH and I picked up a light but lingering case of food poisoning 12 days ago and did not feel right until yesterday. As a result, I have not really cooked. I made up plates of fresh veggies, ham, cheese and bread for him and I made a big pot of veggie soup for myself.
The trip to Food Lion was mostly stocking up on on-sale ham and some delicious smoked cheddar cheese with fresh veggies and a few canned goods. At Ollie's, I bought coffee and found a screaming deal on 12 ounce bags of Sun-Maid raisins for $1.99. If you have priced raisins lately, you know that's amazing.
WIS: Walmart 83.34. And a credit of -2.20 as an item had scanned twice. No Frills budget grocery store 68.84
WIA:
Sat: "cream" of celery, leek and carrot soup
Sun: Leftover soup + a salad
Mon: Creamy Tuscan Orzo
Tues: Chicken wings and fries + a salad
Wed: Raman noodles with spinach and an egg on top
Thurs: Roasted potato in the oven with an egg on top, + for me a lonely roasted beet
Friday: The plan is to make felafel with a tahini sauce, and either a coleslaw or tomato, parsley and red onion salad. We'll see how motivated I am to cook tonight.
Happy weekend to everyone.
Oooh, it was a week. Tons of late meetings & lots of family commitments. Definitely didn't go as planned.
Saturday - orange chicken & rice
Sunday - grilled burgers
Monday - grilled salmon
Tuesday - egg roll in a bowl
Wednesday - leftover grilled burgers
Thursday - we were running super late from work, & a tennis match, so I picked up takeout Greek. Which, took long enough I could have thrown something together myself. But, life.
Tonight - leftover egg roll in a bowl
I can't yet share what we spent for the whole week, because DH is going to the store this afternoon to grab what we need for dinner and the weekend. I'm going to say it's probably going to be around $400. I honestly don't care, actually, because it has been a WEEK.
Monday: Grocery store deli chicken, chips, raw veggies. This was the day we discovered we had mice in the kitchen, so I was very grateful for an easy dinner after I spent the better part of the day blitzing and bleaching the entire kitchen. I literally scoured every cupboard and drawer for evidence of mouse incursion, and when my husband got back from work he set the traps.
Tuesday: We caught two mice! Huzzah. The exercise bike broke. Boo. Dinner was Sloppy joes (utilizing lots of leftover cooked ground beef we had), instant mashed potatoes, fruit. One of the boys who usually makes burgers volunteered to make this meal instead, and he hit a little snafu with the mashed potatoes. Having neglected to read the directions, he was under the impression that one boils the flakes in water like pasta....so he didn't measure the water. Luckily we had an extra box on hand, so after reading and measuring he made a nice pot of potatoes. (Yes, we could make homemade, but everyone likes these a lot better and they're easier.)
Wednesday: Lasagna, two pans this time, both cheese, as the beef was all used in the sloppy joes, which was fine. I also steamed some broccoli and asparagus. I had my own dinner snafu when I tried to shred the mozzarella, only to find that the shredding disc for the food processor had, unbeknownst to me, broken earlier in the week. (One of the kids used it to shred cheese for pizzas, washed it, and found a piece that had broken off, but didn't know it was an essential part, and it was a Mystery Piece of Plastic that I didn't connect with the processor until, well, I couldn't shred the cheese.) I ended up slicing the cheese for layering, rather than mixing any in with the ricotta, and everybody seemed to like that better, except for the youngest, who was in a grumpy mood that day.
Thursday: A much better day, overall! No more mice have been trapped, we learned the oldest son was getting to come home a day early from his trip, DH got good news at work, and the new exercise bike arrived. One of the kids made taco bar for dinner. So delicious. I hadn't been able to eat much all week due to mystery digestive issues, but they resolved that day so I could really enjoy food again.
Friday: Our oldest is coming home tonight! Burgers, fries, onion rings, and brownies.
@Karen A., I sure hope this is an "All's well that end's well" week for you. You've suffered enough!
@JDinNM, I know! And it wasn't quite over yet for our son, whose connecting flight home was cancelled, and the only one they offered was landing in our town very late, so he switched to a flight that landed in a city an hour from us. Then that flight got delayed because the plane had mechanical issues and needed to be swapped; then weather caused THAT flight to be delayed...poor guy finally landed around 7 pm and was picked up by my husband, who drove him home for his much delayed and much appreciated dinner. Whew.
And I was able to order a replacement shredding disk for the food processor, for about 1/5 the cost of a new food processor, and it arrived on Friday, so I was a happy camper.
I'm clearly feeding more people, and people who eat more (four teenage boys among them), than Kristen because it was also a warehouse club week and I spent way more. I also don't have an Aldi nearby.
WIS: $65 at the farm stand, $299 at Wegman's, $438 at BJs, and $55 at Stop & Shop makes $857! Most of that shopping was on Monday. Thankfully, besides milk and bananas I'm still good for quite a few days.
WWE: Chicken enchiladas; paella; mahogany chicken thighs with mashed potatoes and asparagus; leftovers for the littles / homemade pizza for the rest after late sports; and Shepard's pie (I think) tonight.
Oh my goodness, if you are feeding four teenage boys, I cannot even IMAGINE how much food you go through!! That is a far cry from the mouths I'm feeding here.
@Nora8, Boys do eat a lot! My bills are always higher than most on here, and I've learned to just do my best!
I don't know about salad...but we do do breakfast broccoli a bunch (including this morning).
WIS: Farmer's Market-$35; Neighborhood-$59; Wegmans-$31; BJs-$96; Foodocracy-$21; Fish Delivery-$82; Milk delivery-$19 Total:$343
WWA:
Saturday: a bit of Chinese takeout- Wonton soup, Moo Shi, lo mein
Sunday: Leftover tomato sausage pasta, I think???
Monday: Maple Bourbon chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tuesday: @ my parents-Nachos!
Wednesday: Chili mac
Thursday: Apple roast pork, green beans, leftover mac and cheese
Friday: Mahi Mahi grilled with pineapple most likely. Not sure on the side, maybe a cabbage slaw?
How do you prepare your broccoli for breakfast?
@Kristen,
So its a maple roasted "cheezy" broccoli. When we were doing a vegan-ish diet forever ago we found this recipe for a Besan Chilla (chick pea pancake) for breakfast from the site Keepin' It Kind.
https://keepinitkind.com/chilla-chickpea-omelet-with-maple-roasted-cheezy-broccoli/
She got the recipe from another site that used the broccoli in a quinoa dish.
https://healthyhappylife.com/roasted-cheezy-broccoli-over-golden/
We haven't done the quinoa though. We really don't make the besan chilla anymore either but we should because it was really good too. We usually just do the broccoli as a side to scrambled egg & toast or something like that.
@Kristen, I have taken a page from your book & sauté spinach every am for breakfast & have started adding steamed broccoli or cauliflower (cauli rice this week) and then an over easy egg on top. Every bowl of whatever is amazing with an egg on top! I love that I’ve had 2 vege servings before the sun comes up. Today I even added a little leftover guac from last night’s Mexican take-out & it was just the most delicious cold crunch!!
@Diane,
That all sounds so yummy!
WIS/WIA, I'm Back from the Big Apple Edition:
WIS: I paid for groceries (other than beer) in NYC whenever I could beat my JASNA BFF to the credit card machine, and I insisted on covering my own beer, since she doesn't drink. I haven't sorted out my credit card receipts yet, so I can't give exact figures. But here's my advice for an instant Thankful Thursday for everyone living outside the NY metro area: Once you've seen what grocery prices in the Apple are like, you'll be thankful they're no worse where you live!
And I think I spent about $80 on meals out--mostly lunches, and nothing very glamorous, I'm afraid. (BFF is not a foodie, and we were both trying to economize.) My former managing editor and good friend kindly picked up the check on the coffee and excellent cheesecake she and I had together.
WIA: See WIS. On the other hand, I'm hoping to have dropped a pound or two this week, especially with all the walking we've been doing.
Fuller reports on my adventures next week!
Welcome back! So glad you're here again. 🙂
@A. Marie, glad you're back. You were missed!
Sat/Sun: the world's worst meatloaf. So damp it fell apart while being cut, and tasteless, too. Not sure what went wrong but I obviously did something while I was making it on autopilot.
Monday: hamburger gravy with the rest of the meatloaf.
Tuesday/Wednesday: cheese pizza, which was the best I ever made so compensated for the meatloaf.
Thursday: Salmon on buns, since we had so much I had us eat it straight instead of made into patties. The salmon was topped with an excellent cole slaw so the resulting bunwich was crunchy and soft. Delicious.
Tonight it is fish pie made with haddock.
Not sure WWS but I think I remember WWA (we had some combination of white nectarines, galia melon, strawberries, blackberries, apples, carrots and sugar snap peas on the side):
Friday: Not sure yet. I bought some kohl rabi and have no idea what to do with it. So I might try to do something with it.
Thursday: Teriyaki Salmon bowls + clean out the refrigerator...one daughter didn't want the salmon bowls so she had some leftover rice and dal (lentils). I don't eat salmon so I cleared out some remaining arugula, asparagus, cucumbers, and tofu. We all had broccoli.
Wednesday: Zucchini bake for half of us, pesto pasta for the rest.
Tuesday: In n Out for the kids; quesadillas, guac, chips and salsa for the adults
Monday: Taquito Tuesday!
Sunday: Ramen bowls
Saturday: Pizza at a friend's house. We brought a roasted potato and arugula salad that everyone seemed to enjoy. Mostly used ingredients we already had.
Thank you to the commenters on this blog encouraging me to try baking my own bread a few weeks ago - I put a loaf of no knead bread into the oven this morning and we had a delicious breakfast! The girls wanted the bread in their lunch too so the four of us ate the entire loaf! I felt so accomplished by the time I pulled it out at 6:30 this morning! I'm hoping this becomes a "thing" at our house! I've always loved the idea of baking the bread myself but it's never worked out in the past. Yet another reason why I think this community that Kristen has built is fantastic!
@CrunchyCake, I loooove kohlrabi. Enough that I allocate space to it in my garden, even though the return is pretty small for the amount of space it takes up. Anyway. We always eat it raw, just peeled and cut into matchsticks. You can use dip for it, too. It's exactly like the stem of broccoli. A lot of people like it in stir-fry.
We did very little shopping this week--just a few vegetables and some fish, which was kind of nice; a good chance to lean on the pantry. Also, cucumbers are cheaper and we keep buying them which means that we had something like five cucumbers to get through!
Monday: Soy/ginger tilapia, rice, and cucumber salad.
Tuesday: I think we had eggs with herbs? Probably some vegetable? Unsure.
Wednesday: My mom was over and we had lentil soup (my copy of the one they serve at Aroma,) cucumber and snow pea salad, scrambled eggs. A friend brought over an apple sharlotka for dessert and tea. So nice!
Thursday: Mr. B made pasta with tomato sauce; I also finished off the salad from the day before.
Friday: Mr. B is making salmon, rice, and a roasted vegetable. I'll make miso soup.
Sunday-grilled cheese and tomato soup
Monday-salad with baked chicken on top
Tuesday-chicken potpie
Wednesday-vegetable beef soup ( to use up a few potatoes, carrots and green beans as well as a piece of leftover beef from the freezer)
Thursday-leftover chicken potpie
Friday-leftover vegetable beef soup
WIS $148 at Kroger
WWA-
Sat. - chili
Sun. - country ham, corn, boiled potatoes, buttermilk biscuits
Mon. - hamburgers & French fries
Tue. - grilled cheese for DH, spaghetti for me
Wed.- Asian chicken dumplings, fried rice
Thu. - Mississippi pot roast, gravy, roasted potatoes, carrots & onions, cornbread
Fri. - some type of fish, either take-out or made at home
@Trucchi’s $26 Monday when I picked up items to make the Greek dinner. $36 went to get rolls for meatball sandwiches and then picked up some other meal additions. I saw an interesting tuna melt recipe on cook’s that I will be trying this weekend. A lot of meat this week was in our most recent meatbox.
Friday I had crab patties and husband had tuna patties
Saturday Chicken sausage and elbows with “Papa” sauce (my daughter’s father-in-law makes spaghetti sauce at the end of tomato season.
Sunday Waffles and bacon
Monday Greek meatballs with spring risotto
Tuesday: Leftovers after work
Wednesday I had French meat pie and husband had chicken pot pie
Thursday Meatball sandwiches and green salad
Friday Clam chowder
I didn’t post last week but we got take out one day last week as a fundraiser for my grandchildren’s school. Two take out fish&chip dinners cost $40+ (including the restaurant charge for take out. I guess it is still less expensive than eating in with tip and drink.) We eat out so rarely lately.
Hope you are having a good weekend. I am prepping for my 91 year old Dad’s birthday party tomorrow!
Monday….girls birthday meal out to celebrate a dear friend. Thawed enchilada soup for husband.
Tuesday…..sheet pan chicken fajitas….so good.
Wednesday…..chicken fajita salad….with leftovers
Thursday…..brisket quiche…..when husband smokes one, I try to save a couple of small portions in the freezer.
Friday….felt like death warmed over, but made husband bacon & eggs.
Tonight…..cajun drumsticks & ranch oven roasted green beans
Sunday….grilling burgers, links, and boudain for birthday party.