WIS, WWA | some Portland eats
I flew to Portland on Tuesday for Fincon, so this week of eats is gonna be a little outta the ordinary!
I'll be back home tomorrow. 🙂
What I Spent
I did not do a regular grocery shopping trip at all this week. And I did buy some food out, as you will see, but I honestly do not feel like adding it up right now. Ha.
I am just not worrying about it because this is not a normal week. I'll be back to my frugal ways when I get home. 😉
What We Ate
Saturday
I tried another cottage cheese pancake recipe shared by a reader. This one had more cottage cheese in it, and as a result it was sort of like eating the egg bites that I make, except in a flatter form.
I think I like the oatmeal cottage cheese pancake version better.
Sunday
I worked a 12 hour shift and then came home and used the rest of the pancake batter to make a quick dinner before going to bed.
Monday
Another 12-hour shift, and I stopped to pick up fast food for Zoe and me after work. I did not want to cook because I had to come home and quickly finish packing before my early Tuesday morning flight.
Tuesday
Flight day!
Lisey was also in Portland for a few days so she picked me up from the airport.
We had lunch together:
And we went to the zoo. 🙂
And then we got some little dumplings at Dough Zone.
Wednesday
Katy made a salad with shrimp and her famous tea towel salad dressing. And we had a cheese quesadilla with that. Simple and yummy!
Thursday
We went to a food cart place called The Heist, and I got some chicken panang curry ($16) which I neglected to photograph.
Friday
It's my last night in Portland tonight and Katy and I will figure out our last night plans at some point today. 😉
There is just nothing here that does not make me happy. 🙂
Sounds like a week full of fun things!!
I think I only really "cooked" dinner 3 times this week, then we ate leftovers the other nights. Still adjusting to the smaller household. There was shrimp, rice, broccoli, bbq ribs, mashed potatoes, peas, chili, veggies & dip. Ice cream & homemade cookies. Salads for most lunches, and oatmeal (with PB&J mixed in) for most breakfasts this past week. Probably fried rice with egg rolls for dinner tonight.
Have a wonderful weekend, and safe travels home!
OMG!! You got to see Lisey too!! Wonderful!! Your heart must be full - family and friends together in one week. I'm so happy for you <3
I'm so happy for you. You were able to see Lisey, Katy, and Portland (knocking OR off your list of states to see). You don't need to be frugal all the time, you are able to spend on your priorities and some fun things.
I lived in Portland for a few years and the food is amazing!
All this and Lisey too! What fun!
I'm in a bit of a time crunch today, so I'll say only that I spent $20 at Wegmans and had the usual assortment of unspectacular meals.
Kristen, your week sounds amazing-family, friends, food and fincon all in one week in an interesting place!
Our dinners this week included:
1. Butternut squash soup + salad + sandwiches. I accidentally crew butternut squash and now have two HUGE (well over 5lbs each) butternut squash to use up. Being that the soup only took about 1/2 of a squash, we'll be seeing a lot more of this in the coming weeks.
2. Ahi tuna, rice and spinach salad
3. Turkey burgers on wraps with baked beans and corn
4. GF Chicken tenders on a wrap with salad
5. We ate out one night at a dinner theatre, so buffet type food
6. I'm forgetting one day...
7. Tonight will be a leftovers night-whatever is left in the fridge-probably leftover chicken, rice, butternut squash + anything that looks like it needs to be eaten before it goes bad (so maybe broccoli?).
I have never been to Portland, and in fact, haven't left the great state of Texas in so long...
I did, however, have a very full week such that I actually look forward to going to work tomorrow!
M - picked up a ChikfilA breast and some mac and cheese for dinner
T - Linguine with meatballs and marinara and green beans at home before a Jeff Goldblum concert
W - Italian Chicken Sausage with gorgonzola gnocci, broccoli
T - Smash Burger Tacos with salad
F - Coconut Shrimp, some curly fries, spinach. Afternoon cake with my girlie who is 34 today (:
Safe travels!
So glad you got to have some time with Lisey!
Saturday: I was home with just the two younger children and I had bread dough on hand, so I let them make their own personal-sized pizzas in cast iron skillets. They thought this was great. They also had carrot sticks with ranch dip, and ice cream.
Sunday: Spaghetti with a meat sauce made with a tube of Italian sausage and roasted, pureed garden tomatoes. I am always surprised anew how much better sauce made with home tomatoes is. 🙂 More carrot sticks with ranch dip, and a very messy and way too sweet pear upside down cake with whipped cream for dessert.
Monday: I made stock with the rooster carcass from Friday and used the meat I picked off that to make an enchilada casserole. This stretches the meat very nicely for my big family of eaters, especially when mixed with beans. We also had quick-pickled radishes and cucumber, and those who wanted it had leftover upside-down cake while the rest had ice cream.
Tuesday: We had both leftover spaghetti and casserole, to which I added still-frozen peas and some cherries and called it good.
Wednesday: Salisbury steaks with gravy, mashed potatoes, tomato salad
Thursday: I was at the state fair with my younger three children. Thank goodness there was a food promotion yesterday wherein most of the vendors had one menu item for five dollars. Until 4 p.m., that is. That's why I bought them their dinner at 4 p.m.--two bean and cheese burritos that they shared. I was frugally horrified by the other "fair specials" that were things like a cheeseburger, fries, and a drink for $22. Eep. I mean, it was a special day for them and I spent way more than I would normally so they could ride a roller coaster for the first time, but the food costs really are absurd.
Tonight: I am still exhausted from yesterday's 400 mile drive and 8 hours of sun, walking, and general over-stimulation (even though it was fun and totally worth it!), so it's going to be something easy. I think I'll try the Italian sausage links I found at Walmart. This is the only kind of sausage everyone in my family likes, and I'm really hoping the Walmart ones are good so I can get them more regularly. We've been having a lot of pasta lately, so I think instead I'll roast them with potatoes and onions. Tomato salad for a vegetable, maybe with feta this time. Even though that's not Italian. 🙂
Fantastic that you got yo spend time with Lisey!
I had a disjointed food week.
Sunday we were coming back from a weekend away and stopped for a late lunch. I got some grocery store fried chicken for my peeps. I wasn't hungry so ate a bowl of cereal later.
On Monday I made a pot of chili.
On Tuesday I made air fryer steak bites and seasoned roasted potatoes from thewholecook.com plus some garlicky lemon green beans.
On Wednesday I went out for dinner with my mom, son and sister.
On Thursday I made baked feta chicken over egg noodles but subbed Boursin for feta.
Tonight we'll see!
What a happy post! You all look like it was such great fun and yummy food too.
I spent in the low sixty bucks at Aldi this week. Made a pot roast, lentil-tomato soup, and a roast chicken slathered with olive oil, spicy brown mustard and herbs du Provence from Penzy's. That was amazing and made up for the pot roast being a bit stringy.
It sounds like you had a great time!
WIS: About $65 at stores and $67 at a farm.
WIA:
One day we had huge burgers at Ted's Montana Grill for a late lunch, so we didn't eat anything later. I had broccoli with parmesan with my burger, and a GF bun.
We had the turkey pot pie I made with leftover meat from the turkey I cooked and broth I made from the carcass. Filled with peas, carrots, onions, potatoes... etc. The usual. We had it again with cut up raw veggies and ranch dressing another night. We had grapefruit for dessert one of those nights.
Meatloaf with roasted beets and sautéed fresh zucchini seasoned with Italian seasoning.
Pork chops with peas and carrots, broccoli and mashed potatoes.
One night my sister took me out to the local oyster bar, but we opted for catfish dinners instead of oysters. We were raised eating channel catfish fished out of deep creeks and rivers, and we still love it. Fun fact - when I was a girl, my uncle and his son, my cousin, caught one 40 pound and one 42 pound catfish on rods and reels out of a big creek near where they lived in Kansas. They made the local news because of it.
Yesterday my sister and I stopped for a very late lunch after my appointments and had a delicious chicken salad on a bed of tender greens and sliced tomato, surrounded by mounds of fresh strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, and thinly sliced orange. One again, we didn't bother eating when we got home. Oh, we also had fried pickles for an appetizer, to counteract those healthy salads, you know.
@JD, I love southern fried catfish with all the trimmings! You have me hungry for some!
Dinners this week were :
- Shepherd's pie (ground beef, corn, potatoes) with added carrots
- BBQ chicken drumsticks with brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes
- stuffed peppers (ground pork, rice, tomato sauce, cheese)
... That each provided lots of leftovers!
Your daughter is just lovely and I'm glad you got to spend time with her too on your trip. I tried EveryPlate and am just ok with it. It did the job to get me out of a rut.
Yay Lisey!
I have no memory of what I ate last weekend.
Monday: I went to see the new Conjuring film so just had some naan bread with hummus and olives when I got back and then some yoghurt and strawberries for pudding (ie what we call dessert in England).
Tuesday: Chilli mac and cheese.
Wednesday: Leftovers.
Thursday: Veggie stir-fry
Friday: I'm going to have homemade pizza 🙂
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $113 ($35 at Fresh Thyme, $63 at natural foods co-op, and $15 at Target).
- Leftover Indian-themed concoction (x 2; it made a lot and I even had it for breakfast this morning)
- Pasta from previous night out at restaurant
- Salad from same restaurant meal
- Pad thai
- Leftover plant-based meatball entree from IKEA
- Vegetable pizza at neighbor's home
yay. lisey looks fab as do you. how nice. glad u enjoyed yourself. u so deserve it.
today is my birthday.
@Anita Isaac, Happy Birthday!!! I truly hope “your” day is wonderful!
Happy birthday!!!
@Anita Isaac, three hearty huzzahs for your birthday! (I know so many people with second half of August/first half of September birthdays that I can't help wondering what all our parents were getting up to around the Thanksgiving/Chanukah leftovers.)
Yay for seeing Lisey!
I lived in Portland from the late 90s to 2005, been in Bend (Oregon) since 2005, and right now I'm jealous of your trip to Portland!!
Devoted Green Bay Packers fans that we are, we "eat the opponent" each week of the NFL season. To prepare for facing the Washington Commanders, we had Senate Bean Soup with ham.
It has been a big week on the farm. Cooked a big sirloin tip roast.
Monday roast, green salad and pears
Tuesday fried rice with roast, veggies and homemade Toshiba's gourmet sauce drizzle.
Wed roast with roasted new potatoes, corn and cucumber, sweet onions and tomatoes.
Thursday rb sandwiches, fruit salad
Friday fresh tomato marinara, zoodles, green salad
Saturday wood fired pizza party
What a sweet surprise that you got some Lisey time in.
Safe travels home.
I love when you can take a few days for a short trip and have fun! We've been to Laurel, Miss for a weekend and make regular in state trips for a day or two.
I spent $56 at Kroger.
– Sunday – grilled strip steaks, sauteed mushrooms, green salad, angel hair pasta tossed with Parmesan and parsley
– Monday – homemade fillet fish sandwiches, coleslaw, onion soup potatoes.
– Tuesday – pot pies, rice, broccoli.
– Wednesday – chicken, bean rice burrito filling in low carb tortillas with cheese, salsa and sour cream, leftover coleslaw
– Thursday – pkgd lemon/garlic pork loin, cabbage and noodles, broccoli and homemade pear chutney. (I used the parts from our rent house tree!)
– Friday – maybe out for burgers or BBQ. I'm spending the day with my injured sister in law. So I'm not cooking later!
Have a good weekend!
Lunches with daughters are a special treat! WWA:
Saturday - leftover veggie and red lentil curry over rice
Sunday - meat loaf, mashed sweet potato, boiled baby potatoes, poached/baked cauliflower (all veggies were small amounts needing to be used)
Monday - leftovers from Sunday plus a celery/apple/walnut salad
Tuesday - leftover meatloaf, celery salad, egg noodles
Wednesday - chicken curry and rice from the freezer (kitchen was a mess due to DH installing new lighting under the cupboards, so we pivot)
Thursday - had a large late lunch (with daughters) so just had a geriatric peach on a leftover waffle that was languishing in the freezer
Friday - I will try to make the Hawaiian sausages on buns that had been planned for Wednesday
Happy weekend to all
How lovely that your daughter was there while you were. That works out great.
I spent only about $35 this week.
We ate:
Saturday: we worked all day in the yard. We had a frozen pizza and a salad
Sunday: I baked fish with orzo and asparagus
Monday: spaghetti with garlic bread and salad
Tuesday: bbq chicken, roasted potatoes, broccoli
Wednesday: misc leftovers
Thursday: brats, sourkraut, and some tater tots
Friday: we may go out tonight...that or quesadillas if we stay home. Something easy. The kids are all coming tomorrow for dinner so I don't want to cook a big thing two nights in a row.
That smile when you are with Lisey was the ultimate happiness smile!
How very wonderful that you got to spend time with her!
I’m a new reader and I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog! Even though I am in a different life situation (30 year old in Ireland who works as an academic researcher and trying to develop frugal habits to save for my future) I find a lot of your content really relatable and I love your energy. Plus, I’m getting loads of recipe ideas from your WIS/WWA posts!
Aww this is delightful feedback! Thank you! And I’m delighted you’re here. It makes me super happy when what I share here resonates with people whose lives are different than mine. Yay!
@Lucie, welcome! I'm looking forward to reading about your new frugalities!
My fav bloggers unite! yay! Have so much frugal fun!
What a double treat--getting to see Katy and meet up with Lisey!
Another busy week here:
Monday: I think we had leftovers, but don't quote me on that. I think DH made tuna burgers as well. I was in a bit of panic mode about my exam on Thursday.
Tuesday: DS#2 made chili and baked cornbread to go with it-his first time baking it--and it was very good. Both the chili and cornbread, I mean. He was rightfully proud of himself.
Wednesday: I made homemade pasta sauce, and pasta for a crowd, plus roasted broccoli and carrots.
Thursday: DS#3 made a taco bar, and it was delicious. Nothing better than good food I didn't have to cook myself.
Friday: DS#1 is making beef stew, DS#4 is planning to make a pot of mac and cheese.
Lisey!!! I've missed those dimples.
Portland! My home town!!
Wonderful that you got to see Lisey. Looks like you two had fun!
So cool to see pics of Katy and you together. I’ve been following you both for years!
Put my comment on the wrong day. Oops. Spent 159 @Aldi then husband spent a bit more, not sure how much. I had surgery on Thursday so it’s hard to type much. We are our usual fare. Anyone have any tips for managing hand edema post surgery? Also, prayers are welcome!
As I was going through this week I was thinking that I must track our dinners. I failed to again, partially because it was a weird back to school week.
Monday: I picked up sushi hand roll “cones” that were easy to eat in the car as we were running around to activities
Tuesday: Paneer Makhani made very spicy, from the swasthi’s healthy Indian blog. Those recipes tend to be very frugal if you keep the relevant spices on hand
Wednesday: Enchiladas with black beans and a lot of veggies
Thursday: Fish and a veg but I don’t remember which one
Friday: burgers with mushrooms, fries and snow peas
Dinners were a bit of a bust around here this week! I had something after work every day. I just got my grocery shopping done for this week and only have something after work one night, so it should be better. I think the only night we really had a meal at home was Tuesday and my husband made TriTip and potatoes. I am tired of eating out - your food out looked way better than mine this past week! 🙂
Lisey is absolutely beautiful and you two are beaming together.