WIS, WWA | stickers!
This has nothing to do with food, but look, I put stickers on my new clipboard for work:
The Snoopy sticker immediately identifies this as mine. 😉
What I Spent
I spent:
- $48 at Aldi
- $22 at Giant
So, $70.
What We Ate
Saturday
It was the 4th of July, but I had tons of homework to do, and also the weather was pretty questionable (very hot, then very....thunderstorm-y), so we stayed in, and I just made us some French toast, with fruit and OJ.
Sunday
I made a Greek pasta salad, using this recipe. I left out the olives because I actively dislike them, no matter how hard I try to be an olive-appreciator.
I added some jarred banana peppers, but still felt like the salad needed more of a vinegary kick, so I might try some pepperoncinis next time.
Other mods: I used the Barilla protein pasta (I bought a four pack from Sam's!), and I used more veggies and less pasta than the recipe called for.
Ohhh, I forgot to say that I also left out the chickpeas. I really did not stick too closely to this recipe!
Monday
I worked, and I ate carrot overnight oats before work.
For lunch, I brought pasta salad with shrimp:
I had Cheerios (the Aldi version) and strawberries after work. 🙂
By the way....you may have heard that a small study showed high levels of arsenic in many common candies, including Nerds Gummy Clusters. However, there are some issues that make me think this is pretty alarmist.
- An unserious but helpful take from Liam Layton
- An article from Outside Magazine that is a little more serious. (You do have to make a free account to read the article.)
- A video from a food scientist
- A Fox 13 News article with a toxicologist questioning the methodology
I am not at all saying that Nerds are nutritious, or that they are an essential part of a diet. I'm saying I remain unconvinced that they are going to give me arsenic poisoning. 🙂
If the purported arsenic levels from the Florida study are true, they should be easy to replicate in another study, using an appropriate methodology. At that point, I will reconsider my treat choice.
Tuesday
Another work day, so a dietary repeat!
Right down to the Cheerios and strawberries:
Wednesday
A mid-week day off from work, but I had homework. So, it was a rest day for my body, not for my brain!
I boiled some cheese tortellini, added a jar of sauce and some Parmesan, and called it good, along with a salad.
Thursday
I had some dressing leftover from when I made the Greek pasta salad earlier in the week....so I chopped up more veggies, boiled some more pasta, cooked some more shrimp, and made another small batch of the salad.
I made myself a bowl of chocolate banana "ice cream" after dinner too, because sometimes you just want a little treat. 🙂
Friday
Today is my third shift for the week; a one-off, all by itself, and it's gonna be a good day because my work bestie is scheduled with me today. 😉
I packed the Greek pasta salad for my lunch, and I'll probably eat cottage cheese or cereal for dinner when I get home.
Snoopy stickers!
The keyboard cover is actually pretty handy as a table too!
This week's meals included protein pasta (we were underwhelmed), baked potatoes, and some odds and ends we were given by a neighbour. With a salad and a kaiser bun, these made for a nice snacky meal.
Tonight we will be having dinner with friends, and tomorrow I'll roast a chicken as our children will both be coming over.
Later in the weekend I'll probably make chicken stock.
The clipboard looks great! I looove olives!
This week's eats:
Saturday: I was cat-sitting for my friend and had a simple dinner of pasta, tomato sauce and cheese (or rather it would have been simple had I not managed to set off the smoke alarm and frighten the cat)
Sunday: I flew home that night. Beforehand, I had some granola with the last of my natural yoghurt and bought a sandwich and smoothie in the airport. I had tea and toast when I got home.
Monday: Pizza
Tuesday: Vegetable stew
Wednesday: Leftovers with mashed potato and green beans
Thursday: Mushroom omelette with salad and new potatoes
Friday: I don't know yet!
Excellent stickers! And I look at your keyboard table and all I can picture is how easily I could tip my bowl over into dangerland. Glad it works for you; I'll stick to the table or holding my bowl.
I started a list on Sunday of WWA, and by Monday, completely forgot to keep track, so...
Sat salad w chicken apples raisins nuts, bread w/olive oil & spices
Su taco salad, fruit
M salmon sandwich, salad, pretzels
T chicken sandwich, carrots, nuts, apple
W Quesadillas (or rice & beans) & fruit
Th cheddar melt black bean burgers on toast with mashed potatoes--If you're old enough, you might remember McDs cheddar melts of the mid 80's: burger, caramelized onions, cheddar, on a rye bun. They were delicious but didn't make the menu long term
F I'm thinking easy–maybe eggs, ham, cheese, toast, fruit?
A funny add-on was that one son came by for dinner and a visit very psyched that we were having burgers and although he was seriously disappointed that they were bean rather than beef, he managed to clean his plate and take the last piece of apple pie with him for bedtime snack 🙂
That Saturday salad sounds yummy! What a great idea! Taco salad is a good option too. Also, I have some bean burgers leftover from our recent grad party to use up. I'll have to remember these ideas for when I don't feel like cooking on a hot summer night. Thanks!
I didn't make dinner at all this week because, life, but I do think you will appreciate this picture of The Stanley Cup (the hockey trophy) full of gummy Nerds:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DalPQHBiUHb/?igsh=MTR6aWpuOGh4bGltaA==
Have a great weekend!
Another week, another trip around the world in a skillet! This week we had Moroccan Meatball Tagine with roasted cauliflower and rice, Pork Chops with Cuban Style Mojo with pintos and rice, and Smothered Cauliflower with Tomatoes Capers and Raisins with chicken thighs and a baguette.
Last night we had what my mom would call “hash.” Hash is chopped potatoes with any vegetable cooked in a skillet with eggs and/or leftover meat. Ours was potatoes, spinach, and cheese with over easy eggs on top.
Lunches have been leftovers all week and breakfasts have been fruit with Greek yogurt, sliced almonds, and chia seeds. I hate the texture of these soaked, so I mix them in and eat the yogurt right away. Then I drink so much water because unsoaked chia seeds pull water out of your body and make you incredibly thirsty.
DH and I went out for a fancy dinner one night to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We ordered whatever the waiter suggested and it was all delicious, but especially the pistachio affogato at the end.
There’s a kid sleepover planned for tonight, so probably we will order pizza.
We spent $200 on the groceries between Aldi and Trader Joe’s and probably another $200 on our fancy restaurant dinner.
I am still on this endless mission to eat down my freezer and pantry. This week I ate pepperoni and mushroom pizza, Mac and cheese, a salmon patty sandwich, Caesar salad, and quesadillas. Probably other things, too, but I don't remember.
Today it's going to be more pizza and salad.
I spent $16 at Aldi and $5 at Target.
The stickers are an excellent way to claim the tablet as yours. I certainly can't see Snoopy anything anymore without thinking of you, Kristen! 😛
Monday: 50% off portabella mushroom caps meant veggie burgers...
Tuesday: ... and homemade cream of mushroom soup in the crockpot!
Wednesday: A giant garden salad and a 50% off flatbread from Whole Foods. I cashed in my once a week "apathy dinner" here. 😛 (When in the Big City, I troll WF for 50% off items specifically. Look for the yellow sticker!)
Thursday: Zucchini garlic soup in the crockpot. My zucchini was on the smaller side, so I also added kohlrabi. It all blended together beautifully. https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-zucchini-1-32520
Tonight: Barbecue chicken for sandwiches, made in the crockpot. No need to heat up the house!
Lunches included LOTS of garden salads and my favorite chickpea salad from Budgetbytes. I added kohlrabi and feta to the latter, and it made an already good salad amazing! https://www.budgetbytes.com/cumin-lime-chickpeas/ Needless to say, kohlrabi is staying on my garden "must haves" list from now on. The leaves can be used like kale, and the bulb is so versatile--plus it just looks weird and fun. 😛
Saturday: I celebrated the glorious Fourth by making an upstate New York chicken barbecue dinner. That's Cornell chicken (grilled chicken in a vinegar-heavy marinade developed by a Cornell University Professor), salt potatoes (new potatoes boiled in such heavily salted water that a salt crust forms on the outside when they dry), baked beans, and coleslaw. I also made a flag cake. And then I discovered my kitchen sink wasn't draining at all and my husband, who is our plumber, was still out of town. Boo. My eldest son who was home with me rigged up a way to drain the sink into a bucket, but I still abandoned the dishes until the next day.
Sunday: I had leftover chicken and coleslaw. I think my son just had cake and ice cream before bed. He enjoyed being the only one home with me. 🙂
Monday: I had a salad with leftover rotisserie chicken in it. Son had chicken and various Fourth of July leftovers.
Tuesday: Our priest and his brother came for a second cooking lesson. They wanted to learn to make shepherd's pie and yogurt. (I still use your yogurt method, Kristen, more or less, so through me, you taught them. 🙂 ) They couldn't get here until dinnertime, though, so I made something for dinner that was ready when they got here--barbecue meatballs, garlic rolls, sugar-snap peas sauteed with garlic scapes, beets, chocolate pudding to use up some on-the-verge milk, or peaches (same deal as the milk) and cream. They did their cooking after eating and took their shepherd's pie home with them to bake the next day.
Wednesday: My family got home from New York in the afternoon. I didn't have enough leftover meatballs for everyone, so I also cooked a small bag of lamb steaks. Then we had rice, a green salad with vinaigrette, and the chocolate pudding. The peaches and cream were the more popular choice the night before, so I had almost all the chocolate pudding left and there was enough for everyone this night.
Thursday: Cheeseburger patties for the children, leftover lamb and meatballs for my husband, leftover rice, cucumbers with salt and vinegar, cantaloupe. I had meatballs in my salad.
Tonight: We are in the kind of summer weather in which I try to get dinner pretty much made in the morning so I'm not cooking in the late afternoon when my kitchen is already 80 degrees (no A/C). So I think I'll make tuna noodle casserole this morning to be re-heated at dinnertime in the microwave. Vegetable to be determined. Maybe just peas.
Hurray for Cornell chicken! (Which reminds me: I need to get to a charity chicken BBQ somewhere around Central NY before the summer's over!)
Yes, you do. Do it for me, who has no other option except making it myself. And honestly, it's just not the same as buying it and eating it out of the styrofoam container.
Good news: I've tracked down one at the Methodist church in Marcellus tomorrow, and another at the Presbyterian church in LaFayette the Saturday after that. The game is afoot!
You should see how many different denominations you can hit up this summer!
What is the tradition ariund this dish? Please tell the uninitiated!
Chicken barbecues are fundraisers in central New York State. They'll be put on my various civic organizations--fire stations, VFW, Knights of Columbus--or churches that do the actual grilling, and then the proceeds go to whichever cause is sponsoring the barbecue. We used to be able to find one in our area every weekend. They always include Cornell chicken--grilled chicken marinated in a vinegar-heavy marinade developed by a Cornell University professor in the 1950s--and salt potatoes. These arose from the numerous salt mines under and around the lakes of the region, and are new potatoes cooked in such heavily salted water that they form a salt crust when they're drained. And then there would be a roll and baked beans, too. This used to be $8 per dinner, but I think it's double that now. And they're not as common as they used to be, I suspect because of the decline of the organizations (and their members) that did all the work as volunteers.
What a great tradition!
Thanks for explaining.
WIS: About $52 at Food Lion.
WWA: For DH, chili followed by crockpot barbecued pork. Sides were grapes, cherry tomatoes from the garden, sweet peppers, and carrot sticks.
For myself, protein smoothies with frozen strawberries and peanut butter toast, except for last night when I had watermelon and a grilled cheese sandwich. No cooked desserts this week, although there are always fruit popsicles in the freezer.
I also hate olives, but everyone else in my family loves them. Go figure.
WIS: 509 mostly at Aldi, but I did also go to Lidl because Aldi was out of watermelon and bananas. Gotta get those electrolytes.
WWA:
Saturday: salad and chicken salad sandwiches
Sunday: shakshuka with poached eggs and jasmine rice
Monday: herb crusted salmon, salad, rice, and corn on the cob
Tuesday: fried rice, salad and leftover salmon
Wednesday: we went to the pool and got home starving so we had ramen cups and then premade chicken patties or veggie burgers on buns with lettuce, tomatoes and avocados.
Thursday: salad (topped with leftover fried rice), cheese quesadillas with tortilla chips, cottage cheese, salsa, tomatoes and avocados
Tonight: my husband is planning a new recipe of BLT pizza that puts romaine lettuce on the pizza…it sounds weird to me, but I’ll let you know what we think of it.
Happy Friday, everyone!
Kristen, how do you cut up your citrus fruit? It’s always so pretty and rustic looking. I typically peel and quarter whatever I’m eating be it clementines, oranges or grapefruit. They do not look pretty like the ones you pack in your lunches though. Do you have any suggestions?
WIS: $8 at the Regional Market, $60 at Price Chopper, and $15 at Aldi.
WIA: The usual nothing terribly impressive, but even more so (since I'm having an "It's too hot to cook" week). I did take advantage of one cooler day to make another batch of ersatz chicken cacciatore, to use up the other half of the jar of red sauce I opened for the first batch. And refrigerator dill pickle season has officially begun. I don't eat many of these myself because I'm supposed to be cutting down on salt, but my regular pickle "customers" are lining up.
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $176 ($90 at Target and $86 at Fresh Thyme).
-- Cottage cheese and chopped tomato with olive oil, salt and pepper; crackers
-- Lentils with creamy mushroom gravy - twice (with thanks to N for sharing this delicious recipe last week)
-- Cheese and tomato pizza
-- Cherries, yogurt and a pumpkin scone
-- Cinnamon raisin toast and homemade coleslaw
-- Veggie pizza, fruit, pasta salad and cookies at a family get-together
Friday: Shabbat dinner at my parents': Salmon, challah, roasted veg, salads. Fruit and cannoli for dessert. My grandma was in town to meet her newest great-grandson 🙂
Saturday: Pancakes and scrambled eggs. Since my 4 y/o isn't enjoying eggs lately, I made them to please Mr. S and I, with kale, herbs, and cheese. Delish.
Sunday: Pasta with peas/parmesan/pepper.
Monday: I'm blanking. I cooked something and we ate it.
Tuesday: Mr. B made chicken, frozen fries, and broccoli.
Wednesday: We were going out for a concert (a free Taylor Swift tribute in the park.) We had a quick dinner of mac n' cheese and peas, then snacks at the concert.
Thursday: Takeout pizza and a salad kit.
Friday: Mr. B will make salmon, rice, and broccoli probably. Not sure if we actually want to buy a challah considering how much bread we have already. Ice cream for dessert. With sprinkles.
The concert sounds so fun! Have a great time!
Oops, I remember! On Monday we used a gift card and got takeout sushi.
Where did you get your stickers? I love them all.
Friday: Sauteed cabbage with chicken over mashed potatoes for me and my husband, noodles with chicken for my son (he was feeling blah)
Saturday: Smoked beef, kale and quinoa salad, brown rice pilaf
Sunday: Leftover smoked beef in sandwich form – sauteed mushrooms and onions and horseradish sauce, fresh veggies and ranch dip, fresh pineapple
Monday: Jollof rice with chicken
Tuesday: Creamy zucchini sauce over protein pasta, fresh fruit
Wednesday: Jalapeno pulled pork (slow cooker) with Green chili beans – both NYT recipes and both were delicious
Thursday: leftover fridge clean out!
We were out on Friday & Saturday. On Friday, we had prime rib sliders & a cauliflower dish & loved them both. In fact, we went back for the prime rib sliders on Saturday. Delicious.
Came home on Sunday with no real plans, but I know I pulled something together for dinner.
While we were at Costco shopping on Sunday, I picked up a very discounted marinated tri-tip & a prepped package of carnitas. They have served as our dinners for the rest of the week, alongside salads.
I also turned the carnitas into carnitas quesadillas for lunches for the teens.
Well, you just gave me an idea of what I'm making for dinner tonight – pasta salad and something. Maybe shrimp or baked chicken.
WIS/ WWA this week.
I spent -0- this week on groceries since we were in Florida most of the week for the 4th of July holiday. After that, we spent a few more days and $$ eating out with family and I have no idea of what was spent.
Saturday – our hosts, our niece and her family, had a huge 4th of July party. They provided BBQ and pizza with sides. Guests brought more sides and desserts and various snacks. It was an awesome spread for about 60 people. My sister in law and I decided to channel our inner Betsy Rosses 🇺🇸 and made two flag-themed dishes that I found on Pinterest. One was a fruit/appetizer tray made with strawberries, raspberries, white yogurt-covered pretzels and blueberries. It was arranged on a white rectangular plate in the shape of a flag. I left the white plate and small bowl that held the blueberries as a gift for the hostess. We also made a flag cake, a take on strawberry shortcake using pound cake, red strawberries, blueberries and white cool whip. Both dishes were so cute and were big hits. We were surprised nobody else showed up with the same dishes.
Sunday – our whole family of 11 went out to lunch at Ford's Garage, a hamburger joint in Orlando that has auto-parts theme. We grazed on leftover pizza later for dinner.
Monday – went out to dinner again with other relatives. I had a chicken dish at a local Italian place.
Tuesday - we left Florida on the way back to Arkansas. We stayed with a friend in Tallahassee Tuesday night and we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.
Wednesday – we ate breakfast out with our frien. My husband ate on the road and I grazed on snacks we had. We got home late so I didn't make dinner.
Thursday – I made baked pork chops, couscous with onions and garlic and sweet-sour green beans.
Friday – I'm trying to avoid a trip to the grocery store and eat what we have. So we are probably having that pasta salad idea I'm stealing from Kristen and fried shrimp, brats or hamburger patties. My husband says garden is overrun with tomatoes, so I'll use some of those, too.
Have a great weekend. Stay cool. We are frying down here in Arkansas with expected heat indexes of about 105 degrees. Yikes!
WIS: $22 @ Costco, $9 @ scratch and dent, $23 @ Grocery Outlet
Sat - bbq & camping
Sun - ham potluck
Mon - ham sandwiches
Tues - grilled t-bones, salad & baked potato
Wed - Bolognese sauce over quinoa penne, green salad
Thurs - very late lunch, watermelon, cherries and berries
Fri - Costco chicken, salad
Sat - Cook out with friends
I absolutely despise olives too. But I like the TJ's Greek chicken salad. I never eat the olives in it. Very tasty on a bagel. Their tuna salad is also very good. IMHO.
For olives, I was told to never eat black olives without stones as they are supposed to be artificially coloured. Quality (and taste) differs widely, we never buy large quatities as fresh is tastiest.
I just made a similar pasta salad. I substituted capers for olives. Ever though I love olives, the capers were so much better. Salty and tangy. You might try them next time
I just wanted to share a recipe that I think you may like. I have been making this on repeat for a couple of months and I just love it. I'm eating it now, as I read this post. You can omit the olives, and add the pepperoncini, which the recipe suggests for non olive loving folks. I prefer to add both! https://foodwithfeeling.com/dense-bean-salad/
Saturday - we hosted some family for 4th of July. Our kitchen sink got a bad clog the day before though, making it and the dishwasher unusable until the plumbers could come on Monday. So we scaled back the food a bit to minimize how many dishes were used. My husband made burgers and portobellos on the grill, I made a pasta salad and a fruit platter and jam thumbprint cookies, my mom brought potato salad and jello.
Sunday - We were leaving on vacation the next day so tried to just eat up leftovers in the fridge. I had leftover pasta salad over some arugula, I think the kids had grilled cheese and a bean burrito.
Monday - first night of vacation. Both kids hate eating at restaurants, they prefer just eating at home (or our temporary home in the instance of vacations) This does help save money and is better for our health, but we do still try to at least eat out once on vacation, so we told them our first night there would be the restaurant night and then we’d eat in our cabin the rest of the time. We went to a nice steakhouse within walking distance. They did not have a kids menu, which wasn’t an issue as far as food choices since the kids aren’t picky, but the quantities were huge, the kids ate maybe one tenth of their portions (which was still a lot). We were able to get a few lunches out of those leftovers. Even though it was a steakhouse, their vegetarian option (artichoke stuffed portobellos) was delicious!
Tuesday - we had bean burritos, Spanish rice, avocado and bell peppers and chips and salsa at the cabin after a day spent on the lake and swimming in the pool.
Wednesday - We had a pasta bar, with the choice of ravioli or bow tie pasta and marinara or pesto. It was another day spent at the lake and swimming the pool, just the type of relaxing vacation I enjoy, everything in walking distance and nowhere in particular we need to be.
Thursday - Home from vacation, we didn’t end up stopping for lunch on the drive home so we ate a late lunch at home at 4:00 (leftover black beans, half an avocado and mango salsa for me, kids had rolls with butter and pearl couscous) so then we just had a snack later rather than dinner.
Friday - I’m off work today, the plumbers are coming back to do a bigger repair and I’m trying to keep the kids out of the house while they are here. If we get back early enough, I’ll make a cauliflower potato soup, if not we will get some type of takeout.
Not sure what I spent but trying to use up excess pantry, fridge, and freezer food.
Right now I am on summer break so some days are two-meal days and I don't remember whether these meals were lunch or supper.
Community potluck meal with delicious smoked meat and assorted sides. I took mandarin salad and chocolate marshmallow bars.
Boston Pizza x2--expensive, but a delicious treat with an excellent crust
Filipino food from the local farmer's market-- chow mein, spring rolls, steamed dumplings, and BBQ pork skewers--delicious
Homemade chicken noodle soup x3--I know this is an unusual choice for summer, but this week has been cloudy and cool and my basement apartment can actually get cold. This used ingredients I had and hit the spot!
Chicken Divan--a chicken and broccoli casserole. I have at least 4 servings left, so that will be on rotation for the next few meals.
Love the Snoopy stickers. Now when I see him it makes me smile and think of the blog. 😀
Not sure what I spent, it was a mix of vacation and home.
Vacation-July 4-6, brought coffee, breakfast and snacks, ate out 1 meal per day, brought our own sparkling water and iced tea
Sat: BBQ at a local spot, dessert at sweet shop
Sun: carry out pizza, dessert at the sweet shop
Mon: poolside burger for my kiddo, adults split a sandwich and salad
Tuesday: not sure? But there was eating going on. 😅
Wed: sandwiches for lunch, dinner was avocado, tomatoes and a pork chop for kiddo and I had a “chicken bowl” of random veg and the last bit of pasta from a box.
Thursday: kiddo requested frozen pizza. Veg and fruit on the side….
Friday: I had an impossible burger and onion rings with a side salad. Appetizer was a ball of frozen cookie dough. I love the impossible steak bits. Meh to the burger. Fine but not thrilling. Choosing not to eat beef or pork. Good replacements are hard to come by.
Saturday: I will eat what is on hand. Not sure what I will want. 😂love to cook but I am a “moody” eater, as in, what am I in the mood to eat?
Cheerios with fresh strawberries is a top tier meal in my book!
The olive dislike is understandable. I didn't like them until I was a teenager and that was with many attempts. They have such a sharp taste.
Hope you had a great shift with your work bestie! I went to a conference yesterday with fun coworkers and it's the best.
Thank you for the links re: arsenic in candy!