WIS, WWA | that was disappointing!
What I Spent
I cut open an avocado earlier in the week, and it was just perfect.
But the next one I cut open?
SO disappointing. So much pit.
But hey, at least the edible part was still perfectly ripe.
I spent:
- $48 at Aldi
- $17 at the Hispanic grocery store
- $26 at Noodles and Co.
So, $91.
What We Ate
Saturday
My friend Mia and I cooked together; she made some fried plantains, and I made chorizo and potato tostadas, topped with cilantro, queso fresco, and Mexican crema.
Sunday
We got out and enjoyed the sunshine earlier in the day.
Since she lives in a landlocked state now, she especially appreciates the water views when she comes here. 🙂
I said that this obviously meant she should move back here. You know, so she can enjoy the water.
(and also live close to me. Heh.)
Mia insisted on taking me out for dinner that night, so we got a little dressed up and went to a waterfront restaurant. So fun!
Monday
Mia had a flight that left in the evening, so she and I grabbed a quick meal from Noodles and Company before I took her to the airport.
Tuesday
I got out some leftover Christmas ham from the freezer and Zoe and I ate that with some baked apples, plus some leftover rolls.
Wednesday
Zoe was at work, and I made myself an egg burrito (with cilantro, avocado, and queso fresco)
I scrambled the eggs in a little bit of the fat I'd saved from cooking the chorizo, and that was super tasty.
Thursday
I had a free pizza in my Domino's app so that's what I picked up for dinner. 🙂
Friday
We have leftover pizza so that will be the easy button for tonight.
I'm so glad you had a nice visit with a friend! That's always such a treat that I never take for granted since schedules become so much more complicated as time passes.
WIS: 62.54 on Ethiopian take out, 61.80 on box wine, 162.56 @Aldi and another 62 on cat food at Giant for a total of 348.90 this week.
WWA:
Fri: salad (mixed greens, feta and other toppings I can't recall now), mozzarella and pumpkin chipotle focaccia.
Sat: fancy ramen bowls with turkey meatballs, hard boiled eggs, spinach and tomatoes, as well as blanched carrots, celery and red pepper. No salad because the ramen was very veg heavy and I was tired.
Sun: salad (mixed greens and spray dressing), veggie burgers on small slider-sized brioche buns and topped with cheese, chips and salsa.
Mon: my husband was feeling uninspired, so I threw together a quick random meal of Mac and cheese, frozen California veggies, tomato basil chicken sausages, leftover chips and salsa, and salad (just mixed greens and spray dressing).
Tue: salad (mixed greens, shredded carrot, cherry tomatoes and crispy onions plus spray dressing), seasoned roasted potatoes, cornflake crusted chicken breasts. Also my husband ate some leftover soup.
Wed: salad (mixed greens and crispy onions with spray dressing), scrambled eggs with peppers and onions and pepperjack cheese, waffles and maple syrup. I then surreptitiously ate a box of strawberry mochi by myself for dessert because it was a difficult week and I needed a little treat.
Thu: I had a school event, so I ate a leftover veggie burger and then some chili samples from a school chili contest (my private verdict is that they were all good, but none as good as my husband's). When I got home, I found that my people had enjoyed take out injera in my absence, but had foolishly left their leftovers in the fridge. I then had second dinner. 😉
Tonight: my parents are coming for dinner, so my husband is making focaccia but also a salad that includes shredded salmon and hardboiled eggs to make sure we have enough, and my mom is bringing a salad too. Full details in next week's post!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
@Becca, what are "California vegetables"?
"Second dinner" —so cute, like the hobbits' second breakfast. 😎
@Central Calif. Artist Jana,
It's just a frozen blend of cauliflower, broccoli and carrots, but it's called "California blend" for some reason.
I love a good taco! And pizza sounds like a good idea for today since its National Pizza Day. So I think that's in my lunch future. This week:
Monday - kitchen closed - I had a Whatchicken sammie on the way home
Tuesday - (Crockpot) BBQ Seasoned Chicken Legs, (freezer) mashed potatoes, yellow squash
Wednesday - Beef Patties with onions and poblano pepper, pinto beans
Thursday - Jambalaya Rice with (freezer) Ham from Christmas, brussels sprouts
Friday - Turkey Pot Pie, side salad or zucchini
Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but we still have a bit of leftovers
Happy Weekend!
WIS: $35 at the Asia Food Market and $20 at Price Chopper.
WIA: (1) I had some Trader Joe’s Campari tomatoes (an impulse purchase) that were getting a tad overripe. I remembered the jar of red/green chiles in the pantry (from the Hatch folks in NM; this was a birthday gift from Grad School BFF), and I made a salsa with the tomatoes, some of the chiles, and some cilantro that miraculously survived the repeated freeze/thaw cycles here. (However, I confess to buying a bag of corn chips to go with the salsa. Frugal and dietary fail.)
I also remembered Grad School BFF’s caution that these chiles don’t last too long in the fridge once the jar is opened. So I spooned the rest of the jar into a flexible ice cube tray and put the cubes into a Ziploc when they were ready. Now I can just grab a few cubes as needed for future use.
(2) And I made another stir-fry with the last of my @#$!! cauliflower (IT'S GONE!!), a few leaves of kale that likewise miraculously survived the weather, the last of the miraculous cilantro, and a leek and some mushrooms from the Asia Market.
@A. Marie, I just opened a jar of hatch chilis and didn't know that...thank you for the tip. I will freeze some because I just use a tablespoon or two at a time in soups or whatever.
I always consider it a win if my avocado is edible, regardless of pit size. So often the dreaded black veins have begun. Not that I buy them much.
Anyway. Our food.
Saturday: I didn't feel like cooking, but the show must go on. So, bacon and egg sandwiches, grape tomatoes, double chocolate peanut butter almond cookies made earlier in the day before I was sick of the kitchen.
Sunday: Lamb loin chops from the ram we had butchered a few days prior, curried vegetables (cauliflower, caramelized onions from the freezer, potatoes, canned collard greens, yellow split peas), rice, tomato/cucumber salad, and the King Cake my mom sent us from a bakery in Lousiana. I was going to save it for Fat Tuesday (this Tuesday!), but my kids couldn't wait. 🙂
Monday: Scrambled eggs, leftover curry and rice, chocolate ice cream. It's hard for me to be chill about my kids eating dessert every night, because I don't like the extra sugar they're eating. But they are so slim and active, and growing so fast, I know they really need extra calories that they just won't eat if it's just eggs and curry. So I make the cookies and rice pudding, buy the ice cream, and serve it up.
Tuesday: I cooked what was possibly the world's largest pork butt--11.5 pounds--knowing I wouldn't have time to cook much in the following two days. This night I broiled some of the pieces with mustard and maple syrup. I also made cornbread (I use Edna Lewis' corn muffins recipe with half masa and half cornmeal and bake it in a 9x13 Pyrex), green salad with vinaigrette, and a rice pudding I made because the oven was on most of the day to cook the pork.
Wednesday: Pork, cheese, and salsa, in flour tortillas, lighty fried. raw tomatoes and radishes, more ice cream
Thursday: Pork stir-fry, which finished off the pork and several other things in the refrigerator. Also rice, but no one asked about dessert, so I didn't bring it up. 🙂
Tonight: We're hosting a guest for dinner who doesn't eat meat on Fridays, so tuna patties, mashed potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, and a strawberry/blueberry slump with whipped cream.
@kristin @ going country, Growing up, we kids always had dessert after dinner (if we ate it), sometimes dessert for lunch, and usually something like cookies as an afterschool snack. We were all slim and active-ish* and very healthy. I wouldn't worry!
*I rode my bike a lot but preferred to read. My brothers played football and my sister skateboarded.
@kristin @ going country, there was a time where my son was so thin and growing so much that the doctor told me to do whatever to get some weight on him. I used to give him an ensure shake each night that I blended with a scoop of ice cream LOL. We did that for months before he finally got above the line where the doctor was concerned.
Now I see my nephew doing the same thing...just all bones and angles. My son is now 25 and completely filled out, but he didn't get beyond "really thin" til he was about 22.
@kristin @ going country, can you tell me more about the cookies you made on Saturday? Is there a link to the recipe?
@Jean C, It was these, except I use chopped almonds instead of peanuts, because I get so many almonds for free.
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/salted-double-chocolate-peanut-butter-cookies/
@kristin @ going country, thank you! Looks delicious.
I love easy buttons! I have also always loved the name MIA!
88 from Kroger pickup. 14 from Aldi.
Monday: leftover beef tips and mashed potatoes.
Tuesday: Turkey sausage and broccoli quiche and cucumber feta salad
Wednesday : pesto shrimp pasta from homegrown basil and frozen in august. Topped with diced tomato and black olives. A FAM FAVE
Thurs: leftovers and I had cereal for supper. Grape nuts. Another personal fave.
Fri: frozen pizza and bagged salad.
Sat: fish stick from air fryer tacos with homemade cilantro lime slaw and chips and salsa
@Stephanie, fish sticks as fish tacos is GENIUS, why have I never thought of that?!
@Stephanie, I love Grape Nuts. My husband, who hates them, calls it Colon Blow cereal. The problem with Grape Nuts is that the recommended serving is too tiny to be satisfying...
@Lindsey,
I also love grape nuts, but I stopped buying them when they reduced the ounces in the box, but kept the same box size and price (though it's probably even more now). It just really irked me. I would buy the generic if Aldi made a version, though.
Itried a number of new recipes this week - some winners, some not.
Saturday: I know we had paninis for lunch, but can't remember what we had for dinner! Two kids were at afternoon birthday parties, the other kid was at winter camp, and my husband was working. I'm sure we ate something, but Saturday was too full to remember to write down the dinner menu!
Sunday: Ham, summer squash, cooked carrots, cranberry sauce, and potato salad
Monday: New recipe #1 - beef and sweet potato chili - which two of my children didn't like at all. Bummer.
Tuesday: New recipe #2 - Cornbread Cowboy Casserole, which was a big hit!! Yay! My tween even said it was delicious, so that's a big deal. We had cantaloupe on the side.
Wednesday: Chicken sandwiches, squash and zucchini mixed, sweet potatoes, and oranges
Thursday: New recipe #3: Creamy cheese tortellini, which had enough ingredients that everyone was able to find something they liked in it. Win. We had peas on the side.
Friday: Sloppy joes... and I don't know what else. But the main thing is figured out!
Did you ever see that meme? "Wooden ball, wooden ball, wooden ball. They've got to come up with some better prizes for the inside of avocado"?
What did we eat? French dips, matzoh ball soup, white chicken chili and takeout veal marsala. And a frozen pizza.
Time with a good friend is priceless.
WWA:
Saturday- red beans and rice made with a little chunk of leftover ham from the freezer, cucumber and tomato salad
Sunday - Mississippi pot roast, baked potatoes, Greek lettuce salad, chocolate chip cookies
Monday- leftover pot roast on buns
Tuesday - homemade brocolli cheddar soup, baguette
Wednesday - oven baked chicken drumsticks and french fries
Thursday - grilled cheese
Friday - olive oil and garlic spaghetti with artichokes, olives and other veggies. May also add some cooked shrimp. (I had planned to make falafels tonight but forgot to pre-soak the chickpeas)
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend
WWS: $316 at Kroger.
Saturday: DH and I were on the road and fasting, kids made pizzas at home. We stopped at Kroger and got food for Sunday, and ended up getting it for nearly free after redeeming Kroger Rewards Points.
Sunday: I roasted a chicken and made some french onion soup and asparagus, which we enjoyed for lunch and dinner. I also roasted myself a sweet potato, half for lunch and half for dinner.
Monday: Made it home in time for burgers! I brought home some Veggie Straws I'd bought in a Road Trip Snack Mode--we hardly ever buy snack foods, and they were well received.
Tuesday: Baked chicken, brown rice, roasted broccoli, salad bar. Personally not loving dark meat chicken these days so I made myself some tofu.
Wednesday: Hamburger stew.
Thursday: I was horribly sick today, some weird stomach/fever/headache/low blood pressure thing. Luckily it was DH's turn to make dinner, and he made salmon burgers and tuna burgers. Kids all voted salmon burgers as the best.
Tonight: Probably tacos, which I am not making, which is good, as my fever is gone but I'm still a little unsteady on my pins, as they used to say.
I spent $73 at grocery stores. We ate out once, but I have that in a different budget line.
What we ate:
Saturday: Took the family and my parents out for Chinese for younger son's birthday
Sunday: brats and roasted potatoes. Had a salad with that
Monday: I cooked a roast/potatoes/carrots
Tuesday: I crumbled up the leftover brats and put them in a white bean soup
Wednesday: husband was out of town and I made myself a philly sandwich with some leftover roast.
Thursday: I took the last of the roast, carrots, and potatoes, added the leftover gravy...added some frozen peas and corn and made a beef pot pie.
Friday: I'm thinking coconut shrimp with rice and some veggie, but I'm not feeling great so I may grab a frozen pizza at Lidl cause I have to go there today.
Saturday - takeout fish n chips
Sunday - we were supposed to go to my parents to celebrate my mom and sisters birthdays, but the weather was so bad, we decided to reschedule since it didn’t seem safe to drive in it. And then our power went out right at dinner time, and our stove is completely electric so no cooking for us. I just made a giant snack tray, with cut fruit, veggies, cheese, crackers and myself and the kids were delighted (my husband doesn’t like this type of dinner, because it feels like a snack to him, not filling enough for a dinner, so he made a peanut butter and banana sandwich to go with his)
Monday - leftover garden turkey loaves from the freezer, pasta roni (learned while my kids love rice a roni, they wouldn’t eat the pasta roni, lesson learned)
Tuesday - chicken pot pie
Wednesday - hot dogs for the kids, bratwurst for the adults, pierogis, steamed broccoli (and kimchi for me)
Thursday - ham and potato soup, a very satisfying use-up-leftovers meal. The ham from the freezer was left from new years, and then I used what was left in a 5 lb bag of potatoes and a bag of carrots, and rather than the milk it called for, I diluted a cup of heavy whipping cream we had leftover. It was delicious too and everyone ate it (one needed the ham removed but then ate it)
Friday - I have a mom’s night, so wine and cheese for me, everyone at home is on their own!
Goodness, I'm really struggling to remember:
-One night, DH & I were so exhausted that we went to bed without dinner. (I had a snack of cheese & crackers, and called it a day.) DS17 made himself taquitos. DS16 was out with friends.
-We had chicken curry x2 (from the freezer)
-The teens had leftover pizza one night, and DH & I had chicken pad thai
-DH made Philly cheesesteaks on Sunday, which I recall
-Last night was a mixed bag, with DH having salmon, one teen having pizza, and me having the last of the chicken curry.
As for tonight, I think we're having gyros.
$78 at Aldi, $37 at Lund’s, and whatever my husband spent at Arby’s
My husband and I spent Saturday night doing a freezer meal prep session for a family that could use some extra meals in the freezer – mom underwent a major surgery and dad is busy taking care of the three boys. I combined the shopping trip for meal prep supplies with our regular shopping trip and planned most of our family’s meals from our freezer.
Freezer meal prep meals:
• Tater tot hot dish
• Chicken enchiladas
• Ham and cheese sliders
• Baked ziti
• Breakfast burritos
WWA:
Friday: Frozen Pizza
Saturday: Soup and French bread
Sunday: Million Dollar Spaghetti
Monday: White Chicken Chili
Tuesday: Italian Grinder Salad
Wednesday: husband picked up Arby’s because I forgot to defrost dinner
Thursday: Cilantro Lime Chicken over brown rice
@Geneva, What is Million Dollar Spaghetti? It sounds interesting.
WIS: No shopping last weekend.
WIA, in no particular order:
I put a small pork butt in the crock pot to make pulled pork during my work day, instead of using the pressure cooker at night because I had too much to do at night. It is not as good when cooked in the slow cooker, to my thinking, as when cooked in the pressure cooker, but it was certainly good enough to eat. I had it with pre-roasted candied lemon carrots and cranberry sauce I'd already made. I also made two lunches out of it so far. I'll finish this up this weekend.
I cooked the spatchcocked chicken from the freezer and ate chicken with same-pan cooked carrots, celeriac, onions and mushrooms twice, plus a lunch.
I used some of the chicken meat to make a grilled chicken and cheese sandwich, with homemade pickles and a fresh pear on the side.
I also had chicken salad made with fresh veggies and fruit for one meal plus a lunch.
I used the bones and last of the meat to make a chicken and vegetable soup, using new vegetables. It was a big chicken.
Tonight - pulled pork!
Avocados and their pits are such a mystery. It seems that the smaller ones often have the highest ratio of edible material to pit. I'm wishing I'd asked my avocado farmer uncle when he was still around.
Kristen, the fact that you got an 80% on a very difficult exam as soon as Mia left is positively heroic. Shifting gears from Girlfriend Happy Time to Serious Medical Facts is like going from 1st gear to 5th without 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in between.
Dinners this week:
1. Big pot of minestrone soup.Rolls. Lots left over for lunches.
2. Spaghetti with mushrooms and red pepper and a Greek salad
3. Chicken legs with barbecue sauce (used legs from freezer,purchased on a GOOD sale!) And used up half bottle of bbq sauce which I had in freezer. Cole slaw,using other half of bag from the minestrone recipe,roasted potatoes with garlic.
4. “ Chicken less “orange chicken from package at Trader Joe, with cut up red peppers and pineapple chunks and onions, over brown rice, applesauce on the side
5. Refried white bean recipe and mexican rice with green beans.
6. Leftovers from refrig.
7.We had a nice family dinner out at a local restaurant we have been wanting to try.It was yummy!
That avocado pit is ready to grow into a plant! I hope you poked it with toothpicks and stuck it in water!
I had a similar avocado experience, except my second avocado had started to turn black inside and tasted like glue. Luckily, I get our avocadoes from Target where they are just 79 cents each, so it wasn't too much of a financial loss.
This week, we enjoyed:
* Butternut squash soup
* Wild rice soup x2
* Spring roll salad x2
* Veggie pizza
* Popcorn and fruit
Took a frozen ham piece out of freezer and made a bean soup. Only had pintos (not the great northern I usually use) but it turned out well.
Husband made venison and I had bean and cheese quesadillas.
Made a no peek chicken and rice with steamed broccolli for dinner last eve.
That's all I can remember!
Your avocado looks delicious. I can not seem to find a good one. They are either rock hard and then I put them in the frig and all of a sudden they are hard and rotten. Its a good day when I find a good one. Is there a trick to ripen one that is hard at the store or should I stay away from those? Insight on this please. Thank you
@Sonnie,
We are in the Toronto area so definitely not avocado country! We have great success placing them in a paper bag to ripen for a couple of days.
@Sonnie, keep them out of the fridge until they are soft enough to eat. Then refrigerate them. We usually put them on the windowsill above the kitchen sink, but they could just go in a bowl on the counter.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, Thank you. That is what I have not done. Now I can't wait to go to the store and purchase some.
Thank you so much everyone for your ideas.
Your visit looks so fun!
I have no idea what I spent but this is what I ate!
Saturday: Aubergine and mushroom with pasta
Sunday: Pizza
Monday: Pita bread with salad and hummus
Tuesday: Chilli mac and cheese
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Veggie stir-fry
Friday: Baked sweet potato and mushroom omelette
Neighbor went on vacation and dropped off 4 beautiful avocados. One had a big pit like yours, so I instantly started it in a cup and it is already sprouting 3 days later.
WIS: $0 WWA:
S - Chicken fried steak, salad, roasted veggies
M - More cf steak, fresh tortellini w/browned butter and sage & mystery hard cheese w/ no label, green salad
T - Tacos from mystery meat pkg, cooked it in instapot w/fajita marinade, pintos from the freezer, cotija and micro greens from the greenhouse.
W - Taco salads, cara cara oranges
Th - Chicken carcass into 1/2 recipe of Chicken Alfredo w/fresh broccoli and green salad
F - Chicken noodle soup, salad and artisan bread
Sat - smoke the brisket day - so end pieces for dinner w/pasta salad (for game day) and fruit salad
Sun - Brisket, homemade slider rolls, homemade pickled peppers, coleslaw, pasta salad, red and white fudge, cowboy cookies for all to take home and brownie sundae bar. There will be 5 hungry airmen from the local AF base, plus the usual characters that show up for football because we have satellite. Plus a huge yard for them to play football. I love a good crowd!
WIS: Farmer's Market-$42; Flashfood-$73; Neighborhood-$9; S&S-$4; Milk Delivery-$18.50 Total:$146.50
WWA: Sat: Can never seem to remember
Sun: Sweet and sour chicken
Mon: Chicken fried rice
Tues: Chicken enchiladas w/ refried beans and ranch salad
Wed: Leftover chicken enchiladas and refried beans
Thurs: Spaghetti w/ zucchini noodles, diced tomatoes, and garlic sausage
Fri:
@Jaime,
and of course I hit enter before I think of tonight.
Picking up some maple bourbon chicken so probably that w/ some kind of potato. Maybe beet & goat cheese salad or corn or peas.
WIS: About $30 @ Food Lion.
WWA: This week has been so discombobulated that I barely remember what we ate. Apples, oranges, trail mix, cheeses, various sandwiches, protein shakes. I ate a couple of crab cakes with frozen veggies. My husband ate some fresh veggies and pretzels.
Dinner's this week.
1. Pork Roast, rice and salad
2. Baked Chicken, mashed potatoes and salad
3. Butternut squash soup with kale salad
4. Fish tacos with rice and salad
5. Steak salad
6. Pasta with marinara sauce and salad
7. Leftover chicken, rice and veggies for the family. I ate toast with butter and honey.
I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and uninspired this week, but I'll call it a win that we ate at home every night .
Between mystery grocery shops this week and using up a gift card I received over 6 months ago, we have spent money only on Sumo oranges and milk this week. The husband LOVES LOVES LOVES milk so we buy at least a gallon and sometimes 2 a week. Any leftovers go to making yogurt or ricotta, so no milk goes to waste here.
Sat/Sun/Monday: chili and Sumos.
Tuesday/Wednesday: fake crab tacos. The husband had some at his brother's house so right now we are having them quite often until the obsession fades. I like them okay, too, and they are fast and easy to make. Sumos.
Thursday: salmon and oven roasted cauliflower. Sumos.
Today: Filet o' Fish for me and more fake crab tacos for the husband. Sumos. (I know Sumos will be out of season eventually, so while they are around we are eating a ton of them. They are about $5 for each orange, so this is not a cheap dessert but at least I can get some of them during mystery shops.
@Lindsey, THANK YOU for loving Sumos and promoting them! (My close friend is the main farm advisor to all Sumo growers.)
@Lindsey, I'd never had one before, but yesterday my husband took me out for lunch before my therapy appointment (which is in what I consider a big city). Afterwards, because we still had lots of time, we strolled through Trader Joe's and picked out some fruit for dessert. An expensive Sumo it was! (And it was good. And cheap for a dessert for two. And healthier than a giant piece of cheesecake or some such thing.)
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, i love Sumos! They are a treat. I wonder why they are so expensive compared to other citrus?
@Jean C, they are super fussy to grow, to harvest, and to pack, requiring much more labor and more expensive equipment.
OH does border one of the Great Lakes so I wouldn't deem it landlocked.
Very nice dessert presentation--Fancy.
WIS: Trader Joe's $23
WWA:
Friday: My daughter made chicken marsala for my husband's birthday dinner.
Saturday: Chicken Pot Pies from the leftover chicken.
Sunday: Soup from the leftover chicken
Mon: Lasagna with a Bolognese and a bechamel sauce. (I had some milk to use up. And I used the oven ready lasagna noodles from Aldi. They fit perfectly in a 7x11 pan (3 across, 4 layers of noodles)
Tues: Work Day. Leftover Lasagna and macaroni & cheese meal given to me at the Sr. Center. The mac & cheese meal also had broccoli and a slice of ham.
Wed: I had lunch at the Sr. Center to celebrate the Chinese New Year, so for dinner I made an 8x8 French Toast Souffle
Thurs: Homemade pizza on Trader Joe's pizza sheets.