WIS, WWA | trash inspector
Zoe snapped this photo of Chiquita, and it was so cute I had to share it!
What I Spent
I spent:
- $30 on a Hungry Harvest box
- $21 at Aldi
- $14 at Safeway
That makes $65 for me...still pretty low, and that's probably because most of my proteins were from my freezer.
What We Ate
Saturday
I had tilapia, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. And I did not take a picture. Whoops!
Sunday
I made a salad version of these Korean beef wraps.
And I fried up the potstickers from my freezer challenge.
Monday
I didn't have any lettuce left, so I made a bowl with the leftovers from Sunday night, and I added some sautéed broccoli.
Tuesday
I made some BBQ chicken flatbread pizzas.
Wednesday
I made some gnocchi soup, which calls for chicken as the meat. But I had some hot Italian sausage to use up, so I opted for that.
And I used some of my chicken broth too, so yay me!
I packed up two portions for work lunches.
Thursday
I packed my soup for lunch, and after work....well, a bowl of cereal.
Friday
I'm gonna be at work today, so more soup is in my lunchbox. I'm not sure what will happen with eating after work; Lisey is in Atlanta for training this week, and she is going to try to catch a standby flight to come for a super quick weekend visit. So, if that works out, maybe I will grab a late bite with her when I pick her up at the airport. 🙂
Is the trash inspector available for hire? I hope you get to see Lisey!
This week's eats:
Saturday: Burrito bowl
Sunday: Baked sweet potato with sauteed vegetables
Monday: Ratatouille with roasted vegetables and feta cheese
Tuesday: Spinach and cheese omelette with some bread on the side
Wednesday: Chilli mac and cheese
Thursday: Leftovers (particularly helpful post-gym)
Friday: No idea! I'll throw something together when I get back from work 🙂
Have a great weekend everyone!
I have to be honest: her resume is questionable.
I will accept any shortcomings that are made up with purrs.
Here for this back and forth and all the Chiquita photos! What a cutie!
Perhaps Chiquita would enjoy ratatouille 😉 I'll see myself out!
Have the best time with Lisey!
WIS: $150 mostly at Food Lion, with a few items from Dollar Tree and Ollie's Outlet. Most of this was restocking our pantry and picking up a few items for the church food pantry.
WWA: DH had sandwiches, pickles, fresh fruit and veggies, along with some chili and GF crackers. I ate a variety of leftovers from the freezer (spicy rice and black beans, chicken spaghetti with veggies, and white bean-chicken-spinach stew). Wednesday I made a big pot of hamburger-tomato-veggie soup, in which lean ground pork and turkey replaced the beef, and have had that with toast and tangerines. Did not make a dessert this week.
I'm glad to hear that Lisey will (hopefully) miss the latest storm in Hawaii! It's supposed to be a doozy.
And did you pass your inspection?
I flew stand-by a lot in the 90s when my dad was working for Southwest, and I gather it's more difficult now given the mostly packed flights, so I really hope Lisey makes it to you!
Saturday: I made a shepherd's pie, but that's not what we ate. Things got a little nuts in the afternoon and I ended up feeding most people burritos with leftover chili in them in the afternoon, and then sausage and randomness later.
Sunday: Another wonky day. We helped friends at their branding, at which eldest got kicked in the hand by a calf and then couldn't move his thumb. So the whole family made the drive to the ER--80 miles from the ranch we were on, half of that on washboard dirt--to get his hand x-rayed. Thankfully, it was just sprained, not broken. While I was in the ER with him, my husband took the other kids to Sonic where they all had a large late lunch. And then of course the patient got Sonic too when we were done at the ER. I was the only one who didn't eat a lot in town, and thus the only one actually hungry for dinner. I had some leftover fried rice. Anyone else who wanted to eat had peanut butter on bread.
Monday: Finally served the shepherd's pie I had made two days earlier, and roasted some yellow squash I was given. We also had the chocolate pudding I had made for Sunday dessert. No one needed more dessert on Sunday after large Sonic milkshakes.
Tuesday: Pizzas. One pepperoni, one vegetable with collard greens, leeks, and banana peppers. Also cucumbers, ranch dip (for both the cucumbers and the pizza), and leftover pudding.
Wednesday: I made soup mostly for myself with some leftover shepherd's pie meat mixture and vegetables. But then everyone else had some, too, with leftover pizza. Which is actually a great combination.We also had more cucumbers, and zucchini bread. A week for cucurbits.
Thursday: I was at the homecoming tailgate for the school we have a sports co-op with (two tiny communities with schools that together have juuuuust enough for volleyball, six-man football, and basketball). My two youngest were with me, and we had hamburgers and chips there. The three at home had leftover shepherd's pie. Everyone had canned peaches when I got home.
Tonight: Homecoming today/tonight with volleyball games this afternoon and the football game tonight. I think we'll have time to come home in between to eat dinner, and the volleyball games don't start until 2 p.m., which gives me time to make something ahead for dinner. I have a large stockpile of spaghetti from commodities, plus canned tuna and cream of mushroom soup from the same source, so I think I'll make a tuna noodle casserole with broken spaghetti. Easy to heat up as needed.
You brought back memories of flying standby in the mid 90's when my aunt worked for Southwest. I was young and broke and spending an entire day criss-crossing the country trying to get somewhere was always an adventure. I always joked that flying non-rev I was lower than luggage to get on a flight, but always met some interesting people.
Looking back I amazed I managed to get anywhere pre-internet just using a booklet of flight times!
I was so proud of my skill at reading that little book and finding unlisted routes. It's a lot easier now, of course, but lacks the puzzle aspect of that book.
So cute! I love your cat photos and Chiquita is always quite funny 🙂
I had 3 smoothies with freezer banana slices this week. It was the first time I ate banana I froze, so that's a good save. No more ripe bananas going to waste.
I had freezer meal leftovers that I had with a half can of chickpeas. Now I need to decide what to do with the leftover of the chickpeas in my fridge.
Proud of Chiquita for helping with the chores!
I hope Lisey finds a flight!!!! I miss my adult kids so much & LOVE their visits. Fingers crossed for you
Sunday: grilled chicken, broccoli, potatoes
Monday: Chicken salad sandwiches, french fries
Tuesday: crunchy tacos
Wednesday: Kraut/noodle/kielbasa dish
Thursday: meatloaf, squash, chicken flavored noodles
Friday: will be takeout
Happy Friday, everyone! We spent $140 at Target.
-- Restaurant dinner: grilled sourdough topped with burrata, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini and grilled corn salad, basil and watercress. Then went out for salted caramel pretzel yogurt. Swoon!
-- Popcorn and apple
-- Appetizers and desserts on friend's pontoon
-- Pasta salad and yogurt
-- Hash browns and hard-boiled egg
-- Korean BBQ bowl
-- Fruit, cheese and crackers, and cookies at a charity event
Saturday - takeout night, my husband and daughter got cheesesteak sandwiches, I picked up a tofu banh mi, my son doesn’t like sandwiches (baffling!) so I made him some pearl couscous at home.
Sunday - I made vegan ragu which was a big hit again, I’m slowly building up my rotation of vegan meals my family will eat.
Monday - coconut rice pilaf
Tuesday - my mom fed the kids dinner before my daughter’s soccer practice, I ate tomato and eggplant gratin I’d made over the weekend with some toasted bread and peanut butter.
Wednesday - chaos day, I had a work meeting at the end of the day that went long so had to go straight from there to dropping my son off at a friends and then going to my daughters Girl Scout meeting so no one got dinner. My son ate at his friends, my daughter ate an enormous amount of the snack at Girl Scouts and then had another big snack at home after. I had black bean dip spread on crisped corn tortillas with avocado and mango salsa when we got home.
Thursday - veggie and shrimp dumplings with leftover coconut rice pilaf for the kids, I had more eggplant and tomato gratin with potato salad I’d made earlier to use up some sprouting potatoes.
Friday - I have book club so will snack there, probably bean burritos and Spanish rice for the kids since we usually have that on Wednesday and missed it this week.
I’m not sure if I’m a cat person, but I’m definitely a Chiquita person! She is so funny and photogenic.
Me, too! Chiquita is a pretty fabulous feline PR representative.
I'm not a cat person in real life, but love them in pictures. Especially Chiquita!
I am always so impressed by your meal plans!
WIS: $5.40 at Sam's Club
This week I have had multiple meals from a quiche Lorraine I made, using bacon bits, the kind you sprinkle on salad, and evaporated milk from the freezer. One day I had bean soup from the freezer, and for two days I had sausage pepper cream soup that I made from leftovers and freezer fare. I have been trying to do a freezer clean-out in my own small way. Yesterday I had a hot dog with sauteed broccoli on the side.
Today -- I will finish that quiche and will have another hot dog. I was given three pounds of hot dogs, so you will be seeing that often!
I wasn’t planning on grocery shopping this week, but I ended up purchasing one red onion. This week’s loosey-goosey menu plan really helped with the freezer challenge. I was able to use: tomato pulp, beets, spaghetti sauce, cream cheese, shredded cheese, meatloaf, ground chicken, quinoa, cabbage, pistachios. I also did not ADD to the freezer this week which is another win!
Friday: We met friends for sushi.
Saturday: Husband cooked a fancy birthday dinner. My FIL and I both have September birthdays and my husband and MIL have April birthdays so we have two big birthday dinners a year. Husband made grilled Caesar salad, sauteed scallops, steaks, roasted sprouts, and potatoes au gratin. My inlaws brought over mini bundt cakes.
Sunday: Smoked trout, tomato risotto, roasted broccoli and beets
Monday: Million Dollar Spaghetti
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green salad, roasted beets
Thursday: Eggroll in a bowl
Chiquita: "Mommy, I am going to staaaarve...it has been at least 30
minutes since my dinner. What else can I do but trash can dive? 🍣🫘🥨 P. S. Can I has cheeseburger?
Haha yes, she was probably hoping for some tidbits.
Since I moved recently and have a very small frig/freezer ( we kept the old cabinetry from the 1912 house) I can't participate in freezer challenge. In fact, I have had to change how I shop completely - so no bulk shopping of perishables. However, I decided to do an appliance challenge. I am pulling out my old Omega juicer. It is top of the line. My eating program is requiring me to think carefully about getting as many vitamins and minerals in as I can. Fiber has never been my issue. So I bought a bag of kale and a bag of carrots. I am going to juice every other day and add them to my smoothie. (Fresh juice only lasts 24 hours.) Anybody have any fun recipes they use with a juicer.
Nota bena: I have also made fresh pasta with this thing which is killer. I just never wanted to pull it out of the appliance bin before.
First, I'm joining everyone else in crossing all digits that Lisey will be able to visit.
Now, WIS: $8.75 at Wegmans (after $5.50 in container returns) and $22.50 at Price Chopper.
WIA: The week's highlight was the Portuguese kale soup I mentioned in my freezer cleanout post on Monday. The Bestest Neighbors and I all enjoyed it.
Such a cute inspector! Crossing my fingers for a Lisey connection.
No shopping this week.
Sunday I was sick. There were 23 for dinner. I had spicy ramen with extra broth.
Monday bbq chicken, zucchini and veg saute
Tuesday spicy broccoli, chicken lo mein
Wednesday minestrone, biscuits & apple butter
Thursday blts, 3 bean salad
Friday pizza and football
Saturday college football. I'm making smoked salmon, layered pesto, goat cheese, sundries tomato spread for sour dough bruschetta. Brownies
I love reading your replies. You have a fascinating, full life 🙂
what a great photo of chiquita. love it. so excited for the meet-up. plan to be there with my fam. but we don't know where to go or when.
WIS: $27. For lunch out with friends. Otherwise eating down the refrigerator and freezer.
WIA: For breakfast every morning, spinach/mushroom/ham quiche. Baked in a pie pan, it's good for 6 servings (Sunday through Friday) and only needs reheating. And leftovers from one lunch out with friends was good for 3 dinners.
And this afternoon I'm baking a Blueberry Gateau (fresh blueberries) from a 25 year old Country Living magazine recipe. It's delicious and I haven't made it in ages.
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend!
WIS: $27. For lunch out with friends. Otherwise eating down the refrigerator and freezer.
WIA: For breakfast every morning, spinach/mushroom/ham quiche. Baked in a pie pan, it's good for 6 servings (Sunday through Friday) and only needs reheating. And leftovers from one lunch out with friends was good for 3 dinners.
And this afternoon I'm baking a Blueberry Gateau (fresh blueberries) from a 25 year old Country Living magazine recipe. It's delicious and I haven't made it in ages.
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend!
trash inspector , very sweet!
Reading Elisabeth from-nova-scotia's travels and enjoying photos, very interesting.
Last night's dinner was chicken parmesan - used up a partial bag of breaded chicken out of the freezer, sliced provolone with dried edges from the package not getting properly closed, and a partial jar of spaghetti sauce in the fridge. It was tasty and felt like a win!
Tonight may end up being frozen pizzas and apple slices. Need to dig a little deeper in the chest freezer and see what's there, but I'm tired of moving the stack of pizzas on top, so might as well use some.
It's been a long week for the kids and me, so something easy sounds good.
Love your photos of sweet Chiquita! She's the best! And yay for packing soup for lunch (your gnocchi soup looks yummy) - I keep a file of soup recipes I love packing for work, days out, etc.
Soup is so perfect for a packed lunch (assuming one has a microwave at work!)
I hope it works for Lisey to get a flight and come see you!!! How fun!
Update: I'm picking her up in an hour. 🙂
What!!?? Have a super fun time together!
Yayy! Looking forward to pictures!
Chiquita is so cute!
Fingers crossed that you get to see Lisey in person this weekend!
Just have to share this. Mr Mittens is a jumper, he jumps on everything. Yesterday it was the built-in kitchen table, and there was a huge opened tub of great value plastic utensils on the table. Directly under hedge of the table is a big garbage can. Mr Mittens got startled by something and jumped off the table, ALL of the utensils landed in the garbage can. At first I was going to fish them out and wash them. Then I decided oh no way in heck I've got better things to do with my time then washing plastic utensils.
Just now I'm trying to eat my dinner at my desk (pizza hut personal pan pizza and root beer) and Mr Mittens jumps on the desk!! Sniffs my pizza and WANTS. Oh no you don't little greedy guts!!
That’s funny! My doggie is the same…my food is not your food my furry friend!
I’ve been inspired to clean out my freezer, fridge and pantry. 😉 It helps that temps have dropped and I’m in a cooking/baking mood. SO for starters, that meant using up some frozen pumpkin to make your muffins. They were delicious. I also made some roasted peach muffins to get rid of some peaches that weren’t quite tasty for eating, but oh boy, they are delicious in the muffins. My pantry had beans that needed using and my fridge gave me yogurt instead of buttermilk for the muffins and a sad onion for chili alongside the canned beans and a red pepper that needed using. Finished up a package of brown rice to serve with the chili. Then I used green chile chicken sausage from my freezer, more pepper and dry pasta languishing in the pantry. That was topped with some velveeta cheese dip from my fridge as a sauce and it was so yummy! My final bake was a riff on your cinnamon coils, but with puff pastry from my freezer. Better than a coffee shop!
Thanks for the inspiration.
I had Covid recently which messed with my sense of smell and taste so I do not feel like cooking at all. Using up lots of veg in plain soups atm, as this seems the only things I can stomach right now. Gone totally off coffee - as a self declared coffee aficionado this is a catastrophe!