WIS, WWA | We are halfway through 2019!
This is an usually low-photo post for me. I just haven't picked up the camera much this week since I've been busy painting.
What I Spent
It was a light week of grocery shopping around here, maybe because I spent part of my week covered in paint. 😉 Also, I just didn't end up needing that much in the way of groceries this week.
I spent $59 at Aldi and $8 at another store.
So, I'm at $67 for the week.
The fridge is getting a little bare, though, so I anticipate a higher bill next week.
June Spending
Week 1: $160
Week 2: $176
Week 3: $195
Week 4: $67
Year to Date Grocery Spending
I'm averaging $153/week thus far, and we're at the halfway point of 2019 now.
January: $619
February: $485
March: $702
April: $791
May: $806
June: $598
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I had a date night meal of subs. Because we are very fancy. 😉
Sunday
We were at a pool gathering, so we ate there. But a few of us were hungry when we got home later that night, and the hungry people ate a can of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Monday
I made falafel pitas, which are kind of like gyros but with little falafel patties inside.
The falafel recipe is from Dinner Illustrated, but I used a tzatziki sauce recipe from the latest Cook's Country magazine this time and I liked that better.
Tuesday
We had BLTs, which are a nice easy meal after a day of sanding bed frames.
Wednesday
The girls were all gone at a friend's house, so Mr. FG and I went out to grab some pizza. Our regular date night on Saturday isn't going to work out this week, so this was a little substitute. 🙂
Our meal rang in at $14, so we were well under our $20 budget.
Thursday
I made Asian chicken lettuce wraps from the ATK Quick Family cookbook. We also had some potstickers (which I buy frozen from Costco).
(That ATK cookbook is discontinued, but you can find cheap copies used on Amazon.)
Friday
It is hot, hot, hot here on the east coast, so I am definitely not making pizza.
Maybe it's a good night for a main dish salad.
It's only been me and my 2y.o at home for dinner this week... Still feel like I was spending a lot on groceries, but I haven't updated my spending tracker yet, so I'm not sure.
Friday: probably a frozen pizza, but maybe I'll order one for carryout since I think I have a freebie medium
Thursday: black bean and rice quesadillas
Wednesday: rotisserie chicken, macaroni salad, cucumber slices, cantaloupe
Tuesday: leftovers
Monday: black beans and rice, red bell peppers
Sunday: steak, ravioli, baked beans, broccoli
Saturday: fast food, I think
It's been a busy week for me between Dr. visits and the like.
Monday: Homemade pizza. My daughter had a lot of fun helping to make it
Tuesday: I wasn't feeling great so I didn't eat much. My wife and daughter had something but I don't honestly remember what it was.
Wednesday: Took a half day off work and went to a barbecue place we enjoy for a late lunch early dinner.
Thursday: Wife and I ate leftovers. My daughter had some spaghetti I made.
Friday: Was going to grill some pork chops but I haven't bought propane (or propane accessories) so I'll probably be cooking them inside unless I decide to bring them home.
King of the Hill reference? I used to love that show!
My menu this week is down right embarrassing
Monday-went out for Mexican
Tuesday- had leftover Mexican and made my kids cheese quesadillas from my leftover tortillas since I'm GF
Wednesday-hotdogs and fresh pineapple
Thursday-went out to eat for our anniversary
Friday- I got some marked down pizzas from Walmart so we will probably have those.
I'm noticing how unhealthy and not frugal my week has been. I think I should maybe try to improve a bit this week. Think I will visit the farmers market.
I roasted a spatchcocked chicken on top of vegetables this weekend, and made eggplant Parmesan as well. My first eggplant since starting eating according to the AIP! I think I did well on it -- I started sneezing some yesterday, but so did my office neighbor. I didn't sneeze after my first two small trials, so I'm going to say I'm good with eggplant, a moderate amount of cheese and a moderate amount of tomatoes.
My menu for this week heavily featured the eggplant Parm and the chicken and vegetables. I also thawed out some leftover grass-fed ground beef and made hamburgers in my grill pan two nights, with vegetable sticks on the side.
It wasn't an exciting week, culinary-wise, but I have enough excitement right now, so this was good.
I've discovered that I spent more on groceries than I thought -- I've been steadily buying my husband snack foods for him at the rehab but surely that isn't all of it. I honestly can't figure how I've spent the same as when I buy for two people. Most shopping trips have been small and I've made no extra trips. It's a mystery.
Sunday- taco fixings I brought home from a work lunch
Monday, Tuesday- chana masala over brown rice
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday- bone-in, roasted, herbed chicken with brown rice and roasted vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, and asparagus)
Grocery bill was $48 for 2 adults, 1 child, and a baby- not too shabby.
We had VBS the last 5 nights, so I'm pretty happy that I didn't just but takeout every night! We had to be eating dinner no later than 4:00 in order for everyone to get where they needed to be on time.
Sunday: Homemade pizza
Monday: Pigs in a blanket (with regular hot dogs), macaroni and cheese, cherries, and sweet potato chips.
Tuesday: This is where we started to fall apart. I had my 5yo help make smoothies before we left. That's all I was able to manage.
Wednesday: Made spaghetti, which no one else ate. Whomp whomp.
Thursday: Pulled it back together and made a pot pie and we had grapes alongside.
Friday: I'm pulling brats out of the freezer and am going to grill them with the asparagus and I never got around to making during the week.
We're going to be way over budget on groceries as my youngest turns 1 on Sunday and I've not purchased any food for her party yet. And I started potty training my middle child today, so I might need to buy some stress-relieving food. Haha!
We were on the road much of the week, but I still made all our food.
Friday: Tacos, with not-homemade tortillas. I felt so shamefully indulgent using store-bought. 🙂
Saturday: T-bone steaks, sauteed mushrooms, pasta, green salad. I hope some of my lettuce will have survived the lack of attention and water while we're gone, but I fear not. A month is a long time for lettuce to not bolt.
Sunday: Leftover steak, scrambled eggs with chives, rice, frozen green beans
Monday: First day on the road. I cooked all our dinner food for the trip ahead of time and froze it so it just needed to be reheated on a campfire or in a microwave, depending on if we were camping or in a motel. This night we were camping, so I heated up the pork chunks in aluminum foil in the coals of our fire. We also had purchased dinner rolls--gross, but my kids were enthused--and coleslaw I made from the last of our eight cabbages that had to be harvested before we left.
Tuesday: A casserole of taco meat/rice/cheese in a disposable casserole container that I put in the coals of our fire to re-heat. Plus raw grape tomatoes.
Wednesday: Bunless hamburgers, tortillas and cheese. We were in a motel this night (hooray for a hot shower!), so I heated this up in the microwave in our motel room. We ate so many raw vegetables as were driving, I didn't worry about serving more with dinner.
Thursday: Pulled pork, potato salad, coleslaw. My wonderful mother-in-law had this prepared when we pulled into her driveway at 7 p.m. I was very excited to not be digging in a cooler to eat.
Tonight: Real Italian sausage HOORAY! Way too excited about this. I can't get good sausage in New Mexico. Don't know if we'll cook it down on the beach or up at the house. The location will determine the side dishes. If we're down on the beach, side dishes tend to be things like bread and butter, raw vegetables, chips, whatever can be thrown in a bag. If we're up at the house, I might go so far as to make pasta with garlic scape pesto and fried peppers and onions. In any case, I'm glad to have access to a kitchen again, even if it's not my own.
Doing the @SustainableCooks pantry challenge this month (started on 6/23)
Saturday: French bread pizza, fruit salad, veggies and dip
Sunday: Subs, chips, fruit
Monday: Cheeseburger mac (instant pot) and garlic bread (finally used up the last of the french bread loaves, it only took 3 dinners!)
Tuesday: Grilled cheese, string beans applesauce
Wednesday: Snack dinner, cheese, wheat crackers, fruit, yogurt, cut veggies, nuts
Thursday: Leftovers from the week
Friday: Marinated chicken grilled, parmesan noodles, green salad
Thank you for all your painting inspiration!! For the last who-knows-how-many summers I have had at least one painting project. I was so inspired! I’m not the painter in the house and I definitely don’t have a mustache 🙂
I and NOW the painter in the house
Woohoo! I'm so glad I inspired you.
Monday--Mac and cheese with small side salads.
Tuesday and Wednesday--Chicken with leeks and apples and noodles.
Thursday--Pizza and cauliflower on the side. I was finally able to have a small slice. There was much rejoicing in the kingdom!
Friday--Tuna squares with sweet potatoes and spinach.
Were you pleased with the falafel recipe you used? I’ve been looking for a go-to, and the two or three I’ve tried always seem a little lacking.
Sunday: we went to an outdoor symphony concert this night, so we went the easy route of some quickly roasted shrimp (adobo marinated from Aldi- so spicy!) and a “throw in whatever random produce is laying around” pasta salad
Monday: sweet potato and black bean enchiladas
Tuesday: chicken cordon blue casserole, salad
Wednesday: waffles, bacon, blackberries
Thursday: we had family over, so dumpling soup and scallion muffins for six
Friday: we’ve got somewhere to be tonight, so frozen orange chicken from Trader Joe’s (and a quick fried rice)
I thought it was good; granted, I haven't eaten much falafel, and it's the only recipe I've tried. So I'm not sure how valuable my opinion is.
I haven't had Firehouse Subs in ages, hope y'all enjoyed.
For dinner this week we've done:
Monday- I can't remember what we had
Tuesday - steak, roasted baby potatoes, roasted broccoli with red onions
Wednesday - we went out for dinner at a local taco place
Thursday - Po-boys, chips, and fruit salad
Friday - I have pre-seasoned pork ribs thawing and I'll make some veggies to go with it, possibly some shells and cheese.
As usual, it's going to take some work to remember dinners.
Sunday: Happy steak, asparagus, and watermelon.
Monday: Ribs, tomatoes, and strawberry/banana/yogurt smoothies. I'm almost out of bananas from the $3/52 pound box of seconds I bought ... two years ago? It's amazing how long bananas will last in the freezer.
Tuesday: Snacky food - pistachios, Pirate's Booty, and baby carrots.
Wednesday: More snacky food, including half a turkey cheese sandwich (turkey bought with rare coupon), sugar snap peas, and, um, other stuff.
Thursday: Cottage cheese on matzo, with matzo bought $5/6 boxes.
Friday: Popeyes, using a coupon for 2 Pieces with purchase of a large soda. I was surprised but pleased that I could get white meat; the breast was enough for dinner and the wing will be a treat tomorrow.
Saturday: A friend will be in town, so I invited over some mutual friends for potluck. I'm making a layered Mexican dish using: pulled chicken from the office Christmas party, which I've been saving for an occasion such as this; canned corn, canned beans, canned salsa; corn tortillas leftover from a largely unsuccessful culinary experiment; grated cheese purchased on sale + coupon long ago; and guac on the side. I got lucky with a $.50 coupon on the shelf, but there's no getting around the fact that guac is pricy. I'm also providing beverages from whatever I have on hand, and the rest of the cookies that I made last week. I may get ambitious and make CI's Strawberry Pie if there are strawberries at the farmer's market. Out of town friend is making Caprese (sp?) salad (using basil from my plant, yay); I don't know what local friends are bringing. Doesn't mater much, as a good time will be had by all no matter what.
Hope your potluck was fantastic!
It was. In addition to the company being excellent, the mutual friends brought amazing gazpacho and we collectively decided to do a road trip to see a comedy group.