WIS, WWA | Week one of trying not to shop
It's been a weird week.
No homeschool tutorial, our appointments are all cancelled, and Mr. FG has now begun working from home.
Zoe and I DID leave the house to go do our shift at the cat rescue, though, because cats still need to eat.
But don't worry...even on normal days, we faithfully use hand sanitizer when we get there, and also between each cat.
And also, we always change out of our clothes after a cat shift, just so the smells of the other cats don't bother our cat.
But this is a handy habit to have right now!
What I Spent
I spent $168 plus $30 at Hungry Harvest.
So yep, definitely a higher week than usual.
But I do have toilet paper (!), butter, heavy cream, chicken, and other basics that should keep us out of the grocery store for a little while.
And I've got lots of veggies thanks to Hungry Harvest.
Luckily, I wasn't dying to buy bread because, that wouldn't have gone too well. Ha.
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I had what will probably be our last date night for a while, since no restaurants are open! And we went REAL fancy: Chick Fil A.
Ha.
Sunday
We shared a meal with Mr. FG's parents (a thing that will probably not happen for a while now!)
Monday
Before all this stuff happened, I'd chatted with my contact at Dinnerly about getting a fresh Dinnerly box so that I could update the original review post I'd done.
(Dinnerly is a meal kit box like Blue Apron or Hello Fresh, except it's $5/person instead of $10/person.)
So, funnily enough, I had a Dinnerly box arrive on Monday, which was kind of delightful timing because then I did not have to worry about getting to the grocery store to start the week!
That night, we had jerk chicken with coconut rice and cucumber relish. The chicken and the rice were good, but the cucumber relish was the star! I'll definitely make that again.
Tuesday
I made two meals at once, since each of these only served two.
The first meal was a spaghetti pie (pretty basic, but good!)
And the second was a buffalo salad with panko-breaded tortellini.
(If you want to try Dinnerly, do it through this link, which will give you a $10 discount off of each of your first three boxes)
Wednesday
I picked chicken katsu from Dinner Illustrated, since I happened to have everything on hand.
Thursday
I made orzo with sausage, asparagus, and red bell peppers.
And I cut up some cantaloupe and peeled some oranges.
Friday
I'm thinking I might grill some chicken since the weather is supposed to be unseasonably warm today.
Our week has seen some strange meals. I am more determined than ever to use every last bit of food and to stay out of the shops as I am my mother's carer. My son works as a chef and has no work and my son-in-law to be was stood down. This affects wedding plans etc. I have been telling my girl that people have married in worse conditions and she will still have a very special as she adores her fiancé.
On Sunday we had roast lamb with vegetables. Monday night we went out and we were the only people in the sushi bar. I can't remember what we ate Wednesday and Thursday. WE ate bits and pieces from the fridge. Thursday night we tried a new to me recipe that included lentils, sweet potato and other stuff. There is enough fro another meal despite me halving the recipe.
My parents married at a displaced persons camp, while both were stick thin from time in the camps and food was still scarce for in inhabitants. The guests each brought something to add to the pot for a sort of stone soup reception; literally some folks could only contribute a potato, cooked oatmeal saved from breakfast rations or some weeds foraged from around the perimeter of the camp. At the wedding, my mother wore a veil made from a bedsheet and a regular ragged dress. Getting married was a sign of hope for the future, the food and clothing were beside the point.
Oh! I LOVE this! Bless them and you!
There are a lot of truths and lessons to be learned...
Lindsey, what a beautiful, moving story. I think I shall always remember it. It seems you frequently share some special or not run-of-the-mill insight. Maybe with your parents' memorable beginning you were destined to have an interesting life.
Things carry on here much as usual, food-wise. We could live for months on the food we have on hand/growing/on the hoof (sheep) without a single trip to the store. I actually bought 100 pounds of flour from King Arthur just a couple of weeks ago because I was tired of almost being out and didn't want to pay the shipping costs again soon, so that should last us for at least four months. Turned out to be fortuitous timing on that, as they are now out of stock. I already bake all our bread and make almost everything else. The only thing that can be a problem for us with four kids is fresh milk. I do have three gallons frozen, though, and it's not as if they'll be nutritionally starved if they can't drink milk for awhile.
Anyway. Food! Elk at the very end. 🙂
Saturday: Breakfasgt sausage patties with cream gravy, mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, green salad
Sunday: Green chili beef stew, cornbread
Monday: Scrambled eggs, leftover stew, pinto beans, tortillas and cheese, carrot sticks
Tuesday: Italian sausage, a pizza with half pesto and half red sauce, and raw cabbage for the children, as a nod to St. Patrick's Day
Wednesday: Carnitas tacos with homemade corn tortillas, refried beans, green salad
Thursday: Elk bites (marinated chunks fried with paprika), oven fries, green salad
I hope everyone is doing well and not letting their anxiety take over. As my mother used to say, "This too shall pass."
Okay, I had to share this bizarre coincidence. Right after writing all that, I saw an e-mail from my mother recommending that I look up a band called "OK Go" on YouTube because she thought my kids would like their videos. I duly looked it up and the very first one was called "This Too Shall Pass." That was not one she said she had seen, but there it was, right after I wrote this comment. How's that for weird? (Cool video, too, with this insane Rube Goldberg machine that goes through the entire 3 minute video.)
Ha, that's awesome!
My mom always said that, too! I reminded her of that earlier this week--she told me, "Yeah, but not soon enough!".
"And it came to pass."
Not: "And it came to stay."
Was it (“this, too, shall pass”) originally Shakespeare, the Bible, or Winston Churchill? Seems like all great quotes come from one of those!
J: I don't know about "this, too, shall pass." "And it came to pass" is in the Christian Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Being in the Old Testament, it presumably would be in Jewish scriptures as well. But I am not an expert, and of course, translations vary. Although Shakespeare is the source for many phrases, I don't know about him, or Churchill. I would say good guesses, all!
Monday. Pork fried rice
Tuesday. Burgers on the grill. Slaw
Wednesday. Spaghetti with meat sauce. Salad. Garlic toast.
Thursday. Leftovers.
Friday. Cheese pizza and tangerines.
Sunday was BBQ leftovers from Saturday. Monday, I think we had Dried great northern beans, cornbread, corn, and leftover slaw and potato salad.
Tuesday, St Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef roast (before we ate, I separated or into 3 portions- one for dinner, one for hash later on, and a small bit for a pizza topping to be had Friday) mashed potatoes, sautéed cabbage.
Wednesday, grilled chicken, large Greek salad, and homemade rolls.
Thursday, smoked sausage and collard green risotto, green beans & garlic toast.
Tonight will be pizza night- making homemade dough & sauce; topping one with pineapple, ham, and jalapeño And the other pizza with shredded corned beef, olives, onions & peppers.
Not much has changed for us. I did go out on Tuesday though and get groceries for two weeks. Seeing the grocery shelves mostly empty is a little weird and unnerving. These are strange days we are experiencing right now. Hopefully we will all come out well and thoughtfully remember and be more thankful for the small things we’ve taken for granted.
Yes, empty shelves are so, so odd to see. Even when we have a snowstorm or a hurricane, it doesn't look quite like this.
I imagine the empty shelf problem will resolve itself over time, since people will probably not keep on panic buying for 8 weeks straight. At some point, it should level off.
Yes, however, folks that don't normally shop for a full week of groceries are now eating all their meals at home, so that enormously impacts grocery stores. I cannot get a Peapod delivery before April 2nd! Luckily, I'm well stocked, but I wanted to make cavatelli and don't have semolina flour.
Absolute luck that I had a lot of staples on hand of things you cannot find now. I didn't have lysol wipes though. Very little hand sanitizer too. Our local Aldi has a limit of 1 on most fresh items. Anyway I doubt we will starve...
I bought a huge bag of taters so most meals around them. Plus I have a huge bag of shrimp!!
BBQ pork and scalloped taters
Plain pork and fried taters
Burgers and cheese noodles
spaghettios and burger
Chicken vegetable soup
Aldi fresh pizza that was just n a s t y wish they would bring the Stromboli back
Aldi brought back their frozen mini taters in rosemary sauce with green beans and they are not the same or as good as last years.
We had veggies and salads with each too.
I made my own bread without a machine for the very first time since there is none on the shelves! It turned out so good!!! Definitely something I will continue to do!
Woohoo! Do you feel like a rockstar now?
(you should)
Well done you!!
Sunday-Homemade pizza! Homemade dough with spicy sausage and pepperoni with provolone!
Saved s few pieces to serve the teen grocery clerk when he finally got off work! ( working lots of long hours with school cancelled and the frantic shoppers)
Monday-Chicken and yellow rice soup! I defrosted homemade stock and poached 3 breasts in the broth. Shredded the meat and used half with fresh carrots and a bag of yellow rice and seasonings. Served with fruit ( served a bowl to the teen when he got off work)
Tuesday night- Taco night with the other portion of poached chicken! Some had quesadillas, some made burritos- made the teen quesadillas when he got home! (Food is his love language)
Wednesday night- sausage gravy and biscuits, scrambled eggs and strawberries.. Had to wait and make this meal when my son was not working a million hours at the local grocery store! I promised- he was very appreciative!
Thursday night- homemade alfredo and steamed broccoli, no knead bread for supper
For lunch I whipped up a batch of pizza dough and made the kids a pizza- half bbq chicken ( using the last of the poached chicken from earlier in the week) and half pep and cheese. It is great to not waste!!
Friday- lunches will be clean out the fridge leftovers.. I am thinking supper will be an easy one.. keilbasa and pierogis from the freezer.. Need to make salads and not waste the veggies!
Saturday- supposed to be a drop in temp about 30*.. looks like veggie beef soup weekend!
Special thanks and appreciation to your son. I'm sure his job has been far more demanding than he could have ever expected and even perhaps a little overwhelming right now.
So far quarantine is going well. We were able to get the few things that we needed on Monday and Tuesday from the store and we’ve been quarantined ever since. My husband is a 3rd grade reading teacher so he started recording himself reading a book for his kids everyday. And I’m a ballet teacher so I’m going to record a class for my students so they can keep up with their training. Meals this week:
M-chicken noodle soup
Tu-pizza
Wed-tacos w/taco dip
Thu-salmon w/salad
Fri-Has yet to be determined
Wonderful idea for your husband to read books!
I hear that Zoom has a free version of their video-conference software, as long as the meeting is 40 min or less. Maybe you could Zoom your classes?
Working from home it has been tricky staying out of the kitchen and not snacking all day. I'm trying to do what I tell my son - have a piece of fruit! Lunch is mostly left overs but I did make ham and cheese waffles on Tuesday as a fun twist on sandwiches. I just chopped up sandwich meat and cheese slices and mixed them into the batter.
Monday - My son and I picked up dinner from a fast food restaurant since we were out picking up a few last items. My SO picked up dinner from one of our favorite local restaurants since he was working super late closing down his office.
Tuesday - Shepherd's Pie
Wednesday - Shepherd's Pie for the boys and chicken wild rice soup from the freezer for me
Thursday - Zuppa Toscona
Friday - Planning on making some homemade pizza. The boys request this over take out every time!
We're having homemade pizza tonight, too - the mixer is kneading the dough as I type! 🙂
Geneva, it might help to prep something nutritious and put it in easy reach and view, and put the things you want to avoid out of view.
I really don't need a lot of stuff from the store this week and I almost feel like I should put it off until Monday...grocery shopping is no longer fun, that's for sure. This was the plan:
Monday - Grilled Chicken Breast, garlic green beans with shallots
Tuesday - Tater Tot Casserole (use ground turkey, fresh corn, carrots, mushroom, onion)
Wednesday - Salmon Patties, cabbage slaw, sweet treat after dinner
Thursday - Lo-Salt Ham Slice, zucchini, twice baked potato
Friday - Beef Taco Salads with lettuce, tomato, avocado, green onion, and cheese
Saturday - Fish in the Uuni with bell pepper, onion, tiny red potatoes
Sunday - Albacore Tuna Wraps with spinach, red onion and tomato, low salt ships {wine club pick-up}
I have seriously strayed from my menus, but I used mostly all of the ingredients in some way or other!
We get food from a local food bank. It's basic government commodities and some fresh fruit and vegetables. A fight almost broke out when they were distributing food boxes a couple days ago. I grow herbs to use in recipes which helps to cut the canned taste and adds freshness. We are staying home and cleaning, doing yard work, and playing with our phones.
Monday - Potato skins, potato and spinach soup with rosemary
Tuesday - Taco bowls
Wednesday - Pancakes, bacon, smoothies, hash browns
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Homemade pizza
My husband went to the stores early in the week to get a few things and then my sister and nieces very sweetly made an Aldi stop for me on their way here to pick up my older niece's things from her dorm. I had even bought a good bit of Easter candy already, so that is slowly getting doled out. I generally plan meals and shopping for a week at a time so this feels only a little constricting at this point. My husband is a college professor, daughter's in college, son's a senior in high school, and I'm also a college student with a small job at our church organizing family and children's activities. So, we're all home for the duration.
We've got 2 college kids home for the semester and a HS student plus us 2 parents working from home indefinitely. I live in the Chicago suburbs. Our stores are pretty well stocked (except for TP!), but there are limits on quantities on some items like bread/milk/paper products. We had seen this coming and done a $300 Costco stockup 3 weeks ago and are just adding perishables from the store each week. One thing I'm struggling with is that we have a lot of food but not necessarily stuff for complete recipes. I'm a follow-the-recipe kind of cook, so I think next week I'm going to delve into some of the pantry recipes food bloggers are being so helpful to post. Generally, we're in good spirits and not ready to kill each other yet so that's a win!
This week for dinner, we've eaten:
roast chicken with au gratin potatoes and peas
steak with baked potatoes and salad
ground beef tacos with rice and beans
chili
tonight: either stir fry or this: https://playswellwithbutter.com/chicken-shawarma-hummus-bowls-recipe/
Lunch has been mostly leftovers and sandwiches with one run through a drive thru and breakfasts have been scones/eggos/bagels/toast/cheese/yogurt/fruit/coffee/milk mix and match for my family.
Susan, if you share what you have, I'd be happy to help put it together into dishes/meals. I rather enjoy that sort of challenge.
Sat - "Beef and Rice Casserole" We had my sweet FIL over (he's 93 and due to health problems won't be here much longer). So I made him this casserole that my MIL used to make all the time, along with creamed corn and a salad. I also made his favorite dessert, Banana Pudding. It was a simple meal, but a few of his favorites at a bittersweet time of life.
Sun - Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo with Salad and Garlic Bread
Mon - Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Tues - Spaghetti
Wed - Burgers and oven fries
Thurs - Meatball and Polenta Casserole - It's a Pioneer Woman recipe, I just modified it with Grits instead of Polenta and didn't add in the Ricotta cheese. I liked it pretty good but my husband didn't, lol.
Fri - Chili Cheese Dogs and oven fries
I did go grocery shopping yesterday and got a few pieces of meat to keep up with what I'm using but trying not to hoard. I plan on just buying enough to replace what is used each week and that and already in my freezer, I probably have enough to get thru 3 weeks if we ever ended up on lockdown.
FWIW polenta and grits are basically the same thing. We started eating our meatballs with polenta a couple years ago and like the combo much better than with spaghetti. I didn’t realize it was “a thing” though!
Apparently it is lol! I guess it just depends on what part of the country you’re from whether it’s Grits or Polenta? I’m in the South so it’s definitely grits around here! 🙂
Our food bill was also higher than normal: about $110 for the 2 of us from the local grocery store and local produce store.
Friday: last dinner out. I had fish and chips
Saturday: delivery pizza
Sunday: Grilled steak and broccoli; salad
Monday: Indonesian chicken soup (the first of our series of the 19th recipe from each cookbook that we own) with sautéed broccoli and cucumber in Ippodo sesame dressing
Tuesday: pork carnitas tacos with all the fixings, Mexican black beans
Wednesday: liverwurst and onion sandwich
Thursday: green olive ravioli (the 2nd in the series cooking #19; delicious and surprisingly easy), sautéed zucchini, arugula salad
Friday: gyoza, stir-fried broccoli, Asian-y slaw
This is such a strange time. I'm a natural worrier, so I'm relying on my husband's level-headedness, as well as my faith in Christ, to keep me calm and carrying on.
By some miraculous coincidence, I did a major stockup in pantry items, meat, and toiletries, even before the quarantine mess began. So we are doing fine on supplies. When my husband makes quick trips to the store, food and supplies are plentiful, except for milk, bread, canned goods, pasta/sauce, and toilet paper. The fresh produce is still in good supply. Fingers crossed this will end quicker than planned.
1. Baked meatballs (frozen), buttered noodles, green beans.
2. Homemade corned beef dinner with Irish soda bread. Somehow I managed to buy a corned beef brisket several weeks ago. I wasn't even thinking about St. Patrick's Day, I just love corned beef!
3. St. Patrick's Day leftovers
4. My husband was away last night for a church obligation, so I wanted something super easy. I made hotdogs, macaroni and cheese, and applesauce for me and the 3 littles.
5. I have chicken breasts simmering in tomato sauce in the crockpot, which I will probably serve with spaghetti and broccoli.
1. Call little lady neighbors. One wants 4 loaves bread for freezer. . .cheap day old I need bananas. Eye drops at kroger. Wait a day or two if more needs arrive will take bus up there 3 blocks. 2. No one us bitching about how high my grass is. 3. I can plant and dig with ease. Drink coffee and ice water all day. Moving plants from where new porch will be built in May. People self distance from dirt covered folks.4. Neighbor and I still eat together. 5. We still go out every so often to a thrift store...vacant mostly...bought lace curtains for two big windows 4.95 each set and two matelesse spreads ..one cream...one in lime 5.00 each
I'm so encouraged by the cheerfulness of all these comments, as well as your usual cheerfulness, Kristen! We've been under a shelter-in-place order for four days now.
I am super thankful for the habit of making yogurt, which I learned from you! A friend also got me started on sourdough bread baking several years ago, and both of those feel like superpowers right now :). I made sourdough hamburger buns this week since I was low on dried yeast until a friend gave me some yesterday (dropped off on the porch, then we chatted from ten feet apart). Tonight we will have homemade pizza, tomorrow French dip sandwiches, and Sunday lasagna (inspired by the pasta that was left on the shelves in the store!).
I'm still at work so I'm still a little bit social (particularly since my job has shifted temporarily to phone support for other coworkers) but it's hitting my wife hard. I think I am just avoiding it but then again, I've always struggled with being social and planning events.
Saturday: Went to visit family for what is probably the last time in a while and had corned beef, potatoes etc.
Sunday: We went a bit more fancy on our last date night. We went to Texas Roadhouse.
Monday: Leftover corned beef for me. Some other random leftovers for my wife and daughter.
Tuesday: I had leftover corned beef again. Wife and daughter had a pasta dish.
Wednesday: Cleaned out the fridge of any remaining leftovers.
Thursday: Hot dogs, tossed salads (real fancy but it was the kid's request.)
Friday: We've been frugal for years and we have some good cushion savings so in part we're giving back by ordering from a local pizza place. I want these places to survive and they need customers.
That's such a good point.
I think that Chick-fil-A for a final date night was a perfect choice!! Can't beat Chick-fil-A, right??
Social distancing is going ok for us. We've videochatted with friends, which helps. Over the years we've become pretty good friends with the Aldi employees (we go twice a week at quieter times, my 6yo and I are chatty, and they've seen my family grow over the last 5 years), so when I made a grocery run on Wednesday I felt like I got to be among friends and with my people. It was nice. My in-laws in Hong Kong have been social distancing for almost 2 months now (theirs looks slightly different, partially because of living situations and partially because they did it sooner) so I have been able to see that it works, which is good motivation. On to food...
Sunday - Meatloaf for lunch and pizza for dinner
Monday - Sheet pan dinner of chicken, carrots, potatoes, and asparagus with some french bread
Tuesday - Haluski with brats in it and a side of peas
Wednesday - Chicken pot pie and grapes
Thursday - My birthday! Thankfully I had already planned a dinner at home. I'm not sure if you're in the Aldi Nerd Community or not, but all the nerds rave about the red bag chicken with brioche buns being just like Chick-fil-A's chicken sandwiches. It's more than I'd normally spend on a meal, so I hadn't tried it yet, but my birthday was the perfect occasion! So we had the red bag chicken, brioche buns, pickles, and we added pepperjack because that's what we do at Chick-fil-A, too. It was SO GOOD! We had Aldi's seasoned fries on the side, then Aldi's cookie dough ice cream and the mocha cake recipe that's on the back of their chocolate cake box. I love coffee, but there was too much of it in the frosting. It's intense. The cake was a one-time thing for us.
Friday - We're going to my parents' house for dinner. They're going to be our one face-to-face social outlet.
I’m in the Bay Area so we have been in isolation for a week now. Luckily we have plenty of food having seen this coming.
Though I did start a CSA and am thrilled for the fresh produce being delivered weekly! Thanks Kristin for the suggestion - a bunch of my friends have also started one. The CSA I chose said that they have seen a doubling of clients in one week.
Monday - pasta with wild mushrooms and a fried egg
Tuesday - corned beef, potatoes and cabbage braised in stout
Wednesday - Kale salad with miso and tofu
Thursday - Beamish Boys 10th birthday - he requested waffles and bacon (I added carrots, blueberries and a beet salad) and a mirror glazed chocolate cake
Friday - corned beef hash made with the leftovers from Tuesday
We have 18 laying hens and are getting 8-10 eggs a day. I’ve been able to share our bounty with friends (from a safe distance of course). We even have a friend driving an hour to get to us to get eggs because they’re gone the minute they’re stocked where she lives. Feels good to be able to share.
What is a mirror glazed cake? It sounds intriguing!
I happened to need to stock up on 29 February, when the store was crowded but not as bad as it was a week later. Although I bought canned and frozen produce, I plan to continue to shop for fresh. I'd also like a whole chicken but there's a huge run on chicken, for reasons I don't understand.
As usual, I have only a hazy memory of dinners. Last night was smorgesborg because there were so many bits and bobs in the fridge. I do remember making hand pies of mix-and-match of chicken breasts, deli ham, sauteed mushrooms, carmamelized onions, and mozz. They make a nice lunch when I'm teleworking and tempted to eat junky food.
I'm also enjoying my dog's company while I work, and taking breaks by taking him for walks. His meals are kibble, occasionally supplemented with bits & bobs.
Yes, chicken seems very hard to come by at the moment, oddly enough.
I did notice the store still had expensive cuts of beef, though. So, if you want filet mignon while quarantined, you still can!
I assume there’s a sink in the car shelter and just wanted to say it would be much healthier for people AND cats to wash your hands instead of using the sanitizer!
I’ve just eaten yogurt and leftovers at home this week. I’ve been working at answering COVID-19 calls at work so they’ve been bringing us dinner from Panera. Everyone, please educate yourselves from a reliable medical source, like CDC.gov. Local media, some government officials, social media, and the general public are NOT reliable scientific sources! Kristen, I have been using “multiple anecdotes DO NOT equal data” concept over and over!
Sadly, there is no sink in the cat room, a fact that bums all of us volunteers out. There are so many things that would be easier if we had a sink!
Wow, that’s for sure! I wonder what it would cost or why they don’t have one...
Thanks so much for all you do!
This community is so refreshing.
We've been practicing social distancing for the past 3 years because we adopted a child with severe lung complications and a trach tube. Colds landed him in the hospital 3 times the first year, pnuemonia 3-4 times in the first 2 years. Just last summer we relaxed our restrictions and stopped using gloves when we were feeding him and bathing him because he was finally well enough to handle our germs. Going back to social distancing is kind of like going back to our comfort zone (no therapy appointments! 8 hours of my time back!)--hanging out with my favorite people in my favorite place, home. That said, we are still working on finding a rhythm (sp?) now that we don't have therapy breaks to relieve tension.
Dinners have been...fun. Our pantry was not well stocked before this started (thanks RSV hospitalization), so we've bought what we can find (tilapia, bacon, keilbasa, mac & cheese, Kodiak Cakes) and added it to our stockpile of flour and oats. We're not throwing away any food, and we may not have a balanced diet for a while. But that's a first world problem.
That's exactly where we will be after a while too, if grocery stores stay depleted. We will not starve, but we might start having some weird meals. Heh.
A week ago I sent my husband to the store to buy cinnamon raisin bread. He said good choice since that was the only type on the shelves.
For those of us who don't bake our own bread here's a couple old family recipes that might help.
Stir chopped hard-boiled eggs into a white sauce and serve over chow mien noodles. Serve with fruited Jell-O.
Cook and drain egg noodles; spread them on a plate; top with crushed saltine crackers then melted butter. We always served this with fried Spam and applesauce but that's not required. 🙂
Those sound like WWII rationing recipes for desperate people!
It will be interesting, possibly even humorous, to see how everyone's weekly meal plans evolve if available food options at the market starts to get wonky.
This week I spent my full $100 allocation at the market, instead of my usual $80 (two adults), with the additional $20 going toward purchasing shelf stable items like canned chile and boxed spaghetti (pasta + sauce, and available even as regular pasta was sold out) that can be used for dinner as needed in the weeks and months ahead. Otherwise, I scaled back a little with regard to the 'fanciness' factor or our meals to minimize the stress that grocery shopping has become.
Sat- Small bite dinner party (and the last for a long while as it turned out). I made tomato tartlets from your ATK cookbook recommend, and an herbed blue cheese spread. SIL made hummus with chile oil and homemade pita, and another friend bought home churned peanut butter chocolate ice cream. We ate well!
Sun- Sesame coated pork chops with a soy apricot jam marinade, brown rice, spinach salad
M- Grilled salmon, roasted red pepper quinoa, spinach salad
T- Chicken chile, garlic bread (lots of veggies in chile, so no additional needed)
W- Grilled chicken, roasted red pepper quinoa, roasted asparagus
Thur-BLT & Gabanzo bean salad (Also from ATK cookbook), garlic bread
Fri/Tonight- Veggie hamburgers, sweet potato fries, spinach salad
I haven’t done one of these in a while, so here goes:
Monday: turkey tacos
Tuesday: lamb chops, buttered noodles, collard greens
Wednesday: ground turkey, veggie stir fry
Thursday: lentil stew
Friday: sandwiches
Saturday: boneless pork chop with a mustard and cream sauce on a bed of sautéed cabbage. Apples and grapefruit.
Sunday: The last of the three small pork chops turned into stir-fry. More apples, which seem to be multiplying in the dark of the fridge.
Monday: cheese soup that used up every starting to die vegetable in the fridge (even lettuce). Whirled it with a hand blender to break things up to thicken it and then added the cheese. The lettuce was indistinguishable from other green vegetables.
Tuesday: Leftover cheese soup.
Wednesday: Omelets and oven fries. Apples and grapefruit.
Thursday: homemade tomato soup. Apples
Friday: If I even suggest leaving the house, my husband gets so anxious because I have such a crappy immune system since I lost my spleen a few years ago; even going through fast food is iffy as far as he is concerned. So, no McDonalds filet o' fish for the foreseeable future. I have halibut from last summer thawing and am going to try to make my own version of my Friday treat.
After our extremely successful low grocery budget in January, I kind of saw the way the wind was blowing and stocked up on things that I thought might come in handy in February and early March. I purchased hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes before the demand was high and several over the counter medicines. Everyone at work was just scoffing at the whole idea of a pandemic, but I just stayed out of the conversations and went about my business. I’m ready to hang out at home if forced to and to be honest we don’t go out all that much anyway. Still going to work but all client meetings have been cancelled. Will miss seeing the grandkids for however long but we will Skype. Getting my son home from Chicago before Illinois closes up tomorrow. He will have to keep his distance for a few days when he gets here but I will be glad to have him home. I just want all of us to be together.
As to what we ate
Saturday - salmon and rice
Sunday - steak and potatoe
Monday - cheese sandwiches
Tuesday- corned beef, potatoes and carrots
Wednesday- same as Tuesday
Thursday- leftover steak and a baked potato
Friday - potato soup
Wow, it was a potato heavy week!
Keep safe everyone. You are all in my prayers.
Saturday: sausage and meatball pasta.
Sunday: fish, veggies, potatoes, and eggs in fried bread.
Monday: chicken in a jarred creamy white wine sauce with lots of veggies and pasta.
Tuesday: Chinese food. Takeaway lunch deal.
Wednesday: leftover Chinese food, frozen lasagna, more fish and veggies, and more eggs in fried bread.
Thursday: fish and veggies, and sausages and veggies.
Friday: pumpkin soup, bbq chicken, and mashed potatoes.
Meals this week--
Saturday night I made cheeseburgers, fries and I don't remember the vegetable.
Sunday I can't remember. I haven't a clue what we ate that day. Thankfully, the computer tells me today is Saturday.
Monday We cleaned out the 'fridge of any leftovers for our dinner. (I am doing a Lent no food waste challenge).
Tuesday My daughter made corned beef and cabbage. My husband and I live in the in law. She and I had bought two corned beef on Saturday for the family St. Patrick's Day dinner that was to be tomorrow.
Wednesday we did have take out from a local Thai restaurant that had it's share of bad luck over the past year and a half.
Thursday my daughter cooked steaks and sausage from the freezer.
Friday I made chicken marsala for the family.
I had about a cut of ricotta cheese in my 'fridge and some fresh lemons, so today I made a lemon ricotta poundcake. And I made granola bars which used up p'nut butter, honey spread, and some other ingredients to avoid waste. I put a cup of leftover butternut squash in the freezer to use at a later date for a baked sweet potato oatmeal when I restock my milk.
I have re-signed for Misfit produce delivery and I buy my coffee at a small local roaster.
Stay well.
Your sweet potato oatmeal piqued my curiosity. Is it for breakfast or dinner? My husband likes both of those, I just don’t know if he would like them together. Would you post the recipe please? Thanks!
So far I've made Thai Peanut Chicken with rice noodles and broccoli, corned beef and cabbage, sloppy joes, and tonight is pork loin with apples. We've also had macaroni and cheese with smoked sausage, lots of salads and/or hot veggies with the meals.
I keep quite a bit of food in the house, so I haven't had to buy a lot at the store, but I need flour, and there is NONE in the stores. I just opened my last 5-lb bag, so I'm not desperate - YET!
I keep a lot of TP in the house, too, so I haven't bought any this past week. We should be good for a while. I went out yesterday and bought cat food, but I can't find the litter they are used to. I was going to get a couple more bags, but there is none in the stores right now. Oh boy!!!
LOVE the kitty pics! The one with the cat in Zoe's lap is adorable!!!
I cook a large entree with an eye toward having leftovers, so we had: A vat of chili, supplemented with grilled cheese sandwiches. Meatloaf, which I have not made in ages but came out great, served with baked potatoes, peas and applesauce. A chef's salad, using some frozen shredded cheese and some lovely ham, which was supplemented with crackers and tangerines.