WIS, WWA | What will happen to my budget?
What I Spent
I spent:
- $64 at Aldi
- $46 at Weis
- $25 on my Hungry Harvest box
- $10 at the produce stand (for peaches and corn)
So, $145 total.
It's going to be interesting to see if Lisey's absence has a large impact on my grocery bill.
The obvious answer is, "yes", but on the other hand, she wasn't eating tons of meals with us here over the summer.
So, I'll need some time to figure out if this changes things much.
(although as I mentioned, I realized I need to not buy string cheese!)
What We Ate
Saturday
We had dinner at my aunt and uncle's house after we helped Lisey move into her rental.
Sunday
Super simple: I baked a frozen pizza, and Sonia ate some leftovers (since pizza has cheese and she can't handle cheese).
Monday
I had not gotten out to the grocery store yet, so we had waffles for dinner.
Tuesday
I made shrimp BLTs, although Zoe had hers without shrimp. Naturally.
Blueberries and peaches on the side, since I am currently in possession of a box of bruised peaches.
And that means peaches morning, noon, and night!
Wednesday
Zoe had dance class so I made a super quick dinner of Swedish pancakes.
Two notes I need to add to that recipe:
- It works great with oat milk! Not so much with coconut milk, which makes them sort of spongey.
- Leftover batter works well for making more pancakes the next day
Thursday
Sonia and I tried our hand at making sushi!
We were pretty boring this time, just trying a California roll and a shrimp roll. But now that we have the basic idea down, we can venture into more exciting territory.
Friday
Mr. FG and I are going out for our anniversary tonight, so Sonia and Zoe will be fending for themselves.
Saturday: Hot dogs at the country fair for most, PBJ when we got home for one. I had some cottage cheese, because I was hot and exhausted and not very hungry. The fair is a real test of endurance.
Sunday: Breakfast sausage patties in a tomato/cream sauce, leftover egg noodles, roasted carrots, raw green beans for the kids
Monday: Pizza--components made the day before so all I had to do was combine and bake for fifteen minutes--and carrot sticks. My husband and I had leftover goulash.
Tuesday: Bunless hamburgers, leftover pizza, steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Lasagna, corn, and garlic bread brought home from the teachers' in-service lunch at the school. Omelets for the adults, and the ice cream I promised my kids if they behaved themselves at the school for the four hours my husband and I had to be in a required CPR/First aid course. They did, mostly thanks to the some help from a couple of other teachers.
Thursday: Diced potatoes and a jar of bull meat fried with garlic powder and paprika, plus the first cucumbers from the garden. Yay!
Tonight: I have lamb ribs in the oven right now, split peas soaking for curried split peas, and bread dough rising that will become garlic bread. Also lettuce that needs to be used, so salad. And I have tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden to put in the salad, too. Yay again!
@kristin @ going country,
Ice cream is such a good motivator!!!
@Ruth T, And "motivator" is such a nice euphemism for "bribe." 🙂
@kristin @ going country, "The fair is a real test of endurance." Truer words were never written.
I'm also curious to see if your bill changes. You have one less eating, but prices keep going up, so will it change or be a wash?
We had:
Leftover pulled pork with beans, cottage cheese and watermelon (he likes cottage cheese and melon together, but I don't) for him, and pork with broccoli and carrots for me, watermelon for dessert.
He had a hankering for vegetable soup on a night I planned to cook burgers. I gave him some canned vegetable soup bought just for him that has ingredients I shouldn't eat, with crackers and peanut butter on the side. I had a burger, no bun, with fried plantains as a side. Melon for dessert.
Bacon, then sliced zucchini, summer squash and onions fried in the drippings. Honey carrots on the side.
Tuna salad made with carrot, celery, onion and raisins. Watermelon.
He wanted more soup, so I thawed homemade broth and threw in a variety of vegetables and seasonings that are all on my diet and we had that with cassava biscuits on the side.
I had baked a dish of sliced potatoes and onions for him earlier that he didn't really care for, although he usually does. I dumped them out in a pan and browned them in butter, then served it with sausage, and he liked it that way. For myself, I finished off leftovers.
Oh, that is a good point; fluctuating prices will make this hard to figure out!
Sunday: Burrito bowls
Monday: Camping meal #1: Quesadillas in the pie iron
Tuesday: Foil dinners with ground beef, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, green beans, and peas all cooked over the fire
Wednesday: Another pie iron meal, but with options! Some of us had chili cheese dog mountain pies and some of us had pizza mountain pies.
Thursday: We drove home from camping and used a couple of Dairy Queen gift cards to get dinner. We don't have a DQ near us, so it worked out perfectly.
Friday: Welllll... the kids weren't rested enough for me to feel like I could take them to the store and expect it to go well, so I'm not sure what we will have! Our fridge is quite empty. We may have some brats (perhaps my husband can pick up buns on his way home) and I know that our garden has plenty of green beans, zucchini, and summer squash waiting for us.
A heatwave starting on Monday combined with late pregnancy means I really didn't feel like eating during the work week. When I have trouble eating, I revert to "if it has calories and I eat it, it counts as a meal." Makes for some weird meals, but it keeps me from feeling really unwell.
Saturday: We had guests, so I made miso soup, rice, salmon, green beans, eggplant, and some cookies.
Sunday: leftovers!
Monday: My husband made tortellini from the freezer with jarred sauce and a little salad.
Tuesday: I think I just snacked all evening. I had grapes, hard boiled egg whites, soy milk, and I think some ice cream. Husband fended for himself.
Wednesday: Again, snacks. Fruit, scrambled eggs, popcorn, soy milk, and some juice. My husband made himself a pasta salad.
Thursday: Made a proper meal of homemade foccacia with store-bought tomato sauce and a full sheet pan of veggies that I roasted in the hour that the dough rose. Kind of like a cheese-less pizza. It was good and so easy.
Friday: Maybe I'll grab a fillet of fish at the store, with pierogies from the freezer on the side.
Late pregnancy in August is tough! Been there done that. Hang in there!
@Meira @ meirathebear, I feel you!! My daughter was born 8/2. It was hottttt. Good luck!!
I have a 9/2 baby, and then three February/March babies. January/February/March were definitely an easier time to be largely pregnant than June, July, and August.
Fall is coming soon, Meira!
@Kristen,
I had my first Aug. 27. I said I'd never again go through a miserable Florida summer while pregnant, so my next one arrived.... Sept. 22nd. Oops.
Oh no! Haha. That is only very vaguely better!
I found that once the kids were gone, my grocery budget didn't so much change, as the items I purchased did. I was able to eat things I really liked more often, but were too expensive for an additional three kids--like shrimp, fish, good chocolate, the expensive ice-cream, expensive cheeses, etc.
@Mary,
I completely agree with you. I am so done with pizzas, hot dogs, frozen chicken patties and chocolate milk. My son leaves for college on Tuesday and we can go back to empty nester's!
Time to eat fancy salads! topped with fancy cheeses! 🙂
I did a lot of batch cooking this past Sunday so we ate well. In no particular order we had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, sauteed spinach & squash casserole - Chicken noodle soup - pulled pork bbq sandwiches - chili with crackers - cherry pie bars - savory scones with onion, bacon, cheddar & green chilies - pumpkin muffins.
I am finding that with a little one in kindergarten & a full time job, batch cooking & planning is key.
Hope everyone has a good weekend!
@Angie, This my goal for this weekend - meal prep and batch cooking so we're set for the week! Tired of constantly feeling crummy and stressed about how we're eating.
Sun. Hubby grilled hot dogs and corn on the cob while I mowed the grass. I kind of enjoyed that we turned traditional gender roles around since he cooked while I mowed the lawn. 🙂
Mon. Snacky dinner of hummus, veggies, cheese, and crackers.
Tues. Chicken salad sandwiches and cucumber/mango salad.
Wed. Beef, bean, and cheese enchiladas. An experiment that came out extremely well!
Thurs. Southwestern black beans and bulgur from ATK. It's ugly, but so tasty.
Tonight will be spaghetti squash and meatballs.
I know you're a big fan of ATK; have you noticed that the times for their slow cooker recipes seem to be way off? I made one a few months ago, and against my better judgement, did the time/temp the recipe said. It cooked everything into an almost charred mush. For the black beans and bulgur, I did low even though the recipe said high and reduced the cooking time by an hour; recipe said high for 8 - 9 hours, and I did low for seven hours. I'll probably reduce the time to 6 or 6.5 hours next time. I'm curious if all of the slow cooker recipes are that way, or if I've just managed to find some of the few that are. Hubby thought it was maybe because they're in Vermont and we're in the south and it's so much hotter here. I guess that's possible, but it's not like the slow cooker is outside. Sorry to ramble, just curious what others may have to say.
Also, please, please do a post on how you made the sushi! I'd love to try making it. 🙂
@Danielle Zecher, The only thing I can say is that I've definitely noticed that my new(er) slow cooker cooks much hotter/faster than my old one... I have to adjust all my old recipes to avoid char!
Yeah, that's what I've heard too; that the slow cooker times in recipes can vary greatly because the new slow cookers are so much hotter.
Once I get a little more experience under my belt, I'll do a sushi post. Right now, it would be the blind leading the blind. Ha.
@Kristen, I'm looking forward to the sushi post.
@Danielle Zecher, I think some of the discrepancy has to do with how old your crockpot is, but as the self-proclaimed Queen of All Things Crockpot, I find that both my 2-year-old crockpot as well as my vintage 1980s model cook a lot of foods faster than the recipe says it will. No matter what recipe source I use, I have encountered that problem. This is especially true if it's a "drier" recipe (breakfast casserole, many meat dishes). My latest rule of thumb is if it's a soup recipe or meat is stewing in a lot of liquid (like this recipe: https://www.budgetbytes.com/taco-chicken-bowls/) then you can go with the 8-10 hour on low cooking time frame. Otherwise, 4 or fewer hours is the way to go. You may have to play with your times to figure out what suits each recipe best. I scribble notes all over my recipes because I'll never remember what works and what doesn't work.
Speaking of which .... I made crockpot lasagna last night and I have wayyy shortened up the cook time to about 3 hours--if I'm around home, 1 hour on high, 2 on low. I have the low-tech model where you have to actually turn the knob yourself! (I tried a programmable one and it died within 2 years of purchase. Boo.)
@Suz, that makes sense. One of mine is about four years old and one is about 16 years old, but I guess in the grand scheme of slow cookers even the 16 year old is on the newer side.
@Kris, I write all over my recipes too. It's good to know it's not just me with the time. I use the crock pot all of the time, so I really need to just go with my better judgment when the cooking time seems way too long for a recipe.
I don't know what brand your programmable one was, but mine is Crock Pot brand and it's still going strong after 16 years of hard use. I even cracked the screen and it still works well. I have noticed, though, that even being on the warm setting for too long after cooking can cause some things to scorch a little bit.
@Danielle Zecher, I also think the cook time varies with how full the crockpot is. One that is more full takes longer to cook (I realize that's a "duh, Kris" comment but sometimes when I'm cooking my brain isn't fully engaged .... ). Both the newer crockpots I have had (including the one I replaced) have had hot spots in them where the food tends to get scorched--if it's a food that I can stir then I will do that to prevent overcooking. That technique doesn't work so well for breakfast casseroles but those meals are SO helpful for lunch after church on Sundays that we live with it--my hubby likes the toastier bits, so it all works out. And yes, we write-on-recipe people need to stick together!
Every single dinner meal this week has been a stir fry. I go out to the garden with a bowl and pick what looks good, bring it in and cook, add some sort of protein and serve. There are always vegetables left in the bowl, so, depending on what it is, I blanch the leftovers and freeze for the winter, or I put them in chicken broth and freeze in soup form. It does get a bit boring to have stir fry each day, but it is in the 40s at night so soon we will have to harvest all but the hardiest items (such as leeks) so we want to eat as much fresh food as we can before we switch to frozen, canned, or stuff brought up from the lower 48. Tonight I am going out for my Friday fish sandwich, however.
Had a couple really busy days at work this week where I did not at all feel like cooking after work but I think thanks to reading this blog I was motivated to not get takeout and we made it through with some quick easy dinners (your post earlier this week on not getting takeout was very timely for me!)
Saturday - out to dinner for my birthday with just my husband, first time eating inside a restaurant in quite awhile!
Sunday - very easy “chicken Parmesan”, cooked chicken patties in oven then added some pasta sauce and cheese on top at the end to melt, served with green beans from our garden
Monday - tough work day, Trader Joe’s shrimp burgers for myself and husband with no bun just the patty, chicken nuggets for the kids, steamed broccoli, canned biscuits
Tuesday - creamy mushroom chicken with crispy onions, butternut squash and steamed broccoli
Wednesday - roasted chicken thighs, creamy Parmesan polenta, more garden green beans
Thursday - salmon for myself and husband, more nuggets for the kids, pearl couscous, steamed carrots, more canned biscuits
Friday - Monterey chicken skillet
Saturday-barbecued chicken, roasted potatoes, corn, carrots
Sunday-fried rice, watermelon
Monday-pizza, salad
Tuesday-breakfast bowl with egg, sausage, onions, peppers and potatoes, watermelon
Wednesday-fried rice, salad
Thursday-soup, tomato sandwich, melon
Friday-salad and leftover pizza
My grocery total this week was only $72, which was kind of amazing. We had a fair bit of stuff left over from previous weeks, though, so that helped. It's been very hot, so I had fruit salad with yogurt and a muffin for supper most nights, having chopped up fruit and made muffins on Sunday. My husband nibbled on cheese and crackers with fresh produce on the side.
Saturday- went to a wedding so dinner there. Did I fall asleep w a bag of chips in my hand? Maybe
Sunday- home from wedding weekend so recovery pho was needed to hit the physical reset button
Monday- Migas w leftover chips and veggies
Tues- bbq chicken quesadilla w pepper from garden
Weds- Brussel sprouts and ricotta flatbread
Thursday- I met my cousin and beautiful baby niece for lunch so brought dim sum as a treat for husband for dinner.
Fri- either pasta or frozen pizza bc I am having a hell of a day at work
Happy Anniversary!!! Hope you have the best day ever. The sushi looks fabulous. You are all so talented.
Does anyone read The Cannary Family blog with Gina? I believe she posts here. I was a couple of weeks behind and just read it. Her husband died unexpectedly on July 23rd. Gina, if you do happen to read this, I am so sorry for your loss. I have been reading your blog for several years, but have never been able to post. God Bless you and your family. Hugs!
@Mia, Gina did have a comment in Wednesday’s post (7 Reasons You’re Eating Out So Much) that included “Now that he’s passed...” but I didn’t realize it was so recent. Kristen’s response started, “Wait, what did I miss?...” It was nice of you to let us know, Mia. This truly is like a community.
You made sushi! Very cool! That would be a great how to post!
We've been in a weird food budget place this month too. Our oldest spent the month with her grandparents out of state. Very grateful to have freezers. Teen girls can eat! I didn't realize how much less I needed to make at first.
We took a trip to the peach farmers and got tons of peaches.The drive was very long up and back so we stayed overnight. The peaches ripened very fast due to the heat so we have bruised ones as well.... I'll probably have to freeze a lot of them.
This week, however, we managed to eat at a Italian restaurant, eat semi-homemade pizza, have smoked chicken w/ cornbread and we'll possibly make more pizza and construct a spicy casserole.
Sunday - leftover salad from lunch out with my parents
Monday - Chick-fil-A because we picked up a car that evening
Tuesday - dinner out with kids that they planned (and paid for!) for my husband's early 50th birthday party
Wednesday - pinto beans in the Instant Pot for quick burritos
Thursday - club sandwiches from a favorite local restaurant
Friday - grilled cheese (I was home alone!)
Tonight - chicken thighs, mashed cauliflower, green beans, and fresh veggies
Aw love that picture of Lisey! Will be interesting to see how your budget is affected. . .
My week is a blur -- had Indian food last Friday from our local, affordable (!) and delicious local restaurant and I treated a friend to lunch at an Italian restaurant on Sunday. Not frugal but fun and a great way to end summer .
The rest of the week was all eaten in except for a fast food lunch while I scrambled to set up my class. For dinners we ate many variations on big salad and chicken, big salad and hamburgers, big salad garbanzo beans -- the motif was -- wait for it -- Salad! -- and we tossed them at home.
Summer and travel are OVER and I am looking forward to many healthy, frugal, home meals again.
oh and the sushi looks yummy!