Looking through my receipts for this week I'm a little disgusted with myself. I am so totally over budget! It's funny because when I feel like we have "more money" I end up spending more of it. I know this is a common thing (lifestyle inflation and all that) but it's driving me crazy. I'm cutting down to ONE STOP PER WEEK at the grocery store. Anyway, here's what we ate this week!
Sunday : My husband's cousin was over for dinner so we bought frozen pizzas as a treat. It was very tasty, and at $8 was much more affordable than take out (but still more expensive than homemade!).
Monday : I made an egg bake (aka strata) with a loaf of stale bread and a can of mustard greens for my husband. For myself I made the rest of a bag of frozen meatless tenders and oven fries with a potato.
Tuesday : We had white rice, stir fry veg, and a bag of frozen meatless beef strips. I'm actually not usually one for meat alternatives but I've been able to find some for a steal.
Wednesday : Huevos rancheros bowls. I let my husband pick from a list of meals and somehow I knew he's pick this one!
Thursday : I had run tons of errands all day so I was pooped around dinnertime. I made 2 boxes of Annie's mac and cheese and added a bag of peas and carrots.
Friday : After grocery shopping I always have lots of great fresh veg so I made a HUGE salad with homemade croutons. Our neighbor had a big meat order so he brought my husband a steak and a few burgers so I made the steak to go with his salad.
Saturday : My family was visiting from out of state so we had a late lunch/early dinner at my mom's. She made her veggie lasagna which is so totally delicious!! I brought the noodles, a loaf of garlic bread, and some frosting for my aunt's birthday cupcakes.
All in all a pretty normal food week until we look at the numbers. I spent $66.29 at the grocery store, $6.27 at the dollar store, $7.40 at Big Lots, and $4.44 at Ocean State Job Lot which totals to a WHOPPING $84.40!!!! I can remind you here that my tip top budget for the week is $60. I didn't need a lot of staples and we didn't even eat a lot of food this week! I'm getting a little frustrated with myself for buying things just because they look good. When I went to the grocery store this week on Friday I really stuck to my list and had a rough meal plan so hopefully I'll do better this week. Yikes!
Do you ever go WILDLY over your grocery budget? It'd be nice to know I wasn't the only one. :)
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Sunday, February 21, 2016
What We Ate This Week
After last weekend being so stressful with the furnace and plumbing problems it was nice to have an easy one for a change. I had a wedding on Saturday night which was a total blast and today was spent running some errands with a rare lunch date with my husband. Now my husband's cousin is visiting and we'll have a fun low key night of board games and frozen pizzas. So, what did we eat this week?
Sunday : Frozen pizza, cake and ice cream. We had no running water this day so we splurged at the grocery store on a real fancy Valentine's day dinner. ;)
Monday : I made a big salad (water still wasn't right, pressure was very low) and cooked a New York Strip steak for my husband. He was supposed to have it for Valentine's Day but with no water I really didn't feel like making any dishes.
Tuesday : Leftover salad with a frittata made with our own eggs, gardein sausage patties from the freezer, discount broccoli, onions and a sprinkle of cheese. Plus, our water got fixed and was finally back to normal, hooray!
Wednesday : Pasta with marinara sauce and gardein meatless meatballs from the freezer.
Thursday : Chickpeas, diced potatoes, and green beans in a store bought pineapple coconut curry sauce.
Friday : Leftover Minestrone soup from last week with a take and bake loaf of bread from the discount bin. I've never made that before and it was pretty good. It tasted a lot like the bread you get as an appetizer at some restaurants.
Saturday : I had dinner at the wedding and I threw beef stew together in the slow cooker for my husband. It made a huge amount so he'll be able to take it for lunch a few days this week.
I spent $8.75 at Wal-Mart, $4.17 at Big Lots, $8.98 at BJs Wholesale Club, and $50.98 at the grocery store. So my total spending was TOTALLY over budget at $72.88!!! The whole water fiasco had a lot to do with it because I bought some convenience foods so we wouldn't have to make dishes. I've also been hitting up the clearance rack for way too many baked goods lately. It's time to reign in it because it's getting ridiculous and we don't need any more junk in the house.
About the whole water issue; we had super cold temps last Saturday into Sunday which froze our filter solid. Even after thawing and putting a brand new filter in we didn't have running water. We have a friend of my husband's we usually call for plumbing issues but he was quite busy with the weather. We called another nearby plumber and he screwed us, BIG TIME. Didn't fix our problem, charged us an obscene amount at $930 dollars (still our water wasn't right). He showed up unannounced the next morning asking how it was going and saying it was likely he would have to replace our well pump (he had already checked it when here the day before and told us it was fine). We've had well pump issues in the past but I was skeptical. My husband got a hold of his friend, told him our issues, and he said he was almost positive what the problem was and came over the next morning and was here 5 minutes and it was fixed. There was a ball of teflon tape stuck in our filter housing...which to me was a bit suspicious. I ended up putting a stop payment on our check to the plumber and my husband called the plumber and said no way no how are we paying you. At first he seemed reluctant but after my husband mentioned the actual problem being the ball of tape he seemed quite okay since "they didn't fix our problem we shouldn't have to pay". The whole situation was fishy to all we talked to about it and we learned the lesson that you should always deal with who you know, even if you'll have to wait a few days. Our bill went from a whopping $930 to a $20 stop payment fee and $40 to my husband's friend (he asked for $20 but I gave him $40 for just being so great). We dodged a bullet there, thankfully, and we are so very glad. I just can't believe there are such dishonest people out there!
Anywho, with our water being fine again I hope that this week our grocery shopping will be much lower without having to buy convenience foods. I'm also planning to stay away from stores as much as possible because you can't buy if you're not in a store!! What causes your grocery spending to inflate?
Sunday : Frozen pizza, cake and ice cream. We had no running water this day so we splurged at the grocery store on a real fancy Valentine's day dinner. ;)
Monday : I made a big salad (water still wasn't right, pressure was very low) and cooked a New York Strip steak for my husband. He was supposed to have it for Valentine's Day but with no water I really didn't feel like making any dishes.
Tuesday : Leftover salad with a frittata made with our own eggs, gardein sausage patties from the freezer, discount broccoli, onions and a sprinkle of cheese. Plus, our water got fixed and was finally back to normal, hooray!
Wednesday : Pasta with marinara sauce and gardein meatless meatballs from the freezer.
Thursday : Chickpeas, diced potatoes, and green beans in a store bought pineapple coconut curry sauce.
Friday : Leftover Minestrone soup from last week with a take and bake loaf of bread from the discount bin. I've never made that before and it was pretty good. It tasted a lot like the bread you get as an appetizer at some restaurants.
Saturday : I had dinner at the wedding and I threw beef stew together in the slow cooker for my husband. It made a huge amount so he'll be able to take it for lunch a few days this week.
I spent $8.75 at Wal-Mart, $4.17 at Big Lots, $8.98 at BJs Wholesale Club, and $50.98 at the grocery store. So my total spending was TOTALLY over budget at $72.88!!! The whole water fiasco had a lot to do with it because I bought some convenience foods so we wouldn't have to make dishes. I've also been hitting up the clearance rack for way too many baked goods lately. It's time to reign in it because it's getting ridiculous and we don't need any more junk in the house.
About the whole water issue; we had super cold temps last Saturday into Sunday which froze our filter solid. Even after thawing and putting a brand new filter in we didn't have running water. We have a friend of my husband's we usually call for plumbing issues but he was quite busy with the weather. We called another nearby plumber and he screwed us, BIG TIME. Didn't fix our problem, charged us an obscene amount at $930 dollars (still our water wasn't right). He showed up unannounced the next morning asking how it was going and saying it was likely he would have to replace our well pump (he had already checked it when here the day before and told us it was fine). We've had well pump issues in the past but I was skeptical. My husband got a hold of his friend, told him our issues, and he said he was almost positive what the problem was and came over the next morning and was here 5 minutes and it was fixed. There was a ball of teflon tape stuck in our filter housing...which to me was a bit suspicious. I ended up putting a stop payment on our check to the plumber and my husband called the plumber and said no way no how are we paying you. At first he seemed reluctant but after my husband mentioned the actual problem being the ball of tape he seemed quite okay since "they didn't fix our problem we shouldn't have to pay". The whole situation was fishy to all we talked to about it and we learned the lesson that you should always deal with who you know, even if you'll have to wait a few days. Our bill went from a whopping $930 to a $20 stop payment fee and $40 to my husband's friend (he asked for $20 but I gave him $40 for just being so great). We dodged a bullet there, thankfully, and we are so very glad. I just can't believe there are such dishonest people out there!
Anywho, with our water being fine again I hope that this week our grocery shopping will be much lower without having to buy convenience foods. I'm also planning to stay away from stores as much as possible because you can't buy if you're not in a store!! What causes your grocery spending to inflate?
Monday, February 15, 2016
Book Review
Two posts in one day! It's a miracle! ;) In all honesty, it's great to have something to do because we are still having water issues. Between my stressed out organizing and reading I should be able to keep my sanity (what little I have, anyway :) ).
So, today I received the book "Little Felted Dogs" by Saori Yamazaki. Talk about ADORABLE! I am still a felting beginner but being 1) all about craftiness and 2) obsessed with dogs this book is totally awesome. Each pattern has approx wool weights for each part of the dog, as well as amounts of each color needed. There are also plenty of diagrams (plus a bunch of really cute pictures showing off the finished product). I think they would make great gifts for the dog lovers in your life, especially because there are plenty of different breeds of dogs. My favorites (of course) are the miniature Dachshund, followed by the Shetland Sheepdog. I'm thinking of giving this as a gift to my mom for Mother's Day, since she's a HUGE fiber enthusiast. Either way I think it's a great book!
Thanks again to Blogging For Books for providing the book free of charge for my honest review!
So, today I received the book "Little Felted Dogs" by Saori Yamazaki. Talk about ADORABLE! I am still a felting beginner but being 1) all about craftiness and 2) obsessed with dogs this book is totally awesome. Each pattern has approx wool weights for each part of the dog, as well as amounts of each color needed. There are also plenty of diagrams (plus a bunch of really cute pictures showing off the finished product). I think they would make great gifts for the dog lovers in your life, especially because there are plenty of different breeds of dogs. My favorites (of course) are the miniature Dachshund, followed by the Shetland Sheepdog. I'm thinking of giving this as a gift to my mom for Mother's Day, since she's a HUGE fiber enthusiast. Either way I think it's a great book!
Thanks again to Blogging For Books for providing the book free of charge for my honest review!
What We Ate This Week
Well, here I am a day late again. This time I had an excuse though! For anyone who lives in the northeast, I just want to say I feel your pain. We woke up Sunday without water (still no water; plumber coming today) and our furnace wasn't working correctly. Turns out the kerosene in our outdoor tank (we live in a mobile home) was gelling up. My husband went and got the 911 additive and my dad came over to help him bleed the lines and lo and behold I believe we are okay now. Sadly, even after thawing our water filter (it was a hunk of ice) still no water. We've narrowed it down to either the pressure switch or the water pump for our well. If it's the water pump, that will be the 4th one in 4 years so I'd think we have ANOTHER problem. Either way, it was a stressful day. Our neighbor is letting us fill up buckets to bring over to our place so we have water for the animals and for ourselves. I'd really like a shower, though! ;) Hopefully whatever the case we get our water back today. We are keeping our fingers crossed for it just being the pressure switch because that will be a lot cheaper! Onward to simpler, less complicated issues...like what we ate this week!
Sunday : I was feeling a bit under the weather so I just ate some fruit and my husband cooked half the pack of bacon our neighbor gave us and made himself bacon grilled cheese sandwiches. Always the health-nut, that one.
Monday : Vegan hoppin' john with brown rice on the side. One of our favorites!
Tuesday : Leftover sloppy joe filling (from last week) on top of baked potatoes with a bag of frozen broccoli on the side.
Wednesday : Breakfast for dinner! We have TONS of eggs from the ducks and chickens so this helped make a dent in them...until the next morning anyway. I used the last of the Bob's Red Mill mix I had to make pancakes (with frozen blueberries), scrambled eggs, and cooked the last of the bacon for my husband.
Thursday : I put a pork roast I got on super clearance in the crockpot with an onion, the last of the wine jelly, and a jar of pear and apple chutney I canned a few years ago. It made the house smell amazing! My husband had that with rice and I had rice and beans.
Friday : My husband's phone had died so I cooked soup and he got Subway for us...whoops.
Saturday : The aforementioned minestrone soup with clearance foccacia rolls that were fantastic!!
I spent $52.60 this week total; $24.72 at Big Lots, $12.74 at the grocery store by my house, $8.14 at the grocery store by my mom's house, and $7 at the dollar store. A bit above my usual spending but I end up spending more when I go to Big Lots since they have such great deals. This week I'm going to skip the trip there, as well as to the dollar store (I went to stock the freezer with bread). I only took out $25 for groceries this week since I made two big orders on Vitacost. We will see how I do this week!
I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!
Sunday : I was feeling a bit under the weather so I just ate some fruit and my husband cooked half the pack of bacon our neighbor gave us and made himself bacon grilled cheese sandwiches. Always the health-nut, that one.
Monday : Vegan hoppin' john with brown rice on the side. One of our favorites!
Tuesday : Leftover sloppy joe filling (from last week) on top of baked potatoes with a bag of frozen broccoli on the side.
Wednesday : Breakfast for dinner! We have TONS of eggs from the ducks and chickens so this helped make a dent in them...until the next morning anyway. I used the last of the Bob's Red Mill mix I had to make pancakes (with frozen blueberries), scrambled eggs, and cooked the last of the bacon for my husband.
Thursday : I put a pork roast I got on super clearance in the crockpot with an onion, the last of the wine jelly, and a jar of pear and apple chutney I canned a few years ago. It made the house smell amazing! My husband had that with rice and I had rice and beans.
Friday : My husband's phone had died so I cooked soup and he got Subway for us...whoops.
Saturday : The aforementioned minestrone soup with clearance foccacia rolls that were fantastic!!
I spent $52.60 this week total; $24.72 at Big Lots, $12.74 at the grocery store by my house, $8.14 at the grocery store by my mom's house, and $7 at the dollar store. A bit above my usual spending but I end up spending more when I go to Big Lots since they have such great deals. This week I'm going to skip the trip there, as well as to the dollar store (I went to stock the freezer with bread). I only took out $25 for groceries this week since I made two big orders on Vitacost. We will see how I do this week!
I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!
Sunday, February 7, 2016
What We Ate This Week
Phew, talk about crazy weather we're having. One day this week it was in the mid-50's and we were seeing green grass and then 8 inches of snow on Friday. It's been a mild winter all around and we'll take it. Last year I got such a late start on the garden since winter wouldn't quit. Maybe this year spring will be early and I'll get to dig in the dirt earlier! I will keep my fingers crossed. Anyway, onto what we ate this week!
Sunday - We ran errands for most of the day and I just didn't feel like cooking. Boxed mac and cheese (with frozen broccoli added, gotta get the veg) came to the rescue!
Monday - A big pot of black bean and corn chili. Yummy!
Tuesday - I threw together a greek pasta salad with olives, pepperoncinis, roasted red peppers, scallions, and dressing. Some chicken tenderloins made it out of the freezer for my husband as well.
Wednesday - Curried potatoes with eggs. Since the animals have been laying we've got loads! This is one of my favorite dishes to cook. The tomato based curry sauce is super yummy!
Thursday - I broke open the last box of meatless sloppy joe mix (bought on clearance for 75 cents!) and baked the last of a bag of frozen fries. There is still a big container full in the fridge so I'm thinking leftovers this week.
Friday - French bread pizza on 1/2 price day old roasted garlic bread. I used olives, pickled jalapeno slices, and pepperoncinis as toppings. We haven't had pizza in awhile so it was an extra treat.
Saturday - Huevos Racheros bowls with no beans. Again, we had been running around all day and I just didn't feel like cooking. The only real cooking involved here is boiling water, adding grits/polenta and frying eggs. This is my go to super quick fix meal (also, it's VERY DELISH).
This week I spent $35.02 at the grocery store, $8.21 at Big Lots, and $9.88 at Ocean State Job Lot (a New England store which is very similar to Big Lots). I am beginning to really like these posts because they allow me to look back at my grocery spending and see what needs improvement. I am becoming a HUGE fan of Big Lots. My husband's work snack basket was looking low so I headed over and found a whole bunch of healthy and organic snacks in their clearance bin. There were some great cracker packs for 65 cents a piece and some organic snack sized granola packs for 1.25 a box. Snacks always feel like a huge grocery budget buster so I really enjoy being able to find cheap stuff. I also received the "Good and Cheap"cookbook I bought off Amazon (used, of course) and am looking forward to trying some of her recipes. I had used the PDF version a few times but I find I enjoy having the cookbook in my hands much more than using it digitally.
Have you found any cookbooks that help stretch your grocery budget? Did you make any fantastic dishes this week?
Sunday - We ran errands for most of the day and I just didn't feel like cooking. Boxed mac and cheese (with frozen broccoli added, gotta get the veg) came to the rescue!
Monday - A big pot of black bean and corn chili. Yummy!
Tuesday - I threw together a greek pasta salad with olives, pepperoncinis, roasted red peppers, scallions, and dressing. Some chicken tenderloins made it out of the freezer for my husband as well.
Wednesday - Curried potatoes with eggs. Since the animals have been laying we've got loads! This is one of my favorite dishes to cook. The tomato based curry sauce is super yummy!
Thursday - I broke open the last box of meatless sloppy joe mix (bought on clearance for 75 cents!) and baked the last of a bag of frozen fries. There is still a big container full in the fridge so I'm thinking leftovers this week.
Friday - French bread pizza on 1/2 price day old roasted garlic bread. I used olives, pickled jalapeno slices, and pepperoncinis as toppings. We haven't had pizza in awhile so it was an extra treat.
Saturday - Huevos Racheros bowls with no beans. Again, we had been running around all day and I just didn't feel like cooking. The only real cooking involved here is boiling water, adding grits/polenta and frying eggs. This is my go to super quick fix meal (also, it's VERY DELISH).
This week I spent $35.02 at the grocery store, $8.21 at Big Lots, and $9.88 at Ocean State Job Lot (a New England store which is very similar to Big Lots). I am beginning to really like these posts because they allow me to look back at my grocery spending and see what needs improvement. I am becoming a HUGE fan of Big Lots. My husband's work snack basket was looking low so I headed over and found a whole bunch of healthy and organic snacks in their clearance bin. There were some great cracker packs for 65 cents a piece and some organic snack sized granola packs for 1.25 a box. Snacks always feel like a huge grocery budget buster so I really enjoy being able to find cheap stuff. I also received the "Good and Cheap"cookbook I bought off Amazon (used, of course) and am looking forward to trying some of her recipes. I had used the PDF version a few times but I find I enjoy having the cookbook in my hands much more than using it digitally.
Have you found any cookbooks that help stretch your grocery budget? Did you make any fantastic dishes this week?
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Another Frugal Find
If you have a blog (and love books!), a site you should really check out is Blogging For Books! I've been a member for over a year now and found that it's a great way to get books for both gifts and myself. You sign up with your blog site and can receive books for free just for reviewing them on your blog. On my old blog I did TONS of reviews (basically it was just blogging for books reviews, oops). This will be my first one on my new blog though!
This time I picked "The Bee-Friendly Garden" by Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn, since I am a bit of a gardening fiend. First off the pictures are GORGEOUS! I wish my garden looked that beautiful. There are also some really cool close ups of bees that are pretty remarkable. The first chapter tells a bit about the extent of colony collapse disorder and how important our gardens are to help create a healthy environment for bees to live and thrive in! The chapters go on to mention the best plants for bees, both ornamental and edible, as well as how to design your bee garden. My favorite chapter was about becoming a bee activist! People really don't realize how big of an issue the decimation of bee population is or how much we rely on them for our food supply. There is also a section for each region of the country and what plants work best in those climates. I think it's a great book full of useful information (and the pictures! seriously!). It would make a great gift for the gardener in your life. I'm going to save this copy for my Dad's birthday or Father's Day because I think he would really enjoy it.
Once you review the book you received (like I did above) you post your review and the link to their site and then pick out another book. My favorites are the cookbooks and hobby books. I end up keeping very few for myself since I'm a bit of a minimalist but it helps IMMENSELY with my gift budget. Who doesn't enjoy a shiny new book? So, if you love books (or would like to hoard them for gifts) I would highly suggest you sign up!
(Of course, I must mention that I received this book free for my honest review from Blogging For Books.)
This time I picked "The Bee-Friendly Garden" by Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn, since I am a bit of a gardening fiend. First off the pictures are GORGEOUS! I wish my garden looked that beautiful. There are also some really cool close ups of bees that are pretty remarkable. The first chapter tells a bit about the extent of colony collapse disorder and how important our gardens are to help create a healthy environment for bees to live and thrive in! The chapters go on to mention the best plants for bees, both ornamental and edible, as well as how to design your bee garden. My favorite chapter was about becoming a bee activist! People really don't realize how big of an issue the decimation of bee population is or how much we rely on them for our food supply. There is also a section for each region of the country and what plants work best in those climates. I think it's a great book full of useful information (and the pictures! seriously!). It would make a great gift for the gardener in your life. I'm going to save this copy for my Dad's birthday or Father's Day because I think he would really enjoy it.
Once you review the book you received (like I did above) you post your review and the link to their site and then pick out another book. My favorites are the cookbooks and hobby books. I end up keeping very few for myself since I'm a bit of a minimalist but it helps IMMENSELY with my gift budget. Who doesn't enjoy a shiny new book? So, if you love books (or would like to hoard them for gifts) I would highly suggest you sign up!
(Of course, I must mention that I received this book free for my honest review from Blogging For Books.)
Monday, February 1, 2016
What We Ate This Week
Oops! I'm a day late with this post. It was so nice out yesterday (over 40! In January! In Maine!) so taking the dogs out to play took precedent.
Sunday - Leftover curried squash soup with leftover salad. I love combining two leftover dishes to make one meal! Plus, no cooking, woo!
Monday - Black bean and avocado enchiladas. I dare you to make these and NOT lick the spatula from the enchilada sauce. It is so stinkin' tasty...mmm...
Tuesday - For my husband I made a deer liver/potato/onion slow cooker dish. I had salad made with the dregs of the crisper drawer with a meatless gardein sausage patty crumbled on top.
Wednesday - Tomato cabbage rice soup. I had a small cabbage head that was looking sad so in the pot it went. Does anyone else have a hard time making a reasonable amount of soup? There was seriously enough for a small army.
Thursday - Chickpeas, peas, and potatoes in curry sauce. I got this fantastic pineapple coconut milk curry sauce at a discount store and hoo-boy it did not disappoint! My best friend is half Indian and it seriously reminded me of her father's cooking we ate growing up. Yum!!!
Friday - Earlier in the week I cooked a bag of black rice that has been hiding in the back of my cabinet. So on Friday I used what was left after lunches to make fried rice. I added a bag of stir fry veg, scrambled eggs, mung beans I sprouted myself, and some green onions. This was one of the first things I learned to cook on my own.
Saturday - Leftover cabbage soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I can't believe it but we made it through the vat of soup! ;)
The only waste this week was a small storage container of leftover mushroom gravy and TVP from last week's shepard's pie. Since the chickens will be getting it when I go out to feed them in a few minutes, I suppose it's not a total waste! This week I spent $25.78 at the wholesale club, $4.61 at the grocery store by my parent's house, and $13.33 at the grocery store by my house. I still have $6 in my wallet in case we need more fruit or greens. The chickens and ducks have started laying more as the days get longer so I see a lot of egg dishes in our future.
My neighbor brought us over a bag of food on Friday night as well! So we got 3 hunks of different fancy cheese, a salami, an appetizer of cut cheese/wine jelly, 2 bags organic tortilla chips, 6 bags of candy (I shared those with my mom, thankfully), and a small box of fig newtons. I used one bag of Hershey's kisses to make peanut butter blossoms and sent a dozen over to my neighbor. The cheeses were great because they were expensive types we'd never buy. Of course my husband loved the uncured salami because any meat is good to him. We have the best neighbor!
What did you eat this week?
Sunday - Leftover curried squash soup with leftover salad. I love combining two leftover dishes to make one meal! Plus, no cooking, woo!
Monday - Black bean and avocado enchiladas. I dare you to make these and NOT lick the spatula from the enchilada sauce. It is so stinkin' tasty...mmm...
Tuesday - For my husband I made a deer liver/potato/onion slow cooker dish. I had salad made with the dregs of the crisper drawer with a meatless gardein sausage patty crumbled on top.
Wednesday - Tomato cabbage rice soup. I had a small cabbage head that was looking sad so in the pot it went. Does anyone else have a hard time making a reasonable amount of soup? There was seriously enough for a small army.
Thursday - Chickpeas, peas, and potatoes in curry sauce. I got this fantastic pineapple coconut milk curry sauce at a discount store and hoo-boy it did not disappoint! My best friend is half Indian and it seriously reminded me of her father's cooking we ate growing up. Yum!!!
Friday - Earlier in the week I cooked a bag of black rice that has been hiding in the back of my cabinet. So on Friday I used what was left after lunches to make fried rice. I added a bag of stir fry veg, scrambled eggs, mung beans I sprouted myself, and some green onions. This was one of the first things I learned to cook on my own.
Saturday - Leftover cabbage soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I can't believe it but we made it through the vat of soup! ;)
The only waste this week was a small storage container of leftover mushroom gravy and TVP from last week's shepard's pie. Since the chickens will be getting it when I go out to feed them in a few minutes, I suppose it's not a total waste! This week I spent $25.78 at the wholesale club, $4.61 at the grocery store by my parent's house, and $13.33 at the grocery store by my house. I still have $6 in my wallet in case we need more fruit or greens. The chickens and ducks have started laying more as the days get longer so I see a lot of egg dishes in our future.
My neighbor brought us over a bag of food on Friday night as well! So we got 3 hunks of different fancy cheese, a salami, an appetizer of cut cheese/wine jelly, 2 bags organic tortilla chips, 6 bags of candy (I shared those with my mom, thankfully), and a small box of fig newtons. I used one bag of Hershey's kisses to make peanut butter blossoms and sent a dozen over to my neighbor. The cheeses were great because they were expensive types we'd never buy. Of course my husband loved the uncured salami because any meat is good to him. We have the best neighbor!
What did you eat this week?
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