Normally I post a photo of a recent grocery shopping trip, but I haven’t taken a photo. However, I can tell you that my weekly spending is still averaging $150 per week this year, and that’s even counting the more expensive groceries we bought on our Disney trip.
So, I’m pretty pleased with that for a family of six with a couple of teenagers.
I could spend less if I bought less produce and less local food, but we have room in our budget for $150 a week, so I’m happy to keep on doing what I’m doing.
Anyhoo!
Here’s what we’ve eaten of late (and to make up for the lack of a grocery picture, you get more than seven meals this go-round!)
Grilled Kabobs
I usually use a Cook’s Illustrated marinade recipe for the chicken and everything else just gets an oil, salt, and pepper treatment.
I know it’s a little unorthodox to thread only like items on the skewers, but I find it’s easier to evenly cook the kabobs this way.
Once I’m done cooking, I just take everything off the skewers and put it into the pan you see there.
I’m sure we had fruit or a salad with this, but memory fails me at this point.
Asparagus Tortellini Salad
I had some local asparagus in my produce box, so I found a recipe in this America’s Test Kitchen cookbook.
Sauteed Tilapia, Buttermilk Biscuits, and Strawberry Salad
The biscuit recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated’s baking book (I wrote a little about that book in this post), the tilapia is just sauteed in butter with seafood seasoning, and the salad is a riff on my strawberry pear salad recipe.
I used grapes instead of pears, used raw almonds instead of sugared, and combined Romaine with Swiss chard for the greens.
Snacky Stuff
A lot of times on Sunday evenings, we just have a meal of snacky foods. I know we had popcorn too this night (I pop it on the stove in coconut oil), but it didn’t make it into the photo, I guess.
Swedish Meatballs, watermelon, and cucumbers
I use a Cook’s Illustrated recipe (are you seeing a pattern here??) for the meatballs and sauce (from this cookbook).
And I’m not sure why, but that cucumber was the whitest cucumber I’ve ever seen.
Sloppy Joes and salad
I made my homemade fluffy hamburger buns (so delicious!) and the salad is again a riff on the strawberry pear salad idea.
Clam Chowder
We don’t tend to have a lot of soup in June, but we had to! Because new pot:
It was so nice to make this in an unwarped pot. Nothing burnt on the bottom!
I can’t remember what veggie we had with the soup….
Fajita Salad
I saw this in Aldi’s summer catalog and knew I wanted to try it, because I like pretty much anything fajita.
The salad itself was really good, but the tortilla cups were a little tricky to make and they didn’t hold much. So next time I’d just serve this over some tortilla chips instead.
Grilled Pizza
I haven’t made grilled pizza in a long while, and I was happy I made 1.5 times the recipe because we at all six pizzas with no problem.
(They’re small pizzas, but still, we used to eat only four!)
So, there you go…that’s what’s been on the table at our house!
Anna
Monday 4th of August 2014
Hi Kristen,
Do you make the portions of the meals you photograph smaller than you serve to your family? I have teenage boys, and sometimes I think they would eat your entire meal themselves! I love your blog, thanks so much.
Kristen
Tuesday 5th of August 2014
It depends on the person we're talking about! Joshua, who is almost 15, eats a lot more than Sonia or Zoe do.
I usually serve up our food family style, so I don't make plates for everyone...people can eat the amount they want to eat and have seconds if they want.
That said, we are not a family of big eaters. None of us would ever be considered for a football team, that much is for sure.
Laura
Thursday 19th of June 2014
I do my kebabs the same way, fajitas sound good tonight.
Catherine
Wednesday 18th of June 2014
Hi! I couldn't help but notice your napkin holder/salt&pepper set in the snacky Sunday photo. I've been looking for a set like that. It looks like the napkin part is tall enough to actually hold the napkins up without them drooping and that it holds a fair amount of them. Do you happen to know where you got it?
Thanks!
Kristen
Wednesday 18th of June 2014
Oh, goodness...that's a super old one that I think I got from Bed, Bath, and Beyond? It was a light oak color and I painted it black a few years ago.
A Frugal Family's Journey
Saturday 14th of June 2014
It all looks delicious. I especially like the kabobs and strawberry salad. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes. AFFJ
sheila payne
Saturday 14th of June 2014
I love when you do this--show us pictures of meals you have made for your family. It is inspiring, pretty and I love the recipe links. It is better than a picture of groceries--not that I don't like that. I just see uncooked groceries and ask myself, "now, what is for dinner?" and draw a blank. รฐลธหล