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First up, congrats to Betsy Butters, the winner of the Tomons desk lamp. Amazingly enough, random.org picked the very last entry in the giveaway. That’s never happened before!
If you didn’t win, you can pick up one just like Joshua’s on Amazon for $36.99.
Or, for $34.99, you can buy a similar style that comes in black, white, or retro green/blue.
(Email subscribers, click here to visit the post, where you can find links to buy the lamps. Amazon links don’t come thru via email, in order to comply with Amazon’s TOS.)
What I Spent
I made two trips to Aldi this week, and that was it! I started with a $32 trip that is unpictured.
And then I made a $113 trip, which is pictured below.
It included a bit of non-virtuous buying from Aldi’s Halloween clearance section. 😉
So, I’m starting off November with a $145 week.
What We Ate
Monday
Some friends came over to our house early and we ordered pizza together before the Halloween parade.
Tuesday
I made a pot of tortellini soup.
I toasted some leftover dinner rolls and spread them with garlic butter, and we also had a green salad.
Wednesday
I’d planned to make Shrimp Viennese, but I ended up babysitting two nieces and a nephew that evening, and instead opted to make quesadillas (finger food always seems easier with small people!)
Thursday
We had pork cutlet cuban sandwiches with some fresh fruit.
Friday
No surprise…I’m planning to make pizza.
And for those of you keeping track at home, I did make deep dish pizza last week, and I decided I was too scared to try using a Yukon Gold potato in the crust. So I popped into the store and bought a Russet potato. 😉
And the pizza was delicious.
WilliamB
Monday 7th of November 2016
I was sick much of the weekend, so there were a lot of quick-n-easy from the freezer. I remember: - Burgers, carrots, tomatoes, canned mandarin oranges.
- Dumplings, carrots, tomatoes, don't remember the fruit.
- Pork chops (they were so thick I cut them in half, as a result I'm getting another meal from them), applesauce made by a friend, broccoli.
- Taco night (veg built-in), oranges.
- Breakfast for dinner, at a diner I haven't been to in a long time. Now I know why.
- Moroccan-influenced meal (had a houseguest, and several mutual friends over): Moroccan turkey meatballs, North African roasted carrots, pearl couscous/pilaf style, spinach and strawberry salad. Then three desserts: the Pumpkin Pieless I'd planned; Apple Pie, inspired by local bruised apples at half price; and Stale Brownie Pudding because I thought I had enough guests to try it out; all with whipped cream.
Cecilia Leffew
Saturday 5th of November 2016
Last weekend I made your deep dish pizza crust. My family was speechless. It was INCREDIBLE. My husband said that I should never make any other crust but this one. Thank you for all your recipes. I have made many over the years and have my favorites but this one might be at the top. Thanks again.
Kristen
Sunday 6th of November 2016
Yay!! I'm so glad it turned out well for you.
Julia Bleakney
Saturday 5th of November 2016
I've been trying to stick to a budget of $450 a month for two of us. This amount includes chicken I have to buy each week for the dog who has tummy issues. We have an additional $150 available per month for eating out, which we limit to once or twice per weekend (usually one meal with a beer and another quick meal like tacos or breakfast somewhere). This week I spent about $90: $60 at Aldi and $30 on groceries at Target. On top of that my husband spent $20 on beer.
Mon: home-made leek, potato, and kale soup and cheese roll (lunch at work); salmon, bread, and broccoli (dinner) Tues: same lunch as Mon; frozen pizza, green beans stir fried with shrimp (dinner) Wed: can't remember lunch but I know I brought it from home; stirfry with lots of veggies and tofu and Harris Teeter's Tikka Masala sauce, brown rice, and a little nan bread (dinner) Thurs: left over stirfry (lunch); veggie burgers, home-made sweet potato fries, and steamed broccoli (dinner) Fri: free lunch at work; ate out (dinner)--about $35.
Geeka
Saturday 5th of November 2016
Question here: do you do food planning before or after you shop? I find that if I try to go to Aldi with a list, it doesn't seem to work out, and I end up going somewhere else to shop. You seem to have a rather wide list of things you make, so I was just curious.
I also don't like their quality of meat (maybe that's my store?, but I also grew up next to a butcher, so I may be spoiled). I don't remember if I bought meat from Aldi when I lived in Germany. And I've been extra hesitant since the horse meat thing. Do you find it to be sufficient? Any recommendations?
Kristen
Saturday 5th of November 2016
Yep, I plan before I go to the store, and I usually plan on picking up a few things at another grocery store. I've been shopping at Aldi long enough that I know what stuff isn't available there and can plan for that.
AFS
Saturday 5th of November 2016
Why didn't you want to use the Yukon Gold in the pizza?
Kristen
Saturday 5th of November 2016
Well, they're waxier than Russets, so I wasn't sure that they'd work properly.
I did use one last night, though, and the pizza wasn't noticeably different. Yay!