Well.
The What I Spent portion of this post is going to be kind of boring because I didn’t really go grocery shopping. I picked up $18 worth of items at Aldi at the beginning of the week, and that was it.
Which handily makes up for my expensive shopping last week.
Schweet.
February Spending
Week 1: $242
Week 2: $18
The only downside of this lite-on-shopping week is that we ended up eating a kind of vegetable-light set of dinners.
Luckily, I still made green smoothies every morning, though, so we were not completely bereft of greens this week.
Monday
We started our week out with fish tacos. And guacamole, of course.
We also ate applesauce from the freezer.
Tuesday
I had a number of bread odds and ends in the freezer, so we had a French toast night.
I made strawberry syrup to go with the french toast, and also cooked up some fresh pork sausages.
Wednesday
I tried a Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Parmesan Risotto with roasted chicken, and my girls weren’t big fans of the risotto. I think it might be because they aren’t much on wine-flavored things.
Ah well. You win some and you lose some.
Thursday
We had band rehearsal, so the kids and I ate at home beforehand. The girls and I ate apple pfannekuchen, and Joshua made a sub.
We met Mr. FG at rehearsal, and I brought him some sushi for day 11 of The 14 Days of Valentines. 😉
Friday
It is a pizza night, of course. I will probably make basic pizza. Unless my day gets crazy, in which case I may break down and get carryout pizza. 😉
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How’s the grocery spending going at your house? And what have you been eating?
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P.S. Joshua and I are late this week, but we finally posted our takes on the portrait assignment.
(I saw the assignment and was all, “Woo!” and Joshua was all, “Ohhh dear.” Basically the opposite of how we react to landscape assignments. 😉 )
Laure
Monday 15th of February 2016
Thank you so much for the sour cream/hot peppers/cilantro (we left out the mayo) spread for the fish tacos. We agree that they make an absolute world of difference! Have been making variations of fish and shrimp tacos for years, but that base turns them into "professional chef"-type deliciousness! Thank you.
Kristen
Monday 15th of February 2016
I know, right? It really makes the fish taco. Mr. FG and the girls leave it off and Joshua and I are all, "WHAT are you doing??" ;)
Patti
Monday 15th of February 2016
This week between the superbowl and my 11 year old's birthday party I was afraid like in the past I would buy a lot of take out pizza or frozen convenience foods and blow the food budget. But for the superbowl I bought clearance chicken wings from Aldi and made my own buffalo wild wings and ignored the boys clamoring for pizza hut at the party and made some great little baked sandwichs on Aldi's rolls. Or course added in with homemade deserts and snacks and all of that. Both events were a big hit and I am still doing fine with my grocery money for the month so that was a a big win for me - I usually go way overboard for parties.
Katy
Saturday 13th of February 2016
Just wanted to say that you don't need to put wine into your risotto. I make mine with vegetable or chicken stock, I add chicken, mushrooms, tarragon and another vegetable (I love artichoke hearts). Just as yummy and your girls will probably appreciate it more :-)
mommabee
Friday 12th of February 2016
Alison- How about things he can "dip" like cheese stix or fruits with a fruit dip or breadsticks/garlic knots or steak pieces? He may be willing to try raw vegetables with a ranch dip...You get the idea.... Ask him what he would like to make (borrow a cookbook) and if he puts it together, he will probably eat it.
We are eating out of the freezer this week! I did manage to get a free box of french bread pizza and granola bars with coupons. This week, i'll spend about $35 for milk/fruits/bread/cereal/snacks but the rest is from the freezer or what was on hand.. Here goes: Breakfast- eggs, cereal, milk, toast, english muffins, bagels, oatmeal Lunch- tuna sandwiches, french bread pizza, dinner leftovers Dinner- homemade meatballs & sausage in tomato sauce, fried/stuffed/baked fish, a whole turkey ( for sandwiches, pot pies, soup), seasoned baked potatoes, onion rings, frozen veg Snacks- fresh fruit salad, bananas, flavored pretzels, rice bars, granola bars
Alison R.
Friday 12th of February 2016
Anyone have ideas for a picky 4 1/2 year old boy? He eats: any breakfast food, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, spaghetti and fruit. The baby (14 mos.) eats a wider variety of foods!!
M-Baked spaghetti (made from the leftover spaghetti and meatballs we had last week), salad, fruit T-Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, string beans, pudding W-Baked steak, baked sweet potatoes, spinach with lemon and pepper, applesauce T-Grilled pollack, mushroom rice, peas, fruit salad F-Once again, not a clue--maybe pizza and salad?
Kathleen
Friday 12th of February 2016
My 3.5 year old likes tomato sauce and is willing to try new things in the context of tomato sauce. Black beans and pinto beans, red peppers chopped small, and mushrooms are all things that she now eats that she first had in tomato sauce over pasta. My 5 year old on the other hand will only eat things plain, and I've learned that some foods that I only like cooked in very particular ways, she will eat only plain (tofu straight out of the fridge, for example). So I offer her things raw before I cook them, or cooked plain before I add any sauce. Having two kids with widely differing tastes is difficult.
Kristen
Friday 12th of February 2016
Does he drink smoothies? Smoothies are a great way to get fruits and veggies into small kids, and if you add raspberries or blueberries to a smoothie, you can cover all manner of green items.