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What I Spent
I spent $202 this week! That’s definitely on the high side for me.
But the good news is that things are still averaging out to be right on budget for the month.
March Spending
Week 1: $76
Week 2: $166
Week 3: $144
Week 3: $202
Year to Date Grocery Spending
January: $619
February: $485
March: $588
What We Ate
Saturday
I made grown-up mac and cheese from Dinner Illustrated.
Pretty tasty, but the Gruyere cheese did make a rather stringy sauce. I think I’d prefer homemade mac n cheese made with a cheese sauce more similar to a white sauce.
I also roasted some butternut squash.
Sunday
We had Parmesan polenta bowls topped with roasted broccoli and fried eggs.
The recipe was from Dinner Illustrated (surprising, I know), and it called for sun-dried tomatoes in the polenta.
Sonia and I both thought they tasted kind of like raisins in polenta, so we will not do that again.
Monday
I tried a recipe for baked ziti from, ummm, Dinner Illustrated.
It was pretty good, but I think next time I’d use fewer mozzarella chunks in the pasta.
Somehow, it was a little too much of a good thing! The ricotta dollops were very good, though.
Tuesday
I made Thai Chicken soup from Dinner Illustrated.
You can find the recipe right here.
We had sauteed green beans on the side, plus some pot stickers from the freezer.
Wednesday
Another new recipe from Dinner Illustrated…this time for ricotta gnocchi.
I’d never made gnocchi before, but these were easy and very tasty.
We ate these topped with tomato sauce and Mr. FG had sauteed portobello mushrooms with his.
I made a snap pea, cucumber, and radish salad to go on the side…also from Dinner Illustrated.
Thursday
I made a recipe that is not from Dinner Illustrated!
Sonia was out babysitting, and since she hates hamburgers, it seemed like a good time to make them.
I made these well-done hamburgers from Cook’s Illustrated (they have a panade to keep them from drying out.)
Friday
I’m planning to make turkey and pepper jack panini (recipe from a Cook’s Country magazine.)
Stacey
Monday 25th of March 2019
We came in at 110 for the week but are using a lot of freezer and pantry items and bought too many snack and lunch items to get us through Spring break. Mon - creamy chicken enchiladas Tue - chicken parm sandwiches and Caesar salad Wed - breaded pork chops, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts Thur - Mom’s night off and our daughter is cooking Fri - pizza Sat - white chicken chili with cornbread muffins Sun - roast beef, scalloped potatoes, and sautéed green beans
Jennifer
Monday 25th of March 2019
I made hamburgers last night using a suggestion from, I think it was WilliamB., in the link to the panade recipe. Since I have to be gluten free, my additions were shredded potatoes and onions to my ground beef. I didn't tell my family what I was doing but they kept talking about how delicious, and moist, the burgers were. I usually make meatloaf from frozen bread ends so this will be my delicious alternative so I can have occasionally have meatloaf. I eat mostly meatless these days but occasionally I splurge. Thanks for this post because I never would have thought of it without reading the comments.
Marianne
Monday 25th of March 2019
Oh boy that gnocchi looks good... I spent $208 this week most of which was cold meds $30, oil for the car $9 & veggies & meat for dog food $25. Because we have the head cold that keeps giving and won't go away we lived on sandwiches. Steak gyros, fajitas, tacos, baked taters & soup out of the freezer. We helped my brother when he needed surgery a couple of weeks ago so he dropped off chili and case dip and that was 2 nights of meals. What a life saver!
Kristina
Friday 22nd of March 2019
Question about the cookbook, how many vegetarian recipes are there? Now I'm craving the parmesan polenta with fried eggs :)
Kristen
Friday 22nd of March 2019
There's a whole section of nothing but vegetarian recipes! And in the pasta section, there are a lot that either are vegetarian or could be made vegetarian quite easily.
Ana
Friday 22nd of March 2019
Wow, your pictures are so good I'm about to buy that cookbook!
Kristyna
Friday 22nd of March 2019
I agree! I don't even like recipes, but this post makes me want to change my ways!
Kristen
Friday 22nd of March 2019
You should! It's got so many good meal ideas in it. And there are almost always some used copies available on Amazon (unless my readers went and bought them all. ;) )