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What I spent, What We Ate (double birthday edition)

This week, we celebrated Zoe’s and Mr. FG’s birthdays, which happen to fall on the same day.

(Zoe was a surprise birthday present 10 years ago.   She showed up a little early and postponed Mr. FG’s birthday party.)

baby Zoe

Before we get to the menu, let’s talk about grocery shopping.   I never did end up going last week at all, and then I planned to go on Monday.   Except it snowed, and I didn’t end up going that day either.

groceries

Finally on Tuesday, I managed to get to the store.

It was getting pretty bare around here, especially in the fruit drawer.

lonely lemons

We were all happy to have some fresh produce back in the house.

Aldi produce

And my produce box came too, so, our fridge is nice and stocked again.

produce box

I spent $192 at the store, and then $32 on my produce box.

So I spent a grand total of $224.36.

Let’s see how that’s averaging out for the month.

February Spending

Week One $242

Week Two $18

Week Three $224

So, I’m at $161 per week, which is slightly over my usual $150.

I’ll need to keep my spending at $116 next week in order to come in at budget for the month.   I think that’s pretty do-able, especially since my produce box doesn’t come next week.

Monday

Since I hadn’t gotten to the grocery store yet, I turned to the freezer.

swedish meatballs

We ate Swedish meatballs from the freezer (I’d frozen the meatballs, so I just needed to make a batch of sauce), and we had them over mashed potatoes, which I made from a somewhat random conglomeration of potatoes.

Yay for using up odds and ends!   They weren’t exactly award-winning mashed potatoes, but they got the job done.

We had applesauce (also from the freezer) with our meatballs.

Tuesday

The roads were a lot clearer so I made it out to the grocery store.   Yay for some fresh food!

It was also warm enough to grill, so I brined the chicken legs I bought at a markdown a few weeks ago, and then grilled them and brushed them with BBQ sauce.

BBQ chicken legs

Along with that, we had broccoli and toasted whole wheat bread.

Wednesday

I made a new panini recipe from my Cook’s Country magazine (the kids got me a subscription for Christmas and I love it!).   The recipe called for “hearty white bread”, so I made a couple of loaves of egg bread, and that worked pretty well.

egg bread

We had a green salad with our paninis, using romaine from our produce box.

Thursday

Birthday night!   The birthday people chose pulled chicken sandwiches on fluffy homemade buns.   Zoe also wanted Pringles and Jello.

(On birthdays, we do not stress about nutrition.)

We let our kids pick a special drink for birthday meals, and the other kids usually choose soda.

But Zoe hates carbonation, so she always opts for juice boxes, and it’s become sort of a tradition for her to have the Ssips brand of juice boxes.

It wouldn’t be a birthday without them.   😉

I pretty much never buy juice boxes, so that’s why these feel like quite a treat for her.

For dessert, we had a homemade ice cream cake, made with moose tracks ice cream because that is Mr. FG’s favorite.

Friday

Pizza night!   Last week I opted to get some takeout pizza, so tonight I probably should make it myself.

______________

How’s the grocery budget going at your house?   And what did you eat this week?

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American Dreamer

Wednesday 24th of February 2016

I have been on doing a Grocery Challenge for the month of February which means that I have not bought one item of food this month. We have eaten well out of our freezer, fridge and pantries. We have had shrimp, chili, pork chops, corned beef and tonight we are having a turkey dinner using a $ .48 lb. turkey that I purchased in November.

Laura

Saturday 20th of February 2016

We have been in a bit of a food rut lately. I e been working more and the weather here in Nee Hampshire has been odd. I feel like our weekly meals just keep repeating with only tiny variations. My kids are 4 and 2 so they love the repetition but dh and I...not as much! I'll try to mix it up for next week.

We are: Chinese chicken salad (cooks country) Barley veg soup (frozen) and grilled cheese on homemade bread(ATK recipe) LO random pasta from freezer, garlic bread, salad Mac and cheese with ham and peas Pizza with veggies and homemade ranch

mommabee

Saturday 20th of February 2016

Happy Birthday Mr. FG and Zoe! Hope it was a good one! DH's birthday is coming up in March...He may want to go out to eat and ice cream cake but dunno.Since his surgeries, he doesn't eat much at all. Lost 50 lbs. So we don't make as much as we used to.

We have leftover turkey/sausage/spinach/ribs. Will need to eat them tomorrow.

K D

Friday 19th of February 2016

I have a couple of friends that share a birthday with their mothers (one of these friends has two sons born on the same date). My husband shares his bithday with his sister and my dad shared his with his twin brothers.

Anne

Friday 19th of February 2016

Eating what we have on hand in earnest now. I dehydrated a bunch of onions because they are beginning to sprout and will not hold through March!

A $3 ham with no nitrates did the two of us for three meals. Leftover chicken, some leftover kidney beans and a can of black beans with butternut squash and garlic I grew, and tomatoes I canned were the base for hearty chili that was good for two dinners and a couple of lunches. Hubby's dinner (he's cooking once a week as a Christmas present for me) was fish with potato and veg.

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