We didn’t actually EAT four pork roasts, mind you. 😉 But I did buy four of them.
What I Spent
This week, I spent:
- $117 at Aldi
- $98 at Weis
- $14 at BJs
And that adds up to $229 for my first spend of the new year. Part of my higher-than-usual total is due to my purchase of four pork butt roasts (there was a sale!), which are now in the freezer for future use.
We don’t end up eating tons of cuts of pork, but I do find pork butts to be very useful.
What We Ate
Saturday
We were at my sister-in-law’s house for a New Year’s dinner with Mr. FG’s parents. It was a bit last-minute, and I ended up not having to bring anything! An easy day for me.
Sunday
We had a lot of leftovers to eat up, so we all reheated different things for dinner.
Monday
This is the night I made baked ziti with a variety of pasta shapes. To avoid the cheese problem with Sonia, I just set aside a portion of the dish before I top it with cheese, and that works out fine.
I was very low on produce and couldn’t go to the store because of the snow, but I did find some baby carrots and some oranges in the fridge and we ate those with our pasta.
Tuesday
I pulled out some of the spiral ham I’d frozen at Christmas, roasted some small potatoes, and thawed some homemade applesauce.
Wednesday
I had to somewhat unexpectedly go in early to feed the cats (the store where the adoption center is closed early because of staffing issues), and Sonia and Zoe had to be somewhere at 6:30. So, they put in an order at Chick-Fil-A for themselves and Mr. FG. I ate leftover ziti.
And that night I finally got to the grocery store!
(We didn’t do a date night this week due to the New Year’s gathering, so I just used our date night budget for the Chick-Fil-A.)
Thursday
I made a sesame-soy noodle stir fry with chicken (for Zoe), shrimp (for the rest of us), cabbage, and red peppers. I use this Better Homes and Gardens recipe, but I use hoisin sauce instead of oyster sauce.
Sonia is allergic to sesame seeds but not to the oil, so I don’t have to do any subs for the sesame oil. Also, Kikkoman’s brand of hoisin is sesame-free, so that’s easy to take care of too.
This is a pretty all-in-one dish (protein, veggies, + starch), but we did have some cucumber slices on the side.
Friday
I think I’m going to make panini. Or maybe pulled pork since I have so many pork roasts right now!
Becca
Monday 10th of January 2022
We had:
Creamy pumpkin pasta and salad
Frozen pizza and microwave popcorn on the couch with a movie (after a busy day running around)
Sloppy joe crescent cups, roasted cauliflower, and cole slaw
Teriyaki fish and vegetables
Sweet potato lentil soup and chicken veggie wraps
Sloppy joes and roasted potatoes and broccoli
Suzan
Sunday 9th of January 2022
I have only spent money on very little this week. Mainly milk, bread, vegetables and some fruit to top up. I have looked in the pantry and the fridges and have made a meal plan for next week and I should need to buy very little again. This is great because most stores are very poorly stocked at present and I want to be home more than I am out.
Jenny
Saturday 8th of January 2022
I really like buying and cooking big boneless Pork LOIN roasts, often 2/1 on sale here. I cut them into pork loin chops, too. They are lean and "Americas's other white meat". And can make rawer leftover into pulled pork in oven or crock pot. Pork tenderloin is a whole different cut of meat and it sounds like some people think they (loin and tenderloin) are the same. How about a post about this? To me, pork butt seems like all fat, little meat, etc. so I never buy it, but I might be all wrong. Very interesting and inspiring to hear what everyone is cooking. I really don't hear much about sides of vegetables and salads here. My sister says it is because "everyone knows that you just serve a bag of frozen broccoli, green beans, peas, or mixed veg and a tossed salad every night." Is that right?
NatalieH
Friday 7th of January 2022
Welp, our fridge freezer died last Sunday night, and we don’t have a chest freezer anymore, so Monday was cooking as many things as I could save. It’s been smorgasbord all week! I had to throw away a number of things that weren’t salvageable, though, which was a real bummer. :-(
Rebekah Quinley
Friday 7th of January 2022
Kristen
You should do a blog post compiling your favorite Pork Butt recipes. It is a cut of meat that 1) works great in the slow cooker 2) can go into many flavorful recipes 3) is stinking cheap on the regular and often goes on sale for extremely cheap.
I have a family of 2 and always buy Pork Butt if it hits $.99/pound or $1.99/pound. Thus in the last 4 weeks I have purchased and cooked through 12 pounds of pork butt.
I love to turn it into carnitas, Orange Ancho Pork tacos, Slowcooker Chinese "Barbeque," mojo pork or Green chili stew.