WIS, WWA | It’s 8:30! I’m late!

Sat - take out Chinese with gifted HM egg rolls Sun - dine out Mexican - juevos for both of us but neither of us had juevos rancheros Mon - left over pieces of steak from freezer fried up with potatoes, red peppers, mushrooms, onions, salad Tue - grilled cheese, tomato soup, leftover pizza, salad Wed - one skillet cheese/asp or mushroom bacon wrapped chic breast, potatoes, carrots Thu - beef tenderloin and potato rounds brown in oven Fri - tortelloni with mushrooms, red peppers, onions, and shrimp casserole style

What we ate this week Monday— rotisserie chicken from Sam’s, wild rice, broccoli Tuesday — homemade black bean soup, leftover rotisserie chicken salad sandwiches, chips ( a soup and sandwich meal) Wednesday — more soup, quick beef and broccoli from sirloin I had in the freezer served over ramen noodles, cucumber kimchee a friend makes for me. Thursday — cheese and broccoli chicken cordon blues from Sam’s, baked potatoes, frozen green beans, garlic bread I made from a loaf of reduced French bread I had put in the freezer. I used half the loaf. Friday — hubby picked us up burgers, fries and drinks since I was out visiting an elderly friend all day. (Wow! Lots of broccoli and chicken this week! )

My mother-in-law is here right now so we're taking turns making the main meal. - Burritos - chick péa rice bowls - Smash burgers, fries and carrot cake for my son's bday - leftover Chinese take out (I just cooked up more rice) - Pasta bake

Late to the party. I got a Misfits box on Saturday for $56, bought some things at the Mennonite store for $40 something but it included "biscuit ham slices" to use on the Hawaiian dinner rolls (baked with the sauce) for church dinner next Sunday. Bought $60 plus of groceries at Aldi. Total:$156. Aldi's was a lot of impulse buying. I will probably not shop again for a couple of weeks with the exception of milk, ice, ice cream and Misfits on the 7th. Sunday night, I prepped iceberg lettuce/spinach salads with some homegrown dried basil for two nights work, and a bigger bowl to pull from the rest of the week. This included: sliced cremini mushrooms, red bell pepper, green onions, very good grape tomatoes, cucumber peeled and cut in chunky sticks. For the work salads I added ham strips, thin sliced turkey, jack and swiss cheese strips. Sunday night, I ate while I prepped. I had those chef salads Monday and Tuesday night. Wednesday night it was Sun Chips and Tzatziki dip. Last night, air fried wedged potato, two pieces of beer battered fish from Aldi and some mushrooms. I had a side salad, too. I must admit, I generally am not big on salad BUT after two nights at work, the side salad last night was very good. There is a restaurant in a not so far away town that bottles their own sweet onion house vinaigrette and I could eat it with a spoon. I found the fish heavy on the batter and lean on the fish. Tonight is Sun Chips and tzatziki plus a half sweet Lebanon bologna sammy with sour dough bread, co-jack (and sacrilege-mayo or miracle whip).

I have been tracking all of our food expenses with a budget of $600 a month. It used to be $400 but groceries are up so much that I just couldn't do it for $400 and feel like we were eating decently. Since we started this, I have always been closer to $550. I just calculated for this month and we're at $658...but wait! I had counted my brand new $65 annual Costco membership as groceries -- it kind of is? So we are still under $600, almost exactly. Started the week eating leftover birthday pizza and cake. Not healthy, but delicious. Tuesday I made lemon chicken from prev. marinated and frozen chicken thighs. Husband hates dark meat and the taste was not to his liking. I made a pilaf from rice and the last bit of orzo from the spilled box to go with it. Wednesday I made a batch of garam masala and then a pot of chickpea masala for dinner (including carrots, bell peppers, onion, yogurt, butter). And I put in the rest of the chicken anyway. Served it over couscous, which I adore and plan to make tabboulleh with the leftovers. Husband did not notice the chicken and loved the meal. Husband came down with a bad cold to I cobbled together a (white meat) chicken noodle soup using frozen chicken breast, Costco broth, carrot, frozen peas, and some alphabet noodles from the Mexican store (super cheap -- not sure now that the tariffs are kicking in). It's a large pot so he will eat that for a few days. I had more chickpea masala over the original pilaf Thursday for lunch, then I had it over the couscous Thursday night. I'm about to make spinach ravioli from the freezer tonight, with jarred sauce from the pantry, and a tossed green salad from the fridge. No spending money today in the economic blackout.