What I Spent
I did get a Hungry Harvest box and I made a small trip to Aldi, but I haven’t done an honest-to-goodness grocery shopping trip since we got back from Hawaii!
I’ve done some freezer scrounging to come up with things to eat, so…yay for using up what’s on hand.
squirrel-watching
I spent:
- $6.99 on Domino’s pizza
- $30 on a Hungry Harvest box
- $39 at Aldi
What We Ate
What happens if I leave my cabinet doors open for a sec
Saturday
I made bacon and cheese quesadillas (all ingredients from the freezer) and I cut up some fruit.
Sunday
I found a few slices of bread in the freezer, so Zoe had some French toast plus the rest of the bacon, and I had some whole-wheat blueberry pancakes.
Monday
I found a small package of ground beef in the freezer along with some homemade burger buns so…we had burgers for dinner, topped with Swiss cheese. Fruit on the side.
Tuesday
I saw that Domino’s had a good offer on a large pizza, so I got a BBQ chicken one for Zoe and me to share.
Chiquita commandeered the empty pizza box
Wednesday
Zoe was out with a friend, so I ate the leftover burger from Monday night.
Thursday
I found two chicken thighs in the freezer, so I salted them for a few hours, pan-sauteed them, and sliced them on top of a green salad with various veggies.
I also found a partial bag of sweet potato fries in the freezer so I threw those in the air fryer for us to eat with our salads.
Friday
Zoe and I are gonna have a movie night, so we might get some takeout.
Chris b
Wednesday 31st of January 2024
Sliced a cooked ham 79 cents lb....barn cats love the ham fat Mashed potatoes and ham Sirloin steak and stuffing Mashed potatoes and baked chicken 59 cents lb Scrambled eggs and ham Chili Grilled ham sandwiches Mashed potatoes and ground beef, brown gravy and cream of mushroom soup Freeze garden veggies to eat with meals Bag of russet potatoes was on sale 10 lb bag of chicken 59 cents lb
Emily
Friday 26th of January 2024
What is it with cats and pizza boxes?! My brothers cat does that too and it just cracks me up.
Karen A.
Friday 26th of January 2024
@Emily, I think they're warm(ish)? and they smell like food, and cats just love to sit on cardboard/paper! Clark always gets excited when a delivery comes because he knows it means a new box for a little while! Double excitement if it's a Chewy box.
Meg in SoTX
Friday 26th of January 2024
I am in awe of the cooks here.
Our younger son came over last weekend but both my husband and I had to work all day Saturday so I did a pot roast in the slow cooker for Saturday dinner and then my husband and I ate the leftovers for the next two days (son ate with friends on Sunday and then drove back to Really Big City three hours away). $30 total for that; I bought an expensive cut (worth it in our opinion) and precut mini carrots along with the small potatoes and can of V-8 I dump on top (we have garlic powder and onion flakes here, and I was using up some celery from a previous meal).
Bulk carrots are much cheaper but my time was limited so mini carrots were worth it, and at least we ate at home. $30 divided by seven people-meals is better than eating out.
We finished off a Costco quiche this week also.
Becca
Friday 26th of January 2024
@Meg in SoTX,
Yup. Frugality is not a competition, and anyone who acts like it is might be pretty unhappy with their life. I think choosing a few shortcuts that help you reach your larger goal of cooking at home makes total sense.
Meg in SoTX
Friday 26th of January 2024
Forgot to add that the $30 also included a can of refrigerator biscuits to go with the roast. Again, from scratch is much cheaper but I had very little time in between the afternoon lessons and the evening concert.
I read The Tightwad Gazette early in our marriage and spent years beating myself up for not even approaching that level of frugality until I realized that my life was different, goals were different (wasn’t trying to be a stay at home mom nor did I want a big farmhouse), and frugality for me looked a lot like making better choices (cook at home) within my constraints (limited time) even if that meant precut carrots and refrigerator biscuits instead of garden carrots and home-ground flour.
Jaime
Friday 26th of January 2024
WIS: Neighborhood-$18; Flashfood-$62; TGTG-$11; S&S-$25; BJs-$7.50; Milk delivery-$14 Total:$137.50 Finally a frugal week
WWA: Sat- charcuterie night: tomatoes and mozzarella, veggies & dip, truffle prosciutto, salami, red pepper cheese, grapes, camembert on crostini, Calabrian chili cheese dip on crostini Sun- pizza w/ pistachio pesto, tomatoes, and burrata Mon- cottage pie Tues- salmon tacos w/ citrus and cabbage slaws Wed- Leftover cottage pie and New Mexican calabacitas Thurs- chicken artichoke pasta w/ cream sauce Fri-Italian Style pork loin, lemon and mascarpone ravioli w/ cream sauce, and broccolini/green beans
Hawaii Planner
Friday 26th of January 2024
I was in NYC for work for most of the week, so my meals look a little different this week.
-We had Korean chicken one night -Korean beef bowls & rice another night -On Monday, I ordered room service. A burger, side salad & some fresh berries. No food was served on the flight, which was 5.5 hours, so I was pretty hungry by the time I got to the hotel. I'm so used to traveling internationally for work, that I didn't think to pack a protein bar/snacks. -On Tuesday, I went to dinner with my coworkers ahead of a show. We had delicious Italian food. -On Wednesday, a few of us had Spanish tapas. The place was highly rated, and I love tapas, but I thought it was just sort of "meh". I'm glad I wasn't paying (work paid). -The hotel I was staying at had a great Asian restaurant in it, and they did room service. Win/win. I had the best chicken satay I've ever tried. And some fried rice. Delicious!
As for tonight, I hope my husband has a plan. It's either going to be Greek takeout, or something from the freezer.