Hello from my icy home!
Well, my home isn’t icy. It’s just icy outside of my home (with a sprinkling of snow on top).
I am very thankful it’s not cold inside my house and I feel terrible for all the Texans who have been cold this week.
Incidentally, I looked at the 15 day forecast, and after a few more days in the 30s, the highs all promise to be in the 40s and 50s. So, warmer air is coming.
What I Spent
I spent $117 on groceries, plus I’ll add in $14.83 for our Monday night extra date night.
(Saturday’s date night was our usual takeout date night budget, and the sushi on Sunday night is from the temporary takeout budget we’ve set aside to help support local restaurants right now.)
February Spending
Week 1: $55
Week 2: $287
Week 3: $132
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I did our usual takeout date night; I picked Panera this time, partially because we had a gift card to use up.
Sandwiches and savings: two things I love!
(My gift card was from Fetch Rewards; it’s a receipt-scanning app, and it is slow going especially if you don’t buy name-brands. But when you first sign up, you get a dump of points if you use code QG8V2.)
Sunday
We usually try to support a local restaurant by getting takeout once a week, but Sonia being on a low FODMAP diet does make that a challenge.
We realized we could still get sushi, though!
However, there’s not a lot of sushi that Zoe can eat (seafood allergy), so she had a pulled pork sandwich because I’d gotten a free pack of pulled pork in the Butcher Box I ordered last week.
Monday
Mr. FG and I did a belated Valentine’s Day takeout date (the pizza I mentioned in this week’s Five Frugal Things post).
The girls fended for themselves at home.
I have no photo of Bertucci’s pizza, so here’s a photo of a grilled pizza I made.
Tuesday
It was not a great day for me and at this point, I don’t even remember all of the reasons!
But the long and short of it is that we had a rotisserie chicken with gluten-free toast (for Sonia) and clearance-purchased ciabatta (for the rest of us) and a fruit salad.
Wednesday
I tried a buffalo chicken salad recipe from one of the low FODMAP cookbooks I have from the library. It involved coating the chicken breasts pieces in cornstarch before pan-frying them, and that worked great!
I had to sub romaine for the spinach the recipe called for (Sonia has a raw spinach allergy), but honestly, I like romaine better anyway.
Thursday
I made burrito bowls at Zoe’s request. Those are handy because they cover starch, protein, and veggies all in one.
Friday
I need to go put a pot of onion-free broth on the stove so that I can make a pot of tortellini soup (except Sonia’s will have gluten-free rotini in it instead of tortellini).
I’ve never made broth without onions before, but I have a couple of options to give onion flavor; we shall see how this goes.
(For instance, you can saute onions in oil, remove the onions, and then proceed with the recipe, since FODMAPs don’t transfer into the oil.)
Kathryn
Monday 22nd of February 2021
I admire your good attitude about all the dietary needs in your house. It would be easy to get impatient!
Kristen
Monday 22nd of February 2021
Ah, thank you. Sometimes I do get discouraged with how complicated it can get (this low FODMAP thing has been particularly difficult), and then I feel kind of bad about that because man, who am I to complain about preparing this food when I have the privilege of not suffering from allergies.
But. The truth is that it IS hard work to plan around multiple allergies. Meal planning and cooking is hard work as it is, and this just adds another layer of complication.
Becca
Saturday 20th of February 2021
I have been feeling guilty about struggling to keep our weekly grocery spending under 125.00 (which includes our farm share) because I keep thinking I would be spending so much less if I were going to Aldi instead of ordering from Hungry Harvest and the dairy service, but today I spoke to my neighbor who is still going to Aldi and she is reportedly spending upwards of 250.00 every week for a family of four (I'm feeding 5). Obviously we are buying slightly different things, but she's generally pretty frugal too, so I've decided maybe I am being too strict with my covid time budget. It sounds like maybe I would be spending as much or more even if I were shopping in person, so perhaps 150.00 is a more realistic goal to spend on fresh items for now.
F: foccacia (w cheese, red peppers, onions and olives as toppings); red mustard green salad w feta cheese and apple slices S: rice and beans w red peppers, topped w cheddar cheese; Asian greens and purple cabbage salad S: (Valentine's Day) shredded pork carnitas with corn and fresh lime juice, jasmine rice, salsa and corn tortillas; oven roasted asparagus w lemon zest; pea shoots sautรฉed in lemon juice with pine nuts M: Italian sausage and kale soup; yeast rolls; red mustard green salad w feta and avocado T: roast chicken; leftover rice and beans w Gouda cheese this time; Asian greens salad with feta and trail mix W: leftover carnitas on sour dough bread; Asian greens salad T: warm arugula salad; leftover Italian sausage and kale soup on grits F: foccacia (just cheese this time); red mustard green salad with feta and radish microgreens S: arugula salad w cucumbers, red peppers and cheddar cheese; variety of clean out the fridge leftovers
Becca
Saturday 20th of February 2021
Oh, wait! I forgot on Wednesday we actually had breakfast for dinner with pancakes and bacon. We had the leftover carnitas for lunch.
Mar
Saturday 20th of February 2021
I spent $157 at Sam's club that was due to how clear their parking lot was. I twisted my knee so not chancing walking on snow and ice in parking lots.
Garlic cheese bread, tater tots and coconut shrimp
Italian Wedding soup. I used Aldi vegetable broth & their Swiss and Mushroom meatballs. I normally hate pre-made meatballs, 99% of the time I make my own. I used half I made and half Aldi made in the soup and it was delish.
Stuffed pork chops I over-spiced so they were way to salty.
Sweet and Sour chicken thighs, cauliflower with cheese
Beef fried rice & fried bread
Steak Sandwiches
Jerseys Mikes one night so I did not have to cook.
Hawaii Planner
Friday 19th of February 2021
We are still carrying on with a meal delivery service (x2), with special intro pricing. We will stop once that's over, but it's been fun for February.
Here's what we had, in no particular order, as I can never remember: -Takeout Chinese, to celebrate my son turning 15 -Sausage & pepper flatbread -Steak & roasted veggies + rice -Chicken pita wraps -Terikayi chicken & rice -Korean style beef bowls (amazing) -Leftovers
Nora
Friday 19th of February 2021
Saturday - spicy pork with noodles, veggies Sunday - kids had chicken nuggets & spinach salad; adults had takeout for Valentines day Monday - younger kids had macaroni & cheese with broccoli; adults + eldest had ruebens Tuesday - beef roast with cheesy cauliflower and all the veggie leftovers that seemed relevant Wednesday - Scottish Cullen Skink (fish stew)
We flipped Thursday & Friday meals because of the snow. Pressed the easy button for the usual Friday night meal on Thursday. Home all day Friday (it's been snowing since 3 pm Thursday and still going at 9 pm Friday, though not huge accumulation) so more time for dinner.
Thursday - kids had hot dogs with veggies; adults had homemade pizza Friday - enchiladas (mostly standard, but a pan with no cheese for the non-cheese eater), Mexican rice, corn
Betta from daVille
Saturday 20th of February 2021
Cullen Skink! I'm jealous.