Thursday 5/21/2020
L: nachos, salad
D: Roast potatoes and cauliflower, and something else? I just don't remember what it was.
Friday
L: sandwiches, salad
D: leftover fried rice, stir fried green beans and broccoli
Saturday:
L: Takeout. Finney's. Tasty, but hurt my tummy later
D: Brown rice risotto with mushrooms and fava beans, loosely based on a recipe from Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow
Sunday:
L: Mac and cheese? Leftovers?
D: Lentil soup
Monday: (holiday, but who am I kidding we worked)
L: Quesadillas, Ramen, Salad
D: Leftover soup, kale chips
Tuesday:
L: Sandwiches, mac and cheese, salad
D: Favorite chicken, leftover risotto, salad, leftover lentil soup
Wednesday:
L: Takeout. Los Agaves taco bar.
D: Was going to be pasta, instead will be leftovers from lunch and soup and rice.
I've started taking probiotics to help with tummy issues.
We have half a head of lettuce left, an onion, and a green pepper. Plus some cherries, bananas, and some apples.
Showing posts with label menu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label menu. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Sunday, December 24, 2017
$19.55
Remember January, and earlier this year? I had these goals, inspired by Mavis' goals at onehundreddollarsamonth.com. I had food goals, craft goals, fitness goals. Somewhere along the line, I got tired of checking in on my goals, which means... I sort of lost sight of them.
There are a lot of reasons for that. I got busy running half marathons and up mountains. Layoffs. New responsibilities, a horrible 2017 filled with...ugh, politics.
Then when I thought it couldn't get any worse, December said "Hold my Beer!" and we were faced with the largest wild fire in CA state history. Terrible air quality, cancellation of the last 7 days of school before the 2 week winter break, cancellation of the winter camp for the little kid. Two unplanned and unforced evacuations, 7 days in hotels, a nasty head cold and chest cough. A 5 year old barfing in the hotel room. Finally returning home and losing water due to a water main break for 24 hours. Then a 48 hour boil water advisory.
But it's Christmas Eve. We've been back home and settled in since Monday. Back to "normal" since Friday. Yay! Today I gathered up the various grocery receipts for the last week at hotels and put them into my spreadsheet. Then I looked up my goal for the year. What do you know?
My goal for the year was $7000, about $134 per week. I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to hit it, as these later months were expensive. But funny that, a week in hotels = eating out more, shopping less, and cancellation of our produce box.
Our total as of today, with 7 days left in this year? $6980.45. That means if I want to hit my goal, I have $19.55 for the rest of the week.
Can I do it? Do I even want to try? I've decided: yes. Why not. The fridge, freezer, and pantry are full. I should be able to get through the week on what we have. The little bit of $ left in the budget can go to eggs, and maybe fruits and veg if we run out. The only important thing is to be better at planning for the week. I can do that, right? We are home more this week anyway. I am dangerously low on rice and beans though.
On the menu:
Christmas eve: Vegan chili from The New Fast Food and corn bread
Christmas day: Chicken legs, mashed potatoes, roast brussels sprouts and green beans
Rest of the week: leftover rice & chicken, more chili, probably a quinoa and lentil dish, lots of quesadillas with guac for lunch. I think I'll be eating a lot of oatmeal for breakfast and salad for lunch. Husband is getting sandwiches!
We have leftover fruit salad from this morning's pot luck. Next week's potluck I'll make scones and an egg dish. Instead of doing something for New Year's (who am I kidding, I go to bed early), we are attending a NYE party up the street. Last year we did the same and one adult and all the kids came down to our house. So, we can provide popcorn!
So wish me luck. Assuming I didn't lose a receipt here or there (and if I did, too late!), $19.55 left. Let's do this!
Obligatory photo of peanut butter balls I made yesterday.
There are a lot of reasons for that. I got busy running half marathons and up mountains. Layoffs. New responsibilities, a horrible 2017 filled with...ugh, politics.
Then when I thought it couldn't get any worse, December said "Hold my Beer!" and we were faced with the largest wild fire in CA state history. Terrible air quality, cancellation of the last 7 days of school before the 2 week winter break, cancellation of the winter camp for the little kid. Two unplanned and unforced evacuations, 7 days in hotels, a nasty head cold and chest cough. A 5 year old barfing in the hotel room. Finally returning home and losing water due to a water main break for 24 hours. Then a 48 hour boil water advisory.
But it's Christmas Eve. We've been back home and settled in since Monday. Back to "normal" since Friday. Yay! Today I gathered up the various grocery receipts for the last week at hotels and put them into my spreadsheet. Then I looked up my goal for the year. What do you know?
My goal for the year was $7000, about $134 per week. I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to hit it, as these later months were expensive. But funny that, a week in hotels = eating out more, shopping less, and cancellation of our produce box.
Our total as of today, with 7 days left in this year? $6980.45. That means if I want to hit my goal, I have $19.55 for the rest of the week.
Can I do it? Do I even want to try? I've decided: yes. Why not. The fridge, freezer, and pantry are full. I should be able to get through the week on what we have. The little bit of $ left in the budget can go to eggs, and maybe fruits and veg if we run out. The only important thing is to be better at planning for the week. I can do that, right? We are home more this week anyway. I am dangerously low on rice and beans though.
On the menu:
Christmas eve: Vegan chili from The New Fast Food and corn bread
Christmas day: Chicken legs, mashed potatoes, roast brussels sprouts and green beans
Rest of the week: leftover rice & chicken, more chili, probably a quinoa and lentil dish, lots of quesadillas with guac for lunch. I think I'll be eating a lot of oatmeal for breakfast and salad for lunch. Husband is getting sandwiches!
We have leftover fruit salad from this morning's pot luck. Next week's potluck I'll make scones and an egg dish. Instead of doing something for New Year's (who am I kidding, I go to bed early), we are attending a NYE party up the street. Last year we did the same and one adult and all the kids came down to our house. So, we can provide popcorn!
So wish me luck. Assuming I didn't lose a receipt here or there (and if I did, too late!), $19.55 left. Let's do this!
Obligatory photo of peanut butter balls I made yesterday.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Today's cooking chores and meals
So, there's this "new kid" (not really new anymore) at work who is vegan. Though he'll eat dairy if it's the only option or free leftovers.
He was eating Mujaddara (Arabic rice and lentils) and it reminded me how much I like that stuff.
So I'm making it for dinner tonight. I was supposed to go to Mom's night and see a movie, but too many of them are sick so they cancelled. And I'm healthy, WTF?
I skipped my run today, was going to walk instead. Now I think I'm going to go have a glass of wine instead. Fair trade, right? I've got a trail run tomorrow and I just bought new shoes. ALL my shoes are dying.
1. I've got my walking shoes, that are the same running shoes I always buy. But this year's version was narrower! Too small for running.
2. My running shoes, that I bought for my 1/2 marathon are pretty much dead, and also too small. They are fine for 4 miles, but more than that, no.
3. My trail running shoes are too tight.
Basically, my feet grew this year.
4. My Ecco work shoes, that I've had for 15 years? Soles are shredded. I just noticed. I stopped wearing them for a few years around pregnancy because my feet swelled. Anyway, dead. I have a different pair of black shoes that will work.
I bought D width New Balance trail shoes, which don't have enough cushion but we'll have to see.
So, today's cooking chores: because some day I'm going to need ideas.
Made gluten free oatmeal banana bread. I added chocolate chips. And edited the recipe. Because: of course I did.
Made salsa and guacamole.
Next up:
Baba ganoush
Mujaddara with onions
Peanut lime sauce (maybe...)
Stuff we ate this week:
Rice/ quinoa with Thai red curry chicken and veggies (Trader Joe's frozen harvest hodgepodge)
Rice/ quinoa with Madras lentils (Costco, premade)
Salmon, roast potatoes, salad, green beans
Yellow squash fritters
He was eating Mujaddara (Arabic rice and lentils) and it reminded me how much I like that stuff.
So I'm making it for dinner tonight. I was supposed to go to Mom's night and see a movie, but too many of them are sick so they cancelled. And I'm healthy, WTF?
I skipped my run today, was going to walk instead. Now I think I'm going to go have a glass of wine instead. Fair trade, right? I've got a trail run tomorrow and I just bought new shoes. ALL my shoes are dying.
1. I've got my walking shoes, that are the same running shoes I always buy. But this year's version was narrower! Too small for running.
2. My running shoes, that I bought for my 1/2 marathon are pretty much dead, and also too small. They are fine for 4 miles, but more than that, no.
3. My trail running shoes are too tight.
Basically, my feet grew this year.
4. My Ecco work shoes, that I've had for 15 years? Soles are shredded. I just noticed. I stopped wearing them for a few years around pregnancy because my feet swelled. Anyway, dead. I have a different pair of black shoes that will work.
I bought D width New Balance trail shoes, which don't have enough cushion but we'll have to see.
So, today's cooking chores: because some day I'm going to need ideas.
Made gluten free oatmeal banana bread. I added chocolate chips. And edited the recipe. Because: of course I did.
Made salsa and guacamole.
Next up:
Baba ganoush
Mujaddara with onions
Peanut lime sauce (maybe...)
Stuff we ate this week:
Rice/ quinoa with Thai red curry chicken and veggies (Trader Joe's frozen harvest hodgepodge)
Rice/ quinoa with Madras lentils (Costco, premade)
Salmon, roast potatoes, salad, green beans
Yellow squash fritters
Sunday, January 15, 2017
2017 Goals: Week 2
1. Exercise:
Running: 300 miles: To date: 14.45 miles
Biking: 500 miles: To date: 0 miles (rain)
Swimming: 50 miles: To date: 3.34 miles
Walking: 150 miles: To date: 7.56 miles
Weights/ yoga: 30 minutes a week (1560 this year): 142 minutes (21 day fix Upper fix)
2. Grocery bill: Keep it under $7000 ($134.62/wk): $315.65 (uhhh...my 10 year old is in a growth spurt)
3. Weight: maintain or lose up to 5 lb: didn't get on the scale this week
4. Family:
Go on 12 family hikes: Zippo. Nada. Little guy has a cold.
Do game night once a week: Clue (kiddo's friend won) and Settlers of Catan (I won, but the game was so long everyone was starting to help me win).
5. Crafts:
- Crochet a blanket (a "thermometer" granny square blanket, based on the temperature each day): 14 blocks down, we hit 71 yesterday whee! I got to use yellow. I am running out of blue-green (51-60F).
- crochet a purse: nothing
- finish a quilting baby blanket: done
- participate in my quilting group's exchange: nothing
- make 12 snowflakes: nothing
- attempt to make socks: I've pinned a bunch of instructions?
6. Sleep: keep track of it and see if the low dose estrogen helps: Haven't started. Slept really well this week.
7. Food: eat vegan 2 days a week: Weds and Friday. I made oatmeal with almond milk for breakfast. It was delish. I ate bean and rice bowls for lunch or dinner, plus salad. I also had oven roasted tofu from Eats Well With Others.
8. Cookbooks: Try 1 recipe from every cookbook I own:
This week: Apple Pie Oatmeal from The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon. It was *very* filling.
Cocoa and raspberry (I subbed cherries) muffins from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. These were yummy but a little underdone on the bottom, even with cooking the full time. But vegan, so do I have to worry if they are a little gooey? I will probably just reheat in the oven.
I also made soyrizo cajun vegetable stew in the Instant Pot. I've made this before but edited the method to work in the Instant Pot. Trying to get good at making things so I can use the sucker mid-week. It was good, but I'm generally not a fan of using soy based processed foods. So I need to figure out the spices so I can just make it with beans. I set some aside in the freezer for my vegan days (and the muffins are for breakfast).
9. Work:
a. Skills: Learn enough programming to automate the data pulls for problem lots (which requires pulling data from 2 different databases). Haven't worked on this yet.
b. Personal: Don't engage. Really. Did okay here.
10. Home: Contact contractor/ architect on adding a second bathroom.Nothing
11. Garden: actually plant tomatoes this year. Baby steps. Nothing
Ooh, need to add: put some ground cover in the back dirt patch
12. Spouse: once a month lunch date: nothing
13. Beverages:
- Drink less coffee and more tea (one cup coffee per day): Yes, Monday to Weds, and Friday.
- Do not buy any wine aside from my two wine club memberships: Nothing
- Drink two 24-oz bottles of water a day, minimum. My doc thinks that my occasional light-headedness when exercising is a combo between low blood pressure + slight dehydration.
Mmm...probably did okay for half the week. I need to take my 24 oz water bottle to work with me.
Running: 300 miles: To date: 14.45 miles
Biking: 500 miles: To date: 0 miles (rain)
Swimming: 50 miles: To date: 3.34 miles
Walking: 150 miles: To date: 7.56 miles
Weights/ yoga: 30 minutes a week (1560 this year): 142 minutes (21 day fix Upper fix)
2. Grocery bill: Keep it under $7000 ($134.62/wk): $315.65 (uhhh...my 10 year old is in a growth spurt)
3. Weight: maintain or lose up to 5 lb: didn't get on the scale this week
4. Family:
Go on 12 family hikes: Zippo. Nada. Little guy has a cold.
Do game night once a week: Clue (kiddo's friend won) and Settlers of Catan (I won, but the game was so long everyone was starting to help me win).
5. Crafts:
- Crochet a blanket (a "thermometer" granny square blanket, based on the temperature each day): 14 blocks down, we hit 71 yesterday whee! I got to use yellow. I am running out of blue-green (51-60F).
- crochet a purse: nothing
- finish a quilting baby blanket: done
- participate in my quilting group's exchange: nothing
- make 12 snowflakes: nothing
- attempt to make socks: I've pinned a bunch of instructions?
6. Sleep: keep track of it and see if the low dose estrogen helps: Haven't started. Slept really well this week.
7. Food: eat vegan 2 days a week: Weds and Friday. I made oatmeal with almond milk for breakfast. It was delish. I ate bean and rice bowls for lunch or dinner, plus salad. I also had oven roasted tofu from Eats Well With Others.
8. Cookbooks: Try 1 recipe from every cookbook I own:
This week: Apple Pie Oatmeal from The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon. It was *very* filling.
Cocoa and raspberry (I subbed cherries) muffins from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. These were yummy but a little underdone on the bottom, even with cooking the full time. But vegan, so do I have to worry if they are a little gooey? I will probably just reheat in the oven.
I also made soyrizo cajun vegetable stew in the Instant Pot. I've made this before but edited the method to work in the Instant Pot. Trying to get good at making things so I can use the sucker mid-week. It was good, but I'm generally not a fan of using soy based processed foods. So I need to figure out the spices so I can just make it with beans. I set some aside in the freezer for my vegan days (and the muffins are for breakfast).
9. Work:
a. Skills: Learn enough programming to automate the data pulls for problem lots (which requires pulling data from 2 different databases). Haven't worked on this yet.
b. Personal: Don't engage. Really. Did okay here.
10. Home: Contact contractor/ architect on adding a second bathroom.Nothing
11. Garden: actually plant tomatoes this year. Baby steps. Nothing
Ooh, need to add: put some ground cover in the back dirt patch
12. Spouse: once a month lunch date: nothing
13. Beverages:
- Drink less coffee and more tea (one cup coffee per day): Yes, Monday to Weds, and Friday.
- Do not buy any wine aside from my two wine club memberships: Nothing
- Drink two 24-oz bottles of water a day, minimum. My doc thinks that my occasional light-headedness when exercising is a combo between low blood pressure + slight dehydration.
Mmm...probably did okay for half the week. I need to take my 24 oz water bottle to work with me.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
It's NOvember!
You know what that means folks! Okay, maybe you don't.
Two years ago (2014) I was in the throes of losing the baby weight (yeah, the baby was 2, but who is counting). I'd lost the same 15 pounds 3 times. I was steady at losing 2 lbs a month. For NOvember, I decided to do the following:
1. Maintain my calories and macros. For you 21-day fixers, that means the lowest 21-day fix category, aka 2 "yellows" (carbs a day).
2. Substitute the carbs...NO CHEATS. It's important to know that I wasn't cheating much (and for the record, you are allowed 3 cheats a week). I eliminated: wheat, alcohol (wine), sugar, and fried foods. So no swapping a yellow for wine, chocolate, or tortilla chips.
It's important to note that I wasn't eating MUCH of these already - no more than 4-5 servings a WEEK. And wheat, while allowed, I got rid of that too.
3. I didn't sweat the small stuff. If flour or sugar was an ingredient (to make a roux, or in a dressing or sauce), I didn't sweat it. I just avoided major sources of it all. So, no dessert, no pasta, no bread, no flour tortillas, no tortilla chips.
Instead I stuck to potatoes, oats, corn, beans, corn tortillas, sweet potatoes, popcorn, rice, quinoa.
4. I did allow Stevia in my coffee.
2014 November: down 7 pounds!!
2015 November: down 12 pounds!! (well, actually more like 5, then we all got the stomach flu. I looked like a deflated balloon).
Fast forward a year later, and I'm about 2 pounds down from 2015 November 1. So, it looks like while my goal weight might be a few pounds lower than I am right now (2, to be exact), it's MUCH easier to maintain with those extra 2 pounds.
These days, I'm quite happy with my weight, size, and health. But I'm still doing NOvember because honestly - it makes me feel great. It gets me out of my eating rut (yes, I do miss pizza!) It makes me a cheap date for December holiday parties. And it prevents holiday weight gain. Let's face it, from mid-October to early-Jan, it's one big eat fest with Halloween candy, fudge, holiday parties, Thanksgiving, etc.
Some of my friends suggest that maybe I should give myself a "day off" (like Thanksgiving). Meh, sure I guess, but honestly - I can live without stuffing and rolls if I have mashed potatoes. It works better for me to just not cheat. It's ONLY 30 days. (Truth be told, in 2015 the last month I lived on saltines and applesauce and plain pasta. So technically I didn't make it 30 days.)
ONE MORE THING! I'm giving up some electronics too! No more games on my tablet, and I'm actively avoiding facebook after I get home. This whole election is driving me BAT SHIT CRAZY. I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to talk about. No conversation is going to change my mind (I already voted!), and I'm not going to change anyone else's. I want to go to sleep on November 8 and wake up when it's ALL OVER.
A girl's gotta do what it takes to maintain her sanity.
Today's menu for NOvember 1: (so I can find ideas later!!)
Breakfast: a leftover sausage on a corn tortilla. A smoothie.
Lunch: salad (lettuce, cucumber, peppers, radishes, feta, olives, sunflower seeds, sun dried tomatoes, dressing), and a sausage.
Snack: veggies and hummus
Dinner: Meatballs, roast cherry tomatoes with white beans, roasted Indian cauliflower
Peace out.
Two years ago (2014) I was in the throes of losing the baby weight (yeah, the baby was 2, but who is counting). I'd lost the same 15 pounds 3 times. I was steady at losing 2 lbs a month. For NOvember, I decided to do the following:
1. Maintain my calories and macros. For you 21-day fixers, that means the lowest 21-day fix category, aka 2 "yellows" (carbs a day).
2. Substitute the carbs...NO CHEATS. It's important to know that I wasn't cheating much (and for the record, you are allowed 3 cheats a week). I eliminated: wheat, alcohol (wine), sugar, and fried foods. So no swapping a yellow for wine, chocolate, or tortilla chips.
It's important to note that I wasn't eating MUCH of these already - no more than 4-5 servings a WEEK. And wheat, while allowed, I got rid of that too.
3. I didn't sweat the small stuff. If flour or sugar was an ingredient (to make a roux, or in a dressing or sauce), I didn't sweat it. I just avoided major sources of it all. So, no dessert, no pasta, no bread, no flour tortillas, no tortilla chips.
Instead I stuck to potatoes, oats, corn, beans, corn tortillas, sweet potatoes, popcorn, rice, quinoa.
4. I did allow Stevia in my coffee.
2014 November: down 7 pounds!!
2015 November: down 12 pounds!! (well, actually more like 5, then we all got the stomach flu. I looked like a deflated balloon).
Fast forward a year later, and I'm about 2 pounds down from 2015 November 1. So, it looks like while my goal weight might be a few pounds lower than I am right now (2, to be exact), it's MUCH easier to maintain with those extra 2 pounds.
These days, I'm quite happy with my weight, size, and health. But I'm still doing NOvember because honestly - it makes me feel great. It gets me out of my eating rut (yes, I do miss pizza!) It makes me a cheap date for December holiday parties. And it prevents holiday weight gain. Let's face it, from mid-October to early-Jan, it's one big eat fest with Halloween candy, fudge, holiday parties, Thanksgiving, etc.
Some of my friends suggest that maybe I should give myself a "day off" (like Thanksgiving). Meh, sure I guess, but honestly - I can live without stuffing and rolls if I have mashed potatoes. It works better for me to just not cheat. It's ONLY 30 days. (Truth be told, in 2015 the last month I lived on saltines and applesauce and plain pasta. So technically I didn't make it 30 days.)
ONE MORE THING! I'm giving up some electronics too! No more games on my tablet, and I'm actively avoiding facebook after I get home. This whole election is driving me BAT SHIT CRAZY. I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to talk about. No conversation is going to change my mind (I already voted!), and I'm not going to change anyone else's. I want to go to sleep on November 8 and wake up when it's ALL OVER.
A girl's gotta do what it takes to maintain her sanity.
Today's menu for NOvember 1: (so I can find ideas later!!)
Breakfast: a leftover sausage on a corn tortilla. A smoothie.
Lunch: salad (lettuce, cucumber, peppers, radishes, feta, olives, sunflower seeds, sun dried tomatoes, dressing), and a sausage.
Snack: veggies and hummus
Dinner: Meatballs, roast cherry tomatoes with white beans, roasted Indian cauliflower
Peace out.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Menu Planning Monday
One of my very favorite bloggers has a menu planning Monday post series, and I *love* reading it and getting ideas, even if I rarely use the ideas.
As I spent hours this weekend (and every weekend, really), cooking and doing dishes, I decided - maybe I should start posting what I am cooking and eating. So I can look back on it. Yesterday, and this weekend, I swear I made no fewer than 8 different things...and kept doing dishes all. day. long.
So here's a little taste of what we are...tasting.
FIRST - what I cooked & prepped this weekend:
Rice. That I mixed with crockpot pinto beans, and scooped into individual containers (burrito bowls)
Tofu and roasted vegetables
Salad dressing: lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, parsley, garlic
Cheesy rice and vegetables
Roasted beets
Salad
Chard, onion, and goat cheese frittata (we got such a huge bunch of chard this weekend)
Cheese quesadillas and tacos
On to the menu plan
Sunday:
Breakfast:
- Chocolate banana peanut butter smoothie, coffee (for me).
- Husband: raisin bran.
- Kids: peanut butter toast (big boy), jam on bread (little boy).
Lunch:
- tofu with roasted mixed vegetables (me).
- Husband: beans and rice.
- Big kid: pb&j, carrots. Little boy: carrots and hummus.
Snack:
- at a birthday party, some pizza.
Dinner: (potluck in the park):
-I made the rice/ cheese/ veggie casserole: sauteed mushrooms and onions, and added microwaved mixed broccoli/ cauliflower/ carrots. Made a white sauce and added cheese. Baked, with cheese on top. It was good, with plenty of leftovers. I also took the steamed beets, and a nice bottle of merlot.
Monday:
Breakfast:
- Chocolate cherry smoothie. Is it terrible that I like this one because I don't have to share? Boys don't like the cherry version.
- Hubby: raisin bran.
- Kids: strawberries and yogurt.
Lunch: (kids eat at school/daycare)
- Salad with beets, goat cheese, sunflower seeds. Piece of the chard frittata. Slice of veggie pizza (free from someone else's meeting).
- Husband - bean/rice bowl, frittata
Snack: apple and cottage cheese
Dinner:
- Steamed broccoli, leftover rice, last of the tofu
- Rest of the family gets the same, except they get chicken
Tuesday:
Breakfast &Lunch &Snack: see Monday
Dinner: Fish, roasted potatoes, stir-fried green beans
Wednesday:
Breakfast &Lunch &Snack: see Monday
Dinner: Sauteed polenta rounds with meatballs and marinara
Thursday:
Breakfast &Lunch &Snack: see Monday. If there is frittata left!!
Dinner:
- Me: dunno. I have a school function
- Husband/ kids: frozen pizza. They have a playoff baseball game
Friday:
I don't think I've gotten that far in my planning.
As I spent hours this weekend (and every weekend, really), cooking and doing dishes, I decided - maybe I should start posting what I am cooking and eating. So I can look back on it. Yesterday, and this weekend, I swear I made no fewer than 8 different things...and kept doing dishes all. day. long.
So here's a little taste of what we are...tasting.
FIRST - what I cooked & prepped this weekend:
Rice. That I mixed with crockpot pinto beans, and scooped into individual containers (burrito bowls)
Tofu and roasted vegetables
Salad dressing: lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, parsley, garlic
Cheesy rice and vegetables
Roasted beets
Salad
Chard, onion, and goat cheese frittata (we got such a huge bunch of chard this weekend)
Cheese quesadillas and tacos
On to the menu plan
Sunday:
Breakfast:
- Chocolate banana peanut butter smoothie, coffee (for me).
- Husband: raisin bran.
- Kids: peanut butter toast (big boy), jam on bread (little boy).
Lunch:
- tofu with roasted mixed vegetables (me).
- Husband: beans and rice.
- Big kid: pb&j, carrots. Little boy: carrots and hummus.
Snack:
- at a birthday party, some pizza.
Dinner: (potluck in the park):
-I made the rice/ cheese/ veggie casserole: sauteed mushrooms and onions, and added microwaved mixed broccoli/ cauliflower/ carrots. Made a white sauce and added cheese. Baked, with cheese on top. It was good, with plenty of leftovers. I also took the steamed beets, and a nice bottle of merlot.
Monday:
Breakfast:
- Chocolate cherry smoothie. Is it terrible that I like this one because I don't have to share? Boys don't like the cherry version.
- Hubby: raisin bran.
- Kids: strawberries and yogurt.
Lunch: (kids eat at school/daycare)
- Salad with beets, goat cheese, sunflower seeds. Piece of the chard frittata. Slice of veggie pizza (free from someone else's meeting).
- Husband - bean/rice bowl, frittata
Snack: apple and cottage cheese
Dinner:
- Steamed broccoli, leftover rice, last of the tofu
- Rest of the family gets the same, except they get chicken
Tuesday:
Breakfast &Lunch &Snack: see Monday
Dinner: Fish, roasted potatoes, stir-fried green beans
Wednesday:
Breakfast &Lunch &Snack: see Monday
Dinner: Sauteed polenta rounds with meatballs and marinara
Thursday:
Breakfast &Lunch &Snack: see Monday. If there is frittata left!!
Dinner:
- Me: dunno. I have a school function
- Husband/ kids: frozen pizza. They have a playoff baseball game
Friday:
I don't think I've gotten that far in my planning.
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Delicious Eats from the Box
Well, here's a sampling of what we ate this week.
Sunday:
Brunch: Mushroom, feta, spinach frittata
Dinner: Tamales (from Costco) with enchilada sauce, salad
Breakfasts were toast, homemade raisin bread, and cereal
Lunches were a combo of leftovers, sandwiches (dad) and salads (mom).
Dinners:
Monday: Chicken tikka masala (so...my office had an anniversary catered lunch Friday. I missed it because I was off running the school jog-a-thon. There were leftovers in the fridge. I took some home. It was delish. The kids had chicken fingers.) Red cabbage and apple slaw.
Tuesday: Leftover tamales, red cabbage and apple slaw
Wednesday: Refried bean and chicken tacos (bean recipe from 100 days of real food, done in crockpot on Monday), cabbage slaw. Chicken is Costco roasted chicken.
Thursday: Bean and chicken burritos, salad (I had the slaw for lunch, by now I'm sick of the cabbage)
Friday: Red cabbage fried rice. I'd made the fried rice last weekend and froze it, without the cabbage. I cooked up the last 1/4 head of cabbage with garlic, mixed in the fried rice, and added leftover chopped chicken.
My basic fried rice recipe is from Weight Watchers, and I adjust it based on what I have. The kids LOVED it. It was great. I had sriracha of course.
This particular version included white rice, cauliflower rice, peas, carrots, chicken, sesame oil, Bragg's liquid aminos, garlic, and of course the cabbage. And maybe ginger? I don't remember.
Funny story, last night was the kiddo's first baseball game of the season. My husband took him there, then watched him bat (he walked, but then scored!) then went to go get the little one. After he got the little one, he met me for a free glass of wine at our wine club winery. It's not exactly free when you buy a $15 bottle while you are there. Then he took the little one back to the game, and I came home and cooked.
Now it's Saturday morning. I took the last of the spinach, washed it, and cooked it up with some eggs and some red Leicester cheese (spicy peppers and roasted peppers).
The rest of today is chores...some groceries (it's raining, I'm feeling like split pea soup), swim lessons, and science fair project.
Sunday:
Brunch: Mushroom, feta, spinach frittata
Dinner: Tamales (from Costco) with enchilada sauce, salad
Breakfasts were toast, homemade raisin bread, and cereal
Lunches were a combo of leftovers, sandwiches (dad) and salads (mom).
Dinners:
Monday: Chicken tikka masala (so...my office had an anniversary catered lunch Friday. I missed it because I was off running the school jog-a-thon. There were leftovers in the fridge. I took some home. It was delish. The kids had chicken fingers.) Red cabbage and apple slaw.
Tuesday: Leftover tamales, red cabbage and apple slaw
Wednesday: Refried bean and chicken tacos (bean recipe from 100 days of real food, done in crockpot on Monday), cabbage slaw. Chicken is Costco roasted chicken.
Thursday: Bean and chicken burritos, salad (I had the slaw for lunch, by now I'm sick of the cabbage)
Friday: Red cabbage fried rice. I'd made the fried rice last weekend and froze it, without the cabbage. I cooked up the last 1/4 head of cabbage with garlic, mixed in the fried rice, and added leftover chopped chicken.
My basic fried rice recipe is from Weight Watchers, and I adjust it based on what I have. The kids LOVED it. It was great. I had sriracha of course.
This particular version included white rice, cauliflower rice, peas, carrots, chicken, sesame oil, Bragg's liquid aminos, garlic, and of course the cabbage. And maybe ginger? I don't remember.
Funny story, last night was the kiddo's first baseball game of the season. My husband took him there, then watched him bat (he walked, but then scored!) then went to go get the little one. After he got the little one, he met me for a free glass of wine at our wine club winery. It's not exactly free when you buy a $15 bottle while you are there. Then he took the little one back to the game, and I came home and cooked.
Now it's Saturday morning. I took the last of the spinach, washed it, and cooked it up with some eggs and some red Leicester cheese (spicy peppers and roasted peppers).
The rest of today is chores...some groceries (it's raining, I'm feeling like split pea soup), swim lessons, and science fair project.
Monday, February 8, 2016
This week's menu
No pictures, I know - boring -
Friday: Shithi's curried chickpeas, over brown rice/ quinoa, with Indian roasted cauliflower
Saturday: see Friday
Sunday brunch: Roasted pepper, broccoli, and shallot frittata (with cheddar and mozzarella). Note to self: MUST buy goat cheese
Sunday dinner: Spaghetti squash gratin, Pizza (Costco frozen)
Monday: leftover pizza and frittata, Roasted red pepper and sweet potato soup
Tuesday: chicken fingers and veggies and hummus
Wednesday: Fish (Costco salmon portions, and Trader Joe's fish sticks) and broccoflower
Thursday: Tacos & salad
(whenever the mood strikes us)
Friday: Shithi's curried chickpeas, over brown rice/ quinoa, with Indian roasted cauliflower
Saturday: see Friday
Sunday brunch: Roasted pepper, broccoli, and shallot frittata (with cheddar and mozzarella). Note to self: MUST buy goat cheese
Sunday dinner: Spaghetti squash gratin, Pizza (Costco frozen)
Monday: leftover pizza and frittata, Roasted red pepper and sweet potato soup
Tuesday: chicken fingers and veggies and hummus
Wednesday: Fish (Costco salmon portions, and Trader Joe's fish sticks) and broccoflower
Thursday: Tacos & salad
(whenever the mood strikes us)
Rosemary olive-oil bread
Roasted pepper hummus
Garlic and herb salad dressing (uh, yeah, it's super garlicky, no vampires here!)
Garlic and herb salad dressing (uh, yeah, it's super garlicky, no vampires here!)
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Food prep and meal plan
Well, this is another week of husband travels. Here's a little snippet of what I cooked and what we ate:
Salad (radishes, cashews, lettuce, carrots)
Stir-fry vegetables (coconut oil, Bragg's liquid aminos, sesame oil) - I used a mix of Costco frozen mixed cauliflower/broccoli/carrot, and some mixed Italian veg. I ate this over quinoa
quinoa, chickpea, cucumber, olive salad
deviled eggs
homemade Macaroni & Cheese with pureed pumpkin - homemade bread crumbs on top - loosely based on this recipe
Roasted red pepper and sweet potato soup
Chilled zucchini and cashew soup
Pressure cooker Moroccan lentil soup (search this blog!)
Homemade focaccia
My plan is to rotate eating all these things!! Until we run out, then wing it!
Salad (radishes, cashews, lettuce, carrots)
Stir-fry vegetables (coconut oil, Bragg's liquid aminos, sesame oil) - I used a mix of Costco frozen mixed cauliflower/broccoli/carrot, and some mixed Italian veg. I ate this over quinoa
quinoa, chickpea, cucumber, olive salad
deviled eggs
homemade Macaroni & Cheese with pureed pumpkin - homemade bread crumbs on top - loosely based on this recipe
Roasted red pepper and sweet potato soup
Chilled zucchini and cashew soup
Pressure cooker Moroccan lentil soup (search this blog!)
Homemade focaccia
My plan is to rotate eating all these things!! Until we run out, then wing it!
Sunday, January 17, 2016
What we ate this week
Welcome to my list: what we ate this week. Where I attempt to remember what we had to eat for dinner and some lunches during the week. Because I don't write stuff down.
What we ate this
week:
Saturday dinner: potato and kale soup, homemade
rosemary bread
Sunday breakfast: smoothie, ½ bagel. Bread, cereal, applesauce.
Sunday lunch: canned salmon salad (me), lettuce
with homemade vinaigrette. PB&J (hubs), smoothie (kid), bagel (other kid)
Sunday snacks: cashews, chocolate, orange, homemade
bread, wine
Sunday dinner: pinto bean, corn, and pepper
enchilada casserole, carrots and cucumber
Monday dinner: more enchiladas!
Tuesday dinner: veggie burgers and ??? I don't remember what the boys ate
Wednesday dinner: frozen pizza
Thursday dinner: crockpot chicken with Island
soyaki sauce, broccoli, cashews and rice
Friday dinner: leftover chicken with peas and
carrots
Saturday lunch: ham sandwiches, celery,
raspberries, apple, tortilla chips
Other random lunches:
Leftover soup
Salad
Costco samples (on salad day, I was still hungry!)
Bean tacos
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Some favorite recipes
Boy I've been missing of late. But I do still cook. Most of my cooking is of the "bulk" variety.
So here are a few of the recipes that I have been making -
Veggie frittata squares - these are really easy for our Sunday morning brunches. And even when I don't know what to take, as long as I have a dozen eggs, some cheese, and some sort of veggie - then I'm good. Last week was potato and parmesan, this week is asparagus and red pepper and cheddar.
Applesauce carrot muffins - we had leftover applesauce from the week of the stomach flu. I adjusted this recipe a bit - it seemed like too many steps for me. So I did it in one bowl:
Mix wet ingredients - I subbed 1/3 c sugar for the honey. I only used 1/4 c butter and used 1/4 c canola oil.
Add dry ingredients - I didn't blend them in a bowl first, one less dish. Also, I just used 1/2 c whole wheat and 1 c regular flour because that's what I had.
Add applesauce
Add carrots
They were really very good. We still have a few left
Pumpkin chocolate chip bread - I made some substitutions here, based on what I had (you can see those in my comments on the pin). It was great and my 9 year old LOVED it. Also, I used fresh pumpkin that I pureed and froze a couple of months ago.
Asparagus potato soup - this is in the pot right now. I had leftover asparagus from the frittata, and I didn't buy enough veggies this week. So this is going to "stretch" my asparagus. This is a new recipe for me, so I will let you know how it comes out. I did not make the stock - it seems like a waste of good veggies to me - I used a veggie bouillon cube.
Carrot ginger soup
Chicken fried rice
About the only thing left to cook this week is some canned tomatoes - I haven't yet decided if I will make a third soup (tomato soup) or a curry dish.
So here are a few of the recipes that I have been making -
Veggie frittata squares - these are really easy for our Sunday morning brunches. And even when I don't know what to take, as long as I have a dozen eggs, some cheese, and some sort of veggie - then I'm good. Last week was potato and parmesan, this week is asparagus and red pepper and cheddar.
Applesauce carrot muffins - we had leftover applesauce from the week of the stomach flu. I adjusted this recipe a bit - it seemed like too many steps for me. So I did it in one bowl:
Mix wet ingredients - I subbed 1/3 c sugar for the honey. I only used 1/4 c butter and used 1/4 c canola oil.
Add dry ingredients - I didn't blend them in a bowl first, one less dish. Also, I just used 1/2 c whole wheat and 1 c regular flour because that's what I had.
Add applesauce
Add carrots
They were really very good. We still have a few left
Pumpkin chocolate chip bread - I made some substitutions here, based on what I had (you can see those in my comments on the pin). It was great and my 9 year old LOVED it. Also, I used fresh pumpkin that I pureed and froze a couple of months ago.
Asparagus potato soup - this is in the pot right now. I had leftover asparagus from the frittata, and I didn't buy enough veggies this week. So this is going to "stretch" my asparagus. This is a new recipe for me, so I will let you know how it comes out. I did not make the stock - it seems like a waste of good veggies to me - I used a veggie bouillon cube.
Carrot ginger soup
Chicken fried rice
About the only thing left to cook this week is some canned tomatoes - I haven't yet decided if I will make a third soup (tomato soup) or a curry dish.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Why Do People Eat Out?
Do you ever wonder why people eat out so much? Apparently it's in the news now, that people (Americans) officially spend more money eating out than they do on food cooked and eaten at home. For the first time ever. Dan over at Casual Kitchen has a good post on the topic - that people still insist that it's expensive to eat healthy, and some people insist that it's cheaper to eat out. And it's not.
But that is not the point I was going to make today. What point was I going to make today? Well, we did quite a bit of eating out on our vacation recently - I'd say once per day. (That's a lot for us.) McD's once (I know, I know. I even packed myself a salad on McD's day, and my husband got it out of the car, it wasn't lidded correctly, and it exploded all over the ground. Bye bye salad.) Chipotle a couple of times. A sandwich. Pizza.
My family is a big fan of Mexican food (or Mexican-like food). One thing that we love (besides burritos and quesadillas) are "bowls". Well, I like them because they are easy. Sort of. And cheap. Sort of.
You can get a "bowl" with a coupon for $5 to $9, so that's not too terrible, right? But of course you can make it home for cheap, so why don't people? Let me tell you why. Here's a summary of my bowl-making efforts recently.
1. The rice: I use a rice cooker. Chop onions, press a garlic clove, chop a couple of carrots. Rinse rice. Put rice, peas, carrots, onions, garlic, some spices, some tomato paste, and water in the rice cooker. Do it early enough because it's brown rice so it will take 90 minutes. ~$1.75 for 5 cups
2. The beans: Soak pinto beans all day in the pressure cooker. Cook at pressure, let come down in pressure naturally. $0.60 for 1 lb dried beans
3. The guacamole/ sour cream: buy it at Trader Joe's. $3.00
4. The cheese: shred it yourself: $2.00 for 1/2 lb
5. The veggies: I used cauliflower, so I chopped, tossed with spices and oil, and roasted. $2.20
6. The salsa: I buy this, but darn it if I'm out. So make a quick version with canned diced tomatoes, garlic, green onion, jarred or frozen spicy peppers: $0.75
7. The chicken: cook this up in the crockpot. 3 lbs sale chicken + homemade BBQ sauce = $5
Now, this is delicious, makes enough for 4 people to eat at least 4 meals (in my house), except for the guacamole that will brown anyway. But there are 6 different steps up there that I had to go through to make the stuff. That's 2 steps per meal still. All told, this is $15.30 for about 4 meals, or $3.83 per meal (for four people).
Versus going to a restaurant: walk up to front, order, eat. This, my friends, is why people eat out.
At times when I've been home (maternity), or working part time, it's been easier for me to spend time cooking, because I'm at home. When I'm out of the house for 50 hours a week working, it's MUCH harder.
For four of us at a restaurant, it would run $20 to $35.
By cooking, I save $16 to $31 PER MEAL. A no-brainer, right? Except for a few notes:
1. I'm pretty good at this frugal cooking and shopping thing, so those prices are near rock-bottom.
2. Active, hands-on cooking time there is probably about 3 hours all told. Most people look at that and say "shoot, I'm going to Chipotle!" And really, you have way more variety there with different ingredients, different salsas. But variety comes with a price.
You could say I'm "earning" money by cooking:
Cost to eat out four meals: $100
Cost for my four meals: $16
Saved: $84
Work hours: 3
Money earned per hour by cooking: $28
That makes me feel a *little* better when at the end of a long weekend of cooking.
But that is not the point I was going to make today. What point was I going to make today? Well, we did quite a bit of eating out on our vacation recently - I'd say once per day. (That's a lot for us.) McD's once (I know, I know. I even packed myself a salad on McD's day, and my husband got it out of the car, it wasn't lidded correctly, and it exploded all over the ground. Bye bye salad.) Chipotle a couple of times. A sandwich. Pizza.
My family is a big fan of Mexican food (or Mexican-like food). One thing that we love (besides burritos and quesadillas) are "bowls". Well, I like them because they are easy. Sort of. And cheap. Sort of.
You can get a "bowl" with a coupon for $5 to $9, so that's not too terrible, right? But of course you can make it home for cheap, so why don't people? Let me tell you why. Here's a summary of my bowl-making efforts recently.
1. The rice: I use a rice cooker. Chop onions, press a garlic clove, chop a couple of carrots. Rinse rice. Put rice, peas, carrots, onions, garlic, some spices, some tomato paste, and water in the rice cooker. Do it early enough because it's brown rice so it will take 90 minutes. ~$1.75 for 5 cups
2. The beans: Soak pinto beans all day in the pressure cooker. Cook at pressure, let come down in pressure naturally. $0.60 for 1 lb dried beans
3. The guacamole/ sour cream: buy it at Trader Joe's. $3.00
4. The cheese: shred it yourself: $2.00 for 1/2 lb
5. The veggies: I used cauliflower, so I chopped, tossed with spices and oil, and roasted. $2.20
6. The salsa: I buy this, but darn it if I'm out. So make a quick version with canned diced tomatoes, garlic, green onion, jarred or frozen spicy peppers: $0.75
7. The chicken: cook this up in the crockpot. 3 lbs sale chicken + homemade BBQ sauce = $5
Now, this is delicious, makes enough for 4 people to eat at least 4 meals (in my house), except for the guacamole that will brown anyway. But there are 6 different steps up there that I had to go through to make the stuff. That's 2 steps per meal still. All told, this is $15.30 for about 4 meals, or $3.83 per meal (for four people).
Versus going to a restaurant: walk up to front, order, eat. This, my friends, is why people eat out.
At times when I've been home (maternity), or working part time, it's been easier for me to spend time cooking, because I'm at home. When I'm out of the house for 50 hours a week working, it's MUCH harder.
For four of us at a restaurant, it would run $20 to $35.
By cooking, I save $16 to $31 PER MEAL. A no-brainer, right? Except for a few notes:
1. I'm pretty good at this frugal cooking and shopping thing, so those prices are near rock-bottom.
2. Active, hands-on cooking time there is probably about 3 hours all told. Most people look at that and say "shoot, I'm going to Chipotle!" And really, you have way more variety there with different ingredients, different salsas. But variety comes with a price.
You could say I'm "earning" money by cooking:
Cost to eat out four meals: $100
Cost for my four meals: $16
Saved: $84
Work hours: 3
Money earned per hour by cooking: $28
That makes me feel a *little* better when at the end of a long weekend of cooking.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
What did I make this week?
So one of the things I love about many of the blogs I read is when people put out their meal plans. It's inspiring and gives me great ideas.
The reality of my life right now is that I often don't stick to the plan, and I have a hard time planning more than 3 days ahead.
So I thought I'd share some pictures of things that I made this last week instead. It's been a rough week, with a lot of beer and not a lot of sleep, due to work layoffs, heat, stress, etc.
Not pictured: a legion of salads and turkey sandwiches, plus crockpot Asian chicken with broccoli. And nachos. And cupcakes. And hummus. And beer.
The reality of my life right now is that I often don't stick to the plan, and I have a hard time planning more than 3 days ahead.
So I thought I'd share some pictures of things that I made this last week instead. It's been a rough week, with a lot of beer and not a lot of sleep, due to work layoffs, heat, stress, etc.
Not pictured: a legion of salads and turkey sandwiches, plus crockpot Asian chicken with broccoli. And nachos. And cupcakes. And hummus. And beer.
Spinach balls (actually "mixed greens)
Roast potatoes
Falafel (the dough)
Falafel (in the pan)
Falafel (done)
Lentil/walnut/mushroom pate, on a bagel (this stuff is delish)
Cabbage and ramen slaw with cashews
A view on my walk one day. Yeah, rubbing it in.
The aftermath of my 9 year old's birthday party
Saturday, March 7, 2015
The budget update
So how am I doing on my $80 budget? Well, so far so good. There are some challenges, however:
1. I tend to buy a lot of produce. The CSA (not included in the budget) helps, but it's hard to figure out how much produce to buy around the CSA stuff.
2. Running out of things. I don't always remember to write stuff down. So, we ran out of popcorn. At the local grocery store: $4. At Trader Joe's? $2. Guess where we bought it last night, at the last minute?
3. Organics. These are expensive. Free range meat? Even moreso. You can get good deals at the local Whole Foods and other high end stores, on sale. But you have to track that. And fit it into your budget. And thus far, I haven't had the energy to track that - a good whole chicken can be had, on sale, for $2 a pound (so $10-12). You can get a good 3 or 4 meals out of that, particularly if you make your own stock. So I eat more stuff from the freezer and more dried beans, because they are universally cheap.
4. Special occasions. A certain boy is turning 9 next week. I am shopping for cake mixes.
5. Eating out. When I first set the budget, we ate out a LOT. Then a few weeks ago, I said "no eating out for 6 weeks". Well, there are a couple of exceptions (gift cards, the birthday party, and a pre-paid event.) And my spouse ate out yesterday for lunch because he was too tired to pack a lunch after a long business trip - he got stuck on the East Coast an extra day due to weather.
Anyway, here's the summary so far:
Note that this week (week 7), is still not over. And I'm sending my husband out for vanilla and yogurt for another batch of muffins, so it will go up by a few bucks.
Other things that I'm cooking that don't fit into a category:
Spinach balls (actually, chard, beet green, collards). We get a lot of greens. I have to be creative.
Orange lemon poppy seed muffins
Hummus
Corn bread
Ham salad
1. I tend to buy a lot of produce. The CSA (not included in the budget) helps, but it's hard to figure out how much produce to buy around the CSA stuff.
2. Running out of things. I don't always remember to write stuff down. So, we ran out of popcorn. At the local grocery store: $4. At Trader Joe's? $2. Guess where we bought it last night, at the last minute?
3. Organics. These are expensive. Free range meat? Even moreso. You can get good deals at the local Whole Foods and other high end stores, on sale. But you have to track that. And fit it into your budget. And thus far, I haven't had the energy to track that - a good whole chicken can be had, on sale, for $2 a pound (so $10-12). You can get a good 3 or 4 meals out of that, particularly if you make your own stock. So I eat more stuff from the freezer and more dried beans, because they are universally cheap.
4. Special occasions. A certain boy is turning 9 next week. I am shopping for cake mixes.
5. Eating out. When I first set the budget, we ate out a LOT. Then a few weeks ago, I said "no eating out for 6 weeks". Well, there are a couple of exceptions (gift cards, the birthday party, and a pre-paid event.) And my spouse ate out yesterday for lunch because he was too tired to pack a lunch after a long business trip - he got stuck on the East Coast an extra day due to weather.
Anyway, here's the summary so far:
Note that this week (week 7), is still not over. And I'm sending my husband out for vanilla and yogurt for another batch of muffins, so it will go up by a few bucks.
I'm still "over" for the year because of the first 3 weeks before I set a budget. I'm hoping that a bunch of $70-75 weeks will let me catch up. It's easier to get a $70 week when my spouse is traveling.
What's on the menu this week?
Lunches Mom: salad (spinach, lettuce, arugula, leftover ham from Christmas from freezer)
Lunches Dad: turkey sandwiches
Dinners:
Saturday: Falafel (chickpeas were on sale for $1 for a pound dried), roast potatoes, kale chips
Sunday: Some sort of lentil thing, but I haven't figured out what
Monday: crockpot chicken (I'll be at a PTA meeting for 3 hours), broccoli
Tuesday: Leftover chicken, cole slaw
Wednesday: one-pot spaghetti, cole slaw
Thursday: Seriously unable to plan that far ahead. Depends on leftovers - spaghetti?
Friday: Someone's birthday, hm...pizza? Nachos?
Spinach balls (actually, chard, beet green, collards). We get a lot of greens. I have to be creative.
Orange lemon poppy seed muffins
Hummus
Corn bread
Ham salad
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
The Week in Pictures
I had this blog started in my head - discussing the reason behind each dish, the cost per serving. And...you know life got in the way with the kids and stuff. So, you get pictures.
Ham sammies and salad
Washed arugula and parsley, headed for pesto
Mini croissant and salad
Banana bread
Pasta, vegetable, meatball bake
asparagus
Sunday's meal on my fancy Corelle plates
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Sometimes it helps to do the math (again)
This was one of those not-so-frugal weeks that pop up every once in awhile. My husband was on jury duty (as well as trying to get work done, kids, Christmas cards and shopping, holiday party). I had a really bad couple of nights of sleep where the 17 month old woke up and was awake for 2-3 hours. (He was gassy. I'm thinking it's the hummus.)
So Monday was one of those days where I had no lunches packed and nothing ready in the freezer. Because of the lack of sleep (I crawled back into bed at 4:52 am after being up with the toddler for a few hours), I missed the gym and ended up waking up about 15 minutes before I needed to get to work. I grabbed a couple of muffins and headed off. As I walked out the door I yelled "There's no lunches packed, you are all on your own!" So the big boy got school lunch, Daddy ate out, and I went to the cafeteria at the company down the street and got myself a wrap and a drink.
$9. For a wrap and a drink. That night after dinner, I went into the kitchen and made 12 bean and cheese burritos (I had at least made the crockpot refried beans over the weekend). I packed up the last little bit of beans and threw them into a container with some leftover rice from the weekend, salsa, and leftover vegetables.
Total cost for my leftover rice and beans and vegetable lunch? $1.06. And $0.82 of that is the salsa and vegetables). It's good for me to do that math once in awhile as a reminder of why I don't just "pick food up while I'm out" (though I still do that, and did so a few more times this week). I spent $9 on lunch out on Friday meeting friends for lunch, one of whom was passing through, and $21 on lunch while out shopping yesterday).
On Wednesday, I was sorely tempted to pick something up at the store for dinner, but resisted yet again (it's easy to resist when you have to shop with a toddler). Instead of spending $30 on takeout or $15 on a pre-made meal at the store, I went home and made 1-pot spaghetti with pasta, meatballs, jarred marinara, and some vegetables. Served with a simple salad with homemade dressing (I made a big batch a couple of weeks ago).
The cost of the one pot of pasta was $10.95, which is about $3.65 per meal - one 12 oz box of pasta makes about 3 meals for us. When you add the vegetable servings, the cost per meal goes up to about $4.32. That's for 3.5 people and is a far cry from $30 or even $15.
**cute toddler alert** He's right now spinning in a circle until he gets dizzy and falls down, and then says "uh oh".
So let's summarize:
1. Monday: $9 for lunch instead of $1.06 - wasted $8
2. Friday: $9 for lunch instead of $1.06 - wasted $8 (I even only drank water that day)
3. Saturday: $21 for lunch instead of $4.32 - wasted about $17
4. W-Th-Sat dinner: $12.96 instead of $60, saved $47.
I sort of came out ahead, but since the norm is to NOT eat out, really, I didn't come out ahead. I wasted about $33 on eating out this week.
I am on vacation this week, so here is the rough dinner plan for the week:
Sunday: Turkey and rice casserole with vegetables (leftover turkey from Thanksgiving), carrot/turnip/ginger soup
Monday: Leftover casserole and leftover soup
Tuesday: Beef roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, vegetable (having friends over for Christmas Eve)
Wednesday: Chicken fingers and broccoli
Thursday: Leftover beef and broccoli
Friday: Pizza
So Monday was one of those days where I had no lunches packed and nothing ready in the freezer. Because of the lack of sleep (I crawled back into bed at 4:52 am after being up with the toddler for a few hours), I missed the gym and ended up waking up about 15 minutes before I needed to get to work. I grabbed a couple of muffins and headed off. As I walked out the door I yelled "There's no lunches packed, you are all on your own!" So the big boy got school lunch, Daddy ate out, and I went to the cafeteria at the company down the street and got myself a wrap and a drink.
$9. For a wrap and a drink. That night after dinner, I went into the kitchen and made 12 bean and cheese burritos (I had at least made the crockpot refried beans over the weekend). I packed up the last little bit of beans and threw them into a container with some leftover rice from the weekend, salsa, and leftover vegetables.
Total cost for my leftover rice and beans and vegetable lunch? $1.06. And $0.82 of that is the salsa and vegetables). It's good for me to do that math once in awhile as a reminder of why I don't just "pick food up while I'm out" (though I still do that, and did so a few more times this week). I spent $9 on lunch out on Friday meeting friends for lunch, one of whom was passing through, and $21 on lunch while out shopping yesterday).
On Wednesday, I was sorely tempted to pick something up at the store for dinner, but resisted yet again (it's easy to resist when you have to shop with a toddler). Instead of spending $30 on takeout or $15 on a pre-made meal at the store, I went home and made 1-pot spaghetti with pasta, meatballs, jarred marinara, and some vegetables. Served with a simple salad with homemade dressing (I made a big batch a couple of weeks ago).
The cost of the one pot of pasta was $10.95, which is about $3.65 per meal - one 12 oz box of pasta makes about 3 meals for us. When you add the vegetable servings, the cost per meal goes up to about $4.32. That's for 3.5 people and is a far cry from $30 or even $15.
**cute toddler alert** He's right now spinning in a circle until he gets dizzy and falls down, and then says "uh oh".
So let's summarize:
1. Monday: $9 for lunch instead of $1.06 - wasted $8
2. Friday: $9 for lunch instead of $1.06 - wasted $8 (I even only drank water that day)
3. Saturday: $21 for lunch instead of $4.32 - wasted about $17
4. W-Th-Sat dinner: $12.96 instead of $60, saved $47.
I sort of came out ahead, but since the norm is to NOT eat out, really, I didn't come out ahead. I wasted about $33 on eating out this week.
I am on vacation this week, so here is the rough dinner plan for the week:
Sunday: Turkey and rice casserole with vegetables (leftover turkey from Thanksgiving), carrot/turnip/ginger soup
Monday: Leftover casserole and leftover soup
Tuesday: Beef roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, vegetable (having friends over for Christmas Eve)
Wednesday: Chicken fingers and broccoli
Thursday: Leftover beef and broccoli
Friday: Pizza
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Getting busy in the kitchen
I even had some help from the hubby this weekend, due to my bruised foot. Which I got...? Your guess is as good as mine. I woke up with it. And big boy has a cold (or at least, a runny nose). Well, he didn't get the last cold, figures he's starting the next one.
I'm also working on using up items in the pantry and freezer. (These are in red.) Doesn't stop me from buying more though. I'm trying. I made the mistake of going to Whole Foods today. One tiny bag and $35 later. If I could JUST stick to the produce and the bulk goods (oatmeal), I'd be fine. But no. There were scrambled eggs and bacon in the hot bar. And chocolate.
Here's what the FHS family is making/ eating this weekend and during the week:
1. Banana muffins (some with chocolate chips). Hubby made these and they were so much better than mine. Then I realized - he doesn't cut the sugar in half like I do. :)
2. Enchiladas. I made these yesterday - chicken (previously poached and frozen), peppers (chopped by hubby - a HUGE bag of TINY hot peppers), onions, tongue of fire beans (from the CSA, previously cooked and frozen), chard, and cheese (bought on sale that I shredded), and discount tortillas from the freezer.
3. Aloo gobi (that's cooking right now)
4. Salad (including pomegranates - 3, that hubby took care of. Got the seeds out of two and juiced the third. We both hate that job).
5. Roasted cherry tomato, garlic, pepper, and feta bruschetta.
6. Barley salad (well, I'm really just going to put the cooked barley in my salads).
7. Cantaloupe and watermelon. You know I list this because I have to wash, peel, and slice. These were on sale for $2 at the grocery store and there were 55cent coupons at the display. These are the Tuscan melons. $1.45 for a watermelon and $1.45 for a cantaloupe!
Really trying to be better on the produce all week and on weekends. I keep reading about how children's palates really develop from age 1 to 2. Nick is a pretty good eater, but I was pretty strict with the fruit and veggie intake. I haven't been quite as good with Daniel so far. This is why I ran off and bought more baby food (it's so much easier to get him to eat it in pureed form). Nick was the same way as a baby...the veggies were in puree form a lot longer than many kids. But he loves vegetables still.
Plus. I need to lose weight.
I'm also working on using up items in the pantry and freezer. (These are in red.) Doesn't stop me from buying more though. I'm trying. I made the mistake of going to Whole Foods today. One tiny bag and $35 later. If I could JUST stick to the produce and the bulk goods (oatmeal), I'd be fine. But no. There were scrambled eggs and bacon in the hot bar. And chocolate.
Here's what the FHS family is making/ eating this weekend and during the week:
1. Banana muffins (some with chocolate chips). Hubby made these and they were so much better than mine. Then I realized - he doesn't cut the sugar in half like I do. :)
2. Enchiladas. I made these yesterday - chicken (previously poached and frozen), peppers (chopped by hubby - a HUGE bag of TINY hot peppers), onions, tongue of fire beans (from the CSA, previously cooked and frozen), chard, and cheese (bought on sale that I shredded), and discount tortillas from the freezer.
3. Aloo gobi (that's cooking right now)
4. Salad (including pomegranates - 3, that hubby took care of. Got the seeds out of two and juiced the third. We both hate that job).
5. Roasted cherry tomato, garlic, pepper, and feta bruschetta.
6. Barley salad (well, I'm really just going to put the cooked barley in my salads).
7. Cantaloupe and watermelon. You know I list this because I have to wash, peel, and slice. These were on sale for $2 at the grocery store and there were 55cent coupons at the display. These are the Tuscan melons. $1.45 for a watermelon and $1.45 for a cantaloupe!
Really trying to be better on the produce all week and on weekends. I keep reading about how children's palates really develop from age 1 to 2. Nick is a pretty good eater, but I was pretty strict with the fruit and veggie intake. I haven't been quite as good with Daniel so far. This is why I ran off and bought more baby food (it's so much easier to get him to eat it in pureed form). Nick was the same way as a baby...the veggies were in puree form a lot longer than many kids. But he loves vegetables still.
Plus. I need to lose weight.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Crazy weekend of prep and my freezer is PACKED
So, I've come to accept that if it doesn't happen on the weekend, it doesn't happen.
While that is not 100% true (I was home sick one day this week and made chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot, corn muffins, and cooked up some beans), it's mostly true.
When big boy was a little one, I did a lot of cooking and prep after he went to bed. Now with two, bedtime is pushed off to closer to 8:30 or 8:45 for the big boy - so I'm too tired mid week to do anything.
This has resulted in a lot more wasted food. I'm not beating myself up too much about it, but I AM trying a lot harder to prep everything on the weekend. I realize that in this phase of full-time job and two kids, one a baby, I simply have to adjust. This means, generally, that all of our CSA and "fresh" veggies are eaten between Saturday and Wednesday (we get them Thursday night, and we generally run out by Tuesday or Wednesday). Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are frozen vegetable nights. I try to avoid wasting food by using my freezer and not cooking too much - and by eating what I've already made. That means we are all sick and tired of things eventually - today's lunch should be the 4th and final episode of the tortilla soup.
I'm still recovering from a cold and now my husband has it. I've had a couple of nights of insomnia (I'm thinking it's cyclical). So last night, I just decided to prep as much as possible.
After the baby was in bed, during our movie for movie night ("Daddy Day Care"), I washed, destemmed, and roasted 2 baskets of cherry tomatoes. I just cannot stomach raw cherry tomatoes unless they are chopped in a salsa like thing.
After the big boy was in bed, I went to town - about 40 mins of washing and prepping a bag of small sweet Italian peppers, fennel, a bunch of baby carrots (they are tasty but I would MUCH rather wash, peel, and cut 5 large carrots instead of 20 baby carrots), a zucchini, and three tiny kohlrabi. I froze the beans I cooked on Wednesday.
OH, but that's not all - today I took the baby grocery shopping and found a killer deal on pluots - from the discount rack at Fresh and Easy - 2.2 lbs for $1.13. They were very ripe, so I spent some time peeling and slicing - they are freezing in a single layer in the freezer right now. I don't know what I will do with them, but some blog somewhere this week featured frozen peaches - and the writer said that she liked to throw a few slices in her oatmeal while it cooks. Yum. That, or pluot crisp!
I've also got beets steaming, and then I should be almost done with the prep, except for washing lettuce.
My freezer is so packed, I have to make an effort to eat it down. I am officially done buying meat until I eat everything that is already there. I also have a lot of veggies (but we eat those), some homemade popsicles (it's the hot season now), various bread products (I do NOT need tortillas). In order to really be efficient in the freezer use, you have to have the time to go through the freezer, see what you have, and plan around that. I used to love doing that, but I find that I am too pressed for time.
Thus, I am going to make a renewed effort to plan at least 2 meals a week (weekends of course) based on stuff that's in the freezer. Today, I am going to make mac & cheese with leftover ham (from the freezer) and some frozen spinach - and the roasted cherry tomatoes. Tomorrow, I am going to use up some meatballs and frozen stir-fry vegetables. I will make an Asian sauce with some apricot jam and soy sauce and other items, and serve over brown rice.
To give you an idea of how bad my freezers are, here are some pictures of the top-of-the fridge freezer, and the mini-freezer in the laundry room. Yes, there are corn dogs in my freezer. My "no processed food" lifestyle took a back seat when I had the second child. It's generally the early years - 0 to 3 - that make it really hard to cook everything from scratch. Oh, and there is a jar of plum freezer jam that I think I canned 5 years ago. I should probably toss that.
While that is not 100% true (I was home sick one day this week and made chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot, corn muffins, and cooked up some beans), it's mostly true.
When big boy was a little one, I did a lot of cooking and prep after he went to bed. Now with two, bedtime is pushed off to closer to 8:30 or 8:45 for the big boy - so I'm too tired mid week to do anything.
This has resulted in a lot more wasted food. I'm not beating myself up too much about it, but I AM trying a lot harder to prep everything on the weekend. I realize that in this phase of full-time job and two kids, one a baby, I simply have to adjust. This means, generally, that all of our CSA and "fresh" veggies are eaten between Saturday and Wednesday (we get them Thursday night, and we generally run out by Tuesday or Wednesday). Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are frozen vegetable nights. I try to avoid wasting food by using my freezer and not cooking too much - and by eating what I've already made. That means we are all sick and tired of things eventually - today's lunch should be the 4th and final episode of the tortilla soup.
I'm still recovering from a cold and now my husband has it. I've had a couple of nights of insomnia (I'm thinking it's cyclical). So last night, I just decided to prep as much as possible.
After the baby was in bed, during our movie for movie night ("Daddy Day Care"), I washed, destemmed, and roasted 2 baskets of cherry tomatoes. I just cannot stomach raw cherry tomatoes unless they are chopped in a salsa like thing.
After the big boy was in bed, I went to town - about 40 mins of washing and prepping a bag of small sweet Italian peppers, fennel, a bunch of baby carrots (they are tasty but I would MUCH rather wash, peel, and cut 5 large carrots instead of 20 baby carrots), a zucchini, and three tiny kohlrabi. I froze the beans I cooked on Wednesday.
OH, but that's not all - today I took the baby grocery shopping and found a killer deal on pluots - from the discount rack at Fresh and Easy - 2.2 lbs for $1.13. They were very ripe, so I spent some time peeling and slicing - they are freezing in a single layer in the freezer right now. I don't know what I will do with them, but some blog somewhere this week featured frozen peaches - and the writer said that she liked to throw a few slices in her oatmeal while it cooks. Yum. That, or pluot crisp!
I've also got beets steaming, and then I should be almost done with the prep, except for washing lettuce.
My freezer is so packed, I have to make an effort to eat it down. I am officially done buying meat until I eat everything that is already there. I also have a lot of veggies (but we eat those), some homemade popsicles (it's the hot season now), various bread products (I do NOT need tortillas). In order to really be efficient in the freezer use, you have to have the time to go through the freezer, see what you have, and plan around that. I used to love doing that, but I find that I am too pressed for time.
Thus, I am going to make a renewed effort to plan at least 2 meals a week (weekends of course) based on stuff that's in the freezer. Today, I am going to make mac & cheese with leftover ham (from the freezer) and some frozen spinach - and the roasted cherry tomatoes. Tomorrow, I am going to use up some meatballs and frozen stir-fry vegetables. I will make an Asian sauce with some apricot jam and soy sauce and other items, and serve over brown rice.
To give you an idea of how bad my freezers are, here are some pictures of the top-of-the fridge freezer, and the mini-freezer in the laundry room. Yes, there are corn dogs in my freezer. My "no processed food" lifestyle took a back seat when I had the second child. It's generally the early years - 0 to 3 - that make it really hard to cook everything from scratch. Oh, and there is a jar of plum freezer jam that I think I canned 5 years ago. I should probably toss that.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Party Time!
You'd never really know it by my blog, but I'm kind of a social person. I just happen to be way too busy in real life to be too terribly social.
I wasn't always social...college brought that out in me.
On Wednesday, hubby and I decided to have a weekend BBQ - spur of the moment. Three days in advance is spur of the moment for me.
It's not a particularly big BBQ - I don't have the energy for that. Just a handful of folks from work or the neighborhood. So, here's what's on the menu:
Burgers
Sausage
Hot dogs
(no, none of these are local/ organic/ grass fed...I don't have quite the time for the extra shopping stop these days)
Panzanella salad
Homemade hummus and carrot sticks
Homemade salsa and chips
Wine, beer, tea, bubble water
Corn on the cob
Salami and cheddar and crackers
Ice cream
And I might make a box of organic mac and cheese for the kids.
I wasn't always social...college brought that out in me.
On Wednesday, hubby and I decided to have a weekend BBQ - spur of the moment. Three days in advance is spur of the moment for me.
It's not a particularly big BBQ - I don't have the energy for that. Just a handful of folks from work or the neighborhood. So, here's what's on the menu:
Burgers
Sausage
Hot dogs
(no, none of these are local/ organic/ grass fed...I don't have quite the time for the extra shopping stop these days)
Panzanella salad
Homemade hummus and carrot sticks
Homemade salsa and chips
Wine, beer, tea, bubble water
Corn on the cob
Salami and cheddar and crackers
Ice cream
And I might make a box of organic mac and cheese for the kids.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
We're BAAACK...
from vacation. To an empty fridge. I'm still figuring out what we are out of. Like ketchup.
We spent two weeks on the east coast. I'd say glorious, but man, we had the worst weather ever. I enjoyed visiting family, but seriously - rain and thunderstorms every day in PA, then 90-95F and 90% humidity in NY. Where you just sit, in a non-air conditioned home and sweat...
We've been back for half a week. We muddled through the week and did a fair bit of eating out on the weekend, including eating at the French festival (man, $54, what a racket). Yesterday was our anniversary (17!!) and we did nothing special, just hanging out with some great friends who were visiting from the Bay Area.
I have been getting back into the cooking groove. For the first week of vacay, I did all the cooking. Not much of a vacation eh? Week two: nothing.
This weekend I have been trying to get back into the weekend prep during nap times. I return to full time in a week (yikes) and those 8 hours a week have to come from somewhere. Hopefully not sleep. Or exercise.
Here's what's on the menu:
Crockpot tri-tip (yesterday)
Crockpot refried beans (today)
Salad
Fruit!
Pasta salad with homemade pesto, chicken, and vegetables (carrots, zucchini, roasted red peppers from last summer, tomatoes).
Lots and lots of dishes today.
On to my fitness level: in a word: it sucks. Okay, that was two words. I seem to have found 20 lbs since last October. I decided to join Biz in her latest diet bet, but my computer was on the fritz - so I decided to do it on my own. I need to lose 7 lbs in 30 days. I put $25 in an envelope. If I do it - I keep it. If I don't - I donate it to the YMCA. Boy, calorie counting is hard work.
I am limited in the exercise that I can do right now. I have achilles tendonitis that makes running and long walks painful. So I figured I'd try more biking and swimming.
I want to get back into riding my bike to work 2x a week (Mondays and Fridays). Right now with summer camp, it makes pick up/ drop off hard. So today, I drove to work with my bike on the back and biked home (10 miles). I will bike in tomorrow. And it will hurt. A lot. Because today hurt, a lot. In the prime of my fitness level (2009-2010), I could bike to work in about 45 minutes. It would take 50-55 minutes to get home (bigger hills, tired at the end of the day). Well, today, the bike home was 66 minutes. Yucky. Hopefully in a month the bike to work will be closer to 45 min. A goal to shoot for! (In addition to the 7 pounds.)
Okay, is it me, or does it look like the photos from my new phone are actually better than the ones from the camera??
We spent two weeks on the east coast. I'd say glorious, but man, we had the worst weather ever. I enjoyed visiting family, but seriously - rain and thunderstorms every day in PA, then 90-95F and 90% humidity in NY. Where you just sit, in a non-air conditioned home and sweat...
We've been back for half a week. We muddled through the week and did a fair bit of eating out on the weekend, including eating at the French festival (man, $54, what a racket). Yesterday was our anniversary (17!!) and we did nothing special, just hanging out with some great friends who were visiting from the Bay Area.
I have been getting back into the cooking groove. For the first week of vacay, I did all the cooking. Not much of a vacation eh? Week two: nothing.
This weekend I have been trying to get back into the weekend prep during nap times. I return to full time in a week (yikes) and those 8 hours a week have to come from somewhere. Hopefully not sleep. Or exercise.
Here's what's on the menu:
Crockpot tri-tip (yesterday)
Crockpot refried beans (today)
Salad
Fruit!
Pasta salad with homemade pesto, chicken, and vegetables (carrots, zucchini, roasted red peppers from last summer, tomatoes).
Lots and lots of dishes today.
On to my fitness level: in a word: it sucks. Okay, that was two words. I seem to have found 20 lbs since last October. I decided to join Biz in her latest diet bet, but my computer was on the fritz - so I decided to do it on my own. I need to lose 7 lbs in 30 days. I put $25 in an envelope. If I do it - I keep it. If I don't - I donate it to the YMCA. Boy, calorie counting is hard work.
I am limited in the exercise that I can do right now. I have achilles tendonitis that makes running and long walks painful. So I figured I'd try more biking and swimming.
I want to get back into riding my bike to work 2x a week (Mondays and Fridays). Right now with summer camp, it makes pick up/ drop off hard. So today, I drove to work with my bike on the back and biked home (10 miles). I will bike in tomorrow. And it will hurt. A lot. Because today hurt, a lot. In the prime of my fitness level (2009-2010), I could bike to work in about 45 minutes. It would take 50-55 minutes to get home (bigger hills, tired at the end of the day). Well, today, the bike home was 66 minutes. Yucky. Hopefully in a month the bike to work will be closer to 45 min. A goal to shoot for! (In addition to the 7 pounds.)
Okay, is it me, or does it look like the photos from my new phone are actually better than the ones from the camera??
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