This Week on the Dining Table

The "Birthday Cake" Edition.........

Thursday was Daughter's birthday and she couldn't decide what type of cake she wanted.  I had some boxes of pistachio pudding mix lingering in the pantry as well as a bag of coconut so I went online and found a recipe that would use both up......a Watergate Cake.

It's named after a pudding dessert that Kraft came up with in the 1970's to promote their new pistachio pudding mix product.  That "Watergate Salad" called for pineapple, the pudding, nuts, mini-marshmallows and Cool Whip(another Kraft product).  Originally named Pistachio Pineapple Delight, a Chicago food editor renamed it Watergate Salad to drum up interest in the recipe when his/her newspaper reprinted it.....this was during the Watergate scandal of 1972.
The Watergate Cake evolved from that Watergate Salad.

Daughter said it looked good so I was given the "green" light to make this.  It was a hit and I got to move two lurkers out of the pantry....win/win for me! ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

2. Monday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Fries

3. Tuesday--Chicken Alfredo w/Mushrooms

4. Wednesday--Leftover Buffet

5. Thursday--Beef Stew, Biscuits

6. Friday--Pizza, Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

2. Monday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Fries

3. Tuesday--Chicken Alfredo w/Mushrooms

4. Wednesday--Pizza, Salad

5. Thursday--Chicken Parm, Mushroom and Green Bean Risotto 

6. Friday--Garlic Shrimp Pasta & Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 6 nights of home cooked dinners, 1 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 night of Eating Out/Take-Out. 
The Stew didn't happen(again)because I got a deal on some frozen veggie meals with pasta and we had that instead.  Then there wasn't as many leftovers as I thought so I made pizza.

 A couple of grocery trips.....1 trip to Weis($42.03)and a trip to the Grocery Surplus Outlet($68.80)brought the weekly food spending to $110.83 and brought the December monthly total to $210.89 so far.
I wasn't planning on the Surplus Outlet last week but we were in that town so it happened and I have no regrets as we won't get over there until Spring again.  I got some really good deals I'll talk about later this week.

I have 14 days left in my shopping month for December.  Half a month to go and I am on track to spend $400 this month on food.  I wanted to have a low spend this month but it might not work out that way.  Such is life.....

My savings percentage last week was 55.46%(without Rite-Aid trips)and December's monthly savings total comes to 60.17%(w/out R-A)so far.  

Leftovers going into this week....a little bit of taco meat and some Baked Beans.  I didn't make large amounts for last week's dinners so not much leftovers.

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday--Bourbon Sweet Potato Ravioli w/Bechamel Sauce, Tossed Salad

2. Monday--Roasted Chicken w/Veggies

3. Tuesday--BLT Sandwiches

4. Wednesday--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Potato Salad or ?

5. Thursday--Beef Stew, fresh Bread

6. Friday--Chicken Pot Pie
7. Saturday--Homemade Pizza

This week will see 6 new meals cooked, 0 nights of leftovers/FFY, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu? Roma Tomatoes for BLTs and salads(bought on Sat.), fresh carrots to roast.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy