This Week on the Dining Table

The "Sometimes You Gotta Splurge But You Can Do It Frugally" Edition........

 

 

 

This is my decadent lunch from last Saturday.....a Lobster Roll.

I had Hubs pick up 4 lobsters at Price Chopper on Friday on his way home.
The grocery store had lobster for $6.99 lb.  We spent $33.90 on 4 lobsters.
I ate 1 of mine with a cob of corn on Friday but Hubs ate both of his sea bugs and corn.

I picked out the leftover body shells and legs plus my other lobster's meat and Saturday I made a lobster roll for lunch.

Cost of a lobster dinner at Red Lobster?
$24.99 or higher.
$100(lobster out)vs. $33.90(lobster at home)and it tasted just as good.
Actually it tasted better since I've had lobster at RL and they usually overcook it there.


 What was planned last week--

 

1.  Teriyaki Salmon, leftover Mac and Cheese, Spinach

2.  Pork Tenderloin Sammies, Honey Carrots

3.  ?  Might get some Lobsters or have Hamburgers on the grill Labor Day weekend

4.  Leftover Roast Chicken, maybe I'll make a soup with it, or?

5.  Leftover Tuna Noodle Casserole
6.  Leftover Beef Pie
7.  Leftover Pot Roast Sammies

 

And this is what actually happened--

 

1.  Teriyaki Salmon, leftover Mac and Cheese, Spinach

2.  Pork Tenderloin Sammies, Honey Carrots

3.  Lobsters to celebrate the long weekend, Corn on the Cob

4.  Dinner out for our 32nd Anniversary

5.  Leftover Tuna Noodle Casserole
6.  Leftover Beef Pie
7.  Pizza-nobody felt like cooking or leftovers

 

Everything but 2 leftovers happened.
  

Last week I made ZERO trips to the grocery stores.

It wasn't that hard to avoid the grocery store otherwise, because there wasn't much that was a good deal that we use and we had a TON of leftovers to use up.

Hubs did splurge on Friday, picking up 4 lobsters from the grocery store which I cooked.  $33 for 2 double lobster dinners ain't bad, though it did throw my food spending for August over $400.

Going into this week, in leftovers we have.........a hunk of Pot Roast, and some of the Roast Chicken and veggies.

Here is the plan for this week.........

1.  Zucchini Casserole

2.  Hamburgers(from freezer)and Tomato and Feta Salad

3.  Cream of Potato Soup w/Chicken and Carrots(made from leftover roast chicken/veg)

4.  Leftover Pot Roast Sammies w/Carrots

5.  Brats on rolls, leftover zuke casserole
6.  Spinach Salad(will make pasta and sauce also for Hubs, not for me)
7.  Take-out

2 nights eating "light" this week.  We had pizza Saturday and I am feeling bloated from all the salt in that still.

I already made the soup meal Sunday and I still have half a chicken breast left.  That is going into the freezer today for eating in the coming month.  Maybe I'll use it to make Chicken Fajitas in a week or two.

Food Waste--nothing went bad this week.

We need fresh produce this week--zuke, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce and maybe a watermelon.  I haven't even looked at the sales ads for this week yet so I don't know what I'll be spending.

   

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 that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?
How much did you spend on food in August?

 

Sluggy

Food Spending July Week 2 & Meal Planning July Week 3

My keyboard seems possessed today.  Things are inadvertently getting "highlighted" and erased by some unseen force.  I have gotten up with disgust from the computer a time or two today and gone off to take care of other things here just to keep my sanity.

If I get this finished while it's still Monday AND I still have my wits about me, it will be a feat extraordinaire!

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And here is the "meal plan" that actually happened last week.....


SUNDAY--Smoked Chicken, Cornbread, mixed Veggies in Chinese Sauce
MONDAY--using up the leftover steak....steak sandwiches, steak salad-not sure yet

TUESDAY--Ribs, Beans, Macaroni Salad(yet again!lol)

WEDNESDAY--Squash Casserole, Grilled Salmon

THURSDAY--Subway Sandwiches

FRIDAY--Dinner Out (Chinese)

SATURDAY--Fajitas with smoked Chicken

We used up all the leftovers again.....yay us!   Hubs and I have been eating alone again this week due to Daughter's work schedule.  She either goes out for pizza or wings after work or she eats something at the mall if she is working at dinner time.  "Dinner" being a $1 soft pretzel and a $1 lemonade.  We'll see how long she goes like that until she gets tired of spending her own money and/or she needs real food again.

The weekly food spending was $91.05.  After only spending $7.62 last week, we needed more than usual this past week.  Plus ground beef was $1.99lb(rock bottom price!)at Weis, so I bought 7ish lbs.  We also made our monthly trip to the bread outlet last week and since it's summer we added some snacks(chips)to the shopping list.
The regular retail value for all was $172.32 so I had a 47.16% savings rate.  And this isn't counting what I hauled home from Rite-Aid for free last week...figure in another $49.25 worth of stuff at reg. retail and my savings rate shoot up to 58.90%!  ;-)

As I reset my July Food Budget to $300, I now have $201.33 left to spend on food/toiletries this month.  16 shopping days left in July.  I think I can make it! 8-)

Going into the new week I have the following leftovers to use up......fajita fixings, 1 piece of cornbread and about half of the squash casserole.

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This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Leftover Chinese(from our Dinner Out)
MONDAY--Marin Joe's Special

TUESDAY--Lemon Pepper Chicken w/Zucchini

WEDNESDAY--Hamburger Helper type casserole, leftover Squash casserole

THURSDAY--Kielbasa on Rolls, homemade Pickles, Green Beans

FRIDAY--homemade Quiche, Tossed Salad

SATURDAY--Leftovers

What I need to buy this week to serve this menu?.....
I bought most everything to make these dishes when I went to the store last week.  I will need to buy a pie crust for the quiche and salad greens.  Green beans might be purchased if our bean plants don't "give up the goods" by Thursday. lol  I see some milk and fruit being purchased as well.  As for stock-up opportunities this week?....I haven't even looked at the store ads yet.   I should be able to keep the food spending under $40 this week.

A note......it's been amazing to me to see how little we need to spend on food when it's just Hubs and I eating and we aren't feeding the ravenous offspring.  Unfortunately, while the amount of food prepared and bought goes down, the amount of time I have to spend on menu planning, shopping and preparing said food hasn't decreased.  If you are cooking 2 pork chops or 8 pork chops, you still spending the same amount of time doing all that stuff.  8-(

So what's on deck for your menu this week?

Sluggy