This Week on the Dining Table

The  "Barbecue Pork 2.0" Edition--

You know those "Taco Bake Rings" folks make with crescent roll triangles and taco filling?  Well I had rolls of crescent roll dough and leftover pork barbecue so I made a BBQ Bake Ring last Sunday for dinner.  BBQ, add cheese and voila!
This baby disappeared very quickly!

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Leftovers(leftover Barbecue in Calzones)

2. Monday--Eggplant Parmesan

3. Tuesday--Hubs is cooking hahahaha

4. Wednesday--Ravioli or Pasta(using leftover sauce)

5. Thursday--Breakfast for Dinner
6. Friday--Daughter is cooking
7. Saturday--Marinated Beef Kabobs

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Leftovers BBQ in a Baked Dough Ring

2. Monday--Eggplant Parmesan

3. Tuesday--Ravioli w/Sauce, Green Bean, Garlic Bread(Hubs cooked)

4. Wednesday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Onions, Potato Salad

5. Thursday--Marinated London Broil Sandwiches
6. Friday--Pizza, Salad
7. Saturday--Roasted Chicken Thighs and Veggies(Daughter cooked)

Last week saw 6 nights of home cooked dinners, 0 nights of leftovers and 1 nights of Take-Out.  The menu changed as the week went on.  the Ka-bobs didn't happen but London Broil did.
Hubs DID cook one night but I have to plan it for him and he can't do anything "complicated" so in the end, it's better if I do the cooking. sigh.
Maybe as time goes on he'll feel my adventurous and want to try something outside his "wheelhouse"(aka pasta). lolz

I made 2 small trips to the Weis Markets and 1 trip to the ShurSave Market, plus Hubs and I spent a little at Walmart and the Bread Outlet.   All totaled all the food spending came to $108.30 OOP.  This brings my July food spending total to $224.42.  There are 14 days left in the month. 

My savings percentages last week was 46.59% which brings the month's percentage to 46%. 

Leftovers going into this week........spaghetti sauce, 1 piece of London Broil, pizza, 1 chicken thigh, rice and stir-fry veggies.  All the 4th of July food is finally gone.

Here is this week's "food plan"....
* Denotes "complicated" meals

1. Sunday--Breakfast for Dinner

2. Monday--Not Sure, something using up the leftovers

3. Tuesday--No clue

4. Wednesday--No clue

5. Thursday--No clue
6. Friday--No clue
7. Saturday--No clue
Anybody see a pattern here? lolz

This week will see ? new meals cooked, ? nights of leftovers and ? night of Take-Out/Eating-Out.

What I need to buy for this menu?  Daughter will be grocery shopping for the next few weeks so it's not in my hands until later.

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

This Week on the Dining Table

The "We Drove to Berwick on Sunday" Edition--

Same companion, different drinks...lol

We had lunch at the Greek place we like(using up a $15 gift certificate I had)and then had some brewskis at the brewpub down the road.  No new pictures to share because I brought my old camera by mistake(it has been behaving lately but on Sunday it was back to it's old broken self), so I'm re-sharing the photos I took in June when we went.


What was planned last 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
  

And this is what actually happened--

 

1.  Zucchini Casserole

2.  Hamburgers(from freeze), Baked Beans

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

4.  Leftover Pot Roast Sammies w/Carrots

5.  Salmon grilled, leftover Zuke Casserole
6.  Spinach Salad(no pasta for Hubs too, he was fine with just the salad)
7.  Take-out

 

Everything but the Brats happened and we had salmon that night instead.  Brats moving to this week.
   

Last week I made 2 trips to the grocery stores on my grocery shopping day.

I spent $45.86 on food last week.  It's a bit less than I actually spent because the cashier forgot to take the 50% sticker/price off my collards so I got that free.  Hey, $3 is $3.....


 Going into this week, in leftovers we have.........1 helping of each the zuke casserole, the potato/chicken soup and the baked beans.  There is a bit of fresh spinach leftover as well.

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

1.  BLT sammies, side spinach salad

2.  Ravioli(freezer), tossed salad

3.  Brats(freezer) on rolls, leftover baked beans, collard greens

4.  Duck breast(freezer) Risotto, sauted Veggies of some kind(depending on what's fresh at the market)

5.  Leftover Chinese take-out from last Saturday
6.  Grilled pork chop(freezer), leftover Collards, fried apples
7.  Leftovers or No Clue Yet(something in the freezer)


Food Waste--nothing went bad last week.

What I need to buy this week......some fresh produce, bread and milk. 

We stopped at Giant because we were over by one in Berwick and stocked up on canned chili, G2 and a couple more things totaling $26.87. And we went and joined Sam's Club on Saturday and dropped another $54.74 on flounder, pecans, peroxide, lunchmeat, muffins, good hot dogs and 10# sugar(for making my pepper relish). Yes, we got out of there without spending $100.....everyone tells me $100 is your baseline spending anytime you walk through those doors. lolz

Since we've already spent $81.61 this past weekend I'll try to keep it to a minimum of food spending for the rest of the week.
I'm already up to $127.47 spent for September and we are only 8 days in.
Eek!

   

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 so far in September?

 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "In the Doldrums of Summer" Edition........

 

 

Here's a sculpture I made of out of the rinds from a watermelon I cut up.  Yes, I need a life.....lolz


 What was planned last week--

 

1.  Fish, Sautéed Cabbage

2.  Reuben Sandwiches

3.  Brats or Brisket, leftover Potato Salad, Baked Beans

4.  Chicken "something", probably with leftover Casseroles

5.  Chili, Tossed Salad
6.  Tuna Noodle Casserole, Green Beans with Red Peppers and Mushrooms
7.  Leftovers

 

And this is what actually happened--

 

1.  Fish, Sautéed Cabbage

2.  Reuben Sandwiches

3.  Brats, leftover Potato Salad, Baked Beans

4.  Beef Brisket, leftover Zuke Casserole

5.  Meatloaf, Green Bean Casserole
6.  Spaghetti with Meatballs, Tossed Salad
7.  Macaroni & Cheese, California Veggie Blend

 

4 of the meals planned were served.  I get a "yen" for meatloaf so bought some ground beef and made one, along with a bunch of meatballs too.  #2 Son requested mac & cheese so we had that Sunday.  No chicken, no leftovers, chili or tuna noodle casserole was made/served.
  

Last week I made 2 trips to the grocery store(and 2 trips to Rite-Aid) and spent $98.53 on $143.40 worth of groceries/toiletries.

Going into this week, in leftovers we have.........green bean casserole, taco filling, 1 romaine head, asparagus, a container of salad greens, a container of mushrooms, 1/2 red pepper and a big hunk of smoked brisket, meatloaf and meatballs, mac and cheese and veggie blend.



Here is the plan for this week......not necessarily eaten in this order.....

1.  Chicken Parm, Caesar Salad, Spaghetti(leftover)

2.  Beef Brisket Sandwiches, Grilled Asparagus

3.  Eating Out

4.  Leftovers

5.  Chili, Tossed Salad
6.  Tuna Noodle Casserole, Green Beans with Red Peppers and Mushrooms
7.  Leftovers
 

We are having a rare eating out night this week, a "farewell to #2 Son" meal I guess you'd call it.

What needs buying for this menu to happen?
Not much except for some milk.  Either using leftovers up(or repurposed into new meals), or using items already in the house.

Not much on sale at the stores this week I want.....some milk, fresh fruit, onions and Gatorade(G2).

$30 is planned for the grocery spending this week.  Let's see if I can stick to that.....

No food waste again this week.
Eagle Eye Sluggy is watching that the leftovers get used. 8-)
It will help that Hubs took a week of vacation and is home to tackle leftovers at lunchtime too.
   

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?

 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Please Make it Stop Snowing Because I am so Tired of Talking About Snow!" Edition.......

 

 

We got 3 storms within 48 hours late last week.  You can just make out a sliver of the top of the car parked on the roadside, behind that snow bank.  The driveway is turning into a tunnel configuration with walls 4 feet high on either side of it.  Nowhere left to put the snow here....bleh. 

 

Here is what was planned last week---

 

Sunday--Broiled Cod, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Onions, Coleslaw
Monday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Sugar Snap Peas w/Red Peppers
Tuesday--Chicken in Wine Sauce, Noodles, Broccoli
Wednesday--Hot Dogs w/Coleslaw, Red Potato Salad, Beans(for Hubs/#2 Son)
Thursday--Quiche(freezer), TBD Veggies
Friday--Mushroom Parmesan, Salad
Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner or Leftovers

 

And here is what actually happened---

 

Sunday--Broiled Cod, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Onions, Coleslaw
Monday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Sugar Snap Peas w/Red Peppers
Tuesday--Chicken in Wine Sauce, Noodles, Broccoli
Wednesday--Pizza from the freezer
Thursday--Breakfast for Dinner
Friday--Chinese Take-out
Saturday--Hot Dogs w/Coleslaw, Red Potato Salad

 Everything served as planned except the Quiche and Mushroom Parm and the last half of the week dinners were moved to different nights.  Since #2 Son & Hubs didn't leave town on Friday this changed the configuration of meals.  We got take-out to celebrate Valentine's Day since Hubs wasn't suppose to be home that evening so nothing had been planned.

 

I spent a total of.....*sit down for this one!*....$2.42 on groceries last week.  Hubs bought milk when he got gas on Saturday and I spent $.53 at Rite-Aid when I picked up a case of water and 2 bottle of peroxide(using up a $5 +Up Reward).

So after the week's spending, I am sitting at $290.82 spent in February with 11 more days in the month to go.  I seriously doubt I'll stay under $300 at this point for the month but I'll try to keep it as close to that mark as possible.

Going into the new week here are the leftovers we have.....
 Beef Stroganoff and rice, Chicken Fajita fixings and that's about it.

 

Here is this week's meal plan----let's dig deeper into the freezer and pantry---

Sunday--Leftovers
Monday--Dinner Out using gift card
Tuesday--Cheese Steaks w/peppers and onions
Wednesday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Mushroom Parmesan, Asparagus
Thursday--Fish, Sugar Snaps, Roasted Potatoes
Friday--Chicken Risotto, Salad or Leftover Asparagus
Saturday--Leftovers Again

That makes 4 new meals, 1 meal out and 2 leftover or planned over meal.

I have fish, chicken and roast beef lunchmeat in the freezer and I *think* I might have a small package of ground beef in there too.


What I need to purchase for this menu?.......Deli Cheese(for the cheese steaks), Salad Greens(I'll go on Wed. and find some reduced containers), Asparagus(on sale this week) and maybe 1 lb. of Ground Beef if I can't find any in the freezer.  We are also out of Sour Cream(something I like to have around)so I'll pick that up because it's on sale this week here.  One store also had Welch's Grape Juice on sale and I like to have some of the purple kind on hand. This should run me around $20 depending on whether I need Ground Beef or not and what it's going for this week/if I can find a reduced package.

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

 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Can We Please Not Get Anymore Snow for Awhile?!" Edition

 

Here is what was planned last week---

 

Sunday--Leftovers or FFY(I was the only one home)
Monday--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Grilled Asparagus
Tuesday--Kielbasa and Onions on Rolls, Brussell Sprouts
Wednesday--Roast Chicken, Collards, Smashed Rutabaga
Thursday--Eating Out, #2 Son at District Band Comp.
Friday--Chicken Fajitas(using leftover chicken from Wed.)
Saturday--Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Leftovers of FFY(Fend For Yourself)

 

And here is what actually happened---

 

Sunday--Leftovers or FFY(I was the only one home)
Monday--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Grilled Asparagus
Tuesday--Kielbasa and Onions on Rolls, Brussell Sprouts
Wednesday--Roast Chicken, Collards, Smashed Rutabaga
Thursday--Eating Out at Bob Evans using gift card
Friday--Fend for Yourself(I was home alone)
Saturday--Chicken Fajitas(using leftover chicken from Wed.)

Everything served as planned except I forgot I was going to be home along for dinner on Friday so Friday's dinner was prepared Saturday.

Not a big deal.
Eating out used a previously purchases gift card combined with a BOGO Entree free Coupon.

 

I spent a total of.....*sit down for this one!*....$184.53 on groceries last week.
I had spent $51 or so early on in the week, but then Hubs took me to R-A, The local market and Weis PMITA Markets on Saturday and I spent $133+ I wasn't expecting to.  I found some good deals(b/s chicken breast for $1.88 lb. cantaloupes for $1.47, blocks of cheese on special)so I spent.  We also needed dog food last week and that is something we don't buy often but when we do we stock up. 
Even if I spent loads more than usual in 1 week, my savings rate was still 50%, and my savings rate for February so far is 59.15%.
Pretty darn good. 8-))

I don't expect to buy much this coming week since I've planned a menu around what is here for the most part, except for some fresh produce.

If I am trying to do a $300 food budget month, I have already spent $288.40 in February and it's only the 10th!
Holey Moley.

That means I have 14 more days after this coming Saturday to feed us until the month is over and $11.60 left in my food kitty to accomplish this.
Hmmmmm.......
Don't know how I am going to pull THAT off but I'll give it a shot.  ;-)

 

Going into the new week here are the leftovers we have.....
Collards, Chicken Fajita fixings.

 

Here is this week's meal plan----

Sunday--Broiled Cod, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Onions, Coleslaw
Monday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Sugar Snap Peas w/Red Peppers
Tuesday--Chicken in Wine Sauce, Noodles, Broccoli
Wednesday--Hot Dogs w/Coleslaw, Red Potato Salad, Beans(for Hubs/#2 Son)
Thursday--Quiche(freezer), TBD Veggies
Friday--Mushroom Parmesan, Salad
Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner or Leftovers

That makes 6 new meals and 1 leftover or planned over meal.
As I only have enough turkey lunchmeat for 2 lunches so I'll be eating on leftovers for lunches this week after that is gone.

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......maybe some fresh produce or I'll just dig some veggies out of the freezer instead.
 

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

 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Thank Goodness Marching Band Season is Over" Edition.......

 

 

 

 

#2 Son is happy that his last season of Marching Band finished up on Sunday.  Now he just has 2 Concert Band concerts, 2 Jazz Band concerts and Pitt Orchestra for the School Musical and ALL the rehearsals for each to go before he graduates in the Spring.
The photo is of some of the band kids after a meet performance back in October that our group hosted.  #2 Son is standing on the track(behind the fence)right above the drum in this shot.

Here are the meals that were planned last week--
 

Sunday--Chinese Take-Out  Treating ourselves tonight
Monday--Mushroom Alfredo shells with leftover London Broil, Spinach Salad(Hubs is craving pasta)
Tuesday--Baked Fish(in freezer) and crab cakes(freezer), coleslaw, some veggie(freezer)
Wednesday--Lasagna(leftover-then the rest gets put into the freezer for later)
Thursday--Chicken Pot Pie(using leftover chicken, carrots, potatoes + fresh broccoli)
Friday--maybe Domino's pizza using one of my free coupons + a big salad for me
Saturday--leftovers or something scrounged around the house

Everything eaten as planned except Friday's dinner was Saturday's and vice versa.
I used the leftover Broccoli Soup from weeks ago in my pot pie instead of making a sauce/cream from scratch or opening a can of soup to use.  I am so proud of me......!

And I ended up eating too much pizza.  I hadn't had any in so long and it was so good that I just couldn't eat one slice. lol

As for food spending last week....you might want to look away as it's going to be bad(spendy).  There were 6 trips to the store and I spent $287.01 on $554.87 worth of groceries at 5 different stores.  I've spent $385.79 of my $400 November food budget so far and there are 17 days left for this month. 
bleh.
Hubs made a stop after work at a store we don't often go to.  There was the monthly trip to the Bakery/Bread Outlet and I had a 15% off discount card for Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)I had to use or lose and they had some good food buys, even before that discount.  So we blew through a bit of money on foodstuffs last week.

Not to worry though as we have extra funds each month plus I am stockpiling last week and this week so we spend enough to get our Thanksgiving gift certificate at one of my stores.  Might as well buy the items that will keep now and they count toward our spending rather than buying them next month and not having them count, right?  I am hoping that my December spending will reflect these buying ahead deals and be lower than my usual.
We shall see.....

Leftovers going into this week--1/2 a large family-sized chicken pot pie and a whole pizza(but that will most likely be scarfed down between meals or as lunches).

Here's this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Burgers on Rolls, Collard Greens
Monday--Mushroom Parmesan, Salad
Tuesday--Roasted Chicken, Carrots, Stuffing
Wednesday--leftover Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday--Steak, Roasted Asparagus & Potatoes
Friday--Baked Fish, Coleslaw, Green Beans
Saturday--Chicken & Dumplings

What I need to purchase for this menu?......
I still need to spend about $55 this week to get to our Turkey Day gift certificate.
I'm going to try to keep the spending to $55 but even so, that will put us over budget in November by $40+ and that's not counting buying a turkey.
bleh again.
Oh what the hell......I am going to fly the white flag this month.
I give up. ;-)

What got fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy