Food Spending June Week 4 & Meal Planning July Week 1

Some days I look at the my kitchen and see the above.  My kitchen just feels so old and out of date,  but not in a good way like this cute, vintage 1920's kitchen!
In a bad, dark way.
And I just don't want to have to go work in there.

This is just my way of saying having to do a Menu this week is a real chore and something I am not feeling.  But I am doing one anyway!
Why?
Because I am a big girl and I "should" do one, and we should eat at home(most of the time).
It's better for us and better for our bottom line too.

So let's suck it up and get on with this, shall we?

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

SUNDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, grilled Squash
MONDAY--Salmon w/maple bourbon glaze, crudite plate(radishes,celery,carrots)with dressing dip

TUESDAY--Spaghetti with Meatballs, Salad

WEDNESDAY--Leftovers

THURSDAY--BLT sandwiches

FRIDAY--Homemade Pizza, Salad

SATURDAY--Burger King, raw veggies in dip

After eating out a lot on the mini-vacation to OH, we ate at home except for Whoppers on Saturday.
I kept true to the plan until Wednesday.  We had adequate leftovers so I substituted them for the meal that evening.  And Thursday was too hot to cook so it was BLTs instead.

The weekly food spending was $25.33.  It was 3 trips(5 transactions) to Weis. You can see what I bought HERE. 
I have a couple of trips to Rite-Aid to spend expiring +Ups but I spent nothing out of pocket.

Reg. retail was $152.02 for all so we saved 83.33% for the week.  And I kept within my $400 monthly food budget for June.
Go me.....

We have a brand new month for food spending starting this week.

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This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Steak, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Salad
MONDAY--Baked Potato Bar, Brussel Sprouts, Watermelon

TUESDAY--Lobster, Boston Baked Beans, Coleslaw

WEDNESDAY--BBQ Ribs, Macaroni Salad, COC, Pie

THURSDAY--Smoked Chicken, leftover sides from previous days

FRIDAY--Leftover BBBeans, Cornbread, Yellow Squash Casserole

SATURDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Salad

What I need to purchase for this menu?

Steak, Watermelon, Lobster, Cabbage, Red Bell Pepper, Corn, Squash

I know this menu is fairly decadent....steak, lobster and ribs.  The steak was on sale(bought it on Sunday).
The ribs were bought for $1 a lb. during the Weis Grand Opening a few weeks ago.  The lobster is a Price Chopper special this week($5.88 lb.).  We treat ourselves to cheap lobster at least once a year because we can....and the kids aren't home so we don't have to buy enough for them too.  ;-)

I'm dragging the smoker out to do the ribs, so I'll throw a whole chicken in there to smoke too and that will be the following night's dinner.
Since I have to run the oven for Cornbread, I am also doing a veg. casserole that evening.  If I run the oven in the heat, I want to pack as much food into it as I can.
The baked taters and beans will be done in the crockpot. 
The steak was done on the grill.
I have a method for doing the chicken parm on the stovetop, and the lobsters are done on the stovetop as well.
This means only 1 night of running the oven.


So what's on deck for your menu this week?
Do you have anything special cooking for the 4th?

And how was your food spending last month?

Sluggy

Food spending JUNE Week 1 & Meal Planning June Week 2

Yes, we survived the "Guess Who's Coming to Stay?" Meal Plan Week here at Chez Sluggy.

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I thank you for all your input and concern over my dinner guests and their, dare I say it?.....bizarre/narrow..... food habits.

I asked for some input from said guests and then just cooked what I wanted anyway.

Because that's how Sluggy rolls....lol

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

SUNDAY--Chinese Take-Out
MONDAY--BLT sandwiches

(These 2 nights were easy, no guests yet!)
TUESDAY--Ham, boxed mac&cheese, yellow squash
WEDNESDAY--Chicken Fajitas
THURSDAY--Dinner Out
FRIDAY--Salmon with Bourbon Maple Glaze, Green Beans, Sweet Potato Fries

(All gone so Sat. was easy too.)
SATURDAY--Steak, Baked Beans, Spinach Salad, Sweet Potato Fries

Company was here from Tuesday to Friday.

I waited to go shopping for the week until company arrived on Tuesday and then I took them to the store with me. 

For Tuesday I pulled leftover ham slices from Easter out of the freezer.  I knew they'd eat boring, bland ham. Their favorite food in the whole world is boxed Mac&cheese.  

Do you see what I am saying?lol

So I fixed 2 boxes of that with the ham.  It took a few tries in the fresh produce department with them on Tuesday afternoon to find a vegetable that they would eat/that I could fix a way they would eat it, thus we got sauted yellow squash.

Tuesday dinner....check!

I decided to just go with Chicken Fajitas for Wednesday.  1 of the company loves Mexican so at least 1 would eat.  I didn't make it spicy at all so the other company hopefully wouldn't have digestive issues brought about by the dinner. 

Fresh mushrooms and red bell peppers were purchased, as well as onions and I slivered up the leftover squash I didn't cook for Tuesday to put into the Fajita veggie mix.  I spent about $13 on Wed.'s meal including a big bag of onions, container of sour cream, tortillas, all of which I have leftovers of for another meal. (I had chicken and cheese in the freezer already.)

On Thursday we ate out.  Nobody even thinks to offer to pay for their meals when we go out as a group.

The company all thinks we are millionaires.  I guess they don't see the tens of thousands of dollars a year we are paying out for college.  I scrimp and pinch every nickel, do without the niceties of life, and Hubs works a highly stressful job, working hours above and beyond, we consider driving to Columbus, Ohio for a few days a stylin' vacation while his colleagues cruise around Europe, so that we can drop $100 for their plates of meatloaf, taters and gravy at Bob Evans.

But I digress....

On Friday, down to 1 company again, I dug salmon fillets and a bag of sweet potato fries out of the freezer, and the company picked the veggie du jour--a bag of green beans....*yawn*....one of the few green foods they will eat.  The company doesn't "do" accents like sauces, glazes, butter, most any condiment so the bourbon maple glaze was only well received by Hubs and I.  It was FANTASTIC!!

Daughter turned her nose up at dinner when she came through the door after work.

I cooked an expensive piece of salmon for her(her favorite type of fish)and she wouldn't eat it.

So I made a note to stop cooking for her altogether and I ATE that FISH for lunch on Saturday.

Salmon is too pricey and wonderful to let it go to waste!

 

So that is how I survived the Food Week.

The weekly food spending was $116.94 this past week.  Go look HERE if you want to lowdown on what was bought and my rationalization for spending so much.lol

I've given myself $400 for food this month so I have about $283 left.
Once #2 Son goes to camp next week the 2nd half of June's actual food expenses will plummet.  This will leave me tons of cash to restock the pantry, IF some good rock bottom price deals come along.

We shall see if they do.....

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This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Spaghetti with Sausage and Vegetable Pasta
MONDAY--Taco Bell

TUESDAY--Burgers on Roll, COC

WEDNESDAY--Barbecue Chicken, Grilled Squashes
THURSDAY--Hamburger Helper type meal, Tossed Salad
FRIDAY--Baked Potatoes with Toppings, Brussel Sprouts
SATURDAY--Shrimp(maybe with Grits, maybe grilled with Garlic), whatever else is leftover from the week

6 home cooked meals this week and I night of take-out.

Things I need to purchase this week to serve this menu.....Rolls, COC, 1 or 2 Squash(to go with the 1 squash leftover from last week), Ground Beef(I am totally out!), Salad Greens, Shrimp, Potatoes.

The only leftovers going into this week are the fajita mix, tortillas and a slice of ham.  I'll have the fajitas for lunches(2 or 3 tortillas' worth)and probably make a ham garnish for the dogs' dinner with the ham because fresh ham is boring and bland but leftover twice heated ham is akin to ham jerky.

So what is everyone else eating this week?


Sluggy