On the Dining Table this Week

The "Some Weeks you Feel like a Horse's Rear End" Edition.......

This was the view as I left the furniture store last Sunday.
How fitting is that?!


Here's what was planned last week-- 

Sunday--Hubs had leftover Halushki, I didn't eat anything.
Monday--Leftover barbecue pork and coleslaw from our lunch stop on the way home Sunday
Tuesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(balls in the freezer/pasta in the stockpile), Italian Green Beans(freezer)
Wednesday--Leftover Halushki, Quiche(freezer), Salad(using garden tomatoes)
Thursday--BLT sandwiches(tomatoes from garden), Fried Apples
Friday--Baked Fish and Crabcakes(freezer), Veggie Medley(freezer)
Saturday--Leftovers or something from the freezer

And here's what actually got eaten--

Sunday--Hubs had leftover Halushki, I didn't eat anything
Monday--Leftover barbecue pork and coleslaw from our lunch stop on the way home Sunday, watermelon
Tuesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(balls in the freezer/pasta in the stockpile), Italian Green Beans(freezer), Strawberries
Wednesday--Quiche(freezer), Salad(using garden tomatoes)
Thursday--Leftovers-Hubs had spaghetti, I had a burger and watermelon
Friday--BLT sandwiches, applesauce
Saturday--Bob Evans-I had a BOGO meal coupon

I had a bad foot day on Thurs. so leftovers instead and the BLTs got moved to Friday, bumping the fish to next week.

As for food spending last week.....I spent $175.85 on $268.07 worth of groceries at 2 stores in 3 trips.
I stocked up last week on lunchmeat(so I don't need to purchase any this week because nothing I can have is on sale this week), dog kibble(2 large bags on sale), canned veg sale(corn, peas, beets and kraut), panko and bread crumbs(sale), bread(BOGO sale), local apples, OJ, Gatorade and frozen french fries(for #2), baking needs(sale), salad greens(sale), reduced muffins(#2), burritos and corn dogs(#2), bacon(sale), fruit, beans, some canned soup(reduced sodium), yogurt(sale), and seltzer(sale)accounts for most of it.

As for food waste, a couple of cukes last week. I was pickled out and nobody else wanted any cukes in salads or in vinegar for a couple of weeks so they went bad.  8-(

Leftovers going into this week--still picking tomatoes and there is leftover Spaghetti and leftover Halushki that has to go soon, either to the dogs or us. ;-)

Here's this week's meal plan---
Sunday--Leftovers-Hubs had Spaghetti and I had a roast beef sandwich
Monday--Hamburgers, mixed veggies, Cantaloupe
Tuesday--Baked Fish, Corn Pudding, leftover Green Beans
Wednesday--Out to eat, using a coupon
Thursday--Lobster, Rutabaga Casserole
Friday--Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes, Beets
Saturday--Leftovers and Broccoli Cheddar Soup

On the shopping list......Lobsters(on sale again), hot dog rolls and lemon juice is it.  I have everything else here already.  These 3 things will run about $30 and I hope to stay out of the grocery stores except for those items this week to get my food budget back on track. 8-)

I might need some milk or some odd or end thing but I might do some stocking up the next 4 weeks or so, as the local independent market has begun their Thanksgiving Promo-get a $ amount reward toward your turkey meal dinner depending on how much you spend during the coming 5 weeks.  Since I don't spend as much on groceries per month, compared to their usual customer, this means I'll have to give up Weis PMITA Markets until Thanksgiving and only shop at this other market in my town to accumulate enough points to get a reward.  I won't go out of my way to buy stuff I won't need just to get a reward but I will buy stuff I'll need in the future to get to a $ amount to get a reward.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

Food Spending August Week 2 & Meal Planning Week 3

Repeating the picture above again this week.  I got to thinking and the caption is all wrong!

It should read, "If Looks could kill women wouldn't need CAST IRON SKILLETS.

Am I right? ;-)

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

Sunday--Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti, Green Beans

Monday--Meatloaf, Squash Casserole 

Then things went haywire.....

Tuesday--Leftovers

Wednesday--Steak, COC

Thursday--Rigatoni with Mushrooms in Sauce

Friday--More Leftovers + mixed veggies

Saturday--Leftovers Yet Again(plus a big tossed salad)

I only made 2 of the original meals I planned.  Wed and Thurs we changed plans due to a store sale on steak, corn of cob and mushrooms(I had the sauce and pasta already.).  The 2 meatloaves and leftover pasta left us with many leftovers.

 

The weekly food spending was $188.09.  This is waaaay high for me in just 1 week.

I hadn't counted on the local Shursave market having their semi-annual MEAT SALE last week.  About $150 of that spending was pure meat.  I got a large Pork Shoulder(for smoking and barbecue), 7 lbs. of ribeye steaks and 2 large eye round tenderloins which I hacked up into smallish sirloin steaks and cubed the ends into stewing beef chunks.

Only about $40 of what I spent last week was on non-meat necessities.

I have $91.93 left of my $400 food budget for August. 

And it's just the 13th of the month.

A.C.K.

I do have $12 in Cats and a $10 gift card to help get me through the rest of August without going over my $91.93 left.   That gives me around $113 for the rest of the month.  Just keep any deals and sales away from my eyes!lol

Going into the new week I have the following leftovers to use up......meatloaf, rigatoni in sauce.

***********************

This week's menu.....

Sunday--salmon with maple glaze, Stir-fried mixed veg, mashed potatoes

Monday--BLT sandwiches with tomato from our garden...slurp!

Tuesday--tuna helper, caesar salad

Wednesday--Leftovers

Thursday--tacos or taco salad

Friday--burgers, baked beans, cucumber salad

Saturday--Leftovers

 

 

I'm going for easy peasy this week on the stovetop or outside on the grill and no running the oven.

What I need to buy this week to serve this menu?.....cucumbers.

I bought bread, carrots, rolls, lunchmeat for lunches and lots of lettuce last week so it's just cukes and milk.  I'm going to try to keep the spending under $20 this week.....I have to use the $12 in Cats this week, so actual $ spending of $8 or less.

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

Sluggy

February Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan February Week 2

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.

Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier. 

This week I have NO vintage Kitchen pictures.  Working on my Decluttering project has left me no time to search around the Interweb for more kitchen fodder for these posts.

Oh well.  Maybe next week.

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Cauliflower

MONDAY--Taco Bell(I'm having leftover Chicken & Dumplings)

TUESDAY--Homemade Pizza, Salad w/Fruit

WEDNESDAY--Tacos, Corn

THURSDAY--Tilapia, Sweet Potato fries, Brussel Sprouts

FRIDAY--Leftovers or Burritos
SATURDAY--Homemade Pizza(Hubs out of town)

Pretty much had what was planned, except the Lasagna, which moves to this week.  I had Hubs pick up 6 fresh pizza dough blobs at Price Chopper(as it was Buy 1/Get 2 free)and we used 3 over the course of the week and put 3 in the freezer for later.  The local grocer has Fresh Express Salad Kits for $1.99 ea. last week.  I bought 8.  I had 1 for lunch every other day.  I rather enjoy them, plus it's a healthier option for me for lunch and at $2 a pop, a good deal, so I pick those up when they are that low.

I also had a chicken breast(leftover from when I made Chicken & Dumplings)still, so I bought some grapes last week and made chicken salad.  I got 4 sandwiches from that(3 lunches for me and Hubs took a sammie to work one day).

For the week's menu I picked up salad greens and salad kits, grapes, pizza dough and milk.  As for other shopping...

*I hit the bread store, as we hadn't been since December and were out of everything bread related.

*I hit the local grocery for lots of salad greens and frozen veggies early in the week and then on Sat. for more greens(for This week) as well as a slew of Mexican type items like tortillas, taco shells and enchilada sauce, canned chili(for the menfolk to have with their burritos), whack biscuits, celery, sliced deli cheese and sour cream.

The weekly spending was $84.37(including the Rite-Aid OOP).  Pretty high week for me, huh?

1 Week in and I've spent $84.37 of my $300 February food budget.  $215.63 left for the month plus $92.32 leftover from January that didn't get spent.

Going into February Week 2, we have a little homemade pizza leftover but that's it.  All the other leftovers got eaten for lunches last weekend or on Leftover Night.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Subway Sandwiches(Hubs Super Bowl request)

MONDAY--leftover pizza or grilled cheese and soup

TUESDAY--Lasagna(with some shredded veg), Tossed Salad

WEDNESDAY--homemade Boston Baked Beans, Cornbread, Green Beans

THURSDAY--Enchiladas, Mexican Rice w/peppers

FRIDAY--Hot Dogs on rolls, Potato Salad, Carrots and Cauliflower
SATURDAY--Leftovers

This menu gives us I night of take-out, 2 night of leftovers and 4 home cooked meals this week, of which 2 are meatless.....well the beans are meatless except for the bacon in the dish.lol

Items needed for this menu are...maybe a red bell pepper as I haven't check if I have any left in the freezer yet.

I have spent $6.80 on Sunday already.  I also plan on buying on sale this week....corned beef hash(#2 son's request), apple juice, a bag of oranges and croutons(I have Qs for them).  If I get up to Price Chopper this week, I'll be doing the Full Circle Catalina Deal.  Plus milk as #2 son sucks it down during the course of the week.  I'm figuring on $40 or so for this week's goodies including what I've spent already this week.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy