Hey y’all! Welcome to the series Weekly Eating.

Here is where I’ll talk about the week’s meal plan versus reality, what we ate for the week, and how we did budget-wise. I hope it gives readers a behind-the-scenes look into our life through the lens of food, and it’s also a way to keep us on track with meal planning and grocery budgeting.

Feel free to share your wins and lessons in the comments below!

 

Over the weekend we made a lot of progress on the coop. The chicks are getting so big I don’t know if I can even call them chicks for much longer. They are also very bouncy and like to run around the box and jump and fly up into the screen covering it, so they need to get out, and soon!

I also went to the Tanger outlets for the first time with a friend, and we had a ball trying on clothes for a few hours on a gorgeous sunny day. I even caved and got 3 new things from Old Navy. I couldn’t tell you the last time I bought a new piece of clothing. But all three things were pieces I felt great in and that I love and know I will wear over and over until they wear out.

And we went to a local Hispanic market that I’ve been meaning to get to for forever. We picked up several different flavors/spice levels of salsa along with some hot sauces, jalapenos to replenish our stock of pickled jalapenos, chorizo, some chicken, and some avocados.

Monday:

Breakfast – Mango strawberry smoothie

Lunch – Buddha bowl with roasted cauliflower, quinoa, black beans, cherry tomatoes, and avocado. And someone brought a peach pie to work to share so you better believe I had some of that!

Dinner – White bean and rice soup with green beans and spinach, with homemade veggie stock and homemade bread

Tuesday:

Breakfast – Homemade bread with 3 quail eggs, 1 slice organic white cheddar cheese and 1 slice smoked turkey

Snack – guac & chips

Lunch – leftover roast brisket with roasted root veggies

Dinner –leftover colcannon and corned beef; also I am so loving that we can eat dinner out on the porch now! It is still light & warm out.

Wednesday:

Breakfast – accidentally skipped it bc I overslept…

Lunch – leftover soup and bread

Snack – apple and celery with peanut butter and raisins, and some gummy bears

Dinner – breaded roasted chicken quarters, and some radish top pesto and roasted cauliflower

Thursday:

Breakfast – gorgeous purple berry smoothie

Lunch – leftover chicken drumstick, cauli, and whole wheat penne pesto with cherry tomatoes

Dinner – chana saag over brown rice – chickpea, tomato, and spinach stew with masala spices

Friday:

Breakfast – everything bagel with turkey, quail eggs, and organic white cheddar cheese

Lunch – last leftover beef and root veggies

Snack – everything hummus, with sliced cucumber, radish & carrots. And cookies later, because the sugar demon is strong.

Dinner – Crazy combo of chorizo, sweet potato, onion, and apples. That’s it. Was quite weird, different, but really good.

The Weekend

GUYS IT’S SPRING. It finally feels like it at last. The sun in shining and we are in the upper 60s and 70s and I am freaking thrilled. The flowers are all blooming, the trees are blossoming, and my yard is regularly visited by robins and cardinals and blue jays. I love it.

Also, WE FINISHED THE COOP!

Yeah, pretty flippin excited about it. Took a ton of work and ingenuity but by golly, we got it done. Hubs was KEY, I could never have finished this all by my lonesome. I needed his advice, level head, and boy mode strength to get through it. Not the prettiest coop that ever existed, but it is functional.

And the babies are no longer babies, we kicked them out of the house! They were starting to get too big and feisty for their box, it was just a matter of time until they figured out how to pop up and rip the screen lid off. Plus, they started to stink.

They seem a little bewildered, but very happy in their new home. And boy, are they spoiled! This coop is HUGE, it’s like a quail mansion. Hopefully, the first egg is just around the corner…

Food Total: $67.22 + 33.05 = $99.27

Weekly Produce Box = a build your own, so I got to choose all my favorites. I got Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green beans, red potatoes and yellow potatoes, beets, tomatoes, lettuce, and a stock up box of 8 pounds of NC sweet potatoes.

 

Lessons Learned

It’s good to have standby recipes that you know you can cook well, and quickly, and easily. But it is good to experiment too. That’s how I find crazy new combos, that the boy approves of. I got kudos for the creative chorizo meal, not as a thing we could eat daily, but once it a while it is nice to have something totally out of the norm.

And I’m sure y’all are super tired of me crowing about quail, but seriously. They bring me so much joy. If you’ve ever considered raising your own animals for food, for eggs, milk, or meat, just do it! You won’t be sorry.

 

 

 

How about you guys? Did you have a learning week or an awesome week of wins?