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!
Wow, weddings always go by in a flash don’t they?! The weekend in Chicago was a ton of fun, food, and fast paced sightseeing. The boy had never been, so of course we had to hit Millennium Park to see the Bean, the Chicago River, the Magnificent Mile, and Navy Pier.
The town was lovely, as was the church and the wedding itself. The reception was at a cool glassblowing studio, where they had some live demonstrations going on! The food was divine, as expected, and we danced the night away. No joke, I had 24K+ steps Saturday! Of course, I’m sure I negated that with the obligatory deep dish pizza.
In the airport, we ate at a cafe that had a brilliant device: you press the button to order, or get a check. I think that is just the smartest thing. No more getting interrupted every two seconds when you don’t want anything, and waiting around trying to flag someone down when you do.
Also of note, I’ve got baby beets, radishes, collards, and wheat popping up all over! Fingers crossed I actually get something edible before Jan/Feb freezes it all.
Monday:
Breakfast – Berry oatmeal with chia and walnuts
Lunch – Leftover bayou chicken pasta I’d pulled from the freezer
Dinner – pasta, because when you’re exhausted from traveling and the fridge is empty, you don’t want to go to a store. And a box of pasta plus a jar of sauce is as easy as comfort food gets.
Tuesday:
Breakfast – berry & kefir smoothie
Lunch – leftover defrosted veggie burgers with hummus, sauerkraut and avocado
Dinner – the Butternut Squash Risotto that lit up Twitter. Yes, it really is as delicious as it looks, and you should go make some. Now.
Wednesday:
Breakfast – ham egg and cheese breakfast bagel sandwich; I found these bagel thins in the freezer too. Can you sense a theme? Oncoming winter always prompts a drive for freezer clean out for some reason.
Lunch – Leftover Thai sweet potato and carrot soup over rice, with a small chunk of leftover brisket
Dinner – Thawed pork chops with cranberry sauce, sweet potato and carrot casserole, and green beans. Basically Thanksgiving prep for taste buds. Eaten by a fire, as all fall meals should be.
Second dinner – So uh, we went out to meet up with a friend for a beer. And we chatted and had a great time catching up. Then as we were about to leave we got on the topic of sushi (which, you should know by now, I freaking LOVE). And of course I perked up like, we can has sushi now?!? And the boy. said. yes. !!! I don’t care that I had dinner and it’s 8:40pm and they close soon. We goin! And, we went. And it was glorious. #sorrynotsorry
Thursday:
Breakfast – PBJ toast, which, I ended up not eating until the way home from work later bc I was still kinda full… weird…
Lunch – leftover risotto! and homemade soda.
Dinner – Burritos! Always satisfying.
Friday:
Breakfast – sad bowl of cocoa puffs…
Lunch – I forgot to pack a lunch, so I dipped into my emergency food drawer at work for canned soup.
Dinner – “Make Room In The Fridge Dal”, that gives the Angry Leftovers Man heart palpitations. It was super good though.
The Weekend
Saturday is the big Halloween party! I haven’t thrown a good holiday party in a long time, and I finally know enough people in NC to pack the house, so I’m pretty excited about it. Been decorating, cleaning, planning, and cooking all week.
There will be a bonfire outside, lights all around the porch, games set up inside and outside, and creepy music on YouTube. I’m making a couple dips and a veggie tray, and people are bringing all kinds of goodies too. But the real highlight will be the Trick or Treat shots!
Food Total: $64.43 + 28.05 = $92.48
Weekly Produce Box and a trip to ALDI for last minute party foods. We were also down to our last container of coffee, which is a good reason for all out panic. I picked up some cute fall scented candles as well, because we will have a housewarming to go to soon!
Crescent roll dough was on sale, which if I get motivated and have enough time Saturday morning, I’ll turn into cute dough ‘fingers’ with marinara ‘blood’ dipping sauce. I also picked up tortillas in anticipation of a taco night next (next) weekend.
| Dairy | $9.24 | Staples | $22.89 | Fruit/Veg | $11.23 | Extras | $21.07 |
| cream cheese | 2.37 | Coffee | 4.79 | vine ripe tomatoes | 1.89 | cake mix – for work party | 1.7 |
| berry kefir 3 | 6.87 | Cooking spray 2 | 2.98 | romaine | 1.99 | Graham crackers | 1.25 |
| crescent roll dough | 1.78 | celery | 0.89 | Marshmallows (s’mores) | 0.89 | ||
| Dipper chips | 0.89 | 3pk bell peppers | 1.99 | Fancy choc bars 2 | 3.98 | ||
| tortillas x2 | 3.28 | butternut squash | 1.57 | Jello (shots…) | 0.7 | ||
| 100% fruit juice x2 | 5.18 | seedless cucumber | 0.99 | Mason jar candles 2 | 9.98 | ||
| Red blend wine | 3.99 | pineapple | 0.99 | taco mix seasoning | 0.29 | ||
| bananas | 0.92 | ||||||
| Tax | 2.28 |
And then my Harvest Box contained: Avocado XL green (1), Apple Cider (1), Green Beans, Fall Glo Tangerines (4), Garden Cucumber (1), Red New Potatoes, White Sweet Corn (3), Sweet Onion (1), Fuji Apples (4).
So we are very well stocked up, and if I can contain myself and stay away from stores, I shouldn’t have to grocery shop at all next week!
Lessons Learned
Guyyyyyys. Avoiding plastic is SO hard. Especially when throwing a party, with many people you barely know. On the one hand, most of the things I already had (forks, plates, water bottles) and will do my best not to purchase more of in the future. I want to overall move more towards smaller dinner party style, with real plates and cups and silverware.
But plastic food packaging too. My beloved ALDI, the purveyor of low prices, why must you use so much plastic? I feel like we could get an additional savings if you just sold me peppers naked, as nature grows them.
Another lesson? A stocked freezer is so amazing. Especially when you get back from a trip and do not have the energy to go to the store for food. But also, you should look in there routinely and make sure to actually eat the stuff. I think it’s time for a big purge, a la my January pantry and freezer challenge.