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!
Last weekend we started off with a big bonfire and party, which was a lot of fun. But also tiring. We stayed up way too late, and maybe had a few too many beers. Saturday and Sunday were much slower and quieter haha.
Monday:
Breakfast – green smoothie: spinach, banana, frozen tropical fruit mix, flaxseed
Lunch – it was a super crazy day so I didn’t have time for lunch, but I got a late afternoon cup of tea and a nut bar, so that’s good. Oh, and someone brought Krispy Kreme donuts, so I had one of those.
Dinner –I treated us to Chipotle burritos! The boy got steak and I got a sofritas with guac and it was glorious
Tuesday:
Breakfast – berry smoothie
Lunch – quinoa, cauliflower, black beans and cashews over a bed of mixed greens
Snack – apple and a KIND bar
Dinner – Instant Pot Fish & Veggies!
Wednesday:
Breakfast – berry smoothie, with black beans!
Lunch – leftover Instant pot fish & veg
Dinner – Enchiladas!
I had thawed a pound of free range Butcher Box ground beef. Mixed with some diced mushrooms and olives, and a healthy scoop of black beans, that made the perfect filling. I wrapped a big spoonful in a tortilla, times ten. Cover in diced tomatoes, chili powder, hot sauce, and garlic salt, plus a little shredded Mexican cheeses.
Thursday:
Breakfast – berry smoothie with black beans
Lunch – since it was Valentine’s Day, there was a party at work. They provided pizza, and everyone else brought salad and toppings and desserts. I had an eggplant pizza slice, it was surprisingly delicious
Dinner – the boy always cooks on Valentine’s, since I cook 99% of the time. He met me at the door in a suit, there were candles everywhere, it was lovely. There is a no phone rule on V Day so no photos, sorry!
Friday:
Breakfast – mooooore smoothie!
Lunch – leftover enchiladas
Dinner – more leftover enchiladas! And there are still 2 left if you can believe it. I love making huge batches of meals that last all week
The Weekend
This weekend my pal Erin at Reaching For FI is in town, along with a special guest! And due to unfortunate sickness, we get the honor of hosting them. So I’m pretty stoked about that. Even if I nearly lost her friendship forever over my unpopular opinion on cumin…
They already have plans Saturday and I have a Durham Food Tour lined up, so we won’t see much of each other. But then on Sunday, we are debating hitting up an all-you-can-drink mimosa brunch, and for sure will be stuffing our faces at All You Can Eat Sushi.
My sweat pants are ready.
AND, I finally got my quail egg incubator!!!
I have collected 7 eggs so far, and however many else I get Sat & Sun, they are all going in on Sunday. Quail eggs only take 18 days total to incubate, so I’ll have thumb-sized little chickies by March 8th! And, because they are small and their lifespan is so quick the girls will hopefully be up and laying eggs for me by April!
Oh, and no, Monday is not a holiday for me, I have to be at work at 8am thankyouverymuch. So if it is a holiday for you, boooo. And I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
Food Total: $53.40
Weekly Produce Box = I ordered all my favorite things this week: bananas, 2 lbs of beets, Brussels sprouts, Pink Lady apple, pears, rainbow carrots, cabbage, zucchini, yellow squash & cucumber
And a stop by Aldi for some sale produce and to restock some of my baking supplies that were running low or out.
| Dairy | $3.48 | Staples | $7.16 | Fruit/Veg | $8.48 |
| Yogurt 12 | 3.48 | 4lb sugar | 1.99 | grape tomatoes pint | 1.39 |
| baking cocoa | 1.79 | blackberries | 0.89 | ||
| chocolate chips x2 | 3.38 | baby bella mushrooms | 0.99 | ||
| cauliflower | 1.29 | ||||
| avocados 8 | 3.92 |
Lessons Learned
Cooking a big ol batch of something that lasts for many days leftovers is a super time saver. Both the boy and myself had a couple doozies of a day at work this week, and I was too annoyed and/or exhausted to cook. As long as there’s still some enchiladas, then there is no reason to panic.
Also, dang it, not creating waste is next to impossible in this world today. I love having nuts and dried fruits as a snack, but a bar is even more convenient. I know I could make my own batch of KIND bars weekly, and should. But I just cannot dedicate enough mental space and time and effort to it. And that sucks.
Anyone have deep guilt and existential crises over our contribution to the demise of the planet? No, just me? Okay.