Weekly Menu

I didn’t have a chance to take a picture of the groceries this week as I made three stops in a row and therefore had to get the items from the first stop into the fridge / freezer rather promptly when I got home.  But, here’s a list of what I got from the three stores combined.

3 dozen eggs
4 lbs frozen broccoli florets
2 6pks applesauce cups
2 lbs strawberries
2 lbs brussels sprouts
1 lb baby carrots
3 bananas
fresh ginger root
5 lbs Russet potatoes
2 bags of mac n cheese
12 boxes of oatmeal
1 bag Doritos
1 wedge of brie
8 bags shredded pizza cheese
3 bags shredded cheddar cheese
1 package sliced cheddar cheese
1 package sliced swiss cheese
8 pizza dough balls
2 loaves of bread
2 boxes of crackers
2 packages of shredded coconut
1 package of bacon

TOTAL: $141.26

I did make some chicken salad to use up the leftover roasted chicken from last week.

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Saturday
Kids: Mac n cheese
Adults: homemade pizza

Sunday:
Tacos

Monday:
Shepard’s pie
Strawberries

Tuesday:
Salmon
Broccoli
Rice

Wednesday:
Fajitas

Thursday:
Roast chicken
Stuffing
Brussels sprouts
Rolls

Friday:
Kids: eggs
Adults: homemade pizza

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

Make the Bread, But the Butter by Jennifer Reese

I’m neither a super frugal person nor one who is committed to making everything from scratch.  But, I like cookbooks, I like numerical analysis, and I already make some breads from scratch so I thought I’d give this book a try.

Overall it was good.  We tried the roast chicken recipe and it was excellent.  However, the Everyday Bread was not.  It was fine, but certainly not a consistency I would use for anything every day.

I did find the analyses with the pros/cons of making vs buying each thing fascinating. Admittedly, most of the time I basically bought her analysis.  But, every now and then something would come up that I buy often enough to be very familiar with the price and I found her buy prices to be a bit high.  I’m not sure if that’s her part of the country or whether I buy store brand on sale or what, but it made me think that the close ones weren’t worth making necessarily.

All in all, I’m glad I read it.  It’s a pretty fast read, interesting, and well written.

Carrot Sticks

With the hit and miss grocery schedule I ran out of baby carrots.  One of my kids must have carrots every day (preferably multiple times a day).  Since Wegman’s has been having deals on organic produce I’ve got plenty of full size organic carrots.  Can you still buy non-organic full-size carrots at your grocery store?  I can’t.

I offered other choices, but carrot sticks were requested.  And, guess what, they announced carrot sticks were better than baby carrots.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this info long term since baby carrots are definitely more convenient.

Tools of the Trade

I can’t even bring myself to put this stuff in away in the garage.  We need it every day!  Either, there is more snow (most days) or one needs to chip away at what is there least one ends up with solid ice.  You can add roof rake, snow thrower, ice scraper, ice melt, and sand to this lot.

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Last Week’s Accomplishments – Still Snow

We’re still snowbound.  Though, there was only one snow day this week, which represents progress.

  • Did A LOT of shoveling
  • Raked the porch and front entry roofs
  • Threw out 1 sock (This has slowed down. I may have gotten through a batch that went into circulation at the same time.)
  • Fixed 6 more books
  • Coordinated valentine creation for 4 kids classroom parties
  • Attended one classroom party
  • Set up a 4y birthday party
  • Accepted invitations to two other 4y birthday parties
  • Did a lot of home cooking

I Did Make it to BJs

I’m not sure what this week is going to bring.  We’ve had over a foot of snow (again) and heavy wind for two days now.  They’re expecting another snowstorm Tuesday/Wednesday and the long term forecast says snow for next Saturday, though they’re not actually willing to talk about it yet.  So, I’m not really sure who’s going to be home when and will have to play it by ear more than usual.  I also don’t anticipate going shopping.

But, here’s a photo of my BJs trip from last week.  We’re reasonably stocked up.  I used the meat you see this past weekend.

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We also had some excellent meals over the weekend.

On Valentine’s Day I gave the boys tortellini for dinner and then we ate after they went to bed.  We had a salad, filet mignon with a shallot reduction, hash brown potatoes, and crème brule (yes, all homemade).

For Sunday dinner we had spatchcocked lemon chickens, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, and whole wheat rolls.

It has been Snowing Too Often

Along the lines of yesterdays post, this week I’ve noticed a significant increase in the number of people out and about who really shouldn’t be in this weather.  They have a hard time navigating the remaining snow and ice on cleared sidewalks.  They drive very slowly and generally lack confidence.  I’m sure they’re cold.

I’m equally sure they’re out because they’re fed up with staying home and have run out of whatever supplies they had.  There’s more snow and misery in the forecast for the weekend so they’re stocking up to see if they can hole up a few more weeks until spring finally breaks through.  I hope everyone stays safe.

It has been Cold for Too Long

Yes, the immense quantity of snow is annoying also, but the persistent cold is getting old.  Today I decided that I needed to break out the real winter socks – the wool ones I only wear when skiing or other winter vacationing.  I’ve NEVER worn them during a regular day.  But, its cold.  If I could just stay home I’d be fine.  But, I think the morning waits at the bus stop start me off on the wrong foot (literally).  It just goes downhill from there as we’re out and about to school and activities.

“It is Snowing.”

This is one of my two year-olds first sentences.  Given how often this has occurred lately I guess it only makes sense.  They said we’d gotten 5 feet in two weeks prior to this recent storm, which left us with another roughly 18 inches.

There’s been no school the past two Mondays (five snow days total).  With no school for Martin Luther King’s birthday and February vacation next week that will be 4 out of 5 weeks with long weekends.

I took some more outdoor pictures before and after the most recent mess.  You can compare to Feb 4.  The BBQ and bushes are almost entirely gone.  Somehow the lamppost still stands.  The tree is readily accessible for climbing.

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