Sunday, 1/29/12: Spaghetti

Just a basic meal. Spaghetti with marinara, crumbles, onion, and garlic. I joined it with a fruit salad of clementines, strawberries and blueberries. It was a big hit, especially the salad.

Pasta: 50 cents
Marina: $1
Crumbles: $4
Onion: 25 cents
Garlic: 20 cents
Clementines: 90 cents
Strawberries: $2
Blueberries: $2

Total: $10.85 ($3.16 per person)

Not too bad but a little high. The fruit salad was probably a bit expensive but not bad.

Week 12 in Review

Sunday: Chorizo & Spaghetti $13
Monday: Chinese New Year $16.65
Tuesday: Sesame Green Beans $1.90
Wednesday: Mutar Paneer $15.94
Thursday: Hot Dogs $5.72
Friday: Falafels $19.45
Saturday: Burgers $3.50

Total: $76.16 ($10.88 per meal)

Saturday, 1/28/12: Burgers

Karen was headed out to an OKGo concert. It was supposed to be a date night but Doris got sick, so I stayed home to take care of her and Karen took Brian and Ellie to the concert. Free tickets and free parking. So totally awesome and I'm totally jealous.

We needed a quick dinner so I made burgers, left over salad, and veggie chips. For Doris, I warmed up the remaining hot dogs. Probably because she was sick, Doris didn't really eat anything. But it was a fine, cheap, and quick dinner.

Burgers: $2
Buns: $1
Chips: 50 cents

Total: $3.50 ($1.17 per person)

Definitely a good cheap meal. I just wish Doris would eat burgers.

Friday, 1/27/12: Falafels

We had some frozen falafels in the freezer so I wanted to use them up. I made falafels and greek salad. For the cucumber sauce, I used this recipe and it was really good. Probably the best cucumber sauce I've made. I grated the cucumbers. I served the falafels with cucumber sauce, romaine lettuce, olives, and banana peppers. For the greek salad, I used this recipe but I added romaine lettuce. It was good but I like my more simple greek salad better. Doris loved the feta cheese. She ate a little bit of falafel but much. Not a hit, I'd say. She also ate a lot of olives.

Falafel: $2
Pita: $1.50
Olives: $4
Banana Peppers: 75 cents
Yogurt: 75 cents
Mayo: 40 cents
Dill: 20 cents
Cucumber: $1
Peppers: $2
Tomatoes: $3
Onion: 50 cents
Garlic: 10 cents
Seasonings and sauces: $1
Feta: $3

Total: $19.45 ($5.48 per person)

Expensive. Probably because there are lots of fresh things. And olives. They are expensive. We did have leftovers for the next night plus for lunch.

Thursday, 1/26/12: Hot Dogs

I took the bus. Which means I got home very late. Such a long commute. So we had a simple dinner. Hot dogs to use up the buns we had, canned corn, veggie chips, and leftover pasta salad from my work. It was enjoyable enough and about as easy as it gets.

Hot Dogs: $4
Buns: 33 cents
Canned corn: 89 cents
Veggie chips: 50 cents

Total: $5.72 ($1.91 per person)

As always a cheap meal, which I appreciate.

Calorie tracker

I'm going to start using this website. I'm going to lose weight, damn it! I put all my planned eating and exercising in for today and supposedly I have calories to spare. So if I eat so well, why can't I lose weight? Because I shove (shove!) other things into my mouth, and I always get two servings at dinner. Both things I need to work on.

Wednesday, 1/25/12: Mutar Paneer

I'm trying to last as long as I can without going to the grocery store, and doing a pretty damn good job. I stayed home with Doris while she was sick today. So I asked her if she wanted hot dogs, spaghetti, or curry, all favorites of hers. Without skipping a beat, she said curry. That is truly her very favorite.

I sauteed paneer with frozen petite peas and 3/4's of a jar of Calcutta Masala sauce. I warmed up a bag of Trader Joe's vegetable biryani. I fried 3 poppudums. And I microwaved one package of frozen paneer with chili's.

Doris just ate the paneer, which is typical. Karen ate everything, but went back to finish off the paneer chili. We have some biryani leftover and a lot of mutar paneer leftovers.

Paneer: $4
Peas: $3
Sauce: $2
Biryani: $3
Poppudums: 94 cents
Paneer Chili: $3

Total: $15.94 ($5.31 per person)

That's a lot. I better make sure to use the leftovers to make it worth it. This is looking like an expensive week.

I did a calorie count on this meal. It wasn't a bad meal. I just ate way too much of it. Estimated at about 996 calories. No wonder I can't lose weight eating meals like that.

Tuesday, 1/24/12: Sesame Green Beans

We had a lot of leftover chorizo pasta. To serve something green, I made sesame green beans. I stir-fried half a bag of frozen green beans in sesame oil, added toasted sesame seeds and one packet of Chinese restaurant soy sauce.

Doris was doing her calm jar right before dinner. When asked what her Moody Cow thoughts were, she said "These green beans make me sad." Then later when Karen said "Thanks for the good meal, Mommy." Doris said "This is not such a good meal, Mommy."

So it was not a hit. At least not with Doris. Oh well. Now I'm eating the rest of the chorizo pasta for lunch for the rest of the week so that it doesn't get wasted.

Green beans; $1.50
Sesame oil: 30 cents
Sesame seeds 10 cents

Total: $$1.90 (63 cents per person)

At least it was cheap even if it wasn't liked.

Monday, 1/23/12: Happy Chinese New Year

We always celebrate Chinese New Year. Karen says it's because Angel is Chinese. This year Doris' Chinese/Vietnamese friends gave cards/money, so that added to the fun. While I made dinner, Karen and Doris made a calm jar, ala Moody Cow. Doris was having a very Moody Cow day and when I suggested she read this book with Amma, she said yes, like she knew it would help her calm her emotions down. It seemed to work and we had a much better night.

I didn't plan for this meal. We have a lot of food at home so we aren't going to the grocery store for a while, so I didn't plan and buy stuff for this meal. I just made what I had. And amazingly, I had a lot. Except for rice. We only had a little left but it worked out to be enough.

I made some spring rolls in the toaster oven. I made a dipping sauce of lemon juice, vinegar, soy sauce, chili sauce, and hoisin sauce. It was pretty good. Karen's taking the leftovers for lunch today.

I made Orange Mandarin Chik'n by Gardein. This is really good. It says on their package that it's their most popular product and I can totally believe it. Last time I made it, Doris wouldn't touch it, but this time she ate a lot of it. Most Gardein products are way too expensive, but this one is affordable so I buy it. Doris liked it so much that she is eating the leftovers for lunch today.

I made a tofu and veggie stir-fry with a Thai style peanut sauce. I used fresh mushrooms but the rest of the veggies were frozen. I used half a bag of green beans and a quarter of a bag of Asian stir fry veggies. The sauce was made of peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, chili sauce, and lemon juice. It was quite tasty. Doris ate a lot of the tofu. The only problem with making dishes like this is that Doris can't take the leftovers to school because of the peanut butter so I try not to make them too often. I'm eating these leftovers. Two lunches worth.

Rice: 40 cents
Spring Rolls: $3
Chik'n: $4
Tofu: $4
Mushrooms: $2
Green beans: $1.50
Veggies: 75 cents
Sauces: $1

Total: $16.65 ($5.55 per person)

That's a lot. We could have probably done without the spring rolls, which would have brought it down to 13.65, which is still a lot. We had some leftovers but only enough for lunches, not dinners. So this is okay for a holiday but not otherwise. Probably the chik'n, though cheaper than other Gardein products, is still not a value product.

Sunday, 1/23/12: Chorizo & Spaghetti

Michael and Nancy were returning from their vacation by red eye and were exhausted. I sent them a text that we would give them dinner. I made a double batch of Chorizo and Spaghetti. Luckily, I had picked up Chorizo at Giant and Karen had picked one up at Trader Joe's, so we had two of them.

I made it with one box of fettucine, two blocks of chorizo, two onions, four cloves of garlic, two cups of parmesan. Instead of dried sage, I used dried Italian seasoning - 4 tsps. I added one jar of sun-dried tomatoes and one jar of greek olives. It was dry so I added the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, which added some nice flavor with all of it's seasonings, and 3/4's of a can of tomato juice. For Karen and I, I pan-fried it. Doris said she didn't want it pan-fried. I also served it with some frozen broccoli. Doris ate a lot of the broccoli and some of the olives and a little pasta. Karen and I enjoyed it.

I packed it up in a big yogurt tub for Michael and Nancy with some leftover peas and carrots. Karen had also made some scones and coffee cake, so I included that as well. Nancy sent a text that it was delicious and asked for the recipe, so it's definitely a hit. I had to do a lot of doctoring, so I was happy to see it turned out well.

There is a ton of leftovers so we'll definitely get another meal or two out of this.

Pasta: $1
Chorizo: $6
Onion: $1
Garlic: 40 cents
Parmesan: $2.80
Italian Seasoning: 20 cents
Sun-dried tomatoes: $4
Olives: $6
Tomato juice: 67 cents
Broccoli: $1.50

Total: $23.57 ($4.71 per person)

It's a lot but we made a ton. If it had just been the three of us, I would have made less and it would have probably cost $13, much more reasonable, especially considering that it always has leftovers.

Week 11 in Review

Sunday: Beenoop Free
Monday: Cutlets $12.90
Tuesday: Burgers $4.20
Wednesday: Mama Lucia $15
Thursday: Leftovers Free
Friday: Pizza $12.20
Saturday: Addis Ababa $20

Total: $64.30 ($9.19 per day)

Pretty good week, especially considering we went to the restaurant twice. I might be getting a handle on food prices post-CSA.

Saturday, 1/21/12: Addis Ababa

We had a date night planned. Catherine and Dale were going to babysit and Karen and I were going to use our Groupon to Addis Ababa. Doris doesn't really appreciate Ethiopian food, so we were going to enjoy it ourselves. But Catherine and Dale canceled, and our groupon was going to expire, so we took Doris with us.

We ordered the vegetarian sampler platter for two with yellow peas, tomato salad, red lentils, cabbage, and green beans, potatoes, and carrots. Doris took a bite of the potato but said it was spicy. I think it was a bit hard. She touched the injera and said it was yucky. Then she ate all of the green beans. She kept saying "I really like the green beans." Unfortunately there were only a few green beans, so she had quite a small meal.

Karen and I enjoyed the rest of it.

Total: $20 ($6.67 per person)

Friday, 1/20/12: Pizza

Reia was coming over for a sleepover so I made every kids favorite food - pizza. I made two pizzas - one cheese and one with green pepper, onion, mushrooms, and olives. Doris loves mushrooms and olives but always chooses cheese pizza when given the choice. I served it with a fruit salad of strawberries and clementines.

It did as well as you might think. Kids don't eat when they are together because they are too excited. There was a lot of leftovers for us to eat for a few lunches.

Pizza Dough: $6
Sauce: $1.19
Pepper: $1
Mushroom: $2
Olives: $2.50
Onion: 50 cents
Cheese: $2
Strawberries: $3.85
Clementines: 60 cents

Total: $19.64 ($4.91 per person)

That's a lot, but it did create a lot of leftovers. If it had just been the three of us, I would have only made one pizza, which would have cost $12.20, much more reasonable.

Thursday, 1/19/12: Leftovers

We had leftover pizza and salad. I spiced it up a bit by adding tomatoes, cheese, and dressing from leftovers at work. Popular meal and it was free.

Wednesday, 1/18/12: Mama Lucia

Doris wanted to go to a restaurant, or restaurnot as she says. Karen had just picked up a Groupon for Mama Lucia the day before, so I said sure. We ordered cheese sticks and cheese pizza and I got Karen a coke. And we all enjoyed the tasty bread on the table. A heavy meal but we have lots of leftovers for tonight.

Total: $15 ($5 per person)

Tuesday, 1/17/12: Burgers

**Winner: Cheapest meal of the week**

I bought burger buns instead of hot dog buns. Karen picked up hot dogs at Trader Joe's last week, so that was the plan. But then I bought burger buns. So I raided the freezer. We had one Boca burger, one spicy chick'n patty, and one regular chick'n patty. We really needed to clean this out. So it was good that we used them up. But now we have 6 burger buns left, so...

I served it with the leftover sweet potatoes and salad from the night before.

Buns: 50 cents
Burgers: $3
Cheese: 50 cents
Condiments: 20 cents

Total: $4.20 ($1.40 per person)

Great cheap meal and it helped clean out the freezer.

Monday, 1/16/12: Cutlets

MLK Day. Doris is annually sick on this day. 3 years running. Because Karen stayed home, I was able to get to work pretty early, so I left early and went to the grocery store by myself. I did the whole trip in 30 min. and only spent $86. I should totally go without Doris more often.

I wanted to make BBQ cutlets, but could only find two cutlets. So I made two BBQ cutlets and six veggie nuggets. I also made 3 sweet potatoes and a salad (spring mix, cucumber, radish sprouts, blueberries, strawberries, and walnuts, raspberry walnut dressing).

Doris' sickness meant she wasn't very hungry. Also I found out that she had afternoon tea at 4pm so she was probably full up.

We only ate 1.5 sweet potatoes and we have a lot of salad left.

Cutlets: $2
Nuggets: $1
Sweet Potatoes: $4
Lettuce: $3
Cucumber: $1
Berries: $1
Walnuts: 50 cents
Sprouts: 40 cents

Total: $12.90 ($4.30 per person)

Much higher than it was when I made this with CSA veggies. But luckily there are lots of leftovers. Tonight I'm going to serve hot dogs with just the salad and sweet potatoes, so it will work out.

Sunday, 1/15/12: Beenoop Restaurant

Last night was the annual Beenoop auction event. I consider these events free because they were donations to the church anyway. We went two years ago but didn't go last year because Doris would have been too much to handle. But this year we felt she could do it. I ordered sweet potato fries, Beenoop soup (pumpkin & black bean), Eggplant Lasagna, and a brownie with ice cream. Karen ordered all of that, plus strawberries and a salad. Doris ordered strawberries and spaghetti, but then also requested some lasagna when it came out.

I requested some steak sauce to dip my fries in and Doris saw that and got excited and dipped her strawberries as well. She said it was good, I'm not so sure. There was a lemon sorbet served as a palette cleanser before the entree arrived. Doris thought this was hilarious, to serve ice cream before dinner, but ate it excitedly. Then when the real dessert came out, she wasn't interested because she said that she already had some ice cream.

Free

Week 10 in Review

Sunday: Thanksgiving $18.05
Monday: Leftovers Free
Tuesday: Hot Dogs $6.25
Wednesday: Taco Soup $7.19
Thursday: Quesadillas $6.20
Friday: Thai Noodles $10.10
Saturday: Cafe Green $56

Total: $103 ($14.83 per day)

We were doing pretty good all week until we went to Cafe Green. That certainly blew our budget. If you don't count Cafe Green, we only spent $7.97 per day, which is really good.

Let's hope we do better this week.

Saturday, 11/14/12: Cafe Green

Our vegetarian kids play group had a dinner night at Cafe Green, a vegan restaurant in Dupont Circle. They were very slow and ill-equipped to handle such a big group, especially with so many young kids. But we liked our meal. I ordered "Steak and Cheese". Karen got a Korean dish with Boolgolgi added. Doris first wanted mac & cheese but then changed her mind and ordered a yellow curry dish with dahl and brown rice. And she impressed everyone by eating it excitedly. I love that girl. Doris and I also shared a Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich.

Total: $56 ($18.67 per person)

Way too much. Definitely not a place to put on our normal rotation.