Wednesday grocery shopping

We went to Grocery Outlet on Wednesday afternoon. I was feeling much better from the cold but not quite 100%. Here's what we bought:

3 pack of turkey pepper jack sausages (6 sausages per package) $4.99
2.5 lbs frozen chicken tenderloins $6.99
Box of pretzel thins $1.69
Box of chocolate Toast Crunch Cereal $1.49
Reese's Chips Ahoy cookies $1.99
22 oz package of turkey deli meat $3.49
4 Chobani Greek yogurts ($.59 ea) $2.36
1 Oikos Greek yogurt $.50
1 qt half and half $2.49
8 oz shredded hot pepper jack cheese $1.79
5 oz. shredded smoked gouda $1.49
7 oz. sliced provolone $2.29
Crystal Light water drops $.99
1 green bell pepper $.50

Total $33.05


When I got home I made a large pot of potato broccoli and cheese soup. We ate some for dinner, and froze the remaining soup, which was about 14 cups. Later that evening Winter and I made a batch of oatmeal cookies using this recipe and we used white chocolate chips and cashews for the nuts. They turned out really well. If I made them again I might reduce the sugar a little, because white chocolate chips are very very sweet. We'll eat those cookies first, and wait to open the Chips Ahoy we bought.

Breakfast: protein bar
Lunch: caramel machiatto flavored Greek yogurt
Dinner: potato broccoli and cheese soup
Snacks/desserts: nectarine, oatmeal cookies, lime sherbet
Beverages: water

Potato broccoli and cheese soup recipe

10 plus 1/2 cups water
3 T sodium free chicken bouillon (if you use regular bouillon omit the salt)
1 T garlic
1 t red pepper flakes
1/2 t paprika
1 T salt
3 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 heads of broccoli, chopped
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup corn starch
2 cups half and half
6 oz shredded cheese (we used half smoked gouda and half hot pepper jack cheese)

Mix 10 cups water and all seasonings together in a large stock pot and cook on high heat until bouillon is well incorporated. Add potatoes and cook for about three to five minutes at a rolling boil. Mix the corn starch with the 1/2 cup of water and blend until smooth. Add mixture to pot and stir. Add broccoli and carrots. Reduce heat to medium high and simmer until the soup has thickened and the vegetables are tender. Turn off heat. Add half and half and stir. Add shredded cheese and stir until cheese is fully melted.

This recipe makes about 12 1.5 cup servings. Nutrition info is for one serving.

Fish chowder

Yesterday for dinner we thawed out the rest of the whiting and made fish chowder. I had to remove the skin from the little filets which proved to be a difficult and kind of nasty task. For the most part I just had to tear chunks of raw fish off the skin. This fish does not butcher easily. I managed to get just over a half pound of fish meat without skin by the end. I wish I could share a recipe, but we kind of made it up as we went along and figured out what to put in it through trial and error. We used sodium free chicken stock, cornstarch for thickener, two chopped potatoes, about a half pound of chopped carrots, some dried onion, black pepper, garlic, thyme, salt free seasoning blend, just enough salt to bring out the flavors, and added half and half at the end.

Whiting is pretty fishy, but the chowder didn't turn out TOO terribly fishy. We wound up with a lot of it. Like at least two quarts. We'll have it for dinner tonight as well. Winter doesn't like fish, so we needed to use it up since she gets here Monday.

Breakfast: oatmeal with half and half, berries from the freezer, and brown sugar
Lunch: tuna sandwich, banana
Dinner: fish chowder
Snacks/desserts: protein bar
Beverages: chocolate milk, water, sugar free cherry drink

Got home late last night

I usually get home by 8:00 at the latest, but last night I wasn't even leaving the grocery store until after 8:00. I picked up a couple of frozen side dishes to go with the frozen Morningstar Farms BBQ riblets we had already. We didn't eat until around 8:45. I will need to remember to keep a frozen pizza or something on hand for stuff like this once Winter comes back, so at least they can get dinner started without me.

It seems like Jeremy's interview went well, but he won't find out until Monday.

I bought the following at QFC yesterday. I left the chocolate milk, bananas, and protein bars at work. The person before me had left a coupon for $2.00 off your next shopping order at the U Scan, so I used that too. Cool!

1 qt chocolate milk $2.19
Box of 6 protein bars $1.00
4 large bananas $1.28
1 huge nectarine $1.77
Frozen single serve Chili's pepper Jack Mac and Cheese $2.50
Green Giant frozen vegetables $1.00
1 quart of half and half $2.29
2 lbs brown sugar $2.59
2 Yukon Gold potatoes $1.22

Total $15.84
minus $2.00 coupon
$13.84
minus 3% from using GC purchased on Raise
$13.42

The frozen vegetables I bought were the Green Giant antioxidant blend. I normally do not like frozen veggies as I find them to be watery, mushy, rubbery, and lacking in flavor. I really liked these. They are not as good as fresh veggies to me, but I would get them again in a pinch at that price. Normally they are $2.49 for two servings.

The Chili's mac and cheese is actually awesome, I am picky about frozen mac and cheese as well, but this one is worth it. It's super creamy, and the peppers give it a nice flavor, but not really spicy. One container has enough to make a side dish for two people.

Breakfast: chocolate milk, nectarine
Lunch: small amount of leftover chicken teriyaki stir fry, banana, protein bar
Dinner: Morningstar Farms vegetarian BBQ riblet, pepper jack mac and cheese, mixed vegetables
Snacks/desserts: white cheddar with cracked pepper, another protein bar
Beverages: Crystal Light, water

What we ate and what we bought 07-20-14

banana bread French toast with goat milk caramel

I saw something about banana bread French toast online a while back and thought I'd give it a try. It was pretty good, but the caramel sauce was maybe a bit much. I think it would have been better plain, or with some fresh fruit. It sure stuck with me a long time. I did not get hungry at all until dinner time, which is good because I was pretty busy at work. I took a PB sandwich with me but I didn't eat it till I got done at 6:30.

I decided to cook a lot of extra food last night so we'd have some leftovers. Jeremy got a fistula graft surgery this afternoon, and I am working late on Tuesday and Thursday.

Breakfast: chocolate banana oatmeal bread French Toast with goat milk caramel
Lunch: nothing
Dinner: parmesan crusted cod, macaroni and cheese, green beans and carrots with garlic
Snacks/desserts: peanut butter sandwich, strawberry sorbet, Reese's peanut butter cup Oreos
Beverages: water, Dr Pepper Ten

same plate, different food

We went to both QFC and Grocery Outlet. Jeremy wanted more energy drinks from Grocery Outlet but sadly they were out of the ones he likes.

QFC:
4 boxes of 6 protein bars ($1.00 per box. I really cannot believe these were so cheap. I wonder if it was a pricing error?) $4.00
.45 oz cod (reduced for quick sale) $1.34
.25 oz dried onions $2.00
.71 lbs green beans $1.07

Total $8.41

Grocery Outlet:

20 oz. Diet Dr. Pepper $1.09
dried minced garlic $.99
4 pack of coffee flavored yogurt $1.29
1 qt half and half $2.49
20 oz BBQ sauce $.99
2 lbs. turkey deli meat $5.99
Lemon flavored SF energy drink $.79
Mandarin flavored SF sports drink $.50
5 Mio/Crystal Light water flavor drops ($.99 each) $4.95
2 frozen entrees ($1.99 each) $3.98
Reese's peanut butter Oreos $2.29
Pint of Haagen Dazs strawberry sorbet $1.49

Total $26.84

What we ate and what we bought, 07-11-14 plus the news from my dentist appointment (not good)

Jeremy made dinner last night. The chicken was cooked well. The pasta was cooked well. The sauce was... oh dear god. The sauce was a mixture of mustard, honey and Sriracha. Not something I'd have put together and mixed with pasta. But I appreciate the effort.

Breakfast: Cocoa Krispies with milk
Lunch: salad made with cabbage, radishes, grilled chicken, slivered almonds and ginger sesame dressing
Dinner: mustard pasta
Snacks/desserts: sugar cookies
Beverages: water, Crystal Light

I also stopped at the store and got the following:

Lofthouse key lime sugar cookies (reduced for quick sale) $2.00
1 pint of half and half $1.49
2 6 oz blackberry yogurts ($.39 each, reduced) $.78
Peanut Butter Cookie flavored Powerbar (had a free coupon loaded onto my QFC card) $0.00
Zico pineapple flavored coconut water drink (also free) $0.00
.89 lbs broccoli $1.59

Total: $5.86

I went to the dentist this morning about my broken tooth. Apparently the damage goes into the root, and it's infected. So my options are to get a root canal and a crown for $800, or an extraction for $100. I also had to spend $1.45 on a round of antibiotics. I am going with the extraction because we really don't have $800 to spare. Suckssssss. I am going back on Monday to have the tooth pulled. At least the exam and x-rays were covered at 100%.

French toast with cherry pear compote

This is worth getting up early for, people.

French Toast

4 slices of bread (we used Franz old fashioned buttermilk)
2 eggs
1/4 cup half and half
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 T oil

Beat together eggs, half and half, and seasonings. Pour half of it into a plate or shallow bowl. Heat a skillet on medium. Add half of the oil. Soak two slices of bread in the egg mixture, and cook until each side is golden brown. Add the remaining oil to the pan, and egg mixture to the plate, and repeat with the other two slices of bread. This recipe makes two servings. Nutrition info is for two slices of toast. You can add powdered sugar on top to taste. The NI does not include powdered sugar.

Cherry Pear Compote

1 cup pitted cherries
1 ripe pear, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup water
zest and juice of one small lemon (about 2 T juice)
1 T cornstarch
1 t honey

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes until fruit is soft and sauce has thickened. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Nutrition info is for 1/2 of the recipe.

This compote would also be awesome on it's own, served over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, on top of your oatmeal, whatever. The lemon gives it a nice tangy summery flavor.

Lots of grocery shopping today, and frozen yogurt

Jeremy and I went to Menchie's for frozen yogurt today after I got done with work. I got salted caramel and dark chocolate yogurt with brownie bites, hot fudge, whipped topping, roasted peanuts and a maraschino cherry. Jeremy got watermelon and tangerine sorbet with green grapes. The total was $10.28. It was worth every penny.

We then took a bus to the Grocery Outlet. That store is always interesting because you never know what you are going to find, so it's hard to do any sort of planning ahead. I had to exercise a lot of restraint. They always have things that I really don't need to be eating at pretty incredible prices. I did buy a bag of those Hot Pockets Snackers macaroni and cheese bites though. I looked at the nutrition info and they really weren't all that awful, so I decided to go ahead and indulge on one thing.

Here's what we got:

12 sugar free energy drinks (fifty cents each) $6.00
Hot Pockets Snackers $1.99
18 oz. Craisins $1.99
2 bags organic frozen mixed vegetables (99 cents each) $1.98
8 oz. shredded mozzarella $2.39
7 oz. Lancashire cheese $2.30
3.5 lbs pearl couscous $4.99
20 oz Diet Dr. Pepper $1.09
18 white corn tortillas $1.19
1 can diced tomatoes $.59
4 Yves veggie burger patties $1.99
3 Liberte Mediterranee yogurts $1.00
2 Liberte Greek yogurts $1.00
1 quart organic half & half $1.99
8 oz black pepper white cheddar $1.99
3 7 oz boxes of tomato sauce 3/$1.00
7 oz jalapeno havarti $1.99
Yellow bell pepper $.99
Red bell pepper $.99
1 lb cherries $3.99
1 lb strawberries $1.99
1 dozen large eggs $1.69

That comes to a total of $43.13