Holy smokes, where did October go? My favorite month of the year has passed by in a blur. I can’t wait for the holiday season to really get under way! It’s starting to get a little cooler here in Texas, which is very welcome after a horrifically hot summer.

This week we were on the strugglebus when it came to food, but we still somehow managed to survive.

Here’s what we ate and spent this week.

Monday

Breakfast: Yogurt bowls. I picked an easy Breakfast today. I threw together odds and ends to make these yogurt bowls and they were pretty good!

I forgot to pick up bananas, so I used some leftover blackberries instead. They were a little bitter, but it was still tasty. I make these yogurt bowls with my easy homemade yogurt as well as homemade butter pecan granola (these recipes will be in the cookbook, y’all!).

Lunch: Tomato bisque soup. We ate gyros for Sunday Dinner and we were supposed to eat them for lunch today. I have no idea if the gyros were off, or if I just wasn’t in a “gyro mood,” but I didn’t like these.

Instead, I defrosted a single serving of tomato bisque soup from the freezer and had that for lunch.

Dinner: Jambalaya with salad. We had a rice pilaf jambalaya mix that was chillin’ in our pantry for a few months. I know it’s basically Rice-A-Roni, and is nowhere near a real jambalaya, but it still needed to be eaten.

Our poor facsimile of a jambalaya was completed with a few sliced sausages. To lighten the Meal up, I added a side salad (with plenty of cheese, as you can see).

Tuesday

Breakfast: Bagel sandwiches. I forgot to take a picture of these; sorry! The lightbox I made is cool and everything, but the setup is kind of annoying. Especially at 6 am on a Tuesday morning.

Anyhoo, I made bagel sandwiches using two leftover bagels in our pantry. These bagels had sausage patties, cheddar cheese, and avocado in them. For mine, I made an egg patty (Mr. Picky Pincher doesn’t like egg patties).

Urf! I can never finish one bagel sandwich by myself. But I love that these are filling and used up odds and ends in the pantry.

Lunch: Goulash leftovers. The downside to a Rice-A-Roni meal is that the portions aren’t designed to carry you through both dinner and lunch. After making the jambalaya, I realized it was only enough for three servings.

Being the loving wife that I am, I gave Mr. Picky Pincher the remaining serving for lunch and rummaged through the freezer for my own. I found a tasty portion of frozen goulash, which I devoured.

Dinner: Roasted cheesy spaghetti squash. This was our new meal of the week! I used this recipe. If I didn’t work from home, this probably wouldn’t be a good weeknight meal, since it takes about an hour for this squash to roast.

This wasn’t too shabby for a vegetarian dinner! The downside was that it calls for a lot of cheese and heavy whipping cream. It was a very, very heavy meal, even though the bulk of it was squash. I don’t think I’ll cook this specific meal again, but I love the idea of spaghetti squash dinners.

The search continues!

I did roast two whole spaghetti squashes, so we had a lot of leftover squash, which I froze. Looks like I’ll eat this again after all!

Wednesday

Breakfast: Tacos. Tacos are the breakfast of frugal champions. They’re filling, tasty, and so easy to throw together in the morning. Today’s tacos were a little different because we only had white navy beans on hand. Normally we make our tacos with black or pinto beans, but beggars can’t be choosers!

I thought they tasted just as delicious as other beans, but it was definitely different. Oh well! It was a tasty and filling breakfast.

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti squash. I ate some leftover spaghetti squash and it was a little rich. I didn’t eat too much of it and got a little hungry afterwards. I defrosted some of our pre-made golden chai tea as a yummy afternoon snack.

Dinner: Italian pasta salad. I absolutely adore the Italian pasta salad that we make. It’s a cold pasta salad, so it can be made a few days in advance for an easy peasy dinner. I boil pasta odds and ends and toss them with tomatoes, chopped salami, fresh mozzarella, chopped bell pepper and onions, and some Italian dressing.

There’s nothing quite like eating dinner right out of the fridge.

Thursday

Breakfast: Sausage and potato scramble. I found some frozen sausage crumbles in our freezer and made a breakfast with them.

On Wednesday night, I cooked the potatoes so they would be ready to go for Thursday morning. I stepped up my game a bit and flame-roasted a red pepper on our gas stove. It tasted awesome!

Lunch: Leftover pasta salad. Yesssss.

Dinner: Patty melts. Today we went the Americana route and made patty melts with tater tots. Mr. Picky Pincher cooked the patties in the cast iron pan and topped them with melted cheese and caramelized onions. Yummmm!

Friday

Breakfast: Yogurt bowl / leftover potato scramble. There was one serving of potato scramble left over, which Mr. Picky Pincher happily ate for breakfast. I made myself a simple yogurt bowl with grapes, since we didn’t have bananas.

I stopped my round of antibiotics to treat Libby the Lymph Node. That means it’s now my mission to build up my gut flora again with probiotic foods. I have a feeling that a lot of yogurt and kombucha is in my future.

Libby is still swollen, although she’s gotten smaller. After FinCon I’ll make an appointment to see a doctor again about her, that jerk.

Lunch: Leftover patty melts.

Dinner: Chikfila. Tonight we’re gonna treat ourselves to a trip to Chikfila. I have a coupon for a free cookie that I need to use before Halloween, so it was the perfect excuse.

Grocery Costs

Let’s see what we spent this week!

This week’s numbers are a little off.

We, uh, had a little mishap when I washed Mr. Picky Pincher’s pants that had the receipt in the pocket. Oops!

PSA: pockets are not good places to keep receipts. In fact, I have been knighted as The Keeper of the Receipts moving forward so we won’t continue to drown them in the wash.

On sale: Don’t know!

Coupons: Don’t know!

Total: $161.69

Goals for next week

The grocery costs from last week are deceptive. We buy both food and non-food items at the store and only count food items in our grocery budget.

I know for a fact that I bought a $30 gift card for my brother-in-law’s birthday. I want to say that our total actually was around $100, but I have no way of knowing for sure!

We’ll get better about the receipts from here on.

As far as goals for next week, it’s gonna be a little wonky. This was a hard, ass-kicking week for both of us, and I think it showed in our meals. They came out okay, but I was so frazzled that it’s a miracle anything was on the table.

I’m going to be out of town for most of next week, so hubster is on his own for meals. I’ve meticulously meal-planned for him and will outline what will be for dinner each day. Hopefully he won’t hear the siren call of Dairy Queen in the distance.

For my meals, I do plan on eating out a little bit during FinCon. I just don’t want to eat out for every meal. I plan to subsist on PB&J sandwiches and homemade quinoa bowls during my stay there. I’m also packing snacks like bananas, grapes, chips, and granola bars.

Hopefully it won’t have too big of an effect on our budget.

Excited for FinCon!

I am so excited for FinCon that I just might throw up. No really, I might have to pack brown paper bags with me because I am so excited and nervous that I might actually throw up.

FinCon is being held in Dallas and the frugal fun starts next Wednesday.

I’ve really put a lot of thought into my packing list. I’m making a lot of my own meals instead of buying pricey downtown-Dallas eats so I can keep the trip costs reasonable. Fortunately I have family in the area, so no hotel costs for me, either.

I am thrilled for FinCon. It’s my first time going and I do feel overwhelmed and nervous, but I know it’s going to make me a better blogger. Which, in turn, means there will be better stuff for y’all to read.

Since I’ll be absorbing both information and beer next week, I might not be as present here the comment section. I just wanted y’all to know I’m not ignoring you! New posts are still scheduled to go out on Tuesday and Thursday like usual. In lieu of a Friday What’s for Dinner post, I’ll write a post on Sunday about frugaling around at FinCon.

If you’re a blogger and you’re going to FinCon, lemme know! I’d love to meet you guys in real life, although I’m admittedly shy and might pretend I’m a ghost at first. I’ll be at the Mr. 1500 Beer Exchange if you want to meet up! I got a very fascinating red ale that I’d like to share.

Zap’s Adventures

I’m not sure if I’ll have a Frugal Weekend post this week (sorry!) since we’ll be at a family function, but here are a few precious photos of Zap that I just had to share.

He loves to sit in Mr. Picky Pincher’s shoes. Not sure why; maybe because they’re smelly?

After Zap attacked my Cat Lady Halloween costume, I thought he would like to have a stuffed animal of his own. I went by Dollar Tree for craft supplies and got him this little plushie. It’s Penny the Christmas Penguin, y’all!

Zap doesn’t know what to make of Penny quite yet. He seems to avoid it, but has a genuine curiosity. Hopefully the two can be wrestling buddies.

We want to know: How did you save or spend money this week?

The post What’s for Dinner? October 20 appeared first on Picky Pinchers.