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Hmmm. It was a bit of a wonky week on our quest for frugal eats. We were lucky to have a four-day work week, but still managed to muck up our food plans. Grah! See what we ate and what we spent this week.

Did you try a new recipe this week? Let me know in the comments!

Monday

Breakfast: Breakfast cookies

Hom nom nom! I baked these tasty dudes a few weeks ago and froze them. Breakfast cookies are a tasty way to trick myself into eating carrots and oatmeal, so that’s a win! Here’s the recipe.

Snack: Apple pie bites

I put together these no-bake treats last weekend and they’re diviiiiiine. And yes, they ACTUALLY taste like apple pie. Enjoy the promise of pie without the calories, friends.

Lunch: Leftover BBQ

On Sunday evening Mr. Picky Pincher grilled a variety of meat and veggies. He loves a good ‘cue, and made a huge batch of food for smokey, delicious freezer meals. We ate some leftovers for lunch today and were very happy about it.

Dinner: DIY night! Free sandwich with chips / jerk chicken with rice and homemade beans

Oh, DIY night, how I love you! This is the one night every week that Mr. Picky Pincher and I fend for ourselves, cooking whatever we want. It’s been a boon to our Picky little marriage, for sure.

Today I ate a chicken banh mi sandwich, which I got for free with a coupon. And, uh, I’m glad it was free. I don’t think the cooks ever had an actual banh mi sandwich; if anything, it was a chicken salad sandwich with cilantro and thick-sliced chunks of jalapeno and cucumber. Blech! I ate half the sandwich and couldn’t do it any more. I snacked on a banana later to stay full.

Eh, you can’t win ’em all.

Mr. Picky Pincher, on the other hand, had a delicious dinner! Over the weekend I made a jerk chicken marinade that I got from a library book. It’s so good! I forgot how delectable jerk chicken is. Normally you’re supposed to grill jerk chicken, but hubs just cooked it in the Instant Pot. He paired the chicken with white rice and homemade beans.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Chorizo and potato tacos

We had leftover potato/chorizo bowls from the weekend. Not one to let this tastiness go to waste, I slapped it in between tortillas and called it tacos.

Snack: Apricot bites

These are so tasty! I made them over the weekend. They’re dried apricots topped with balsamic yogurt cheese and an almond.

Lunch: Leftover DIY meals

Dinner: Chickfila

Yup! We were beyond thrilled to have Wednesday off of work, and decided to have a little treat. Well … we were also out of cheese, which was a crucial ingredient to today’s dinner of red pepper mac ‘n’ cheese. Ugh.

We thoroughly enjoyed a Chikfila meal, and grabbed a beer afterwards. The frugal bit? It was Texas Tuesday at the bar, and I got $1 off my Texas beer. 



Wednesday

Breakfast: Strawberry yogurt cheese bagel thin

Happy birthday, America! We celebrated the Fourth of July by waking up when we felt like it, since we didn’t have work today. I had planned an elaborate, nice breakfast, but just didn’t want to do it. Sliced strawberries with yogurt cheese as all I was up for.

Snack: Almonds

Lunch: Tamales!

Yesssss. I LOVE tamales. Mr. Picky Pincher’s parents brought us some tamales from South Texas. They’re basically the best tamales you can get without a trip to Mexico. We ate them with plenty of hot sauce and they were divine.

Dinner: Dairy Queen

Oops. This was an accident, y’all. We had planned to make Mediterranean chicken orzo for dinner, but found that we were out of orzo. Unfortunately we didn’t notice until we were already hungry. In a pinch, we couldn’t come up with a back up dinner that sounded remotely good. We shrugged and got Dairy Queen. Ugh.

Don’t worry, rain started pouring down right as we left the house. It’s like the universe was giving us a big f-you for eating out. I get it, I get it!

Thursday

Breakfast: Funky monkey smoothie. Recipe here.

Ahh, it was nice to get back on track with my eating. This morning I whipped together a smoothie in my Vitamix and it was tasty!

Snack: Apple pie bites

Lunch: Corn dogs with chips

We keep a bag of frozen corn dogs on hand at all times. They’re great for quick, cheap, and convenient meals.

Dinner: Beef stroganoff. Recipe here. 

Our meal plan has been all out of whack this week. Today’s planned dinner didn’t work out for whatever reason, but I managed to think ahead. I defrosted a pack of organic ground beef to make this quick ‘n’ easy beef stroganoff for dinner.

Normally you’d see some nice mushrooms in there, but I hate fungi. So it’s mushroom-free stroganofff for us.

Friday

Breakfast: Bean and cheese tacos

I kept it simple today with breakfast tacos. I fully intended to eat a smoothie, but my inner Fat Kid prevailed and got herself some tacos.

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Leftover stroganoff.

Dinner: Costco pasta bake

We went to Costco on Thursday night and picked up one of their pre-made meals. We’re still on the hunt for take-and-bake options for busy weeknights. Tonight we’re trying out the ravioli bake!

Grocery Costs

Let’s see what we spent this week!

On sale: $6.58

Coupons: $6.83

HEB trip: $129.49

Costco trip: $189.60

Total: $319.09

Goals for next week

Ouch, that total stings. Normally we budget $400/month on food, but we’re going to increase the budget. For one, we had to stock up on tons of items this month, like almond flour, beans, and frozen pizzas. Mr. Picky Pincher also needs to stock up on smoothie supplies, which we buy every other month. That said, we’ll probably put the food budget at $600 or $700 this month, depending on how much the smoothie supplies will set us back.

That does mean we’ll have to cut other budget areas to make up for the increase, but I’d rather spend more on food instead of cutting corners.

As far as next week, I’d love to be more strict about eating at home. It seems like we got a little lazy this week and grabbed takeout for an easy out. I have no problem grabbing restaurant food when it’s a planned treat, but it’s not great as an “oh crap I messed up dinner” solution. Next week I’d also like to drink smoothies for breakfast more faithfully. Although I crave ~delicious~, fatty things like tacos, the smoothie keeps me full and happy.

We want to know: How did you stay frugal this week?

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