thanks 
getting off instagram was key to making this happen tbh, there are too many amazing fat girl fashions on there!
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YES. Instagram is dangerous for fashion. I also don’t have it anymore, lol.
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I used up the last of my vanilla, and started looking the other week for some more. Decided to use the price check for vanilla to be our goal for a number of walks over the past week or so.
Store 1 (2.6 km one way) - $24 for 118ml Simply Organic
Sore 2 (3.4 km one way) - $22 for 125ml Club House, $31 for 118ml Nielson Massey
Store 3 (2.8 km one way) - $35 for 118ml Nielson Massey liquid/38 for paste, $31 for 118ml Simply Organic
Store 4 (across the street from store 3) - $16 for 100ml generic store brand
Store 5 (3.3 km one way, but part of walk including stores 3&4) - $17 for 125ml premium store brand/13 for 118ml of paste, $20 for 125ml Club House
So we bought 118ml of premium store brand bean paste for $13.
Seriously considering getting another bottle, because this level of discrepancy seems unlikely to hold for long.
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Husband had to do Aldi solo but he got everything I wanted including 2 family packs of drumsticks (24 drumsticks total) for 89 CENTS A POUND! Also scored two large corned beef briskets for $2.99 a pound, no plans for those yet! I got working right when husband got home and made his sausage and hash brown breakfast frittata for the week. I also made a boatload of potato salad (+bread and butter pickles, celery, hard eggs) with my first attempt at chick-fil-a sauce instead of the usual dressing (if loving CFA makes me basic…throw pumpkin spice on my coffin when I die) and it’s SO GOOD.
The last food going tonight is the first pack of drumsticks, which are still baking in the oven. Thinking I’ll use those and potato salad as dinner tonight and then lunch going forward, which should buy me a lot of time! I’ll figure out the brisket tomorrow but I’m thinking one will go in the freezer along with the remaining pack of raw chicken. I also got another cornish game hen this week so I can make myself broth ANY TIME I WANT.
The total cost was $133 and included lots of extras like 2 boxes of seltzer, cat litter, scented candles, snacks for husband (he is a snack MONSTER), etc. I continue to be impressed with Aldi. I love shopping the circular, I’m pretty sure that’s why I’ve been able to keep our costs steady despite increasing prices.
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I know you don’t have a Costco membership, but they sell these breaded chicken chunks in the freezer section there that are exactly like CFA and so inexpensive! I keep a bag on hand at all times for random cravings…the brand is “Just Bare”. I wonder if they sell them elsewhere?
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I’ve seen soooo many people say the same thing in my Costco fan group 
seems like they’re sold at most all Costco locations (some stuff is regional only)! Although sometimes out of stock like all stuff with supply issues right now.
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I can still order via Instacart! I haven’t heard of these magical chunks before…but now I want to try them.
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If you do manage to get some via Instacart, I highly recommend also acquiring a Taylor Farms Dill Pickle Ranch salad kit, and chopping up the nuggets on top of the salad. It is the most perfect combo and the dill pickle-ness of the salad makes the nuggets taste even more like CFA
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Wowowowow adding this to the shopping list immediately
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I understand all of these words individually but not together nor in this order. I still want to eat it tho.
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menu planning has been challenging because my brain’s planning capacity has been commandeered by other annoying things. I don’t think this is beyond capabilities, but better to have something written down than having to come up with things and then make them.
Saturday - lamb-tomato stew (Ottolenghi with baharat seasoning)
Sunday - zucchini corn fritters (Singapore seasoning)
Monday - fajitas, salsa (taco seasoning)
Tuesday - lamb stew with kale on sweet potato, tahini
Wednesday - grilled zucchini, mozzarella, eggs, toasts, balsamic dressing
Thursday - roast Korean pork belly, udon noodles, ginger-soy-sesame
lunches
rice, carrot-ginger-red lentil soup, coriander dip
green lentils, sweet potato, gruyere, egg, bacon, kale, rice, walnuts, red onion, mustard dressing
green lentils, mozzarella, tomato, corn, candied salmon, lime-chipotle dressing, croutons
This bacon was on clearance, and I hope that means they aren’t making it any more, because the amount of cardboard packaging is appalling. But I figured at under $2 for 260g of the antibiotic/hormone free, it wasn’t much of a risk, and it would be a nice treat for the shadowy one’s sandwiches this week.
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I upped husband’s 401(k) contribution to 10% from 6% to keep pace with his raise. Once we get the last $5k in cash saved for our emergency fund I’m going to up it to 15%! I can’t wait!
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I feel like this thread is a lot more popular than the recipes thread so here’s what I’ve been cooking/eating this week 
Food pics
That’s right y’all it’s ALDI SALAD MIXES, haha. I have been adding tomatoes and avocado to make it more delicious for breakfast.
These are the 89 cents a pound chicken drumsticks! So. Good. If you want to know the secret to amazing chicken it is this mixed with a bit of oil and mustard. I apply to the chicken with my hands so it’s thick and even and then bake at 400 on a baking sheet until it looks perfect. The potato salad has celery, boiled eggs, bread and butter pickles, and my first attempt at homemade chick-fil-a sauce (which is basically just honey mustard + bbq sauce + paprika + mayo). I love this lunch! For husband’s in-office days I took the chicken off the bone for him and packaged the potato salad separately. Oh also, don’t worry! The stuff pictured is my serving size, haha, I gave him way more (2 chicken and double the potato salad). Same with other stuff here, usually he gets about double, don’t want anyone to think I’m not serving enough!
I forgot to take a pic of this when it was finished but it was my first stock/soup made from a cornish game hen. Overall it worked well! The only minor annoyance was the bones. The bones on this little guy really separated quickly so I had to pick it out. I would not recommend using a little hen without straining if you are cooking for kids! I didn’t strain and it was delicious but definitely some bones. I think I prefer buying stuff at HMart for stock, especially ham hocks and beef bones and stuff. Much easier!
These are really good! The meat is the sale corned beef brisket from aldi, which omg is like the easiest thing to cook ever. Highly recommend! You basically just simmer it for a couple of hours, remove the fat, and slice. So easy and the meat is super tender and juicy. I also made homemade biscuits so we could have little sammiches, there was cauliflower on the side too but I didn’t snap a pic! Also on the sandwich is melted pepper jack cheese, blue cheese, pickled jalapeño peppers, and mustard. We’ve been having these for dinner.
Just some instant noodles with a poached egg and some sauces I had on hand! I don’t understand why people think poached eggs are really difficult to make? Don’t believe the lies!!! They’re super simple. Just swirl the water so it’s going really fast, crack the egg in the eye of the storm, and then do nothing. Let it simmer. That’s it!
ETA: Sorry for the weird spacing. I’m on allll the meds today and I can’t figure out what I did wrong 
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Some good tips on saving money on essentials, even when costs are high. Great comments section too:
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Wow. Living right by a gas station is wild right now. It’s $5/gal now. Went up almost $0.20 overnight.
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The prices on that 2012 piece 
lol
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Oh yes, I NEED a poached* egg this week. Delicious.
I meal planned and it all went to hell on Tuesday morning but we made Tina’s sandwiches last night instead of tuna noodles and that’s a pretty close substitute. I need a short local shopping trip today to grab the items I couldn’t get from the online delivery.
*Accidentally wrote “packed” egg.
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I made poached eggs for lunch! Great idea @allhag
This week’s meal plan was:
- Tuna noodles
- Falafel & pitas
- Spaghetti Bolognese
- baked chicken & veg
Reality, as of Thursday:
- Earliest grocery delivery available was Wednesday
- I had a horrible morning on Tuesday and was not hungry for 2 days
- Mondays dinner was takeaway
- Tuesday’s dinner is unknown. I wasn’t aware of much.
- Wednesday it was decided noodles were a bit much effort so Ponder made Tuna sandwiches
- Thursday dinner was Falafel, cucumbers, grated carrot and bread. No pitas because shops had none.
This was actually a great week because a shitty thing happened and we were able to make decent food to keep ourselves going. Off script but the meals used most of the same ingredients instead of things going to waste, and like, bread instead of noodles.
I was able to open our dinner recipe display folder and find the things I was planning to make, I didn’t have to go hunting the internet or remember which cookbook it was in. I have another week set up so I can rotate between the 2 weeks, so I’ll make sure the recipes for that are also in the folder ready for next week!
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For my intentional shoppers here: for folks who eat meat, where do you get your info on, say, where to buy or how to buy for happier cows and chickens? I don’t know enough to know where I’m making tradeoffs in cost that benefit the animals vs. just marketing.
I’ve become an insane animal welfare person who also needs to eat a steady stream of animal protein to feel not like garbage, so as always I appreciate that these are my specific values but don’t expect them to be anyone else’s.
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Oh hi it me. Ummm I guess Joel Salatin’s writings might be a good place to start? And Omnivore’s Dillema. For chicken, at this point the main things that meet my standard are Cook’s Venture (direct online or via Imperfect Foods) or local. Pork I’m still not thrilled with all choices. Beef I go local and visit the cows if I can. Game we hunt ourselves, fish is mainly my family gets and freezes/smokes ourselves. Otherwise the seafood watch ratings. In addition to the welfare and the practices in an eco sense, keeping money local is a high priority for me.
Uh we spend a LOT on food though, lol!
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