weekend check in:
- ordered pizza delivery on Jan 1, so Iām already down to one delivery left for the rest of the month
- no groceries purchased this week (hence the pizza)
- havenāt made the inventory yet but itās on the to do list for next week
4 Likes
First check-in:
-
Purchased peanut butter and bananas at the store on Friday (along with cat litter). Idk if they were technically necessary, but they are staples to help with eating up bread and waffles from the pantry and freezer, plus Iād like my child to eat fruit.
-
Peanut butter and bananas ($9), coffee shop on New Yearās Day (before I realized I had to go austerity budget, $30 from Christmas cash), gas station coffee x2 and donut x1 (technically before setting goal #1 and I have ground coffee in the pantry, $6 on a gift card), coffee shop coffee and muffin because we woke up super late for hockey, $9 split between using up a gift card and Christmas cash).
Today for lunch, I know we have frozen tortellini and Alfredo sauce and broccoli, so that is my plan once I pry Larva away from the library.
Iām certainly more aware of food purchases, even if I havenāt quite minimized them.
3 Likes
I accidentally left the bagels to thaw by the freezer in the basement last night. Hubby found them this morning and brought them up. They were cinnamon raisin, so instead of making bagel crackers with them, we toasted them and had pb and marmalade bagel sandwiches for lunch.
Tonight weāre having Golden Turkey Noodle Soup for supper. It will use up some old sweet potatoes, 2-750 ml containers of turkey stock from Thanksgiving, and some diced turkey meat (also from Thanksgiving).
We went grocery shopping today. Approximately $35 CAD between two stores. My goal is less than $75/week, so thatās good.
5 Likes
Ok so I have not actually tracked fiber or protein intake yet. Iām tracking my water intake and doing well there (my goal is 120 oz a day because Breastfeedingā¢ and Iām getting over 100 regularly, often at 120 or more).
I have not yet had to throw out any food, so thatās good. However Iām planning to do a fridge assessment in prep for Wizard doing some grocery shopping tomorrow SO weāll see how that goes.
6 Likes
Mini check in:
- The priority this week has been eating all the leftovers from belated Christmas dinner with the family and from New Yearās Eve takeout.
- Today I baked a pumpkin leftover from Halloween (uncarved and still in great shape)and made pumpkin muffins with about half the purƩe and froze the rest.
- Still need to inventory the freezer, but did shuffle through the pantry and dug up some random stuff that needs to be used. Started a list of meal ideas for the month.
6 Likes
Multiple people have been somewhat weird when I say Iām eating down the freezer or pantry in anticipation of the upcoming renovation, especially since we donāt have a move out date yet. Iām trying not to feel judged.
Details
Commercial bags
frozen blueberries x3
frozen mango x2 + partial x3 (found bag, not added)
frozen peaches x1
frozen mixed fruit x1 partial
frozen kale (partial)
brussel sprouts (partial)
frozen corn (partial)
frozen cauliflower
frozen green beans x2 x1
added: frozen broccoli
Ziplocs
roasted peppers (small)
roasted cauliflower (medium) (v small)
roasted tomato (large)
melon pops (medium)
Meats
pork belly x4 x6 (found)
pork tenderloin pieces x 3 x2
steak x1 x2 (added)
bacon 1kg x2
bacon 375g x1
ground beef 1lb x3 x2
shrimp (partial)
added: chicken thighs x4
2 cup meal prep
cauliflower coconut x3 x2
cauliflower coconut red lentil x2 x1
onion soup x2 x1
butter chicken sauce x2
carrot red lentil x1
curried tomato soup x1
1 cup meal prep
shredded pork shoulder x4
butter chicken sauce x3 x2
white beans x2
beef curry x2 x1
beef rendang x1
curried tomato soup x1
1 cup ingredients
stock x2
coconut milk x1
blood orange juice x1
roasted pears x1
random ingredients
hot peppers
pomegranate seeds
chipotle paste
chopped celery
ginger
chopped lemongrass
tomato paste
The lemongrass is a definitely an outsized thing in my head. The container is small, but it requires concerted effort to move through it and to remember to plan for meals that will use it. However, now that it isnāt a solid chunk of chopped lemongrass, it is a bit easier to take out just enough for a marinade.
Itās still a lot of butter chicken sauce (a month and a half of weekly butter chicken dinners - Iāll be on the lookout for paneer sales as well as discounted boneless āfree fromā or halal chicken). And 3 weeks of cauliflower curries for lunch that I want to alternate with salads.
3 Likes
Thereās nothing weird about eating down a freezer before a renovation.
9 Likes
Seriously, that would seem to be normal to me?
9 Likes
In 4 days Iāve eaten out 4 times. This is not my normal, but combining traveling with my wife having surgery and stress eating, it is what it is.
Current totals:
Eating out - $120
Groceries - $28
In the service of becoming healthier, I threw away 2 pkgs of bacon today (free from dumpster diving).
Daisy, my lab, is doing her part to eat down the wet and canned dog food and eggs (all free) so I donāt need to buy her more dry before we move. She is also working her way through the mountain of dog treats.
Iāve been super good not bringing home piles of food, although I am planning on going out tonight. Wish me luck for fruit and veggies!
8 Likes
We are moving In ??? Unknown period of time when our house is done and we are eating down our freezer/pantry just to make sure we donāt move any food close to expiration or expired and we can start fresh with new, more optimized pantry (maybe less cans of tomatoās??)
9 Likes
- Tracked every day so far except yesterday (Saturday). Spreadsheet categories are just restaurants and āall other food.ā
- Tea list is done! Now tallying tea drinking for each type, so far Iāve had tea 1-2x each day and will be tracking what gets used up.
8 Likes
Mini Check-In: I went grocery shopping on New Yearās day and spent $43.43. I also bought an overpriced hot chocolate at a movie theater and tipped generously, which added up to $17.99.
(But no food delivery, yay! 
) Those numbers are recorded in my notes app, but I have yet to update my food spending tracker or my paper planner.
I predict needing to spend a little more on groceries over the next two weeks as I transition back into packing lunches for work and needing quick-to-make dinners on weeknights. And if I donāt update my trackers tomorrow, theyāll for sure be updated by the first real check-in.
7 Likes
From a grocery store dumpster tonight. No fruits or veg tonight, hopefully tomorrow. The salmon is for my dog (too dangerous for a human to eat, IMO, although I wouldnāt give it to my dog if I thought it was bad).
8 Likes
I wonder if people are mostly dealing with fully packaged items or bulky stuff in boxes, so they are easy to donate or there is lots of wasted space. Or maybe itās that I say ākitchen renovationā and they think it is a 2-3 month thing, rather than us moving out for at least 6 months because the stairs and floors and back wall of the house are all going away.
I have realized that there are 3 full containers of maple syrup.
6 Likes
Maybe they are just jealous they donāt plan ahead like you 
5 Likes
Nothing really to check-in about so far because we are still on vacation! Tomorrow we fly home, then Tuesday is a day off work (Coptic Christmas) so only Wednesday and Thursday will be work days this week and Iāll probably work from home one of those days. The goal for Tuesday will be to place a big grocery order to refill our empty fridge after two weeks of traveling, and cook something that I can also take for lunch.
6 Likes
Jealous of your maple syrup!
2 Likes
First weekend of the month, so first grocery trips. I did our monthly Costco run as well as a delivery order from King Soopers. Total spending was $508.34 and of that $104.85 was for GF alternatives.
- Kind Chewy Bars
- Kind Breakfast Bars
- Almond Crackers
- GF Goldfish
- GF Chicken Tenders
- GF Cookies
- Miltons GF Chips
- GF Frozen Pizzas
The first 5 items on the list were actually on sale for really good prices, so I bought either 2 or 3 of them to stock up. Ground meat was also on sale this week so we bought a lot of that as well, multiple monthās worth. Overall Iām very happy with the food we bought this weekend, even though we are over halfway through the budget with on the 5th of the month
10 Likes
I was gone most of this week so only made one quick trip to the store, but as an update:
Made gnocchi soup to use up both a very old package of dried gnocchi (I donāt tend to care about use by/best by dates as long as things smell okay, and this one has been in the back of the pantry for a while) and some freezer burned probably-chicken (sharpie wore off but itās either chicken or turkey, and freezer burn also rarely bothers me as long as itās going into a recipe that adds some moisture back).
The remaining freezer burned probably-chicken will be going into a one-crust pot pie sometime later this week when the soup runs out since a random lone crust was also in the freezer, and that should also let me use up a couple of the dented cans of cream-of-whatever soup tooā¦normally Iād just use cream of chicken, but for some reason Iāve got one cream of broccoli and a couple cream of celery hanging around.
Shopping this week: Eggs and cheese (breakfast), carrots, celery, spinach (fresh soup/pot pie ingredients). Still have plenty of potatoes, onions, and garlic on hand from before the holidays.
8 Likes
We had enough Golden Turkey Noodle Soup for supper last night, and two more meals. We are having one tonight, and the other is in the freezer for a later date.
4 Likes