Week 13 was a very tough week for us. Multiple evening meetings for both Scott and I, bakery orders, work, and two hour choir practices. Then on Thursday we drove down to Ithaca (two hours from us) for a new car and on the way found out Scott’s mom was taken to the ER with fluid on her lungs. We drove straight from the car signing to the ER to check on her. Scott drove to Elmira Friday to be with her and his dad, and Sunday brought her home from the hospital. Friday when he was at the hospital I spent the evening getting the parsonage thrift sale ready for Saturday and Saturday we both spent all day selling our hearts out until the storm hit in the afternoon. We were both exhausted by Sunday evening. Why am I sharing all of this? I guess because none of us really know what the week will bring at the start of it and unexpected things pop up. If I had been more prepared the stress of cooking would have been eased by just grabbing a prepped meal from the freezer. I definitely need to work on this!




I spent $102.96 this week on groceries. I can’t believe I got out of a Wegmans only spending $36 and I even bought salmon! I splurged on salmon and olives and dolmas. If you have never had a dolma it’s a rice mixture wrapped in grape leaf and pickled.
Last week I shared some items from my pantry that I wanted to use up and while some got used in recipes, I didn’t get to all of them because of the exhausting week we had. Here are a few of the meals we had and how I used some of those ingredients:








The macaroni pictured in that group I used for my lunch one day. I eat a lot of pasta with just butter and salt on it.
What I didn’t get to was the pumpkin and evaporated milk and the brownie mixes but the rest I used. Yay! Not bad!
Total spent on groceries week 13: $102.96
Total for March: $320.58
Grand total for the year $1243.78
That’s an average of $95 a week. Pretty good! I still want to work on getting that average down though.
How was your past week? Until next time! -MM
hope MIL is on the mend now!
and laughing at your cereals for dinner . . . I had peanut butter on toast for mine last night, so am in no position to judge ^^
Oooh and just noticed, the most gorgeous dolls’ house in your living room !
LikeLike
Yes! That was my childhood dollhouse my grandfather built for me. I am the only girl and the oldest of the cousins so he liked to make me the best of things. It needs a lot of repairs and I hope to restore it some day. I used to decorate every room for every holiday and string tiny lights in it. 🙂
LikeLike
I’m tired just reading this post. I am amazed you were able to cook anything this week. I have done cereal for breakfast. Better than nothing or a pint of ice cream. I hope your MIL is doing well. Best wishes with the new car. My SIL is picking up his Subaru tomorrow.
LikeLike
Things always seem to come at the end of the week so by Thursdays my meals are all over the place haha! Cereal is our go to sometimes or even a scrambled egg and toast. I have a feeling when my son moves out someday our meals will be a lot more basic. I love my Subaru. I had one before my current lease and I was itching to get back to one. I hope he enjoys his.
LikeLike
That was a crazy week! Freezer meals are so helpful! Our go to freezer meals are green chili beef burrito mix, meatloaf, left over chile, enchilada sauce, ham and beans and bierocks in the winter. We also have sausage ropes that are great with sauerkraut and potatoes, with pasta or alone. I also have lots of home canned chicken and turkey which goes for soup, pot pies, dumplings, curry and enchiladas. Can you tell I grew up in southern CO and DH went to grad school in west TX?! 🤣 We have canned lots of meat in the past year, so I am also working on learning to use that to make the above. With only two of us now, it is easy to make a full recipe and freeze half on the days I can cook. Sunday is popcorn for supper here!
LikeLike
Wow! Yes, I can definitely tell you grew up with lots of Southern US influence lol. Popcorn for dinner on Sundays sounds fun 🙂 I honestly have never had an enchilada. Isn’t that terrible?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not really! I had never had spaghetti 😳 until 7th grade, because my mom only cooked Norwegian!!!
LikeLike