What’s for Supper? & Grocery Haul | Bibimbap, Chicken Wings and Shrimp

What’s for supper at your house this week?  

Last week we had Bibimbap, Chicken Wings, Shrimp and more.

Hello friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  It’s been quite cool here in Virginia.  I love it. Everyone I know keeps wondering when its going to warm up and I’m just over here praying that it stays SPRING for another few weeks.  Because you know Summer is coming and it will last until November. 😕

Here’s what we ate last week:

We are continuing with our Food Experiment each week with Hello Fresh.  It’s going really well.  I’ll post my thoughts on week two tomorrow.

Bibimbap

Bibimbap two ways.  We had ours with ground beef and Liv’s had fried tofu.  We all LOVED this meal.Bibimbap

We have close friends who are from South Korea and when I told Yun that we had tried Bibimbap for supper earlier in the week, he showed up with his Mother in Laws for us to compare it to.  It was very, very, VERY close.  And Kim ran a Korean restaurant for decades. This is what I’m loving about Hello Fresh so far.  We can try new things and expect to get an authentic experience of what the food is supposed to taste like.  crunchy chickpeas bowls

Oh Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls.  The only fan in our house was Denton.  I ate mine but I am going to call this one a fail.  Hayden flat out wouldn’t eat his.  Liv ate the rice and the chickpeas.  So.  I don’t know if it was the curry, or just the overall mixture of all of things that put everyone off.  Denton loved the kale, the pickled cabbage and the rice.  But he didn’t like the chickpeas.  Nope.  I won’t be making this one in the future.chicken wings

Chicken wings with crudite and chips and ranch.  Yum.  One of our favorites.  Denton informed me that we do not ever need to go out for wings ever again.  He seriously loves these.  Try the recipe and let me know what you think!

Totino’s pizza.  Some days are hard.  And those days you have frozen pizza.  Even if you didn’t want it.soup beans and salmon

Soup beans with salmon, sauerkraut and weenies, with roasted asparagus and potatoes.  My favorite day of the week, whichever day it falls on.  Or every day if it were up to me.

Tuna sandwiches with pickles and chips.  This is a weekly request from Denton.

Two types of shrimp with baked potatoes and my homemade cheap garlic bread with California blend veggies.  Oh, and our sauce.  Yum.

What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for Supper? plans here.


Groceries

Grocery Haul

This weeks grocery budget went to our local Walmart and Food Lion again.  It never enters my mind when I’m in Food Lion to take a photo of what’s in my buggy.

It always dismays me when I see what I’ve spent when I just run in to get a specific item.  I went in to Food Lion to get Dr. Pepper and pizza’s for the kids and came out spending $54.00.  However Denton pointed out that I paid $10.24 for wings (which I think is a rip off) for all three of us.  Which would have set us back around $80 if we had gone out for them.  And he likes mine better, so. 😀  I can console myself that I actually saved us $70 by overspending at the grocery store.  Do you have to justify things to yourself like I do?

Liv always has cauliflower wings which I have to hide from Denton.  They are SO good, and no they do not taste like chicken.  But they are delicious, lol.

May 12:  Food Lion $53.30 and Walmart $100.41


May $303.34 ~ so far

April $643.67

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?  Did you buy something yummy?

Quote of the Week: from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Quote of the Week:  from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

“Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.”
― from Rebecca  by Daphne Du Maurier


If you like this quote, you may like these other things about and by Daphne du Maurier.

Yes, I Am A Bookaholic Book Lover Reading Pun T-Shirt

If you like this quote, you may like all of the other quotes that I have here.

What’s for Supper? & Grocery Haul | Chicken and Dumplings, Gnocchi with Spinach

What’s for supper at your house this week?  

We had Chicken and Dumplings, Gnocchi with Spinach and more.

Hello friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  We had a lovely week of Spring weather and yummy food.

Here’s what we ate last week:

Gnocchi with Spinach

We started our week off with what I’m calling my Food Experiments.  This meal was Gnocchi with Spinach & Heirloom tomatoes topped with Garlic Butter Breadcrumbs.  I LOVED this one.  It reminded me slightly of the Chicken and Gnocchi soup from Olive Garden.  I will definitely make this again.  My experiment is working! If you would like to try Hello Fresh at your house you can use my link and get $100 off.

Soup beans with salmon

Soup beans with salmon, roasted potatoes and onions.  My favorite meal of the week.  Every week.

Hamburgers with chips, pickles and raw onions.  Another favorite and a go to meal when I need something easy and fast.Potato Soup with bacon

Potato soup with bacon.  This time I served this with Everything Croissants from Walmart.  Have you tried them?  They were good, but this meal is ALWAYS better with my homemade biscuits.  I was just too lazy to make them and regretted it.

Chicken patties on buns, with pickles and chips.  

On Saturday I spent a couple of hours on the phone with Amazon trying to fix a problem I had with a pair of headphones I bought in December.  After that headache, I didn’t want to cook.  Dominos to the rescue.  Denton said he didn’t even realize that we had a Domino’s in our town, lol.  Chicken and Dumplings

On Sunday I made my version of Chicken and Dumplings.  Which I promptly forgot to post to my Instagram page.  I made some Cornbread salad to go along side with a side of cornbread.  Do you think I have enough carbs here?  I thought it was delicious!

What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for Supper? plans here.


Groceries

This weeks grocery budget went to our local Wal-Mart and Food Lion.  I needed to run into Food Lion to grab Coke’s and Doritos and while I was there I found hamburgers on clearance.  That’s the danger for me.  The clearance section of the grocery store.  But we had homemade burgers and it didn’t cost me $45.00 at McDonalds!  Win.

At Walmart, I stocked up on things that we were out of – milk, bread, peanut butter, apples – we go through SO many apples – pepperonis and pickles.  I use the method from my friend (she doesn’t know we are friends, but I love her Youtube channel; the world is weird now, isn’t it?  We can have friends that don’t even know we are friends, lol.) Kimmie from She’s in Her Apron.  Or maybe it was Jordan Page.  Either way, I like their methods.  I buy one for now and one for later.  This way it makes it easier to stock up.  We were also out of our dishwasher tablets.  I’ve used Finish for years now, and I’m afraid to stop using them.  They work great, but they are so expensive.  What do you use?

May 5:  Food Lion $35.94 and Walmart $113.69


May $149.63 ~ so far

April $643.67

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?  Did you buy something yummy?

Quote of the Week: Eleanor Roosevelt

Quote of the Week:  Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt


If you like this quote, you may like these other things about and by Eleanor Roosevelt.Womens Make You Feel Inferior Eleanor Roosevelt Quote V-Neck T-Shirt

If you like this quote, you may like all of the other quotes that I have here.

Food Experiments: Number 1 and Number 2

Food Experiments: Number 1 and Number 2

Hello my friends!  For the next five weeks I am performing what I call a food experiment at my house.  I have been on the fence for quite a while about Hello Fresh.  I have watched so many people that I follow on social media order it and cook it and love it.  But I’ve hesitated.  The number one reason being the cost.  I need to state right up front, Hello Fresh is not paying me to review their products.  This is going to be my honest opinion on the cost, the taste, the ease of cooking, etc.

An invitation came in the mail about a week ago for 16 free meals with a trial run, so we decided to try it out.  Another big reason that I had for wanting to try it is to get out of my comfort zone.  I’ve had couscous in my pantry for at least eight months and I’ve been hesitant to try it.  Yes, I know couscous is VERY easy to cook, but I didn’t trust a random recipe for something that I had never eaten before.  I mean, I can grill chicken and make a pot of couscous, but what do you put on it?  Do you eat it plain?

Basically, I want to try new to us foods that I know are supposed to be yummy without paying restaurant prices for something that I may or MAY NOT like.  I chose the vegetarian option for the first week, because we eat a lot of meat on a regular basis and I would like to incorporate more veggies into our diet.  Also, Liv doesn’t eat meat, so this simplifies things for me.

Hello Fresh 16 free meals

The Cost

When you sign up, you have options of how many meals you want each week and you can choose how many people that you will be feeding.  We chose the two meal per week option for four people.  The first week I was charged $42.27 for both meals.  I don’t know how Hello Fresh does their math, but when I the code in that you see above, it only gave me eleven free meals.  Next week, my price is supposed to be $55.37.  I’ll update you each week.

We had 25 options to choose our meals from.  But, since I wanted to do veggie only meals for those two meals, it knocked our choices down to six.  This must be the norm for Hello Fresh, because when I looked over the options for week 2 there were only six options available in the veggie section too.

Mediterranean Baked Veggies

Meal Number 1

For our first meal, I chose Mediterranean Baked Veggies with Couscous, Almonds and Feta.  The instructions they give you with the card are very easy to follow, very clear and concise.  I felt like someone who hasn’t cooked very much would easily be able to follow them.  It might take slightly longer than 30 minutes if you are novice, but still very doable.  One thing that I LOVE about Hello Fresh is that everything that you need – except salt, pepper, olive oil and butter – is included in your bag.  I didn’t need to go to my local grocery store and fight through the hoards to pick up ripe tomatoes and yummy looking asparagus.  They brought it to my front door and I stuck it in the fridge until I was ready to cook it the next day.  I LOVE this.  I may say this more than once.  Ahem.

I used one sheet pan, two pots and that’s it.  I loved that I could immediately throw the small amount of packaging into my recycle bin as I cooked, so cleanup was essentially nothing.  I LOVED that too!

I had never had couscous and I really like it.  I can’t wait to find a new recipe with couscous in it to try and see what yummy meals I can make out of it.  I also love tomatoes and asparagus, so that was a hit.  I don’t think I’ve ever eaten feta before.  It’s very strong, and it colored my view of the entire meal.  I think if I made this again, I would definitely used a different type of cheese to see if I like it better.  Yes, I know that’s what makes this Mediterranean, but I don’t care, lol.  The crunch of the slivered almonds and the scallions (or green onions where I’m from) was really good too.

Denton was worried about the portion sizes.  His thoughts going into this was we had better have hot dogs or something else later for when we get hungry again, hahahaha.  Surprisingly, this meal was very, very filling.  We eat supper at – brace yourself – around 4:00 PM every day.  It’s a habit that I got into when we moved here 13 years ago.  That’s the time that Denton came home from work and the kid’s got off the bus, so that’s when I had dinner ready every day.  I’ve never gotten out of that habit, so we still eat really early compared to “normal” people.  All of that to say, I didn’t want anything later for a snack.  It was that filling.  I think I can learn to really love couscous for that fact alone.

Overall, it was a good meal.  It wasn’t outstanding, but in my opinion my experiment is bearing out – I learned that I like couscous and want to make it again and my entire family tried something together that none of us had had before.

Gnocchi with Spinach and Heirloom tomatoes

Meal Number 2

The next meal, which I made the next day, was Gnocchi with Spinach and Heirloom Tomatoes topped with Garlic Butter Breadcrumbs.  I am here to proclaim right off the bat, that I LOVED this meal.  Every time Denton and I eat at Olive Garden I get the Chicken and Gnocchi soup and this is very similar.  It has a creamy base with wilted spinach and warmed tomatoes topped with garlicky buttered panko breadcrumbs, which I love.  If you’ve ever tried my version of Shrimp Scampi with Orecchiette, the topping is very similar and I think it makes the dish.  This is the same for me.

Just like the first meal, the directions were pretty simple and straightforward.  It took around 20 minutes just like it said.  I only used one pan and one pot, so cleanup was easy.  I will definitely make this again.  I will say that this meal wasn’t as stick to your ribs as the couscous one was, but it was very filling.  I just wanted a snack about 9:00 PM. 😀

My Final Thoughts

Our first weeks meals broke down to $5.28 per person, per meal.  Cheaper than McDonald’s for our crew and much, much tastier.  So far, I am very glad that I am trying this experiment.  Our meals get delivered on Saturday evening, so I will continue next week just like I did this one and cook the meals on Sunday and Monday.  Another perk about cooking this way, is that I’m not responsible for meal planning two of our meals and I really love that.

Next week, we are having Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls for our veggie meal and I chose Beef and Veggie Bibimbap for our second meal.  I can’t wait, and I’ll be sure to let you know all about it.

If you would like to try Hello Fresh for yourself, you can use this link to get $100.00 off.  This will also give me $10.00 off too, so thanks in advance!

Have you tried Hello Fresh?  What did you think?  Did you find the value in the food or the learning experience?  I need all the details, and if you have a favorite meal from them, I would love to try that too!

Hello Fresh

What’s for Supper? Pulled Chicken, Taco salad, and more

What’s for supper at your house this week?  We had Pulled Chicken, Taco salad and more.

Hello friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  Everything is blooming here, which is lovely and beautiful, however everyone in my house is either coughing, sneezing, or has itchy eyes.  I LOVE springtime, but the pollen needs a good washing away by a lot of rain.  Please.

Here’s what we ate last week:

Spaghetti and rolls

We had speedy spaghetti with rolls that I popped into the air fryer at the last minute.  Yum.Taco salad with bean burrito

Taco salad with a bean burrito covered in onions and cheese with a side of salsa and chips.Pulled chicken

Pulled chicken on buns with garlic Parmesan potatoes and a side of Bush’s baked beans.

The next night we had appointments in town (Covid shots), so we brought home Chinese food.  My FAVORITE.  I completely forgot to take a photo, so you’ll have to trust me. 😛

I made quesadillas out the leftover pulled chicken.  They were sweet, so that was odd, but they were also delicious dipped in the red pepper sauce I made to go with them.  I’ll post the recipe tomorrow.  Famous last words.

I made a giant pot of white rice and we ate the Chinese leftovers.  YUM!  I use this pot to make my rice in.  I love it.  You turn it on, put the rice and water in and presto change-o it does all the work for you.  And it NEVER overcooks the rice.  It is well worth the storage space it takes up.  Here are some others that look amazing.

The last meal of the week was what I’m calling Experiment Number 01.  We’ve been debating for quite a while on whether to try HelloFresh and I finally put in an order.  Our first meal was Mediterranean Baked Veggies with Couscous.  It was good.  I need to write a separate post about the whole experience to actually let you know what we think about the experience, the food and the cost.  Fingers crossed I actually get that done.  Meanwhile, if you click that link above you’ll get $100 off.What's for supper?

What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for supper? plans here.


Groceries

This weeks grocery budget went to our local Wal-Mart.  I spent $163.08.  I stocked up on toilet paper, Puff’s Plus with lotion facial tissues – POLLEN – a new laundry hamper because I broke the handle on one of our older ones, along with a LOT of food.  It never ceases to amaze me when the total comes up  on the register.  I know that those people who monitor the self-checkout are laughing as they watch me stand there for a couple of seconds with my mouth agape.  Let’s hope that May’s number isn’t quite that high!

April 3:  Walmart $152.42

April 6:  Food Lion $17.41

April 9: Food Lion $122.25

April 14:  Walmart $94.25

April 18: Food Lion $12.26

April 21:  Food Lion $82.00

April 28:  Walmart $163.08


April $643.67

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?  Did you buy something yummy?

FREE: Amazon First Reads Books for May 2021

One of the best benefits of having Amazon Prime is that each month I get a free ebook from the Amazon First Reads lineup.  These books are offered to Prime members exclusively before they are released the next month.  That’s twelve free books a year.

You will find the May pre-release books below.  To choose one of the books for free, just click on the book cover.


Mystery
Beneath Devil's Bridge by loreth Anne White
Beneath Devil’s Bridge by Loreth Anne White

Family Drama
Like Wind Against Rock by Nancy Kim
Like Wind Against Rock by Nancy Kim

Domestic Thriller

The Darkest Flower by Kristin Wright

The Darkest Flower by Kristin Wright


Contemporary Romance

The Checklist by Addie Woolridge

The Checklist by Addie Woolridge


Memoir
The Puma Years: A Memoir Kindle Edition by Laura Coleman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

The Puma Years by Laura Coleman


Women’s Fiction
These Tangled Vines: A Novel Kindle Edition by Julianne MacLean (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

These Tangled Vines by Julianne MacLean 


Fantasy
Bacchanal Kindle Edition by Veronica G. Henry (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

Bacchanal by Veronica G. Henry 


Children’s Picture Book

Tabitha and Fritz Trade Places Kindle Edition by Katie Frawley (Author), Laurie Stansfield (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

Tabitha and Fritz Trade Places by Katie Frawley Laurie Stansfield


Historical Fiction

The Girls in the Attic Kindle Edition by Marius Gabriel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

The Girls in the Attic by Marius Gabriel


Which book are you going to choose this month?  I always have a tough time choosing; I want all the books as usual.Take the Lead by Jessica Simpson | Amazon Original Stories


Please note:  Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow these Kindle First books

when they are officially released next month.

You can see all of the previous months offerings here.  I hope that you find an interesting book today!

Cherry and Pineapple Dump Cake

Cherry and Pineapple Dump Cake

I made this for Denton’s birthday a few weeks ago and we ate the entire thing in two days.  It is a keeper!

Here’s how I make it:

Mix a can of cherry pie filling with a can of crushed pineapple together in a baking pan.

As you can see, I couldn’t find my can of crushed pineapple, so I diced up some pineapple rings I had instead.  It worked just fine!  Use what you have people.

Next sprinkle an entire box of cake mix over the top of the fruit mixture…..I used Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix, but I’ve also used others, just use what you have and have a taste for!

Cut up an entire stick of butter and place all over the top of the cake mix……Cherry and Pineapple Dump Cake

And bake.  It’s so, so good!  And easy too.

Dump cakes are the best.  Let me know what you think.cherry pineapple dump cake

You can find all of the my other dessert recipes here.  Do you need a new baking dish?  Here are some that I think are lovely.

Here’s the handy dandy printable.

Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

  • 1 (21 ounce can) cherry pie filling
  • 1 (20 ounce can) crushed pineapple
  • 1 box cake mix
  • 1 stick butter

Instructions
 

  • Mix together cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple in a baking dish.
  • Sprinkle the cake mix over the top of the filling.
  • Cut the butter into pats and place over the cake mix.
  • Bake at 350* for about 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
  • Enjoy!

What’s for Supper? 04.26.21

04.26.21 ~ What’s for supper at your house this week?  

Hello friends!  Spring has sprung here in our neck of the woods.  We should only have one more cold spell in May for Blackberry winter and then the heat will be on if everything goes the way it normally does here in Virginia.  I’ll take just a little more spring please.

Here’s what we ate last week:

I made pecan and panko pork chops with roasted red potatoes, green beans, stuffing and crescent rolls.  I thought it was good, but Denton and Hayden weren’t particular fans of the pecans on pork, hahaha.

Chicken sandwiches with pickles and chips on the side.  Always an easy, simple supper.  But I do need to start making my own chicken for the sandwiches.  But that negates the easy part, right?

Two kinds of shrimp with baked potatoes, broccoli salad and buttered bread.  Yum.
soup beans and salmon

Soup beans, with a terrible box of Mac and cheese, salmon, kraut and weenies, and the best homemade cornbread I’ve ever made.  I’ll try to remember to take pictures and post the recipe next week.  It was so good.  I also made a new kind of roasted potatoes.  They were delicious, but I prefer just fried potatoes or normal roasted potatoes with my soup beans.  These would be great as a side with chicken or pork, so I’ll make the recipe and post it soon too.tuna sandwichesDenton requested tuna sandwiches again, which I am always happy to oblige him with.

I also made another dump cake last week.  I’ll post the recipe tomorrow.  It is so easy and delicious, I know you’ll love it.

What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for supper? plans here.


Groceries

This weeks grocery budget went to our local Food Lion.  I spent $82.00 exactly which will never happen again in my lifetime.  I have one more grocery haul to make in April before I see what our total will be for the month.  You can see what we’ve spent in April so far down below.  We will have five weeks of grocery shopping in this month though, since I switched up my shopping day.

Are Saturday’s as insane in your town as they are in mine now?  Liv and I used to do our grocery shopping for the week on Saturday mornings.  We decided to pick a different day because our local stores were being swarmed and I wanted to hurt people.  We tried a Sunday, a Tuesday, but I always go into my office on Wednesdays, so I just decided to tick that off my to do list then.  I am surprised at how many people are out and about on a Wednesday afternoon too.  I hate grocery shopping, and when I have to dodge and weave to get it done does not make me a happy person.  Sigh.

April 3:  Walmart $152.42

April 6:  Food Lion $17.41

April 9: Food Lion $122.25

April 14:  Walmart $94.25

April 18: Food Lion $12.26

April 21:  Food Lion $82.00


April ~ So far:  $480.59

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?  Did you buy something yummy?

What’s for Supper? 04.19.21

04.19.21 ~ What’s for supper at your house this week?  

Hello friends!  It’s a new Monday.  I hope that your week has started out well.  I’ve been sharing what we eat each night on my Instagram page if you want the scoop before I post it here each week.  I am a creature of habit and routines so hopefully this will keep me on track.

Here’s what we ate last week:

Soup beans and salmon

Soup beans, with roasted onions and potatoes, salmon, and butter fried mushrooms – boy those don’t look good, but they were delicious.

Totino’s pizza for an easy supper, with cucumbers and blueberries.  Sometimes simple is best.Taco Salad

Taco salad with chips and salsa.Alfredo and garlic bread

Fettuccine Alfredo with my super cheap garlic bread, a giant salad and a big glass of water.  

This night was a find what you can, kind of night.  I had Strawberry Awake cereal.  It’s the Walmart version of Special K Berries.  Both are delicious, but if one of my local stores doesn’t have Special K on sale, I’ll always buy the off brand.  YUM.

On Sunday, Liv and I had to run into to town and we brought home supper from a local place.  I had a Shrimp Po’Boy with fries and my usual big glass of water.  I still drink my beloved soda too, but I’m trying to get more water in and drinking water with a meal is easy.

I hope that you ate something delicious this past week.  If you did, let me know in the comments down below.  I am always looking for a tried and true recipe to spring on my family.

What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for supper? plans here.


Groceries

This past week I went into two different grocery stores:  Walmart and Food Lion.  I spent the bulk of my grocery budget this week at Walmart, but I did run into Food Lion for a couple of necessities – Sprite Zero and Doritos.  What are your junk food must haves?  Ours are soda and chips.  We always have them, and they will be eaten by someone.  The soda changes per whatever is on sale at that moment.  I prefer Pepsi One.  GASP.  If you had told me ten years ago that I would be drinking a Pepsi of any kind I would have laughed myself silly.  But this is reality, hahahaha.

April 3:  Walmart $152.42

April 6:  Food Lion $17.41

April 9: Food Lion $122.25

April 14:  Walmart $94.25

April 18: Food Lion $12.26


April ~ So far:  $398.59

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?