What We Ate this Week on our Budget 03.04.16

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Have you ever blown your budget in four days?

Last weekend, my girls had a two day swim meet. My oldest daughter had to be in the pool for warm up at 7 am on Saturday morning. She raced all morning and qualified for the finals in one event. Yay, her! The finals started at 5:30 pm.

My other daughter swims in a different age group and they raced in the afternoon. Her age group is younger and thankfully, doesn’t have a finals, but we left the pool around 6 pm.

AND then we did the same thing again on Sunday! We spent around 22 hours at a Y pool over last weekend.

We all completely crashed Sunday night and Monday morning was absolutely brutal. Our kitchen was pretty bare so the kids bought their lunch at school. After working all day, we ordered take out for dinner.

And then we did the same thing on Tuesday. I never got to the grocery store until 8pm on Tuesday night. One of my daughters was actually sobbing Tuesday night, “when are things going back to normal!”

Dining out is a fun treat, but when you eat out too often it gets old and my sweet girl wanted a home cooked dinner. I don’t blame her. I did too and on top of that we officially blew through our restaurant budget.

This Week’s Dinners:

Saturday & Sunday: Knowing that we’d be in a pool for the weekend, I packed pasta salad, homemade chicken tenders, my mom’s chicken salad sandwiches, apples, bananas, and various snacks. But I still made a run to Subway for sandwiches and my kids hit me up for money for the concession stand.

Monday & Tuesday: Take out!

Wednesday: Spaghetti, garden salad, homemade applesauce

Thursday: Chunky Potato & Leek soup, garden salad, homemade applesauce

Friday: Leftovers from Thursday night.

I love watching my girls swim, but last weekend was a marathon and I’m glad life is back to normal.

This Week’s Breakfasts, Lunches, & Snacks:

Breakfast this week included egg, sausage, & bagel sandwiches and cereal. Lunches and snacks included sandwiches, leftover spaghetti, apples, oranges, yogurt sticks, cheese sticks, and Girl Scout cookies. 😉

I NEED YOUR HELP! Did you make a new budget-friendly dish this week that your family enjoyed? Please share in the comments. We’re always looking for new weekly meal plan ideas.

Want to lower your grocery bill? These posts will help:

4 Simple Grocery Apps that Earn You Cash Back

11 Simple Meal Planning Tips

My #1 Simple Tool that Saves Me Hundreds

10 Smart Tips to Save Money on Meat

How I Use Pinterest for Meal Planning

8 Freezer Meal Recipes

10 Paper Products to Avoid

Rebecca says

March 7, at 8:10 am

This was pretty budget friendly for us because we always have all the ingredients in our pantry/freezer. It was really flavorful also!
Chicken Fajita Pasta

image: http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/chicken-fajita-pasta-recipe-13.jpg

Print
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope (3 tablespoons) taco or fajita seasoning (I use this Homemade Taco Seasoning)
2 cups diced onion (about 1 whole onion)
2 cups diced bell peppers (2-3 bell peppers)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
1 (10-oz) can Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles
8 oz (about 3 cups) penne pasta
½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Season with half of taco seasoning. In a 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. When the oil is very hot, carefully add the chicken in a single layer and cook without stirring until one side is seared and browned, about 1-2 minutes. Flip the chicken to the other side and cook until browned. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet with the heat still on high. When the oil is very hot again, add the onions, bell peppers, and remaining taco seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are slightly blackened. Turn heat to low, add minced garlic, and stir until fragrant and well combined, about 30 seconds. Remove the veggies to the plate with the chicken.
In the same skillet, add the broth, cream, diced tomatoes, uncooked pasta, and salt. Stir to combine and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 15 minutes until pasta is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed. Add the chicken and veggies back into the skillet and stir to combine until heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve with buttery garlic bread and enjoy!
Makes: 4 servings.

Comments

Rebecca says

March 7, at 8:10 am

This was pretty budget friendly for us because we always have all the ingredients in our pantry/freezer. It was really flavorful also!
Chicken Fajita Pasta

image: http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/chicken-fajita-pasta-recipe-13.jpg

Print
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope (3 tablespoons) taco or fajita seasoning (I use this Homemade Taco Seasoning)
2 cups diced onion (about 1 whole onion)
2 cups diced bell peppers (2-3 bell peppers)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
1 (10-oz) can Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles
8 oz (about 3 cups) penne pasta
½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Season with half of taco seasoning. In a 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. When the oil is very hot, carefully add the chicken in a single layer and cook without stirring until one side is seared and browned, about 1-2 minutes. Flip the chicken to the other side and cook until browned. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet with the heat still on high. When the oil is very hot again, add the onions, bell peppers, and remaining taco seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are slightly blackened. Turn heat to low, add minced garlic, and stir until fragrant and well combined, about 30 seconds. Remove the veggies to the plate with the chicken.
In the same skillet, add the broth, cream, diced tomatoes, uncooked pasta, and salt. Stir to combine and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 15 minutes until pasta is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed. Add the chicken and veggies back into the skillet and stir to combine until heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve with buttery garlic bread and enjoy!
Makes: 4 servings.

Read more at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/chicken-fajita-pasta.html#ixzz42Dq8WTgK
Read more at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/chicken-fajita-pasta.html#DMUjU2VMUro5KDwY.99


Kristia says

March 8, at 3:23 pm

thanks, Rebecca, for the recipe idea.
