We’ve made it back to Saturday. A whole week of attempting to eat the things that fill our kitchen and save money by not buying more food. I discovered some new recipes I’ll make again, I got really tired of ground beef and I said goodbye to some canned and frozen ingredients that have overstayed their welcome.
To celebrate making it through the week I went grocery shopping today and filled up our fridge with yummy fruits, veggies and even fresh salmon for supper. Here’s what we ate today:
Breakfast: Pancakes with vanilla soy milk instead of milk. Cup of coffee.
Lunch: Leftover lentil carrot soup, cornbread and a brownie. John had a hamburger. We finished up the jello jigglers for a snack.
After lunch I went shopping so supper was a whole new world. But it seemed the eat down the fridge bug has bit me because I still managed to get in a couple old things from the cupboards.
Supper: Maple glazed grilled salmon (recipe below), canned beet and goat cheese salad (recipe below) and sweet sticky rice.
I said I would let you know how much we spent on groceries this week. I only went to the store once and spent a total of $12.43 on some deli meat, eggs and quick oats. When I went to the store today I spent $88.00 on everything from vanilla soy milk to red peppers to fresh salmon to coffee beans. Given that some of those things last over a week it would be safe to estimate we saved about $40-$50 by not shopping last week. Not to mention the creativity and ingenuity I had to use! I’ve never had to substitute in so many recipes.
I won’t try doing another whole week like this for awhile but I am thinking of featuring a forgotten item or two each week that I have worked into my meal plan. Thanks for coming on the journey with us this week, I’ll leave you with the receipes from our delicious supper tonight, both of which I found online and then modified alot to fit what we had!
Maple Anise Glazed Salmon
1 lb fresh salmon fillet (boneless, skinless)
1/4 cup maple syrup*
2 tbsp soy sauce (I uses dark)*
1 clove garlic, minced (don’t bother cutting, use a press)*
1/4 tsp sea salt*
1.4 tsp fresh ground pepper*
3 of 4 star anise pods*
Mix everything but the salmon in a small bowl (break up the anise pods so that the seeds separate). Place salmon flat in shallow glass baking dish and pour on sauce. Coat evenly and refigerate for 30 minutes, turning salmon once. Grill for 4-5 minutes on each side, depending on how cooked you like your salmon (leave anise seeds pieces in the marinating dish, do not eat).
Beet Goat Cheese Salad
1 can whole baby beets*
2 tbsp olive oil*
1 tbsp vinegar*
fresh ground pepper*
crumbled goat cheese
Drain beets well, do not rinse (take care with the juice, it stains easily). Put beats in small serving dish, slice each in half with sharp knife. Coat with oil, vinegar and pepper. Toss to coat fully, sprinkle with goat cheese crumbles right before eating.
* Ingredients from our kitchen pre-grocery shopping.
I have not yet reported on our first day doing the kitchen cleanse on this, our second round of this game.
Technically the week is over, well, depends if you think of Sunday as the last day or the first. I had a hard time using my various dishes I set out to use because we ate out once and then John was on campus late a couple nights and out of town a couple nights.
