The tide is definitely changing around here. I feel like I’ve been crazy productive lately, cooking more and settling into the cozy indoors mode that I love so much.
I adore the late fall and winter months here in Maine. And I even like that it gets dark so early. There’s something comforting about it.
Okay, so maybe it’s that I just like having an excuse to put my pajamas on at 5 pm. 😉
Costco $53.73
10 pounds of potatoes for $4.49. Call me crazy but that seemed pretty high. I told the HH I won’t be stepping foot into a grocery store from now until the end of the year.
Well, except the corner store for milk. I’d rather go without salads for the next 6 weeks than go shopping in the crowded stores. I just can’t stand the crush of people. Everyone is always in a hurry and usually crabby.
Maybe he’ll go? Maybe he won’t? Who knows.
Trader Joe’s $18.45
I know I’ve said it a million times before, but Trader Joe’s really does have the best avocados. And the calabrese salami had just the right kick to it too. We bought a pack on our last trip to TJ’s and it was so good, we had to buy some more.
Have you tried it? It’s my new favorite thing.
Market Basket $20.04 {taco shells are missing from the picture}
Celery was $1.99. Remember a year or two ago when it was like five bucks for a bunch half the size? Bananas were $0.49 a pound. And a whole rotisserie chicken for $4.69? Yes please!
Breakfasts this week were the same thing we’ve been eating all year.
It’s hard to get excited for breakfast. I don’t like eating too much early in the day. I feel like when I do I need to take a nap afterwards.
Just a little something in the tummy and I’m good until linner. Which is usually around 1 pm.
Candied orange slices are pretty rad.
So is tea and toast.
Linners around here this past week were pretty simple affairs. SIMPLY DELICIOUS that is! 😉 Big salads with bacon.
Big salads with rotisserie chicken.
Big salads with chicken, avocado and bacon {I think this might be my favorite combination}.
A baked potato with bacon, sour cream and butter on a cold and windy day is always welcome too.
Kiln Guy and The Chef joined us for lunch. The HH made our favorite copy cat Panera chicken and wild rice soup for lunch.
My husband is actually a really good cook. I wish he would cook more. Maybe I can get him this winter in between house projects.
A girl can dream, right?
Pie, glorious pie. I made a cherry pie and it was DELICIOUS. It was even better the second and third day with tea.
We made tacos with the leftover rotisserie chicken.
And I pulled some frozen beans out of the freezer for some loaded beans and rice yesterday.
It was a good week with lot’s of real food that took actual preparation [instead of just opening a bag}. The tide, I think it’s finally changing.
What was on YOUR plate last week? Anything exciting? Any pie? Do tell.
~Mavis
Total Spent This Week On Groceries $92.22
January $229.38
February $260.86
March $433.46
April $369.57
May $110.69
June $448.14
July $134.63
August $240.70
September $364.07
October $400.11
November $92.22
Tracey says
Must know how the lime marm with creme de cacao tastes – I would have never thought about that combination and now I am obsessed!!
Mavis Butterfield says
10/10. Fantastic. Should have bought more!
Jennifer says
Do you make your candied orange slices or buy them? I’m tired of bananas on my cereal so anything else sounds good
Mavis Butterfield says
Buy them from Trader Joe’s. I think they are $1.99 a pack.
Sue S. says
They’re my favorite dried fruit! You can’t eat just one slice.
Lynn says
I can’t say we had anything exciting to eat this week but i have to tell you I have salad envy whenever you post pictures of your salads. They look unbelievably delicious. Sadly, mine never look so appetizing (and probably don’t taste as good either!).
Linda Sand says
High carb meals cause naps. High protein meals hold me a long time without a nap.
Natalie says
Want another yogurt breakfast idea?
The night before, add 6 tablespoons of chia seeds and maple syrup to how sweet you like it into a tub of yogurt (I probably add 1/4 cup).
Mix it up and put it back in the fridge and the next morning you have a very yummy breakfast!! It can last in the fridge for up to a week.
Our family goes through multiple tubs of yogurt a week.
We call it a healthier version of tapioca pudding.
Natalie says
*And a generous dash of vanilla.
Trace says
I made your apple pie jam!
Holy smokes was it ever yummmmmo!
Toast butter and jam is good for dinner too
Mavis Butterfield says
So glad you are enjoying the apple pie jam! Here’s the recipe if anyone else is interested. https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/canning-101-apple-pie-jam-recipe/
Lynda Rees Kling says
I cannot IMAGINE being in pajamas all day! I have fed the horse in the mornings sometimes in pjs, but at some point I need to get dressed and cleans stall, buckets and ride….
And at 5 pm I’m out in the barn again…!
Tracie says
That marmalade looks SO yummy! I only do grocery pickup now because all of the people are peopling hard and it makes me lose my mind. Highly recommend grocery pickup.
Cindy Brick says
The Little Free Library you helped stock is finally up and running! Thank you very much, Mavis —
KC says
That is *fascinating* that celery is now cheaper for you! Our grocery prices are all more expensive than they were a year ago, with the sole exception of eggs. Produce [some large increases, some smaller increases], meat [OUCH; just OUCH], yogurt, chocolate [some of it went up by 1/3 of the previous price!], and nearly everything else we buy is more expensive (again, except eggs, which is nice! but it does *not* make up the spikes in prices everywhere else on the grocery bill). Toiletries are up, too – toilet paper, shampoo, feminine hygiene products, soap, toothpaste: more expensive vs. last year (which I can tell because we’re stuck with some brands due to allergies, so it’s easy to compare identical-product prices). That said, we’re in Oklahoma, so maybe shipping costs to or within Oklahoma have gone up, but not to Maine?
Oh! Forgot one other exception: chicken gizzards are around same price per pound as they were a year ago (we don’t buy them all the time, so I have less of a laser-focused price sense for them), although every other type of chicken we buy is more expensive. Guess not as many people want gizzards? Or they haven’t bothered updating the price yet. Hoping they don’t go up soon!
But hooray for getting a good price for celery! I haven’t bought it much since I got married (someone doesn’t like celery), so I haven’t been keeping track of its pricing fluctuations.
Rotisserie chicken for less than $5 does sound very handy! How large was it?