What We Ate/Consumed (Sept 12-18)

Week 2 (in a row) of chronicling what we're eating. This has been such an interesting exercise for me. I'm hoping it will help me see a good average for what we consume on a weekly basis--a help if I'm buying up extra of something on sale or just trying to buy enough for the week. It's also shown me that we're eating too many sweets again! Two weeks ago, we were eating hardly any dessert, but that has crept back in (and will creep back on our waistlines if we're not careful!). This doesn't always factor in hubby's lunch--he takes leftovers and occasionally eats out.

*indicates food that was grown by me or a local farmer

Meals/Dishes from the following list included:

• Butternut Squash Soup
• Cornbread (twice)
• Roasted Vegetable Soup
• Roast Chicken and Potatoes
• Chicken and Sausage Pasta
• Pizza (with leftover sausage and bacon)
• homemade chicken stock (10 cups; some in the freezer now)
• Banana Snack Cake
• homemade crackers
• Apple Dutch Baby
• 4 cups tomato pasta sauce for freezer

Protein Sources (includes dairy)

• 16 oz. cheese
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• Parmesan (4 ounces?)
• 5 oz. tofu
• 1 pound bacon
• 19 oz. Italian sausage (4 ounces leftover by end of week)
• 1 chicken (4 pounds or so) (1.5 cups leftover by end of week)
• 5 slices Canadian bacon
• 25 eggs
• 20 slices American cheese
• 2 g. milk (includes milk used for yogurt)
• 5 small yogurts

Starches (flours, breads, etc.)

• 1/2 loaf homemade bread
• 1/2 loaf storebought bread
• 3 cups pancake mix
• 2.75 cups cornmeal
• 10 cups flour (white whole wheat and regular white)
• 5 English muffins
• 1 cup popcorn kernels
• 1 pound penne

Produce

• 1 butternut squash*
• 2 butternut squashes
• 2 pounds carrots
• 1 red pepper
• 9 garlic cloves
• 7 large tomatoes*
• 2 pints cherry/grape tomatoes*
• 1 box frozen spinach
• 2 onions
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 pound potatoes*
• 3 cucumbers*
• 1 can Great Northern beans
• basil*
• thyme*
• rosemary*
• 10 apples
• 11 peaches
• 4 c. grapes
• 10 bananas
• 1 small can pears
• 2/3 cup raisins

Condiments/Baking Supplies (includes butter, oil, etc.)

• 1 pound butter (probably more...)
• olive oil (a lot)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• baking powder/baking soda/vanilla
• peanut butter
• jelly*
• syrup (homemade)
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 cup pesto (homemade--from the freezer)
• 1 cup pizza sauce (homemade--from the freezer)

Ready-made/Storebought Food

• 1 box Wheat Thins
• 1 box ice cream sandwiches (6/box)
• 1 package cookie dough
• 1/2 box cereal

Beverages

• coffee (2+ cups/day)
• tea (2+ cups/day)
• wine (4 glasses)
• water

Eating Out

• date night at Thai restaurant ($25) (we ate off this for several days)

Trial Week

Week 1

What We Ate/Consumed (Sept 5-11)

I wrote a post like this before--this is more for my own purposes I suppose than anyone's interest who might be reading along. This is always an interesting exercise. Here's what we consumed (roughly) for this past week (we fed one other family in addition on one night):

Meals (Ingredients come from larger list--this just shows what I used the stuff for)

• Rice and Spinach Casserole
• Stir-Fried Chicken with Basil and Chilies, Thai Style
• Pasta Salad
• Chicken Scampi with peppers and pasta
• Crock-Pot Oatmeal
• Oatmeal Muffins
• Toast and Eggs
• PB&J
• Cheese and Crackers
• Sandwiches
• Brats w/Roasted Veggies and Creamed Corn (recipe coming soon--it was to die for!)

Protein (includes Dairy)

• 4 pounds boneless skinless chicken
• 16 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
• 20 oz. cheese
• 2 gallons milk
• 16 slices American cheese
• 18 ounces lunch meat
• 6 oz. ham
• 1 c. tofu
• 1.5 cups cream
• 3 ounces string cheese
• 5 bratwurst

Starches

• 1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 pound rotini
• 2 boxes Flipsides crackers
• 2 1/2 cups steel cut oats
• 1.5 loaves homemade bread
• 1.5 loaf storebought sandwich bread
• 2 cups raw rice
• Naan from 1-pound amount of bread dough in freezer
• 2 cups Cheerios
• 3 cups flour
• 1 bowl's worth of Frosted Mini-wheats
• 1 bowl's worth of Raisin Bran

Produce

• 1 red onion
• 3 1/4 white onions
• 14 cloves garlic
• 2 green peppers
• 1 yellow peppers
• 3 red peppers*
• 2 zucchini*
• 2 pickling cucumbers*
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 Kennebec Potatoes*
• 2 Yukon gold potatoes*
• 4 ears corn*
• 1 pound spring mix
• 1 1/2 pounds spinach
• 2 cups fresh basil*
• 1 cup fresh Thai basil*
• 2 jalapenos*
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 8 apples*
• 3 cups Craisins
• 1 cantaloupe*
• 6 peaches*
• 7 bananas
• 1.5 cups frozen berries
• 3 mini boxes raisins

Condiments/Baking Supplies

• 2 c. butter (1 pound)
• 1 c. olive oil
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 c. peanut oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 c. seasoned vinegar
• 20 chocolate chips
• 1 cup pecans
• 8 t. baking powder
• 1 cup ready-made Italian dressing
• Ranch dressing
• peanut butter
• jelly*

Desserts and Snacks--made with ingredients not included above

• 3 cookies
• 1 Key Lime Pie (brought by dinner guests)
• 1/2 recipe Green Tomato Cake (from freezer)*
• 5 ice cream cookie sandwiches
• 2 mint ice cream sandwiches
• 1 large cookie from produce stand

Beverages

• tea (2+ cups/day)
• coffee (3+ cups/day)
• 1/4 gallon juice
• 6 beers

Dining Out (not our date-night week, so pretty low)

• Breakfast at Panera ($20): 6 bagels, 8 oz. cream cheese, 1 hot tea, 1 coffee, 3 milks
• Cookies/Tea at Border's ($11): 5 cookies, 2 hot teas

What Our Family Eats--Week 1

This is inspired by a really fascinating book my neighbor turned me on to: What the World Eats. The authors portray 25 different families: their food for the week and a breakdown of categories, cost, etc. Very, very interesting. What will stand out the most if you've read this book is the variety available to my family (particularly in produce and type of grains/starches) as well as the low amount of meat (compared to other industrial countries/US families). Maybe I'll keep this up for a bit--it will help me know how much food to buy for us because it will show me how much we go through for a given time period. I don't have the cost breakdown for what is below and this was a particularly "light" week for us in some ways, but here it is:

Starches/Grains:

• cornbread (1 1/2 batches, homemade)
• 3 loaves whole wheat bread
• 5 c. raw rice
• 1 box Life cereal
• 1 box Cheerios
• 2 c. oats
• apple muffins (homemade)
  

Dairy:

• 4 c. cottage cheese
• 2 g. milk (including that used to make yogurt)
• 1-2 # cheese (not sure)

Eggs/Meat:

• 3 doz. eggs
• 1 4-pound chicken
• 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

Produce:

• 1/2 pound red beans
• 1 red pepper
• celery
• broccoli
• mustard greens*
• lettuce/salad*
• bok choy*
• snow peas*
• cucumber
• apples
• grapes
• onion
• garlic
• carrots (~1 pound)
• strawberries
• 2 c. blackberries* (frozen)
  
• 1 c. cherries (frozen)
  
• bananas
• 2 pounds potatoes
• 1 c. craisins
• 1 c. raisins
  

Beverages:

• 4-oz. loose tea
• 4-oz. coffee beans
• water
• (milk, mentioned above)
• 1 bottle wine
• 2 Dr. Peppers
  

Snacks:

• 1 bag tortilla chips
• 1 box graham crackers
• 1 jar peanuts
• 2 c. chocolate chips
• 1 large chocolate bar
• 1 c. corn kernels (for popcorn)
• 7 Cliff bars
  

Condiments:

• 1 bottle Ranch dressing
• 1/4 bottle Balsamic vinaigrette
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 c. honey
• 1 jar peanut butter
• olive oil
• canola oil
• miscellaneous spices
• mayo
• salt and pepper

*homegrown by me, a friend, or a local farmer

Main meals that this went toward:

• Cereal/breakfast (eggs on toast, cottage cheese pancakes, oatmeal, etc.)
  
• cheese and crackers/leftovers/pb&j for lunches
  
• Herb-Roasted Chicken, mashed potatoes, salad
• Red beans and rice, cornbread, greens
  
• chicken salad (made with leftover chicken)
• Baked chicken, leftover mashed potatoes, salad
• Risotto (made with leftover chicken and stock from roasted chicken), salad
• Leftover risotto, stir-fried veggies
• we still have greens left!!!