The highlight of my day was dinner. I made something new. When I worked full time, one of my favorite places to go for lunch was Applebee's. I usually got salad, or the lunch special but I really loved the Quesadilla Burger. The calories were outrageous and I would spend about $13 with tip. I ate out every day. Gee, I wonder why I was overweight? And think of all the money I would have saved? The other day I realized that I could make that at home. I didn't set out making an exact replica of the Applebee's version. I decided to make own "recipe". First I mixed taco seasoning into the ground beef. I formed them into patties and fried them. I grilled one side of a flour tortilla with butter then placed the patty on half of the tortilla. I added a slice of american cheese and leaf iceburg lettuce. I experimented with the sauce, with Joel being my taste-tester. We decided the sour cream with the Tastefully Simple dried Salsa mix was the best. Once the sauce was on, I folded the tortilla in half. I also placed a dish of salsa on the table, if anybody wanted it.Leo put it on his salad and burger. As the side, I had a pre-packaged Southwestern salad mix that I threw together. And if I do say so myself, the meal turned out great!
Annie ate the whole thing! She is my picky eater.
Joel said, this would be great with guacamole. I can't believe I didn't think of that!
Leo gave it an 8 out of 10. He said it would be better with a sweet salsa. But that didn't stop him from eating two servings.
I am starting to worry that my $25 a week grocery budget was too conservative. Not just because I spent $50 last week but, looking towards the rest of the month. I think we will be ok for dinners, it's the lunches that I am more concerned with. As I may have mentioned before, I make my kids lunch everyday and my husband packs his lunch everyday as well. Our private school does not qualify for free or reduced lunches. And the lunches at school average $5 per day. With 2 kids in school that adds up to $50 per week or approximately $200 per month if we bought their lunches every single day. They refuse to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches anymore. I used to make them all the time. The are totally burned out on them, I can't blame them. I try to give them a variety. Soup, left overs or mini frozen meals(like spaghetti or fried rice) that I heat up and put in their thermos. I try to do fun and creative things that I might see on pinterest or something that I would like once in a while, and it ALWAYS bombs! And I do not like it when food comes back. So, the warm food in the thermos seems to work best. Along with fruit, chips/crackers, yogurt/cheese, drink and a cookie/sweet treat (they are not allowed to have candy for lunch). Unfortunately, I didn't do a good job stocking up for their lunches before we started the February Spending Freeze. I think this is going to mess up my grocery budget. But, I am not giving up. Still going to try and stay as close to $25 per week as I can.
Annie ate the whole thing! She is my picky eater.
Joel said, this would be great with guacamole. I can't believe I didn't think of that!
Leo gave it an 8 out of 10. He said it would be better with a sweet salsa. But that didn't stop him from eating two servings.
I am starting to worry that my $25 a week grocery budget was too conservative. Not just because I spent $50 last week but, looking towards the rest of the month. I think we will be ok for dinners, it's the lunches that I am more concerned with. As I may have mentioned before, I make my kids lunch everyday and my husband packs his lunch everyday as well. Our private school does not qualify for free or reduced lunches. And the lunches at school average $5 per day. With 2 kids in school that adds up to $50 per week or approximately $200 per month if we bought their lunches every single day. They refuse to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches anymore. I used to make them all the time. The are totally burned out on them, I can't blame them. I try to give them a variety. Soup, left overs or mini frozen meals(like spaghetti or fried rice) that I heat up and put in their thermos. I try to do fun and creative things that I might see on pinterest or something that I would like once in a while, and it ALWAYS bombs! And I do not like it when food comes back. So, the warm food in the thermos seems to work best. Along with fruit, chips/crackers, yogurt/cheese, drink and a cookie/sweet treat (they are not allowed to have candy for lunch). Unfortunately, I didn't do a good job stocking up for their lunches before we started the February Spending Freeze. I think this is going to mess up my grocery budget. But, I am not giving up. Still going to try and stay as close to $25 per week as I can.
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