Hello Monday!
Last week was sort of boring in the food department… Lot’s of leftovers and picking random bits from the refrigerator to snack on. Some weeks are just like that I guess. There were King Arthur’s Lemon Bars…
Another sandwich stuffed with Morse’s pastrami and sauerkraut.
A big salad, this time with beets, cheese, egg, dried cranberries, canned chicken, olives, sunflower seeds and chopped pears.
And the HH made meatballs again.
The dining room all lit up for Valentine’s Dinner.
Mamma’s Big Pancake Breakfast from Cracker Barrel.
And then there was the quick trip to Market Basket for shots of beet juice. I’M KIDDING! 😉 Seriously, who is paying $2.50 for 2 ounces of squeezed beets? I’m all for the love life and be free thing…. but I’d bet you 10 bucks you won’t see this bottle of beet juice on any major market shelf in 5 years time. All The Hippy Dippy products…. I have to roll my eyes sometimes.
And c’mon now, what does Market Basket have against Malt O Meal? It’s one of my favorite breakfast foods and I couldn’t find a single box ANYWHERE. What’s up with that? Is Malt O Meal a West Coast thing?
Market Basket $31.29
French cheese and cream brioche bread… it’s my new favorite thing.
Cinnamon raisin bread from Panera makes the best French toast. I know I’ve already told you that, but still, if you haven’t tried it yet, hop to it.
For Valentine’s Day I made Mississippi Pot Roast and the next day a soup with the leftovers. I love that soup.
And last but not least, the HH popped a frozen pizza in the oven last night for dinner. And as usual, Miss Lucy Puggle stood guard until the very last slice was gone. 😉 Well played Miss Lucy, well played.
So, it wasn’t the most exciting food week, but we ate a lot of our favorites. Which is a good thing, right?
How about YOU? Did you have a good week in the kitchen? Did you make anything exciting? Do tell!
~Mavis
Total Spent This Week $31.29
- Total Spent on Groceries in February $220.92
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $41.19
- Total Spent So Far on Groceries in 2019 $262.11 {Goal is to average $150 – $175 a month for the year}
You can go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
P.S. My friend JJ and her daughter made the COOLEST snake cake on the planet last week for her son’s 13th birthday and I just had to tell you about it. There are a TON of pictures on how they created the cake on her BLOG and I can’t help but think this would be an awesome birthday surprise for any kid who loves bugs and creepy crawlies. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Go check it out.
Jenn from MA says
Those lemon bars look delicious! What a great taste of spring to have while it is still snowing out! I grew up eating Cream of Wheat so I’m not familiar with Malt O Meal- maybe you are on to something with it being a West Coast thing?
Marge says
Malt-O-Meal is not just a WC thing. I live in VA and just picked up a box last month at Walmart.
Jennifer says
My husband is terrified of snakes – one look at this and he would scurry out of the room tout suite!!
Peg says
Can you elaborate on making soup from the Mississippi pot roast leftovers?
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! I’ll post the recipe on Wednesday. 🙂
Carolina Cooper says
Yes, here in New England, Walmart is the place to find Malt=O=Meal, somethimes referred to as MOM. Also it is sold at Dollar Tree.
Kerri Adams says
Also I have only seen MOM in bags, not a box
R says
Hey Mavis!
De-lurking here to let you (and your readers) know about an audiobook to add to your Goals List titled “A Man Called Ove” — pronounced OOH-vah. It’s actually been made into a foreign film and will be remade in America in the near future, or so I read. But, as usual, the book is much better than the film, so definitely read/listen first. And I strongly recommend not even reading a summary of the book so you don’t spoil the discovery as the story unfolds. Both my husband and highly intellectual son loved it as well. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Julie says
soup recipe please! yep…MOM here in the Shenandoah Valley of VA.
Katie W says
I bought a copy of The Magnolia Table cookbook with Christmas money recently. I tried the chicken salad and it was delicious. I made shredded chicken from the crock pot (vs. a store rotisserie) and made my own mayonnaise. I also tried her chicken pot pie recipe (really it’s a casserole). And that was an adventure! lol. The filling is supposed to fit in a 9×13 baking dish and you can put store bought croissant dough on top, or biscuit dough. Well the recipe made enough for a 9×13 casserole dish… and an 8×8 dish… and a pyrex container of just the filling! We’re still eating it, but it was very delicious. My husband and I have definitely decided on some things to try differently next time. Like cutting the recipe in half for starters…
Heidi P says
You make so many yummy looking salads. Would you be willing to share what dressing types you prefer and any recipes if they are homemade? I always have difficulty making a good dressing,
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes. You can find my favorite recipe in this post: https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/spinach-salad-w-bacon-dijon-dressing/ YUM YUM YUM. 🙂
Margaret says
I checked out the recipe you posted because I love homemade dressings and make them all the time. Your recipe calls for 1/2 cup of vinegar but also 1/2 sugar. I have never seen a 1:1 ratio of sugar and vinegar in a dressing. Is that measurement correct? 1/2 of sugar would make it over the top sweet.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes. the recipe is correct.
Julia Park Tracey says
The dining room looks smashing! What a lucky family you are.
Also, I second A Man Called Ove.
Deborah Todi says
Mavis, love your blog, its a highlight in my day to see lucy and hear about the fun your having, My question is where did you get the pizza, our last frozenone looked and tasted like the box.
Claudia says
Try the brioche at Aldi…they have chocolate swirl and plain.
CherylV says
I found this at Sprouts here in Denver, cheese and cream brioche bread and as you say, this is the bomb diggity!
Half the time, it doesn’t get home without a chunk of it being gobbled up!
Valerie says
I tried a Thai pork meatball curry recipe it was delicious!
Otherwise we are eating out of our freezer because we will be moving soon.
Cherri says
Your dining room looks beautiful.
We just had a Cracker Barrell just open up 2 weeks ago here in Central Oregon. We have eaten at them prior when traveling, but now we can try out more items on the menu. Will have to try the pancakes.
Amber says
Cherri-
We ate at the new Bend CB last week. Wait until they get their kinks worked out, not as good as the ones we usually eat at while traveling. Burnt hash brown casserole, funky old lettuce in the salads and staff still figuring out how to use their tablets.
Mel says
Love the dining room picture!
The thermostat in my office is still broken (and will be until this summer), so I’ve had to take a break from using up freezer meals (which are mostly hot items) and make cold stuff so I can tolerate being in my tropical office. So, I’ve made an Old Bay shrimp salad, sesame noodles, kale salad with homemade ranch, and bacon macaroni salad. It’s a little tricky making summer meals without summer produce around, but it has worked okay. I wish I could use our freezer meals since I made them specifically for winter, but I was literally getting heatstroke from my office, so I had to do something. I also made an applesauce cake, and I need to restock our freezer apple scones.
Mrs. M. says
Mel,
That’s just miserable!
It’s too bad your office doesn’t have a vent that can be closed! Even if it didn’t close all the way, it would help some to decrease the amount of heat.
I wonder if you could cut a piece of cardboard to cover most of the vent and duct tape it in place?
Mel says
The vents unfortunately don’t close and can’t be covered. The vents are also the only air circulation the area gets, so it might be preferable that way since they aren’t working properly and barely move air at all. The issue is partly due to faulty thermostats, so the rest of the wing would just heat even more to compensate if the vents were blocked or shut. At 80 degrees, my office is sadly one of the cooler areas at the moment.
Danielle says
I love malt o meal! CA girl. I also like zoom… I used to call it zoom to the bathroom when I was a kid. Lol jk I still call it that. I just made America’s test kitchen crock pot ribs recipe (off YouTube) smells delish! I can’t wait to dig in. We shall see what my Alabamian hubby says.
Lana P says
We’re in Missouri and we get malt o meal at our local Kroger affiliate store. they have the boxes you’re talking about plus the malt o meal branded cold cereal in bags.