Tracking household grocery expenses - what do you spend?

I used to make a peanut butter noodle with instant ramen when I was in my 20s. Haven’t done it in years

Thank you all – for the recipes, all of them Great Ideas for using peanut butter.

I’ve got to run some errands tomorrow, so I’m going to hit the clearance bins at the grocery stores. “Fingers Crossed”, that I’ll find something. If not, we have enough to get through to the next week; they’ll just be some repeats in the mix.

Adding another favorite: Peanut butter is also a big component of satay sauce —- add ginger, garlic, sugar, and soy sauce to taste, plus chilli sauce for your desired heat level.

You can coat proteins or hardy veg and grill, or use as a dipping sauce for a rice paper or tortilla wrap and also to dress the salad & proteins inside it.

I used to make a triple batch with plain baked tofu or vegetables or chicken, and it always got finished whether or not the actual dish did

Slim pickings in the clearance bin, but I did score some ham. I can make ham & cheese panini(s) for dinner. Maybe carrots or beets as a vegetable on the side?? Not a traditional dinner, but it will be a hot meal.

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You can do a lot with ham as an accent ingredient – scalloped potatoes, mac & cheese, pizza, pretty much any soup (veggies in broth, creamy, potatoes, pasta), various pasta preps, fried rice and asian noodles, really the sky’s the limit!

Great idea… I’m wondering if I can make creamed chipped beef, but with ham?? Maybe put it in a homemade bread bowl??

Thanks – you got the gears turning in my little brain!!

Creamed ham (like creamed chipped beef) is def a thing. Easy to find recipes for it online.

To make it more Dan-style, you could serve it over homemade biscuits

Ham is always a good excuse for quiche!

You’re speaking my language!

I also boil ham down after cutting it up, to make with beans.

Totally - I make some kind of bean from dried most weeks. Budget friendly and ham is a welcome bonus! This week’s was black beans with tomato and habanero. The bag was about $1.50. I used half a bag and got 4 servings, which worked out to 2 dinners.

The only items on sale this week (that I can use/afford) are potatoes and cheese.

After some digging, I saw a YouTube video on perogies. I’ve never made them before, but they don’t look all that hard to make.

I may try to make a small test batch and see how I do (trial and error)…

I just discovered I spelled “Pierogies” wrong…

I make pierogi often - cheese and potato is a good combo! I like to pan-fry them in a little butter after boiling them. In case it’s of interest, here’s a gift link to the dough recipe I use:

That looks pretty similar to the version my grandmother used to make. After boiling them though, she would add them to a pan of onions that had been more or less melted into a stick of butter “to keep them warm”. And that’s how they’d come to the table. I didn’t learn that sour cream was a thing with them until years later! She also would make sauerkraut and mushroom ones. I didn’t find out about meat or fruit as fillings until years later as well!

In Ukrainian they are called varenyky. Saurekraut and mushroom are my favorite. Once a year i would get together with a friend and we would make like 300. Boil them, freeze them on cookie trays, then just take some out as needed and pan fry them. It was so much fun making them with others. I do still make them but in smaller quantities.

Again, thank you all for the suggestions.

Neither, Sunshine nor I have ever had pierogies (that we can remember), so it will be a new experience – all around.

One day sale on Rice-a-Roni (10 boxes for $5 - but you had to buy 10 boxes). I figure I can add some lentils of shredded chicken to the mix and make that quick/easy dinner.

I won’t use the whole flavor packet - due to the salt content.

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I am twiddling my thumbs, sitting and waiting in an elementary school office with bags of food to give kids qualifying for free lunch for the weekend, and saw this in my curated feed.

or Croque Monsieur/ Madame!