Biggest grocery success of the week: finding huge boxes of reduced produce at the Farmer’s Market and walking away with enough produce to last us for weeks – all for $11.50!!
Biggest grocery failure of the week: somehow losing the pictures documenting this success. I have looked EVERYWHERE on my camera, and they are just not there. (Seriously!! How can you lose pictures on a camera?) So you will just have to use your imagination. 🙂
Another grocery success this week was trying the $1.69/lb ground turkey from Aldi for the first time – and my husband gave it a thumbs-up! Thanks so much for all of you that gave suggestions and encouragement to me last week! I mixed the turkey with rice, beans, and taco seasonings (and yes, I realize that you could mix just about anything with rice, beans, and taco seasonings and it would taste good, but that’s beside the point) and we used it in taco salad. Yum!
Aldi
2 3-lb bags Golden Delicious Apples (@$0.69/lb) – $4.14, plus receive $0.50 back from Snap by Groupon
1 10-lb bag Russet Potatoes – $3.49
2 2-lb bags Honeycrisp Apples (@$1.29/lb) – $5.16
1 3-ct package Romaine Hearts – $1.99
1 Pineapple – $1.29
3 Pomegranates (@$0.69/each) – $2.07
1 bunch Bananas (2.76 lbs @$0.44/lb) – $1.21, receive $0.25 back from Checkout 51
Tortilla Chips – $1.19
2 32-oz cartons Half and Half (@1.69/each) – $3.38
1 8-oz package Cream Cheese – $0.99
1 16-oz package Baby Carrots – $0.99
1 dozen Eggs – $1.39
1 gallon Milk – $3.69, plus receive $1.00 back from Snap by Groupon
Total: $30.98, plus receive $1.50 back from Snap by Groupon and $0.25 back from Checkout 51
Harris Teeter
1 carton Egg Whites – $3.97
2 16-oz packages Turkey Bacon (@$2.50/each) – $5.00, used 2 $0.75/1 Printable (doubled) – $1.00/each after coupons
1 Cabbage (@$0.39/lb) -$1.37
1 2-liter bottle Cheerwine – $1.00, used .50/1 SS 10/6 (doubled) – FREE after coupons
1 bag Harris Teeter Shredded Cheese -$1.67
4 cans Progresso Soup – $5.30, used 2 $0.50/2 Progresso Product, exp. 12/13/14 (SS 10/19/14) (doubled), plus $1.00 Harris Teeter evic – $2.30/4 after coupons, plus receive $1.50 catalina for buying 4 (this works out to $0.20 each, and is worth it to me since my husband like taking these to work for his lunch)
2 bags Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips (@$2.00/each) – $4.00, used 2 $0.75/1 Printable (doubled) – $0.50/each after coupons
1 package Sargento Muenster Cheese Slices – $3.00, used $0.55/1 Printable (doubled), plus $0.55/1 Harris Teeter evic – $1.35 after coupons
2 containers McCormick Cinnamon (B1G1 @ $1.79) – $1.79, used $1.75/2 McCormick Spices or Herbs, exp. 11/2/14 (RP 10/05/14) – $0.02/each after coupons
Total after all Coupons, Sales and Tax: $13.70, plus receive $1.50 catalina back
Farmer’s Market
(not pictured)
1 box of green beans, reduced (about 13 lbs) – $5.00
1 huge box of assorted fresh vegetables including zucchini, yellow squash, red peppers, green peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, and hot peppers – $5.00
1 3-lb bag Apples – $1.50
Total: $11.50
Weekly Total after all Sales, Taxes, and Coupons: $56.18, plus receive $3.25 back in rebates and catalinas
Weekly Menu Plan
Breakfasts
Oatmeal and fruit x 5, Cinnamon Rolls and Eggs, Cereal
Lunches
Shared lunch at the park with friends – I am bringing fruit for everyone; Grilled Cheese Sandwiches/Fresh Veggies and Fruit x 2; Leftovers x 2; Baked Potatoes with Cheese and Broccoli/Fruit x 2,
Dinners
Dinner Out with Friends
Oatmeal Pecan Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Bacon (breakfast for dinner)
Hamburger Vegetable Soup (using ground turkey instead of hamburger), Homemade Whole Wheat Bread
Dinner with our Shepherding Group at Church
Taco Salad (back by multiple requests!), Steamed Cauliflower
Dinner at a Friend’s House – I am bringing Freezer-Friendly Pumpkin Bars
Leftovers
Snacks/Desserts
Popcorn
Dessert Night with Friends (I am hosting): Homemade Caramel Corn, Apple Slices with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Dip, Freezer-Friendly Pumpkin Bars
So glad to see your weekly grocery purchases and menus. Thank you for doing this! It really helps me get ideas for our family.
You are welcome! Thanks for the encouragement!
I love these shopping trips as i shop at Aldi as well, so it is great to see a store we use as an example. I am just coming to the realization there may be a diff way to do things.
My question is this…do you find it better to shop each week vs once a month?
I do once a month shopping…my husband gets paid every other week. I typically make out a menu plan for the month and go to Aldi (includes a stop after to Walmart and sometimes Save A Lot for a couple of items I prefer at those stores). I can usually get what I need for $250 for the month (although this last trip was $276). Anyway, I am curious if I would potentially save more making several trips vs. one large trip. Have you found it easier and more inexpensive this way?
Thank you!
It sounds like you have found a system that works fabulously for you! I have always done weekly grocery shopping, but I know different things work for different people. $250/month is GREAT! Go you!!!
Produce haul…not hall. Lol.
Oh, how I envy your produce hall. Lol. I had an okay week. I bought a lot of meat. We had a Food Depot come to my town. They advertise low meat and produce prices. I was able to get boston butt for $0.95/lb. I also did some Kroger shopping for bacon, eggs, produce, milk, etc. I will be close to budget, but may have gone over. It was a long week with sick kids, working late nights at home doing paperwork, and committing hours out of town for training. I ran out of some staples unexpectedly midweek and ended up buying milk, coffee, eggs, and snacks for my kids at a Dollar General close to my daycare so the prices were more than I usually pay. I also treated my son to take out after his straight A report card and grabbed Little Cesar’s pizza one night because I could not even consider cooking as tired as I felt. Luckily, most weeks are smoother than this one. I’m glad you liked the ground turkey. We love it. I will be using it tonight in spaghetti pie with beans mashed and cooked in with it.
That does sound like a long, stressful week! Some weeks you just gotta’ survive. 🙂
I buy the ground Turkey all the time. It seems to me that there is an ecoupon on the food should taste good chips. I can’t check now-I’m on Kindle nursing my baby… I use checkout51, snap by groupon, saving star, and Ibotta.
This is great! I wonder, though, what you will do with your cabbage and veggies? You only listed three dinners, two of which are quite low calorie. Can you get seven dinners out of an under-$60 budget? That is my dilemma!
I will freeze up whatever veggies we can’t use this week. This is an unusual week since we have dinner plans away from home on multiple nights. The veggies were such a great deal that I went ahead and got them, figuring I would just freeze them. The cabbage was on sale, and it will last for a couple of weeks in the fridge, so whatever we don’t use for the Hamburger Vegetable Soup, we will use next week. I can do all meals for $60 a week, but my weekly hauls are lopsided (lots of veggies this week which will last for several weeks; next week will probably be heavy on the meat purchases, etc). You have to follow my posts for multiple weeks to get the big picture.
How old is the memory card in your camera? Sometimes when photos start to disappear, it can be because the card is beginning to die.
Great idea! I am sure it is very old! I will ask my husband about it.
Glad to hear your ground turkey experiment went well. We use a lot of ground pork (we are fortunate to have farming family who give us the pork, and we pay the processing costs), but I decided to experiment too and buy up four pounds of ground chicken I found on close-out for $2 a pound. You inspired me! The ground chicken is from Harvestland, a company I’m not familiar with. This is totally off-topic, but has anybody tried their ground chicken before? It actually has rosemary in it??
I guess no one has tried it. 🙂 I know I haven’t! You’ll have to let me know if you like it.
Thanks for sharing. I have heard a lot of people talk about the deals at Aldi, I have yet to shop there. You have given me a little more push, so I think I will check it out.
You should check it out! They don’t do coupons, but Snap and Checkout 51 apps will take their receipts for rebates 🙂
I use the Aldi’s ground turkey all of the time! If something needs a little more depth of flavor, I’ll use half ground turkey, half venison, lamb, (my husband is allergic to beef) ground and browned mushrooms, soy sauce, or worcestershire sauce, or a combination. I do use all turkey depending on the recipe. But, this ground turkey really helps immensely with the budget.
I love when you have a little comments next to something, like the soup your husband likes for lunch! Those little comments are cute and personable. Thanks for sharing!
Awww – you are so sweet! Thanks for taking time to read!
Great purchase on the fresh veggies:) I don’t can but I do freeze. I would mix veggies up freeze what I couldn’t use right away.
We are still getting a little from our backyard garden: cherry tomatoes, okra and hot peppers. I will be sad when it freezes.
Looks like a great week. One question–what in the world is Cheerwine?
Wild cherry soda pop.
Wondered that SAME thing. This does not exist in MI.
It is a South Carolina thing 🙂
I hadn’t heard of it until we moved to SC either. But people here like it – and for free, it is nice to have to offer to company. 🙂
Delicious nectar of the gods.