So, I told you last week that we’ve recently more than doubled our grocery budget. Here’s a picture of what $130 in groceries looks like for us.
We shopped at Aldi and Harris Teeter this week. And I somehow misplaced the Aldi receipt (dug through the trash and everything to try to locate it) and it’s nowhere to be found.
So I’m not going to give the break down of prices, because I’m not completely sure what they were. But I will try to do a better job of saving the receipt (maybe I’ll snap a photo of it as soon as I get home?) this coming week so that I can give you a detailed description of everything we bought and what we paid for it.
I also downloaded the Snap App and got $1.75 in cashback for these purchases. I loved that the Snap App gives you cashback for items purchased at any store — including ALDI — unlike some of the cashback apps that require you to purchase at a specific store. Plus, I got $1.75 back from Checkout 51 for the above purchases. Yay!
This Week’s Menu Plan
Breakfasts
Bacon & Eggs or Oatmeal
Jesse also made Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Eggs & Cheese one morning. It was a new recipe and it was SO good. It might sound weird, but it was amazing!
Lunches
Sandwiches or Leftovers
I also made a Healthy Blueberry Crisp that I ate as lunch two days (recipe coming on the blog tomorrow — hopefully!)
Snacks
Popcorn
Fruit/Veggies
Cheese
Apples with Almond Butter
Snacks sent to us from Wild Oats Organic
Protein Shakes
Healthy Cake in a MugDinners
Crustless Quiche
Crockpot Triple Cheeseburger Creation
Crockpot Stuffed Peppers with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Chicken Pineapple Kabobs
Stuffed Chicken
Italian Sausage with Potatoes and Vinegar
Dinner with friends (we’re bringing a side dish — probably a veggie tray)
What’s on your menu this week? Leave a link to your menu plan or tell us in the comments.
Kris Moriarty says
I love your site. Your menus are great. I will be sharing them on my blog too. My menus are for a bigger family with large teenage boys. Thanks for all of your advice on a variety of things.
http://www.justyouraveragemomma.com
Kristin says
Can you please share the recipe for the Italian Sausage with Potatoes and vinegar meal on your menu plan?
Aria says
Here’s what we’re eating at our house this week! I like to make a general list and then we choose what we want each day. My last chore in the kitchen at night is to write the next day’s menu on a little dry erase board I have out. Some things are standard, though, like pizza on Friday nights and breakfast for dinner on Thursdays!
b: oats * homemade pumpkin granola * eggs * toast
l: pasta with butter and parmesan or cauliflower sauce * salad * leftovers
d: roasted veggie night: sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts * big sandwich with fruit and chips * bean & rice bowls * black bean chili with kale salad * pancakes with blueberry sauce & bacon * homemade pizza & caesar salad
Beth Fleming says
Is there a link to the choclate cake? My kids are older I have joked fhey could eat the shelves in the fridge too 😀 it gets bad when they play sports.
Crystal Paine says
The Healthy Cake in a Mug? It’s here: http://sherigraham.com/trim-healthy-mama-chocolate-cake-fuel-pull
Lisa Moore says
Have you ever heard of produce co-ops? You get together with other families, pool your money, and buy vegetables in bulk from a wholesaler. Each family spends $90 a quarter and we receive 10-12 different fruits and veggies each week, with enough each to feed a family of four. We have a large wholesale farmer’s market in our city where we shop. We buy in-season produce because it is cheaper but it is all fresh. We usually have to buy one or two extras each week but that is because we eat nearly everything whole anyway.
Crystal Paine says
We’ve looked into numerous co-ops here and have yet to find one that’s a good fit — good price/good selection/good reviews, etc. But we’re hoping we’ll eventually find one! Thanks for the suggestion!
Princess says
Wow! I’m shocked that you had Blueberry Crisp and coffee for lunch. I guess I’m thinking that wouldn’t fill you up. Then, it sounds like dessert (which is not bad) instead of a meal. I think I would feel guilty eating only dessert for lunch lol. But it does sound good.
Danielle Hull says
I’ve been shopping at ALDI and Kroger, and it wasn’t looking as if ALDI was saving us any money. So I made a list and started comparing prices, and I was shocked! The only produce item so far that was saving us money was mushrooms! Kroger has really brought prices down on a lot of produce.
Crystal Paine says
That’s incredible! Thanks for sharing!
Claire says
I’m just wondering: does your grocery budget include things like toiletries, household cleaners, paper products, etc? Or is it strictly food?
Crystal Paine says
Yes, it does.
Bethany says
I noticed your crustless quiche and thought I’d link you to a quiche I make from time to time that has a rice crust. Different, but still good. 🙂
http://fortheloveofgrub.blogspot.com/2012/03/broccoli-cheddar-quiche-with-brown-rice.html
Here’s what we’re eating this week.
http://thelandofcurlyhair.blogspot.com/2014/10/menu-10914-101514.html
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for sharing!
Allyson @ All Our Days says
I’ve been using checkout51, but I haven’t heard of Snap or iBotta. Any tips on using those?
Allyson @ All Our Days says
I’ve been using checkout51, but I haven’t heard of Snap or iBotta. Ay tips on using those?
Crystal Paine says
They are both like Checkout51. I recommend just downloading the apps to your phone and then checking them after you go to the store to see if you purchased anything that you could get cash back for.
Andrea says
I have been following you since you were spending $30 a week in groceries. I was there with you. This week I spent $160 for our family of 4 plus two guests this week. I appreciate how you have honestly grown your budget. There is nothing wrong with spending $30 a week on groceries. I was there. I admire the decipline. But as we get older and grow our families and careers it is okay to spend more. It doesn’t make me a better person just at a different place. When my husband got laid off last year I easily cut back my grocery budget and jumped into cvsing more. And thankfully all the tight budget years allowed us to get by with the saving we put away a little at a time over the past 15 years. I just wanted to say thank you!
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for your encouragement!
Lori Hurley says
I’m so excited by your changes! I’m a crossfitter and I eat mostly Paleo, so my budget is always higher, even if my 5 kids don’t eat Paleo like the Hubs and I generally do. I don’t feel so bad about my increased budget. 🙂
Looking forward to the new recipes you’ll be sharing. In case you haven’t tried it yet, Sweet potato/Hamburger Hash is a family favorite over here… and easy on the wallet. 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for the recommendation!
Jessi Fearon (@TheBudgetMama) says
I love Checkout 51! I haven’t heard of Snap App but I will definitely have to look into it. Thank you so much for sharing your meal plan with us Crystal – I also finding new meal ideas. 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Thanks for your kind encouragement!
Angie M. says
Hi Crystal.
Quick question…
Now that you all are eating so healthy, how do you handle meals out or going to friends for dinner? Do you strictly stick with your healthy eating or do you splurge every now and then?
Crystal Paine says
That’s not been much of an issue… I’ve found that there’s usually always a salad I can eat when we go out (I usually just ask them to hold the dressing and whatever else is on the salad that’s not healthy — i.e. croutons or candied pecans or something).
We are with friends for meals usually at least a few times per week, but if we’re not hosting, we’ve found that there are usually some healthy items offered and I’m also not opposed to the occasional cheating. 🙂 For us, it’s more important to love people, be gracious, and enjoy time spent with them than to stress over perfectly adhering to eating rules — especially since this is choice we’re making for our family in our home, not the result of severe food allergies or something.
Rachel says
Peel a sweet potato and throw it in the food processor. Saute it with some onions and spices… Sweet potato hash browns. So delicious. Then you can crack the eggs right in the same pan and put on the lid until they reach desired doneness (pretty sure that’s not a word, but go with it). Soo delicious.
Crystal Paine says
Yum! Thanks for sharing!
Alison S. says
I love this post! Your current budget and how you eat are much more in line with our household. Any chance you will be sharing some of your recipes? 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Yes, I’ll definitely be sharing more recipes. A re-done healthified Blueberry Crisp recipe is coming tonight!
Melissa says
I’d love to know more about the Snap App. That’s one I hadn’t heard of before today. How do you qualify for the bonus rewards? I read others on here saying it takes a long time to process receipts. Anyone else have any comments? And can you also submit your receipts for other rebate apps (like CheckOut 51 for example) if they also have rebates for the same items (i.e. bananas)?
Crystal Paine says
SnapApp is new and I’ve just been testing it out. However, I was able to qualify for both Checkout51 and SnapApp for the same purchases this week! Yay!
SnapApp took around 3-4 days to process my receipt this week.
joyce says
the link to the healthy blueberry crisp isn’t working 🙁
N Merritt says
Now that’s more like it!
I have a large family, and am always amazed at how “few” groceries, it seemed were pictured to make it through a whole week. This looks much more familiar to my kind of shopping. Thanks for your recent honest posts, and understanding the changing needs of your growing family.
With everyone eating so heartily, they’re sure to grow up “straight and strong!”
God Bless, Crystal!
Crystal Paine says
With my husband home full-time (and doing a pretty intense workout schedule) and my kids older and heavily involved in sports, it’s amazing how much more food we go through these days than we did a few years ago! I grew up in a family of 9 and we ate a LOT, so you’d think it wouldn’t surprise me, but it still does!
But it also makes me happy to see everyone have such healthy appetites!
Kim says
Can you use coupons with the Snap App items?
Crystal Paine says
I believe you should be able to.
Meegan says
Hey lady,
Just wanted to pass along a tip now that you are in Harris Teeter territory. They sell their chicken breast fresh out of the meat counter $1.99lb every day. We’ve saved significantly on chicken after learning this tip and best part is, we don’t have to watch the sales cycles! Needless to say, chicken is our go to when our budget is slim 🙂
Elizabeth says
I see a lot of smaller packs of meat. Any clue how much you were paying for them?
I’m ending up going to Sam’s Club now and picking up 5-10 lbs of hamburger and packaging it myself. I save $2 per lb over Kroger prices for 90/10 (I want to say Kroger for us is $5.79/lb and Sam’s was $3.69? per lb).
I just contacted Aldi the other day to see when ours is opening, apparently sometime early November it should be done! I’m excited to see what kind of prices they will have and if it will be worth the drive out there.
Crystal Paine says
We bought the meat at Harris Teeter. It would have been cheaper at Kroger, but it was 9 p.m., we’d been gone most all day, we were at Harris Teeter, so we just bought it. And they were like $8.50 per pound. Gulp!
Elizabeth says
Oh my goodness! I think I would have gone w/o and gone back out later for meat at that price! Sounds to me like a Sam’s club run might be in order and pack up a freezer!
Randi says
This makes me SO happy to see!!! That is what my table looks like after a weekly grocery shopping trip and NOW I can see how that equates to your weekly menu plan, and you planned for snacks on your menu which I LOVE, and that looks like enough food for a family of 5 for 7 days. SO SO SO happy to see a much more realistic menu and food amount! Thank you for sharing!
Crystal Paine says
I can’t believe how much more my kids are eating these days now that they all are all heavily involved in sports. It makes me so very happy to see them have such healthy appetites and makes me wonder how much MORE they are going to eat when they are a few years older. 🙂
Melissa says
Yeah! So happy to see that this feature is back. I’d love to see the recipe for Crockpot Stuffed Peppers with Sweet Potatoes!
Jacki says
That looks like a bunch of really healthy food! Great for you. Aldi’s has some of the best buys this week on produce we love. Our fridge is full of fruit!
Jessie Weaver says
Yum, those dishes sound delicious! I used to make a Chili Sweet Potato Hash with a fried egg on top – it has sausage and Mexican seasonings. SO awesome. Should try it again soon!
Crystal Paine says
Yum!
Sheri Graham says
Hi Crystal!
Thanks for linking up my very favorite low-carb, low-fat, low calories chocolate cake recipe! I hope you like it as much as I do! It works great for a snack when you are just needing something chocolate ;)!
Have a great day!
Crystal Paine says
I’ve been eating it at least 4-5 times every week for the past 8 weeks. Thank you so much for the recipe!!
Chris Donica says
Which meal plan do you use? The cheaper is $40.
Chris Donica
Crystal Paine says
I’d recommend going with the cheaper one if you’re going to try it.
Anna says
Do you guys prefer that brand of coconut milk? I’ve only tried Silk and Almond Breeze cuz they often go on sale for $2. But I’ve had So Delicious ice cream before and that was some good stuff.
Crystal Paine says
It was only $0.99 each after coupons so that’s why I got it. 🙂
charity says
I love so delicious coconut milk it is the only brand we drink!
autumn says
I downloaded the snap app and I’m sorely disappointed. It’s been 4 days and they haven’t processed my receipt.
KT says
Same here. I’m much happier so far with iBotta and Checkout 51. They process things quickly.
Brandi says
It took them 4 days to process my receipt as well. However, they did and I think that the rewards are higher than that of Checkout51. I can’t wait to see how it works in the coming weeks.
Jillian Kay says
I was going to say the same thing. I think it’s been about a week and a half for me.
amie says
I purchased 2 packs of Huggies and was only credited with one. I emailed them days ago and have yet to get a response. I’m pretty disappointed with this.
Elizabeth @ Wonder Woman I'm Not says
I checked out the Mealfit blog and found a couple of recipes that looked pretty interesting (including the stuffed chicken that you have in your plan!) I’ll be interested to see how the weekly menu works for you. In the past the menu services that I’ve looked into don’t really seem to work for us but that one seemed a little interesting.
Recently I started planning monthly instead of weekly. Overall it seems to be working and it helps that my family knows that the plan is instead of keeping it in my busy, crowded head 🙂
Thanks for sharing your new approach to grocery shopping, I’ll be interested in your new recipes.
Here’s what we’re eating this week at our house.
http://www.wonderwomanimnot.com/2014/10/weekly-menu-goals-9.html
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for sharing your meal plan!
Lana says
Way to go! What you eat is the most important aspect of good health. I am behind your grocery budget increase 100%.
Jennifer says
Have you noticed any behavioral differences in your children since you’ve been making the family diet healthier?
Linda says
I know I’m not Crystal 😉 but we have been making a real effort here to eat more real foods and less processed foods because of behavior and health issues with my little. His behaviorist would not do anything until the diet was changed. And the differences have been astronomical. Even his sister has been better. I also know that I am less grumpy and more energetic during my days.
Crystal Paine says
We haven’t, but I know some families definitely do.
Tona says
Do you have a link to the shopping list and recipes? A couple weeks I used a meanie plan (I thought was from you, but possibly a different blog?) it had a menu, shopping list, and recipe list linked to it.
Crystal Paine says
We use MealFit for our recipes/shopping plan.