Category Archives: Groceries

Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 46, 2017

20 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 46, 2017

My goal was to get all of my advance Thanksgiving shopping done last week so I could avoid the grocery store this coming week.  (The turkey is at the farm stand.)  I won’t be able to avoid it entirely as we’ll be out of milk, but I got most of it done.  And, even with that spending was fairly light.

On Tuesday, I went to the farm stand to order the turkeys.  While there I spent $6.90 on two pears and a pint of strawberries.  It’s not strawberry season by any means, but the younger children with me wanted them.

IMG_7317

Thursday was my pre-Thanksgiving trip to Wegman’s.  It turned out to be a pretty even division between everyday stuff and Thanksgiving-specific items.  It came to $58.65.

I spent $74.16 at Stop & Shop on Saturday.  Unfortunately we were in need of grape juice, Cracklin Oat Bran, and chicken nuggets, none of which were on sale.  Apparently, I failed to take a picture, but on sale were shredded cheese, puff pastry, and granola bars.  That brought the total for the week to an entirely acceptable $139.71.

Meals are still in a busy slog, but we’re getting better.

Monday:
Chicken pot pie, green beans

Tuesday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, broccoli
Late: Homemade pizza

Wednesday:
Early: Leftover chicken pot pie, green beans
Late: Homemade macaroni & cheese

Thursday:
Meatball subs, deviled eggs, carrot sticks, chips

Friday:
Early: Eggs
Late: Homemade pizza

Saturday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, spinach salad
Late: Homemade pizza

Sunday:
Stovetop lemon chicken, brown rice, spinach salad

 

Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 45, 2017

13 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 45, 2017

I stayed under $200 again this week – $189.49 – with one two moderate and one small shopping runs.

On Monday, I spent $82.48 at Wegman’s.  This was primarily for milk (16 gallons for a total of $32.85).  Otherwise this was a stocking up run.  Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the other items.  But, they were:  18 pks of Mott’s cinnamon and original applesauce, one box of Wegman’s strawberry bars, salt, Montreal Chicken spice, and tortilla chips.

IMG_7282

On Wednesday, I needed a shallot.  So, I made my monthly run to Shaw’s where I got a dozen pizza dough balls, a dozen pizza cheese packages, three boxes of oatmeal, and the shallot for $76.78.

Then we determined we were going to have meatball subs for dinner Saturday night (this ended up not happening) so I went to Wegman’s again.  I spent $30.23 on sub rolls, blueberry bars (which had been out of stock earlier in the week), flour, green beans (to go with chicken pot pie which also ended up getting pushed back), and clementines (because they’re really good once the wooden boxes appear, but not so much the rest of the year).

IMG_7299

Unfortunately, this was my third attempt at buying diced pears.  They’re still out.  Ironically, a survey arrived from Wegman’s that afternoon asking specifically if there were chronic shortages of items I bought.  So, I was able to mention the pears and blueberry bars.

This was the last week of soccer so dinners are still pretty quick.  Plus we had some unexpected things come up that moved things around.  I’d like to say this coming week will be better, but it won’t.

Monday:
Early: Eggs
Late: Homemade pizza

Tuesday:
Tacos

Wednesday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, spinach salad
Late: Homemade pizza

Thursday:
Early: Pancakes
Late: Steak, hash browns, spinach salad

Friday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, spinach salad
Late: Homemade pizza

Saturday:
Early: Macaroni & cheese, brocolli
Late: Out, impromptu soccer end of season dinner

Sunday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, green beans
Late: Out, dinner after a movie

Fall 2017 Re-org: The Pantry

09 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Home

≈ 1 Comment

We have a nice large pantry in this house, and while it looks very full most items are constantly getting used and replaced.

But, it needed a cleanup and a bit of reorganization.  First, the granola bars and fruit cups were constantly falling over with the wire shelves.  So, I purchased one strip of foam shelf liner and moved all likely-to-fall items to that shelf.

I then put away all the multipacks I hadn’t even opened because I was waiting to reorganize the shelf.  Unfortunately they had mostly been building up on the floor.  I’d love to have reorganized the baking side, but I just didn’t see how to fit what we have in less space.  I think it will be an issue of eating through things (which is not a problem).

Finally, I went through and identified any items that won’t just get used up through everyday life.  Grouped by rough categories of planned use:

Recipes:

  • 1 jar of pesto, 1 package of sea salt, 1 package of sugar in the raw – These came in gift boxes.  We can use all of them, it just needs to be conscious planning.
  • 1 jar of clam juice – This was extra left over from the first time I tried a recipe.  This recipe has been requested again so I should make it and finish this off.  It would use up one of the boxes of puff pastry in the freezer (coming on that list) also.
  • 1 bag of marshmallows, 2.5 bags of graham crackers – Leftovers from summer s’mores.  Its going to be cold this weekend, but ideally we’ll make s’mores one more time.  That would use up the marshmallows and some of the graham crackers.  I need some of the graham crackers for a key lime pie at Thanksgiving.  After that we’ll have to see.  Neither will keep well until next summer.
  • 4 pecan pumpkin quick bread mixes – We like this.  I just need to remember to make them.
  • 1 bag of Cape Cod potato chips – I found these on sale at Target over the summer so they should be eaten soon.  I’ve been thinking of meatball subs to use up the provolone in the fridge and I think these would go nicely.
  • 2 single serve cups of pineapple tid-bits – I purchased a box of fruit cups that were half pineapple/half tropical fruit.  Tropical fruit flies, but nobody wants to eat pineapple unless I put it in pineapple upside down cake.  That will probably have to wait until after the holidays as there are so many fun holiday desserts to make.

I’ll eat them eventually:

  • 10 single serve packages of plain oatmeal – These are leftover from when I needed pregnancy snacks.  I need to finish them off, maybe some light lunches.
  • Dates, whole & chopped – I just need to remember they’re there.
  • 3 single serve brownie mixes – These came from a Friday Freebie coupon.  There were four in the box and I had one.  It was ok.  I will eventually eat the rest, but they’re not tasty enough to actually spend money on.

Kids snacks:

  • Ritz crackers, veggie straws, Ruffles potato chips – These are leftover summer pool snacks.  These are all open and therefore need to be eaten soon.  I will probably just send them to school as part of lunch/snack.
  • 6 pk chicken ramen – I bought these as snacks for the oldest.  I need to introduce them to him, but he hasn’t been snacking as much as one might think for his size/age.
  • Whole almonds, whole cashews – The boys used to snack on these, but they haven’t recently.  I cook with cashews occasionally so I’ll just need to plan to use these up.  Not sure yet what to do with the almonds.
  • Coconut oil, dried apple rings – I had planned to make granola with these, but haven’t.  Maybe I will actually get around to that.
  • 2 packages of plain, microwave popcorn – Sounds like a snack for the kids, maybe with a movie on a cold winter day (like the holiday tomorrow which is supposed to be awfully cold relative to recent weather).

October 2017 Grocery Review

06 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on October 2017 Grocery Review

Tags

A bit late in the day, but here we go.

First, the past week’s shopping.  It was a bit more than usual because of a trip to BJs.  I spent $231.78 there and food definitely dominated this trip.

While I was out I also stopped at Target for some post Halloween shopping.  This, plus two more juices and another box of cereal, came to $49.27.  I didn’t buy any other Halloween items on sale.

IMG_7283

On Thursday, I went to Stop & Shop as I wanted to get there before that week’s sales finished.  I spent $45.79 on mostly sale items.

IMG_7271

Then on Saturday I went back to Stop & Shop for some dinner items and this week sales.  I spent $42.52, bringing me to $369.36 for the week (including BJs).

Now for the monthly totals, which won’t actually include any of the above since it all occurred in November.  In many ways it was an excellent month, though we did eat out a bit more than usual because the kitchen sink was missing for a while.  But, not nearly so much as to make up the difference.

October TOTAL: $862.69

  • Stop & Shop: $142.88
  • Wegman’s: $211.92
  • BJs: $328.43
  • Other: $179.46
    • Local: $83.44
    • Star Market: $96.02
    • Trader Joe’s: $0
    • Target: $0
    • Other: $0

The menu wasn’t too exciting.  We’re coming to the end of the fall sports season so hopefully we can get some more interesting meals going shortly.

Monday:
Early: Eggs
Late: Homemade pizza

Tuesday:
Spaghetti & meatballs

Wednesday:
Out

Thursday:
Early: Macaroni & cheese, carrot sticks
Late: Tuna noodle casserole

Friday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, broccoli
Late: Homemade pizza

Saturday:
Hot dogs & sausages, pasta salad, chips, veggie plate

Sunday:
Pork chops with oniony mashed potatoes & gravy, spinach salad, apple pie

IMG_7277

Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 43, 2017

30 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 43, 2017

Tags

A small total grocery bill this week of $125.38!

On Monday I made what I hoped was my only trip to Wegman’s, spending $60.67, including some infrequent purchases.

On Wednesday I made a smaller trip to Stop & Shop, spending $33.61.  The milk is the only thing that wasn’t on sale.

IMG_7205

That was supposed to be it.  But, Wednesday night I realized that I was out of whole wheat bread, which is the only kind one of the boys will eat.  So, I spent $19.79 at Wegman’s on Thursday.  I also got enough milk (3 – not pictured) to get through the weekend and well into next week.

IMG_7207

Finally, I did a quick produce run over the weekend when we decided to have shepard’s pie but were short potatoes and green beans (standard side for us).

IMG_7221

Monday:
Early: Macaroni & cheese, broccoli
Late: Homemade pizza

Tuesday:
Chinese take-out

Wednesday:
Pancakes

Thursday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, broccoli
Late: Homemade pizza

Friday:
Spaghetti & meatballs

Saturday:
Kids: Macaroni & cheese, bananas/applesauce
Adults: Out

Sunday:
Shepard’s pie, green beans, oatmeal bread

IMG_7222

Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 42, 2017

23 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 42, 2017

Tags

I’m trying to get back on track this week.  The school rush is winding down and things are settling into more of a winter routine.

On Tuesday, I spent $60.28 at Wegman’s.  This was almost exclusively a restocking of things I buy there trip.  Though, you’ll see lots of flour and sugar through the fall because both are on good sales, max 2 per shopping trip.  So, if I get 2 each time I should be stocked up at least through the spring baking season, and probably for most of the year for sugar.

On Thursday I spent $122.29 at BJ’s.  It had only been a short while since I’d been there before, but we were on soccer snack duty so I went primarily to pick up sliced apples and bananas.  I also needed to make a return at Target, which is very close to BJ’s (and both are rather far from our house so they make a good combo trip).  I spent $17.26 on grape juice and Craisins there.

IMG_7183

Finally, on Saturday I spent $22.75 on (mostly) local produce.  The pears are not local; and, the potato salad is not produce.

IMG_7199

All that being said, we’re continuing eating quick, easy meals this month.

Monday:
Leftover pizza

Tuesday:
Hot dogs, apples

Wednesday:
Early: macaroni & cheese, spinach salad
Late: homemade pizza

Thursday:
Early: chicken nuggets, broccoli
Late: homemade pizza

Friday:
Take out pizza

Saturday:
BBQ wings, corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad

Sunday:
Lemon chicken, pan fried potatoes, spinach salad

Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 41, 2017

18 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 41, 2017

Tags

This was a big week because I went to BJs.  I spent $206.14 there on Tuesday.

On Thursday, I went to both Stop & Shop and Shaw’s.  Shaw’s was the usual, pizza dough, oatmeal, and pizza cheese.  Oatmeal is on sale through the end of the year, which is pretty typical.  Everything in the Stop & Shop picture was on sale except the cheese.  I never buy English Muffins, but they were buy 1, get 2 free.  I spent $46.72 at Shaw’s (left) and $56.68 at Stop & Shop (right).

I also spent $5.34 at the farm stand on Sunday for local peppers and apples.

Because the crazy evening schedule is unrelenting, you’re not going to see much of this on this week’s menu.  We also lacked a dishwasher and sink this week, so there was a lot of take out and paper product usage.

IMG_7083

Monday:
Take out pizza

Tuesday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, carrot sticks
Late: Leftover pizza

Wednesday:
Leftover pizza and leftover BBQ

Thursday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, carrot sticks
Late: Homemade pizza

Friday:
Take out pizza, with visitors

Saturday:
Steak
Mashed potatoes with gravy
Carrots
Spinach salad

Sunday:
Out, with visitors

Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 40, 2017

11 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 40, 2017

Tags

Back on Wednesday again as I get thrown off by the Monday holiday and our general busyness on Tuesdays.

I made a very small ($27.30) stop at Wegman’s on Monday.  This was on the way to Shaw’s where I spent $49.30 on pizza dough and pizza cheese.  (The milk is from Wegman’s, but it had to go in the fridge too.)

On Wednesday I made a rather large ($117.49) trip to Stop & Shop.  I had a reasonable number of coupons.  For example, the single serve brownies were free!

Then on Saturday I went back to Wegman’s, primarily for paper products as our kitchen sink and dishwasher will be unavailable this week.  But, I also got my limit 2 of both sugar and flour – time to stock up apparently.  This, plus six dozen eggs, totaled $43.88.

IMG_7053

Our meals this week were not spectacular, largely because we had to split dinner almost every night.  Add in some very tasty leftovers and takeout in anticipation of the missing sink/dishwasher, and it wasn’t great.

Monday:
Early: Macaroni & cheese, spinach salad
Late: Homemade pizza

Tuesday:
Leftovers: pulled pork, baked beans, corn salad; fresh spinach salad

Wednesday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, strawberries
Late: Homemade pizza

Thursday:
Early: Leftover pulled pork, spinach salad
Late: Steak, hash browns, spinach salad

Friday:
Kids: Eggs
Adults: Homemade pizza

Saturday:
Tacos, corn

Sunday:
Take out BBQ

September 2017 Grocery Review

06 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on September 2017 Grocery Review

Tags

Just snuck this one in this week.

Let’s cover last week’s groceries first since they’re a subset of the numbers.

On Monday I spent $187.03 at BJs.

I spent $72.20 at Wegman’s and $6.45 at the farmer’s market on Tuesday.

Finally, I spent $44.04 at the farm stand over the weekend.  The bag of bananas was $1.50 and I’ve been working through it making many loaves of banana bread.

IMG_7026

With BJ’s trips at the start and end of the month, I was expecting this one to be high.  Taking that into account, things were pretty good.

September TOTAL: $1,041.35

  • Stop & Shop: $222.81
  • Wegman’s: $297.69
  • BJs: $372.42
  • Other: $
    • Local: $101.03
    • Star Market: $47.40
    • Trader Joe’s: $0
    • Target: $0
    • Other: $0

The menu was pretty basic and choppy this week, though we made good use of our leftovers.  There was a lot of homemade pizza!

Monday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, green beans
Late: Homemade pizza

Tuesday:
Chili, cornbread

Wednesday:
Early: Chicken cacciatore, green beans, cornbread
Late: Homemade pizza

Thursday:
Early: Chicken nuggets
Late: Homemade pizza

Friday:
Spaghetti & meatballs, spinach salad

Saturday:
Early: Hot dogs
Late: Homemade pizza

Sunday:
Pulled pork, baked beans, corn salad

Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 38, 2017

27 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Grocery Update & What We Ate – Week 38, 2017

Tags

I don’t usually post on Wednesdays, but its been one of those weeks.  So, I decided to post today rather than doubling up next Monday.

I made rather a lot of grocery stops this week.

On Monday, I spent $77.68 at Stop & Shop.  Most of this was on sale.  The best deal was the goldfish at 99¢/bag.

I also made a quick stop at Shaw’s for those few items only they carry ($47.40).  Note – other places do carry Cracklin’ Oat Bran, but their shelves have been bare for a while so when I saw it I grabbed it (not on sale).

IMG_6972

On Thursday, I bought $20.17 in produce from the farm stand.  The strawberries were gone by breakfast the next day, so I didn’t feel bad about buying seconds.

IMG_6981

Finally, I spent $73.83 at Wegman’s on Friday.

With fall sports in full swing, we’ve been having mostly split dinners again.

Monday:
Early: Chicken nuggets, broccoli
Late: Homemade pizza

Tuesday:
Spaghetti & meatballs, carrots

Wednesday:
Pot roast, green beans, popovers

Thursday:
Early: Pancakes
Late: Tuna noodle casserole

Friday:
Kids: Hot dogs, applesauce
Adults: Homemade pizza

Saturday:
Shepard’s pie, green beans, pumpkin pie

Sunday:
Early: Macroni & cheese, green beans
Late: Chinese take out