For the first time in a long while, we had an interesting menu and I kept track of it!

Nice meals for the first time in a few months resulted in many grocery stops, each of which only covered a meal or two.  Planning will come later.  I also went to BJs for the first time in over a month.  All in all, many, many stops.

On Tuesday, I spent $236.92 at Wegman’s and $48.22 at Stop & Shop.

Because of the holiday, our Farmers to You pickup was on Wednesday this week.  It came in at $45.03.

On Thursday (July 4), I spent $305.08 at BJ’s.

On Friday, I spent $56.11 at Star Market.  Eight packages of pizza dough didn’t make the picture.

Finally, on Sunday I spent $16.06 at the farm stand and $113.25 at Wegman’s.

That brought the total to a whopping $820.67!

The Wegman’s trip was quite late and really to cover my not going to the store on Monday or Tuesday this week.  But, otherwise, you can probably guess what we ate by the rather day by day pictures.

Monday:
Ok, this one I forgot.

Tuesday:
Early (5): Ham, raisin sauce, sugar snap peas
Late (3): Tuna noodle casserole

Wednesday:
Meatball subs, raw veggies

Thursday:
Grilled beef tenderloin roast, guacamole, french bread, sugar snap peas

Friday:
Early (5): Chicken nuggets, strawberries
Late (3): Homemade pizza

Saturday:
Braised halibut, bok choy

Sunday:
Hamburgers, watermelon, chips

Today would normally be the monthly summary for March, but I’m behind again so that will post tomorrow.  Here we’re covering two weeks back.

And, that was a very small week, so this will be brief.  On Wednesday, March 20, I picked up my Farmer’s to You box for $41.20.

I usually pick up on Thursdays, but I wasn’t available this week.  So, I had the option to skip a week (no charge), donate, or pick up on Wednesday.  The advantage of picking up on Wednesday is that I was able to get the Raisin Walnut bread which isn’t available on Thursdays so I took that option.

Then, on Friday I spent $48.22 at Wegmans for a total of $89.40!  You’ll see in tomorrow’s post that I more than counterbalanced that this past week.  There have been some big swings in March so the monthly total will be interesting.

Our meals were mostly eaten from things already in the house.

Monday:
Spaghetti & meatballs, spinach salad

Tuesday:
Husband was out so the rest of us finished up the leftover BBQ.

Wednesday:
Fish tacos, guacamole, pico de gallo
I tried the corn tortillas with the fish tacos and I quite liked the flavor/texture contrast. The rest of the family still prefers flour tortillas though.

Thursday:
Picadillo con Espinacas (ground beef with spinach), potato cubes

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

Saturday:
Pork roast, mashed potatoes, corn

Sunday:
I forgot to write it down and I have no recollection.  But, it was all eight of us together.

I had relatively big stops at Wegman’s at the start and end of this week.

I did my main shop of the week on Tuesday: $107.59 at Wegman’s.  I intended to buy Wegman’s Tater Puffs, but they were out of all sizes.  That’s been a real issue lately.  I can’t remember the last time I went when they actually had everything I wanted; there are always some things are out of stock.

I went to Stop & Shop on Thursday mostly for milk and sale items.  I spent $70.42 total including five gallons of milk that didn’t make the picture.  Cheese, Doritos, onions, and spinach were buy one, get one free.  Strawberries were buy one, get two free!

Thursday afternoon I picked up my Farmer’s to You box for $43.40.

On Sunday I was back at Wegman’s to pick up some items for an afternoon birthday party.  It was so busy!  I spent $91.64 on grocery items to use this coming week, including six gallons of milk and two baguettes that didn’t make the picture.  This time they were out of bulk limes so I ended up with organic limes because in bulk they were still less than loose limes.

That brought my total for the week to $313.05.  Hopefully, though, I won’t be doing much shopping this coming week.

Monday:
Pan fried chicken, brown rice, salad

Tuesday:
Roast beef sandwiches, tater tots, carrots

Wednesday:
Tacos, corn

Thursday:
Hearty fish stew with chorizo

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

Saturday:
Take out BBQ (because summer can’t come fast enough)

Sunday:
Pizza at the birthday party.

So, here we are with last week to get back on schedule.

I only made three stops this week.

First, I was at Target on Wednesday so I picked up a few grocery items for a total of $29.66.

On Thursday I picked up my Farmer’s to You box for $44.95.

Finally, on Thursday I spent $102.03 at Stop & Shop.  Admittedly, I had to purchase a few extra items to get this number.  But, I had coupons for $4.50 off $90 and triple gas points for a $100+ purchase.

We had a bit of a cobbled together set of meals because we weren’t always home for regular dinners.

Monday:
Chicken pot pie, broccoli

Tuesday:
One child had a concert (for which two more were stage hands) and another had baseball practice so take out pizza for all whenever they were available to eat.

Wednesday:
Lasagna, homemade white bread, salad

Thursday:
Early: Hot dogs, spinach salad
Late: Homemade pizza

Friday:
Husband was out of town so we had take out Chinese food.

Saturday:
Husband came home late.
Early: Chicken nuggets, spinach salad
Late: Homemade pizza

Sunday:
Pork roast, mashed potatoes, carrots

Well, a big week was thankfully followed by a very small week.

I made two stops.  First, on Thursday, I picked up my Farmers to You box for $43.55.  Yes, that is some pricey chicken.  But, it is oh so tasty.

Then on Friday I spent $66.60 at Wegman’s.  Admittedly, this was not the most organized trip.  We were out of milk so I tried to think of what else we might need, but I didn’t do up a full meal plan before leaving.  If I had fully thought through things I would have gotten some bananas.

That gave me a total of $110.15!  Excellent, though I’m sure my two high weeks this month will be more than balanced out by last week’s big spend.

Now to remember what we ate.  Unfortunately I didn’t write it all down.

Monday:
I usually do the cleaning myself, but hired someone to deep clean the house on Tuesday.  We had take out pizza so I could focus on tidying up to maximize the use of their time.

Tuesday:
Husband was out.  Kids had hot dogs.  I had leftover pizza.

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

Thursday:
Pan fried chicken, 5-grain wild rice & mushroom stuffing, salad

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

Saturday:
Pork roast, baked potato, canned peas, carrot sticks

Sunday:
Husband was out again.  Kids had chicken nuggets and broccoli.  I had ravioli.

I knew this was going to be a big week.  I planned to go to BJ’s because it was the end of the coupon cycle.  I had a $6 off coupon at Star Market/Shaw’s and oatmeal was on sale.  It was the elementary school fundraiser day at the farm stand.  Plus, we hosted a birthday party yesterday so I needed to stop and two grocery stores late in the week for supplies.

There was also the issue of our milk/eggs/kitchen overflow fridge looking like this:

Of course, I made a few other stops too!

On Monday I spent $66.84 on a restocking trip to Wegman’s.  This was my first grocery trip of February.

Then I tried to go to Shaw’s, but they were out of stock on oatmeal and other things I had intended to get to fully utilize my coupons.  So, I spent $32.50 on items basically for that night and called it quits.  And apparently I forgot to take a picture.  I bought strawberries, grapes, and bananas, all of which I had specific coupons for.  And, I bought three packages of (expensive, because they didn’t have the regular ones) hot dogs and three pizza dough balls.

On Tuesday, I used my coupon and did buy $54.63 at Star Market.  Apparently I should never go to Shaw’s (same company and same distance from our house) because Star more reliably has what I want.  I again failed in the picture department, but the big hitters were oatemal, pizza dough, and pizza cheese.

Wednesday was the school fundraiser day.  I really don’t need much from there this time of year so there were some splurges.  The jam was the only need.

My total at BJ’s was $284.06.

That brought the backup fridge back to normal.

On Thursday I picked up my Farmer’s to You box for $42.20.  The fruit & veggie pickings are quite slim this time of year so I took advantage of some Valentine’s Day chocolate specials to make the $40 minimum.  I can tell you both are quite tasty.

On Saturday I made a small trip to Target while I was in the lot to pick up party supplies.  I spent $16.58 on one package of cheese sticks and lots of raisins.

Then I went over to Stop & Shop to get this week’s specials and bottled water (not pictured) for the party.  I spent $71.44 with a total savings of $44.17.

Finally, I went to Wegman’s on Saturday to pick up the cake.  While I was there, I spend $73.93 on other groceries.

That brought the total for the week to $642.18!  That’s quite big, but with the low week last week and the trip to BJ’s it should end up being in line for the month.  I also don’t anticipate doing any further shopping until at least Wednesday.  For one, it’s supposed to snow tomorrow.  And two, I have plenty in the house now.

Since there were only seven of us most nights this week, meals tended to be on the more kid-oriented side.

Monday:
Spaghetti & meatballs, salad

Tuesday:
Hot dogs, strawberries

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

Thursday:
Turkey soup with rice

Friday:
Early: Macaroni & cheese, spinach salad
Late: Homemade pizza
We do plan for split dinners on Friday just for a break before the weekend.

Saturday:
Shepard’s pie, spinach salad

Sunday:
Roast beef sandwiches, tater tots