After a moderate week last week with no grocery store visits, I made a lot of stops (for me) this week.  Thankfully, none were too huge, but there were a lot.

I spent $53.78 at Wegman’s on Monday.  The dark bag that’s hard to see is cucumbers for the preschool holiday party.

Then, on Tuesday, I spent $11.31 at Stop & Shop, mostly to grab things that were on sale that we prefer from that store.

On Thursday, I spent $13.50 at Shaw’s on nine boxes of oatmeal that I didn’t take a picture of.

On that same trip, I stopped at Wegman’s again for the big shop of $98.20.

Finally, on Saturday I spent $30.21 at the farm stand for some items for our early Christmas get-together.  I also picked up some items for dinner that night.

That brought me to exactly $207 for the week.  Not bad at all!

We had evening activities on Monday and Thursday, as well as a few quick-fix dinner requirements.  Plus the Christmas party covered Sunday lunch, so that was planned to be a lighter dinner.

Monday:
Early: Hot dogs, carrot sticks
Late: Homemade pizza

Tuesday:
Shepard’s pie, green beans

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

Thursday:
Early: Turkey, green beans
Late: Tuna noodle casserole

Friday:
Early: French toast
Late: Homemade pizza

Saturday:
Pork tenderloin, sauteed Brussels sprouts, pan fried potatoes

Sunday:
Meatball subs, carrot sticks, pasta salad

With Thanksgiving so early this year, we had a full week afterwards to finish off November.

I spent $92.94 at Star Market on Wednesday on pizza dough, pizza cheese, and oatmeal.  Yes, I bought the entire case of pizza dough.  And, yes, it went straight from the grocery freezer to my own.

On Thursday, I finished out the month of November by spending $98.77 at Stop & Shop.

Then, on Sunday I started December by spending $65.88 at Wegman’s.  A couple notes about that trip.  First, the loaf of bread was free with store coupon.  It’s a new flavor.  I’m not sure if we’ll like it, but at free I was willing to give it a try.  Second, this is far more produce than I usually purchase at Wegman’s as I find their produce department hit or miss both for items and quality.  I did find everything I was looking for.  Hopefully it will all cook up nicely too.  Finally, the gallon of orange juice is for the preschool holiday party this week.

That brought me to a respectable $257.59 for the week.  Note, it overlaps November and December so it won’t all be included below.

November TOTAL: $1,323.59

• Stop & Shop: $306.20
• Wegman’s: $273.73
• BJs: $376.10
• Other: $367.56
  • Local: $148.57
  • Star Market: $169.72
  • Trader Joe’s: $0
  • Target: $49.27
  • Other: $0

A high month.  Two trips to BJ’s, two trips to Shaw’s plus a food intensive holiday will do that to you.

Meals keep moving along.  Unfortunately with the winter schedule we’re back to more split dinners.  But, fewer people are out late so there’s generally less busyness.

Monday:
Salmon “Wellington”, green beans

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

Wednesday:
Macaroni & cheese, green beans

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

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

Saturday:
Grilled hot dogs & sausages, baked beans, chips, veggie plate

Sunday:
Tacos, corn, refried beans

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, or weekend.

As you can imagine, Thanksgiving week is usually a big grocery week what with extra eaters and fancier menus.  This was true again, though not too over the top especially since one of my stops was BJs after Thanksgiving.

On Monday, I failed to photograph the Russet potatoes and five packages of sliced/shredded cheese I got for $12.49 at Stop & Shop.

On Tuesday, I spent $141.57 at the farm stand, mostly on the perishables for Thanksgiving.  We hosted a total of 14 people.  Having done this before, we have decided two smaller turkeys (12.3 lbs each this time) is a better option than a single larger bird.  The picture on the right are items we will use for Thanksgiving.  The picture on the left are things I bought while I was there for other meals.

That trip finished my Thanksgiving shopping.  But, since I wasn’t convinced we would make it through Thanksgiving without more milk, I spent $134.84 at Wegman’s on Wednesday.  Shopping Wednesday morning was not as crazy as I feared it might be.  $33.48 of this was for a cheese plate we did eat on Thanksgiving.

Finally, we ended up at BJ’s on Saturday which saved me a trip for this upcoming week, spending an additional $144.32.

This brought my weekly total to $433.22.  For this coming week, I’ll need to get pizza dough and milk at some point.  But, otherwise the above should cover it.

Meals went reasonably well this week.  Not too many double dinners, nor a major letdown after the big feast.

Monday:
Tacos

Tuesday:
Early: Take out pizza
Late: Homemade pizza

Wednesday:
Veal Parmesan, spinach salad

Thursday (Thanksgiving):
Turkey (x2), mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, cranberry sauce, sausage stuffing, traditional stuffing, cranberry-brie bites, key lime pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, brownies

Friday:
Chili, corn bread

Saturday:
Turkey soup

Sunday:
Homemade pizza

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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).

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.

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