Groceries and Menu - January, Week 1
Hi, all,
I'm going to be helping with a program geared toward financial freedom that is being offered at the church I attend. For the next little while, I'll be posting our grocery shopping and menus, to help those who are interested with ideas for saving on groceries. I hope it's helpful for you!
To be fair, this is like starting in the middle, because we keep a well-stocked pantry and freezer, and a lot of what I'll list on the menu comes from those two places. Additionally, I forgot to take a picture after I went to the bread outlet - sorry! I'll try to do a better job representing our purchases in the weeks to come.
Bread Outlet. Daughter and I picked up Sara Lee bagels (plain) that were $1 per 6-pack. We had buy one, get one free coupons that I am able to print from a saver's card, so they were .50 each. I also got two loaves of the Sara Lee 45 calories & delightful 100% whole wheat bread. It was 1.99 per loaf, but since Daughter was with me and the bogo coupons are one per person, I was able to use another coupon and got both loaves for 1.99. Finally, I picked up a loaf of Oroweat Russian Rye for 1.25. Total spent: $4.24. Most of the bread went into the chest freezer, and we will use it as we need it.
Wal-Mart. The sale items I wanted to purchase were at two different stores, one of which is about 13 miles from home. There is a Wal-Mart about 2 1/2 miles from home, so I price-matched, which saved me time and fuel. Here's what we bought (Items with a * were price-matched):
chicken-tomato cubes (for Mex. rice) .72
pumpkin-crème cake mix .75 on clearance
jalapenos .12
2lb. carrots 1.44
*celery .88
*head of romaine lettuce .88
*2 avocadoes .96
*fresh pineapple 1.00
*apples .82
*green onions .48
*broccoli .66
*calabasa squash .58
*roma tomatoes .40
Total: $9.69
Price matching saved about $6. If you are shopping at Wal-Mart and you are not price-matching, you are likely spending more than you have to. I find it to be very worthwhile!
Menu. You'll see all sorts of things on the menu that we didn't buy up above. They are items we have on hand from previous sale weeks, the freezer and the pantry.
Breakfasts:
cereal, fruit, rice milk
bagels w/cream cheese, fruit
eggs with cheese, salsa and corn tortillas
peanut butter toast, applesauce, cocoa
Lunches:
leftovers from previous suppers
big green salads with cheese, nuts, fruit, dressing, etc.
homemade soup from the freezer
pbj, carrots and celery, oranges
Suppers:
smoked salmon, parslied potatoes, mixed steamed vegetables, pineapple
chili w/rice, shredded cheese, chopped onion, orange wedges
shoyu turkey, rice, kimchee, cabbage-carrot stir fry, pineapple
pizza magherita/pepperoni pizza, green salad, fruit kabobs
beef tacos, Mexican rice, frijoles w/cheese, guacamole & chips, oranges
minestrone, focaccia, cheese and apple wedges
oven chicken strips, potato wedges, steamed broccoli, pineapple sorbet
Snacks:
frozen fruit smoothies
cheese and crackers
peanut butter and celery
peanuts and raisins
bean dip and fritos
fresh fruit
popcorn
I haven't decided yet about the pumpkin cake - whether to make it this week or put it back for later. We'll see how the week goes. I hope you have a great week! If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I'll answer them to the best of my ability. Happy New Year!
I'm going to be helping with a program geared toward financial freedom that is being offered at the church I attend. For the next little while, I'll be posting our grocery shopping and menus, to help those who are interested with ideas for saving on groceries. I hope it's helpful for you!
To be fair, this is like starting in the middle, because we keep a well-stocked pantry and freezer, and a lot of what I'll list on the menu comes from those two places. Additionally, I forgot to take a picture after I went to the bread outlet - sorry! I'll try to do a better job representing our purchases in the weeks to come.
Bread Outlet. Daughter and I picked up Sara Lee bagels (plain) that were $1 per 6-pack. We had buy one, get one free coupons that I am able to print from a saver's card, so they were .50 each. I also got two loaves of the Sara Lee 45 calories & delightful 100% whole wheat bread. It was 1.99 per loaf, but since Daughter was with me and the bogo coupons are one per person, I was able to use another coupon and got both loaves for 1.99. Finally, I picked up a loaf of Oroweat Russian Rye for 1.25. Total spent: $4.24. Most of the bread went into the chest freezer, and we will use it as we need it.
Wal-Mart. The sale items I wanted to purchase were at two different stores, one of which is about 13 miles from home. There is a Wal-Mart about 2 1/2 miles from home, so I price-matched, which saved me time and fuel. Here's what we bought (Items with a * were price-matched):
 |
| Wal-Mart - $9.69 for everything pictured. |
pumpkin-crème cake mix .75 on clearance
jalapenos .12
2lb. carrots 1.44
*celery .88
*head of romaine lettuce .88
*2 avocadoes .96
*fresh pineapple 1.00
*apples .82
*green onions .48
*broccoli .66
*calabasa squash .58
*roma tomatoes .40
Total: $9.69
Price matching saved about $6. If you are shopping at Wal-Mart and you are not price-matching, you are likely spending more than you have to. I find it to be very worthwhile!
Menu. You'll see all sorts of things on the menu that we didn't buy up above. They are items we have on hand from previous sale weeks, the freezer and the pantry.
Breakfasts:
cereal, fruit, rice milk
bagels w/cream cheese, fruit
eggs with cheese, salsa and corn tortillas
peanut butter toast, applesauce, cocoa
Lunches:
leftovers from previous suppers
big green salads with cheese, nuts, fruit, dressing, etc.
homemade soup from the freezer
pbj, carrots and celery, oranges
Suppers:
smoked salmon, parslied potatoes, mixed steamed vegetables, pineapple
chili w/rice, shredded cheese, chopped onion, orange wedges
shoyu turkey, rice, kimchee, cabbage-carrot stir fry, pineapple
pizza magherita/pepperoni pizza, green salad, fruit kabobs
beef tacos, Mexican rice, frijoles w/cheese, guacamole & chips, oranges
minestrone, focaccia, cheese and apple wedges
oven chicken strips, potato wedges, steamed broccoli, pineapple sorbet
Snacks:
frozen fruit smoothies
cheese and crackers
peanut butter and celery
peanuts and raisins
bean dip and fritos
fresh fruit
popcorn
I haven't decided yet about the pumpkin cake - whether to make it this week or put it back for later. We'll see how the week goes. I hope you have a great week! If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I'll answer them to the best of my ability. Happy New Year!
Comments
I sat down and got my menus made for all of January. If I just write it down we eat well otherwise it is hit or miss and I hate living like that. We need very little this month other than produce and milk. In fact we were planning to meet friends for breakfast on Saturday and then I started thinking about all the food left from our kids being here and called them and just asked them to come here and help us get through some of this food. We will save probably $15 by eating what we have on hand.
Husband's work gave each family a ham for Christmas, and they were really good ones. We ate ham Christmas day, had sandwiches, had some at breakfast a time or two, and then I wrapped 7 packages of ham and froze them for future use. That way it gets used with purpose, and we don't burn out on it. :)
We have a local grocery store that will clearance spiral hams for 99 cents a pound if I can just catch them at the right time. I have broken those down and frozen in packages and we have had delicious ham for 6 months or more. We'll see.
Over at goodcheapeats.com she is having another pantry challenge this month. She blogs everyday on what they ate. I hope that you can get some money saving ideas from her :)
Another one of my favorite frugal blogs is Brandy over at Theprudenthomemakerblog.blogspot.com
I know you were talking to Shelia, but I'll have to check out Good Cheap Eats - I haven't read that one. I love Prudent Homemaker! :)
Laura, Good Cheap Eats is by the same author as Life As Mom, if you are familiar with her. Jessica Fischer (maybe Fisher, not sure). She has written a couple of freezer cooking cookbooks, but I don't have them. Another site where I have gotten several recipes I like is Pennies and Pancakes.