Weekly Menu and Shopping Trip

Monday: Chicken pot pie (using broth from last week's chicken) and salad
Tuesday: Breakfast (pancakes, eggs, and fruit)
Wednesday: Red beans and rice, salad
Thursday: Left-overs
Friday: Bean burritos (made with homemade refried beans), Mexican rice, chips, salsa
Saturday: Manicotti, garlic bread, Caesar salad
Sunday: Left-overs

This was a pretty uneventful shopping week for me.  I bought what I needed for our meals, plus I did stock up on a few things.  The tomato sauce was a little more than I normally pay for it, but I was running low and the price was decent, so I bought a few.  I also stocked up a little on cheese.  I typically prefer to buy blocks of cheese, but it's hard finding cheese for under $4/lb these days, and that's what these were ($2/8 oz), so I bought a few to throw in the freezer.  I came in quite a bit under budget, so I'll have a little extra to use in the future, whether it's to stock up on ingredients or to buy some more expensive items that normally don't fit into our budget.

Store 1: Food4Less

Tomato sauce: $0.25 each
Natural peanut butter: $2.99
Cake mix: $0.99 each
Cantaloupe: $1.07
Cheese: $2.00 each
Dried garbanzo beans: $1.50
Croutons: $1.19
Tortilla chips: $1.50
Cottage cheese: $1.79
Eggs: $2.79
Total: $23.81

Store 2: Sam's Club 

Milk: $2.75
Baby carrots: $3.98
Romaine: $2.58
Total: $9.31

Store 3: Valley Produce Market

Broccoli: $1.52
Pitas: $0.79
Red onion: $0.26
Iceberg: $0.69
Red bell pepper: $0.87
Cucumbers: $0.39 each
Carrots: $0.50
Nectarines: $1.41
Onions: $0.58
Total: 7.40

Grand Total: $40.52

Weekly Meal Plan and Shopping Trip

Last week was a very unusual shopping trip, but this week was more of a normal week.  Even though I plan out my meals for the week, I don't always follow my plans exactly.  For example, we were supposed to have left-overs last Tuesday, which normally would have worked out, because my husband had a meeting and wasn't going to be home for dinner.  What I forgot, however, was that he actually was going to be home for dinner because I needed him to watch the kids while I went to an appointment before his meeting.  We didn't have enough leftovers for all of us, so I resorted to plan B.  Thankfully, I had some quick, easy meal options on hand so we didn't have to spend money eating out.  I'll have to post about some things I keep on hand at another time, but this time we had noodles and a jar of marinara sauce in the pantry. These ingredients make for a super easy and quick meal whenever I'm in a pinch, saving us from having to eat out.  Another change to our menu was that Saturday's meal provided enough leftovers for Sunday, so I was able to move the quiche to this week.

Monday: Ham and Potato Quiche, English muffins, pineapple

Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup, salad

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Chicken Spaghetti Casserole (make half/freeze half), broccoli

Friday: Southwest Chicken Roll-ups, Spanish rice (recipe to come!)

Saturday: Date night!

Sunday: Left-overs or breakfast

Whole chickens were on sale this week, so my menu is largely based off of that.  I'm hoping to use the meat from a chicken for the soup, casserole, and southwest roll-ups.  I may not have quite enough, but I will supplement with boneless, skinless chicken breasts as needed.

Store 1: Valley Produce Market

Broccoli: $1.34

10 lbs potatoes: $1.19

Romaine hearts: $1.99

Pineapple: $1.69

Grapes: $1.58

Cucumber: $0.33

Acorn squash (for baby food): $0.70

Gala apples: $1.21

Pitas: $0.79

Total: $10.82

Store 2: Ralphs

Sour cream: $1.50

Tortilla chips: $1.79

Whole chicken: $4.25

Total: $7.54

Store 3: Food4Less

Diced green chilies: $0.79
Enchilada sauce: $1.00 (I was planning on making my own enchilada sauce, but this was cheaper than            the ingredients I was going to use for homemade)
Baby oatmeal (I would prefer to make my own, but baby is picky about texture): $1.25/box
Pinto beans (bulk): $2.01
Red beans: $1.79
Sweet potato (for baby food): $1.29
Baby carrots: $0.99
Red bell pepper: $0.79
Frozen corn: $1.99
Frozen green beans (for baby food): $1.00
Total: $14.15

Store 4: Sam's Club

1% milk: $3.28
Skim milk: $2.75
6 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts: $11.98
Heavy whipping cream: $4.17
Tortillas: $3.68
Total: $25.86

Grand Total: $58.37

I came in $0.68 cents above budget, and I still have to buy one more ingredient for a special (secret) Father's Day treat, but I was $4 under last week, so I'll be using that excess to cover this week's overage.

Our New Budget, Meal Plan, and My Shopping Trip

According to the USDA, the average weekly cost of groceries in April for a family the size of mine (2 adults, 1 child, plus a baby who is now eating some foods, which I didn't factor into this equation) was as follows:

• Thrifty Plan: $106.20
• Low-cost Plan: $135.10
• Moderate-cost Plan: $167.60
• Liberal Plan: $208.80

The amount we had determined for our weekly grocery budget is $57.69, about half of what the USDA has determined to be a thrifty plan.  Is it possible?  Yes!  But it does, at times, require some creativity.

Let's take a look at our first week! But first let me warn you that this is a very unusual shopping week for me.  I didn't need too many ingredients for our meals this week and we didn't need very many staples, leaving me with some extra money. I happened to come upon some amazing sales and coupons, so I was able to do a major cereal stock-up with that excess.  

Also, if you'll notice, my meal plan is only for dinners.  I don't typically plan breakfasts and lunches. However, our typical breakfast options are oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, toast, and eggs.  Lunches consist of leftovers, quesadillas, salads, PB&J, deviled eggs (my daughter's absolute favorite!), and bean and cheese burritos.

Meal Plan

Monday: Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken, rice, roasted broccoli

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Salad

Thursday: Spicy Chicken Risotto, salad

Friday: Eat at friends'

Saturday: Pinto Bean Casserole

Sunday: Potato and Ham Quiche 

(Note: I've put links to items we've already blogged about.  I'm hoping to eventually have all recipes posted or linked at some point.)

This week the sales were pretty spread out, but my 7-month-old daughter was being quite cooperative while I shopped, so I was able to hit up quite a few stores in order to get the best deals.  Typically, I only go to 2-3 stores each week.

Store 1: Sprouts
I neglected to get a picture of my Sprouts purchase, but I bought 2 lbs of bulk oatmeal for $0.69/lb and seedless grapes for $0.98/lb.  Total: $3.07

Store 2: Food4Less
I do most of my shopping at Food4Less.  Usually I don't buy my produce there, because I can get it cheaper elsewhere.  This week, I just bought it all there because I needed to hit up some other stores I don't normally go to.

BBQ sauce: $0.99

Butternut squash (for baby food): $2.07

Baking powder: $1.99

Yellow onions: $0.59

Romaine lettuce: $0.99

2 Green bell peppers: $1.58

Green onions: $0.33

Broccoli crowns: $1.25

Red bell pepper: $0.99

Pasilla chilles: $1.00

Iceberg lettuce: $0.99

Tortilla chips: $1.89

2 lbs strawberries: $1.98

Total: $16.64

Store 3: Pavilions (Safeway affiliate)

This is where my shopping trip was highly unusual.  They had many of their General Mills cereals and Nature Valley granola bars on sale for $1.49 each when you buy them in multiples of 4.  I had quite a few high value coupons for cereal and granola bars, and when combined with the sale, I scored a lot of food for a little bit of money.  We are all stocked up on cereal for a little while.  :)

2 boxes Cheerios: $1.49 each

4 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios: $1.49 each

3 boxes Multi-Grain Cheerios: $1.49 each

4 boxes Kix: $1.49 each

3 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars: $1.49 each

Prego: $1.79

Total after coupons: $12.83

Store 4: Ralphs (Kroger affiliate)

Honey Bunches of Oats: $1.88 each

Eggs: $1.88 (plus a coupon for a free dozen)

Total: $7.52

Store 5: Sam's Club

Milk: $2.85
2.5 lbs cheese: $9.48
Total: $12.33

Grand Total: $52.39