I know how you feel, but for some reason I like to go grocery shopping. What I have found that saves me money is to shop at walmart and costco. Costco really saves us a lot of money. The big bag of chicken breast are only about 13 dollars, I think, and I think it has atleast 15 pieces in it. We buy our bread from there too. Two loafs of honey wheat bread it is about $3.50 and we also get 3 dozens of eggs for $3. I believe they also sell can peas there too. We buy a lot more from there that really saves us some money. So if you dont already know about this check it out. And sometimes they have really good prices on fruit, but sometimes it cost double. And for meat, except chicken, we go to a meat market they seem to have better prices and better meat. But we also eat a lot of red meat but I believe they sell ground turkey breast but not really sure how much it cost.
Honestly, I think the amount of produce you are buying is your downfall. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my fruits and veggies and I'd buy out the entire produce section if I could, so I understand how much you want them all. But it can get very expensive too. I buy what's on sale, when it's on sale. The only produce item I buy weekly whether it's on sale or not is bananas. But I feel fine about this decision because they are very healthy for you, my very texture sensitive picky child likes them and doesn't like many other fruits, one counts as two fruit servings, and they are generally very cheap even at full price. If something that quite a few of us in our family likes goes on a really good sale, I try to buy more than I think we'll eat in a week and freeze what we won't eat for later. Or if it's fruit, I will can it (not much of a fan of canned veggies). I do the same with things that I use in recipes a lot like peppers. This week, other than bananas, my fresh produce list consists of:
seedles grapes
mini watermelon
plums
cabbage
white onions
red and gold bell peppers
celery (these will all get frozen. We don't like raw celery at all, but love it cooked into recipes.
navel oranges
I'm also getting 2 cans of corn, and a can of green beans (the only veggies I can stand to eat canned!)
Next, we have a grocery budget that's set. We don't spend more than $100 a week on groceries. Ever! I shop off the adds and make my menus based on that. Of course this means I have to plan my menus once a week, which I agree is a pain, but it's worth it if it saves me money. Again, if there is something on a really good sale that we like, I buy extra. I'm a big believer in having a food storage. I also like to cook ahead as much as I can, so if I am able to get the ingredients for something cheaply, or if I've built all the ingredients up in my freezer, I'll make a double batch and freeze one for another time. I plan my menus off of the adds and what we already have at home. I plan my dinners first since that's the biggest meal of the day. Anything I need to buy for any of those meals goes on the list. When I make my list I work it like a checkbook. I put the budget at the top, then as I add things I subtract how much they cost from the total budget. This helps me keep track of how much food we can really afford. So, I first put on the stuff I need for dinners and subtract how much they cost from the budget estimating the sales tax. Next I add staple items: milk, bread, cereal, peanut butter, jelly, that kind of thing. Next is nonfood items that we need: diapers, wipes, laundry detergent, etc. Next I add any fresh produce that I'm not already getting for dinners that are on sale. Next I add stuff for breakfast. Cereal is considered a staple item so if we can't afford anything else we will at least have that and the fresh produce. But if we still have room I will add stuff we like that's on sale like yogurt, eggs, frozen waffles, etc. Next is lunch. Again, peanut butter, jelly, and bread are staple items so if nothing else we will have that. I often make lunches out of left overs from the previous nights dinners too. So, if we can't afford much here, again we are fine. I generally have tons of stuff that I've canned, frozen, or bought ahead available for lunches anyway. If we are fine I'll add frozen single meals such as Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisene, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, fruit cups, lunch meat, and other things that my kids and I like to eat for lunch that happen to be on sale. Last, I add snack and treat type foods, beverages, etc. as well as canned or dry goods that I can add to my food storage. I tend to aim for food items that are low in fat and calories, but will get a couple things that deviate from this once in a while.
I go shopping tomorrow. Here is my menu for the week:
Monday - cheeseburgers (made with extra lean ground beef), watermelon, baby carrots with choice of dressing to dip
Tuesday - broiled lemon pepper chicken breasts, macaroni and cheese, green beans
Wednesday - tuna salad sandwiches (made with fat free salad dressing and wheat bread), and baby carrots with choice of salad dressing to dip, green salad with choice of dressing
Thursday - homemade turkey noodle soup (we had turkey for dinner last Sunday and I made a big pot of soup and froze some of it), grilled cheese sandwiches (made with wheat bread)
Sunday - pork roast, egg noodles with pork gravy, corn, green salad with choice of dressing, hot hard rolls, vanilla ice cream for dessert
so my shopping list looks like this:
- 5oz Gold'n Plump marinated boneless skinless chicken breasts (these are cheap so I'm getting one lemon pepper to use this week, and one roasted garlic to freeze for future use)
- 2 loaves Sara Lee Classic wheat bread (these generally are staple items but since we are having sandwiches twice this week for dinner I'm putting them in now. I will leave one loaf out, and freeze the other one until we need it)
- super saver pack boneless sirloin pork chops (using 3 or 4 this week on Friday, and freezing the others)
- brown minute rice (this item isn't on sale, but it's generally so cheap, and the other items I need for it are either things I already have or are at such a good buy that this item is worth buying at full price this time)
- 2 15oz cans S&W Italian style ready cut tomatoes
- 2 lbs white onions (chopping and freezing one pound)
- 2 lbs green cabbage (freezing 1 pound)
- 2 15oz cans red kidney beans (these are not on sale but are generally no more than a dollar each. The only other ingredients I have to buy are onions and canned tomatoes which are both on sale. Everything else I already have at home. So I feel okay buying these)
- 16oz Marie Callender's corn bread mix
- 2 cans pears
- 2 lbs pork roast
- 2 12oz American Beauty egg noodles
- gravy mix
- 2 Dole bagged salad blends
- 2 dozen fresh hard rolls (freezing one dozen for the next Sunday dinner)
- 5 quart Western Family vanilla ice cream
(I'm skipping staple items this week. Bread was included with dinner, I bought and froze enough milk for this week, I bought lots of cereal last week when there was a fantastic sale, and we still have plenty of peanut butter and jelly)
- 2 100oz liquid tide
- 2 Old Spice Red Zone deoderant
- sandwich size baggies
- 1 lb seedless grapes
- mini watermelon (we already have watermelon for tomorrow night which is why this isn't in the dinner section. I will probably cut this one up and freeze the whole thing)
- 1lb plums
- 2 bell peppers - one red, one gold (both getting chopped and frozen)
- 1 bunch of celery
- 1 lb navel oranges
- a bunch of bananas
- 10 fat free yoplait yogurt
- 37 oz Betty Crocker pancake mix
- 2 6pack cups Western Family applesauce
- 2 Western Family instant oatmeal
- 2 12inch Digiorno pizzas
- 2 Healthy Choice frozen meals
That's my list. By sticking to a budget of 100 weeks, we are able to get what we need for our family, have enough money for everything else, and still have some extra so if we run out of a staple type item before we were expecting to, we can still comfortably afford it.
You are probably right about the produce...I guess it is in my head that I should always have a variety and it never goes to waste so I keep buying it!
Next can I have some of your YUMMY recipes for.....
I'm in the same boat. I keep trying to figure out why I can't seem to spend less that $150-200 every time I got to the store. I am also a healthy mom, buy lots of fruits and veggies and prepare most meals. I don't know what else to do. The only thing I may try to do is eat less and do a weekly menu so I only shop for things I need that week. I'm going to try that and see. I just know that I can't continue paying that much for food. I am very careful of where I get my stuff from, too. I know that I pay more than those that go to the local grocery but I like the better quality I get. Hopefully, there's hope for us that we can figure this out.
The lemon pepper chicken breasts are easy. I buy them already marinated. If I'm not gonna use them right away, I freeze them. Then, of course, they need to be thawed. Then I just pop them in the broiler for about 7 to 10 minutes. They are yummy. They go well with most pasta dishes, cheesy potatoes, green salad, California blend, asparagus, etc, etc. If you can't find them already packaged with the marinade, many butcher blocks will offer to package your meat with a marinade, and this is often one that's available. Just ask them. I also really like the roasted garlic, and the honey mustard. Mmmmm....
The Cheesy Bean Casserole is also very easy. And it's also very easy to make two of and freeze one. If you have a freezer unit that is separate from your fridge, I recommend you freeze ahead as much as possible. It saves me so much in both time and money. I would even recommend freezing the fruits that you like for your shakes from the fresh produce that you buy. Especially if you are buying your produce from a farmers market (usually cheaper than the grocery store) or growing it yourself (free), you may find this is much cheaper than just buying it already frozen. There aren't many fruits that I don't freeze or can. I love a lot of fruits that aren't available year round, and freezing them or canning them means I can have them when I want them. Anyway, I'm getting off track here. Back to the casserole, lol. Coat a skillet with cooking spray (I love the olive oil flavored cooking spray the best). Heat it over medium high until it's hot. Add about a cup of chopped onion and saute. Stir in 2 cans of kidney beans. You can also use pintos, black beans, etc, but for this dish I tend to like the kidney beans the best. Stir in 2 15 oz cans tomatoes drained and chopped (you can use any flavor of canned tomatoes. I prefer the Italian seasoned ones. Also, the original recipe calls for whole tomatoes, but I save a lot of time by buying them already diced or ready cut, and I've never noticed it make any difference in the recipe.). Stir in about 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and about 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook until thoroughly heated, stirring well. This takes roughly 3 minutes. Spoon the mixture into an 8 inch baking dish, and sprinkle with a cup of sharp cheddar cheese. Bake at 400 degrees until the cheese melts, roughly 5 minutes. It takes about 15 minutes to make, makes 4 servings, and has about 275 calories, 6 1/2 grams of fat, and 12 1/2 grams of fiber. If you are on weight watchers, it's about 5 points per serving.
My turkey noodle soup is a little more difficult to share since I've never written down the recipe and never measure anything. But I can tell you roughly what goes into it. Also, you can use chicken instead of turkey. I just happened to have turkey in the house, so that's what I used. I heat about 5 cups of chicken broth (I make my own and freeze it, but you could do the same thing by combining 3 cups of purchased broth with 3 cups of chicken or turkey meat and using 5 cups in the soup). Anyway I heat the broth, 2 sliced carrots, 2 sliced stalks of celery, a small chopped onion, and I'd guess about a tablespoon of chicken bouillon granules to boiling. Then reduce it to low and let it simmer until the carrots are tender. This usually takes about 15 minutes. Then I stir in probably about a cup of whatever noodles I happen to have in the house or whatever is on sale, and between 3 and 3 1/2 lbs of chopped chicken or turkey. Bring it back up to a boil, then back to low to simmer until the noodles are tender. This makes about 6 servings of soup. It takes about an hour and a half to make so I would recommend making it ahead of time and heating it up when it's time for dinner. If you aren't gonna be around, it's very easy to just convert the recipe into a crock pot recipe. Just add all the ingredients to the pot and set on low for about 8 hours, and then throw in the noodles for about 30 minutes. It only has about 160 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber (more if you use whole wheat pasta, but Johnathan has texture sensitivities and he can't take the texture of whole wheat pasta). It has 3 WW points per serving, and is very satisfying on a sore throat (something we are fighting off right now), or on a cold day. Also, if you are using turkey, thanks to the tryptophan, this makes a wonderful aid on nights when you are having trouble sleeping.
Good luck. I know exactly how you feel with wanting all that variety. I love to have lots of fruits and veggies around too. But, like I said, that's why I can and freeze what I can when it gets really cheap. This helps me to be able to have a good variety when I want it without breaking the bank.
***Editing because I forgot to mention that if you are using store boughten broth and adding chicken or turkey to it instead of making your own, you do not need to add the meat later in the recipe. In fact I might even wait and add that meat at the end.
Jayme
My kids
Johnathan (6 1/2) Ethan (3 1/2) Elizabeth (13 months)
Reading about all the fruits and vegs.and the recipes..ya'll are making me hungry. LOL But really plain your meals, and set a budget. It will help so much. Our problem at the moment is diapers. I have two in diapers and so I spend around $50 every two weeks on diapers and wipes.
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I know how you feel, but for some reason I like to go grocery shopping. What I have found that saves me money is to shop at walmart and costco. Costco really saves us a lot of money. The big bag of chicken breast are only about 13 dollars, I think, and I think it has atleast 15 pieces in it. We buy our bread from there too. Two loafs of honey wheat bread it is about $3.50 and we also get 3 dozens of eggs for $3. I believe they also sell can peas there too. We buy a lot more from there that really saves us some money. So if you dont already know about this check it out. And sometimes they have really good prices on fruit, but sometimes it cost double. And for meat, except chicken, we go to a meat market they seem to have better prices and better meat. But we also eat a lot of red meat but I believe they sell ground turkey breast but not really sure how much it cost.
Well I hope this helps you.
Antonia
Cameron 09/04/03
Alyssa 03/19/07
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I can't stant that the stuff that's good for you costs an arm and a leg.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Costco!!!
Hello Sarah. It's so nice to see you over here.
Honestly, I think the amount of produce you are buying is your downfall. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my fruits and veggies and I'd buy out the entire produce section if I could, so I understand how much you want them all. But it can get very expensive too. I buy what's on sale, when it's on sale. The only produce item I buy weekly whether it's on sale or not is bananas. But I feel fine about this decision because they are very healthy for you, my very texture sensitive picky child likes them and doesn't like many other fruits, one counts as two fruit servings, and they are generally very cheap even at full price. If something that quite a few of us in our family likes goes on a really good sale, I try to buy more than I think we'll eat in a week and freeze what we won't eat for later. Or if it's fruit, I will can it (not much of a fan of canned veggies). I do the same with things that I use in recipes a lot like peppers. This week, other than bananas, my fresh produce list consists of:
seedles grapes
mini watermelon
plums
cabbage
white onions
red and gold bell peppers
celery (these will all get frozen. We don't like raw celery at all, but love it cooked into recipes.
navel oranges
I'm also getting 2 cans of corn, and a can of green beans (the only veggies I can stand to eat canned!)
Next, we have a grocery budget that's set. We don't spend more than $100 a week on groceries. Ever! I shop off the adds and make my menus based on that. Of course this means I have to plan my menus once a week, which I agree is a pain, but it's worth it if it saves me money. Again, if there is something on a really good sale that we like, I buy extra. I'm a big believer in having a food storage. I also like to cook ahead as much as I can, so if I am able to get the ingredients for something cheaply, or if I've built all the ingredients up in my freezer, I'll make a double batch and freeze one for another time. I plan my menus off of the adds and what we already have at home. I plan my dinners first since that's the biggest meal of the day. Anything I need to buy for any of those meals goes on the list. When I make my list I work it like a checkbook. I put the budget at the top, then as I add things I subtract how much they cost from the total budget. This helps me keep track of how much food we can really afford. So, I first put on the stuff I need for dinners and subtract how much they cost from the budget estimating the sales tax. Next I add staple items: milk, bread, cereal, peanut butter, jelly, that kind of thing. Next is nonfood items that we need: diapers, wipes, laundry detergent, etc. Next I add any fresh produce that I'm not already getting for dinners that are on sale. Next I add stuff for breakfast. Cereal is considered a staple item so if we can't afford anything else we will at least have that and the fresh produce. But if we still have room I will add stuff we like that's on sale like yogurt, eggs, frozen waffles, etc. Next is lunch. Again, peanut butter, jelly, and bread are staple items so if nothing else we will have that. I often make lunches out of left overs from the previous nights dinners too. So, if we can't afford much here, again we are fine. I generally have tons of stuff that I've canned, frozen, or bought ahead available for lunches anyway. If we are fine I'll add frozen single meals such as Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisene, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, fruit cups, lunch meat, and other things that my kids and I like to eat for lunch that happen to be on sale. Last, I add snack and treat type foods, beverages, etc. as well as canned or dry goods that I can add to my food storage. I tend to aim for food items that are low in fat and calories, but will get a couple things that deviate from this once in a while.
I go shopping tomorrow. Here is my menu for the week:
Monday - cheeseburgers (made with extra lean ground beef), watermelon, baby carrots with choice of dressing to dip
Tuesday - broiled lemon pepper chicken breasts, macaroni and cheese, green beans
Wednesday - tuna salad sandwiches (made with fat free salad dressing and wheat bread), and baby carrots with choice of salad dressing to dip, green salad with choice of dressing
Thursday - homemade turkey noodle soup (we had turkey for dinner last Sunday and I made a big pot of soup and froze some of it), grilled cheese sandwiches (made with wheat bread)
Friday - skillet chops and rice, steamed cabbage
Saturday - cheesy bean casserole, corn bread, canned pears
Sunday - pork roast, egg noodles with pork gravy, corn, green salad with choice of dressing, hot hard rolls, vanilla ice cream for dessert
so my shopping list looks like this:
- 5oz Gold'n Plump marinated boneless skinless chicken breasts (these are cheap so I'm getting one lemon pepper to use this week, and one roasted garlic to freeze for future use)
- 2 loaves Sara Lee Classic wheat bread (these generally are staple items but since we are having sandwiches twice this week for dinner I'm putting them in now. I will leave one loaf out, and freeze the other one until we need it)
- super saver pack boneless sirloin pork chops (using 3 or 4 this week on Friday, and freezing the others)
- brown minute rice (this item isn't on sale, but it's generally so cheap, and the other items I need for it are either things I already have or are at such a good buy that this item is worth buying at full price this time)
- 2 15oz cans S&W Italian style ready cut tomatoes
- 2 lbs white onions (chopping and freezing one pound)
- 2 lbs green cabbage (freezing 1 pound)
- 2 15oz cans red kidney beans (these are not on sale but are generally no more than a dollar each. The only other ingredients I have to buy are onions and canned tomatoes which are both on sale. Everything else I already have at home. So I feel okay buying these)
- 16oz Marie Callender's corn bread mix
- 2 cans pears
- 2 lbs pork roast
- 2 12oz American Beauty egg noodles
- gravy mix
- 2 Dole bagged salad blends
- 2 dozen fresh hard rolls (freezing one dozen for the next Sunday dinner)
- 5 quart Western Family vanilla ice cream
(I'm skipping staple items this week. Bread was included with dinner, I bought and froze enough milk for this week, I bought lots of cereal last week when there was a fantastic sale, and we still have plenty of peanut butter and jelly)
- 2 100oz liquid tide
- 2 Old Spice Red Zone deoderant
- sandwich size baggies
- 1 lb seedless grapes
- mini watermelon (we already have watermelon for tomorrow night which is why this isn't in the dinner section. I will probably cut this one up and freeze the whole thing)
- 1lb plums
- 2 bell peppers - one red, one gold (both getting chopped and frozen)
- 1 bunch of celery
- 1 lb navel oranges
- a bunch of bananas
- 10 fat free yoplait yogurt
- 37 oz Betty Crocker pancake mix
- 2 6pack cups Western Family applesauce
- 2 Western Family instant oatmeal
- 2 12inch Digiorno pizzas
- 2 Healthy Choice frozen meals
That's my list. By sticking to a budget of 100 weeks, we are able to get what we need for our family, have enough money for everything else, and still have some extra so if we run out of a staple type item before we were expecting to, we can still comfortably afford it.
Thank you so much for writing all of that!!!!
You are probably right about the produce...I guess it is in my head that I should always have a variety and it never goes to waste so I keep buying it!
Next can I have some of your YUMMY recipes for.....
broiled lemon pepper chicken breasts
cheesy bean casserole
homemade turkey noodle soup
You are good planning even dessert!!!!
The lemon pepper chicken breasts are easy. I buy them already marinated. If I'm not gonna use them right away, I freeze them. Then, of course, they need to be thawed. Then I just pop them in the broiler for about 7 to 10 minutes. They are yummy. They go well with most pasta dishes, cheesy potatoes, green salad, California blend, asparagus, etc, etc. If you can't find them already packaged with the marinade, many butcher blocks will offer to package your meat with a marinade, and this is often one that's available. Just ask them. I also really like the roasted garlic, and the honey mustard. Mmmmm....
The Cheesy Bean Casserole is also very easy. And it's also very easy to make two of and freeze one. If you have a freezer unit that is separate from your fridge, I recommend you freeze ahead as much as possible. It saves me so much in both time and money. I would even recommend freezing the fruits that you like for your shakes from the fresh produce that you buy. Especially if you are buying your produce from a farmers market (usually cheaper than the grocery store) or growing it yourself (free), you may find this is much cheaper than just buying it already frozen. There aren't many fruits that I don't freeze or can. I love a lot of fruits that aren't available year round, and freezing them or canning them means I can have them when I want them. Anyway, I'm getting off track here. Back to the casserole, lol. Coat a skillet with cooking spray (I love the olive oil flavored cooking spray the best). Heat it over medium high until it's hot. Add about a cup of chopped onion and saute. Stir in 2 cans of kidney beans. You can also use pintos, black beans, etc, but for this dish I tend to like the kidney beans the best. Stir in 2 15 oz cans tomatoes drained and chopped (you can use any flavor of canned tomatoes. I prefer the Italian seasoned ones. Also, the original recipe calls for whole tomatoes, but I save a lot of time by buying them already diced or ready cut, and I've never noticed it make any difference in the recipe.). Stir in about 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and about 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook until thoroughly heated, stirring well. This takes roughly 3 minutes. Spoon the mixture into an 8 inch baking dish, and sprinkle with a cup of sharp cheddar cheese. Bake at 400 degrees until the cheese melts, roughly 5 minutes. It takes about 15 minutes to make, makes 4 servings, and has about 275 calories, 6 1/2 grams of fat, and 12 1/2 grams of fiber. If you are on weight watchers, it's about 5 points per serving.
My turkey noodle soup is a little more difficult to share since I've never written down the recipe and never measure anything. But I can tell you roughly what goes into it. Also, you can use chicken instead of turkey. I just happened to have turkey in the house, so that's what I used. I heat about 5 cups of chicken broth (I make my own and freeze it, but you could do the same thing by combining 3 cups of purchased broth with 3 cups of chicken or turkey meat and using 5 cups in the soup). Anyway I heat the broth, 2 sliced carrots, 2 sliced stalks of celery, a small chopped onion, and I'd guess about a tablespoon of chicken bouillon granules to boiling. Then reduce it to low and let it simmer until the carrots are tender. This usually takes about 15 minutes. Then I stir in probably about a cup of whatever noodles I happen to have in the house or whatever is on sale, and between 3 and 3 1/2 lbs of chopped chicken or turkey. Bring it back up to a boil, then back to low to simmer until the noodles are tender. This makes about 6 servings of soup. It takes about an hour and a half to make so I would recommend making it ahead of time and heating it up when it's time for dinner. If you aren't gonna be around, it's very easy to just convert the recipe into a crock pot recipe. Just add all the ingredients to the pot and set on low for about 8 hours, and then throw in the noodles for about 30 minutes. It only has about 160 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber (more if you use whole wheat pasta, but Johnathan has texture sensitivities and he can't take the texture of whole wheat pasta). It has 3 WW points per serving, and is very satisfying on a sore throat (something we are fighting off right now), or on a cold day. Also, if you are using turkey, thanks to the tryptophan, this makes a wonderful aid on nights when you are having trouble sleeping.
Good luck. I know exactly how you feel with wanting all that variety. I love to have lots of fruits and veggies around too. But, like I said, that's why I can and freeze what I can when it gets really cheap. This helps me to be able to have a good variety when I want it without breaking the bank.
***Editing because I forgot to mention that if you are using store boughten broth and adding chicken or turkey to it instead of making your own, you do not need to add the meat later in the recipe. In fact I might even wait and add that meat at the end.
Jayme
My kids
Johnathan (6 1/2)
Ethan (3 1/2)
Elizabeth (13 months)
Edited 9/3/2007 10:16 am ET by skinnyldsflymommy
Um, OK, did you say BUFFALO??? We
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