Grocery Bill - Sunday February 21, 2010

We really did not need too much this week, just the basics of fruits, veggies, milk, juice and snacks. I was at about $80 but the grocery store was offering $10 off for any order of of $100 or over. So I bought 2 pork roasts ($7 each) that were on special as well as some Italian sausages (pack of 12) that were on special for $6.00. Brought me to $102 less $10, so $92.00 for the week. This also included some hosehold items like dish soap, toilet paper and paper towels. I think we really have this down habit now. There is truly NO PROBLEM in keeping our bills within budget. It is all about choosing and buying the deals and not being in love with something regardless of price. For example today Macintosh apples were $.69/lb and Granny Smith were $1.79. Guess what we bought? Green and Red Peppers were $3.99/lb but greenhouse tomatoes were $$.99/lb. We will have tomato salads this week and no peppers.

Our Sunday dinner was a slow cooked tomato sauce on spaghetti with a deboned chicken stuffed with Italian sausauge. I defrosted a whole chicken on Saturday and deboned it. Stuffed with a mixture of Italian sausage and chopped chicken left over from the deboning. Slow roasted for 3 hours plenty of leftovers for lunch today!

Still Alive!

I'm still here! Sorry I haven't been posting this week but have been swamped at work, home, kids etc... and haven't had a chance to sit down. Also with the Olympics going on I have been spending all my free time with the kids cheering on those awesome Canadians! FWIW we are so darn good at moguls and snowboard cross, the boy can't decide what his sport is going to be. Now hockey is starting and I think we're in trouble!

I did my shopping again on Sunday and broke the budget a bit. It came to $125.00 this week but there were some super sales on pork chops and lean ground beef at $.99/lb so stocked up for the month. We won't need to add those to the grocery bills for a few weeks for sure, so I should be able to get back on track.

Last night on the way home I couldn't get the old McDonald's song out of my head, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun" (showing my age here), and decided to try and make some Big Macs for dinner. I had all the ingredients on hand, and guessed at the sauce and it turned out AMAZING! Blind taste test and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I'll post the recipe, if you like Big Macs, you won't believe how easy and good this is! I even made a chickpea burger version of this for Michele.

With a salad on the side we sat down and watched Canada trounce Norway in hockey and had a great night.

Go Canada!

Grocery Bill - Sunday February 7, 2010

Week 4 is done and this week came to $99.49. So 4 full weeks of shopping for my family of 4 and we did it for a grand total of $410.72. Slightly over budget but I have to say we ate extremely well, did not miss out one bit and even had a dinner party in there as well. To me it is quite clear that we are able to do this without changing our diet or lifestyle drastically. what it takes is simply smart shopping and avoiding secondary runs to the grocery store. Have a well stocked freezer and pantry and avoid any prepared and junk foods. You have to be willing to cook, you have to be willing to experiment and you have to be willing to eat the meats or veggies that are on sale this week. The well stocked freezer helps alot in this department becuause once you have it filled up it will be on rotation and you really can have everything in there.

I am going to change up the posts a bit becuase I am finding it all a bit repetitive. I will continue to post the grocery bills weekly and then the recipes of merit. But I think the daily menu postings is getting a bit much.

Thanks for keeping up and all your comments and emails are appreciated and encouraged. I would sill love to get more ideas on snacks and any recipe or cost saving ideas are always welcome.

Grocery Bill - Sunday January 31, 2010

$99.51 - Couldn't be much closer. When I am doing the groceries I always try to keep a running total in my head to keep myself within budget. But got all the staples needed, milk, fruit, fresh orange juice, vegetables. Enough bread for sandwiches for the week. Also managed to get a whole chicken for under $7.00. That will be a nice roast this week. So the menus are starting to be thought through and will try to maintain the direction. It seems to be working quite well so far.

Thanks for your ideas and comments they have been very helpful.

Grocery Bill - Sunday January 24, 2010

Blew the budget a bit this week - already! Bill was $126.00. I allowed for 2 reasons. 1 - I was a bit under last week (by about $15.00) and 2 - Next Sunday we are having Michele's family over for dinner for her fathers birthday. We will have 9 adults and 4 kids. I bought the extras needed to make a Szechuan Beef and Broccoli and my famous General "Love You Long Time" Tao Chicken.

So I to keep within my $100 a week I will need to keep it low next week. But the freezer is pretty stocked with meats, and frozen vegetables. We have a pantry that is very well stocked with canned and dry goods. I think we should be ok.

Grocery Bill - Sunday January 17, 2010

First Bill

Not bad $85.72. Room to go.

To be fair it was a rather small load today, because we did not need much meat. There were some deals in the last few weeks on pork and chicken so I loaded up and have quite a bit in the freezer. Our big splurge was for a veal blade roast ($10) that was Sunday dinner - recipe to follow this one is worthy!