Monday, June 30, 2008

Weekly Shopping Trip and Menu Plan Monday

So this week I had a little change in diet. Seems that my shorts from last season won’t reach past my hips and my boobs hang out of my swimsuit in a most perilous way which means it’s time to reign in the calories. That means my grocery cart will have more fruits and veggies and special stuff like fat-free this and that.


That causes me great concern because fat-free usually means dollar-full. We’ll see how this goes.

½ gallon vanilla soy milk $1.99
1 quart vegetable broth $.99
Bandaids $.99
Salt $.50
Men’s Deoderant $1.99
Dental Floss $.69
Cornmeal $.99
2 Fat Free Sour Cream $2.76
Vanilla $1.38
Aussie Sprunch Spray $3.47
2 heads leaf lettuce $3.16
Shredded parmesan $2.25
Egg roll wrappers $2.28
2 lbs carrots $.98
Celery $1.01
Oats $1.98
Red Grapes $1.89
1lb ground turkey $2.59
Bananas $1.80
Margarine $.68
2 cans Pinto Beans $1.06
Fat Free Mayo $2.41
2 cans tomato paste $.88
Apples $3.98
2 green bell peppers $1.76
Green Cabbage $1.47
Fresh Ginger $.08
Fresh Cilantro $.48
Tomatos $4.31 (GACK!)
Eggplant $2.78
1 lb strawberries $1.98
2 yellow onions $1.05
Brown sugar $.98
2 cans tuna in water $1.30
Hair Color $2.96 (which I got only 2 weeks ago but the greys have won and are poking out again ALREADY!)

Total $61.85

Yeah, over budget dang it! My total kept getting higher and higher and I kept crossing diet things off my grocery list and changing meals in the middle of the grocery store. So here’s my very uninspired menu for the week…

Breakfasts

Leftover muffins and pancakes from the freezer
Amish Baked Oatmeal (the kids love this so much!)
Poached eggs and toast
Carrot Cake Muffins
Apple Puffed Pancake
Cinnamon Scones and fruit
Oatmeal Bar (choices of toppings are raisins, brown sugar, dried apricots, diced apples)


Dinners

Leftover from last week
Dinner at my In-laws
Vegetarian Chili with Weight Watchers Cornbread
Baked Egg Rolls and rice
Potluck and I’ll be bringing BLT Pasta Salad
Oven Fried Eggplant with marinara sauce
Sunday is Leftover nights

8 comments:

Becky @ BoysRuleMyLife said...

Ok, now here's my question... milk. We are dairy free and go through about 3 gallons of soy milk a week. (Before the milk allergy, it was 4 gallons of cow's milk... so I've already cut a gallon out!)

Do your kids not drink a lot of milk? Do you just make sure that they get their calcium and vitamins from other sources? or just do a daily vitamin? I'm not questioning your choices, I'm looking for alternatives! :) The soy milk alone is killing our budget!

I'm getting serious about our grocery budget again. I've been in the land of buying in bulk for so long that it's hard to transition to a weekly "needs" list. Wish me luck! :)

Cindy-Still His Girl said...

You amaze me! I wish I could shop with you. Chris should be SO proud of you!

Chelsea said...

I am in the same boat right now. Halfway through my pregnancy and refusing to buy new clothes because I don’t want to spend the money on them is tough. We’ve had a $100.00 weekly budget for a couple of years but are trying to get it down to $50.00. There are 2 adults and 2 children. No more pull-ups anymore! But I keep going over about $10-15 each week and don’t know where else to cut. We’ll get there though. You’re doing great!

Trina said...

I am in the same boat, I've put on about 5lbs in the last month!

I was looking over the nutrition info on the Baked Oatmeal because it was something I wanted to try, but the fat grams are kinda high. Have you tried subbing applesauce for the butter? I have been successful with subbing it for vegetable oil, so I was just wondering. I know that would cut down the fat grams but alot.

Anonymous said...

I had the same problem this shopping trip.. decided it was time to get this extra weight off, but boy it burdened my grocery budget! Oh well, I guess in the long run our medical bills will be lower! :-D

Terri said...

Sounds good!

I've got to watch the fat content too...I had my gall bladder out after I had my second baby. And as a result my body just can't take the fat. This was less then a year ago.

I've found some inexpensive was around the low fat...beans, ground turkey are great choices. I'll think of somemore but my brain is rather mushy right now....

-Terri

Lisa Hellier said...

I've been lurking at your blog, very encouraged by your challenge and learning many things. I do have a question though--what do you make for lunches?

I have three boys aged 7-11, and they are growing like crazy which means a lot of eating. My grocery bill hangs out at around $120 a week, and that's buying discount meat and produce, generics, using coupons, and avoiding convenience foods, snack items, and trend food.

So, I'm very interested in following your blog and continuing to learn how to cut the costs. Thanks for what you're doing.

Youthleadergina said...

I was looking at your list...and I totally get inspiration from your blog. For me driving to more than one or 2 stores doesn't work well, but it probably takes just as much time as my coupon "stalking" and cutting. Here are some things on your list for the week (or similar to) that you could have gotten cheaper with Grocery Game...but I totally see your point about coupons causing you to spend more $

AUSSIE SHAMPOO or CONDITIONER
13.5oz - BUY 2 5.39 ea 2/$7 2.00/2(PG 7/6) 2.00 ea
(2.50 ea) 63%

Colgate Sparkling White Mint Zing
Toothpaste
6.4oz(.25 in non doubling areas) 3.79 3/$3 Buy 1** .75
(S 6/29)FREE


SURE SOLID ANTI-PERSPIRANT (FREE)
2.6-2.7 OZ - BUY 2
** July Deal (2) **
** DEAL BEGINS TUES 7/1 ** 2.79 EA BUY 1
GET 1 FREE
(-2.79)(R 6/29)
$3 ECB w/ purchase of 2 featured Sure Limit 3 Deals (6 Sure total) FREE

Dental Floss (FREE) I got it last week for free with coupons.

I usually spend no more than 99 cents on most things like toothpaste, deodorant, hairspray & brand name shampoo with coupons...but I admit it can make my brain hurt keeping track of it all!