Grocery Spending/Menu Plan | Chicken and Math
On Saturdays, I share my menu plan for the upcoming week along with a photo of my groceries and a tally of my spending. My goal is to spend $100/week for our food, toiletries, and cleaning products. I'm currently in the midst of trying to buy more local, sustainably-produced food while sticking to my budget. Can it be done? I don't know, but I'm going to try, and I'll share what I learn as I go along.
Since my last shopping trip got postponed so long, I was actually due to shop again this week (normally I shop every two weeks).
I spent $62.48 at Aldi, $48.41 at Weis, and $18 at the organic store (for packaging-free chicken and organic snow peas). So, my total is $128.29.
I would just like to say that chicken breasts were on sale for $1.79/lb at Weis this week and I resisted the temptation to buy them and instead bought the happy, local chicken at the organic store. For $5.99/pound.
I would also like to say that the employees at the organic store have a difficult time figuring out how to deduct the price of my glass container, and I almost always have to help them figure out the math. Oh dear.
I assume this means that not very many people are bringing their own containers, which is weird. Usually people who eat organic food are also interested in being green. And hello! Opportunities to buy packaging-free chicken are few and far between, so I would think people would take advantage of it instead of putting their chicken in plastic bags.
As I mentioned, I bought chicken and snow peas this last trip, and the cashier was about to put my snow peas into a plastic shopping bag. I figure she probably was doing it out of habit instead of thinking about it.
Because if she'd thought about it, I'm sure she'd have figured out that people who bring glass containers for their chicken probably don't want a plastic shopping bag for their small bag of peas! 😉
Oh, I have a picture this week. With stuffed animals, even.
In fact, there may be more stuffed animals than groceries in this particular photo. My kids love adding their animals..."They will all be famous!".
My budget does include breakfast and lunches, but I don't usually plan those. For breakfast, we have Cream of Wheat, oatmeal, muffins, yogurt, toast, oranges, and cereal. Lunches are usually sandwiches, yogurt, fruit, and leftovers as necessary.
Here's what we're eating for dinner this week!
Saturday
- Deep Dish Pizza
- maybe a green salad if I am feeling virtuous
Sunday
- Snacky stuff since Mr. FG and Joshua will be watching the Super Bowl (the girls will join them for the sole purpose of eating snacky food)
Monday
- Parmesan Chicken Cutlets (made with happy, local chicken)
- Garlic Breadsticks
- green salad
Tuesday
- Mr. FG and Joshua will be at an actual hockey game (we gave tickets to Joshua for Christmas), so the girls and I will eat something super-duper simple. I'm just not sure what yet!
Wednesday
- Chicken Tacos (the chicken, it is local and happy)
- fruit salad
- tortilla chips and salsa
Thursday
- BBQ Beef Brisket (made with local beef)
- potato cubes
- green salad
Friday
- Takeout date night for Mr. FG and me, something easy for the kiddos
Today's 365 post: I spy...
Joshua's 365 post: Why I am happy right now
I love your approach to life. I can feel the joy, happiness, and lightheartedness in your post:
maybe a green salad if I am feeling virtuous
the girls and I will eat something super-duper simple
the chicken, it is local and happy <---- the best!
Your blog posts are always wonderful to read.
Ooh, I'm glad that comes through. Although, you should know that there are some days when I'm not sooo lighthearted (usually because of PMS hormones. Boo.).
But I AM feeling perky today. lol
Have you heard of Brevail? It is not particularly frugal but a friend and I both found it very helpful with this un-happy problem. You can probably find it in your health food store, or get it from Amazon.com or on Ebay. It might be worth a try. http://www.brevail.com
Speaking of package free chicken - the organic bananas that I buy come in plastic wrapping. It strikes me as a little odd that the non-organic bananas are sitting "naked" next the the plastic-wrapped organic bananas. The organic bananas are .10 a pound extra and I wonder if I'm just paying for the plastic bag. Which shouldn't be on an organic item anyway...
Do you ever store your package free chicken in the freezer? When I buy chicken I usually put individual pieces in ziplocks and put them in the freezer. One package of chicken thighs/breasts can last 6-8 weeks in my house. I'm tired of using ziplocks but I'm afraid of freezer burn if I put them in glass. Any suggestions?
I know. I hate that organic produce in the grocery store is often MORE packaged than the other stuff.
I do store mine in the freezer, but I usually try to freeze it in cereal bags. I don't so much mind throwing those away after I use the chicken.
You can re-use chicken bags, but only if you don't let them thaw (meaning you'd have to take the chicken out and leave the bag in the freezer until you re-used it).
thanks for the tip! I was unsure..and have been throwing them out too.
I stopped by an organic bulk store in the city. Very neat that they had bio-degrateable bags yet couldn't believe that they were so concerned about sanitation that you had to put on a plastic (garbage) bag to scoop the flour etc....I mentioned it to the cashier that I found it very ironic. I just sanitized my hands and did without the glove.
sorry...plastic (garbage) GLOVE...
Oh, good grief! That is really ridiculous. People who are that concerned about sanitation should just not buy bulk food at all.
Totally agree on the frustration of the extra plastic on organic bananas!
Also, have you noticed that bananas in bags tend to go straight from green to overripe? I think it's because they're gassed with something to help them ripen. I gave up on buying them because of that. I like my bananas in that in-between stage!
Mine are usually VERY green when I buy them. I however, love them green so that's not a problem for me. I've actually put fewer bananas in my freezer since I started buying the organics. Though a few times I've just make my self grow up and eat them a little bit more mushy than I prefer.
Do you take the bananas out of the bag when you get home? If not then I'm not surprised they turn ripe very fast - the bag retains the natual gas that fruit puts out as it ripens that, in turn, makes the fruit ripen faster.
Fun fact: the breed of bananas we buy in the store won't ripen on the tree. They have to be cut off first.
Sarah - I'm going to be another county heard from, as my grandmother used to say.
I think freezing the meat in glass to lead to freezer burn. The key factor is air. More air = greater chance of freezer burn.
When I have meat to freeze, the first thing I do is lay out the pieces individually on a tray or plate to freeze. This way I can pull out a piece or two without having to defrost the whole amount.
Then I put the meat into a bag. If I'm going to use it soonish, I put it in a ziplock and suck out all the air. If I'm not going to use it soonish, I use a vacuum sealer - same idea as above but does a much more secure job.
If the bag is never in contact with raw meat, I can reuse it. If it is, I could wash it and reuse it (that's what we do with plates and cooking utensils, right?), but rarely do.
I wonder why the local beef isn't happy....? 😉
Thursday's dinner sounds delish.
Ooh, I should have mentioned that. I think the beef might be even happier than the chicken...the beef comes from a farm about 30 minutes from my house, where the cattle graze on grassy, rolling hills. I really should take a picture next time I'm there in the summer because it's stinkin' gorgeous there!
I forget where you live? What's the name of the place to buy your chicken? Not only would I love to buy it in my own container, I haven't found boneless chicken breasts for less than $12 a pound!
I'm in the DelMarVa area...if you are too, email me, and I'll give you the store info. 🙂
I'm in Northern Virginia, and the locally-sourced market and farmer's markets I go to only sell already-frozen meats. Which is fine, culinarily-speaking, but it also means it's all already vacuum-sealed in plastic. Maybe if I was closer to the source, instead of in the suburbs?
Hi Kristen!
Great post! My son (8) enjoyed seeing your son's post today. He is interested in sharing his Lego creations, etc. How do you add Josh's post to yours? Is it a new page? I am sorta new to Word Press ...
Thanks!
Joshua's actual blog is a separate blog, not just a separate page. I installed WordPress on http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/joshuas365. So, he's got his own dashboard and stats and whatnot.
To link to his post on my own posts, I just type the text and add a link. If I were more brilliant, I'm sure I could figure out a way to add some code to my blog to automatically pull his 365 posts and mine, but that is way beyond my knowledge of code!
Thanks, Kristen! We will see if he will really want to have his own blog! Maybe I will let him be my "guest poster" !
I just found your blog. It's wonderful. I'm striving to live a frugal life as well. Thanks for the help along the way. Have a wonderful Saturday! 🙂
Do you find a measurable difference in flavor with organic meats? I have to admit that I have never eaten meat that has come directly from a farm. I do know that there is an amazing difference between freshly grown produce and whatI can buy at the grocery store. I was amazed when my grandmother brought canned green beans that she grew in Michigan. I didn't even need salt or butter for them!
Yes. I'd say I notice it more with the chicken than with the beef, but that may be because I'm not a huge beef person.
I'm jealous that you have a place to buy happy, package free chicken! 😉 I can buy happy beef from a local farmer (that is the beauty of living in a rural area. Field potatoes, and happy beef). I belong to a produce coop, which is fabulous. Minimal packaging and uber fresh produce. I have discovered reusable produce bags,too. They are made out of nylon mesh with a draw string top. I think the produce stays fresher longer when I use them because there is some air circulate around the veggies. To clean them I just swish them in the dish water, rinse them, and hang them up to dry.
What Mary Kate said!
The post, it is delightful!
The commenter, she is delightful. Shanks for always being so encouraging. 🙂
I love the idea of bringing your own glass! I wish our stores around here did it!
Remarkable. The Peeps are cute too. I have gotten better with my budget too.
That is really odd about the difficulty in subtracting the tare(weight) of your container with the chicken. I have shopped in the organic food store for years and many people, including me, do bring contianers. We just weigh the empty container and write it down and the cashier enters it into the register. The register does the math. It is very sad though that you have to help the cashier do simple math!
Kristen,
As a (relatively) long time reader I am just so happy to see how you have evolved your family life to include more organic and local foods. If only everyone who shopped at the large, traditional groceries realized it doesn't have to be all or nothing, a little bit helps too.
I had been avoiding a local health food store for various reasons but when we decided to go zero waste (no packaging/all bulk) I thought I would have to start shopping there. On my second trip (first with glass jars) I was told the COULDN'T take off the tare but I could go put my bulk in the plastic bags if I wanted! Really?! I just happened to have these glass jars in my purse and didn't see the handy plastic bags?! Now I can happily boycott there again!
Yes! All or nothing is for the birds.
I've had the same experience bringing my containers for bulk spices. Unfortunately, in my experience, they refuse to take my advice and so calculate it ridiculously wrong one way or another. It makes me frustrated!
I love seeing the stuffed animals posing with the food. 🙂
kristen,
i just love the pictures of your groceries...they and your baked good pictures are the two highlights of your blog in my opinion. i love the groceries because they are so colorful and the baked goods because they look so yummy! i particularly liked the photos of the cherry rolls you had a couple of weeks ago.
i don't do much of the shopping here and even if i did i never lay them all out once i am home. i am disabled and my movement is limited and my biggest challenge is one getting the stuff from the store home and them putting it away as fast as possible!
believe it or not, i have found grocery shopping so challenging in the past that i actually counted the number of times i lifted a product before it was home in my pantry...my disability is depression which also explains why the colorful grocery items are pleasing to my eye.
also the pictures of your kids are fantastic! what can i say, you are a good photographer!
Kristen,
Your bounty looks absolutely yummy. Wow! Glass container. I'm doing well remembering my reusable bags, which I still often forget. To punish myself, I usually just have them put everything back into the cart and I bag them in the car or carry everything into my house making several trips when I get home.
Your menu looks delicious! 🙂
I would not have the strength to resist $1.79 a pound chicken. That, to me, would be happy chicken because it was cheap chicken! lol
But good for you for sticking to your principals and buying that ridiculously expensive happy chicken. 🙂
Hi Kristen,
I love, love your blog. It's been a great blessing to me with the baking tips, parenting comments, grocery information and everything else! I have a question for you: What do your kids eat for snacks during the day? And does your family eat ice cream or just what you make in terms of goodies? Thank you ahead of time :)!! Have a terrific day!