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Grocery Spending/Menu Plan | For real this time!

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.

I visited Weis and Aldi this week, and I actually took a photo of my groceries for the first time in a really long while!

(you old-timers will be interested in knowing that the spider that started this whole stuffed animal thing is in the picture today!)

I spent $36.62 at Aldi and $53.50 at Weis, for a total of $90.12. I plan to stop by the produce stand today for some vegetables, so I’ve got almost $10 left to spend there. Also, we’re eating some free local food…I’m still getting tomatoes from my backyard plants, and my mom gave me a big bag of winter squash.

Here’s what we’re eating for dinner this week.

Saturday

  • Pizza. I had plans to make Deep Dish Pizza but with the way my day is stacking up, I think I might delegate the pizza making to a pizza shop down the road.

Sunday (We’re having several families from church over, so no breakfast for dinner this week!)

  • Tortellini Soup (which I’m making)
  • Salad (one friend is bringing this)
  • Bread (another friend is bringing this)

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

  • Corn Chowder
  • Two-Tone Bread
  • green beans

Thursday

  • Baked Chicken and Rice
  • green salad
  • some kind of rolls, maybe

Friday

  • Deep Dish Pizza
  • green salad

Today’s 365 post: Oh look! I’m baking cookies.

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Virginia

Tuesday 12th of October 2010

Kristen, I see your grapes. Our store (Wegmans) has started stocking organic grapes in a package like this, and they are NOTICEABLY cheaper than organic grapes I have found anywhere else. At our store, the 2.5 lb box like this costs about the same as the per-pound price elsewhere (or less!), AND you know how much you are getting instead of getting just having to guess how much is in the bag or measure it and on and on. I am torn because they're so much cheaper and the packaging tends not to be a sticky mess like the standard holey plastic bag, but I have 2 concerns: 1) the clamshells are not recyclable (I was washing the bags and putting them in the plastic bag recycling at the storefront) nor very good for reuse, and 2) how can they be SO MUCH cheaper? Any thoughts? Have you found a similar situation with the price? Maybe they are cheaper b/c the packaging protects the product better.

Kristen

Wednesday 13th of October 2010

In my area, the clamshells are recyclable, so this is not an issue for me! In fact, it's easier to recycle clamshells than plastic bags here.

I wonder why the organic grapes are so cheap...usually they're very expensive here.

Jen

Tuesday 12th of October 2010

ohhh-I would love your corn chowder recipe!! I tried the aldi tortellini too--it WAS awful!

Kristen

Wednesday 13th of October 2010

Well, it's a new recipe from Cook's, so I'll share it if it's good! lol

Linda

Saturday 9th of October 2010

What are you going to do with the squash?

Kristen

Wednesday 13th of October 2010

I'll bake it and use some in muffins/breads, and we'll also eat some with butter and brown sugar as a side dish.

Jenessa

Saturday 9th of October 2010

What? Someone else is bringing bread over to your house? That is amazing.

Kristen

Saturday 9th of October 2010

Hee. Well, as it happens, we switched it up. Now my friend is bringing dessert and I'm doing bread.

Rebecca

Saturday 9th of October 2010

It looks like the peeps have already been munched upon!

WilliamB

Saturday 9th of October 2010

Something *is* wrong with that pkg of peeps, that's for sure.

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