WIS, WWA| Name-brand crackers are better. The end.
What I Spent
Incidentally, on Instagram and Facebook this week, we chatted about off-brand crackers.
My thought is that there are almost no good generic crackers, and most of you felt the same way as me. Some things are worth paying more for.
I spent $134 at the grocery store this week, so, yay me!
And it was an off-week for my Hungry Harvest box, so no charge there.
October Spending
Week 4: $134
This is the last report for October, because next Friday is November 1st.
So, here are the year-to-date spending totals.
Year to Date Grocery Spending
It’s week #43 of 2019, and I’m averaging $149/week thus far.
January: $619
February: $485
March: $702
April: $791
May: $806
June: $598
July: $695
August: $558
September: $484
October: $672
What We Ate
Saturday
Mr. FG and I went out for a date night at the restaurant where Lisey works. Sonia and Zoe had soup and sandwiches at home.
Sunday
We tried one of Aldi's take and bake refrigerated pizzas, since we'd heard good reviews about them.
Verdict: pretty good flavor, but a really thin crust, which gets crispy in the oven. Definitely not what you want if you love a thick crust.
Monday
Mr. FG and I went out to dinner with some friends, and the girls ate mac and cheese at home.
Tuesday
I made a pot of clam chowder (I updated the post with a printable recipe card this week!)
We had that with English muffins and fruit salad.
Wednesday
I made apricot/orange glazed chicken, plus roasted fingerling potatoes.
I was going to cook some green beans but I forgot until the last minute, at which point I cut up some grapefruit and called it good.
Thursday
I made a pot of pasta alfredo along with a pan of sauteed green beans.
I use this recipe for alfredo sauce, but I use less garlic, and I up the sauce/pasta ratio.
Because I LOVE SAUCE.
Friday
Sonia and Zoe are with a friend tonight, so I think maybe Mr. FG and I will do our date night tonight and a family night tomorrow night. 🙂
Dinner this week are a fading memory. This week I have cooked a chicken and the left overs were turned into a curry. I then baked a lamb shoulder and at mum's request the leftovers were turned into curry. I cannot handle curry. On Tuesday night I was so tired after looking after my granddaughter for 11 hours so we ordered in pizza. One night we had chicken wings cooked in a master stock. Tonight mum cooked fried rice with egg and shrimp and I am severely allergic to both. I had fruit. Ws have quite an issue that mum wants to eat what I am allergic or intolerant too.
Hello Kristen your recipe for clam chowder sounds lovely. I wasn’t sure what to substitute here in Australia for clams but it seems pipis or muscles would be the equivalent. We definitely do not have clam juice but I will try with seafood stock I have in freezer. I make fish soup moqueka here which is a spicy soup meal made with firm fish and prawns etc in a tomato type stock with peppers and lime juice. I serve it with rice and parsley.
I agree also with the cracker verdict. I think the cost difference is minimal so best to purchase the crackers your family will eat and enjoy.
If you would like to know what we are eating here in Australia weekly I’m happy to share the information with you.
Blessings
Brigitte
I’ve never had a problem with generic crackers but I am a potato chip snob and only like a few brands and it’s not Lays lol. Kettle chips only for me too. I tried one Aldi pizza- ugh! Never bought another one and I love Aldi.
You are my kettle chip friend. Cape Cod forever.
I agree with you about the Aldi pizza. I returned the box for the one we bought and utilized the Aldi gaurantee.
I don't care for the take and bakes, or the thin crust frozen ones, but the rising crust frozen pizzas from Aldi are very good. They're usually around 2.69 in my area! Can't beat it.
Saturday: For our anniversary, we went out for Chinese noodles and some cocktails.
Sunday: We made „snüsch“ - a vegetable stew based on béchamel sauce - with potatoes.
Monday: I made a long trip by train to sign my new employment contract. I packed drinks, a chickpea salad, bread and fruits for lunch and dinner so that I didn’t have to buy something on the way.
Tuesday: We made pasta with shrimps and arugula in a tomato sauce.
Wednesday: We used salad and bell pepper leftovers for vegetarian wraps with marinated and grilled tofu.
Thursday: Bread with cheese and some leftover green salad with cucumbers and tomatoes.
Friday: Stir fry with mushrooms and bok choy
I have never heard of snusch! But it sounds delicious.
Brand name crackers are definitely worth the money!
Dinner This Week:
Monday Leftover Chili
Tuesday Grilled Burgers and Tater Tots
Wednesday Chili Dogs
Thursday Breakfast for Dinner
Fri Grilled Salmon (using frozen Salmon from Aldi's)
You are one of my kind! I carefully plan our meals so i can recycle leftovers in such a way that my husband never knows! ( chili into chilidogs, a roast into a barbeque sandwiches etc)
It's a leftovers kind of week for us! Here's to cleaning out the refrigerator and no food waste!
Monday: Leftover minestrone soup and sandwiches
Tuesday: Shrimp Creole
Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Soup
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Oven Fried Pork Chops
Sunday: Leftovers
Saturday- at mom/dads, we had family in from Georgia, Pasta, meatballs, sausage, pork chops,
Sunday- stopped at a fast food joint after my sons soccer game in the rain!
Monday- baked ziti, bread (I also had some broccoli that needed to be cooked)
Tuesday- Chicken cutlet, yellow rice, and corn
Wednesday- Chicken Alfaro (mine doesn't have egg in it, got it off pintrest) I think I had some Brussel sprots.
Thursday- Hot Dogs on the grill, mac/cheese
Friday- I think dh and I are going to have egg sandwiches (DD has Halloween dance that they go out after, DS has soccer practice, I will see what the pick one wants, before he goes)
My kids somewhat frequently get the store-brand (Shurfine) version of Ritz crackers from our neighbor, and I can't tell a difference. Then again, I don't eat crackers much.
Saturday: Elk stew made from leftover elk roast, leftover meatballs, cheese salad. A thrown-together meal after we got back later than I expected from a canyon adventure and it was too late to make the pizza I had planned on.
Sunday: The delayed pizza. I pre-baked the crusts the night before so all I had to do this night was top them and bake until done. Maybe a slightly more chewy texture than if I had been able to do everything all together, but still good.
Monday: Various leftovers, garlic bread that I had also pre-baked the night I did the pizza crusts (because I used the same dough for the bread), cheese, raw tomatoes, and an omelet for my husband
Tuesday: Elk chili, cornbread. And nary a vegetable to be seen. 🙂
Wednesday: Elk chili, tortillas and cheese, green salad. The ones who don't like plain chili had the tortillas and cheese with the elk meat right in it to make tacos.
Thursday: Oven-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green salad, roasted sweet potatoes, applesauce and cream. Finally finished off the five-gallon buckets of apples given to me by a neighbor with a last big batch of applesauce.
Tonight: Tricky. We're going to a larger town 90 miles away today for puppy vaccinations and a lot of errands. We're leaving around lunchtime and won't be home till after we would normally eat dinner. So I'm thinking it's going to be a "rush in the door at 6 p.m. and heat up whatever leftovers we have." Which I think is yet more chili (chili is always the gift that keeps giving), a bunch of roasted vegetables, some leftover chicken, probably bread and butter and raw tomatoes or something. Times like these I sort of wish there were a fast food option. But there is most definitely no fast food between here and the other town. Actually, there's nothing but ranches between here and . . . anywhere, so scrounged leftovers it is!
Hah -- chili IS the gift that keeps on giving! Also, spaghetti
Also has thin crust and regular crust pizza. The regular crust is a much greater meal.
I'm drawing an almost 100% blank on the past week. This upcoming week, though, will have a ton of veggies. I went produce shopping on Tuesday, then yesterday went to the big Asian grocery because I was near it, which doesn't happen often. It has a huge variety of produce, particularly veggies not found in typical supermarkets. I had to forcibly restrain myself from buying yellow chives, Chinese broccoli, Asian cabbage, pea shoots, lichees, ...
As it was, it took me 2.5 hrs to go through the fridge, wash everything, package it for preservation (produce bags, damp paper towel, etc), and play refrigerator tetris so it all fit. And that's not including the three melons on the counter and all the hand fruit in the basket tower.
Saturday - We out to dinner with the in-laws to a local chain restaurant.
Sunday - Roast, carrots, mashed potatoes & rolls.
Monday - Beef Stroganoff
Tuesday - Hamburger sliders on Hawaiian rolls
Wednesday - Mozzarella sticks in the Air Fryer. I was tired so the original meal I had planned, Chicken Alfredo, got kicked to the curb!
Thursday - Kids were gone so husband and I got Mr. Hero
Tonight - Chicken & stuffing casserole.
I don't like any of 'snacky' type foods from Aldi. Crackers, Chips, Cookies...I'm not a fan. Even the more gourmet type crackers are just weird tasting. Nor do I care for their canned goods. I usually buy my meats, veggies, cheeses, milk, eggs, frozen shrimp, butter, waters, wine and COFFEE! <3 (love their Donut Shop coffee). So pretty much I walk the perimeter of the store and then I'm done, lol.
Fri: My husband and I went out to a little local Italian Restaurant and I had Pasta Primavera and he had Ravioli.
Sat: We had my SIL, niece and great niece over for Blackened Redfish (caught by my husband and son), Creamy Corn and Cheese Grits, Steamed Broccoli, Slaw and Cornbread. We had Key Lime Pound Cake for dessert.
Sun: Family Night was Arroz Imperial, once with chicken and one with shrimp, Corn and Green Beans. Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting for dessert.
Mon: I had an early work morning and worked all day, so my daughter picked up a Rotisserie Chicken from the store and I made baked potatoes and green beans as sides.
Tue: It was just me and my husband for dinner so we went out and got Chicken Wraps at a local place.
Wed: See ^^ lol. But the Chicken Wraps were from a different restaurant. They were much better than Tues. nights place.
Thurs: We had to take my youngest son shopping for new sneakers and some cooler weather pants so we went to Golden Corral.
So not a very frugal week for me but I didn't spend much when I grocery shopped last week because I knew it would be a busy week and we'd be getting take out a lot. This upcoming week will be not so crazy so I'll be cooking at home all week.
Dinners were more filling this week than last - I am making more food so we have slightly bigger meals and leftovers for lunches. We ate:
Monday - Some grilled chicken from the freezer, freezer mashed potatoes, kale (grocery shopping after work)
Tuesday - Pork Stir Fry with pot stickers
Wednesday - Oven fried Shrimp, rest of the kale, and some garlicky rice
Thursday - Tater Tot Casserole (a somewhat healthy version)
Friday - OUT - probably a burger
Saturday - Some pulled pork I found in the freezer, mashed potatoes, butternut squash
Sunday - Birthday dinner with my son and his gf - a really delish looking shells pasta dish with Caesar salad and magic pumpkin cake for dessert.
And its cold here, finally!
*I know I already posted this pic, but OMG look at that tree!
Aldi is my go-to pizza if I'm not making a homemade crust. They are the perfect size when my son is having a sleep over and I need to feed a group of hungry boys.
Friday - homemade pizza, carrots and hummus
Saturday - food truck yummies (we were at a Beer Festival)
Sunday - grilled chicken, butternut squash mac and cheese, roasted brussels sprouts (finishing the last of the CSA veggies)
Monday - Green enchilada pork chili, biscuits
Tuesday - Chicken with pan gravy, mashed potatoes and cauliflower, ceaser salad
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - left over "Ghoul-ash" from my work pot luck
Friday - not sure what we will do tonight, my little guy is home with a fever and my partner is going out of town for the weekend.
I am looking forward to doing a freezer inventory this weekend and planning next week's menu around it!
I think Aldi's triscuits are better than the real one. I like their wheat thins too. The Ritz knockoff aren't as good, but I use them for topping to a casserole so you can't tell a difference.
I really like their girl scout cookies - this coming from a baked good snob who makes all her own bread and cookies and cakes and hates store bought cookies. The Samoa ones are my favorite.
I also don't like Aldi pizza. I mean, it is as good as any other frozen/take&bake pizza, but not like homemade or restaurant. Their ice cream isn't that great either. Their canned goods aren't as good, but again if it is in a casserole you can't tell a difference. We didn't like the Cheerios, but I love pretty much everything else.
I like the specialty brand ice cream. It only comes in chocolate and vanilla however, it's the only one that has only milk, cream, sugar no extra ingredients that you can't pronounce.
Crackers are a family food. Happy families. Maybe single people eat crackers, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know. It's a market we can do without.
Monday: My birthday and I made my own dinner despite my wife trying to convince me to decide on a takeout place (kid was sick so I stayed home all day with her.) I made Cornell chicken and baked potatoes.
Tuesday: Leftovers from the previous night.
Wednesday: Wife did a mealtrain for a woman at church and forgot to plan something for us. Oops! We kind of fended for ourselves.
Thursday: Fish and chips. It sounds nice but it was prefrozen. Working OT has left me with less time to do dinner.
Friday: Breakfast for dinner. I'm doing it because it's easy and the kid eats it.
It's been a really crummy week in a lot of ways. I think it shows in the food.
Happy Birthday Battra92!
Personally I don't mind store brand saltines but when it comes to graham crackers, its Nabisco Honey Grahams every time.
I think saltines are boring no matter what brand you choose, but that's my personal preference. I do like Aldi's oyster crackers and their knock-off Triscuits. One thing I have noticed, though, with both the oyster crackers and their bran flakes, is that periodically they change--by that I mean that they look and taste different. I don't know if Aldi changes suppliers or what, but it's kinda weird. So maybe I should amend my comment to .... sometimes I like their oyster crackers. Anyone else notice this trend? BTW, I'm in Michigan, but my in-laws in Illinois say they have experienced that as well.
I feel like I like Walmart or any saltines about half the time! Aldi almost never! It’s really funny how different batches can be- I like when they are kind of well-done and moderately salty. Sometimes there’s almost no salt. Sometimes they are pale, sometimes blah and stale. This seems to be true of just about all crackers. I wish I could know ahead of time, but there’s nothing healthy about crackers and cookies so probably best to avoid, but...
I will eat other brands of crackers, but that's because I don't eat a lot of crackers, and these days, I eat none unless I make them since I'm GF now, but I grew up with my mom frequently buying store brands, so I was used to their flavor. Just like store brand mac and cheese pleased my kids because they never tasted Kraft Mac n' Cheese. When they finally did, at someone else's house, they thought it tasted weird.
What we ate:
Steak with salad.
Pork loin roast sheet pan meal with carrots, mushrooms, celery, onions, plus green beans from the stove top.
Ground pork "sausage" with cooked cabbage and applesauce as sides.
Oven roasted pork chops, white potato for him, sweet potato for me, green beans.
Chicken "sausage" and pancakes (I can't believe he let me make pancakes for supper)
Plus, two meals were leftovers of pork chops and the pork loin.
I cooked chicken too, but I am serving it this weekend.
I'm overbudget on the groceries, unhappily. This elimination diet is definitely more expensive that a normal diet.
question: When you tell us what you spent for each week, do you include date nights and takeout $$$ included in your total food costs?
Very observant question, Susan. I believe that Kristen has stated that she tracks her dining out separately. The cost of groceries becomes increasingly less relevant if take out & dining out increase.
We have a monthly total for food but a breakdown for eating out/take out expenses versus groceries. For your own tracking & analysis, monitoring both categories would provide the most useful & actionable data.
Monday we had stuffed baked potatoes with squash, spinach, and the ham I found in the freezer.
Tuesday I cooked the tiny package of ground turkey I found in the freezer when I discovered the ham and added it to spaghetti sauce. It was meh.
Learning from the day before on Wednesday I added all the leftover veggies I found in the fridge to the spaghetti sauce. Much better than the ground turkey. The end of cheese I grated on top also helped.
Thursday was pizza night as usual. Spinach and bacon. Yum!
Tonight we're having pineapple pork with rice and lots of sauce because I too am a sauce lover!
I have had the Aldi "take and bake" pizza on a couple of occasions and I found it quite good. It's also interesting because the ones I have had were more of a hand tossed crust. There weren't any "thin" crust pizzas at my Aldi. I always add extra cheese and if I have any pizza appropriate toppings like onions, olives, veggies etc. I add those too and with it being less then $5.00 it can feed quite a crowd for a lot less than take out or delivery pizza. But, when there's time, homemade pizza is the best.
Since I’ve eaten store-brand food my whole life, with a few exceptions, I never really know what I’m missing out on. But sometimes if I do have the name brand version of something, I always think, “Wow, this really IS better!” (In lots of cases, not every single one.) Then I figure I better get myself back to the generic version real quick so I don’t stop liking it!! I agree the name brands are better a lot of the time, unfortunately. 🙁
Pancake mix, to name one. The hungry jack version definitely makes a better pancake. Also crackers, cookies, breads, etc.
To be clear, I do LOVE me some Aldi. But I do sometimes feel wistful about the specialty grocery shop down the road with loads of pricey gourmet options. :’-(
Monday- Leftover homemade chicken noodle soup, which was a birthday gift from my aunt.
Tuesday- The plan was homemade veggie chowder to use up a lot of veggies we have, but I was feeling ill, so my hubby stopped for dollar tacos on the way home. We also had a side dish with it but I can’t remember what it was!
Wed- homemade meatballs with garlic butter sauce, spaghetti squash, and pumpkin ravioli.
Thursday- We had parent-teacher conferences at school so hubby suggested we stop at a local restaurant for a fun dinner with the kiddos.
Friday-homemade pepperoni pizza is the plan.
My grocery store is now only selling Premium Saltines topped with sea salt which is not salty enough for me. So, I've been buying the store brand; they are thinner so took some getting used to.
I feel like "sea salt" has had it's day, like bacon. Enjoy both but do they need to be in everything? And if it's not even salty enough, than really what is the point? that is very frustrating !
Just wanted to day that we love the take and bake pizza from our Aldi, and for the price, it is a great deal. I usually get the Supreme for $5.99, and it is extra large compared to a large at a pizza place. I would prefer thinner crust to real thick crust.
Have you ever tried the Aldi box of crackers that has 6 different kinds of crackers in it? I think they have some reference on the box to being for entertaining. Those are great!
Monday: Pork BBQ sandwiches, roasted butternut squash, broccoli and cauliflower, macaroni and cheese
Tuesday: Rice/burrito bowls
Wednesday: Chicken nuggets, bread, leftover mashed potatoes, and one kid had a banana. It was all white and it was pitiful. But no one starved.
Thursday: Leftover pork BBQ, baked beans, pears
Friday: Chicken breast, fried potatoes, corn, grapes
One encouraging thing from today was a lady I don't know overheard a comment I made about groceries and a little while later placed a $100 bill in my hand for groceries. I couldn't believe it. It was such a kind thing for her to do and I'm so thankful for how God is providing for my family.
I love how God knows exactly what we need and provides unexpectedly!
I love those crackers, Ruth, and imo they are as good as the expensive Breton ones.
Agreed that not all saltines are created equal. It's worth it to spend the extra cash for Nabisco.
Spent $27; $25 of which was covered by a gift card given to my by someone I did some sewing work for.
Saturday - Chicken and broccoli tossed with linguine in a homemade red wine sauce. Apple pie.
Sunday - My vegan daughter came for dinner. I whipped up a homemade soup made with vegetable stock, onions, garlic, chick peas, broccoli, carrots, green beans, tofu, mushrooms, cilantro, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. It was wonderful.
Monday - Shrimp scampi, salad and rice.
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Albacore tuna sandwiches, salad and tater tots.
Thursday - white garlic pizza.
Friday - Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, garlic bread and pecan pie.
Trader Joe's water crackers are the best. We like them a lot better than Carr's and they are much cheaper.
I never thought about the brand name cracker issue but you are right. They tend to be much crisper for some reason. They have that special snap you want in a cracker.
I like Aldi saltines. I'm a peanut butter snob (Jif!) and a ketchup snob (Heinz!) Crackers? Not so much. And while I will concede that there are some differences between brand names and generics, most brand name companies also make generics.
Fun fact: every store brand of marshmallows is made by the same company. (I know this because we took a factory tour and they proudly display the bags on a huge bulletin board.) Btw, I'm talking regular marshmallows not gourmet types.
Dollar Tree saltines are definitely inferior. But I don't dislike them enough to pay extra for a name brand.
Ha -- I have to agree -- name brand stuff is sometimes just better and crackers are in that category, although I can still be seduced by a very low price. See below, though, our favorite store brand spaghetti sauce (VONs signature select) which is lowish sugar and tastes great, especially with doctoring of veggies, wine, extra garlic, meat, etc, and is cheap and cheaper (on sale or with points). Better than the big names, we think!
Not our finest week . . .
Sunday -- Used last box of pasta with the turkey bolognese sauce using our favorite discounted store brand sauce and a Sprout's chicken sausage for oomph.
Monday -- Shrimp tacos from an okay recipe -- meh. Husband liked them.
.
Tuesday -- Last of the turkey spaghetti (outlined in painful detail above), green salad
Wednesday--Scrounged meal from freezer/pantry. Husband was angling for take out but I persevered with tacos: Very discounted organic frozen chicken pieces; refried beans, leftover tortillas from Monday; hot sauce. Side of red bell pepper slices, cherry tomatoes, and black olives --- the only veggies to be had. Pretty tasty!
Thursday--Did scads of food shopping, got home late and made weird veggie tacos from a magazine. Classic FAIL: recipe required Mexican crema and special cheese which I am sure I overpaid for at Sprouts. Grrrrr. And they weren't even wonderful -- just kind of bland and creamy but not in a good way. And the recipe made a lot. I mean, a LOT of leftovers. Sighing
Friday--Takeout of favorite not too expensive Mexican food.
Saturday -- Another FAIL -- husband's event necessitated our being there early and we got a pizza and salad nearby. Not too expensive but still . . .I did suggest the bland veggie taco leftovers, to which husband blanched and made a horrible face.
Tonight, Sunday, well, too bad -- it's the weirdly creamy and sort of bland veggie tacos for the win. Planning ways to wake it up -- salsa, hot sauce, chopped tomatoes, all of the above?? At least it will use up some tortillas.
Cheers and happy week to all!