A Grocery Haul...Restocking the Freezer

 

I don't have pictures.  I never seem to think to take pictures of the groceries I buy but this weekend I was in three different grocery stores, and I thought I'd share what I bought.

Saturday:  I stopped at the local grocery to pick up frozen pizzas to have with the kiddos from across the field for Saturday lunch.  I probably won't do that again and I'll tell you why.  Locally, a Red Baron pizza costs $7.19 each.  I can get them on sale at Kroger for $3.99 and sometimes for $2.99.  

Typically, I make my own pizza dough and pizzas here at home.  I had everything I needed except time yesterday.  The kids think frozen pizza is a huge treat because their dad cooks as I do: with ingredients.  I'm seeking ways to make a fun, day out with a special lunch without spending a load of money.  This is just something extra that John and I want to do with the kids.  We try to do similarly with Taylor and Caleb and Bella on the intervening weekends.

I'm not counting the pizza in on the grocery haul.  That was entertainment with the kids...as were a plethora of other snacky things a Gramma feels free to spoil the kiddos with: cookies, popsicle, drink, and gum that turned out to be candy because obviously none of the three of us who can read, read all that well, lol. 

What I bought for home use: 1/2 gallon of whole milk $3.09, 3-pound bag of yellow onions $2.99, 8- ounce block of cheddar cheese $2.89 and a 12-slice package of processed cheese slices $3.49.

I do not much like to shop locally because it does cost dearly compared to Kroger or Aldi and sometimes is even higher than it might be at Publix which is the highest priced store I shop (aside from the Hometown store).   I bought milk and cheese because I've seen neither one on sale since before Christmas at Kroger.

I generally buy cheese slices for one of three reasons: It's John's birthday and he's asked for cheeseburgers for his birthday meal, family is coming for a cookout, OR it's winter at which time I try to keep them hidden so I can make grilled cheese sandwiches to go with soup.  I just think in this instance processed cheese slices make the superior grilled cheese sandwich.  

Eggs were shocking.  Between $7.19 (this store has a lot of odd prices like that.  I've no idea why) and $9 for a dozen.  18ct. eggs were $11.29 and $13.59.  I did not buy eggs, though I do not have any.

I spent a pretty penny between indulging the kids and buying pizzas, but I only spent $12.50 of grocery money for the milk and cheeses and onion.  That's all I'm counting of the grocery money spent, too.

Sunday:  We went into Publix.  Last night John saw a post that all the local chicken processing plants are closing down due to bird flu and lack of birds to process (which also means a different form of hardship as people will be laid off not only in the chicken houses that produce eggs, but those that produce poultry as well as at the processing plants.  This bird flu will have a tremendous number of repercussions.)   I'd already mentioned the cost of eggs to him after the kids went home.  We agreed last night we'd pick up some chicken and eggs today while we were in the store to pick up a prescription.

Naturally that is not all we picked up.  I'll explain.  John likes to walk with a buggy in front of him so he can lean forward and ease his back now and then.  I often want a turn to push because it gives me a chance to rest my aching hip...Today he pulled two buggies when we went into the store so we each had one.

So, I'm under the impression I'm doing the shopping.  I picked up flowers ($12 not counted as grocery).  John picked up a container of chicken tenders which I vetoed as there were 3 and that meant they were in excess of $2 each for the tenders.  I thought that was ridiculous. 

What I didn't see him pick up was a pound of out of season strawberries, 2 or so pounds of bananas, a pint of macaroni salad and a package of eye of round steaks (3 pieces, 1.76 pounds @ $8.49/pound.)  I don't think there was anything else, but you know...  Let's just say about $30 more than I thought I might spend, lol.  

No, I'm not mad.  I'll greatly enjoy the strawberries which he picks up for me because he knows I have an iron will and won't buy them until they are in season.  The macaroni salad he thinks is superior to any I can make except tuna pasta salad. I don't eat the store stuff because I think it's blech.  As for the eye of round steaks, I'd have chosen a pricier more tender steak but hey, he thought they looked great, and I can cook them in a way that we'll find palatable.  Since there are three pieces, that will be two meals easily which further brings down the overall cost.

For my part of the shopping, aside from the flowers,  I bought a package of celery stalks (looked for the leafiest as I like to dry and crumble the leaves to use in cooking, too) $1.69, a pint of cherry tomatoes $2.50, a hot house cucumber $2.50, a packet of portabella mushroom slices for $2.50.

I stopped at the meat case and looked in vain for the ground round that was $4.99/pound.  John urged me to just get a package of what was there, but I balked hard.  $30 for a 3.5-pound package of 85/15 hamburger meat? NO THANKS!  I asked the butcher to put some of the sale priced stuff out, which he did.  Apparently, there was loads behind the butcher window already wrapped but not priced and in the case.  He brought out four 5-pound packages priced at the sale price.  I got two.  I paid close to $50 for the ten pounds but hey, it beat pants off paying $64 for 7 pounds.

I got two 6-pound whole chickens for $1.59 each and one package of boneless skinless chicken breasts (package of 2 but it weighed two pounds) for $2.49 a pound.  My last purchase was a 2-pound block of Cabot's Vermont Cheese (best price overall for cheese).

As near as I recall my total spending for these items (NOT including flowers) was $130.   

There were NO eggs, not even one.  And I completely bypassed bacon and sausage which all seemed terribly high.

I asked John to stop at Food Depot in Ft. Valley so I could see if they had eggs.  It happened that their Every Day Essentials 18ct. eggs were on sale for $6.09.  There were three cartons and all three had broken eggs, but I pieced two 18ct. packages of whole eggs from the three, swapping the broken eggs out.  I got John a box of favorite snack crackers and added a round of Queso Fresca cheese to my purchases.  That all came to $19 and change.  

My total spending for groceries this weekend was meant mostly for February was $161.

When I got home, I emptied the egg cartons and washed the eggs and cartons, so the eggs won't stick to the carton and crack when I go to use them.

I divided the ground meat into 1/2-pound packages.  We used one for lunch/supper (Spoon burgers).   I put 10 packages into the freezer (11th was what I used for our meal).  I divided the chicken breasts into 2 separate bags.  Truly each breast was HUGE and should serve four. The big hens I'll leave whole, and we'll split those when I roast them.  I fully expect that we'll get five meals from each bird though and possibly six.

Aside from the 11th portion of ground beef, none of these meats will be eaten this week and I don't expect to use more than 6 eggs this week either.  I'll concentrate on using the 8-ounce block of cheese first. That's about our average use for a week in our home.  And the produce purchased this weekend will be stretched to go through this week, next and a bit beyond.  

At this point in time, I have about 1/4 of my grocery budget for January left.  I have used only what I had on hand at the start of January with the exception of the night we enjoyed steak, a two-pound block of cheese and the fresh fruit and lettuce I bought.  I almost forgot the half and half for my coffee.   I'm very well pleased at how the pantry and freezer held up.

I never expected to be well on my way to February on January's budget but that's how it's worked out this year and I'm not in the least sorry about it.  

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