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A peek at our weekly grocery shopping
Each week I plan on sharing a picture of our cart at each store along with a breakdown on what we bought and what we paid. Thankfully we have zero dietary restrictions or allergies which helps us keep our budget on the low side. We try to stick between $80-90 each week for our family of seven. A lot of times what is on the menu doesn’t directly correlate to what we buy because I like to plan our meals from what we have on hand currently and use our budget to stock up on good buys plus produce and dairy products.
Oh my goodness! We’ve hit Thanksgiving week. Eeek! It came so fast this month since it’s the almost the earliest date it can be. I seriously keep thinking I have another week since it’s feels soooo early. I gotta get my butt in gear!
We are did a BIG shopping trip this week. Because our normal shopping day is Friday, Thanksgiving tends to always throw it off. While the grocery stores don’t tend to be super crazy on Black Friday we still try to avoid going out. We love getting good deals but with kids in tow it’s not an ideal mix. Instead we do a double week trip with a small trip for extra produce or dairy products over the following weekend.
Micah’s parents are coming up on Wednesday night and will be staying with us until Saturday. Despite there only being nine of us for Thanksgiving we are still cooking up all the goodies! A few of the dishes will be on the smaller side since the whole group isn’t a fan but other items, like mashed potatoes, will be a full batch… maybe more 😉 Honestly, I’d be content with a plate of fresh rolls and gravy for dipping, but I’ll eat it all!
We got to make a trip to the new Aldi in town this week. It’s about a 20 minute drive in the opposite direction of our normal stores so we won’t be going all the time but a few the of the other stores we shop at have locations near Aldi so we might make it a monthly trip. It really helped us get all the ingredients we wanted for two weeks worth of meals, plus Thanksgiving, while still staying in our budget.
Walmart
Pumpkin Pie $2.98
Frozen Strawberries $3.82
*submitted receipt to ibotta for any item rebate (-$0.25)
Total: $6.55 after rebates
Aldi
Milk $2.05
Eggs 4 @ 0.48 = $1.92
Creamer 2 @ 1.89 = $3.78
Creamer $2.19
Heavy Cream $1.99
Tomatoes $1.89
Flour $1.19
Mushrooms $1.89
Pickles $1.15
Baby Carrots $0.89
Butter 2 @ 2.29 = $4.58
Mustard $0.89
Pineapple Slices 2 @ 0.99 = $1.98
Mac & Cheese 2 @ 0.33 = $0.66
Olives $1.19
Sweet Potatoes 4 @ 0.69 = $2.76
Avocado $1.19
Sour Cream 2 @ 0.89 = $1.78
Cream Cheese 4 @ 0.95 = $3.80
Nutmeg $1.69
Potatoes $1.29
Strawberry Jello 4 @ 0.35 = $1.40
Fajita Tortillas 2 @ 1.79 = $3.58
Apples 2 @ 2.89 = $5.78
Pretzels $1.29
Bread 2 @ 0.89 = $1.78
Bread 2 @ 0.90 = $1.80
Mini Cucumbers $2.39
– $5.00 off $30 purchase
Total: $53.77
Sam’s Club
Burgers $26.98
Granola Bars $4.00
Mozzarella Cheese $10.68
Ranch $6.98
Total: $48.64
*not pictured: Cheese brick from Costco ($4.79)
Grocery Total: $113.75
Not bad for two weeks worth of items including Thanksgiving! We do have some extra to pick up more produce next weekend but otherwise we should have everything we need for the next two weeks!
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Menu Plan
I love menu planning and seeing other’s dinner plans! I’m weird like that 😉 As I’ve shared before, being in the kitchen is my happy place so I love finding meals that are new but I also never forget our favorites! These will link to the author’s original recipe unless it’s my own recipe/creation that I don’t have a link for… yet.
If you need some inspiration for how to create menu plans you can read here where I go into detail about how I make a plan for our food week and here to read how I create our grocery list.
I don’t make specific plans for breakfast and lunch but these are the basics I rotate between while throwing in a few other things for special days or weeks when I have the right ingredients.
Breakfasts: Pancakes, Coffee Cake, Egg Sandwiches, Sausage Balls, Eggs (various ways), English Muffins, Banana Bread, Biscuits and Gravy, Oatmeal, and various types of muffins.
Lunches: Leftovers, PB&J, Meat and Cheese Wraps, Cheese Quesadillas, and Mac ‘n’ Cheese.
Dinners, however, are always planned for since they tend to take the most ingredients and prep time.
Here’s what’s on our menu this week:
Sunday: Sweet & Sour Chicken – We needed a meal that would provide enough leftovers for Micah to take to work plus eating at home and this is always a big hit.
Monday: Tacos – Nothing fancy here, just classic, wonderful, crave-worthy tacos. Keeping it simple while we prep for Thanksgiving!
Tuesday: Leftovers – We need to make room in the fridge for all the food that is on the horizon!
Wednesday: Soup & Salad – I’m making the awesome broccoli cheese soup from a month or so ago and a salad bar with lots of fixings. Having something fresh is always nice when Thanksgiving tends to bring out the heavier dishes.
Thursday: Thanksgiving! Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade brown & serve rolls, strawberry jello & pretzel salad, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and desserts. I’m still deciding what to make but I’ve got ingredients for several options!
Friday: Homemade Pizza and Movie Night – pizza crust recipe here and pizza sauce recipe here.
Saturday: Cubans – Using the leftover ham from Thanksgiving and frozen pulled pork means these will come together in a flash. Not the most classic version because the ham won’t be thin sliced but still incredibly delicious.
What’s on your menu this week? What are you making for Thanksgiving?x
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