It's the last day of March and I don't think I'll be going out grocery shopping this evening. So, I'll tally up our grocery spending for the month and close this chapter.
March 2 My husband and I went out to lunch after church. We split a 3-entree/1-side Panda Express meal. We chose Broccoli Beef, Kung Pao Chicken, Orange Chicken, and Chow Mein for our side. They gave us 2 fortune cookies when they saw we were sharing a single meal. It was more food than we could finish. My husband took the leftovers in for his lunch the next day. We decided if we do Panda Express for a lunch together again, we'll split a 2-entree meal. Spent $13.04 While technically not "groceries," the meal did feed us, and we would have eaten something at home. And I took the lunch out of the grocery cash envelope.
March 5 Walmart for 1 package turkey snack sticks, canister onion powder, applesauce, bunch bananas, barbecue sauce. Spent $12.15 at Walmart. Then I went across the street to Grocery Outlet to pick up beet root powder. I add beet powder to my daily smoothies. Spent $9.99 at Grocery Outlet.
March 7 Town & Country for 2 bottles of sparkling water to take to my brother's on the 9th. I was at Town & Country picking up a couple of birthday gifts for my two daughters -- items they'd both noticed when we were here together in February. The sparkling water is good for the price. Spent $4.00 on the water.
March 8 Fred Meyer for cucumber, grape tomatoes, package of chicken breasts to make an Italian chicken salad to take to my brother's on the 9th. The Italian chicken salad I brought contained cubed cooked chicken breasts, halved grape tomatoes, chunks of cucumber, shavings of Parmesan cheese, in a homemade herb and garlic vinaigrette. It was pretty tasty. We had leftovers later that night that I stretched with some steamed broccoli and more cheese. While at Fred Meyer, I was also buying pantyhose and hair accessories, gifts for my daughters for their birthday. Spent $10.63 on food.
March 12 WinCo for 2 canisters cocoa powder, frozen peas, frozen spinach, frozen broccoli cuts, gallon milk, block cheddar, block mozzarella, about 1 pound pepperoni, vanilla flavoring, 2 cans tuna, bulk peanut butter, bag of dried dates, bulk chili powder, bulk instant dry milk, 5 lbs carrots, celery, 1 head cabbage, 2 avocados, 1 red and 1 green pepper, 3 lbs apples, 2 lbs tangerines, bunch bananas, about 1 lb Roma tomatoes. Spent $73.00
March 22. We went to Starbucks to celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. We used gift cards that had been gifts to us, so no cost for the celebration.
March 24 Walmart for 36-oz bag chocolate chips, frozen mixed vegetables, frozen broccoli cuts, frozen peas, gallon milk, uncured beef franks, 3 packages turkey snack sticks, small block cheddar, 3-lb bag tangerines, 5-lb bag carrots, celery, 4 Roma tomatoes, couple bunches bananas, natural peanut butter. Spent $53.86
March 27 WinCo for a whole chicken, 6 avocados, 3 large tomatoes, bulk raisins, bulk flax seed meal, bulk flaked coconut, bulk table salt, bulk peanut butter, block of cheddar, block of mozzarella, 4 cans tuna, 2 canisters cocoa powder, 1 jar regular coffee, 1 jar decaf coffee, 5 jars applesauce, 1 package dried dates, 1 bag pork sausage links, 1 bag turkey sausage links. I spent $92.58
At WinCo, a new brand of chicken caught my eye, Just Bare. No antibiotics, no hormones, no steroids, and they're raised on family farms. The price worked out to just over $2.00 per pound for a whole chicken, with no neck or giblets. I usually toss the neck and giblets, so that makes the price per pound more competitive with the Foster Farms that I often buy ($1.48/lb). Foster Farms has gotten really sloppy in recent years. I sometimes find a couple of livers in the cavity, adding weight to the chicken, parts that my family won't eat. Anyway, the whole chicken was clean just out of the package.
I rubbed my whole chicken with salt, pepper, sage, thyme, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. The chicken was delicious, and the seasonings added flavor to the meat and to the drippings, which I used for gravy.
I didn't include what we bought for my daughters' birthday celebration picnic or pie in the grocery spending, as those come out of a different budget. But, if you're interested, we spent about $60 total for those foods and slices of pie in the pie shop. (We had tap water to drink with the pie.)
My daughter bought me some candy this morning, she said because I did a last-minute favor for her. I told her it was unnecessary to buy me anything. But it was very sweet of her. Some candy -- no cost to me.
Total spent for the month of March -- $269.25
What I bought:
1 restaurant lunch out for two
Nope, not wondering about the cocoa powder or peanut butter. Those are part of the essential food groups. :)
ReplyDeleteI just got back from a coffee date with my niece. She bought her daughter a smoothie and it was over $7--yikes--prices are sooooo crazy. I had a cup of coffee. That fit into my budget and kept me from indulging in something that wasn't good for my waistline. And I still got the enjoyment of "going out".
Hi Kris,
DeleteThat sounds like a fun coffee date. I love how you keep in touch so well with your niece. I do the same with going out for coffee -- keep the order simple, but enjoy the time out and the company. For me, it's just as much fun as if I'd ordered a complicated coffee drink.
When I first read beet root powder, I saw root beer powder and thought that sounded delicious.😋
ReplyDeleteRoot beer powder does sound delicious!
DeleteMany years ago, there was a drink mix that was root beer flavored. It came in canisters (like instant lemonade mix). It was very sweet, but was a nice treat in summer and easy to mix up (although no fizzy like real root beer).
I really like that Just Bare brand chicken, too. I've avoided raw chicken for about ten years due to the antibiotics and issues with what they are fed. Bought some breast tenders and full breast of this brand on deep discount and was quite happy with the quality.
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteThank you for sharing your experience with Just Brae chicken. I'll be buying the Just Bare brand chicken again. We thought it was very tasty and had a good texture, and we're so glad to find chicken that is raised better.