Cheap & Cheerful Suppers and End of Month Grocery Shopping

Friday
scratch pepperoni pizza on sourdough crust
tomato and avocado wedges
roasted broccoli and cauliflower

Saturday
vegetable fried rice topped with beef and broccoli

Sunday
burrito bowls -- beans, corn, rice, avocado, tomatoes, salsa

Monday
tuna-macaroni salad
steamed mixed vegetables
tangerines

Tuesday
beef and bean chili
scratch cornbread
carrot-raisin salad
stewed prunes

Wednesday
Mexican-ish salad -- shredded cabbage topped with shredded beef, pinto beans, cheese, tomato, avocado, with salsa, mayo, vinegar, avocado oil dressing
leftover cornbread
pumpkin pudding

Thursday
spinach and onion frittata
oven-roasted carrots, purple potatoes, mushrooms

apple and crabapple sauce

Shopping the week

I use a specific organic whole wheat flour that isn't carried in most of my local stores. And it can be pricey when bought at either of the two stores that do sell it. I ad found it on sale at one of the stores this past fall and bought several bags (5-lb bags). But now it's no longer on sale. Fortunately we have the internet to help us find good deals on specific products. I found this flour at an online store that I've used before with two stackable coupons. Because I bought 4 bags (plus some magnesium), I received free shipping. At the double coupon price, my flour was less than what I'd found locally on sale. Spent $26.02. 

I also went to WinCo for a big stock-up. I don't have a photo this time. It was too cold to take my time. I just wanted to get everything put away and grab a hot cup of tea as quickly as I could that day. Anyway, this is what I bought:

4 small bags frozen mixed vegetables (still on sale)

2 large bags frozen broccoli cuts (cuts are less expensive than florets, but you still get lots of chopped floret pieces)

2 heads of cabbage

5 lbs carrots (they were sold out of 10-lb bags today)

2 bundles celery

2 3-lb bags (that really weighed 3.5 lbs ea, so I got 7 lbs total) of onions

8 large oranges

2 lb bag mandarins

12 Fuji apples (still crisp and juicy)

4 large Roma tomatoes (so much more flavorful than the slicing tomatoes I bought in December)

4 avocados

several bananas, maybe 7 or 8

4 Bartlett pears (same price per pound as apples)

3 green peppers

1/2 lb mushrooms

1 gallon whole milk

2 lb block cheddar cheese

quart Greek whole milk yogurt

2 dozen eggs

1/2 lb pepperoni (for pizzas, enough for 3 large. I bag it up into 3 smaller bags and freeze until needed.)

1 large bag frozen pork breakfast sausage (my husband has these every day)

about 1.25 lbs bulk raisins

1/2 lb bulk chia seeds

1/2 lb bulk peanut butter powder (I put this in smoothies as well as mix with a little water to eat by spoon as a hi-protein snack)

3/4 lb bulk dried apricots

1/3 lb bulk almond flour

small bag bulk flax seed meal

2 pints fresh DIY grind peanut butter

1 lb yeast

5 lbs organic all-purpose flour (same brand as whole wheat, but easy to find in stores and a better price)

1 bottle mustard (on sale this month -- I'll buy a couple more next time to put away for summer cook-outs)

I spent $106.59 at WinCo. With the online shopping, I spent $132.61 this week. For the month of January (one other WinCo trip, one Walmart trip, plus pro-rated portion of quarterly beef deliveries), we spent $404.14. That's just over my upper grocery limit. Not horrible. I'll see how grocery spending goes next month.

My normal monthly range is $375 to $400. However, this does feel fairly typical for us now. We've made a few changes to our diet in the last few years. We're eating higher quality beef, more produce, and adding in a couple of individual items (like the full fat Greek yogurt, greens powder, beet powder, and organic flour). It all adds up. It was just 6 years ago that we were spending about $250 per month for the four of us. Hmph. So back to this month, spending about the same as November and December each, but no holiday to buy for. However, produce prices are also higher in winter, and we've run out of our own garden fresh produce by this point in the garden cycle. 

What was on your menu this past week? If you lost power this past week, I'd be interested in hearing how you managed meals. In fact for anyone who has lost power before at any time, how did you do meals? 

For my household, our power is usually restored with a few hours to overnight. Even so, we can cook here without electricity, as our stove-top is gas and can be lit with a match or lighter. Before our gas stovetop, I was able to heat water and soup in a power outage, using candles in a shallow pan in the oven on the bottom rack, then placing a pan of water or soup on the rack just above.