January 2016 Grocery Shopping Journal

Jan. 4 Monthly stop at Dollar Tree. It's the last day of Christmas break for my daughters, so we wanted to do something cheap, but special. We could go out for a fast food lunch or Starbuck's. But we decide to pick up a bag of frozen sweet potato fries from DT to have with our lunch of leftovers at home. So, we bought 1 bag of sweet potato fries, plus 1 box of crackers, 1 bag of tortilla chips and 1 half-price box of mini candy canes (we discovered that we really like these as dessert/treats after lunches and dinners). The box of crackers are for our Christmas tree un-decorating party (crackers and cheese spread, plus some other snacky items). And the tortilla chips are for a Tex-Mex splurge some night. Friends gave us a box of salsas for a Christmas gift. No other treats/packaged foods are on the horizon for the month of January. Also, I bought 1 qt of almond milk. Spent $4.50

Jan. 5 Senior shopping discount day at Fred Meyer. I didn't stock up enough on milk last week, so I'm running low and this is an opportunity to at least save 10% on their not-fantastic sale price (I typically get milk for $1.98/gallon when bought in half-gal jugs. This sale is for 1 gallon of whole milk at $2.69, plus my 10% off), so I buy 1 gallon, paying $2.42/gallon. Also, heavy whipping cream is on sale 1-qt for $3.32 (the price beats Cash & Carry's advertised price, per pint, for this week), and 1 box of instant powdered milk, for $6.11. The box makes 8 qts, so not a good price for drinking milk, but it's great for "fortifying" foods for daughter, without adding extra liquid or bulk. I ran out of solid shortening for making pie crust. I picked up 1 3-lb container for $4.04. In the produce section, I found 1 16-oz package of whole mushrooms, marked down to $1.61. And in the bulk bins, I bought some onion powder and a 1/3-lb of whole almonds (at $6.29/lb). Total spent on groceries, $19.68

Total for the month, to date -- $24.18

Jan. 6 Trader Joe's for bananas. I buy 24 at 19 cents each. Spent $4.56

Jan 6. Cash & Carry. I buy a 40-lb case of oranges ($14.48), a 5-lb bag of shredded pizza cheese ($9.98) a 2-gallon box of skim milk ($3.44), 1-lb bag of granulated garlic ($4.07). I spent $31.97

month to date spending -- $60.71

Jan. 12. Walgreen's for 4 packages cream cheese, 8-oz, 99 cents with my rain check from December. spent $3.96

Jan. 13. Jo Ann Fabric's for supplies to fix a couple of things -- used 50% off coupons, of course ;-) While there, I checked out Christmas clearance, looking for taper candles (found some, yay!) And also picked up 3 bags of Wilton's peppermint bark candy melts. These are like white chocolate with bits of candy cane pieces throughout the melting wafers. I use them for making holiday candies and cookies. They store in my kitchen cabinet quite well. I have just one bag left, from 3 Christmases ago. They regularly retail for $3.49/bag. On clearance, I paid $1.39/bag. Spent $4.17

Jan. 15. Stop by Fred Meyer for milk (on sale with in-ad coupon). The sale is half-gallon of milk or orange juice, for 99 cents, limit 6. I buy 5 whole milk and 1 orange juice. Also, they have just repackaged a bunch of eggs -- maybe 12 dozen there at the egg cooler, all repackaged and repriced at $1.19/dozen. I buy 6 dozen, as I still have many eggs in the freezer, and 2 dozen fresh eggs in the fridge. At under 10 cents per egg, eggs will feature heavily in meals for the next few weeks. Total spent, $13.08

Also, stop at Cash & Carry, for 50-lb sack of whole wheat flour ($11.99), a 13-oz container of chili powder for $3.25, and a 12-oz container of onion powder for $3.25. I've been buying onion powder in small amounts from the bulk spices at Fred Meyer this past year. I add it to soups, sauces, stews, dressings/dips and potato dishes. I had been spending about $7 per pound in the bulk spices. By buying at Cash & Carry, I spent $4.33/lb. Another item, bought in a different way to save money. Total spent at Cash & Carry $18.49


For the month to date spending -- $100.41

Jan. 19. Albertson's has 10-lb bags of chicken leg quarters on sale for $4.90 (49 cents per pound). My freezer is still a little tight, so I buy 2 bags. This should last us through April, I'm guessing. Spent $9.80

I was pretty satisfied with the chicken leg quarters that I bought last summer. They were easy to deal with, and quick to roast, then shred. I had a constant supply of chicken stock, as well. 49 cents per pound is much more affordable than 88 cents/lb whole chickens that we saw last spring at many supermarkets.

month to date spending -- $110.21

Jan. 25 Needing milk. It's on sale at QFC for 99 cents a half-gallon, if you buy 6. QFC is normally an over-priced store in my area, IMO, but it is close-by. So, I buy 6 half-gallons of whole milk and 2 half-gallons of marked down sweet acidophilus milk for 79 cents each. Spent $7.52.

Total spent for January -- $117.73 My budget was $200.00 plus the surplus from underspending last month of $15.62, for a total budget of $215.62 for January. I came in at $97.89 under budget! That amount will carry forward to next month's budget.

What I bought this month:

Produce

1 bag sweet potato fries
16 oz mushrooms
24 bananas
40 lbs oranges
1/2 gallon orange juice

Dairy

1 qt. almond milk
1 gallon whole milk
2 gallons skim milk
11 half-gallons whole milk
2 half-gallons sweet acidophilus milk
1 qt. heavy whipping cream
5 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese
4 8-oz packages cream cheese
6 dozen eggs

Meat

20 lbs of chicken leg quarters

Pantry

1 box crackers
1 bag tortilla chips
1 box mini candy canes
3 bags Wilton peppermint bark melting wafers
1 box instant powdered milk (to make 8 qts)
3 lbs solid shortening (Crisco)
50 lbs whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons onion powder
12 oz container onion powder
1 lb granulated garlic
13 oz container chili powder
1/3 lb whole almonds



Now I have to tell you about my dream from about a week ago. In my dream, I was at the grocery store, and found out that ground beef was on sale for 86 cents per pound, limit 3 packages, and whole turkeys were on sale for 49 cents per pound, for the first turkey, and this was a buy 1 get 3 free deal! In my dream, my math skills were not so great. I calculated the turkey deal to be equal to 17 cents per pound, for the 4 turkeys. Actually, I wasn't too far off, it was 12 cents per pound. I just think it's funny that in my dreams I calculate prices in my head, too!

While I stood there in the grocery store, I knew I wanted to take advantage of the turkey deal, but also knew I couldn't fit 4 whole turkeys into my freezers. So, I was asking all of the other women standing around that section of the store, if they'd want to go in on the deal with me. And that's about when I woke up. Anyways, does anyone else, here, dream grocery shopping dreams?

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for late January

Friday
meatloaf (from the freezer), topped with
gravy (from the freezer)
oven-roasted pumpkin chunks
pasta, tossed with canned tomatoes, garlic, onion powder and herbs
baked apples (the last apples from our orchard)

Saturday
black beans and rice, cooked with canned tomatoes and Mexi spices
oven-roasted pumpkin chunks (this has become my favorite way to eat pumpkin this year)

Sunday
pumpkin pancakes
breakfast sausage
oranges

Monday
black bean burgers, topped with
onions sauteed in bacon fat
seasoned oven-roasted potato wedges
frozen peas
watermelon pickles

Tuesday
kale, onion and olive frittata, topped with a quick sauce of canned tomato paste, garlic, onion powder and basil
French bread
carrot sticks
creamy pear jello (using the last pears from the orchard)

Wednesday
shepherd's pie from the freezer (yes, that shepherd's pie!) *or* for the one person not wanting shepherd's pie ;-), a leftover black bean burger, topped with grilled onions
pumpkin muffins
salad of orange segments and dried cranberries

Thursday
French bread pizza (using up the other loaf of French bread, a quick pizza sauce of tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, dried herbs, liquid from draining olives, and some of the salty crumbs from the bottom of a bag of pretzels, also topped with caramelized onions from Monday, and sliced olives)
frozen green beans
pumpkin pie


On Wednesday, I had hopes that I would be able to eat the shepherd's pie, as I was just heating it from the freezer that night. I went to taste a tiny bit and told my family that it tasted like dog food. One daughter said, "yes, it does taste like dog food, but I still like it". Okay, then, I can stop shopping in the people food aisle for groceries and stock up on Alpo! JK

That's what we ate this week. My favorite meal was on Monday, the black bean burgers, topped with caramelized onions -- yum, those were good!

What was on your menu this week? And what did you particularly enjoy?