Grocery Shopping

  We had family in town for the weekend which messed up our grocery shopping schedule. This week our menu is fairly unhealthy, whoops!

Tuesday: Chicken enchiladas with chips & salsa
Wednesday: Baked parmesan chicken tenders with Penne Pesto Alfredo
Thursday: Grilled cheese with Bacon (this was not originally on the menu but I took a babysitting gig)
Friday: Going out with co-workers
Saturday: French Toast with Bacon for brunch, Manicotti for dinner.

I always make enough extra for Phillip to take some with him for his lunch, it seems to work out pretty well.

 I'm a creature of habit. I like going to the same store(s) all the time, trying new stores intimidates me! I don't know where anything is and it takes twice as long to get everything! But this week I had a coupon for $5 off a $35 order from Food City. I avoid that store unless I'm taking my clients shopping, it just seems really expensive. Here's the damage:

 Dairy/Frozen
Yoplait Greek Yogurt (honey) x3   ($3.00)
          on sale 10/$10.
Monteray Jack Cheese 8oz $1.64
Sharp Cheddar cheese 8oz $1.64
            (Cheese was BOGO)
1 gallon Skim Milk $3.09
Ricotta Cheese $1.99

Grocery  
Spanish Rice  $1.29
Parmesan Cheese $1.25
Mello Yello 2 liter $1.00
Tortillas $2.50
Pasta Sauce   $2.99
Hamburger Buns: $1.50
Penne Pasta $1.59
Crescent Rolls $2.00 (x2)
Salsa Con Queso $2.69
Alfredo Sauce $1.89
Tortilla Chips $1.39
White Whole Grain Bread $1.69
         with $.50 coupon


Meat
Chicken Breast Tenders    $3.98
         2lb@ $1.99/lb  
Eggs  $1.39

Produce
Bananas   $1.32
        2.24lbs @ $.59/lb
Jazz Apples $2.63
       2.04lbs @ $1.29 lb
South Carolina Peaches  $.61
       .62lbs @ $.99/lb

Total: 43.61 after these savings:
$5 off coupon
$.50 off bread coupon

I also saved $17.47 with my value card.

I think the only thing that was better than the other stores I frequent was the price of chicken. I bought the 2lb "family size" pack of tenders for less than $4. This was enough to use for 3 meals which was a really good deal. The BOGO cheese was a good deal too.

 I typically shop between Kroger, Wal-mart and Aldi. We have a very detailed shopping list and know what we buy where but this week our schedule just kind of went out the window with the holiday!

I think my summer goal is to learn to coupon effectively, we try to keep our food budget to $50/week and do pretty well but it would be nice to be able to get more for our money!
I'm hoping to be disciplined and start posting each shopping trip with coupon savings, maybe that will motivate me to try to do well at it!

Until next time!
Sunny