This morning’s sunrise. Talk about a beauty! I absolutely LOVE the sunrises here during the fall and winter months. They’re so colorful and they sort of make up for the fact that the sun comes up so late this time of year.
Pretty soon the color of the leaves will start to turn and then it will be time to hunker down and stay in my pjs all day because it will be too cold to work outside. 🙂 Yee-Haw. I’m looking forward to it.
Walmart $13.55
Have you tried the Milton’s crackers Walmart sells? I’m not a fan of Walmart but these crackers come in a strong second to our favorite Aldi’s Pita crackers. Which we haven’t had in about 3 years. These days a box runs $3.78! I think they were about a dollar less a year ago. Grrrr.
Oh how I miss Aldi’s. And Trader Joe’s too. And stocking up on basic foods at Market Basket and not feeling like I’m getting gouged at the checkout.
Scammaford $24.89
At least the eggs were only $1.89 and the bananas were $0.58 a pound. 😉
Milk for my tea, marshmallows for brownies, Health mini’s {$5.19!} because they were out of Heath chips and I needed those for my cookie dough. The squash, cauliflower and broccoli wolklie were for a new recipe and the pears were for a new tart I want to try. And of course eggs, because they are the glue that holds everything together.
Lucy was not impressed.
Are you the kind of parent who buys sugar pellets for their kids for breakfast?
It’s almost like cereal companies aren’t even trying to make cereal look like a healthy option these days. Remember back when you were a kid the box was covered with intriguing facts like all the vitamins and minerals you were getting?
At least back then you had a slim chance of convincing your parents to buy a box because you could point to the facts.
A quart of canning jars is now $17.99. And no, this photo was not taken at the airport. It was at Hannaford.
Here are most of the meals we ate last week:
A cheesy new vegetable dish. The HH actually made it and he did a fantastic job. The next time we invite people over for linner, we’re totally going to serve this along with beef in horseradish cream. I’ll share the recipe soon.
This is proof that you need to clean out your freezer at least once every 6 months. I found this whole chicken {that is a 1 year old chicken} at the bottom of the freezer a few days ago. Whoops!
Have you ever done that? Bought something because it was a deal at the time and then totally forgot about it?
Well, it was fine. I roasted the bird and then got a few meals out of it.
Chicken and rice, chicken taco bowls.
And of course a big pot of chicken soup.
There was also beans and rice with salsa and a fried egg.
And Mel’s beans and weenies. {Yes, you can make it without the beer!}.
I also made a batch of banana nut muffins with some ripe bananas that were in a zip baggie in the freezer.
And another chocolate cake for the storm that really wasn’t much of a storm. I’ll pop the leftovers in the freezer today.
And I also made another batch of cookie dough. Because seriously, what would tea time be without a cookie?
For mealtime this week I think I’ll serve up leftover chicken soup {maybe I’ll add some noodles to fancy it up} a beatloaf, and make a cranberry bean soup with the leftover chicken. I’d also like to hit up one of the local farm stands for some butternut squash and see what else they have that looks good.
We do have a bunch of leeks we need to use, and potatoes to dig up in the garden too, so maybe some homestyle scalloped potatoes are in our future as well.
How about YOU? What’s on your menu for this week? Curious minds want to know.
Have a good one,
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries $38.44
- Total Spent in September on Groceries $38.44
- Total Spent in August for Groceries $13.04
- Total Spent on Groceries for July $376.89
- Total Spent on Groceries in June $41.56
- Total Spent on Groceries in May $288.51
- Total Spent on Groceries in April $35.36
- Total Spent on Groceries in March $82.28
- Total Spent on Groceries in February $101.14
- Total Spent on Groceries in January $167.33 {this includes buying groceries on Fair Isle}
- Total Spent on Groceries in 2023 $1,151.09 for our $100 a month grocery budget for 2
Katelyn says
Next time you need health chips, buy a few full bars and freeze them, then smash them in a zip bag. It’s not exactly the same but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper.
Mavis Butterfield says
Heath bars were $1.30 each {I couldn’t belive it} and were 1.4 ounces so the bag {since I’ll use it all} were a better deal in the end as I would have needed to buy 7+ bars for the same amount of candy that was in the bag. Crazy.
Ramona says
I have been eating Miltons crackers for years now. I usually get them at Winco, a few weeks ago I purchased a box for $2.85. I like to have them with your Chicken Salad recipe-made with Costco canned chicken.
Fred Meyer had chicken thighs on sale for .99 a pound and half gallon milk for $1.29, peaches .99 a pound. Those were my bargain finds this week.
It’s a good thing because here in Washington gas is back up again to $5.30 a gallon!!
RobininSoCal says
I feel your pain. Paid $5.06 a gallon and that was Costco gasoline.
Christie says
I feel like grocery store prices continue to rise with no end in sight. Even rice and beans are getting expensive. We have really cut back on discretionary spending to make up for the increase in food cost.
Lisa says
Every time I go to the store I notice the price of yet another item jump up. Eggs are really the only thing I’ve notice come down.
Holley says
Glad to hear that the storm didn’t do you any harm!!! Everything looks delicious!
Ashley Bananas says
I have dedicated myself to only buying reduced price meat at Aldi or Winn Dixie. Buy, use immediately, or throw in the freezer. The price increases are not fun for anyone. I’ve also started to do couponing at Publix again on their sales and bogo items. My goal is to keep our groceries down to $100 a week. I include pet items and household items like toiletries in the grocery budget. I can usually stay within or under $100 a week.
Rosemary says
I have been busy making freezer meals. Today I will cook some chicken breasts and chicken wings. In the future, I will use the cooked chicken breasts for chicken salad, chicken parmigiana, chicken fajitas, etc. A couple of days ago I made a batch of eggplant parmigiana and separated it into 3 meals. I will marinate the chicken wings, cook them and then freeze them for another time. I think I will buy some lasagna this week and make a batch of that for the freezer. Meal times are so much easier when the food is already cooked!
The price of jars has gone up considerably. I haven’t done much canning lately but I do like to use them to store food like pancake mix, pasta, crackers, tea bags, nuts, etc. I think the food stays fresher in the jars than it does in the Ziploc bags (and the jars can be used over and over and over – the bags can be reused but need to get tossed eventually).
Margo says
I loved your comments about the sugary cereal. I once read an author who called stuff like that, “edible non-food”. I agree.
When I started to read your comment about the potatoes and leeks my mind went immediately to potato and leek soup. Sounded so good to me that I might make a batch this week.
Mavis Butterfield says
Potato and leek soup sounds like a good idea! Thank you.
Aimee says
Butternut squash is $0.69 a pound this week at Market Basket in Massachusetts. I bought some yesterday. It was grown in New Jersey.
Mavis Butterfield says
Hey! That is a great deal!
Susan says
I was in line at QFC the other day and the lady behind me was buying a bunch of the marked down bananas.
She told me she was making Breakfast Cookies for the freezer and gave me the recipe
4 ripe bananas
2 1/2 cups oats
Mix together- bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes
They are really good! Not too sweet but sweet enough!
I was skeptical….thought the dough might spread thin because its kind of a wet dough, but it didnt!
Spent last week canning tomatoes and making marinara and soup. We ended up with 200 pounds of tomatoes even though we did not plant as many as normal.
suzanne says
Thank you Susan. This sounds like something I have to try. Would old fashioned oats work for this?
Susan says
Yes! That is what I useds what I used
Wendy P says
I make these also. I add peanut butter ,chocolate chips, walnuts,coconut etc.You can really add whatever you like and they have no flour or added oils or butter.(if you don’t ad the peanut butter)
JulieP says
These sound great I’m going to try them out bananas go soft and I already make a healthy banana muffin recipe this will be a change and healthier thank you
Laura Z says
I’ve been inspired by you to tackle the pantry and freezer stores. On the menu this week: Oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts or smoothies for breakfast, either leftovers or a giant salad with some sort of legume and starch for lunch each day, and our dinners will be a tofu and veg Tom Yum soup with rice noodle, stuffed peppers, veggie posole, pasta with pesto and veg., corn and potato chowder, roasted chicken thighs for the hubster with mac and cheese and broccoli. I’ll doctor up a frozen pizza to go with college football this Saturday. I’ll be making homemade bread and cornbread to go with the soups and probably a treat of some kind — probably brownies. It’s suddenly cool here in the Carolinas, and now that it’s not hot I want to make soup!
Patti Vanderbloemen says
Jealous over $1.89/dozen eggs….$4.99 still in Northern Virginia (Egglands Best) or $3.29 for store brand. It seems like every package of food I pick up in the store has shrunk in sized, but increased in price.
Sigh.
Daria says
If my child asks for a specific cereal, I’ll buy it. But definitely not at those prices. I get most of my cereal at CVS, using ECB and BOGO, and try to pay under $3 a box. I belong to BJ’s Wholesale Club and will occasionally buy cereal there, if there are good coupons. Rarely will I get cereal at Hannaford (only if they have a great sale).
I do the same thing with candy at CVS, but not too much bulk, of course; don’t need to have a ton of that on hand.
Kelly-Jo says
I never buy my kids sugar cereal. Cheerios, Rice Krispies and Rice Chex have enough sugar in them already! It’s probably not a shock to anyone, but the healthy cereals are actually more expensive! It’d be cheaper to feed my kids Cinnamon Toast Crunch! What is wrong with this world we now live in?!
SueD says
I remember very rarely my mother buying a sugared cereal for us. I did occasionally buy some for my sons, and either bought the non-sugared equivalent to mix 50/50, or they could have it as an after-school snack. They got a box of their favourite sugared cereal for their birthday and also one at Christmas.
FeralCat says
I just discovered late this summer that the “weeds” growing in the walkway cracks in my backyard are garlic chives! I neglected chopping them down this year, and white flowers sprung up from the chive plants a few weeks ago. Shazam! I have been chopping heaving amounts of garlic chives into cream cheese for bagels. This week I am planning on making chive-buttermilk biscuits. After a long hiatus of fermenting dairy, I fermented a quart of buttermilk and yogurt (from Siggi’s for the yogurt starter) this weekend. The buttermilk will be used for the biscuits and pancakes/waffles/bread/muffins the rest of the year.
Safeway had smaller bunches of celery for 99 cents two weeks ago, and apples for 99 cents a pound last week. I will be making a big batch of cream of celery soup this week, as well as a couple of apple crisps.
Annette says
Chocolate cake in case of a storm is always a good idea.
Sue S. says
We rarely had sugared cereal as kids, occasionally Sugar Pops, so I rarely bought it for mine and still don’t. I’ve taken to shopping primarily at Trader Joe’s and I spend much less, going to Shaws for certain cat food once in a while. Even our 15 year old Siberian Forest Cat eats wholesome food.
JulieP says
We don’t eat sugared cereal and our kids didn’t either 30 years ago, like above our son got one packet of honey nut crunch I think it was called for Christmas! Neither he nor his sister eat sugared cereal as adults. The jars, I think I’ve mentioned before that there was a time I bought my canning jars from the states as it was still cheaper to ship them to U.K. and thank goodness I did although some have gone astray I’ve got more than enough stocked in the garage. Here you can buy American mason jars they cost around £4 ($4.95) each and Kilner the U.K. brand runs at £18 for SIX $22.97. Eggs still very expensive here! I shop at Aldi or Lidl mostly as the larger supermarkets are charging ridiculous amounts for staples let alone anything slightly fancy. I don’t know how people are coping who have mortgages and loans and young kids to feed!
Jenny says
We grew a variety of black, lima , pinto, and red beans. We store them in gallon jars. We shell them while watching our favorite shows…not so bad. About 10-12 gallons worth of sustainable protein.
Terry McA says
My mother would never buy us those sugary cereals. We had farina, cream of wheat, wheaties, oatmeal, or puffed wheat/puffed rice. My favorite was always the puffed rice.
This week called for a little shopping. Crockpot cube steaks and gravy, crispy baked tilapia, skillet lasagna, and Kwik Trip’s bacon wrapped pork fillets. To fill in, there is leftover chili and leftover spaghetti from last week.
I really want to pay attention to how much I am spending next year. I should have my BA in Special Education and BA in Elementary Education by the end of December!