While the HH and The Girl were away last week, I didn’t cook a single thing from scratch. All my meals {and sweet treats} came from the freezer section here at Camp Butterfield.
Well, that’s not true, I did start each day with a bowl of oatmeal {with some jam mixed in for sweetness} so I guess technically did do some cooking? But not really, because I used the microwave.
Meal prep. I’m telling you, it’s the way to go. Especially with summer {and all those outdoor chores!} right around the corner. Who wants to be inside cooking when you can be outside playing in the dirt?
I know I don’t.
So anytime I cook something from scratch in the coming months, you can bet your bunnies I’ll be freezing the extra portions to pop in the freezer for all those days I won’t feel like being in the kitchen.
It’s a careful balance though, knowing how many meals to sock away vs making sure to leave room for all the garden produce I plan to grow this summer.
I figure I can add meals to the freezer until late June… Then we’ll need to eat the pre-made meals by late July to make room for the garden goodness.
That’s this year’s plan anyway. We’ll see how it goes.
The Duck Lady $4.00
I was in the mood to make some cookies, so I bought some eggs from The Duck Lady. Then the mood passed. 😉
Hannaford $8.04
The eggs were $2.66 a dozen in case you were wondering.
The HH ran an errand yesterday and decided to pop by the grocery store and pick me up some bananas {I LOVE bananas!} and grabbed some eggs because “They were such a good deal.”
I told him $0.99 for a dozen of sad chicken eggs was a good deal… But I think he was having flashbacks to when egg prices were over $5 dozen this past winter. Remember that?
Hannaford has whole chickens on sale again for $0.99 a pound this week. I think I’ll try and stop by and grab a few for the freezer.
And lastly, reader Sue from Cape Cod sent me this photo of a few items she picked up at her local Stop and Shop last week.
“I’m appalled! This little bit rang up at $78.00!! I confess about $25.00 of it was allergy meds. But really? At Stop and Shop?
Toothpaste was 3 for 10 but that was the only bargain.”
When I saw the photo all I could think about was how back in my extreme couponing days, toothpaste would have been free and I’m pretty sure I could have worked all those other items into some double coupon deals and left the register only paying pennies for them… If that.
Oh how the times have changed. 😉
So how did YOU do this past week? Did you find any sweet deals? Do you have a game plan in place for your summer meals so you’re not stuck in a hot kitchen all summer? Do tell. We all want to know.
~Mavis
*****
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries $12.04
- Total Spent on Groceries in May $12.04
- 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 $398.15
Susan says
I keep hearing that the price of eggs has fallen but in FL, large white eggs are still almost $3.50/dozen with free-range and organic significantly more. I am quite jealous of your local prices.
It’s lovely that you had such a productive week while alone!
Jennifer says
Susan, my son lives in Tampa and his WM has the same egg prices as ours here in NC, $1.70 for a dozen. I’m not sure if it’s a more regional thing, but maybe it’s a sign they’ll be coming down soon. He sent me a screenshot of the 60 ct. the other day and they were $8.04, down from $20 back during the winter.
Jennifer says
Eggs here in NC are $1.70 at WM. Not a great price compared to 2 or 3 years ago, but when you go through a dozen every week, much better. Dh and I were both down with allergies and didn’t eat a few meals so that helped.
Food Lion had bl/sl chicken breasts for 1.79, which is 40% off anybody anywhere so I grabbed a few packages. They also had Boston Butts/pork shoulders on sale for .99#. There is no other jack of all trades cut of pork so I love buying them and either cooking them whole or breaking them down into multiple meals.
Tammy says
On Saturday I went to a discount grocery store and I got organic cereal for $1.50/box. It’s around $6 at Walmart, so that was a great deal! I also got a few other things that will help the grocery budget. When I go to the discount grocery store I try not to buy things that I wouldn’t buy otherwise, and things that can freeze well. For instance, I got a case of hummus for $5 and popped it all in the freezer, and I got 5 containers of guacamole for $5 that I also stuck in the freezer. I also got some random snack items that will be good for my daughter’s packed lunches.
Noelle says
Fred Meyer marked down all the easter hams! I bought two large hams for $8.50 each.
Going to slice them up and put them in the freezer.
Mavis Butterfield says
That is a deal!!
Terry McA says
It was a pretty unexpensive week for me here. I spent $1.18 on 2 lemons and $4 on a 3 lb bag of red potatoes. I did not cook for much of the week, my fibro had flared up and made me miserable. I heated up soup and stew from the freezer (well, my brother did) for a few nights. The lemons and potatoes were used to make Lemon/Oregano chicken and potatoes, and some nice roasted potatoes with a couple sirloin steaks from the freezer.
This week, I have to work on heating up the meals I have in the freezer so I can work on replenishing them soon with lighter meals for summer. Tonight it’s Manwich pie, tomorrow is crockpot chicken gyros. With the weather getting warmer, I will be having more crockpot meals so I don’t have to turn on the oven.
Hope everyone has a good week.
Ashley Bananas says
I continue to shop at Aldi for food as it’s overall cheaper than other stores. We are eating very simply lately and trying to use up items I have in the fridge, freezer, and pantries. I’m in SWFL and things are ridiculously expensive and dont seem to be coming down. I will check egg prices again when I go shopping for them. We dont go through them fast, so it’s not something I buy to often or buy in too large of a quantity. I try to buy clearance meat at Aldi, it was a miss this week, but I’ll keep trying again. Persistence!!
And yes – I miss the extreme couponing days too!
Patti Vanderbloemen says
Wow – $2.66 a dozen! I paid $6.99 for 18 Eggland’s Best on Friday (the store brand cost more) – here in Northern Virginia.
I need to move….
Brianna says
Also in NOVA, I paid $1.35/18ct eggs Hillendale Farms today at my Commissary. I grabbed two because I have no idea if it was a fluke in the system as the cashier and bagged were both shocked at the price when they rang up. Apparently there is also a shortage/issue with strawberries (3.79/lb) green grapes, and iceberg lettuce ($2.49/head) and a few other produce items right now (they had signs posted). I really need a garden!
Melinda says
I’m also in NOVA – dozen eggs at Aldi in Woodbridge were $1.29.
kristen says
I was in RI yesterday and Market Basket has eggs for .99 a dozen!
Mavis Butterfield says
Thats a crazy good deal!
Lisa says
I was shocked that a big bottle of ketchup was over $4.
Last I saw in Maine eggs were $1.99. I try to buy from a local farm for $5 just because they are bigger and taste better.
sandyf says
I buy the specials-and stick with simple, fresh, basics, no premade, no frozen ( unless it is Trader Joes Chinese Chicken) foods. Aldi cannot be beat, paired with Trader Joes and an occasional Costco run. Buy what is on sale, fresh and simple. Good food is important to us, produce is a staple, and good coffee.
We BBQ either chicken or some type of meat-and make burritos, tacos, bowls, etc for a few nights. As long as I have jalapeños, onions, black beans, rice, tomatoes, and avocados stocked-we are solid. And a pint or two of ice cream…
I love reading everyones responses.
Mimi says
No deals for me last week. I have a question though…is anyone else freaked out by the size of chickens these days? My older cookbooks have recipes for whole chickens weighing 3 – 3 1/2 lbs. but when I was shopping for whole chickens recently at Fred Meyer they weighed on average 6 lbs. The ginormous chickens creep me out. The organic chickens I’d rather buy are petite but 3 times the price. Why does grocery shopping have to be a minefield of choices and decisions?
Michelle of Ephrata says
My friends raise meat birds. They are specific variety that grow quickly and hefty. Truly the biggest meat birds I have ever seen even compared to grocery stores. Perhaps thats what has changed? Breeds of birds to produce faster and larger for production.
Mimi says
Hopefully it’s the breed and not something more nefarious. The smaller chickens are easier to deal with – I don’t think bigger is better in this case.
Psuchica212345 says
Eggs here in South Central PA (Berks & Lancaster co) have dropped…alot! (Inalso try to pick mine up at the Mennonite store so I can support a family farm). I think jumbo browns were 2.39.
What gob smacks me… frozen pizzas! Holy hanna…may as well go.to.pizza hut, papa John’s or maybe dominoes… I just can’t justify 10 bucks for a frozen pizza when for the same price (if pizza hut is running a deal) I can get one hot and far better…
Bacon too seems to be slowly coming down. I admit, I think about my grandparents talking g about the depression & ration cards…and wonder…what they would think!
Cathy says
The Duck Lady has pretty eggs.
Peggy says
Is Stop and Shop a convenience store?
Sue S. says
No, it’s a major chain here in New England and the prices are typically higher in summer because of the tourist factor, but in the last year they have just soared. I have to re enroll in the Mavis Butterfield school of economics.
tia in boise says
Yes, those eggs are gorgeous!
$3.33 for toothpaste?! Good grief! I still get toothpaste for free occasionally at Walgreens. The most I will pay for it is $1 (also at Walgreens).
Eggs are down to about $2-something here in Boise. Was excited to see some on sale at Fred Meyer not long ago for $.88—oh–because the sell-by date was only days away. I still grabbed a dozen. (The one time I froze eggs, it went terribly wrong, so not trying to do that again.)
Julie P says
I freeze eggs all the time Tia. I ziplock the amount of eggs I would use for an omelette or cake. I beat them first lightly and add a pinch of salt if for a savoury recipe or a pinch of sugar if for sweet things. Get out of freezer and defrost before using, they don’t take long to defrost.