Recipes, Meal Planning, and Grocery Shopping.....

 This post is about how I grocery shop, meal plan, etc.  I always "plan" each week but this time my goal was to plan even better, mainly dinners for this post.  

Tips:  Normally I try to purchase and plan 2 weeks worth of meals.  When I buy my fresh veggies, I tend to use those up the first 7-8 days and then rely on my frozen veggies for the other meals down the road. We do run out of fruit each week so I will put back about $10 for fruit out of my budget which usually consists of banana's, apples, and strawberries.

So first off I went through all of my recipes.  I have hundreds printed and 3 cookbooks I refer to.  I also try to find recipes that call for the same ingredients for the most part.  I usually do this Wednesday night.  Once I find everything I want to make over the next 2 weeks, I get my notebook out and start writing down all the ingredients I need.

Next I head out to Costco (or wherever you choose to go) and grab my meat/frozen veggies/frozen fruit.  I normally try to do this Wednesday afternoon or Thursday as its not very busy compared to Friday and Saturday.  Most times I just buy meat there but I def check out the frozen veggies/fruit for deals, etc.  Water is also cheaper there.  Paper goods are also a great deal when you combine with an instant manf cpn.  This time around I needed TP and Paper Towels.

Paper Goods/Cleaning $28.68

Toilet Paper $18.99 - $4.30 Instant Cpn = $14.69 (This will last 4 weeks) = $3.67 week
Paper Towels $17.79 - $3.80 Instant Cpn = $13.99 (This will last 8 weeks) = $1.74 week

My meat /egg/frozen fruit purchase:

Costco Food $102

24 Pk Organic Eggs $6.99 = $3.50 week(This will last 2 weeks)
4 packs Bacon $8.99 = $2.24 each pack (This will last me 4 weeks)
Boneless Thighs Organic $19.36 = 2 meals
Ground Beef Organic 4 lbs $21.99= 3 meals
Organic Strawberries  4 lbs $10.59 = $2.64 week (This will last 4 weeks)
Organic Chicken Breast  $18.51 - $3 instant man cpn = $15.51 = 2 meals
Pork Tenderloin $18.04 = 2 meals + 2 days of leftovers for Justin and I

Next, I hit Aldi for a lot of my produce and I always shop on Friday or Saturday.  I make sure I have my notebook and pen and get everything on my list.

Here are the veggies I picked up for my meals............

ALDI

Pineapple $2.19

2 bags of frozen broccoli florets (to use later down the road when my fresh veggies are all gone) $1.19 each bag

Organic Banana's $1.38

Lemons $.35 each

Bag of Mini multi colored peppers $2.49

2 pack bell peppers $.99

3 pack tomato .99

Blueberries $2.49

Strawberries $1.69

Mushrooms .99

Granny Smith Apples $2.99

Pack of 4 squash $1.69

Pack of 4 Zucchini $.99

Organic baby carrots $1.49

Pack of 5 sweet pot $1.99

Organic Chicken Broth $1.79

Total $27.23

Here are the dairy items I picked up.

ALDI-

Almond Milk $2.29

Moo Tubes $1.79

OJ $2.09

1/2 G 1% Milk $2.19

Van Yogurt $1.89

Greek Yogurt $3.89

Organic Arugula $2.49

Total $16.63

ALDI- WATER $2.49

Good luck with your shopping!