We do weekly shopping trips, most weeks it's just for perishables; fruits, veggies and grains. However there's always that one week a month where I nearly faint at the check out line!
We have BJ's membership, my grandmother put me as a secondary card holder, so I utilize this and nearly abuse this card.
We love BJ's, their gas is about 8-15 cents cheaper per gallon, at any given time than a normal station. That's awesome since John drives 60 minutes a day! Then there's the perks of non perishable items, and freezer friendly items!
John has known for years I cook, and I do it pretty well. I make my own sloppy Joe sauce, which he has dubbed "shut the front door Joe's" but we go thru chicken the most. It just seems to fit our budget and our meal plans.
We get our chicken tenders at BJs, we usually buy the 5 pound bag, and divide it into 5-6 meals! You definitely don't need more than a pound of chicken per meal when you have other sides! We try to alternate the weeks that I go big with what meats, this week I was stupid and bought 2 roaster chickens, each will be no less than 2 complete meals, so 4 nights worth of chicken for $9.50? DEAL! That's less than $3.00 a meal!
I also bought 3.5 pounds of hamburger, this will be about 4-5 meals. I'm making a chili, I'm going to be using lots of tomatoes, peppers, onions, BEANS and maybe 1/2 pound of ground meat. Again, the more extra things you add the less you miss the meat! We use about 1/2-3/4 a pound for sloppy Joes, since I make them from scratch, I add carrots, onions, celery, garlic and sometimes black beans. Hamburgers are usually the biggest hamburger thief, but I opt into making a meatloaf over the hamburgers, it goes over a lot better.
Besides the 2 weeks we buy the expensive meats, we typically spend between $45 and $60 a week on groceries. We cut out soda, we don't buy food inbetween shopping trips. We buy a lot of veggies, you can add the "trio" to nearly anything. We also take advantage of farmers' markets. Why not?! We get zucchini, squash, onions, garlic, peaches, beans, berries! All for a great price and we support local farmers! Besides that they're always willing to give us the beat up lettuce or carrot greens for our pet rabbit! I spend between $6-$10 on fresh farm stand food a week.
We bought a 25 pound bag of rice a few months back, for $12 at BJs, still making about 3 meals a week with it! Adding veggie or chicken stock to it really adds a new flavor and makes it difference. We even make rice with vanilla and cinnamon as a healthy alternative snack!
We bought a 4 pack of organic whole wheat pasta, at BJs, for $3.99, that's at least 7 meals! I try not to use pasta more than once a week, it really bothers my stomach so I watch my pasta intake.
We bought an 8 pack of black beans, $4 I believe, 2 months ago, we use one can week...
We buy milk and cheese weekly, and bread. As easy as a loaf of bread is to make, Irish Soda Bread was a huge hit and I have a post about it on my blog, it isn't an everyday bread... Despite john's beliefs.
We have impulse items, and I usually try and buy snacks for Larry's lunch that lasts more than 1 week. This week we bought Gogurts- $8 for 32, and Pretzels- $7 for way more than I need, they'll be going out to trick or treaters! That's at least 4 weeks worth of school snacks, for $15, we forgot juice boxes so I'll make Lipton tea and put it in his reusable bottle and use up the $8 container that makes 32 gallons of tea!! (It's lasted us upwards of a dozen lemonade stand days, and 2 parties!!!)
It's about buying items you don't get sick of, and buying enough that you won't, we never buy the same cereal twice in a row, we alternate and try and get a healthy option: $3.79, at wegman's I bought a 2 pack of Shredded Wheat! I love it! I eat it with milk, I warm up the milk on cold days, i eat it dry. I love it. John picked out fruity pebbles. Again if we start getting tired (yeah right) of it we'll make larry snack bars for school with marshmallows, butter and fruity pebbles!
The most wasted item in the house? BANANAS! I buy 3 pounds at bj's for 1.49 and by the next shopping trip, I'm making banana bread!
I hope this gave you some ideas and if you have any questions, please ask! I'm always happy to share recipes, ideas and just be helpful!
I cook as if there are 4 of us, because that way john always has a lunch the next day!
