And...we ran out of money again. This time it wasn't really our fault; there was a mistake with paychecks and we'll get the money eventually, but for now, we have run out of money. Which means that I have to shop with a credit card (boooo!). Which means that I can't shop at WinCo, because they don't accept credit cards. My only other choices are Walmart and Safeway. I despise Walmart, so I picked Safeway.
Not everything at Safeway is expensive, but on the whole, it's a lot more than a budget store. I spent more than I usually do, and I really didn't buy that much, because I didn't need to (I already had plenty of staples such as oats, a large hunk of pork sirloin in the freezer, rice, yeast, balsamic vinegar, tortillas, frozen strawberries, etc).
Week's meal plan:
Breakfasts: steel cut oats with plain unsweetened yogurt and frozen strawberries OR eggs on toast
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, apples, carrots, celery, cheese. Leftovers, if we have them.
Snacks/desserts: grapes, oranges, cheese
Dinners:
1) Crock pot balsamic pork roast from Skinnytaste.com, sides of basmati rice and coleslaw
2) Leftover pork and coleslaw wraps
3) Almost-Foolproof Roast Chicken with baked potatoes and a side of coleslaw and/or frozen peas (and will make the chicken carcass into stock in my slow cooker)
4) Chicken pot pie soup from Skinnytaste.com, side of Easy White Bread made into buns (I'm going to make 9 and freeze them so I have enough for 3 meals).
5) Leftover soup and buns.
6) Cheese and tomato pasta bake, side of frozen vegetables
7) Carrot, cumin and kidney bean burgers from A Girl Called Jack (one of my absolute heroes!) with more of the homemade buns and a side of frozen vegetables.
This week's groceries:
Fruits and vegetables:
1.77lb navel oranges 1.75
1.21lb cabbage 0.83
1.75 lb celery 1.73
4.04 lb russet potatoes 2.79
3.84 lb Fuji apples 6.87
1 onion 0.58
1.66 lb carrots 0.81
8 oz white mushrooms 1.99
1 head of garlic 0.50
2.5 lbs red grapes 7.48
Dairy/eggs
Lucerne large eggs (12) 2.09
1 lb Lucerne medium cheddar (block) 3.99
Mountain High plain unsweetened yogurt 2.79
2 x Safeway Organics half gallons of milk 7.18
Meat:
1 whole chicken, reduced a lot because it had reached its sell-by date: 5.85
Frozen:
Pantry Essentials 12 oz mixed frozen vegetables 0.79
Misc:
1 can Safeway brand red kidney beans 0.89
1 lb Safeway brand macaroni elbows 0.99
5 lbs Safeway brand unbleached flour 2.39
Safeway Organics crunchy peanut butter 3.79
Safeway brand 100% whole wheat bread 1.99
2 cans Safeway brand diced tomatoes 1.38
Total: 59.45
Observations: I was so annoyed about having to use a credit card that I was in a bad mood for the entire time I was shopping, until Baby B decided to entertain me by singing a song of her own invention about our dog's bathroom habits. I was secretly worried that someone was going to call me to the front of the store to collect my Worst Mother of the Year 2014 award.
Some things at Safeway really are cheap. I have no problem with spending a dollar for a pound of macaroni. They have the best peanut butter in town (I refuse to eat peanut butter that's full of hydrogenated oils, or contains palm oil). But some of their produce really is more expensive. $7.48 for a bunch of grapes that don't look half as fresh or as nice as the WinCo ones! And their organic milk costs more than the organic milk I get at WinCo. And I really don't like the Lucerne brand for eggs and dairy. Their store-brand canned beans are vastly more expensive than WinCo's. I felt that I bought fewer groceries than I normally do, but it cost more. I'm not saying Safeway is a rip-off. It's a good store, and I like many things about it, such as its really good butcher/fishmonger department. And I know that WinCo only doesn't allow credit cards so it can keep its prices cheaper. But I'm still grouchy.
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