The blog
Cheap Healthy Good recently did a posting on
groceries. How much do people spend? What is considered a reasonable amount? It got me thinking about how much John and I spend on groceries each week. I think we do pretty good, but obviously we could do better. So here goes...a typical week of shopping.
Before shopping we took a look in the fridge. We had a few mushrooms, some beef broth, and 1.5 potatoes. Beef stew was in our future.
The Farmer's Market- about $20
3 pears
1 pint strawberries
1 bag of baby arugula
1 bunch fresh thyme
1 bunch baby carrots
(like really baby carrots, not those whittled down ones from the super market)
1 head of garlic
1 sweet potato
1 jar of apricot brandy jam
(a splurge for sure, but come on it's got brandy!)
1 baggie of baby portobello mushrooms
Not as cheap as purchasing these things at the market, but we're willing to pay slightly more to buy directly from the farmers.
Henry's Market- about $50
1 box of high fiber cereal
1% milk half gallon
1.5 lbs. stew beef
2 onions
2 zucchini
1 cucumber
5 containers of yougurt
1 container beef broth
1 package of penne
.25 lbs. of havarti with dill
1 can crushed tomotoes
1 4-pack of vanilla creamed soda for a pool party
1 loaf of whole wheat bread (I usually bake it myelf, but it was over 100˚ and we have no A/C)
1 bottle of pineapple juice
5lb. sack of sugar
1 bunch asparagus
I feel like I'm forgetting a few things, but you get the gist.
Over all I feel like we eat pretty well. We mostly make our own food and I try to plan healthy and vegetable packed meals as often as I can. I also try to plan at least one vegetarian meal every week. This week it was pasta. I'd also like to mention my husband is out of town most of this week, so we only planned 2 big meals instead of our usual 3, but half of the stew is going into the freezer for a later week. Usually we'd have purchased more fruit, but it would be rotten in this heat if we didn't eat it right away. We did have a couple splurges, like expensive jam, cream soda, and pineapple juice.
We also usually eat out a couple times a week in addition to the groceries. I know, I know. Eating out is very expensive. You are totally right.
Here's a typical week.
Sunday
Breakfast: cereal, eggs & bacon, or bagels depending on what's left in the fridge
Lunch: out
Dinner: Main meal of the week, usually something I can take for lunch most of the week
Monday/Wednesday
Breakfast: cereal/fruit
Lunch: leftovers for me, mystery food for John (I'm pretty sure he eat out often during the week.)
Dinner: pre-ballet class sandwich for me/John scavenges again
Tuesday/Thursday
Breakfast: cereal/fruit
Lunch: leftovers for me, mystery food for John
Dinner: our 2nd/3rd pre-planned meals of the week.
Friday
Breakfast: cereal/fruit
Lunch: leftovers for me, mystery food for John
Dinner: out/3rd pre-planned meal (if not already cooked)
Saturday
Breakfast: cereal, eggs & bacon, or bagels depending on what's left in the fridge
Lunch: out
Dinner: out
Hmmm, we seem to eat out more than I thought. Part of this is due to my husband. I can eat the same thing for a week straight, but he refuses to eat the same thing two days in a row. That jerk! How dare he demand variety? To be fair, we don't always eat out all these meals. Most weekends we'll only eat twice in a day. Or maybe I'm volunteering and John's left to fend for himself. Actually John's left to fend for himself a lot. Sorry dear!
Most weekdays I have no idea what John eats unless I find evidence like missing left overs or take out cups. The other big adjustment is that my husband eats twice the portion size I do, so leftovers really don't stretch as far as I'd like most weeks.
So, what advice do you have? How can I get John to eat more leftovers? What recipes do you make that don't break the bank?
