Adventures in the Aisles of Wal-Mart

So last week commenced our adventure of "limited" grocery shopping in an effort to trim the fat from our grocery budget.

The Plan:   Meal plan for two weeks & grocery shop ONCE to cover everything we'd need.


First off, create your menu. I find this is the best method to avoid over-buying and forgetting anything while you're at the store. Also, do an inventory of what you already have since it makes no sense to go out and buy more of what you already have at home!  Don't forget to plan your side dishes & veggies!! Our menu plan looked like this:

Week One:
Tuesday (shopping day)   -   General Tso's Chicken
Wednesday                     -   Philly Cheese-steaks w/ homemade fries
Thursday                         -   Sloppy Joes w/ salad
Friday                             -   Grilled Steak & Portabella w/ salad
Saturday                         -   *No Meal* (We attended a wedding that served dinner.)
Sunday                           -   Broccoli & Cheddar Soup
Monday                         -   Chicken Marsala w/ Roast potatoes & peas

Week Two:
Tuesday                          -   Cheeseburgers w/ salad
Wednesday                     -   Pulled Portk w/ asparagus
Thursday                         -   Chicken Cordon Blue w/ rice & salad
Friday                             -   Sausage & Spinach Soup
Saturday                         -   Baked Beans, Hot Dog, Salad & Biscuits
Sunday                           -   Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Monday                         -   Chicken & Dumplings
Tuesday                         -   Turkey Taco Soup


At this posting, we are currently on the last day of week one. Our menu plan has held up, however, Sunday night we were invited to a family member's house for dinner and I did not end up making the soup.  Rather than pushing everything back a day, I am skipping it and continuing with the rest of the meal plan.  Since it is summer and fresh produce is cheap, we are eating a lot of salads with our meals...at least, for as long as our salad supply holds out!  We have a large surplus of frozen veggies, so we can easily substitute something in for salad, if we do end up running out.

Side Note:  Some of you may be thinking that we eat a lot of red meat...or a lot of meat in general and - we do! We enjoy it.  We try to eat more poultry than red meat, but turkey is expensive and chicken can get boring.  At 4 & 1/2 months pregnant, I literally CRAVE red meat. (I regularly struggle with anemia and while I am well aware of all the alternative sources of iron, my body always feels better after indulging in a yummy steak, or a perfectly grilled burger.)  My husband is a work-out nut (in my opinion, since I do NOT work-out!), and always needs plenty of protein in his diet and since neither of us have any health issues or restrictions in our diet, we pretty much eat what we like!  Our goal in eating "well" is to avoid as many preservatives and "fake" foods as possible.
     Obviously if you feel differently or have other dietary needs your menu plan and recipes will look a lot different than ours.  I just want to point out, that I do add a lot of beans and spinach into our meals for alternative sources of protein and iron.

The menu plan is for dinners, with the idea that we will prepare extra and have leftovers the following day.  This has worked out quite well in the first week.  It was my objective to plan at least 3 soups into a two week time-frame and make double batches to freeze.  This means that in the coming months, we can take a jar of soup out of the freezer and dinner is even quicker & easier than the first time.




Secondly, go alone.  While I absolutely adore my husband and my two-year old attachment, it is a nice change to get out of the house completely & 100% ALONE!!  Being alone helps you to focus (there are enough distractions as it is...especially in the Wal-Mart) and there's less of a chance you'll buy extras - if your partner or children are anything like mine!!

Okay...so two hours in Wal-Mart and a quick trip in to Hannaford to pick up what Wal-Mart didn't have, had our grocery total just over $300 ($326.48, to be exact) and $75 under what I would 'typically' spend in two weeks time.  Good start, so far. I was quite pleased with this, even though some of you may be thinking this number is severely high for a family of 3.  It's less than normal and that's a start!  I did purchase a few extras that I don't normally buy, but we'll see how much carries over into weeks 3 & 4 and hopefully I will have redeemed myself!!

Before I get blasted for shopping at Wal-Mart, here's my defense...I have no other options! While I would love to support every farmer in a 50-mile radius by purchasing locally grown produce, and locally raised meat, it's not financially possible.  Our yearly income, after taxes has us WELL below $30,000, half of which goes towards our house payment, property taxes & insurance.  As part of our adventure to eat well on a budget, we will explore home-grown solutions to some of our more expensive expenditures.  This, of course, takes additional money for set-up and supplies.  It's not out of the question...just a matter of time before it gets done.  In the past, we have raised a pig and chickens for meat.  We currently have a large flock of chickens for eggs, but they have taken over any space that would allow for any other farm animals.  In time, we plan to re-build a larger space for animals and hope to raise as much of our own meat as possible.  In the meantime... it's Wal-Mart all the way!


Thirdly, prep everything when you get home.  I know. You just spent hours shopping. You're tired. You're worn out. You're probably hungry. But if you get all your food prepped, you'll make the rest of the week (or two) go by so much quicker!  I have hubby help with this project.

I write on my freezer bags what the meal is - for example:  "Chicken Marsala". I also write how many       chicken breasts I want in the bag (for his reference) and he goes to town dicing, slicing, and splitting chicken to put in all the different bags.  If the meals are to be made after the date the meat should be used by, I just throw them in the freezer.  A day or two before, I grab that bag, let it thaw, and my prep is THAT much quicker for dinner.  I put all my meat into freezer bags for the next couple weeks. It keeps clutter out of my fridge, keeps prep time at a minimum throughout the next couple weeks, and I don't have to wonder which bag of chicken was for which meal.

Prep also include fruits & veggies - if they need them.  Having your produce washed, cut up & ready to eat makes snacking so much easier for the whole family.

Where are we: Currently, we're on track to finish up our two week meal plan without going to the store.  Next week is our daughter's birthday, though, and that will require it's own special trip which will not be a part of our plan.  Some of the fruits/veggies for her party would just not have survived until the end of two weeks!

I'm hoping to update about my grocery trips weekly - once when I actually go shopping, and once at the halfway mark to let you know if my plan is working out or not.  I will be adding additional tips in between grocery posts, but hopefully if you're thinking of trying a shopping method like ours, you find some of these tips a helpful start!