Tag: grocery haul

Spending time flat on your back is not fun! That is what I have been doing since I last wrote. Sitting is the worst thing for my back and hip, so the doctor told me to stay flat or get up and walk around.

The day after I last posted, I was coming up the stairs from the basement and I had the worst pain in my back that felt like my back was collapsing. So between rest and painkillers, I have been taking it easy and trying to recover. I can’t lay around the rest of my life. I had planned on getting started on my Federal and State taxes last week but that thought went out of the window. Fortunately I have until April to do them.

I started to feel a little better the end of last week, so I took it really easy over the weekend and today I actually was able to go out for a quick grocery shop.

At Aldi’s, I purchased 2 lbs. of carrots , 2 Parmesan Crisps( for snacks), a large bag of pistachios, a bag of coleslaw, a head of cabbage, a cantaloupe, celery, a cucumber, and 3 peppers. I spent $ 19.36. We were in desperate need of fresh fruit and veggies after two weeks. The cashier charged me for 3 Parmesan crisps so I will have to get that straightened out the next time I go. When I first looked for the head of cabbage, I couldn’t find it. So I picked up the coleslaw mix. Then I found the cabbage head. But I decided to keep them both because I was running out of steam. The store was extremely hot and I was starving because I hadn’t had breakfast. I finally ate it about 12:45pm. The head of cabbage will keep for a long time so we will eat the coleslaw first. But it will be the last time we buy the coleslaw mix. We will get the head of cabbage while it is in season and shred it up with our attachment for our Kitchen Aid mixer. We do the carrots that way too.

At Top’s I got some items that were on sale. I got two Rao’s spaghetti sauce for $ 5.99 each and 4 Top’s shredded cheese(2 mozzarella and 2 taco blend). They were 4 for $9.00. Hubby and I love eating meatballs cooked in the sauce with mozzarella cheese melted on top. The taco cheese will go on our taco salads for dinner tonight. Hubby cooked enough for 2 nights last night.

Hubby has been a huge help to me the last couple of weeks. He has done most of the cooking and dishes. He has done all the errands that absolutely had to get done. He has been working on organizing the garage. He also has done a bit of cleaning and laundry. He even sewed some buttons on a shirt. I have done a little when I have been standing up but it takes a toll on me after a while. So as I continue to get better, I will be on here when I can. I best sign off now before my hip starts hurting.

What have you guys been doing frugally the last few weeks? I have missed you all.

I will catch up on comments a little later today.

Yesterday, I went out and did my weekly grocery shopping. I needed the berries and the avocados which I purchased at Aldi. The berries were $1.99 and the avocados were $ 2.69. The avocados will be eaten with my eggs for breakfast. The berries will be put in sugar free jello for dessert.

My best deal was at Top’s. They had sirloin tip roasts for $ 4.99 a lb. The larger one will be cut up into stew meat which will give us 8 meals. The smaller one will be ground into hamburger with my Kitchen Aid mixer grinder attachment. That will give us 5 meals. I paid $ 11.03 and $ 19.41 for the roasts.

The bacon cost me $4.99 and will be used for a Sunday breakfast when my family comes. The tuna was on sale for 3 cans for $ 5.00. I bought 6 cans.

My total was $ 50.11.

While I was out I filled our SUV up at the Top’s station using $.30 off a gallon in Top’s points. I paid $ 3.40 a gallon after the points. The per gallon price was cheaper after the points than my cash station.

I also finished my Christmas shopping. It feels good to have that done.

This week we have no appointments which is amazing. So I plan on doing some laundry, cleaning, and a lot of work on my finances and budgeting for the 2023 year. I hope you all are working on your budgeting for next year also. Posts on what we are doing will be coming up in December. It has been a rough year for all of us with inflation. I want to save as much money as possible next year and stop giving it to these large businesses who are making ridiculous profits. They are getting rich while the rest of us are getting poor. We are experiencing the largest transfer of wealth that I have ever seen. We can’t do a lot about what they and our government are doing but we can tighten up our households and hang onto some money.

This morning after getting some office work done, I went out to run the errands. Hubby wanted me to pick up some reflectors for the mailbox. Our town has a habit of taking it out when they snow plow. The weather people are predicting snow for here on Sunday. So I went to Home Depot to find the red ones that he wanted. They were only $5.27. If that saves us money from having to buy a new mailbox this year, it will be well worth the cost.

Aldi’s was about half a block up the road. I went in and got 6 more butter at $ 2.49 each. Next week, I only have to pick up 3 more to have a year’s worth.

Last stop was Niagara Produce. I was so happy that I went there. You all know that I have not been able to find heavy whipping cream for a couple of weeks. I got 3 for $ 6.29 each. Expensive, but Hubby has been asking me to make some peanut butter Keto ice cream. Finally, Jif has the sugar free peanut butter back on the shelves. I got some but have not been able to find the heavy cream I needed to make it. Now I will make it this weekend and he will be a happy guy.

I picked up a large package of ground round for $ 11.68 and a package of cube steaks for $ 5.24. I found a Keto recipe that I want to try next week with those. I also got a pound of radishes for $ 1.99, a block of cheddar cheese for $ 2.69, 4 tomatoes for $ 4.22, and a bag of romaine lettuce for $ 1.69. My total was $ 46.38.

Late afternoon we watched CSI: Las Vegas that Hubby had taped last night. Dinner tonight was salad and jalapeno cheddar smoked sausages. Hubby loves these and I think he would eat them every day if I would let him.

Yesterday, I went out into the 2 car garage to clean it about 9am. I got everything cleaned up and organized on the shelves and workbench and tool drawers. I cut up 2 large cardboard boxes and got those in the recycle bin. Hubby came out in the afternoon when I was done to pressure wash the floor. It cleans up so beautifully since we had the floor enameled. By the time the floor was dry and we could put everything back in it, it was 4pm. So we went in the house and called our eldest son. It was his birthday. I felt bad that we couldn’t celebrate it with him but at least we could talk to him. But my granddaughter is there and they went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse so I am sure they had a nice celebration. We are looking forward to seeing him for Thanksgiving.

We are under a State of Emergency here. We had an hour and a half storm late yesterday afternoon that was the worst Hubby and I have ever seen. We got 5.7 inches of rain during that period, thunder and lightning, golf ball sized hail,and 60 mile an hour winds. We have had so much rain in the past 3 weeks that the ground just couldn’t soak it up. Where they are building behind us was flooded with water. There were many streets shut down including a main road that gets you through town. I had to venture out for a necessary appointment this morning and had to take detours around two roads that were shut down. In the city just north of us, many streets were closed and many basements are flooded. There are tree limbs down everywhere. We had no damage that we have noticed. But I am not sure that my tomato plants didn’t take a hit from the hail pelting them. Time will tell.

On my way home from my appointment, I stopped at Aldi’s to pick up strawberries and blueberries. The strawberries were a little overripe and when I turned them over to look at the bottom, they were covered in mold. Needless to say I left them in the store. I did get 2 containers of blueberries. But while I was there, I did a quick sweep of the store and found quite a bargain. The Cafe Bustelo coffee which I love was for $2.82 a brick . It is an expresso ground coffee. Since coffee prices are set to rise significantly again, I got 6 bricks. It is the best price in our area right now.

Then I stopped at Top’s to fill up our gas tank which was empty by half. I stopped into the market to pick up one more bottle of Diet Coke for $ .99 and a pound of butter for $ 2.69 with store coupons. When I walked into the market, right in front of me was a sign that said manager’s special. It was these organic strawberries for $ 2.00 a package.

So there are still bargains to be had if you just keep your eyes open while you are shopping.

Because of the storm last night, Hubby could not grill our steak. So we quickly made Chef’s salads instead and he will grill the steak tonight. There is always food in our home that we can make quickly when dinner plans change last minute.

Have any of you found any unexpected bargains recently?

Now that West has gone home, I can get back on some kind of schedule around here until the end of August when he comes again for a week.

So today, I did a grocery shop at Niagara Produce. They had local cucumbers on sale 4 for $ 1.00. I love these in salads and for a snack with a sprinkle of salt. I also picked up a bag of shrimp. We have not purchased much shrimp lately because of the price. But this was an entire pound for $7.99. We use this for the Shrimp Fra Diavolo that we make. So that pound will give us two meals.

I don’t know if any of you have heard of Rastelli’s or tried their meats. They are located in New Jersey. We have never had their beef but we have had their premium pork chops many times. They are outstanding! Some of the best meat we have ever eaten. So when I saw that Niagara Produce had their beef strip loin steaks on sale for $ 6.99 each, I got 4. They are 10 ounce Beef Striploin steaks. So they will give us 4 meals. If we like them, I will go back and get 12 more. I have never seen Rastelli’s meats at this produce store before. We will be grilling one for dinner tonight.

I also finally found some Ball quart jars and lids there too. My total bill for all was $ 61.24.

As I was making eggs and sausage for breakfast this morning, I saw something that I have never seen in all of my years.

I cracked an egg to find a double yolk in it. Has anyone ever seen this? I was thrilled to have 3 egg yolks instead of 2 on my Keto diet.

I hope you are all are having a good day. I am off to get some cleaning done around here before we grill out tonight.

This past week was a fill in shopping trip. Both stores were on my route so as to maximize my gasoline. Gasoline has been as high as $2.90 a gallon here and I expect that it will eventually go up even higher. Saving gasoline is very important in my plan.

Eggs have been very expensive the last couple of weeks. The best price I had found was $ 1.79 last week at Aldi. I desperately needed eggs because of my son and West coming for breakfast. Niagara Produce changes their weekly specials and they reset last Friday. I was thrilled to see that the extra large eggs were $ 1.19. So I went there first and picked up 2 dozen. They also had cantaloupes priced at 2 for $ 3.00. We have been loving those for breakfasts and desserts.

As you can see my total rang up at $5.98 which was incorrect. I should have paid attention to the fact that the eggs rang up at $1.49 instead of the $1.19 they were on sale for but I was in a hurry. I will get my $ .60 back the next time I go there.

My second and last stop was at Aldi’s. Butter and the cream cheese were on sale and we use a lot of those so I picked up one of each. We always buy our half and half at this store because their price is the cheapest. The stuffing mixes are a stockpile item and were on sale for $.69 each.

Hubby and I have been loving their flavored waters which are only $.55 for the big bottle. That is $ .02 cheaper than Walmart.

My Dollar Tree no longer has the big boxes of Scotties. They now sell a 74 count box for a dollar so I have been picking up our tissues at Aldi because they now have the best price per count.

The last item I purchased was the Artisan bread. About every two weeks I make a pizza for dinner on these. It is delicious, is easy to put together, and bakes quickly. Hubby loves it. They come in a package of 2 so one gets frozen for later.

I spent a total of $ 14.12 at Aldi. So my total for these two stores this past week was $ 20.10. However, I will be getting my $ .60 back from Niagara Produce.

I am writing this post on Saturday morning and I am excitedly waiting the arrival of my son and grandson. We will be having scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast along with a special treat that West will love: cinnamon buns.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment.