{I wrote this post yesterday–Tuesday–as planned, but right before I hit “publish,” I lost my internet connection. Sorry this is late.}
It’s a good thing that I was under budget last week because this week was tough. We were out of basically everything. We had been traveling over the weekend, and the first shopping trip after a time away is always a doozy.
I had hoped to blog about my Aldi “techniques,” but with a very busy weekend followed by an equally full week, I’ll have to save that post for another time. Our groceries came from Aldi and from Wal*Mart this week. I did the bulk of the shopping this morning (Tuesday) at Aldi, but Cory planned and purchased the ingredients for Monday’s meal–a quick trip to Wal*Mart. Several of the things he bought will last more than this week alone. For example, he bought apples and rolls that we didn’t entirely consume on Monday. I’ll have to make another stop at Shop ‘n Save for peanut butter, but I’ve already factored in the cost.
Goal: $120 Actual: $114 (Aldi) + $36 (Wal*Mart) + $4 (Shop ‘n Save) = $154 (EEEK!!!)
And here’s my plan…
Monday: Roethlisburgers. Fruit salad.
Tuesday: Free meals at Chick-fil-A for Cow Appreciation Day {Yes, we all dressed up like cows in order to earn free meals for each of us. See extremely awkward photo at the end of the post.}
Wednesday: Lasagna. Tossed salad.
Thursday: Fish tacos. Parmesan cauliflower bites.
Friday: Pork chops. Roasted brussel sprouts. Rice.
Saturday: Chicken salads.
Sunday: Roasted chicken. Mixed Vegetables. Mashed potatoes.
Wondering about the Roethlisburgers? Well, we are Steelers fans. A few years ago, a Pittsburgh restaurant came up with a sandwich that they named The Roethlisburger after the quarterback, Ben Roethlisburger. It’s a blend of ground beef, ground Italian sausage, scrambled eggs, and American cheese on a sub roll. On Monday, exhausted from aforementioned traveling, I told Cory that I didn’t have any ideas for Monday’s dinner. After work, he stopped by the store. For some reason, The Roethlisburger popped into his head, so he decided to make them for us. He also bought some fresh fruit and chopped up a salad. The whole meal was delicious, and I didn’t have to do a thing. Even better!
Please stop by to visit the other bloggers who are working toward great food on a purposeful budget. Have fun!
- McGinnis and Bean
- Rainaldi.org
- Red Pen Mama
- Erra Creations
- Seeking White Space
- Gardening in High Heels
- Melissa Firman
- Copy & Post
- Shea Lennon
- Warm as Pie
- Two Eggs Over Easy
- Emily Levenson
Warm as Pie 
That photo is damn adorable.
those cauliflower bites look amazing. I may have to try those and see who bites (aside from me, of course.)
Shopping after being away can always be a mess. I wonder how to prevent that? I ran into the same issue when we got back from Chicago earlier this year. maybe a freezer meal or two would keep me from panicking and buying all the things!
Those are the cutest cow costumes! (I had visions of a big cow suit from Halloween… )
I’m with Dawn, it can be really hard to transition back into shopping after a trip away. Perhaps it’s because we try to clean our entire fridge out so that things don’t go to waste. But that ends up making it a bigger trip when we return. Freezer meals would be a good compromise.
Actually, we did that when we went away last time. We came home to a stir fry with steaks we had in the freezer, leftover veggies, and rice. It helped to not have to run out to the store immediately and then make bad choices due to being tired and unprepared.