Grocery shopping 101: August is off to a good start!

Despite not having a car for a whole month, I think we can call July a success in the grocery department. I ended up spending $174.27 for the month, and that included 6 bottles of wine. I shopped at the regular grocery store more than I would have if I could have driven to Aldi, so that also contributed to higher spending. Meh...still not bad. 

August is off to a good start. Loaded up for the next week and splurged a little on dinners for me and my main squeeze to have this weekend. Total bill was $79.39. Here's the breakdown.

I I went a bit over board, but I wanted to have a few extra nice meals. I spent $14 on steaks alone. Not something I would usually do for myself, that's for sure! I also got frozen salmon fillets which will last for quite some time. Looks like I spent a lot for one week if my goal is only $160 a month. Having my main squeeze here for the weekend, and it being the first shopping trip of the month both make for the higher total. It will all even out.

 Here's a little insight into my general strategy for grocery shopping.

• You are what you eat! I am by no means a perfect eater. I keep in mind what is necessary for health when I shop for food. With the occasional exception, try to steer clear of foods that don't contribute nourishment for health. The cuts down on about 80% of the grocery store.
• What can I do with what I already have?  I really try to assess my fridge, freezer and pantry before I head to the store. That way I can use up what I have instead of buying more than I need. Waste not, want not! I make a note of what meals would be possible if I just had 1 or 2 other things. Planing around what I already have helps keep the list to a minimum. I don't worry so much about planning the gaps. I tend to keep a mental tally of some favorite recipes so that I can fill in the menu gaps depending on what’s available when I get to the store.
• The mental list:  My shopping list is pretty stable from week to week. The way my store is arranged, I skip right through the first isle of chips and cookies and snacks to the back for eggs, milk, butter (when I need it), yogurt, and shredded cheese. Then I hit up the produce section. I go a bit crazy in this section! Whatever looks good goes in the cart until I have what I think is enough to get at least 5 generous servings of fruits and vegetables each day.  Then I go look at the meat. If something is on a crazy sale, I might buy it to put in the freezer. Then I grab anything else I might need to complete my mental meal plan. Example: If Italian sausage is on sale, I might go back for an onion and a bell pepper to make this pasta dish I like. Then I grab any staples I might be out of like rice, might grab a couple bags of frozen veggies if I’m out. That’s it. Easy when you skip most of the middle.
• Meal planning: I know a lot of people are big on menu planning, and I am too. If you can check out the flier before going to the store, then plan a few meals around what’s going to be on sale. At Aldi, I feel like not everything ends up in the flier. Sometimes I check my Pinterest boards to get ideas of meals I might like to cook during the week. I also only really plan on cooking 2-3 meals a week. The left-overs are great for nights when I'm too busy or tired to cook and they make for great lunches too. 
• Lunch planning: I generally try to use up leftovers for lunches and then take salads or bento-style lunches made up of little bits of this and that. I don't really buy anything particularly special for lunches. I don't make sandwiches or buy Lean Cuisine type of stuff. Using up whatever is around keeps the waste and cost down!

·     I don’t ALWAYS or NEVER anything, but I do try to keep a good routine for the grocery store. My grocery tips and tricks are what I try to stick by. Of course there is the occasional splurge! Eh hem...steaks.

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Healthful eating in the midst of travel madness

Jet setting doesn't bode well for healthful eating and tends to result in food waste. July has been a whirlwind of travel. I was gone the first couple days of the month, home for about 2 weeks, gone for a long weekend, home for 4 days, and I'm about to head out again for a long weekend trip. During this time I did not have a car, so getting up to Aldi for my usual grocery routine wasn't an option. A combination of bike and public transportation have worked out well even to get me to the big chain grocery store around the corner.

I've only recently addressed some of the travel-related food challenges.

• Airport food: I've been using the airport as an excuse to eat Chipotle. My mom and I used to go to Chipotle almost every Tuesday. Chipotle brings back happy memories and it tastes so good! This last trip I had YoBerry. It's an excuse to get a treat, but usually it's a treat I don't really need.

•  TSA: As it turns out, a lot of food can get through TSA screening. I'm trying to be better about packing a meal with me to eat in the airport. Sandwiches, fruit, salads with dressing in jars less than 3 oz all get through TSA. Ice packs get through so long as they are frozen solid. Gel packs, and melted ice do not. I suppose ice in  a zip lock bag could just be thrown away and your food will stay cool enough to get through security and eat it on the other side. 

 

•  Nothing to eat for lunch on "travel Mondays." I go strait from the airport to work and might have a bit of fruit with me.It only just occurred to me after a year of this travel routine that I could leave something in the freezer on Thursday and it would be waiting for me on Monday. So far I'm just leaving frozen burritos that I made a while back.

 

• Food waste: Part of my food waste problem was solved when I started packing meals to eat in the airport. I'm usually only gone for 4 days at a time, so a lot of foods won't go bad.  The hardest part might be the grocery shopping for 3-4 days rather than a whole week in between trips. Here's my loot from the other night. Just enough for 3 days. Cost was $19.57. Way cheaper than eating out for 3 days! 

Stocking up: 1 grocery run for 2 weeks of eats

Getting in an auto accident is no fun. No fun at all. Thankfully I'm mostly ok. I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who has experienced whip-lash! The whole situation is a major inconvenience. It's a pain in the neck...literally and figuratively. I won't get my car back for another couple of weeks. Jetta Jr is in critical care for the time being, and I have decided to rely on my bike as my primary mode of transportation. Everything I really need is within about a 3 mile radius, so it's not that big of a deal and I should have been riding my bike a lot more anyway. Aldi is not in that 3 mile radius and happens to be my best friend when it comes to grocery shopping. Sticking to an average of $160 a month for groceries isn't going to happen if I start shopping at the regular grocery store. At least I don't think it would be easy. I've grown accustomed to a weekly cart full of fruits and vegetables from Aldi. I stocked up on groceries while I had the rental car in hopes of making it two weeks on one grocery trip. I got gorgeous peaches and blackberries at the farmers' market over the weekend. Oh summer, how I love summer!

Already had to cross blackberries of the list! Oops!

My goal is to share what I have on hand for groceries each Monday. Usually I will include prices since a lot of people have been asking how I keep the grocery bill low, but I threw away the receipt so no prices this week. My bank statement indicates I spent $68 this trip. I will include what I intend to make for the week. Hoping this evolves in a way that's useful to me for developing some kind of pantry/fridge inventory system, and useful to anyone trying to get ideas for healthy eating for just one or two people. For now it might be a bit rugged. Taking a pictures of my hand-written scribbles is rugged for sure. Time will tell how this will pan out.

I love these $1 menu notebooks from Michael's

Looks like this week I have everything to have a variety of nice summery salads, lemongrass pork stir-fry, some kind of bean salad with lots of chopped veggies, a frittata filled with veggies, and a whole lot of fruit. I'll be heading to Beantown for a long weekend, so I'll be focusing on keeping fresh produce from getting wasted. 

Follow me on Twitter @tusarebecca or on Instagram (TusaRebecca) to see how my meals work out this week!