Monday, November 18, 2013

Shopping without the stress


Good Foods Market & Cafe
One week after starting my challenge, I got to go back to the grocery store. No calculators, no intricate menu plans, no worrying, no stress. I carried out my regular routine of planning out a few dinner ideas and then making a shopping list on Sunday. That night, I had restocked our shelves with the food hidden away upstairs and incorporated the few items I had left from last week. Our shelves were looking much better, and I was looking forward to filling them even more.

Dinners this week are planned to include that chickpea, red lentil, and squash stew; refried bean tacos on corn tortillas with cheese, scallions, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, and cilantro; meat and bean chili; and our usual Friday night pizza.  I also wanted to make some granola, pumpkin muffins, cornbread, and chicken stock.

Normally as I said in my first post, I divide my shopping between Kroger and Good Foods.  I get the bulk of our food at Kroger and reserve the dairy, meat, some bulk items, and eggs for Good Foods.  I decided to see what would happen (how much money I would spend) if I only shopped at Good Foods.  Skip over the next part if you don't want the details:

.92lbs of ground beef  $5.51
Cured Smoked Bacon  $7.49
Organic sour cream  $1.49
JD Farms Skim Milk  $3.99
French Vanilla yogurt  $4.49
Banilla yogurt  $4.49
Tortilla chips  $4.49
Pepperoni 5oz  $3.99
Paul Newman Fig Newtons  $3.29
Mini wheat pita breads  $1.99
15oz organic pumpkin puree  $1.50
Corn tortillas $2.19
Salsa  $2.50
Ground nutmeg  $3.60
Ground cumin seed  $0.63
Chili powder  $0.77
Organic Thompson raisins  $2.55
Sweetened carob chips  $1.40
Pecan halves  $1.67
Sunflower seeds  $0.87
Pumpkin seeds  $2.64
Sweetened banana chips  $0.60
Organic red kidney beans  $1.72
Dry roasted almonds  $4.75
Cane sugar  $1.64
Roasted VA peanuts  $2.43
Jalapeno  $0.45
Organic broccoli  $11.37
Coffee  $8.90
Pepper Jack NutThins  $2.29
Annie's Cheddar Bunnies  $4.29
Raw unfiltered honey  $5.13
Carrots $2.50
Bartlett pears  $3.08
Local apples  $12.04
Super Green salad mix  $3.99
Organic celery  $0.79
Organic red grapes  $8.13
Organic cilantro  $2.49
Organic peppers  $5.81
Tomatoes  $2.91
Baby carrots $2.00
Button mushrooms  $0.66
Organic yellow onion  $1.04
Organic green onions $0.99
Organic cucumber  $2.67
Green beans  $0.79
Organic bananas  $2.91

Grand total:  $162.40

That is obviously more than the $139 I would have had to spend on SNAP.  I am grateful for those extra $23.40.  Do I think I could have cut out that much from the above bill?  Undoubtedly.  That $11.37 I spent on organic broccoli is totally unnecessary (kind of takes my breath away truthfully).  There were cheaper veggies to buy.  I also could have skipped the NutThins and the Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.  I could survive without that bacon.  The tortilla chips are a luxury and not really all that good for me.  That gets me pretty close to $23.40.

Am I glad though that I could spend that extra money without worrying too much about it?  Absolutely.   I am fortunate enough to have the time, energy, and resources to provide my family with the food I choose.  So much divides me from the true single mothers who struggle to provide for their families on SNAP benefits, but I think we share the desire to provide the best we can for our children.  I can only imagine the frustration and stress of not being able to.

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