Most irritating shopping trip ever

My daughter requested cottage cheese this morning to go with the jar of home-canned apple butter we made from apples that originated in local orchards.

Target does not carry the cottage cheese I like. Few stores do. My favorite is Lite and Lively large curd cottage cheese and I cannot tolerate the small curd stuff.

I had a coupon for free eggs and $3/0ff a $30 purchase at Giant. I brought my daughter to the doctor for her ear check up (where the little dear requested a flu shot!) and then drove her to school late. By that point, I had to go to the bathroom. But, being a mom, I opted to neglect my own needs because the school is half way to Giant. After all, I was buying $30 worth of stuff. The whole trip should take 20 minutes.

Wrong.

My mother-in-law calls as I finish parking the car. Nine minutes later, I head in...

First off, understand that I have a love-hate relationship with grocery stores. I adore them. I relish the possibility inherent in each food I pass, but I hate budgets, crowds and time constraints. My stepmother hates grocery shopping, but she has the luxury of going in, buying whatever she wants to eat or whatever she needs and leaving. She doesn't tally the cost in her head, or compare prices to other stores. She just buys.

One of my dreams in life is to walk into a grocery store, buy whatever I want and walk out (without worrying about how to pay the mortgage).

But today is not that today. Today I have to spend $30, and to do that I must use my Visa. And I can't buy frozen food because the freezer is full.

I start in produce:
- organic carrots, the real kind not baby, 1 pound, 99 cents.
- personal watermelon, $3
- bananas (5) at 59 cents a pound, $1.11

Okay, so that watermelon is probably grown in some third world country, bathed in pesticides and carried to the truck by some starving 15-year-old with no shoes... buy hey, I'm an American with a kid who loves watermelon.

And here's my beef with the bananas. At Target, we sell bananas for 24 cents each. Sometimes they go on sale for 17-19 cents. But 24 cents is normal. And my oh my how the customers, the "guests," complain. Now, the same bananas at Target would have cost 14 cents more. For 5. Yet making them pay by the banana freaks them out...

Next, I head to the natural foods department. All I buy is
- Spinach nuggets, $3.99

Next the bakery. Many items are still warm. They claim they have "crusty bâtards" so briefly I get really excited. I almost wet myself I was so excited, but then again, remember my original statement that I already had to use the restroom? Well, the bâtards were not crusty. The baguettes were almost crusty enough to meet my standards.
- one baguette, $2.29

I walk by a clearance rack of baked goods that includes peanut butter brownies.
-brownies, $2.49

To the dairy... I have almost forgotten why I'm in this store when I remember. I grab my free eggs and notice they don't carry my cottage cheese. I go over every container and find ONE with large curds. Sixteen different levels of non-fat and low-fat but no variety on the curds. Cottage cheese with fruit, cottage cheese in small containers, but only one large curd.
- large curd cottage cheese $2.69

Okay, now the milk. They recently remodeled the store so of course nothing is where I remember it being. I find the milk and quickly discover they keep half and half, cream and creamer separate from the milk. I recently opted to switch from half and half to farm fresh raw milk, figuring it's healthier. But I can't do it. I vacillate between half and half, organic half and half and light cream.
- 2 pints light cream, $1.49 each

But this is not $30. So somehow I end up in the freezer aisle, trying to cut toward the registers, and I notice: spinach artichoke dip. Now it's a cold rainy winter day and I have this baguette in the cart.
- spinarch artichoke dip, two boxes, on sale two for $5

Now I'm still not at $30, so I pick up four two-pound boxes of baking soda.
- two pound boxes of baking soda, four at 89 cents each

And now it's close, but to be sure, I head into the spice row to get a new garlic pepper spice grinder. McCormick grinders are on sale! Two for $4! I get four: two garlic pepper (product of France!), one four color peppercorn, and one italian herb seasoning.
- herb grinders, four at two for $4

I get in this short line, and it turns out to be the cashier who is slower than molasses. I wait.And wait. And wait. FINALLY I get there. I hand her my coupons, my bonus card, and as she scans my card I swipe my visa.

She can't get my card to scan. And I want my bonus buys. This is why I'm so glad Target doesn't have cards. The RedCard gives a discount and allows them to track consumer habits, but it's a form of payment no a before-your-transaction thing. Love it.

Someone has to help her, but it takes her ten minutes to give up. Then she asks for help.

She can't ring up the brownies.

She cancels my credit card.

She forgets my coupons.

I'm ready to pee my pants.

FINALLY,  we get a total $33.10.

And the bagger double bagged my little round watermelon. That struck me as a tad odd.

And for the record, some of their prices were ridiculously high. Target is cheaper. And Giant doesn't carry Noosa.

Lots of shopping

  This is the second or third time I started this blog entry. The interface has been eating my entries, whether I hit 'save' or 'publish.' Last time I got as far as about 700 words before losing everything so now I'm typing this in Pages on the iPad with the hope of copying it into Blogger when I take my husband back to his office at one.



The iPad failed as well, so I'm guessing it's a mobile application failure.

Last week (and I suppose today too) was the end of the month. I dread the end of the month. It's the budget make-or-break time. I knew I had spent my allotted budget ($300 on dining and groceries combined) going into the final week, so as long as I didn't spend any money on food we'd hit the goal.

I made it to Thursday. By Thursday, we had eaten close to everything in the house. My plan for dinner was to make a tuna rice casserole. I had broccoli in cheese sauce in the freezer, plenty of rice for the steamer and a big can of tuna. Except I had class until 2:30, had to pick up the child at 3:15, and retrieve the husband from his office at 4:30. So the rice never got steamed. And with 40 minutes to steam the rice and another 40 or so to bake, it looked like the casserole wasn't going to happen unless I wanted to have dinner at 7 pm. I would seriously have a hunger meltdown before then.

We went to Giant. Figured it would be cheaper than eating out. And potentially quicker. I was thinking Crôque Monsieur sandwiches, but then daughter asked for TV dinners. I was astounded.  TV dinners??? We get them about once a year, or maybe every other year. I said okay. I'm apparently crazy.

So, everything in this shopping trip probably qualifies as completely unhealthy, unnecessary and impulsive.

We bought:
- Cool Ranch Doritos, on sale for $3 (did not get opened until Sunday night, watching old episodes of True Blood)
- two packages of microwave popcorn, one butter and one kettle corn, $1 each
- Dole Romaine bagged salad, $2.50 (these were for the tortoise. I should have picked up a second bag because the greens looked so good...)
- Stauffers beef tips in bourbon sauce, $3.29 (this was my dinner. It was edible, but not enjoyable, and the sodium content had me drinking water for hours afterwords.)
- Edwards frozen key lime pie, $5.99 (yum!)
- Hungry Man popcorn chicken dinner, $2.79 (this was what my daughter picked and man did it look like a school lunch.)
- Hungry Man Salisbury steak dinner, $2.79
- black raspberry ice cream, $2.69 (still unopened)
- spinach white pizza, $4.29 (this was our appetizer and our green vegetable component)
- 8 ounce block of Swiss cheese, pepper jack, sharp cheddar and Vermont extra sharp cheddar cheese, 4 @ $1.67 each
- one dozen extra large eggs, $1.79
- sliced Italian bread from the bakery, $1.99 (still gunning for those Crôque Monsieur sandwiches, hence all the cheese too)
Total: $39.79

Saturday, in the middle of our freak snow storm that dumped 10 inches of snow and made the roads a slushy slippery mess, I went to Target for groceries, with my daughter who just got out of dance class and thought the aisles of the store were a great place to practice your jazz routine. I quickly convinced her otherwise.

This sounds more normal for us:

- market pantry diced tomatoes, seasoned, 3 cans at 57 cents each
- market pantry petite diced tomatoes, 2 cans at 53 cents each
- raspberry salsa and summer fruits salsa, one was $2.79 and the other was $2.99
- Barilla whole wheat rotini, three at $1.16 each
- market pantry petit peas, one can at 77 cents
- market pantry unsweetened applesauce in the individual containers, $1.67
- large bottle of canola oil, $3.39
- gold medal unbleached flour, $2.79
- market pantry whole wheat flour, $2.99
- frozen vegetable blends, steam in bags, $1.67, $1.66 and $2.29
- Silk pumpkin spice, 4 at a clearance price of $1.36 each
- horizon heavy whipping cream, $2.49
- horizon organic half and half, $2.99
- archer farms yogurt, 10 at 55 each, minus a 50 cent coupon
- ricotta $1.87 minus a 50 cent coupon
- 2 boxes of Kleenex, one extra soft and one with lotion, $1.59 and $1.57 minus a 75 cent coupon
- 40 pounds of cat litter, $15.59 minus $1.50 coupon
- 2 boxes of Morningstar breakfast patties, $3.49 each
- 3 varieties of Gardein vegetarian products, $3.99 minus $2 coupon
- now I have two mysterious Market Pantry items left, and all I can remember is sweet potato fries of which I bought two bags, they were either $1.97 or $3.09 and what the other item is... Who knows?

Total: $89.74
Minus team member discount: $9.42
Minus red card: $4.02
Tax: 82 cents
Final total: $77.12

But the story doesn't end there. In the tail end of the storm, I had to go to work and my daughter asked for hot chocolate. So my husband drove me in and they bought:

- Archer Farms Peanut butter cup hot chocolate, $3.99
- Archer Farms salted caramel hot chocolate, $3.99
- Silk soy milk, $2.99

Subtotal: $10.97
team member discount: $1.10
Red card discount: 49 cents
Total: $9.38

Went to Giant last night

One week left in the month to meet my budget goals.

I really wanted cake last night and I wasn't up to baking one. So somehow, my husband talked me into heading to Giant. I had $30 in the checkbook (to last until Oct. 13 if I didn't remember to get somewhere with an internet connection and cancel a scheduled transfer to savings). I had the very strict goal of a total of $250 for dining out and grocery shopping.

Before I sneaked to Giant last night, I had spent $130 on groceries and $122 on dining out. But I have one more week to go.

I spent $22.98 last night, and I bought things I can't or won't buy at Target. I was shocked at how many things cost way more at Giant than they do at Target.

I bought:

•  17 ounces tortilla chips, $2
• Polaner all fruit black cherry jelly, $1.99 (Giant has way more varieties of jelly than Target and my child is on a PB&J kick)
• Polaner all fruit blueberry jelly, $1.99
• 2 large containers of Light and Lively Cottage Cheese, large curd. No one else carries large curd and I can't stand small curd. Not that cottage cheese is appealing in any form, but it's a quick protein. $3.49 each
• 15 ounces dry kidney beans, $1.15 (figured I have black beans and white beans in my freezer, might as well add kidney beans)
• 32 ounces vanilla yogurt, $2.39
• blueberry creme coffee cake, $3.99

Meeting our pledge/budget

Budgets stink.

They remind me of struggle and how often I don't meet my goals. They rub it in that as soon as things get decent the car breaks or you fall and smash your month or someone gets cancer... You know, life.

It's been ten days since we pledged not to eat out, not to buy fancy coffee (the kind to brew at home) and sacrificed daughter's dance lessons to try and maintain financial stability. I think we've done admirably.

I had a hunger scare at work last night, having eaten my protein bar, and talked myself down from a $4 snack (I had a coupon) to a $1 cookie and a 68 cent clearance organic vanilla milk. The combo was $1.46 after my discounts.

As mentioned in last night's post husband splurged on a bottle of Gosling's blackrum ($14)and a bottle of Vouvray ($12) which will probably be our indulgence for September. We also got a $4 movie.

But it's depressing because our mortgage took 40 percent of our income this month, with groceries and medical combined making almost 30%.

Groceries cost $286.40.
Dining was $69.42 (most incurred before the pledge.)
9-ish days to go.

Of the money spent on groceries:
$78 went to Aldi
$10 to the Easton Farmers Market
$45 to Giant
$3 to Nature's Way for nettle tea
And the rest to Target

Frozen White Pizza

After my canning fiasco yesterday, imagine my pot bubbling water everywhere, I had no energy to cook. So we got two frozen white pizzas from Giant. One was the Giant brand with spinach and garlic for about $4. The other was $5, it was a California Kitchen pizza with spinach and artichoke. Both were good.

The California Kitchen one had a complex creaminess to it and the artichokes reminded me of sausage.

Preparation for canning day

Next time we do this Angel and I need to shop together. It's part of the fun. This time it didn't work out.

I shopped at four places. First stop Giant, to get canning supplies. We're not sure how many jars of food we are "putting up" so I bought too many lids and rings. It's okay. Stored correctly they don't rust or mildew. I keep my seasonal cooking supplies in the cellar. I don't have room in the kitchen for something that's used (hard) once a year. My lids and rings, and accessories too, are kept in plastic shoe boxes. I have metal work shelves down there. The canners are parked on the shelf. I also have a food mill,  a plastic machine to puree fruit and veggies, and a manual ricer and mallet.

I lugged everything upstairs and washed it all. I brought up too much. I know that. But I'm not sure what we will use tomorrow. I don't want to waste time with dishes. Growing up, the items came up one by one and by the end of canning season everything was on the floor in the kitchen.

In Giant, the canning supplies are in the aisle with the the plastic wrap and plastic containers. It had one whole section. I nearly passed out in the store. I remember having to go from store to store looking for supplies. Everyone carried little, and the little they had was sold out.

Oh my goodness the Ball aisle is Paradise. You don't even need recipes anymore. (Second shelf, right) They have pouches of the spices and what not all mixed together All you do is add water, vinegar and the food! Sadly I took a picture. The bottom two selves are jars. They aren't in the pix.

Angel said the display at Target even has gallon-size jars!

I am disappointed that pickling salt now comes in a pouch. (Top shelf, third from left.) At one time it was in a box, then a plastic tub. I have the tub. I was thrilled. When I buy more I'll need to dump the pouch into the tub.

The best part of my trip to Giant was someone left coupons on the shelf. Dollar coupons. I'm not proud. I used them. I also kept the one for the starter kit. Just in case Angel decides to dive in head first.

I also picked up a gallon of vinegar.

The second  stop was the Emmaus Farmers Market. Ball didn't have their booth set up this week. That's where I met Mr. Eggplant Head.

Green beans were awful, so no Dilly beans. Bummer. I did get wax beans so we'll be making mustard beans. I also got pickle cucumbers, corn, and hot peppers. No cauliflower or carrots this week. Glad I didn't go for greens. Few had them. The heat made them bolt.

Then we stopped at a roadside stand on Emmaus Ave. They had cheap veggies. But they were well past their prime. I think they've been setting out in the heat too long.

I had a few more things to get so I headed to Valley Farm Market, a block away. Here I got the cauliflower and carrots.

The veggies are in a cooler in the living room with ice. That's the only room with an air conditioner.

My sister was bored and cleaned all the beans. She also cut all the corn off the cobs. So some food prep work is done.

I took the last picture of all the stuff piled on the sink and stove—jar grabber, lids, rings,  two funnels, two canners, huge colandar, vinegar and pickling salt.

It's now all clean and sterile.

Angel will pick up blogging about this adventure tomorrow.

Gayle signing out.

Mango cherry smoothie

I'm addicted to those Bolthouse Farms Immunity Boost Mango smoothies. At Target, they are $3.99 for 32 ounces (which after my employee discount and red card savings drops to $3.41) while the same bottle at Giant is $4.29.

So, I decided to try and make my own.

- I started with organic frozen mango chunks because I couldn't find any other frozen mango and wasn't sure when I was shopping when I would attempt this and didn't want fresh mangoes to rot. I used about 2 cups.
- I added about 5 ounces of that nasty Bolthouse Farms mango protein smoothie
And grated, blended to a fine pulp
- I added about 3 teaspoons frozen orange juice concentrate
- 15 or so fresh cherries
And grated, blended to a fine pulp
- then I added a mango Greek yogurt

Snacks!

Daddy went to Giant on the hunt for Just Born jelly beans. No luck! Since child can't have the doritos Daddy bought last night (he wasn't thinking) I suggested he buy her some chips or snack from the natural food aisle.

He got me my favorite licorice, Twizzler's pull n peel, cherry.

He bought child "baked fries" which are flavored with cheese and buttermilk (oops-- he couldn't find the allergen warning) but two other options too: nature's promise vegetable chips and Pirate Booty veggie!

Dairy-free trip to Giant

My version of processed dinner: spinach nuggets and sweet potato fries

So, based on the report from my daughter's ear guy, I decided to make some dairy-free transitions in our household. Tonight is dance, which means a late night for daughter, and tomorrow I work from the early afternoon onward which limits cooking time. I hate buying processed foods, but it seemed like Amy's Organics might be in order.

I spent $50.06 (for a total grocery expenditure in March of $280). They no longer carry Amy's Organic Vegetable Dairy Free Pot Pies, so instead I bought two Moo Moo vegetarian cuisine cashew stir fry dinners. These were $4.99 each and will serve as dinner for Daddy and Daughter tomorrow. Tonight we will have spinach nuggets ($5.49-- gasp! have prices gone up) and Ian's sweet potato fries ($3.49 and yes, I can make them cheaper myself but I don't have time.)

I purchased some plain soy milk (Nature's Promise, $2.39 for a half gallon) and organic Earth Balance margarine ($3.99, only 20 cents more than the regular). Broccoli crowns, a personal watermelon, romaine hearts (2/$5) and lots of tea and coffee. (Coffee deal yielded a $1 off coupon for next purchase.)

Wish I could say more, but it's time to leave my wireless internet and take daughter to dance class...

7 a.m. shopping

I have one of my dear friends coming for lunch and I didn't have enough energy last night to go to the store. My menu includes leftover sicilian, a nice salad, and bacon-wrapped dates.

The shopping list said:
- salad
- salad mixings
- fruit
- cream cheese
- Morningstar veggie bacon
- coffee?

I arrived at the store at about 7:10 a.m., sleep still crusted in my eyes and about a half cup of coffee in my system.

I spent $26.56 (which will be added to the August expenditures so far this month of $133 I believe)

I purchased:
- 2 milky way bars, 1 regular and 1 midnight dark (I have had a craving for cheap chocolate lately, and I'm meeting my friend for writing business and my character has an addiction to Milky Ways), $1
- roasted sunflower seeds unsalted, $1.99 pound, $1.17
- canola oil, small bottle, 24 ounces, $2.09
- New England blueberry cobbler coffee, 11 ounces, $5.19 (splurge but soooo yummy)
- almost 3 pounds bananas, $1.66
- cucumber, 79 cents
- Dole very veggie bagged salad, $2.50
- Strawberries, $2.50
- whole pineapple, $2.99
- welch's white grape raspberry frozen juice concentrate, $1.89
- neufchâtel cheese, a block, $1.29
- morningstar bacon, $3.49

Big Bad Watermelon

There is no easy way to write this entry. I gave my husband $70 (our grocery money for the next two weeks) and asked him to pick up a few things at the store. He spent $48, leaving me $22 to fill in the gaps. (Luckily, we have the garden and his parents have brought some stuff-- fruit, veggies and juice.)

I don't agree with many of his choices, but he did his best. Honey, if you read this, don't take the commentary personally. I love you.

- Northern Double Rolls Toilet Paper, $2.89
- Salsa, 1.69 (this is his salsa, except for that price I could have gotten a jar twice as big at Aldi)
- can of black beans 69 cents
- watermelon, with seeds, $5.99 (I never pay more than $3 for a watermelon, so the title comes from this. On top of the price, it wasn't even seedless. "But someone begged and begged," he said.)
- Dole Premium Salad kits, 2 for $7
- 2 quarts of strawberries, $5
- Morningstar Vegetarian Sausages, $3.49
- 16 ounces frozen broccoli, $1.49 (he thought they were on sale for $1, let's not tell him)
- now the next item says, "Giant Vegetable," and it was on sale for $1 but the regular price is $1.09 and I'm not sure what it was.
- 16 ounces of frozen peas, 2 bags at $1 each
- 2 unsweetened silk soy milk half gallons, $5.98 (Giant has their own brand of soy milk and it's cheaper. Plus, if we're poor, how about 1 half gallon soy milk and 1 of milk-- the kind that comes from a cow)
- Almond Breeze almond milk, $2.91 minus $1 in store coupon (Almond milk is daughter's new kick, but he got plain, not vanilla and she doesn't like it. Plus, he forgot juice. So now she has nothing but water to drink. Sorry, kid!)
- 3 small containers of coffeemate, $1.67 each
- 16 ounce block of wisconsin cheddar cheese, $3.89 (about 20 cents more expensive than the warehouse club)

Salad with chicken strips

I intentionally flipped meals today-- I knew it was going to get hot and that I was probably going to burn out before the end of the day.

So I made the mac and cheese for lunch, before the house got hot, and planned salad with chicken for dinner.

Iceberg lettuce and romaine mix with cabbage and shredded carrots from the warehouse club, mixed with spring mix from Aldi. Used organic ranch dressing, the Nature's Promise Giant brand.

And I poured Frank's red hot buffalo sauce in with my ranch dressing to give it a kick.

Now the chicken. Boneless, skinless tenders from the freezer. Cooked slowly in butter with a pinch of four color organic pepper and fresh ground garlic salt.

Groceries... Again?

I wanted a nice salad with my dinner and I thought we should pick up a few things. To avoid last week's fiasco at Giant, I took my daughter AND my husband.

It was exciting to find out Giant still hand the special on Almond Milk and a cheese sale!

I spent $52.32 and I wasn't trying to be economical as much as fill in some blanks in the pantry. What did I get? The following:

- 32 ounces of yellow cornmeal, $1.19
- Nabisco cream of wheat, $3.15
- Dry black beans, $1.07
- The big, big container of raisins, $2.69
- Dole American Blend salad, $2.50
- Dole Very Veggie salad, $2.50
- Dole Premium Harvest salad, $3.50
- 1.35 pounds Angus beef in stew chunks, $4.24
- 2 boxes Morningstar vegetarian sausage, $3.49 each minus $1 store coupon
- two frozen cylinders of Apple juice concentrate, $1.29
- Almond milk, vanilla, two half gallons at $2.99 each plus two 55 cent coupons
- Coffee mate, 32 ounce bottle, three at $3 each minus $1 store coupon
- 8 ounce blocks of cheese, four at $1.50 each (muenster, sharp cheddar, extra sharp cheddar and monterey jack)
- 8 ounces shredded cheese, two at $1.50 each (mozzerella and mexican)

Catch up/ grocery shopping

Wow. I knew it had been a day or two since I posted, but Tuesday? Really?

Wednesday for dinner I made a broccoli and black olive pizza in the Le Creuset skillet.

Last night I was going to make sausage with rice and greenbeans, but I didn't have sausage. So I used black beans instead.

Today, I had the worst shopping experience of my life.

I spent close to $90 and got next to nothing. Let's blame the iron-deficient anemia and associated health problems. $25 of that was for two bottle of beaujolais. For the iron. Of course.

I prepared a shopping list on my iPhone and headed to Giant. My original plan was to get the things I can only get a Giant there, using a couple store register-generated coupons, then head to the liquor store and to Aldi. The list of things I needed, from all THREE stores, was about 15 items.

I lost my keys and had to use the spare car key. Strike one.

I checked the bank balance ($85) and tossed my wallet in my pocket. Took husband to work and realized I forgot the MAC card. Had to disturb hubby at work and borrow his.

Went to store. Forgot half the items on the list, despite making THREE passes through the damn store. After the second pass, I opted to skip Aldi and get everything at Giant. Even if I could have saved $5 at Aldi, because at this point I've been in the store an hour. Forgot the coupons in the car. Didn't have a "bonus" card because it's on my keychain, which, remember I lost. Used the store card.

Went way over budget (I was thinking $40, spent $63.01) so used the visa instead of the mac card.

Good news is the liquor store is next to the Giant so I managed to do that right.

So, the purchases:
- 3.15 pounds of Purina Kitten Chow, $3.89 (for the older cat who's vomiting a lot, cheaper than a cheap to the vet, I figure.)
- 10 juice boxes of minute maid 100% juice fruit punch, $2.79
- 8 juice pouches of organic Honest Kids berry lemonade (no high fructose corn syrup) $3
- 5 liters of Giant seltzer, $2
- Nature's Promise Organic Ranch Dressing, (no MSG) $2.50
- cinnamon, $1.79
- 6-pack of Giant Mac and Cheese, $2.79
- Giant 100% cranberry juice, no sugar added, 2 @ $2.69
- grated cheese, $2.49
- Giant coffee, 11.5 ounces, one French roast, one breakfast blend, $2.49 each (I can't remember what we like)
- one box of penne regate, 16 ounces, and one box rotini, 89 cents each
- Country Acres apple butter (good stuff!) 19 ounces, $2.73
- almost 2.5 pounds of bananas, $1.43
- one cucumber, 99 cents
- 2 packaged salads, $5
- 2 boxes of Morningstar vegetarian sausages, $3.29 each
- the big container of Light and Lively cottage cheese, $3.24
- 64 ounces of vanilla almond milk, $2.69 minus 55 cent manufacturer coupon (really? should have bought MORE)
- dozen jumbo eggs, $1.65
- 64 ounces of Nature's Promise soy milk, $2.39
- 8 ounces of extra sharp cheddar cheese, $1.99
- Barbasol shaving cream, 89 cents

Simple things

I haven't written in a few days partially because I have been "off" for Mother's Day. I spent Saturday at an all-day fiction-writing workshop and Sunday we played Risk and ordered pizza. Papa John's had a special: an extra large up-to-seven topping pizza for $12.

But today, I returned to reality.

Breakfast was toast and apples. Lunch was leftover pizza. (And apricot halves from a can.)

Dinner was...

Well, let me tell you about my trip to the grocery store.

I went to the grocery store for three reasons.
1. I needed $2 cash for my daughter's school and the mac machine doesn't dole out singles.
2. I had a craving for chicken
3. My psychologist suggested I buy four boxes of Morningstar vegetarian breakfast patties. (Seriously, that man sometimes rocks my world.)

I spent $13.04 on groceries. I bought:

• Hunts ketchup with no high fructose corn syrup, 24 ounces, $1.15
• Naturally delicious ranch dressing (no MSG), 16 ounces, $2
• Dole Premium Southwest salad kit, $3.50
• chicken, $2.90
• Morningstar vegetarian sausage patties, $3.49

But unbeknownst to me, the women in front of us forgot a bag at the end of the register. So, when she left, my daughter starting bagging my groceries and piled our food on top of this lady's. I go pick up my husband from work, unpack the bag, and find a pound of hamburger and some Boar's Head premium deli ham.

Oops.

I hadn't noticed the lady return to the store before I left, and it's almost an hour after I left the store. So, I asked my husband, "Do I take it back?" Because I assume they'll throw it out. I hope they'd throw it out. I mean, what if I had that hamburger in the hot sun the whole hour.

But the other story relates to my psychologist.

He suggested indulging in my little biscuit sandwiches once a week for breakfast as an exercise in indulgence. He's concerned that I hold too rigidly to the line of discipline and delve into self-denial. He suggested buying four boxes of the little veggie sausages a month because we all like them-- I had mentioned that I stopped buying them because nutritionally all they offer is protein and if I need a protein source for a sandwich an egg is way cheaper.

I'm proud of myself because I bought the sausages AND a premium bagged salad. Lettuce by the head is way cheaper, but I like Dole Premium Salads. So tonight we had biscuit sandwiches and salad for dinner. I had three servings of the salad.

Giant trip

So far this month we've spent $120 on groceries and $120 on dining out. (Plus $40 on a bar tab at the GLVWG conference, but that's another tale and another category.) When I see that I've stayed that close to the budget, I have a tendency to refuse to go to the store no matter what.

But I only have two sticks of butter.

And I think I could make it until April with two sticks of butter but I was thinking about making those sausage-filled French waffles tomorrow for a friend. French requires butter.

My husband volunteered to go to the store. But my list was geared toward Aldi and he was going to Giant. So, I gave him the list and he said he'd do his best.

He spent $26.38 and got:

• 12 ounces of honey, $2.29
• 13 ounces of Giant coffee and 13 ounces of Giant decaf coffee, $2 each
• 2 1 lb boxes of pasta plus 1 lb box of vermicelli, 89 cents each
• 2 lbs bananas at 59 cents a pound, $1.20
• 2 quarts of strawberries, buy one get one free, for a total of $4.49
• 2 packaged Dole salads, $2.50 each
• Silk soy milk, unsweetened, half gallon, plus one half-gallon silk soy milk, chocolate, $2.99 each plus 55 cents off each because of a coupon
• 1/2 pound butter, $1.19 (butter prices are cheaper at Aldi, Wegmans used to be cheaper but their butter prices just went up. I believe Aldi's is $1.79 a pound and Wegmans is now $1.99)
  

Mini shopping trip

Yesterday I ate junk all day. With my daughter. We had a road trip. Wawa egg sandwiches for breakfast, with apple slices, and Irish food for a late lunch-- Shepherd's pie with lamb, too! Stuffed so full we never ate dinner!

This morning I stopped at Giant, motivated by desire for crôque monsieur and some need of bathroom supplies. I spent $37.92 and hopefully got enough stuff to last at least a week, if not two.

We upgraded our Quicken yesterday, so I can tell you at a glance that I spent $266 on groceries last month, and $177 on dining out. I'm not happy with that dining out figure. Until I examine it closer and realize about $125 of it is connected to one of the non-profit boards I serve that owes me a reimbursement of $115. The treasury did not attend the last meeting so I didn't get my check... Upon even closer examination Quicken is giving me totally different numbers. I don't think I can trust any of them.

Ah, well... Back to my shopping trip this morning.

• Dove soap, 2 bars, $2.69 (the only soap my husband will use in the shower)
• Sushi Chef Japanese sesame oil, $3.69 for 5 oz. (all the bottles were the same size, of the three brands, Sushi Chef was the cheapest. The most expensive was $4.99. A little bit of sesame oil in the frying pan or in a mix with ginger, garlic, water and soy sauce makes a very authentic Asian flavor. Avoiding the need for Chinese take-out upon a craving.)
• Ronzoni vegetable rotini, 12 ounces, $1.45 (okay, almost twice the cost of plain 'white' noodles, but the Vitamin A content equals one serving of vegetables. Might be worth it for those hectic nights.)
• Giant pasta wheels, 16 ounces, $.89 (yes, it's 'white' pasta, it's the wagon wheel shape and my kid asked for it. I can mix it with healthier pasta)
• Giant wheat rotini, 14 ounces, 2 boxes at $1.34 (jury still out on whether wheat is worth the extra money)
• Giant mac and cheese spirals instant dinner, 2 boxes at 49 cents (as far away from my principles as you can get, but everyone deserves a guilty pleasure)
• Giant tomato sauce, no salt added, the tiny cans, 5 at 29 cents each
• Entremont swiss cheese, $4.75 for a chunk
  
• A pint of fresh blueberries, $2 (which my daughter is eating as I type)
• Light and Lively cottage cheese, 2 at 3.49 (the big container). I got two because my daughter eats it all on me...
  (we had cottage cheese and apple butter for breakfast today)
• half gallon of 2% milk, $1.71
• Kotex ultra thin maxi pads, $2.99
• 80 count multi-pack of Tampax, $5.49

Grilled Cheese in Le Creuset?

Is it sacrilegious to make a grilled cheese sandwich in a Le Creuset skillet?
(Probably, but I'm a rebel.)

• Multigrain sandwich bread from Giant (yes, I've been ill so no homemade bread)
• Velveeta (a gift from Gayle)
• Neufchâtel cheese
• perhaps some shredded cheddar
  
• lots of butter
• honey
• a hint of garlic pepper
• a hint of extra virgin olive oil

Step one: lightly grease the skillet with olive oil, sprinkle with about 1/8 teaspoon garlic pepper and heat the pan on extremely low heat.

Step two: generously butter bread on on one side. Put one slice of bread from each sandwich in the skillet, butter side down.

Step three: spread a thin layer of neufchâtel or cream cheese on the unbuttered side of the lid of the sandwich, the piece not in the pan.

Step four: cut enough thin slices of velveeta to cover the bread in the pan. Go ahead and put the cheese on the bread.

Step five: increase heat in skillet to medium.

Step six: put the cream cheese-laden lids onto the sandwich.

Step seven: sprinkle each with a pinch of garlic pepper.

Step eight: frequently press down on the sandwich with a turner/spatula. After about three minutes, flip the sandwich and press down more. Let the bottom brown, flip again. When the other side is brown, smear about 1/2 teaspoon of honey on each sandwich side. Let the honey cook on the bread for about 30 seconds. More than that and it will burn.

Note:
The skillet heated slow and evenly AND fit two whole and one half-sandwich at the same time. It made a beautiful sandwich, though I did burn some honey to the pan.
Served to my family with juice diluted with selzter, raw carrots and dip, and the sandwich.

Magic Toast

I have said before that the multigrain sandwich bread from Giant makes the best toast in the world... I had a slice for breakfast with imported French butter.

Turkey and Brie sandwiches

Today's lunch was a subtle variation on last night's dinner.

Today, we had simple turkey sandwiches with brie and lettuce, on multigrain sandwich bread from Giant, and seedless red raspberry jelly from Wegmans. Then for a side we had the leftover Dole Italian Salad with chianti vinaigrette and I added dried cherries for a new flavor.

Fabulous. Heavenly. So simple and so cheery.