WWS & WWA | June 13th - June 19th

What We Spend (WWS) and What We Ate (WWA) is a recap of our weekly grocery spending and meals. 

You will noticed that WWS does not always align with WWA. That's because we buy primarily what's on sale, along with some fresh items, and pull the rest from our pantry or freezer stock. These sale items go into the stock rotation. 

Look out for future posts that explain my approach to meal planning and grocery budgeting!

Prep & Plan Recap

This week we went out to dinner Tuesday night, which was not planned, so I had to adjust our dinners and lunches to accommodate. I also did not make the Chicken Adobo for Ben's lunches, as he requested Chicken Broccoli Alfredo instead (easy to accommodate as there was still a lot of chicken left to use).

This left us with mushrooms and a head of broccoli that need using up.

For Father's day with Ben's parents, we opted to pick up fixings for Italians instead of making a Shepard's Pie since the weather is going to be in the 90s. I also made a pan of brownies for sundays.

I am still working out the best format for accurately reflecting our prep and plan vs. what we spend and what we eat in a week, since it is not a direct correlation, so bear with me!

What We Spent | June 13th - June 19th, 2020

This month continues to present some great stock-up opportunities. We are almost at freezer capacity!

Papa's Produce

• 2 English Cukes - $2
• 2lbs. Strawberries - $2
• 5.18lbs of Yellow Peppers - $7.72 ($1.49/lb)

Total: 11.72

Marden's (a Maine Surplus & Salvage Store)

• Prego Alfredo Sauce - $1.39
• Jar of Minced Garlic - $1.29
• 3 Boxes Old El Paso Hard & Soft Taco Shells - $3
• 3 Boxes Old El Paso Nacho Shells - $4.50
• 1 Old El Paso Stand & Stuff Taco Dinner Kit - $1.39
• 3 Boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars - $6 (these are a treat as I haven't see the brown sugar flavor in stores here for years)
• Large Container Rolled Oats - $2.29

Total: $19.86

Shaw's

• 4 AHA Sparkling waters 8pks - $3.88 + $1.60 deposit = $5.48 (store flyer special)
• Shaw's Lime Seltzer 12pk - $1.74 (reduced section)
• 4 1 liter Polar Seltzers - $1.36 (store app coupon)
• Bottle Deposit - $0.80
• 15oz can Crushed Tomatoes - $.50 (reduced section)
• 4 15oz cans White Beans $2.00 (reduced section)
• 2 15oz cans Cream Style Corn $1.00 (reduced section)
• 1 15oz can Corn - $0.50 (reduced section)
• 1 28oz can Green Enchilada Sauce (reduced section) - $1.49 (reduced section)
• 2 lbs. Challenge Butter - $1.54 (store flyer coupon combined w/ manufacturer's coupon)
• 2.24 lbs. Green Beans - $1.95 ($0.87/lb store sale)
• 6 Roma Tomatoes - $1.38 ($1.04/lb)
• 2.05lbs. Primo Taglio Yellow American Cheese - $5.88

Total: $25.62

Hannaford

• AHA Sparkling Water 8pk - $2.00 ($1 off store app coupon)
• Bubbly Sparkling Water 8pk - $2.50 ($1 off store app coupon)
• Bottle Deposit - $0.80
• Friendly's Ice Cream - $1.50 ($1 off any frozen item store app coupon)
• Frozen Whole Green Beans - $0 ($1 off frozen veg store app coupon)
• Red Barron Frozen Pizza - $2.75 ($1 off store app coupon)
• Duncan Hines Chocolate Frosting - $1.89
• Duncan Hines Brownie Mix - $0.79 ($1 off two Duncan Hines products, store app coupon)
• Chobani Coffee Creamer - $1.59 ($2 off store app coupon)
• Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds - $4.49

Total: $20.10

Week Total: $77.30

Our grocery budget goal is $50/week, so we came in well over budget again this week.

That puts us at $263.94 for the month of June so far. This is why our budget is flexible, to take advantage of sales as they come up, and why we aim for an average.

I do not think we will be buying chicken, yogurt, blueberries, peppers, seltzer, or cheese for a while!

Our Sam's Club membership expired the second week of June, so we chose to do some stocking up. Instead of renewing immediately, we will wait until we need to purchase enough that it makes sense to renew.

For eating out we have a separate budget. During the COVID-19 pandemic we have tried to support open restaurants by getting takeout a few times per month.

What We Ate | June 13th - June 19th, 2020

Since we were without septic still on Sunday, I chose to cook off a bunch of chicken and sides at once to minimize dishes.

I used these items to make up our work lunches, and some dinners. Mixing and matching flavors helps to make the same primary ingredients "new" and not boring throughout the week.

Most bloggers choose to focus on only dinners, but I think showing all three meals helps to better show where your WWS goes.

Breakfasts:

• Granola Bars
• Freezer Breakfast Burritos
• Breakfast Biscuits w/ Peanut Butter
• Cereal
• Overnight Oats (meal prep)

Lunches:

• Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps (x3)
• Chicken Broccoli Mushroom Alfredo (x2)
• Taco Salad (x2)
• Leftover Pizza (x2)
• Grilled Pizza (Saturday family cookout, I made the dough & sauce and grilled)
• Quesadillas
• Italian Sandwiches (for father's day)
• Dinner Leftovers

Lunch Snacks:

• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Cucumber Slices
• Celery
• Baby Carrots
• Yogurt

Dinners:

• Garlic Herb Pork Tenderloin, Rice, Broccoli
• Baked Chicken w/ Bacon, Swiss Chard, Broccoli, Knorr Butter Noodles, Biscuits (freezer)
• Portland Pie Pizza (date night)
• Garlic Herb Pork Tenderloin, Broccoli, Side Salad, French Rolls (freezer)
• Garlic Butter & Herb Chicken Pasta, Side Salad
• Grilled Burgers and Homemade Fries

Snacks: crackers, cheese, popcorn, carrots, cucumber, various sweets

Note, Ben and I often eat different lunches. My "likes" are more limited, so I get to have fun cooking and give Ben a larger variety that I typically wouldn't eat. I am also not much of a breakfast person, so I typically just have a snack and eat lunch a bit earlier.

The concept of WWS & WWA comes from blogger Kristen at The Frugal Girl, and other bloggers who do similar recaps, but I liked Kristen's version the best.

Feel free to share your WWS/ WWA!