WWS & WWA | July 11th - 17th

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What We Spend (WWS) and What We Ate (WWA) is a recap of our weekly grocery spending and meals.  We do a mix of make ahead meal planning, meal prepping, and spontaneity! 

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. This is our secret to keeping our grocery spending low! 


Pesto Chicken with Green Beans for Lunches

Prep & Plan Recap

This week seemed to fly by. I got to most of the items on our meal plan, and we still have some leftover pork loin and one serving of pesto chicken in the fridge. Monday night we did grab fast food, since we weren't going to be home until late in the evening.

Since we still had a lot of leftovers, and I was away all day Sunday, we relied primarily on leftovers Monday, and Ben made his stir fry while I was gone Sunday. This week I used Tuesday evening to get meals prepped for the rest of the week.

We did not get to the egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches this week, so I'll roll that idea over into the next week. 
Homemade Hummus using Chick Peas from the Freezer


What We Spent | July 11th - July 17th, 2020


Shaw's
  • 4 Boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars: $1.88 ($0.47/each, store coupon combined with manufacture's coupon)
  • 4 Bags Shredded Cheese (8oz.) - $3.88 ($0.97/each, store coupon)
  • Hood Ice Cream - $1.47 (store coupon)
  • 16oz. Bag Frozen Salmon Portions - $2.99 ($2 off frozen fish store coupon)
Total: $10.22

Walmart
  • 25lb. Bag of Sugar - $11.28 (for canning)
  • 1 Gallon White Vinegar - $3.28 (for canning)
  • 1 Gallon Apple Cider Vinegar - $4.27 (for canning)
  • 3 King Size Kit Kats - $4.02
  • 1 3oz. Bag Reese's Thins - 1.99
  • Pillsbury Ready Bake Cookie Dough - $2.50 (the shelf tag said Clearance for $0.50, but I didn't catch the error until I got home)
  • 4lb. Tub Peanut Butter - $5.28
Total: $32.62
Hannaford
  • 3lbs. Bacon - $9.99
  • 4 Roma Tomatoes - $1.35
  • Iceburg Lettuce - $0.99
  • 2 1 Liter Polar Waters - $1.18 (includes deposit)
  • 1/2 Gallon 1% Milk - $1.93
  • Krusteaz Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix - $1.29 ($1 off store coupon)
  • Bone-In Ham Steak - $4.71 ($2.99/lb)
Total: $18.50 ($3 off Hannaford Rewards Coupon Used)
 
Week Total: $61.34

Our grocery budget goal* is $50/week, so we have already dug well into our budget for July, thanks to 25lbs of strawberries and supplies for canning. That's OK though, as we are well stocked on many items, and supported local farmers. 

My goal for this month is to shop only fresh and mega sale/ clearance items.

 *This is why our budget is flexible, to take advantage of sales as they come up, and why we aim for an average.

For eating out we have a separate budget. We have not gone out to eat very often since COVID-19 but we do try to support our favorite spots with takeout or patio dining for those who have it.

What We Ate | July 11th - July 17th, 2020

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
  • Yogurt w/ Strawberry Jam, Cheerios
  • Breakfast Biscuits w/ Peanut Butter
  • Oatmeal Snack Bites
Lunches:
  • Pesto Chicken w/ Green Beans
  • Instant Pot Chicken Cajun Rice
  • Chicken Stirfry w/ Snow Peas, Yellow Pepper, and Rice
  • Sheet Pan Mac & Cheese, Chicken Tenders, Steamed Green Beans
  • Lazy Lasagna & Garlic Bread Leftovers
Lunch Snacks:
  • Cukes (from the garden!)
  • Grapes
  • Veg Sticks w/ Bleu Cheese Dressing
  • Cheese Sticks and Crackers
  • Hummus w/ Crackers or Pretzels
Baked Oatmeal Bites (coconut, chocolate chip, and blueberry)

Dinners:
  • Maple Mustard Garlic Pork Loin, Baked Potato, Roasted Beets, Summer Vegetable Tian
  • Stromboli w/ Cukes
  • Pesto Chicken w/ Snow Peas
  • Misc. Leftovers/ Clean Out the Fridge (leftover queso!)

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

Food for Sharing - since I mention often that we make food for family gatherings on the weekend, I thought I'd put it here as well:
  • Chicken and Mac & Cheese for family (6 people)

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.

Feel free to share your WWS/ WWA!

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