Monday, February 6, 2017

February Grocery Shopping - Week 1

February 6 Groceries

It was raining when I woke up, this morning, but it ceased and there was some sunshine in the afternoon.  I took the opportunity to go to the pharmacy to pick up my medication refills.   It came to $31.45.

Then, I went to the grocery store next to the pharmacy.  I bought:

1 bottle (2 liter) soda @$1.99  (free with coupon) + $.10 CRV = $.10
1 bag frozen corn (12 oz.) @$1.00 (free with coupon ) = $0
1 pint milk = $1.19
1 loaf bread  = $1.29
1 box mac & cheese = $1.00
4 bananas (1.3 lb. @ $.69/lb) = $.90
1 lettuce = $.99
0.07 lb. snow peas @ $3.99/lb. = $.28
3x 1 lb. ground pork sausage meat @$.79/lb. = $2.37
1 pkg. (7 oz) roast beef cold cuts = $1.99
Total = $10.11

I bought just a handful of the snow peas because I wanted some for a stir-fry I was planning to make for dinner.  I didn't realize that the cashier made a mistake and listed them as snap peas, until I came home and looked at the receipt.  Not much of a difference, except the snow peas were $2.99/lb. and the snap peas were $3.99.  Oh, well, the difference would have been $.07 and I'm not going to fuss about it.

The 3 packages of ground pork sausage meat were a spur of the moment buy - they were reduced in price because the sell by date is tomorrow (2/7/17).  I had been planning to eat from the freezer and pantry this month, too, but this was a good bargain and I don't have a lot of meat left in the freezer.  There were about 10 such packages and I took 3; another customer took all the remaining packages!  LOL.  I guess we are all bargain hunting!  I am thinking I'll make some sausage rolls with one of the packages.  Not sure what I'll do with the other two packages; I suppose I could form them into sausage patties and cook them for breakfast, but all are in the freezer for now.


I also bought a bag of cat food, which came to $10.99 + $.99 tax = $11.96, which is not part of my grocery budget (comes from the pet care budget of $50 per month).



February 6 Receipt





February grocery budget = $75 + $20.53 carried over from January = $95.53
Spent to date = $10.11
Balance remaining = $85.42

Breakfast was a bowl of cornflakes.  Lunch was leftover cream of wheat/uppuma.  After I did the grocery shopping, I had a banana.  Dinner was rice, stir fried vegetables (snow peas, carrots, broccoli) and part of a pork chop.  I had taken out the previously cooked pork chop from the freezer, yesterday; today, I cut it into strips and stir fried it separately from the vegetables.    There's enough rice and stir fry for another meal.



February 6: Dinner


Store brand butter was $3.99 today, so I didn't buy.  I took out the last stick (1/4 lb.) of butter I had in the freezer to use this week.  The new sales ads will come out tomorrow; I'll wait and see if they have butter on sale, next week.  If not, I guess I'll just have to "bite the bullet" so to speak and buy some butter at whatever price they are asking, next weekend.  I do have a $.40 off coupon for the store brand, so that should help a little bit. 

Today, I am grateful for:

- More rain for the garden
- I was able to work from home, today
- A lady pushed a shopping cart out of my way from a parking spot so I could park there
- The availability of medications
- Friends who call and email; video chatting with my daughter

How is your February grocery shopping coming along?  Any suggestions or recipes for the ground pork sausage meat?

8 comments:

  1. We combine ground sausage with ground beef and use it just as we would hamburger. Last thing we made was a vegetable soup with the combo for the meat. The sausage adds just a bit more flavor.

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    1. Thank you for the suggestion to mix it with ground beef and use as hamburger meat. It might make a nice meat loaf, I am thinking. Using it in a soup sounds good, too. :)

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  2. Oooh, that's a great deal on the pork sausage! And you got a freebie too, go you!

    I use the pork sausage that I buy to make an adaptation of the Zuppa Toscana soup from the Olive Garden. I also have a recipe for a pasta dish that uses that, I could look for it if you want.

    I'm glad you got more rain! My shopping day is tomorrow but I've already spent about $20 out of my $30 budget. There are several pricey items that I need to replenish in my pantry/fridge (Parmesan, for instance), so I'm thinking about going to Walmart and using up Swagbucks gift cards there despite the higher prices, so I can try to remain as close to $50 total for the week as possible.

    Have a great day, today!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I thought at $.79/lb, I'll buy it first and then worry about how I'd use it! There was a picture of sausage gravy over a biscuit on the package as a serving suggestion; the last time I had sausage gravy (at a diner-type restaurant) I wasn't too impressed by it (it was more like white sauce with some bits of sausage in it), but I think it will be good with pasta or a rice casserole.

      Oh, I hope you manage to come under budget! Using your gift cards to cover some of the expenses is a good strategy! I need to stock up a few things, too, but I am waiting until next week to do so.

      Hope you have a good day, too, and a good rest of the week.

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  3. BLess. you found some good bargains on your groceries. Love the free stuff..smile
    My husband loves pork sausage.. I sometimes make homemade pizzas and fry and crumble sausage to put on it..Or I make sausage gravy to serve over hot biscuits. [Not so healthy...but sure taste good.ha].
    How sweet that someone moved the cart for you.. There are still some nice people in the world..
    Have a great week.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Judy. Yes, the store sent me a couple of coupons for free items for being a "best customer"! The coupons are valid till April, but I thought I'd redeem them right away!

      I need to find a good recipe for sausage gravy - as I stated in my reply to Nathalie, above, the last time I had sausage gravy over biscuits (at a diner-type restaurant), I was rather disappointed.

      I hope you, too, have a great week, Judy. How is that closet coming along?

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  4. I like making sausage and egg muffins for a quick paleo breakfast. I can make a dozen and either freeze half or be nice and share them with TheHub and we have breakfast for a week. It only takes a few seconds in the microwave for them to be piping hot and ready to eat.

    I have also made a pork pot pie using sausage with onions,broccoli, cauliflower and carrots

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    Replies
    1. Homemade sausage and egg muffins are a great idea, Anne! Thank you! They'll be convenient to take to the office, too. The pot pie sounds good, too. Looks like I need to do some cooking one of these weekends!

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