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| March 13 Groceries: Fresh Produce, Meat, etc. |
I went grocery shopping today and bought meat (chicken and beef), eggs, turkey cold cuts, a package of chili powder, and fresh produce. I also stocked up on cans of coconut water and coconut milk.
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| March 13 Groceries: Canned Items |
I bought:
Chicken drumsticks, $.59/lb = $1.50
Beef shoulder steak, $2.99/lb = $2.60
Turkey breast cold cuts, 9 oz. package = $1.19
1 doz. large eggs = $1.29
Gala apples, $.39/lb = $.60
Bananas, $.49/lb = $.52
Green grapes, $.99/lb. = $1.29
D'anjou pears, $.49/lb = $.49
Red potatoes, $.33/lb = $.29
Green beans, $1.29/lb = $.52
Yuca/cassava, $.79/lb = $.51
Yams, $.33/lb = $.16
Carrots, 1 lb. bag = $.45
Chili Powder, 6 oz. = $2.49
4 cans coconut milk, $.89/can = $3.56
6 cans coconut water, $.69 + $.05 deposit/can = $4.44
Total = $21.90
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| March 13 Receipt |
I am learning to buy small quantities of everything - just enough for about a week to 10 days for myself. So, just a little over 2 lbs. of chicken and just under 1 lb. of beef, 3 bananas, 3 apples, 2 pears, the smallest bag of grapes, less than 1 lb. of green beans, etc. I still have half a bag of spinach, half a head of lettuce, some beets, and a carrot in the fridge, as well as an onion and oranges from the tree.
I went ahead and bought the eggs for $1.29; of course, now that I've bought them, they'll probably go on sale for $.99 next week! :D
Earlier, on March 6, I had bought bananas ($.85), grapes ($1.66), butter ($2.99) and spent a total of $5.50.
March grocery budget = $75
Spent to date = $5.50 + $21.90 = $27.40
Balance left in the budget = $47.60
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It was another warm (88F), sunny day, today. One of my cousins called me in the morning and we had a nice chat. Then, I did some office work. I did the grocery shopping in the late afternoon. I think, if I had done only the grocery shopping, it would have been fine. I already felt a little tired after I came back from the store, but I pushed myself to go to the garden center, as well, since I had been postponing that for several days, and it might have been a little too much.
I walked around the garden center, looking at all the plants they had for sale, including the vegetable seedlings, but only bought two bags of soil amendment. Each bag was 2 cubic feet and I could barely move them, they felt so heavy to me! I managed to tip one into the cart and I was tugging at the second one when another shopper, a young man, asked me if I'd like some help with it. I said, "Yes, please" and he lifted it quite easily and put it into my cart. At the check out, the cashier asked if I needed help loading them into my car and I said, yes, please, again. So she called for help loading and I waited maybe 10 minutes or so for someone to arrive, but no one did! I got tired of waiting and so, managed to load the bags into the trunk of my car and came home. It took some effort, but I managed to unload them from the car as well, but I left them in the garage. They were too heavy for me to carry to the back yard!
Then, I took the trash can and the yardwaste bin to the curb for pick up in the morning.
By then, I was hungry (I had eaten a slice of pizza for lunch, but that had been several hours ago) and exhausted! I couldn't even take the time to make a cup of tea! I ate some of the chocolate pudding I had made earlier and fell asleep sitting up in my arm chair! LOL! I woke up after about an hour and made my way to the sofa and lay down for another hour or so, but didn't fall asleep. Eventually, I got up and made myself some scrambled eggs on toast for dinner and that cup of tea I didn't have, earlier. Later, I had some grapes.
Then, cleaned the fridge, emptied the waste baskets, and took the kitchen trash, etc., to the big trash bin at the curb. Rinsed out the kitchen trash can, too.
I had planned to cook the chicken and the beef, but it will wait until tomorrow. I had planned to water the back garden, but that, too, will have to wait until tomorrow. As for the planting bed, I think I'll wait until Friday when my gardener friend comes to do the garden and have him finish it for me.
Monday's To Do List:
- Grocery shop! - DONE
- Menu plan lunches for the week (to take to the office) - DONE (turkey cold cuts sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches)
- Garden center for soil amendments
- Finish the planting bed - Have gardener finish it
- Water the back garden - Tuesday
- Clean out the fridge - DONE
- Empty waste baskets - DONE
- Take trash cans to curb - DONE
- Daily tasks (put away dishes/wash dishes/clean litter box, etc.)
Tuesday's To Do List:
- Office work
- Water the back garden
- Bring the trash cans in
- Cook the chicken and the beef
- Water the indoor plants
- Daily tasks
Today, I am grateful for:
- Another sunny, warm day
- Getting the grocery shopping done
- Managing to wrestle the bags of soil amendment in and out of the car!
- Chatting on the phone with my cousin, video chatting with my daughter, exchanging emails with my friend
- Being OK, even if I overdid things a bit!
How was your Monday?
Wowee- I think you had a very productive day! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that you were do tired. I'm glad you were able to fall asleep and recharge a little bit. I am learning that sometimes you just have to give in to when your body is telling you to stop, if you are able to. Some days just sitting in a chair and closing my eyes for 20 minutes will make a big difference in my day.
You did wonderful with your grocery shopping! This week I am gearing myself up for a huge grocery haul- I need to get our regular items (i have a large list since its been a few weeks) plus birthday party items (I have found out that children can often have adult size appetites when partying. ha) I'm kind of tired just thinking about it. haha.
I hope you have a nice rest of the week, Bless, and I hope you find those moments of rest when you need them. :)
Thank you, Dawn. I have very little stamina, these days. It's better than when I slept all day, though! I read about your plans for the birthday party! I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. Have a big bowl of popcorn as a snack - that'll help them fill up!
DeleteSimply amazed at the price of your fruit and veg. Good variety and well done on your choices. Is coconut milk/water something you grew up with? Not even sure if it is available in the shops here.
ReplyDeleteYes please wait for your gardener friend to help you with the heavy bags of soil. Why don't you have him pick you up a couple of tomato cages. Expect he knows where the reasonable ones are sold. We find it is not worth the bother with seeds and just purchase a couple of plants already established. Two tomato plants yield a lot of fruit.
Glad you are o.k. although as you said "you did overdue it a bit"
Hugs.
Sandy
Sandy, I went to one of the ethnic stores where they have some of the best prices for fresh produce. They also have weekly specials and that's what I bought for the most part. For example, most of their apples were selling for $.89/lb. However, Gala apples were $.39 this week and Red Delicious $.49, and they have Granny Smith on sale for 3 lbs/$1 today only (their Tuesday special). I just pick and choose among the week's specials.
DeleteYes, coconut milk and coconut water are items I grew up with. The fresh variety, from coconuts we plucked from our own trees when we lived in our house and later, bought from the market when we moved to an apartment, not from cans! Coconut milk is used in our cooking, although regular milk can also be used. We generally discarded the water from the mature coconuts, but the water from the young, immature coconuts was considered as a refreshing drink. The coconut water in the cans is not 100% pure, it has water and sugar and preservatives added, but I still like it.
I took a quick look at the vegetable seedlings, yesterday, and was taken aback by the prices. I will go back, later this week or next weekend, and take another look. Or check the dollar stores.
Hope you are having a lovely day.
You do so well on your grocery budget. Sorry that you wore yourself out at the garden center. Customer service is not what it used to be. Whenever I have big heavy bags, I always leave them in the trunk until I'm ready to use them. Good as any place to store them and saves my back!
ReplyDeleteHugs
Jane
Thank you, Jane. When it comes to groceries, I generally buy what's on sale that week and manage to do OK.
DeleteI probably should have bought the 1 cu.ft. bags of soil amendment; it would have been more expensive, but not as heavy to lift! My daughter, too, was telling me I should have left the bags in the trunk of the car! Just didn't think!
Hope your week is going well. Stay warm!
I find shopping of any kind one of the most tiring activities around. I'm not surprised you were tired.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Live and Learn. Apparently, I can still do only one big thing a day! Even if I am feeling better now than I did a few months ago, I still don't have my stamina back! Still, it's better than when I couldn't do anything!
DeleteReading of your struggle with the bags made me think. Several years ago I was shopping and a woman was unsuccessfully trying to get several 50 pound bags of soil into her cart, so I very easily loaded them for her. Now I am that woman! What happened?
ReplyDeleteAnne, I guess we are all getting older and physically less able! I know I am struggling with building up my stamina after the cancer treatments. I feel better, so I think I should be able to do what I used to be able, but I'm not at that point, yet.
DeleteHow very nice the young man helped you with the soil. Sorry you were tired out.. That was a big day.. I too, can't lift and do like i use to..It is so frustrating.
ReplyDeleteYour warm temps sound so good.. It is so very cold here. 24 degrees today..eeech.. Stayed in all day.ha
Judy, yes, it was very kind of him to have helped. I am enjoying the warm temps. I am most comfortable when it is in the mid-80s! :) 24F is too cold! Glad you stayed in. Hope you are having a good day. Keep warm!
DeleteYour produce is a wonderful price, I must start going to our local market in the weekends again. You do very well with your budget! Sorry you overdid it, but it was nice of the young man to help you. Coconut water has become very fashionable here and is sold in those tetra cartons at a ridiculous price. Although coconut milk is a decent price! I once had some fresh coconut waater from a coconut in Thailand, they sliced it opened in front of you it was so lovely! Take care, Sharon
ReplyDeleteSharon, it's funny how, when we were back in Sri Lanka we used coconut oil, coconut water, and coconut milk in our cooking, and we were told it was very unhealthy for you! Now, everyone is saying how good they are for you! Yes, fresh coconut water is the best. One can buy fresh coconuts, here, but they tend to be very expensive.
DeleteThat sounds a busy and exhausting day Bless. No wonder you fell asleep sat up. Mum struggles with lifting things for the garden these days. She can hoist stuff into the boot of the car but she says trying to get it back out is nigh on impossible. Luckily my 17 year nephew only lives around the corner so she calls on him for help.
ReplyDeleteCoconut water is a recent 'health fad' over here and 1 litre can cost anything from £2.50 upwards. The only time I've ever tried it was when Mark won a coconut for Amy at a fair. She wanted to try it and it took Mark and my BIL ages to crack it open - I can see them now with a drill! After all their effort she had one sip and spat it out! xx
Suzanne, I keep thinking I am back to being 100% and can do what I used to do, but every time, I am reminded that I am not quite up to it, yet!
DeleteThe water from a mature coconut doesn't taste good. Ideally, the coconut water one drinks should come from a young, immature coconut, before it has formed a hard shell and the meat of the coconut has become firm (when it is young, the meat of the coconut is just a very soft, thin layer which can be scraped with a spoon and scooped out to be eaten along with the coconut water; it is considered a delicacy).
First of all, okay, Superwoman! Please be careful and let your body heal. It has been gone through a lot lately. I just worry about you! <3
ReplyDeleteHow to you cook your Yuca/cassava? I have always wanted to try my hand at that and cactus, but I am a bit intimidated! I am NOT very adventurous with meat (I could easily become a vegetarian, but NOT vegan...I LOVE cheese), but I do love to try different veggies. The only thing is, I do NOT like curry. Thanks, in advance, for any words of wisdom you have!
Hi, Joy! I posted about how I cooked the yuca/cassava in my next post. :)
DeleteIt's a nuisance when people don't help with reaching things down and carrying, isn't it? I have the same problem with getting people to help me with large bags of compost at the garden centre. They weigh a ton and are so unwieldy. Yet I always offer a hand if I see someone struggling to reach something in the supermarket or get luggage off a train etc.
ReplyDeleteThat is really kind of you to offer help with reaching for items and getting things down. The world would be a better place if there were more like you.
Delete