This Week's Shopping List

This week had no extravagances, but the pantry and freezer are starting to get bare. So, a trip to Costco was in order. The latest challenges of pregnancy have also made our menu for the week very baby-centric.

The week's menu is as follows:

Lunch: Various leftovers

Dinner:
- Salmon noodle casserole with broccoli (leftover from last week)
- Chicken stir fry with kale, carrots, red peppers, broccoli & ginger served with brown rice
- Cold soba noodles with carrots, zucchini, red peppers & tofu with sesame sauce

In retrospect, that last item on the menu was clearly the influence of the fetus. Never in a million years would I have craved such a cold, summery dish at this time of year on my own. I think I've got to get this little elfling under control.

The shopping list for the week went like this (* indicates non-organic):

scallions
ginger
onions
zucchini
bananas
pears
persimmon
extra firm tofu
Cascadian Farms cereal (2.99)
soymilk ($0.69 with store coupon)
Traditional Medicinals tea ($2 coupon)
milk
yogurt ($0.67)
raisins
dehydrated peas
sardines*
popcorn

I was able to buy everything on the list this week. Yes, even the dehydrated peas! Woo hoo! I also bought a few sale items at the health food store: aseptic single-serve milks (these are helpful when on long outings with my daughter), tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. The total for this minimalist shopping excursion came to $59.74.

This was a fantastically short list with a price tag that promised to do some real damage to the budgetary hole we dug last week. Unfortunately, it doesn't include all of the pricey bulk stuff that we needed to get at Costco. That included the following items:

Frozen spinach ravioli (for emergencies and lazy days)
Frozen wild salmon
Frozen wild blueberries (my daughter's breakfast addiction)
Organic raisin bran
Organic whole wheat bread (we freeze it till we need it)
Organic canned soups (also for emergencies and lazy days)

For the long-term savings this will provide, we dropped $69.58. That brings the grand total for the week to $129.32, which is $6.82 over our weekly budget. Oh well, we sink slightly deeper into the red. So, we now stand at minus $87. Some penny pinching weeks are ahead of us. We'll see how creative we can get.