What $41 in Groceries Looks Like and an Awesome Way to Remember your Veggies!

I'm pretty proud of myself this evening. I took to the grocery store sans the kid, which always makes it a little easier, and came home with this:



Unlike a lot of other mom bloggers I know, I can't stock up too much. I know a lot of the best money-saving moms out there stock up on meat one week, dry goods the next, focusing on what is on sale. That's a great idea, but there are two things standing in our way. First, we need a second fridge. Second, the hubby and I are foodies. Meaning that it's hard enough to try and plan a week in advance. Thankfully, I am a frugal foodie, but my husband is not, so I try to meet him in the middle. It also means we don't have a lot of processed or premade meals in the house. We keep cereal, chicken nuggets, and some mac n cheese and that is about it. So I've been trying to get the most bang for my buck, bringing home produce, meat, and other sale items each week.

Here's what I got from Hy-Vee in Blue Springs:

red bell pepper
organic red grapes
bananas
red onion
chives
sweet potatoes
baby carrots

flour tortillas
spaghetti
elbow macaroni
penne rigata
large bag of popcorn kernals

3 cans of pork and beans for upcoming bbq!
2 cans pineapple
medium size honey
2 cans of pringles (a special treat for hubby, since Walgreens had them for $1 and I had a buy 2 get $1 off coupon)

3.25 pounds boneless, skinless chicken
2 pounds ground beef
1 package turkey sausage

1 roll of Bounty paper towels
1 package of brown paper lunch sacks to use for making popcorn
1 package freezer storage bags
1 package sandwich storage bags

and a gallon of milk, of course

not too shabby.....

Now I promised an awesome way to remember your veggies, and I don't just mean eating them! If you are like me, you come home with some asparagus and throw it in the crisper and promptly forget about it until it has gone bad. There are two ways to combat this. First, only buy veggies and fruit for the week never longer. Second, make a fruit/veggie basket.*



Take your veggies for the week and put them where you can see them in your fridge. I'm not sold that the crisper does much to help crispness anyway. You'll be more likely to use them if you can see them.

* Don't forget that putting apples and tomatoes together will encourage ripeness. This is great if you have a green tomato but not so great if it is already ripe, so you may want to keep them separate.