Grocery Prices
I am still trying to figure out how to spend less on my weekly grocery shopping while buying Calorie Restriction quality foods. Today I did fair. I shop at two grocery stores. One for frozen organic vegetables, organic apples, and a few other items that are less expensive than at the major chain. I am a big time label reader, if the label doesn’t tell me where the food is from I don’t buy it. That seems to be a common practice at Trader Joe’s. I won’t purposely buy food from China or India and Mexico. If I buy it and not know it, of course there is nothing I can do about it. I try to buy California fruit and veggies.
For the freezer
Today I spent $45.71 at Trader Joe’s. I didn’t need fish this week, I have plenty in the freezer. I bought very little actually. The pizza dough, sauce and goat cheese is for two pizzas. That will last 2 weeks.
I still like to have pizza on Friday nights. The tortillas are for fish tacos made with the Mahi Mahi I already have. The rest of the food was apples and frozen organic green beans.
Beef
My next stop is Raley’s. I spent $62.49. They are more expensive and also a better quality. I used to buy all my beef here. It is range fed and very good. Last week I bought enough beef and chicken for 4 months. I bought it from the butcher so I got a better deal. $250.00 for 4 months is a good deal to me. If I can make it last 4 months I will have saved us some money.
Spending Money
I have never been so concerned about spending money. I have also never been out of work. We have given us only $1200 a month for grocery, gas, and spending money. I do have a stash hidden from the Greek. He keeps my wallet empty, I know this so I empty it before he can. I see no way of getting more money for spending so we better get used to this. We are in the first month of my retirement. I am in love with not working, not so much with no place to go and no money to blow.
I usually spend about $160.00 a week on groceries. If I got enough to last until next Thursday I did great this week. I might even be able to hide more $$ from the Greek. Update: I didn’t hide anything from the Greek this week. In fact I ended up borrowing from my stash. Darn.
Menu for this week:
- Fish tacos
- Pizza
- Steak with Green Beans
- Roasted Chicken with Broccoli
- Joe’s Special with spinach
- Salmon with Broccoli
- Split pea soup
Bread Outlet
I bought the canned soup for the Greek, he doesn’t seem to mind it. I can’t get past the smell. He buys his own bread now. I was spending about $10. a week on it. There is a day of bread outlet close to his work so he goes there. Sure helps me out. He buys two loaves and freezes it. The cottage cheese is for him too. I don’t eat dairy products, just the small amount of goat cheese I put on the pizza.
My day
My breakfast is a banana, breakfast tea with Stevia and flax with 1/2 cup orange juice. Lunch is an apple or a melon. I have a snack before dinner, around 2pm, it is always an apple. I fix dinner around 4pm. I try to eat 1200 to 1500 calories a day. If I am trying a new recipe I try to weigh everything before I cook it. I haven’t tried anything new for months. I just never get tired of my food choices.
Is Fruit bad?
I am going to try and eat less fruit. The added calories might be the reason I am not losing the final 15 pounds. I have lost 5 pounds this month making me happy. I will miss the fruit. I know I have to much. Usually 1 banana, 3 apples, and about a cup of mixed berries a day. Sometimes more. I don’t snack on salty high fat foods, that is a good thing. I think I discovered the worst natural food for me. It is raisins, I love the California Golden raisins. I make a big pig of myself with them. Eating the entire bag in two days. Wow, the calories in that! So, I refuse to buy them anymore. They are so darn good on a broccoli salad if I ever get them in there. I will pass up the salad for the cup of raisins. I find it easy to not buy things I abuse.