Revo-Day 2 Grocery Shopping with the Fam (EEK)

So a little show and tell for today.  On day two of our revolution, we went grocery shopping for the first time this month. We all went together and it was quite an adventure.  As promised, here are the actual receipts that I have after our excursion.  At the bottom I will share our Great Harvest purchase total-that recipe didn't show up as the ink was light.

On the Walmart receipt (starting from the top) the great value item that is 2.18 is plain, nonfat yogurt.  The applesauce is unsweetened.  Next comes fat free refried beans. Ginger which was pricey but we ran out.  The popcorn are old school kernels that I will use in our air popper. Pine nuts are for a homemade basil based pesto that I need for next week.  I also purchased Finish dish pellets, parchment paper, and a really cute splurge-red star shaped ice cube trays for .98 cents. 

Our total was $32.70.

Aldi's is my wonderland!!!  As I explained in an earlier post, I do use grocery money to purchase household items so you will see toilet paper and paper towels included on this list.  I also bought triscuit like crackers that have less than 5 ingredients which we will use as a pool snack and Pirate's Booty which is generally a million dollars at Naturally Your's.  I got one bag (also less than 5 ingredients) to try-it is white cheddar popcorn.  The biggest change that I made with our groceries was going to 1% milk today.  After reading a Michael Pollan book (which I will share at a later time because man is it a quick and AMAZING read!!!!) he suggests purchasing the real deal as many of the nutrients are lost in skim milk.

Grand total at Aldi' $35.86

Not a bad total so far!!

Last stop-Sam's Club.  We do still have quite a bit of food in our fridge from last week.  I have cheese, meat, and some veggies left over that we will be using (I snuck spinach in smoothies this week-hee hee hee).  I am responsible for providing a portion of breakfast for our Sunday School teachers tomorrow so I did use grocery money to purchase 2 fruit trays @ $10.00 a piece.  As you will see, there are some pricey items-several are just plain splurges!!!!  I bought the large bag of almonds which will last us for at least 3 weeks.  I made a trail mix with the walnuts I purchased at Walmart, some dried cranberries that I had in the cupboard, and then about 2 cups of the almonds.  It has been a hit with the majority of the crowd.  The salted peanuts are Mr. Peanut snack packs that I put in our snack basket.  They fall under the less than 5 ingredient rule.  I purchase Eggland's eggs at Sam's because we kill a dozen eggs (or 18) at one breakfast sitting.  DO NOT BE ALARMED AT THE DUNKIN DONUTS on the receipt!!!  It is me paying $19 for coffee!!  It is my vice-don't hate me for it!!!  The Lara bar's were also just plain splurging!!  On 100dayofrealfood.com these pre-made bars are recommended as a snack food because most of them have 3 ingredients.  In this box there are cashew cookie, apple pie, and cherry pie bars.  We took one of each out and cut small bites to sample.  Personally the cashew cookie was DISGUSTING!!  The pie bars were pretty yummy!!  They are also gluten free (which as of yesterday seems to be the route I am going to have to take for awhile)-but they have nuts.  Then I got 3 large containers of berries.

Total : 93.83

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Great Harvest was also an important stop as we were out of bread.  Upon arrival we realized that while the employee on the phone told me that coming in in an hour would be great, the bread we buy was gone in the rectangle loaf-eeek!!  I ended up buying one round loaf of bread and had that sliced ($5.50), got 4 pounds of whole wheat flour ($4), and picked out whole wheat pasta with Italian seasoning ($4.95).  Here's the COOL part-there was a "half off" online deal where for $25 I could get $50 worth of Great Harvest gift cards.  For the above purchases, I used $20 of my gift cards and then applied the extra $6ish dollars to the next purchase I made:

tomorrow for church I also purchased a "food day" bread box which cost me $14.40 after using the left over 6-ish bucks from the gift card. 

The  $14.40 did come out of my grocery money.

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My approximate grand total of spending today is approximately $176. 

Now this isn't high for what I typically spend-I always plan on $200 per week.  I do think this is higher than the last few weeks simply because I had to purchase extra items for church AND chose to buy the Lara bars, coffee (dude I just cannot bring myself to buy Foldgers!!!! I cannot skimp on my coffee!!) , and almonds.  I do still need to purchase honey and need to find whole wheat quesadilla's and corn tortilla's that don't have 8 gazillion ingredients!!

So this is my kitchen cabinet.  On the middle shelf you will see (from the left) a bag of almonds, a jar of salsa, snack baggies, and brown rice.  On the bottom shelf (from left)-hey, how did that mini bottle of Malibu rum get there?? One can of black beans, one jar of "simply" peanut butter, popcorn, and brown lunch sacks. I took a picture of my fridge, but it's just too scary to show.  I shall wait until I get my gleaming stainless steal beauty and post that!!!

The food I purchased today will be used for meals and snacks next week.  I always buy for the upcoming week.  Yes we do run out of food quickly, so I find myself making at least one return trip to the store mid-week.  This is different because with packaged food I could buy a lot of stuff and it would keep. 

One last note.  I am finding that there are a lot of opinions about our revolution that have been shared when I try to explain why my kids can't have ice cream or a sugary "treat".  Many of them are not positive and/or supportive.  I don't mean this to be rude, but I don't care.  I learned a long time ago that the only opinion about raising my kids that I care about,is that of my husband and my own.  I feel strongly that this is a worthwhile venture-I want to exert my influence as the nutritional gatekeeper in a healthful way.  I've read way too many books and articles that scientifically prove that eating "real" food has a major impact on health and well being.  It's worth the sacrifice of diet coke, baked lays, and frozen waffles.  I don't want to look back and wish I tried.  I am doing what I think is best right now for my peeps. 

P.S.-my new favorite drink:  cold water with mint leaves from my garden-it is DELISH!!!!!! (thanks for the tip Mom!!!)