Groceries for a Week [less than $35] -- Is it possible?

I know that I have been missing in action this week, but I have been very sick with a cold. That is for another post in another place Sue's Special Corner. Come visit me there.

I did go shopping yesterday, Saturday, to purchase a few things for this week's meals. I went to my favorite two stores, Save-A-Lot and 99 Cent Only Store. I spent $8+ change at the 99 Cent Only Store and a total of $23+ change at the Save-A-Lot.

I didn't buy a lot of cleaning products (probably none) nor did I buy a lot of meats. As a matter of fact, I only bought my 5lbs of jumbo hot dogs ($4.99). I did buy some canned beef stew ($1.49 each) and some chili with beans ($.68 each). These were the every day prices not just ad specials.

Yes, I did buy some veggies, tomatoes, sauerkraut, mushrooms, 2lbs of frozen cauliflower, and sliced potatoes, all for less than $5.00.

I bought coffee ($3.99 for 34.5 oz), bottle of soy sauce ($.99) and splurged on some munchies (e.g., potato chips, cheese puffs, and a 1/2 lb solid chocolate bunny) for less than $3.00 [again, every day low prices].

Oh, yeah, since I didn't post last week, I'll tell you what I did for a super cheap soup.

We found cabbage at $.24 per pound and bought two heads for $.81 total. When I came home I had such a craving for that cabbage that I cut it up with onions and cooked it for about an hour or so (depending on how soft you like yours). We diced some "chopped ham" (we bought a few days earlier) and added a can of tomato sauce, cut green beans, kidney beans, sliced carrots, 6 roma tomatoes and seasoned it to taste with onion powder, garlic powder, a dash of crushed red peppers, salt and pepper.

This recipe made a stock pot full of soup. We now have over 5 quarts left. Easy meals for a couple of days. I love it.

If you try this recipe, please let me know how you liked it.

WOW!! Cheaper groceries!


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Target -- Bullseye or ... ?????

My sister had given me a gift card from Target earlier last month (February) so, what better use than groceries.

I went "grocery shopping" on Saturday evening (last week) with $10.00. My poor cat was suffering from "carbon monoxide poisoning" every time she went into her litter box. Besides my roommate and I (especially me) were having the muncholas.

I was surprised. There are some items that Target hit the bullseye with, with their own store brand. The store brand is called the Market Pantry.

Although I have not tried every single one of them, I purchased four items (Hey, ten dollars only goes so far). I bought the microwave popcorn ($.88), the graham cracker "s'mores" mini sandwiches ($1.02), the thin wheat crackers ($1.89 ); and the mini marshmallows ($.89).

My roommate tried the microwave popcorn yesterday afternoon and said "I like my other brand better".

I ate the graham cracker sandwiches between Saturday night and Monday night. They were okay, not great, but okay. I personally would have preferred additional chocolate filling, but hey, beggars can't be choosers...or can we?

Believe it or not, the "thin wheats" have lasted until this week. I have been slowly munching on them and have added them to "ramen" soup. I have totally enjoyed these little crackers and it is a pretty full box. I found them to be just as good as the "brand name" thin wheat crackers.

I used the marshmallows last night and made crispy rice treats. They were like any other marshmallows that I have bought before at a lesser price (Save-a-Lot), so I wasn't impressed.

Oh, yeah, the Tidy Cat ($1.89) was a hit. My cat, Princess, thanked me over and over again.

Well stay tuned to see what shopping I do this week.

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DID YOU KNOW?

I was thinking the other day about the Kroger brand names that I found at two different stores. I went to Smith's last weekend, but I also do a little grocery shopping at Food4Less. I noticed that both stores had the Kroger brand as their store brands. Ok, I'm not the sharpest thorn on the rose bush.

I went onto the web and looked for Food4Less. I found no website for them. I then looked for Smith's. Again, no website. So then I looked up Kroger. Surprise! I found that Kroger owns both stores. Hmmmm.

That raised another thought in my mind. What's the difference between the two stores. Personally, I think that Smith's has the "snob appeal". Many of the items that they advertise are higher priced than Food4Less, not by much, but they are higher. Its almost like Smith's is for the middle class shoppers and Food4Less is for the budget /income minded shoppers. My question would be...don't all of the items come from the same warehouse? Why the price difference?

Sometimes I think that women are afraid to admit that they shop at dollar stores, and "discount" stores like Food4Less or Save-A-Lot. Like it's something to be ashamed of. Well, I will yell it from the highest mountain because of the money I save at all of the "cheap" grocery stores. I don't see a difference between brand, off-brand, or store brand items when it comes to certain staples such as sugar (sweetner), flour, spices, etc.

Why pay more?

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Olive Oil -- Extra Virgin or Spanish?

As I was watching the cooking channel last month I noticed that many of the cooks were recommending the use of extra virgin olive oil. This made me wonder about how beneficial this stuff really is. So I did a little research and found that it is extremely good for you.

The problem is that it is so darned expensive. So I went to my local Save-A-Lot grocery store and found a large bottle of naturally pressed Spanish olive oil for less than $4.00. A little more looking around told me that it is just as good for cooking as the more expensive oil.

The extra virgin oil is what you need for salad dressing and light marinades but the naturally pressed oil is better for cooking because the smoke point is higher. As I went to other large chain stores I noticed that the prices they were asking were still quite a bit higher than what I had paid.

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Do You Shop Smart?

I used to think I did until a couple of months ago. I checked my ads in the mailbox and found a new grocery store opening in my neighborhood (called Save-A-Lot).

I looked at the ads side-by-side and found that the new grocery store was advertising the same items as the other store, but they were A LOT less expensive (although different brand names). I bought a few of my favorite items and left the store with a lot of change. I cooked up some of the items for dinner and even my roommate couldn't tell the difference between the brand named items and the off brand items.

WOW!! Cheaper groceries!

I'll be filling you in later.

Shop Smarter and Save.