If you’ve been following me awhile you likely know that my daughter, Lisa of Retro Housewife Goes Green, and I like to shop for groceries together once a month. We go to the city and make a day of it. Our last trip was the end of March and neither of us had been able to work in a trip until Wednesday of this week. Fortunately we now have an Aldi in town and they are carrying enough organics to bridge the gap between trips (we do have a Super Walmart in town but neither of us shop there). I somehow still had a fair amount of food on hand – probably because we’ve been out of town or otherwise eaten out a lot recently due to hectic schedules. Lisa, however, said they were down to the point where meals were getting “interesting”.

If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw some of these photos. Lisa and I both shared pics throughout the day as we shopped. After we got through at Trader Joe’s it occurred to us we should have taken a selfie of the two of us. However, by that time we had been shopping for several hours in 90+ degree heat and decided we looked a bit bedraggled. Maybe next time!

 

Our first stop in Norman was the recycling center. We can’t recycle glass in our town so we haul it to Norman. We are still recycling bottles from our Happyland Music Fest. Each time we go to Norman we take another load. We are going again tomorrow so hopefully we can get the last of it!

We always start our day of shopping with lunch. You know the old saying about not shopping on an empty stomach, right? This time we opted for burgers at Tucker’s, a local place that uses ground beef ethically produced by regional growers.  We also split a mint chocolate chip shake. We are both somewhat lactose intolerant and shouldn’t have ice cream but threw caution to the wind because, well, look at it:

 

 

With a delicious meal on board, we were ready to start shopping.

 

Michaels

Michael’s can be a dangerous place for me but I exercised self control this time. I wanted some silk flowers for my office and some ribbon to tie back my office curtains. I found a small bouquet in just the right combination of colors AND it was on sale! I didn’t find any ribbon to suit me and now I’m thinking about coming up with something more creative anyway. If you have any cute ideas for tie-backs, please share!

The only other thing I bought was a package of planner inserts for my Happy Planner. And since I have the Michael’s app on my phone I got 40% off.

• silk bouquet
• planner insert

Total: $7.59

 

Target 

Next up was Target. I didn’t have anything specific I needed there but Lisa had some things on her list. She actually takes the time to look up sales in advance of our trip so she knew there were some sales on things I needed, too. I was also able to get Father’s Day cards while I was there.

• Applegate Farm organic bacon
• Applegate Farm organic hot dogs
• frozen organic broccoli
• frozen organic French fries
• two Father’s Day cards

Total: $32.04

 

We then headed to Oklahoma City. We have a particular order we like to follow for the stores there. We start with Sprouts because they often have good sales. Then Trader Joe’s. And finally, Whole Foods. Whole Foods can be expensive if you aren’t careful so we save it for last and just fill in with the things we couldn’t find elsewhere.

Sprouts

 

• two artichokes
• bag of key limes
• asparagus
• organic red grapes
• 4 pound bag of organic oranges
• 1 organic lemon
• organic strawberries
• 3 ears of sweet corn
• bottle of pineapple coconut juice
• organic maple syrup
• large box organic black tea (for iced tea)
• raisin bran
• organic garlic granules
• organic pasture butter
• organic chicken breasts (three to a pack)
• Hawaiian hot dog buns
• box of tissues (made from sugar cane and bamboo)
• organic frozen cherries (2 packages)
• bag of ice
• small orchid for my office

Total: $85.59

 

Trader Joe’s

We are so excited to finally have a Trader Joe’s!

This is what greets you upon entering the store:

It was so tempting to just forget about groceries and buy flowers instead. I limited myself to one bouquet, though.

• smoked salmon
• frozen gnocchi
• frozen organic chicken breasts (individually flash frozen)
• licorice (for David – can’t stand the stuff!)
• organic romaine lettuce
• 6-pack organic yogurt (4 oz. each)
• 2 pounds California peaches (our local ones are not quite ready yet)
• a plum
• organic bananas
• smoky peach salsa
• organic tortilla chips
• cereal
• chile lime seasoning
• lemon pepper in grinder
• saffron
• cocktail sauce
• bouquet of flowers

Total: $67.88

 

Whole Foods

Our final stop…

 

• bar of goats milk soap with patchouli
• organic red leaf lettuce
• carrots
• red bell pepper
• 3 large bagels
• organic cottage cheese
• grenadine
• natural maraschino cherries
• balsamic vinegar
• Kilarree cheddar cheese
• smoked Gouda
• capellini organic pasta
• split loaf of Tuscan bread
• organic cream cheese
• butterfly pork chops
• sliced roast beef from the deli
• chromium picolinate
• insulated grocery bag

Total: $105.16

 

Grand total: $298.26

We were already well-stocked on staples such as rice, pasta, beans, lentils, sugar, flour, and many other things we use regularly. My freezers are still full, too. This grocery haul should see us through a month with just the occasional purchase of milk and eggs at Aldi’s, plus fresh produce from the farmers market.

 

Now, have you been wondering what monthly groceries for two families looks like in a Prius? Here you go:

 

 

And here is what my purchases look like all in one place (minus the bouquet from Trader Joe’s):

 

 

So that’s it for this month’s grocery haul. Lisa is planning to do a blog post about how she grocery shops for a month at a time. Keep an eye on her blog for that – Retro Housewife Goes Green.  Maybe I’ll do something like that someday, too, although she’s far more organized about it. I tend to just buy the things I know we like to have on hand and figure out what to do with them later. She actually plans meals in advance for the month.

How often do you like to shop? Have you ever tried to shop monthly? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear how YOU shop.

 

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Yesterday was “Grocery Haul Day”. My daughter and I have been doing monthly grocery shopping trips together for a few years now. We both try to eat a mostly organic diet and our small town doesn’t have a great selection. That’s why we spend a day a month (usually) stocking up in the city. It might sound crazy but we actually have a lot of fun together doing this.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Life With Dee!

February Grocery Haul

Yesterday was absolutely perfect for our trip. It was in the low 70s. It started out overcast but the sun came out and honestly, it was just a gorgeous day.

 

I picked up Lisa at her house and we headed to Norman first. We don’t have glass recycling in our town so our first stop was to drop off the box of glass I have been collecting.

 

Next up: lunch. We have a favorite restaurant called Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails. They have an appetizer consisting of three Wagyu beef sliders on homemade rolls with bbq sauce and fried onions. We like to split that and then each get an order of their excellent shoestring fries. It’s just the perfect portion size for us. This restaurant is well-known for its craft cocktails, too. I normally drink water with my meals but this place makes the absolute BEST Manhattan so I indulged.

 

 

We then went to Michael’s because I wanted some insert sheets for my Happy Planner. They have their Easter decorations out – such pretty colors! We spent half an hour or so browsing the store and resisting the urge to BUY ALL THE THINGS! Aside from the inserts I had on my list, I only indulged in one other item – a packet of cute stickers for my planner. Plus I had a 40% off coupon so $8.68. Pretty good, right?

I had just about one squirt left of my perfume so I ran into Ulta and quickly picked up a bottle of Shalimar. Nothing else, but good perfume doesn’t come cheap – $87. However, as Coco Chanel said:

 

We had piddled around long enough and now it was time to start shopping for groceries. Target had a few good sales so we took advantage of those.

What I bought:

Target

• 2 Lindt chocolates (Valentine gift – on sale)
• La Croix (1 case – on sale)
• organic apple cider vinegar
• English muffins
• Tillamook extra sharp cheddar
• blue cheese salad dressing (on sale)
• organic butter (2 – on sale)
• International Foods Cafe Francais instant coffee (3 – on sale)
• plastic storage container (on sale – going to use it under the bathroom sink)
• red pepper jelly
• organic  spinach (on sale)

$51.68

After we checked out we went over to the in-store Starbucks and I treated the two of us to vanilla sweet cream cold brew coffees. They are only 100 calories yet taste like dessert.

It was now almost 3 p.m. so we decided we had better get a move on. We drove to Whole Foods in Oklahoma City. Oh, I love Whole Foods. Look at these gorgeous vegetables:

And the flowers!

They had a special sale on meat. Buy $25 worth and get $5 off. Plus their pastured, grass fed ground beef was on sale for only $3.99 a pound! I bought three pounds and then divided it up into several small packages. I used my Food Saver vacuum sealer to seal the packages then froze them. The bacon, sausages, chicken and pork chops went in the freezer, too. I had a small ham already at home so we have plenty of meat for the month since we eat several meatless (or low-meat) meals a week.

Whole Foods

• lavender liquid foam handsoap refill
• frozen french fries
• chicken breasts (2 large)
• ground beef (3 lbs. grass fed – on sale)
• butterfly pork chops (on sale)
• European style cultured butter (2 pounds)
• cereal
• bacon
• Italian chicken sausage
• organic turkey lunchmeat
• organic chicken broth (2 cartons)
• tonic water (4 pack)
• coconut milk
• tomato paste (3)
• maraschino cherries
• apricot preserves
• Oklahoma honey (1 quart)
• fresh cheese ravioli (heart shaped – cute!)
• brioche hamburger buns
• King Cake (This made me VERY happy! – I’ll cut it up in about 4 sections and freeze them.)
• red bell pepper
• corn on the cob (2)
• limes (5)
• Meyer lemons (4)
• baking potatoes (2)

$176.42

 

Trader Joe’s 

• organic pasta sauce
• potato chips
• cereal (2 boxes)
• farro (something I haven’t tried before)
• salmon fillets
• bananas
• potatoes (5 pound bag)
• eggs (1 dozen)
• flowers (2 bunches – I’m taking one to my mom)

$41.36

The flower section as Whole Foods is swoon-worthy but Trader Joe’s also had some nice flowers for only $3.99 a bunch. Aren’t they pretty?

Lisa’s groceries were in the back of my Prius (she took a photo of hers which I think she shared on Snapchat, a platform I have yet to do anything with). I put mine in the backseat:

Finishing Up the Day

And finally, we were done. We picked up something to drink at Sonic and then headed home. By the time I dropped her and her groceries at her house, it was nearly 8 p.m. We usually don’t take that long but it had been awhile since we’d done a shopping trip, the weather was lovely, and we just took our sweet time. It’s nice to have a whole day together.

Total: $269.46 (not including perfume and the items at Michael’s)

Here’s a picture of my purchases:

 

Fortunately I had cleaned out the refrigerator Saturday so I didn’t have trouble finding room for my purchases. Still, by the time I set everything out on the table to photograph, divided up the ground beef and sealed the packages, and put everything away, it was close to 9 p.m. Yeah, it was a long day but now I don’t have to think about groceries for a month. And if we get an ice storm? We are stocked up!

Note: If this grocery haul seemed a bit light on produce this time that’s because I already had sweet potatoes, onions, oranges, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, lettuce, celery, leeks and some peppers at home. I’m also still trying to use up some of the excess in my pantry and freezer.

I’ll pick up milk and some of the more perishable produce items such as bananas and lettuce in the coming month but otherwise this should be about it. Other than the brioche hamburger buns I didn’t buy bread. I am determined to get back into the habit of baking my own.
Links to YouTube grocery hauls:

Links to some previous LWD grocery haul posts:

Grocery Haul ~ November 2015

Grocery Haul ~ September 2015

Grocery Haul ~ June 2015

Grocery Haul ~ February 2015

Grocery Haul ~ July 2014

You can search for more of my grocery hauls in the search box on the sidebar. 

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Do you want to eat a healthy, organic, grass fed diet but don’t think you can afford it? My friend, Victoria of A Modern Homestead, explains how they do it on less than $200 a month. Click here to find out how:

 

 

 

Food Saver Vacuum Sealer