Grocery Haul ~ Second Week of July

Welcome to the second week of July’s LWD Grocery Haul series in which I share our weekly grocery purchases, including prices. I’m always curious to see what others purchase and what food prices are in different countries or regions. I hope you are finding this series interesting and helpful.

LWD GROCERY HAUL
July 2025 ~ Week Two

 

Pantry/Freezer Challenge Month Update

I’m making a little headway on my pantry/freezer challenge. Monday night I used leftover pot roast and veggies from the freezer. I thawed and then heated it with the last of a package of egg noodles. I added a couple of big spoonfuls of sour cream which made it sort of like stroganoff. 

Last night I made veggie burgers from two partial boxes of burgers from Aldi so that cleared a little more space. Still have a lot more to go!

If you would like to join me in a pantry/freezer challenge this month, I’d love to hear about your meals and how you are getting creative with them. I will *try* to share photos of our meals on Instagram and in the Life With Dee Facebook group.

 

My substitute shopper story:

Since the beginning of the pandemic I have been doing grocery pickup at a local store. I’ve had generally good experiences with the shoppers and for the past three years I’ve had the same one – Reba. She does a great job and I really appreciate her. 

This week, however, she was out sick on my grocery day so they had another store employee (male) shop for my groceries. If you’ve ever read the hilarious social media threads about male shoppers you’ll know where this story is going. Here we go:

1. I ordered russet potatoes and got red potatoes. Paid for russets, though, which are $2.99 a bag whereas red ones are $4.99.
2. He didn’t weigh the onion and just charged me the price of one pound. Probably only 10-20 cents more so not a big deal. 
3. I ordered three bananas and got three bunches. In the notes section for this item I asked for “3 bananas, more green than yellow”. In addition to the wrong amount they are pretty ripe. I’ll be making my delicious Fresh Banana Cake tomorrow which will make us all happy. And they only cost me 95 cents.
4. I ordered a package of the King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls but got the butter ones instead. No big deal, other than the fact I get them mostly for my mom and she likes the sweet ones better.
5. I ordered a family pack of ground beef which is around 3 pounds. They charge by the pound so the cost should reflect that. However, he just charged me for exactly 3 pounds whereas the package was a little over that. 
6. I ordered two pounds of cherries and got two BAGS of them. That was a score as they easily weighed over 2 pounds EACH. 
7. Finally, I ordered 2 tomatoes and got this:

I was charged for 2 pounds. I didn’t weigh them but I think that’s more than 2 pounds. 

I just had to laugh as I unpacked everything. Apparently he had no idea that meat and produce are weighed and he obviously didn’t read the notes on my order. He also didn’t wear a mask when bringing out the groceries despite that being at the top of the order instructions. The last time there was a substitute for Reba, she asked me the next week if he’d worn a mask. She was aggravated when I told her no. I wasn’t mad either time. I had my own mask on and rolled down all the windows when I saw him coming out without one. 

I’m very grateful for this service as I’m immunocompromised and try to avoid risk where I can. None of these mistakes adversely affected my menu this week and I actually came out ahead cost-wise. And for what it’s worth, I won’t be complaining to the store. If I’ve learned anything during the pandemic it’s to not sweat the little stuff and to be adaptable. Now…anyone have some good ideas for all these tomatoes?

 

PRUETT’S (REGIONAL GROCERY STORE):

• blueberries (1 pt.) $3.49
• cherries $7.98
• red seedless grapes (1.5 lb.) $5.99
• bananas (4 bunches) $.95
• 3 pack of corn $2.99
• red potatoes (5 lb.) $2.99
• onion (1) $.99
• tomatoes on the vine (2 lb.) $2.98
• tortilla chips (11 oz.) $1.99 (on sale)
• Ruffles Potato Chips (13 oz.) $6.59 (on sale)
• pita bread (6 count) $2.79
• Sara Lee sandwich bread (24 oz.) $2.50 (on sale)
• King’s Hawaiian Rolls (24 ea.) $7.99 (I divide these with my mom)
• Daisy sour cream (16 oz.) $2.49 (on sale)
• buttermilk (1 qt.) $2.49
• Chobani Yogurt, Greek, Nonfat, Plain (32 oz.) $5.99 (on sale)
• Hellman’s mayonnaise (30 oz.) $5.79 (on sale)
• Classico Pasta Sauce, Tomato & Basil (24 oz.) $3.99 (on sale)
• large brown eggs (1 doz.) $3.49
• Best Choice Regular Cut French Fries (32 oz.) $3.29 (on sale)
• USDA 80% Lean Ground Beef Family Pack ($4.99/lb.) $14.97
• distilled water (128 oz.) $1.49

 

Total: $94.21  (plus tax, shopper fee and tip)

 

Our weekly menu…

I didn’t make Haluski on Wednesday, as originally planned. I had leftover taco meat from Tuesday that I didn’t want to waste. I used a box of Spanish rice mix from my pantry which I cooked according to package directions. I added a drained can of corn and the taco meat. After the rice was tender I stirred in about a third of a bag of baby spinach, topped with grated cheese and then popped the lid on, letting it sit until the cheese was melted and the spinach softened. We each added a dollop of sour cream and crushed tortilla chips from the last of the bag. It was really, really good!

Since I didn’t make Haluski I used part of the cabbage to make coleslaw. We had some last night with our veggie burgers and will have the rest tonight with curried chickpeas. 

FEATURED RECIPE…

Fresh Banana Cake

 

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