My Plan

This is my initial shopping plan after looking over the flyer for this weekend:

 

Eggs	-$2.99
Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Bread	-$2.50
Grapefruit (3)	-$3.00
Cans of tuna (3)	-$3.00
Bag of potatoes - buy one get one	-$3.99
Bag of onions - buy one get one	-$2.99
Chicken thighs	-$5.00
Can of tomatoes (2)	-$2.00
Bag of beans	-$1.00
Bag of carrots	-$1.00
College Inn Chicken Stock (2)	-$4.00
Oranges (2)	-$2.00
Craisins	-$1.00
Total to Spend	$35.00
Left over	$0.53

 

I think from this I can make breakfast, lunch and dinner with  a few repeating meals. Chicken salad, tuna salad, bean soup, potato soup and chicken with tomatoes and baked potato are on the menu as of now.

 

Planning my menu, I already miss the cheese, the cream and the fresh herbs for my potato soup. I already miss the ham for my bean soup.  I miss the fresh fruit. I miss the rosemary and polenta for my chicken dinner.  I can already tell it will be bare cooking.

 

I can also see there will food left over.  I can't possibly eat two bags of potatoes and two bags of onions in one week. But that's good! It will carry over. But by the end of the week I will really be missing fruit.  There is no room for "extras". 

 

I can also already see that it's a going to a healthy diet.  There is not any room for boxes, bags, processed foods, treats, etc.  But this by design. And it's only for one person.  By looking at the flyer, I could also have put together a list like this that would feed a Family of 4 - depending on age of kids and if they were eating at school or not - the shopping could be varied.

 

Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta (4) and get free pudding packs for lunches	-$4.00		BREAKFAST
Betty Crocker Potatoes (2 boxes)	-$3.33		Cereal
Box of pasta (3)	-$3.00		Milk
Stop and Shop Pasta Sauce  (3)	-$3.00
Keebler Cookies	-$2.50		LUNCH
Utz Potato Chips (2 bags)	-$2.00		Canned pasta for lunch full of sugar, fat, salt and preservatives
Manwich in a Can	-$1.00		(1/2 can per child would be 8 lunches)
Turkey meat for Manwich	-$3.00		Chips
Plain white buns	-$1.00
Frozen Italian Meatballs (2 boxes)	-$2.00		SNACKS
Chicken Nuggets	-$3.33		Jell-o
Jello (2 large boxes)	-$2.66		Pudding snacks
Cereal	-$1.49
Milk	-$2.49		DINNER
			Canned sloppy joes and potato chips	1 night
			Pasta and sauce full of sugar and salt	4 nights
			Frozen meatballs and boxed potatoes	1 night
Total to Spend	$35.00		Chicken Nuggets and boxed potatoes	1 night
Left over	$0.20

 

This is just what I can see from the flyer. I'm sure in the store there are more choices. It's just not right. The cheap food is just junk and the vegetables and herbs and fruits and grains and meats are much more expensive. The whole grain pasta is more than the white. The long grain and wild rice more than the plain white. Whole foods take more time and equipment to prepare. Even the very best hard working single mother of two at the end of the day would find it easier to open a box or can of something ... than stand over a hot stove. It's understandable.  It's irritating. It's the old question: Why is the CORN more expensive than all the processed CORN SYRUP products??