In this week’s cart:

• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Dry Roasted Pistachios (NuVal score: 67)
• Butter (NuVal score: 1)
• Romaine hearts (NuVal score: 100)
• Avocados (NuVal score: 89)
• Eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• Frozen shrimp (NuVal score: 75)
• Frozen edamame (NuVal score: 91)
• Rib eye steak (NuVal score: 30)

Save

Our grocery shopping trip was last-minute this week, so we shopped for in-store sales and used our reusable bags to save as much money as we could without planning ahead of time. We still managed to come in under our weekly grocery budget, but I think if we had coupons and really paid attention to the in-store sales and planned our meals around them, we would have saved even more. Oh, well. There’s always next week, and I’ll be sure to get my save on big time!

Do you tend to spend more when you don’t plan out your meals? How much more would you say?

Here’s this week’s cart:

• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Tomatoes (NuVal score: 93)
• Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
• Kale (NuVal score: 100)
• Cucumber (NuVal score: 93)
• Bell Pepper (NuVal score: 94)
• Dry Roasted Pistachios (NuVal score: 67)
• Almonds (NuVal score: 81)
• Canned Bumble Bee Tuna in Water (NuVal score: 57)
• Veggie Patch Chick’n Nuggets (NuVal score: 33)

Save

I wasn’t planning to buy canned tuna, but when I saw they were on sale for $0.99 per can, I stocked up. I couldn’t pass up that deal! Plus, Canned Bumble Bee Tuna in Water (NuVal score: 57) is my favorite brand, and I know it’ll get eaten in our house, so I didn’t second guess myself when I added 10 cans to my cart!

Did you score any sweet deals at the grocery store this week?

I think the eggnog, apple cidar, and holiday sugar cookies say it all!

Here’s what’s in this week’s cart:

•  Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
• Romaine lettuce (NuVal score: 100)
• Cucumber (NuVal score: 93)
• Potatoes (NuVal score: 93)
• Arnold 100% Whole Wheat Bread (NuVal score: 37)
• Land O Lakes All Natural Extra Large Brown Eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• Van’s Homestyle Frozen Waffles (NuVal score: 25)
• Teddie Super Chunky Peanut Butter (NuVal score: 38)
• 93% Lean Ground Beef (NuVal score: 30)
• Athenos feta (NuVal score: 24)
• Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese (NuVal score: 22)
• Thomas Light Multigrain English Muffins (NuVal score: 42)
• Hood Golden EggNog (NuVal score: 24)
• Apple cider
• Polaner All Fruit Strawberry and Grape Jelly (NuVal score: 1)
• Mezzetta Marinated Artichoke Hears (NuVal score: 30)
• Nestle Tollhouse Sugar Cookie Dough (NuVal score: 3)

Trade

I didn’t realize this trade-up until I got home and checked the score of the Thomas Light Multigrain English Muffins that I bought at the grocery store. They score a 42, which is higher than my usual Arnold Sandwich Thins 100% Whole Wheat, which score a 37 on the NuVal scale. Nice!

What are your favorite holiday-inspired foods?

I can’t believe Turkey Day is just about here. I mean, the temperatures reached 70 degrees in Boston last week. At this time of year, that kind of weather is typically unheard of!

I’m not complaining– I love the warm weather– but it doesn’t make it seem like Thanksgiving should be here already. Even still, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I shopped appropriately at the grocery store this week: light.

In this week’s cart:

• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Brussels sprouts (NuVal score: 94)
• Kettle Backyard BBQ Chips (NuVal score: 24)
• Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips Buffalo Bleu All Natural (NuVal score: 24)
• Sweet potatoes (NuVal score: 96)
• Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
• Cheez-Its (NuVal score: 23)
• Land O Lakes All Natural Extra Large Brown Eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• Diamond Shelled Walnuts (NuVal score: 82)
• Wonderful Pistachios Roasted & Salted (NuVal score: 41)
• Wishbone Italian Dressing (NuVal score: 3)
• Yoplait Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 99)
• One Pie Pumpkin (NuVal score: 91)
• Coffeemate Natural Bliss Vanilla Creamer (NuVal score: 2)

Save

Even though I didn’t have a lot to buy at the grocery store this week, I still wanted to save as much money as possible, so I took advantage of in-store sales and used a bunch of coupons.

Items on sale:

Items that I had a coupon for:

In this week’s cart:

• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Chicken breast (NuVal score: 39)
• Yellow potatoes (NuVal score: 93)
• Store brand bagels
• Butter (NuVal score: 1)
• Red wine vinegar
• Eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• Avocado (NuVal score: 89)
• Pears (NuVal score: 96)
• Romaine lettuce (NuVal score: 100)
• Store brand sliced cheddar cheese
• Store brand black beans
• Store brand canned pumpkin
• Van’s Homestyle Frozen Waffles (NuVal score: 25)
• Cape Cod Kettle Cooked Parmesan & Roasted Garlic Potato Chips (NuVal score: 25)
• Red bell pepper (NuVal score: 96)
• Mushrooms (NuVal score: 93)
• Store brand blue cheese

And here’s where most of our weekly grocery budget was spent:

Sirloin steak (NuVal score: 30)

Turkey breast (skinless) (NuVal score: 48)

Chicken breast (NuVal score: 39)

How much of your weekly grocery budget is spent on meat?

Surprisingly, we didn’t need a ton of groceries this week, but I still managed to spend quite a bit of money at the grocery store. I swear, it was for a good reason though! I had a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase at my local grocery store, so this week’s shopping was all about stocking up on items that I know we’d use, so I could save $10 off of my bill.

In this week’s cart:

• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Store brand vanilla soy milk
• Chicken breast (NuVal score: 39)
• Thomas Whole Wheat Bagel Thins (NuVal score: 32)
• Garlic (NuVal score: 96)
• Arnold 100% Whole Wheat Bread (NuVal score: 37)
• Brown sugar (NuVal score: 1)
• Sugar (NuVal score: 1)
• Green beans (NuVal score: 99)
• Boar’s Head Honey Smoked Sliced Turkey (NuVal score: 26)
• Boar’s Head Cheddar Cheese (NuVal score: 23)
• Teddie Super Chunky Peanut Butter (NuVal score: 38)
• Yellow potatoes (NuVal score: 93)
• Store brand bagels
• Store brand whipped cream cheese
• Butternut squash (NuVal score: 100)
• Eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• 93% Lean Ground Beef (NuVal score: 30)
• Prince pasta (NuVal score: 57)
• Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup (NuVal score: 24)

Save

I wanted to hit the $50 mark, so I could save $10, which is essentially a free $10 in my mind. As long as none of the food that I buy goes to waste, it’s a deal to me!

I stocked up on items that I know will not go to waste in our house: soy milk, Campbells Tomato Soup, Teddie Peanut Butter, and Prince pasta.

Over the weekend, I had a serious craving for a big toasted bagel with cream cheese. I thought about buying one at my favorite bagel shop, but I decided to save my money and buy some bagels and cream cheese at the grocery store this week. I saved even more money by buying day-old bagels and whipped cream cheese, which is the same price as regular cream cheese, but seems to last longer in our house. Maybe because it’s light and fluffy? Or because it’s easier to spread?

How often do you take advantage of store coupons?

Here’s this week’s cart:

• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Store brand vanilla soy milk
• Broccoli (NuVal score: 99)
• Red bell pepper (NuVal score: 96)
• Chicken breast (NuVal score: 39)
• Store brand sour cream
• Mushrooms (NuVal score: 96)
• Store brand black beans
• Nature’s Pride Whole Wheat bread with Honey (NuVal score: 26)
• Store brand black olives
• Thomas Whole Wheat Bagel Thins (NuVal score: 32)
• Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells and Extra Cheesy Cheddar (NuVal score: 23)
• Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells and White Cheddar (NuVal score: 21)
• Garlic (NuVal score: 96)
• Canned Bumble Bee Tuna in Water (NuVal score: 57)
• Stonyfield Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 94)
• Snap peas (NuVal score: 96)
• Laughing Cow Light Garlic & Herb Cheese (NuVal score: 23)
• Store brand crushed tomatoes
• Store brand sour cream
• Carrots (NuVal score: 99)
• Lay’s Barbecue Flavored Potato Chips (NuVal score: 23)
• Lay’s Tangy Carolina BBQ Potato Chips (NuVal score: 20)
• Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips (NuVal score: 16)
• Wishbone Italian Dressing (NuVal score: 3)
• Barilla Penne (NuVal score: 61)
• Stonyfield Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 93)
• Stonyfield Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 41)
• Stonyfield Oikos Blueberry Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 30)
• Nature’s Path Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola (NuVal score: 36)
• Al Fresco All Natural Roastic Garlic Chicken Sausage (NuVal score: 20)

Save

Lots of saves this week!

I stocked up on products that we love and know that we’ll use.

Bought store brand products whenever possible.

Did you score any good deals at the grocery store this week?

For some reason, I just didn’t want to go grocery shopping. I sounded like a worse than weeding. I’m still surprised. Thankfully, my husband wanted a break from yard work, so he happily took our shopping list and bought the groceries for the week. I continued to weed while he was gone. I’m still in shock.

Here’s this week’s cart:

• Store brand whole wheat bread
• Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
• Chicken breast (NuVal score: 39)
• Potatoes (NuVal score: 93)
• Mushrooms (NuVal score: 93)
• Green bell pepper (NuVal score: 94)
• Avocado (NuVal score: 89)
• Onions (NuVal score: 93)
• Store brand canned tuna
• Attune Probiotic Milk Chocolate Crisp Bar (NuVal score: 24)
• Sliced turkey from the deli
• Sliced cheddar cheese from the deli
• Lundberg Alfredo Parmesan Risotto (NuVal score: 9)
• Stonyfield Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 94)
• Stonyfield Organic Super Smoothie Wild Berry (NuVal score: 32)

If you had the choice, which would you pick: weeding or grocery shopping?

Here’s this week’s cart:

• Store brand whole wheat pasta
• All-purpose flour (NuVal score: 77)
• Indian Head Cornmeal
• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Avocado (NuVal score: 89)
• Onions (NuVal score: 93)
• Store brand soy milk

• Cooking spray
• Thomas Whole Wheat Bagel Thins (NuVal score: 32)
• Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Bread Soft Honey Whole Wheat (NuVal score: 33)
• Wilson Pepperoni Slices
• Kraft Italian Three Cheese Shredded (NuVal score: 23)

Save

This week’s Save was all about assessing what was in our kitchen before I went grocery shopping. When assessing my kitchen, I take the time to move things around and really see what I have on-hand. Most of the time, I am surprised by what I find– a jar of marinara sauce, a can of chick peas, a half-used box of pasta. So, instead of buying these items again or letting them go to waste, I incorporate them into the coming week’s menu. Taking these few extra minutes to examine my refrigerator really helps me focus my shopping list, which, ultimately, saves me more money at the grocery store.

Trade

This is a small trade-up, but it’s still a trade up! Higher the score = better the nutrition!

Thomas Plain Bagel Thins (NuVal score: 28) for Thomas Whole Wheat Bagel Thins (NuVal score: 32).

Even though our grocery list was fairly long this week, I was determined to stay within our weekly budget, so I meal planned, cut coupons, and looked for in-store sales. The result: our bill came in $4 under budget. Success! I’m so glad that my hard work paid off!

Here’s what’s in this week’s cart:

Save

I was a saving machine at the grocery store this week!

I took advantage of a number of in-store sales, including stocking up on Chobani yogurt. They were 10 for $10!

I bought some reduced produce, which I plan to incorporate into a meal this week.

And I cashed in a bunch of coupons, including a few for free products! Thanks, Healthy Living Summit!