Trading Up Downtown

Woah. I did a HUGE grocery shopping this week! Our kitchen cabinets and refrigerator looked pretty empty, so our shopping list was really long. Plus, I stocked up on a bunch of items that were on sale at the grocery store. I ended up going $11 over-budget, but I saved $28 from the original total (before sales and coupons) and bought a ton of stuff.

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?

Can you believe I picked weeding our front walkway over grocery shopping this past weekend? Who am I?!?

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?

After last week’s huge shopping, we didn’t need to buy a lot of food this week. Plus, I took a look at what we already had in our kitchen and cabinets, and created a meal plan for the week based on what I found, so our shopping list ended up being pretty short.

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).