Grocery Costs.

Our grocery haul for the week. Dh is in charge of our

shop and he set a budget of $135 per week. Most weeks,

he does really well, staying under that amount or even

hitting it right to the penny. But some weeks, like this

one make it go higher ~ we have guests for dinner so

there is no way to feed 10 people within our typical

budget for the week. So thankful we are comfortable

enough to go over without being worried. But we have

really noticed a big increase in the cost of the items we

like to buy. It's harder to eat healthy. I'll never really

understand why junk food is often cheaper than food

that is nutritious. Food is survival and should be free!

How are you coping with higher food costs?

~ Chy

Who Needs a Car?!

We can actually get some groceries with

our Spyder. Yup, there are 4 different bins

that can hold several big bags of food, and

then these 2 smaller ones that held our buns

for our Sunday Dinner as well as some

treats and the alcohol as well. Ingenious!

~ Chy

Getting Groceries.

I'm sure everyone around the World

is so feeling the burden of grocery

shopping each week. It has become

quite the chore and one I don't enjoy

anymore. I used to love to browse

the aisles and chat with the staff or

community members who happened

to be shopping at the same time. But

now, on the odd occasion we venture

in to the store to get our groceries

vs. ordering them online and pick up,

I feel like I'm holding my breath the

entire time we're in the store. I can't

wait to get back to the car and then

get safely home. Once there, we do

spend time washing down our food

and put everything away, hoping we

didn't pick up the virus in any of the

transaction. I know that once this is

all done, we'll still be truly extremely

careful when food shopping. Germs

won't have a chance in this house! I

envy those in the picture above. A

simpler time, without worry and the

stress we are all encountering at this

time in our lives. I would love to be

carefree again and can't wait to be

there again one day. Until then, we

work hard, keep positive and recall

the days of less worry. One day! :)

~ Chy

Getting Groceries.

Getting groceries is a new experience now, as many of you know. We watched a video the other night, done by a doctor, who documented how to deal with your food, once you have brought it home. Some of the things he suggested we already do, but we learned a few new ideas and I'm sure some we'll continue to do once this virus has gone away. It took longer to create a "dirty counter" and a "clean counter" and to re~bag, re~box and re~container all our food. Everything was washed or wiped down. Everything was carefully dealt with and it may seem overboard but even the doctor stated "that this will take longer but all of us have really nothing but time on our hands anyway." So true. It took quite a while, but we did it and though it will be another 2 weeks or so before we have to get food again, next time, it should be shorter now that we have a system in place. I feel this helps us stay safe and healthy and worth the extra time it took in the end. Hope it works!

             Have you had to replenish your food often?

      Have you made changes to how you put them away?

                                    ~ Chy

In My Bag.

Can you see the little treat I bought to

brighten our kitchen on these dreary days?

~ Chy

Grocery Deals.

My quick stop at the store on Friday netted a

few items to fill up our fridge, freezer and the

veranda. Here's the breakdown of my little trip:

* 9 packages of boneless and skinless chicken

breasts ~ a bargain as chicken has just gone up

in price and these were $4.25 less per kg than

the new price. My quick calculation shows I

saved a very tidy $32. Love deals like this!

* a whole chicken to roast for Sunday dinner.

* a perfect head of lettuce that last week was

almost $4 but on Friday, the price was $1.69.

* a bag of whole organic mushrooms, on sale,

cheaper than the regular ones and in much

better shape and size. Organic does pay.

* a big block of marble cheese for $13.98 but

the store price was $8.99 and then the sale price

was $6.99. We love cheese and use lots so this

is an amazing price for something we will eat.

* my treat: a box of Frosted Cheerios. Regular

price was $4.98 but on Friday, $2.98.

* just 2 Mac apples. Not on sale but still so good.

* finally, 2 pumpkins for the veranda, on sale.

Grand total: $102. If everything was paid at

full price, I would have spent well over $160.

Worth the time to research sales and look for

in store deals as well. And it only took me

less than 20 minutes to do this shop. We had

milk in the fridge, a fresh block of butter, the

pantry is full and the freezer has some items

so we should be good for most of this week.

How is your pantry looking this fall?

Any good grocery deals you can share?