Goodness. Remind me not to grocery shop at the store until after I pick up my Bountiful Baskets order. Come to think of it – never mind. We’ll eat all of this, and maybe I won’t have to buy as much next week. Maybe. It is a good thing we have a second refrigerator because we have a lot of food in our house right now. Here’s how this week’s grocery shopping went for me:
On Tuesday night, we picked up our Azure Standard co-op order. I got 5 pounds of carrots, 6 pounds of yams, 5 pounds of peanuts, 25 pounds of red beans, 6 pounds of chicken thighs (not pictured), and 50 pounds of yellow potatoes (not pictured).
I use roasted, unsalted peanuts (like the ones pictured above) to make delicious homemade peanut butter. If your family wants to avoid hydrogenated oils, but you don’t like the taste of plain, natural peanut butter – try this recipe. It’s incredible!
On Friday, I filled my cart at the store – mostly with price-matching items. I scored some great deals! I got apples, pears, sweet peppers, grape tomatoes, bananas, grapes (two varieties), spinach, mixed greens, baby carrots, cucumbers, and a cantaloupe.
Then on Saturday, I picked up my Bountiful Baskets order. Mmmmm! Asparagus, celery, apples, oranges, bananas, lettuce, pineapple, carrots, broccoli, sweet peppers, cucumbers, and avocados came in the surprise basket this time. Plus, I had ordered 28 pounds of green beans. It was perfect timing for these to be offered since we are almost out of our garden-grown green beans from last summer.
I had also ordered heirloom tomatoes and strawberries. It feels like a little taste of summer with these goodies!
I’d say our family is pretty well set for at least one week – if not two. I am so thankful we have such great sources for such great food!
We are feeding a big group of high school kids from our youth group here on Sunday night, and I plan to put out a big plate of veggies and a big plate of fruit along with sliced ham, french bread, and Angeled Eggs. Maybe I’ll need to grocery shop next week after all. :)
Here’s what’s on our menu this week:
Breakfast
- Crepes with strawberries and Cream Cheese Filling
- Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls
- Green Machine Milkshakes with Honey Cinnamon Muffins
- Peanut Butter Pancakes
- Pumpkin Breakfast Cake
Lunch
Dinner
- Taco Potatoes
- Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Taco Salad
- Tuna Casserole
- Homemade Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese
Fruit and Veggie Side Dishes (I serve 1-4 with every meal)
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Spaghetti Squash
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Asparagus
- Mushrooms
- Sweet Peppers
- Cucumbers
- Clementines
- Oranges
- Apples
- Applesauce
- Tomatoes
- Green Leaf Lettuce
- Mixed Greens
- Spinach
- Green Beans
- Peas
- Strawberries
- Bananas
- Pineapple
- Cantaloupe
- Avocados
- Grapes
We’ll be heading out of state for our end-of-season Homeschool Basketball Tournament on Thursday night. I’ll be saving many of the “packable” fruits and veggies to take along with us to munch on all weekend.
Because I’m sure you’re dying to know: The toilet is still sitting right outside my kitchen – but looooook! There is tile on our new bathroom wall and floor…
It looks so very pretty! My husband is a work horse right now. I am thanking him by loading his plate with heirloom tomatoes and fresh green beans. I do what I can. ;)
Loving the tile. I miss that in my bathrooms. Nearly all bathrooms have tile from top to bottom in Lithuania and Poland. Oh, so nice.
I also love to see fruits and veggies piled on the counters after a shopping trip.
How much of your produce is organic?
I would say about half (or less) of my produce is organic. I just do my best with what is available, letting go of feeling like it all has to be organic. We were barely eating any fruits and veggies, so going only half organic has really upped our produce intake!
Are you going to Nationals (homeschool basketball)?? What team?
We are the Central Nebraska Falcons – but not going to nationals. It’s a big area-wide tournament in Kansas where we play against teams from KS, NE, IA…and maybe a couple other states I’m not aware of. :)
Is your family involved in a tournament? Where do you go?
We participate in the National Christian Homeschool Basketball something (NCHBC) tournaments. http://nchclive.com/ They have four regional tournaments in the country–We just participated in the Midwest Region (Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and….) this past weekend (Thurs-Sat). (The Heartland region was held in Kansas City, KS the same weekend). Heading to the National Tournament in Springfield, MO the week of the 8th (a week long event!). Such fun! Great to have such a set up for my basketball loving boy to participate in!
I’m hosting my friend’s three kids and probably my niece and nephew as well, if we’re being realistic, for 4-5 days this week! I’ll be feeding a 13, 11, 10, 9×2, 8, and 4 year old, so my newly homeschooling 9 year old got roped in to the meal planning for this sleepover-to-end-all-sleepovers. :) We made a list of menu ideas, and now we are going to talk over our budget to see where any adjustments might need to be made. They don’t know it yet, but they’re all getting a 5 day long mini cooking boot camp with the help of your books! Homeschool friend unite! :)
I pick up my Azure order on Monday! It’s small this month, but I’m still thankful!
Yay for price matching.
Thanks for the reminder that I STILL need to try your crepes recipe. My family will thank me, I’m sure.
Thank you so much for all your inspiration. I know my hubby thinks I’m nuts, but I was so impressed with myself the last two times I went shopping. My cart was all produce except for milk and cream. I am trying to be more intentional about BUYING the produce so that we can EAT it. My hubby and youngest son are the difficult ones, but I am excited to say that my son ate salad last week and liked it. Your thousand island dressing and the right kind of salad and it was a go. Thanks so much.
So excited– I had to share that I just placed my 1st order with Azure Standard! :) It will be a few weeks before it arrives, but I am looking forward to all the natural, organic food! Your blog is so encouraging as it gets me motivated about eating whole foods, but not beating myself up over everything not being organic as long as we are eating more produce. Thank you!!!