SHOPPING!

After being down with the flu for 12 days, and only out of the house yesterday when I went to the doctor and the pharmacy, it was good to get out today and get some much-needed grocery shopping done. I don't actually plan my menus in advance; rather, I plan my menus around what is in the house - and that depends on what was on sale. (Remember as you're reading this that I don't serve desserts or sweets as a rule...once a week I might make a sweet dish or cookies or something similar.)

First of all, I already have some meat in the freezer from former sales, so I didn't have to buy much that way. I did purchase 2 packages of smoked picnic ham chunks (99c/lb), 4.5# ground beef (which is ground fresh at our store, for $1.49/lb), and 2# ground mild sausage for $1.00 each. In our freezer we already have pork (country ribs and/or roast and/or steaks), chuck roasts (which we slice and broil as steaks sometimes), and chicken - I don't typically stock up on chicken because I can almost always get it for <$1/lb. We also have salmon burgers (expensive but a nice treat once in a while!). I will add meat in larger quantities to the freezer as I find great sales on it; otherwise, our meals get planned around what we already have.

Shredded cheese was on sale also; 3c packages for $1.99, or about 66c/cup. (There is no point in figuring $/lb if you use it by volume rather than by weight, right?) So I got $10 worth. 2 heads of cauli for $1.25 ea on sale. A large but lovely eggplant (lasagna this weekend, I already have full-fat ricotta and sauce on hand!) for $1.49. A cuke for a quarter - will have tuna salad "boats" for lunch tomorrow, <$1.00 for the meal. Ready-to-eat salads for half off, or 65c/bag. Fresh spinach, half off, or 1# for 99c. Fresh mushrooms for $1/8 oz (and that's a lot of mushrooms!). Yellow onions for 59c/lb.

Staples: canned mushrooms (59c/can)...quarts of heavy cream ($3.12/qt)...canned tuna (59c/can)...parmesan cheese ($2.49/can)...a quart each of full-fat sour cream ($1.57) and plain yogurt ($1.82) - although the yogurt is for the dogs, not us ...and a loaf of lowcarb bread for my husband.

Obviously there are things I didn't have to buy, like low carb tomato sauce, SF peanut butter, lowcarb ketchup, mayo, eggs, and so forth, because I already have them on hand. But I will continue, of course, to post my shopping trips, since that's a big part of the reason for this blog - so that you can see that eating low carb doesn't have to be expensive - as well as the meals I prepare with the food that I buy - so that you can see that eating low carb doesn't have to be complicated or difficult :).

So what's tonight's supper? 1# of ground beef & 1# of ground sausage with an egg, 1/4 chopped onion, seasonings, and ground porkies for a meat loaf; fauxtatoes; salad.