Saving at the Grocery Store

Today I went to Randalls.  Have I mentioned how much I love Randalls?  They always have awesome clearance deals and I find I primarily shop the clearance section.  I did buy things not on clearance but lots was on clearance.  I got all of this for $65.  The chicken will last a good long while and I got a bunch of supplemental ingredients.  Normally I will only buy pasta if it is under $1 per box/bag.  Randalls had this brand on sale for $.89 then with a Randalls coupon they were $.79 each.  I bought 5 packages of pasta.
 
  One way I save money when buying meat, is by buying the cheapest package.  The meat is priced per pound.  This chicken was $1.99/lb.  Now some of the packages had way more poundage, therefore making them cost more.  I sifted through the packages of chicken (some cost upwards of $12 for the same size package) to find the lowest priced package.  Some people might say that yes I paid less, but I also got less meat.  Duh.  Well, not duh because most recipes call for a number of chicken breasts.  No one will know if your chicken breast was larger or smaller than another package.  By purchasing the smaller breasts I am consuming less meat without even trying.  And lets be honest, the bigger breasts are probably just pumped up with more water anyways.

 
  Tonight for dinner I made spicy Cajun pasta with 2 chicken breasts.  We loved it and will be eating the rest for dinner tomorrow (Hubby will take some to lunch as well).  I plan on making soup later this week and using the celery along with some potatoes we have that are starting to sprout.   

Monday Meals

I used to know all the good spots to get grocery deals.  I had a routine and I liked it.  Now I am trying to set up a new routine and discover new grocery stores.  In our little town we have a HEB (a grocery store of course).  While its not bad, I am not excited about it.  Yesterday while in the next town over, I stopped at their HEB and was pleasantly surprised.  I went in for some Parmesan cheese so I could make a homemade fettuccine alfredo sauce.  I was only missing the parm cheese, and its a main ingredient.  Wanting to save time and gas, I wanted to get enough food for the week.  We had a pack of 6 chicken breasts for this week that I wanted to base our meals off.  Other than the pasta I had no plans for the rest of the week.  I ended up buying
-3 red onions
-2 avocados
-2 green peppers
-2 jars pizza sauce
-2 big bags of cheese
-2 jars of pickles
-2 packages of pizza mix
-2 jars bread crumbs
-1 jar parm cheese
-1 jar maple syrup
-1 jar salsa
-1 bottle italian dressing
-3 bags of Texas shaped chips
-1 box pancake mix
-2 packages bake at home Ciabatta rolls
all for $45

We cooked up the chicken and shredded it all.  This coming week we will have taco salad with chicken.  Ill make a bbq chicken pizza or two.  We made fettuccine alfredo last night and yum oh yum!  Hubby said the only thing he didn't like was the gritty texture of the Parmesan cheese.  Next time I might try flakes instead of grated but they were way more expensive.  We have plenty left over for lunch and maybe a 3rd meal.