How did it get to be the last week of August? Is anyone else wondering how September could possibly already be on the horizon? We have another busy week where we’re still getting into the swing of the back to school routines so once again our menu plan is going to be pretty basic. Once fall officially arrives and we are more into our routine, then perhaps I’ll add some more exciting items to our menus. I’m also going to plan lunches again this week. While I didn’t follow the lunch plans exactly, it did help me to actually eat lunch during the week. Amazingly, I felt much better on the days where I actually took the time to stop and eat lunch! Here’s our weekly menu for the final week of August 2012:
MONDAY (I have a 4p.m. meeting)
Dinner: Spaghetti and meatballs with salad and garlic toast.
Lunches: J: peanut butter sandwich, chips, strawberries, yogurt, brownie, and juice (standard fare), G: home sick today so it will depend on what he feels like eating. My lunch: will probably depend on what G wants to eat.
TUESDAY
Dinner: French toast, strawberries, orange juice
Lunches: J: Salami, String Cheese, Olives, Crackers, and a dessert, G: ham sandwich, chips, strawberries, yogurt, and water. My lunch: meatball sub on garlic bread
WEDNESDAY (Our fourteen year wedding anniversary)
Dinner: I don’t care as long as I’m not cooking it! We’ll probably order pizza.
Lunches: J and G: French toast sticks, peanut butter, yogurt, and fruit. My lunch: ham sandwich
THURSDAY (Back to School Night at J’s elementary school)
Dinner: Hotdogs for us (yes, we did this exact same thing last week) and either leftover spaghetti or pizza for J who doesn’t like hotdogs. If I get ambitious, I may actually throw a roast in the crockpot for BBQ so we can have sandwiches for lunch throughout the weekend (and I can have a backup dinner for my husband who didn’t find a hotdog and chips to be a very filling meal last Thursday!)
Lunches: J: Salami, String Cheese, Olives, Crackers, and a dessert, G: ham sandwich, chips, watermelon, yogurt, and a dessert. My lunch: grilled cheese and tomato soup
FRIDAY
Dinner: Homemade chicken strips and French fries (carried over from last week)
Lunches: G and J: peanut butter sandwiches, chips, watermelon, yogurt, and a brownie. My lunch: maybe a BBQ sandwich (see Thursday) or a homemade quesadilla
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My husband insisted we go grocery shopping at Walmart over the weekend. I am not a Walmart shopper and I am REALLY not an entire family grocery store shopper. Hy-Vee is my happy place. While in Walmart, I wanted to just lean my head on the freezer doors and cry but I couldn’t because there were too many people about! Perhaps I’m just wired differently. I cannot get into the buy it all at one store mentality. I think it messes up my focus. We ended up spending more on that trip and I still have to return to Hy-Vee to get several items we missed. I’m curious though are you a one-stop shopper or do you prefer (like I do) to separate your Walmart (or Target) trips from your grocery shopping experience? Don’t forget to check out Meal Plan Monday over at www.orgjunkie.com for ideas and inspiration to help plan your menus!
Posted by Jean in Uncategorized
Hannah
The closest “big city” shopping is 45 minutes away from us so I usually try to go only once a month to save on gas. That means it’s an all-day trip and being able to get everything in one store is a huge time saver for me versus going to a bunch of different stores. I still end up having to hit 4-5 places with each shopping trip since there are things you can only get at certain places (Hy-Vee is my go-to store for my daughter’s wheat/dairy/egg/peanut free food), but being able to get the bulk of things at one place does help.
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Jean
I suppose I am rather spoiled as we have all these choices within minutes of our home. That can be both good and bad. I would probably be all for one stop shopping if I had to travel 45 minutes to complete it.
Cathy
I’m actually a 2 store shopper. I go to my local grocery store called Farm Fresh for meat and produce because their quality is good and frankly, Walmart’s isn’t.
But I get everything else at Walmart including toiletries and cleaning supplies.
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Jean
That is what I like to do as well. Buy my groceries at our local grocery store and cleaning supplies and toiletries at either Target (my preference) or Walmart.
susan
I loathe Walmart. I go there, but I’m never happy about it. My kids have a hard time holding it together there too. When I’m better organized, I’m willing to hit 1-3 stores to take advantage of all the sales (assuming the sales are worth it). But lately, I’m doing good to get dinner on the table.
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Jean
I feel the same way about just getting dinner on the table this week! Interesting that my boys also struggle in Walmart more than other stores. I wonder why?
Beverly Meyers
The quality of produce at Walmart is just not worth buying. Even if it looks ok when I buy it it seems to be overripe by the next day. I do go to Walmart every few month for my husband’s contact solution (Walmart bought the company and so it is the only place except for the eye doctor to buy the stuff) so when I am there I look at stuff and might buy canned or boxed stuff but like I said I gave up on the fruits and vegtables. I really prefer to have Price Chopper or Hy-vee for food and Target for the other stuff.
Jean
I noticed the strawberries we bought on Sunday were already iffy by yesterday. I’m hoping everything else will be okay. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who prefers a traditional grocery store for food and the retailers like Walmart or Target for toiletry items.
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Deanna
I really don’t like purchasing non food items, like clothing, home decor, gifts, etc. along with my groceries. I’m not a Wal-Mart shopper, and thankfully neither is Chad. I go there when I’ve exhausted all the other places looking for something specific. Target I try and stay away from as it takes too much time and costs too much.
I shop at a store that is more like a warehouse type, good stuff but not too many frills. It’s not fancy like Hy-Vee, but the prices are a lot lower.
I am a one stop shopper though – if I forget something one week, it just goes on the list for next week. I like to shop about every 7-10 days.
Jean
I like my shopping categorized but I’m not opposed to picking up something like handsoap at the grocery store if we are out