Tales of No Frills, Beef and home cooking

It is April 4th and to date we have spent a total of $162. So so far this week we are $100 less than our usual budget. Now keep in mind...it's Monday. That and there are no pharmacy items in this total.

So Saturday morning my Husband and I go through alllllll the fliers we had. We had a squabble over shopping at No Frills and buying what we need/will use vs buying things just because they are on sale. Well...at least thats how I thought it was at the time...or that is how I was arguing it. My Husband's point was we need to adjust our eating habits to include items we don't typically eat, but are on sale. So me 0, Husband 1.

No Frills was an adventure. It was like Marty McFly came by in his Delorean and told me to hop in the back, we're flying to the 80's. Seriously. There was a guy who looked like he belonged in a hair band. Fully on mullet, handle bar mustache, leather jacket, tight jeans....scary thing is I don't think he was much older than me. I'm 30. So while I was alive in the 80's, and I do love me some 80's bands....you typically don't see people my age fully embracing the look as he was. It amused me.

The selection there surprised me. It was huge. Perhaps it was because I was there at 9am, but there weren't many people there so the selection was quite large. They had a lot of sales going on and in the one trip I spent $102 and bought more than I do at a typical store.

Great buys: 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $11, I was spending $9 for 2 at Sobeys. Rib Roast for $10.72. More detail on the roast later. Eggs a dozen for $1.50.....I almost bought 3 of them...just cause the price was good, but we don't eat eggs that often. Bacon was also cheap at $2.99 a pack. With our new freezer I bought 2 packets of bacon...it's another item we don't eat too often.

Almonds were still pricey. I need to find somewhere I can get raw unsalted Almonds (Almonds are amazing for several reasons, but they assist in balancing horomones which is great for women...helps with PMS). On the topic of nuts, walnuts lower bad cholesterol and are great for omegas which is handy if you are allergic to fish (like my Husband is), and pumpkin is not only an afrodesiac for men, but pumpkin seeds are high in zinc which is good for men...and has other properties which are too TMI for here.

I was brought back to my childhood during checkout. They have the old school checkouts where the cashier puts your groceries to one side and you push a button and they come down the belt to you. Yeah my brother and I fought a lot over who got to push the button. I had a gleeful moment as I pushed it. I mocked my brother just for memory sake.

I carried my groceries out, Marty wasn't waiting for me when I left. Only a beat up cab with a bright and happy cabbie who was very talkative for a Saturday morning.

Overall I will shop there again. There are items I found they don't have that we like (bulk box of Fibre one bars for instance), so I will still need to look around.

The roast made a yummy meal that night with a dry rub. It was my Husband's first time cooking one and it was amazming. We had it with some mushrooms and bacon wrapped asparagus. Yum. The left over of the roast was put away until tonight. We have a home made stew with potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and the left over beef and tin of tomatoes (which as my Husband reminds me I got for $0.88 a can...I should have bought more).  There will be enough stew left over for lunch even. So not bad.

On the way home today I stopped off at the Valu-mart to grab odds and ends that we needed (above mentioned Fibre One bars for instance). They had farmers market cherry pie on sale for $5.99, down $2. I thought it would make a nice treat to follow our stew, and would be a nice dessert for a couple of days. The big find was the ribs. OMG. They are on for $2.99 a pound! SHUT UP! I got two HUGE racks for only $8 each! Easily 4 meals per rack. I also got my Husband his favourite cheese...it's in this little red container...he calls it nippy *giggle*. Anyway, it's usually $9 but we got it for $4.99. Not something I would typically do, but we bought a lot of ground beef earlier and I know he likes it with his burgers.

So...with all this, plus the shopping I did just before this journey started we have 5 chicken breasts still, 6 burgers made up, 2-4 rib dinners (depending on how hungry), and 3 packs of extra lean ground beef (they were $3 each)...a possible sheppards pie in the future. Wow. That's a lot of meals worth and our freezer is still empty.

Ok so my Husband works some Saturdays. This Saturday is one of them. So I have time to go on a grocery adventure. Where to go though? I hear Kensington is great for veggies, spices and cheeses. We aren't HUGE on cheese, though I love a good goat cheese. But the trek might be worth it for some bulk spices and veggies. I could check their prices for nuts as well.

Where else should I plan to go? Not necessarily this Saturday, I want to pace out my adventures.

Until next time!