Groceries (sale, co-op, school)

[ejf1mom]

We all love a good pizza & I have converted my hubby to veggie pizza. I guess I shouldn't say all processed just a majority of it, especially the choices for my 6 & 2 year old. They were eating too much junk & would eat chicken nuggets & macaroni everyday if we'd let them!LOL I have started cooking most of our meals we ate out way too much.

[jules07]

I'm working on my grocery list right now (NEED to get to HEB soon!), and it's so darned hard! Tryin' to figure out things that I can pack in the kids school lunches. This is their first year in public school and my two youngest love to buy their lunch (it's still new to them), but my kindergardener has been getting a stomach ache shortly after lunch at least 3 times a week. So now I've got to figure out what to pack for them that's relatively easy, nutritious, and won't end up costing 3 bucks a day per kid!! (At $1.75 for the school lunch, that's kinda hard to beat.) Joy.

[ejf1mom]

Well my son actually likes turkey & cheese on wheat bread. I bought some sandwich cutters from Target that take off the crust & makes them into Dinosaurs. He gets an apple, grapes or strawberries everyday. He is also fond of yogurt & the small Babyel(sp?) cheese that is in little red wax. For his sweet snack he loves the yogurt covered pretzels from HEB they are raspberry flavored.

[jules07]

The little cheeses! Good idea! My girls have done numerous types of sandwiches, then the thing was spinach salad with lunchmeat, now they're kinda liking soup. The "main" dish isn't as hard to figure out as all the "sides". I've gone to eat lunch with each of them a few times, and that's what really did me in on them buying lunch! (Little square plastic containers of over cooked corn, iceberg lettuce passing for "salad", canned pineapple. Those were on pretty much all of the kids' plates.) Apparently tho, some of the moms are WAY more organized than I am! Adorable lunch boxes with all these re-useable containers, filled with fruit salad (homemade), gorgeous sandwiches on what looks like homemade bread. That kinda stuff. No cheese sticks, pre-packaged applesauce, boxed raisins..... the kinda stuff I pack. I was such a better mom when I was homeschooling!!!

[ejf1mom]

Don't sell yourself short!!!! it wasn't homemade fruit salad, it was from the deli at the new HEB PLUS or Central Market!!!!LOL My sons lunch is $3 a day at least their salad is mixed greens w/spinach. He only likes to eat on certain days though. I pack alot of left overs in his thermos & he told me it stays warm until lunch.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by the_dimwit

To piggyback off Chaka, something else to consider is the fact that driving from one store to another just to get a bunch of specialized ingredients will result in more money spent due to gas consumption. Not to mention all the time you've spent in the car and in lines at the registers.

Just to make it clear, my ideal scenario of individual specialized stores refers to those all close together, no driving between them, and small enough that you're not waiting forever at registers. i.e., a more urban style of living than the gargantuan suburban HEBs where it takes 15 minutes just to get from your car and to get some milk.

[the_dimwit]

Chaka,

I agree, that would be nice. In DC, there are several areas like you describe. My favorite was the Dean & Deluca in Georgetown. You could find all kinds of neat things to try. The only problem with the "niche" market concept is price. Unfortunately, they can't compete with the "big box" grocers, and end up raising prices so that only the well-healed can afford to shop there on a regular basis.

That said, my wife and I would sometimes go to Trader Joe's or some of the other local stores for specialty items. After the kids came along, Trader Joe's was about the only store we visited (our older daughter loved their "Joe's O's").

--Dim

[hoddys2]

yes, Costco sells free range for cheap

[imaterry78259]

Is anyone spending over 800 dollars a month on food

[firstclassflyer]

No..not me.