Weis & Other Grocery Shopping This Week

I made three smallish trips to Weis this week.  Here are the highlights.......

I did the Mix and Match/Buy 6, Get $3 Off instantly Deal......
3 x ginormous Dawn dish soap=$15.00
2 x Tide laundry detergent=$11.98
1 x Tide pods detergent=$5.99
Came to $32.97
I used $10.50 in Qs plus the Instant $3 off=$13.50 off so $19.47+ tax for the above.

I have never seen such large bottles of Dawn before(I don't do Costco or Sam's Club, etc. but they might have them there.)!

I got this stuff last Friday, the Friday Freebie and I went ahead and bought the Gain dish soap then because if I waited until this week it would have all been gone(even though it was Aug. 31 I am counting it on September's budget.......

The pierogies were free.
The dish soap was on sale $2 and I had coupons which doubled to $1 so $1 each bottle out the door.

Then this week here are some good deals I got at Weis before the sales week ended.....

* The Planters Peanuts were on sale $1.99 per jar when you bought 2.  I have $2/2 ManuQs so .99¢ a jar OOP.
* The Snapples "Straight Up" teas were $1 when you bought 5.  I had 2 $1/5 Snapple hangtagQs so $8 for 10 bottles.  Then I submitted for 2 x .75/2 Snapple Ibotta rebates($1.50 total)making it $6.50 for 10.
* The Hellman's was on sale $2.88 a jar.  I had a $1/1 Weis Q so $4.76.  Then I got back $3 on Ibotta(2 x $1.50 Hellman's mayo)making these .88¢ a jar OOP.
* The Heinz mayo was on sale $3.99 and the Heinz ketchup was $2.49(after a Buy 6/Get $3 Off Deal)so $6.48 for both.  I got back $4.50 for buying both of these in a single transaction at Ibotta making them .99¢ each OOP.
* The Puffs tissue was $1 on sale and I had .25¢ ManuQs that doubled to .50¢ plus a third Weis Puffs digitalQ that doubled so $1.50 off my $2 worth of Puffs making them .25¢ per box.
* 8 boxes of Keebler crackers on sale for $1.88 each=$15.04.  I had 4 x $1/2 ManuQs(3 for Townhouse/1 for Club)so $11.04 for 8 boxes of crackers.  These Ritz type crackers are Ex.College Boy's favorite and he has been known to go through a box at a sitting(with cheese).  At $1.38 a box after sale/Q I will buy them to stockpile for the Holidays coming up and HOPE some last that long. lolz
* Palmolive dish soap was $2 on sale at Weis.  I paired $1/2 ManuQs and bought 4 bottles for $6 or $1.50 for each large bottle.  Between the massive sized Dawn, the Big Gain and these bad boys we should be good on dish soap for some time to come.  ;-)

I also picked up 3 cartons of MM OJ for $1.87 each, some Instant Discount Sticker-ed meats at Weis.....2 packs of BSCthighs, some Spiced Apple sausages and some Italian Sausages, a Purdue roaster with a $3 off sticker, 8 pork chops that came out to $1.07 lb. after discount sticker,  as well as $4.99 steaks on sale.

I spent $134.82 at Weis this week. Yikes!  But we won't be needing quite a few things for the rest of the year(here's hoping).

There was also a Spend $75/Get $15 Off Q for the restaurant supply store this past Labor Day weekend.  We went over there on Monday morning and got........

* 10 lb. bag of onions
* 5 lb. block of Cooper cheese
* 2 x 1K pack of napkins
* 7 ears of local corn
* 3 large cukes
* 1.06 lb. mushrooms
* 4.55 lbs. local peaches
* a case of paper plates
* a dough scraper
* a heavy duty box grater(mine broke)
Total was $64.19.  Take out the scraper and grater costs(not part of the food budget)and we spent $54.65 of the Sept. food budget and brought home over $100 worth of food/paper products.

I am about shopped out(except for Rite-Aid.....I am always up for going there and bringing home almost free stuff.)  8-)))

I really need to stock take and reorganize some things out in the stockpile now.  That's going on my To-Do List as soon as the temperatures cool off and I can stand to be out there for awhile.


Sluggy

Grocery Shopping Last Week

I didn't do a whole lot of food shopping last week-a trip to the Shursave Market, the Restaurant supply store and Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!).
First the restaurant supply store.......

I got in on a "group buy".  Every so often they send out an email for a special deal.  The only catch is it's usually a large quantity of something.  This one was a deal on a 10 lb. box of breaded chicken tenders(not nuggets).  $9 for 10 lbs.
Being one of ex-college boy's favorite foods(and a "go to" if he needs a quick snack/meal)I jumped on this buy.
I also picked up some items we were out of--2 dozen eggs for $1.59 each(of course the Shursave started a .99¢ sale on eggs today!), 3 cukes for $1.99, a hunk of liverwurst for Hubs and a 2 lb. bag of shredded mozz for $3.99(at least half the price of reg. retail around here).
$20.68 OOP for this trip.

I picked up a few things at Shursave Market as well.  My local Shursave doesn't take IPQs so while I was at Maines there is a Shursave over there that DOES take them AND doubles them up to $1, so I bought this........

3 boxes of cereal on sale for $1.98 each, used 3 x .50¢ Qs that doubled to $1 so each box was .98¢.

I also happened upon 2 dairy instant discounts-4 packs of Oikos strawberry greek yogurt were on sale for $1.99 per pack and these ones had $1 off instant stickers on them making them .99¢ per pack. The sell by date was coming up quickly but I have found that yogurt keeps months past it's sell by date(ssshhhh, don't tell!).
Those tubs of French onion dip were $1.39 after .50¢ instant discount stickers and are good to have when folks here want something to dip their salty snack in.
I also bought 6 strip steaks at my local Shursave store last week as they were $4.99 per lb.
$33.87 OOP for both these Shursave trips.

I didn't set foot in Weis(PMITA)Markets last week which is highly unusual!  There ads have been very small(really, a 2 page ad!!)and not much that's worth stocking up on, let alone buying any loss leaders.

Sluggy

Don't Overlook These Food Sources

When it comes to finding deals on grocery items, don't overlook your local Dollar Store or Restaurant Supply Store.

We have two restaurant supply stores around here but only one of them carries fresh fruits and vegetables.  Often, unless something is a loss leader at the grocery store that particular week, I can get Fruits and Veg cheaper at the restaurant supply store.

I made a trip up last Saturday and got Strawberries, 3 lbs. for $5.

$1.67 a container beat out even the grocery stores which had Florida strawberries as loss leaders for $2.50 a lb.
Regular price on fresh strawberries around here is $3.99 or higher.

I also picked up a 5lb. bag of carrots for $2.49.

Carrots last a long time so no problem using these up.  Carrots are so versatile in savory or sweet dishes.  I usually shred some to put in meatloaves or meatballs too.  I use to shred carrots into my spaghetti sauce when the kids were little and needed more veggie matter in their diets.....they were never the wiser.

The largest bag the local grocers carry around here is a 2lb. or on occasion a 3lb. bag.  Regular price for a 1lb. bag is $1.49.

I bought some yellow squash on this trip too(though I didn't take a picture of it).  It was $1.29 lb.(regular price at the restaurant supply store)but I usually wait until it goes on special for .99¢.  IF I can get yellow squash at the grocery stores here(as they are usually out unless it's July or so)it goes for $2.99 lb.

I also buy my onions in bulk at the restaurant supply store, if the farm stand is not open when I need them.

I got this 25 lb. bag for $13.49.  That's .54¢ a lb. compared to the .83¢ I have to pay for the regular priced  grocery store variety.  I prefer to buy 50lb. sacks of onions as that is the most economical.  I just finished up the last 50lb. sack I got at the farm stand last September.  Since the garage where I keep my makeshift plastic tub/root cellar is too cold now, this sack will live in the corner of the kitchen until the end of March.
Onions can be cheap and a great addition to dishes when you need flavor.

And Spring time means Asparagus Season.  I picked up 4 lbs. of this tasty weed on Saturday at $1.49 lb.  Regular price at the grocery store here is $3.99 lb. and I've only seen it go as low as $1.99 right around Easter time only.
There is nothing better(or better for you)than a plate of "spear points"!  ;-)
We prefer to grill or roast ours, rather than steam them.  The direct fire brings out the sugars in them. Mmmmm......

Another place I will do some food shopping is at our Dollar Store, the ones that have a refrigerated and frozen section.

I love Gyoza or Japanese Pot Sticker Dumplings.
But what I don't love is paying an outrageous price for them.  A reasonable priced brand disappeared off the market shelves here so I checked out the restaurant supply store and found a bag of approx. 50 dumplings went for $16.99.
Yikes!
So one day while checking the Dollar store I spied Gyoza Dumplings, bags of 10-11 for $1.
Sold!!
Same amount of dumplings as the $16.99 bag for $5.00.

I also buy frozen fruit at the Dollar Store for dessert toppings or fillings, smoothies, or to flavor iced tea or for just thawing and eating.

Recently one of the Dollar stores here started carrying frozen seafood.  These salad shrimp are great for shrimp salad sandwiches(1 3oz. package is the perfect size).  I got some scallops as well. 

There is a specific company that I can't recall at the moment that makes a seafood cake....like a crab cake but it has shrimp and scallops in it as well.  It's very tasty but at $9 a box(for 2 cakes), it's quite pricey.  When I can pick up crabmeat on special, these shrimp and scallops will allow me to replicate that seafood cake without spending $30 on the ingredients.
These small shrimp and scallops are also good for adding to dishes like stews or casseroles or stir-frys....dishes were a big nice piece of seafood/fish isn't the star attraction but where you want the flavor of these items to shine through.
I make a fancy pants dish of scallops, mushrooms and asparagus in a cheese sauce inside a puff pastry shell.  It's quite elegant really and decadent.

Ok, I've babbled on enough here.  Just a thought about thinking outside the box when it comes to finding food.

Sluggy