Market Report - April 12

I missed last week's posting, but rather than playing catch up I'm just going to go on with life.

$39
2 yellow honeydew
9 oranges
6 medium heads broccoli
3 red onions
9 lemons
10 limes
14 tangerines
6 yellow grapefruit
2 lbs globe grapes
2 lbs black seedless grapes
2 lbs jalapeno peppers
6 mango
Green grapes

Staying on track to spend $300 this month too.  It can be more of a challenge when I don't spend the time to plan a bit.  Not a lot.  I'm not a planner, but sometimes even I have to give in and write things down.  The biggest challenge I face right now is my teenager wanting stuff that's not in the plan and complaining that she's "hungry" when she had the opportunity to eat dinner.  She also doesn't want to fix anything herself right now - a bit of a princess period going on.  What she means when she says she's hungry is "fix me something because I didn't like the last thing you fixed"  It doesnt' happen.  She's the youngest of 4 and I quit being sympathetic years ago.

Another challenge that's just starting is keeping up with meals on the weekends. We have a job that requires us to be out of the house a lot and it can be difficult to plan sometimes.  I'm determined to get better at it.  A new cooler is probably going to be needed since during the hot part of the summer anything we take with us will spoil.

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

March 21 - Market Report

I spent $43 today.

Lots of goodies today

2 yellow bell peppers

3 orange bell peppers

12 roma tomatoes

green grapes (free)

4 kiwi fruits

bucket of spinach

2 boxes of clementines

4 lbs of sweet potatoes

2 lbs of globe grapes

4 lbs black grapes

9 lemons

9 limes

1 small head brocoli

24 blood oranges

2 boxes of strawberries

lime pepper

ancho powder

chives

Lime fiesta spice

some sort of salad peppers.  don't know what kind but they were only $1, so I decided to try them.  They're not spicy at all.

Then I got home and had a salad.

In addition to my market trip I spent $5 on cheese, $7 on rice and chickpeas, & $4 on feta.

This is week 8, but payday comes in the middle of the week, so I have one more market trip to get through.  Going to have to shop light next week - but that should be doable.  Right now I have $37 left for that trip.  That does put 5 trips in March, but not all months are created equal.  :-)

The $300 - Market Report March 14, 2015

Today at the market I spent $50.75  12 on non produce and 38.25 on fruits and veggies.

I got 

4 red bell peppers

4 yellow bell peppers

10 limes

12 lemons

12 small gala apples

3 pomegranates

1 package green grapes

1 package black grapes

4 packages blueberries

8 package strawberries

2 small heads of purple cabbage

5lbs of sweet potatoes

2  bundles green onions

6 oranges

1 small head broccoli

2 bundles organic carrots with greens

3 bundle beets with greens

rose water

pomegranate molasses

local honey

The pomegranate molasses in incredibly intense.  I have lots planned with it. 60 calories to a tablespoon but for most things I wont' need more than a teaspoon.  I'm thinking of making some dressing with it for my lunch time salad this week.  

The strawberries were a great deal, but I have to sort through them and freeze some SOON.  $5 for 8 packages so it was worth the effort.

I have been eating sweet potatoes after my workout.  I enjoy them and they are easy.  Plus beet smoothies this week. Yummmmmmm  (everyone making a gagging face should stop.  Beets are sweet and tasty.)

The current budget stands at 

$96 for the next two weeks.  We will need cheese, but not a lot else.

Market Report - March 7, 2014

It's hard to believe that one week ago it was snowing.  Today is bright and happy and sunny.  Picked up the big kid and headed off to the market.  Spent $44.  I need less from the grocery store this week, so the $4 isn't going over budget.


And I got cactus!  I love cactus.

My $44 bought

1 lb green beans

8 large apples

4 head garlic

some free grapes (I like free stuff)

28 mandarin oranges

4 cactus paddles

3 packages blueberries.  Really really really tasty blueberries!!

4 packages strawberries

3 pears

2 cucumber

1 bag tangerines

6 naval oranges

12 lemons

10 limes

10 plums

1 head cauliflower

2 small head purple cabbage

Nobody in my house ever lacks vitamin c!  Between the peppers and citrus fruits we have an abundance of C in our diet. 

The cactus is going to be used in omelettes tomorrow and then in a soup.  If you're not a fan of the feel of okra you might not like cactus.  I'm from a southern family so I don't mind slipperiness of okra or cactus.  Just part of the foods I consider normal.  My grandmother used to fry up okra and I may give fried cactus a try.  By necessity I am gluten free so I'll have to find a good batter that's GF.  When I do I'll post the results and recipe (if it's tasty) on www.kruelwich.com

We were good on peppers this week so I was free to splurge on extra strawberries and blueberries.  What we don't get eaten will go into the freezer before they spoil.  I don't see many of them making it to the freezer.

The $300 - Market Report

This week at the market I spent $36 and this is what i got

1 bottle of orange blossom water

1 bottle of rose water

1 bag of grapefruit

2 bags of tangerines

6 mangoes

2 boxes of bananas - about 48 bananas.  The browner ones on top were f ree.  I'm going to make banana bread with them sometime this week.

12 lemons

5 nectarines

4 yellow squash

1 eggplant

4 giant baking carrots

3 cucumbers

1/2 lb ginger root

3 smaller head broccoli which I forgot to put in the photo

This is my last market visit for the month.  I didn't buy any peppers this week because we still have some to use up.   I spent the pepper money on rose water and orange blossom water.  I have a couple of recipes that call for that.  I used the orange blossom water yesterday and it's interesting.  Takes a second to get the soapy scent out of my mind.  It does NOT taste like soap, but so much of the food experience is scent and it reminds me of some fragranced soap.  I have read that rose water can do the same.  Looking forward to trying it though.  Both were VERY expensive on amazon, but very cheap at the Mediterranean market at the City Market.

A belated Market report

I have been under the weather so my bike ride has taken a hit.  I'm going to be in KS forever!!  :-)

I did make it to the market on Saturday and went $2 over budget.  This is what I got.

2lbs pablono peppers

6 green bell peppers

3 red bell peppers

4 yellow bell peppers

3 mangos

6 grapefruit

3 smaller heads of broccoli

1 honeydew melon

3 zucchini

4 cucumbers

1/2 lb Serrano peppers

4lb strawberries

6 larger carrots

12 tangerines

6 oranges

6 lemons

2 bags of limes (about 18)

1 head cauliflower

10 plums

The bananas were free

We eat a ton of vitamin c.  you think I wouldn't ever come down with a cold!  It's actually not bad, just has me dragging too much to get anything done.

This week's Market Report

Another week - another visit to the market.  Today I came in $4 under budget, though I'm probably going to spend that at a traditional grocery store.

For my $36 I got

4 red pears
2 smaller butternut squash
10 kiwis
1 package of  habanero peppers
2 bags of spinach
1 giant bag of green onions (I have no idea what to do with that many, but it was only $1)
6 mangos
3 large red onions
4 baking carrots
4 grapefruit
1 lb jalapenos
1 lb poblano peppers
5 plums
7 limes
6 lemons
6 oranges
3 large avocados
2 bags of small sweet peppers


I still need to buy for the week
shredded cheese
snack food for the husband and kid
butter
maybe some broccoli

Before today I had $168.97 left over for the week.

Now I have 132.97

Two more trips to the market will use up $80 of that and I have only $17 a week left over for each of the 3 weeks.  I estimate I will spend $10 this week on additional items and think each other week will come in under too.  Basically, it's looking good for keeping it below $300 this month.

Farmer's Market Bounty

Eating healthy is often not as easy or cheap as eating crap.  I'm lucky enough to live somewhere with a nice market.  During the summer it's a great source for locally grown produce, meat & eggs.  Year round it's basically a produce wholesale outlet.  Some things will be cheaper at Aldi's and lot of times you have to pick through to find the good stuff, but the trip is worth it.  I spent $40 on all this

That's quite a bit for a family of 3, especially since there are a couple of onions and packages of berries that you can't see well.  I still have some eggplant, cabbage and potato left over from last week, so we should eat well this week!

My money goal for February is to feed the family for less than $300.  I have quite a few beans and stuff in storage so it should go well.  Maybe I can do it for March too.   That's $1.19 a meal per person.  That amount has to include any we spend on eating out and meals out can really impact a budget.