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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Freezer Cooking Shopping Trip

After I went through all the recipes and figured out how many I wanted to make (6 full meals of each recipe), I multiplied the ingredients. I went through all of the ingredients and totalled up how many of each I needed overall (ex. 6 lbs of chicken times 10 recipes = 60 lbs chicken).

I then went through my kitchen to see how much I already had and figured up how much I needed from the store. I made my list and we headed to Kroger since they had most of what I needed on super good deal. When we got to the store everything we needed was pretty much on sale (most for a great price).

We started in the produce section:
45 bell peppers, various colors (luckily they were on sale for $1.00 each)
53 onions (on sale for 99c a pound)
2 2-lb bags baby carrots
5 heads garlic

Then we moved onto the packaged stuff:
10 boxes Barilla whole-wheat pasta (on sale for $1.25 each)
6 bags egg noodles (on sale for $1.69 each)
21 jars pasta sauce (on sale for $1.91 each)
1 box instant mashed potatoes (on sale for $1.75)
9 cartons chicken broth (on sale for $1.89 each)
24 cans Cream of Chicken soup (on sale for $1.00 each)
6 cans Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic soup (on sale for $1.50 each)
Breadcrumbs (on sale for $1.39)
Giant thing of honey (on sale for $7.49)
2 Heinz ketchups (on sale for $1.49 each)
6 Heinz beef gravy (on sale for $1.39 each)
Parmesan cheese ($2.37)
Apple cider vinegar (on sale for 79 cents)
Soy sauce (on sale for $1.19)
Balsamic vinegar ($3.39)
2 Kraft BBQ sauces (on sale for $1.00 each)
14 3pk aluminum baking dishes (on sale for $1.00 for 3pk)
4 2pk stuffing mixes ($2.29 each)
1 1pk stuffing mix ($1.29)

Then we went to the cold stuff:
2 18pk eggs (on sale for $1.19 each)
7 bags mozzarella cheese (on sale for $1.50 each)
7 giant bags frozen mixed veggies (on sale for $2.00 each)
44 lbs 93% lean ground turkey ($3.19 a pound)
14 pounds pork chops ($3.79 a pound)
8 pounds pork loin ($1.99 a pound)
62 lbs chicken breasts ($1.99 a pound)

We spent about a hour and a half at the store including a marathon checkout, 3 carts, and help out to our car. When we got home, we spent about 30+ minutes unloading and piling stuff into our fridge and pantry. It was insane. We even had to take stuff up to the mini-fridge on the 3rd floor to make room. It is all ready to go tomorrow. I will blog about how I did it. I might take pictures if I am not too overwhelmed.

In case anyone was wondering, we spent $600 and saved $220 plus the fact that Kroger has decent prices anyways. We also earned $6.00 in a coupon for another trip. So by my calculation if we make 120 meals (a good amount will give us leftovers - some a whole 2nd meal) plus 6 pots of soup for lunch, we are under $5.00 a dish. Not bad. Of course some recipes will still require starch and veggies, but that will keep them under $7.00 with couponed items.

4 comments:

  1. Wow! OK, I have to admit this sounds a little crazy to me. I mean do you have that much freezer space??? I'm thinking of doing this, but to a slightly smaller degree--of course if I were pregnant with twins I just might jump all in like you are. FOr me since Kindergarten is starting and I'm still in language school myself I'm thinking it will help me. But I plan to do about two meals (4 servings each)each time, maybe only cooking once a month, and eventually build up a rotation. I can't wait to see how it all comes out!

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  2. Phew, I don't know how you do it. I was overwhelmed reading this. I can't wait to hear how you did it and how it all worked out!

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  3. Rachel, I am nuts. I'll admit it. We have a freezer in the garage (it has 5 shelves and door space). I am doing most recipes in similar containers and stacking them to keep it fitting well. I know it is a lot to do, and I will be tired after I do it, but it will be nice to have meals in case of bedrest or just not wanting to cook being huge. Plus when the babies come it will be nice to have a few weeks of meals. I like your idea also, of making an extra meal or two or doing some batch cooking. I have done that and loved it. I am going all out to help Lee down the road.

    Lisa, I was exhausted after we went to the store and got home and put it all away. I am planning to take a lot of breaks today. I am praying it all works out.

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  4. If I had known you could have checked out BJS - I have a membership and they accept manufacturer's coupons.. they can sometimes be a great deal when you're buying in bulk!!

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