So, chances are good I won't do a ton of posting on weekends. This is how our weekends usually go. Friday nights we make something quick and easy like nachos or homemade pizza, watch a movie or read and go to bed early. Why early? Well, we're bargain hunters on Saturday morning! We get up at the butt crack of dawn (trust me when I tell you this is wayyyyy worse that the regular old crack of dawn), arm ourselves with lists of garage sales and estate sales and head out. That being said, this weekend was a big score! Brian collects antique radios (for the purpose of "upcycling" them) and he managed to score a 1946 Philco radio with turntable at an estate sale. What did I buy? RECIPE BOOKS!!

So, Sunday was spent scouring said recipe books and marking recipes that appealed to me. Then turning the books over to Brian to weed out those recipes he won't eat. From that I created a menu for the next two weeks. We had found that we were nickle and dime-ing ourselves to death going to the store here and there and picking up a few things at a time, so we made a conscious decision to change our shopping habits. I would dearly LOVE to coupon, but heck... this whole blog is about time management right? And trust me when I tell you that couponing, done with any effectiveness, take a whole lot of precious time.

So, in our changing shopping habits, we started shopping at Aldi. Well, we'd shopped there some, but we started pretty much ONLY shopping at Aldi. I mean, listen... Aldi is the best thing out there! Yeah, there's a $.25 deposit on you shopping cart and you either buy your bags or use your own (ahem, it is a GREEN world out here), but my goodness at the savings!! I'm gonna list my purchases and their prices here just to give you an idea.... Let me first tell you that it's rare that we find brand name products at Aldi, but so far, everything we've eaten has compared favorably to the brand name, in a couple cases the Aldi brand has been better!

• Breaded Chicken Breast -- for the Chic-Fil-A lover, these are a must! There are about 10 in there and the price.... $4.99
• Tilapia filets -- 8 in a package.... $5.49
• (2) California medley (frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrots)... $1.09
• Boneless Chicken Breast -- 3 lbs.... $5.49
• (2) Broccoli florets -- steam in bag.... $1.09
• (3) 1# pkg 85/15 Ground beef... $2.69
• 2# sirloin tip steak... $9.14
• Fresh mushrooms... $1.49
• Large sour cream.... $1.29
• Iceberg lettuce... $1.15
• 8 oz pkg cream cheese.... $1.29
• Gallon 2% Milk.... $2.69
• 32 oz plain yogurt.... $1.79
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella... $3.49
• Garden salad mix.... $.99
• (3) Cream of mushroom soup.... $.69
• (2) Diced tomatoes with green chilis... $.59
• Refried beans... $.79
• (3) Cream of chicken.... $.69
• (3) Canned mushroom.... $.59
• (3) Broth -- 2 chicken, 1 beef...$.59
• (2) Wide egg noodles... $.99
• Cheese spread (Velveeta style)... $3.89
• Fusili.... $1.49
• (2) Taco seasoning.... $.39
• Onion soup mix.... $.79
• Frosted Flakes.... $1.69
• Instant rice..... $2.49
• Grated Parmesan cheese... $2.39
• 24 oz salsa.... $1.79
• Dill pickle spears.... $1.49
• Sweet&Salty granola bars... $1.89
• Canola oil.... $2.69
• Gourmet cookies (Toffee Caramel).... $2.99
• Dozen large eggs.... $1.19
• Pecan shortbread cookies.... $1.99
• Nacho chips (Doritos style)... $1.19
• Nacho chips (Doritos style - Ranch flavor)... $1.19
• BBQ potato chips.... $1.39
• Kettle Chips (BBQ flavor).... $1.99
• Round tortilla chips.... $1.19

My grand total for 2 weeks of dinners, snacky food and more.... with tax: $102.10


Of course, we grow a lot of our veggies and others we do buy locally at a produce stand, but you get the gist of how much you can save at Aldi!

Check back tomorrow for a new recipe or two!