Two Weeks of Grocery Shopping at Trader Joe’s

Rectangle 58

Hi, I'm Tina!

I’m the owner of Carrots ‘N’ Cake as well as a Certified Nutrition Coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P). I use macros and functional nutrition to help women find balance within their diets while achieving their body composition goals.

Fit + Fueled

An in-depth, 4-week reverse dieting course for women who feel like their metabolism has slowed down, think they might have hormonal imbalance and can’t lose weight no matter what they do.
Get all the tools to take your physique into your hands. Over six-months, you’ll transform your life, mindset, and body in this program that’s part-course, part-coaching, and part-community.
Categories

So, I think this week’s grocery shopping was a success? I created a meal plan and headed to Trader Joe’s with my list in hand. I tried to stick to my Trader Joe’s shopping list, but I veered off track a little bit here and there. I just can’t help myself when I’m there. Trader Joe’s has so many fun foods! Even still, I managed to come up with two weeks worth of groceries from Trader Joe’s.

Mid-way through my shopping, I remember that I will be out-of-town for a blog trip Monday through Wednesday next week, so I bought a few extra items to make Mal’s life easier while I am away. We’re all about the Trader Joe’s healthy meal ideas! I know he’s a big boy and totally capable of cooking his own meals, but I figured he’d appreciate some quick and easy options come dinnertime. Anyway, I started loading up my cart with all sorts of goodies. I sort of went overboard (like I always do at Trader Joe’s), so I ended up with two week’s worth of grocery shopping from Trader Joe’s.

I ended up buying all sorts of good stuff (definitely more than I originally planned), but I think it’ll all work out in the end. With this Trader Joe’s grocery haul + what we already have in our kitchen, it will gets us through two weeks. Even if I need to do a small shopping mid-week next week, I still think we’ll be in good shape.

IMG_7695 (900x692)

Two weeks of groceries from Trader Joe’s

  • Frozen Shepherd’s Pie Entree – $3.99
  • Frozen sweet potato gnocchi – $2.99
  • Frozen broccoli florets – $2.49
  • Frozen chocolate croissants – $3.99
  • Nitrite-free bacon – $4.99
  • Two dozen eggs – $3.98
  • Frozen pizza crusts – $2.49
  • 10 ounces bagged kale – $1.99
  • 2 pounds bagged gala apples – $2.29
  • Assorted Greek yogurts (5) – $4.95
  • Frozen brown rice – $2.99
  • Tofu Edamame Nuggets – $2.99
  • 32 ounces plain Greek yogurt – $4.99
  • Sliced mushrooms – $1.99
  • Frozen vanilla Greek yogurt ice cream – $3.99
  • 12 ounces cauliflower florets – $2.49
  • Almond meal – $4.99
  • Mint Chip Ice Cream – $3.99
  • 10 ounces shaved Brussels sprouts – $2.79
  • Organic ketchup – $1.99
  • 3 pounds bagged tangelos – $2.99
  • Creamy almond butter – $6.99
  • Crushed garlic – $1.99
  • Half gallon unsweetened almond milk – $2.99
  • 1 liter extra virgin olive oil – $6.49
  • Olive oil cooking spray – $2.99
  • 1 pound organic carrots – $0.89
  • Roasted garlic chicken sausage – $3.99
  • Extra sharp Wisconsin cheddar – $2.65
  • Flank steak – $14.92
  • White bean hummus – $3.99
  • Organic maple syrup – $7.99
  • Pecans – $3.99
  • Soft 10 grain bread – $2.49
  • English muffins – $1.69
  • Seedless green grapes – $3.49
  • Bananas – $1.14
  • English cucumber – $1.69
  • Green bell pepper – $0.79
  • Pears (3) – $2.07
  • Lemon – $0.49
  • Sweet potatoes (2) – $0.98
  • Onion – $0.89

Total: $145.93

A few notes about this week’s grocery shopping

  • We ran out of so many things last week that we don’t normally buy on a regular basis (olive oil, maple syrup, ketchup, cooking spray, crushed garlic, almond meal), so this shopping includes those items.
  • This grocery shopping includes fresh produce for juice, which always increases our grocery budget a little bit.
  • I bought a bunch of treats (ice cream, frozen yogurt, chocolate croissants) this week. No reason really… I just wanted them. And, ok, one treat, in particular, was intended to make Mal laugh.

Let me preface this story by reminding you that Mal and I act like 5-year-olds a lot of the time.

So, the other night, Mal and I were laying in bed in chatting like we normally do. Murphy was curled up in between us like a croissant (one of his many pug positions). I guess the croissant visual triggered a craving for one because I announced to Mal that I could really go for a chocolate croissant right then. Maybe it was a pregnancy craving? I dunno, but I would have loved a chocolate croissant at that very moment. Mal being the comedian that he is replied: “You have a chocolate croissant right here (referring to Murphy). There’s chocolate on both ends!” Haha!

IMG_7726 (900x675)

We both thought this was pretty funny and had a good laugh about it, so when I was at Trader Joe’s and saw boxed frozen chocolate croissants, I just had to buy them for Mal.

IMG_7725 (900x675)

I told you, we’re like 5 years old. Anyway…

Trader Joe’s meal plan

Next week’s meal plan:

  • Sunday: Baked pasta with chicken sausage and veggies
  • Monday: Mac & cheese with TJ’s turkey meatballs + broccoli
  • Tuesday: Trader Joe’s Shepard’s Pie
  • Wednesday: Homemade pizzas
  • Thursday: Trader Joe’s sweet potato gnocchi + steamed broccoli
  • Friday: Tuna melts with Trader Joe’s garlic French fries
  • Saturday: Wing it

It would be awesome if we could make it through the next two weeks with just these groceries, but even if we need to do a small mid-week shopping, we’ll still be looking good budget-wise.

Some notes on my meal planning this week

  • A number of these meals are built around what we already had in our kitchen. When I had really bad morning sickness, I just bought whatever when it came to groceries, so now I am really trying to use up what is already in our kitchen and incorporate these items into our meals. So, instead of buying all new food, I assessed what we had in our cabinets, freezer, and refrigerator before I went shopping. I even physically pulled things out of our cabinets and freezer to get a really good look at what we had in there. Even though I know a lot of this stuff isn’t immediately perishable, I’d rather use it up sooner than later and not spend more money. Personally, I don’t see the point of having cabinets and a freezer overflowing with food, especially if you eventually forget about it and it spoils. Wasted food = wasted money!

IMG_7533 (900x675)

  • Prioritized perishable food and made sure to use it up immediately. I knew I wasn’t going grocery shopping until Tuesday, so Mal and I mostly ate from the freezer on Sunday night as well as Monday. Actually, I had some leftover sweet potatoes and broccoli from the week before, so I made sure to prioritize these two foods and eat them up. The last thing I want is for them to go to waste.
  • Along the same lines, if food does spoil before you have a chance to eat it, take note and be sure to buy less of whatever it is next time.

IMG_7529 (900x675)

  • I cleaned my refrigerator. Truthfully, our refrigerator is always pretty clean. Every week before I go grocery shopping, I take stock of what is inside and typically wipe down the shelves if there’s spots or spills. (This takes me less than 5 minutes to do.) I’m also kind of neurotic about my food being stored in a clean space. Eating food that is right next to spoiled or rotting food? Eww. And, of course, having a clean fridge makes it easier to see what I have inside, so food isn’t pushed to the back and forgotten about forever. Also, I think having a clean fridge helps me eat better because I can see all of my options before I select what to eat.
  • Be sure to pay attention to unit price. When shopping for ingredient staples, such as extra virgin olive oil, I typically buy the biggest size container (unless it’s ridiculously large) because it’s usually a better value. I’m sure a lot of us do this, but be sure to still pay attention to the unit price. Yesterday at Trader Joe’s, the medium size bottle of extra virgin olive oil, which was on sale, was actually a better deal than the big boy bottle. Just a friendly reminder, so you can get the most bang for your buck!

photo (15) (640x480)

So, there’s week 2 (and possible week 3) of my food budget intervention and grocery shopping experiment. We’ll see how shopping for two weeks at a time works for us!

Question of the Day

How many days/weeks do you typically shop for when you go grocery shopping?

Previous posts in this series:

You Might Also Like

DON'T MISS A THING

Join the community!

Get recipes, workouts. and discounts straight to your inbox for FREE!

Join The community

Get recipes, workouts. and discounts straight to your inbox for FREE!

@carrotsncake

© 2022 Carrots ‘N’ Cake. All Rights Reserved | An Elite CafeMedia Food Publisher | Funnel Build & Design by: Maria Filipina Co.