April 27, 2009

I got home from California to find hairballs on the carpet, but I found ZERO food in the house.  You know how you try to let your perishables all run out before you leave for on vacation?  That's what I did, which makes sense, but I haven't had anything to eat for dinner all week except random crackers, string cheese and scrambled eggs.  Sad, huh?

So tonight on the way home from work I stopped at Sam's Club for a few things.  Did you know that you can get some great deals on produce there?  The first time I seriously browsed their produce department I was shocked.  I guess I expected to find tired old stuff that was past it's prime, but I've never seen that to be the case.  I do find great deals and good quality.

Here's what I got tonight for under $35.

• Baby spinach – beautiful tiny leaves, triple washed (1 lb)
• Shredded romaine – triple washed (2 lbs)
• Whole button mushrooms (1-1/2 lbs)
• Cherub grape tomatoes (2 lbs)
• Avocados – a perfectly ripe bag of 5
• Frozen sliced strawberries for smoothies (5 lbs)
• Frozen tiny broccoli florets, not the hard yukky stems (4 lbs)

That's a heck of a lot of food that will make me salads, sides and smoothies for at least a week. If I'd picked that all up at a regular grocery store, I would have expected to pay more than double that price.  The strawberries alone would have cost me more than half of that total amount.  Target has a 12 ounce bag of berries on sale for $3, so 5 pounds at that rate would be $20.  I got 5 pounds for $8.76!  Sam's also had some gorgeous phaleonopsis orchids, geraniums and ferns today – all at fabulous prices!

The next time you're at Sam's Club picking up a prescription or waiting for your new tires to be put on, wander through the produce department.  You might be pleasantly surprised to save some money on your family's food bill! Oh, and you get 30% off on all the magazines they carry, and you KNOW how LilSis and I love magazines!   If you've saved some dough on your food, you can justify a magazine or two!

~BigSis