pc: maria lloyd photography
i never, ever, thought i was going to be the kind of person that 1. grocery shopped at all and 2. actually started to enjoy it, but here we are – i’m almost 29, and i currently shop at three different stores for food for the fam, nearly every sunday. it’s part of my sunday routine that i practice every sunday i can — i prioritize it at this point, because not only is it my time to myself, but it’s become a way for me to show my love for my fam. by caring for them in this way, i am able to be of service to those that i love. same reason i started to cook once logan got old enough to eat real food [not that she eats anything i make … it’s still “bunny cereal” and “mom, yogurt pleeeeeease!”]. but i digress.
last weekend we were out of town until sunday night, and i didn’t get a chance to make my usual grocery runs. we were already low on produce, so i figured i’d swing through one night during the week and re-stock the fridge. i ended up getting a leak in one of my tires, so two nights were taken up with taking the car to the dealership to get that fixed. combine that with a long commute and an early bedtime [for me, the prego], and i was NOT in the mood to grocery shop. how did we survive? here’s the rundown:
monday: i was able to pack one lunch with the little bit of greens, meat, and produce we had left from the previous week. it was good, but not as filling as if i had all my groceries. for dinner we ate at the wrestling banquet for my husbands wrestling team, so no need to make a meal.
tuesday: i bought lunch downtown – salad, shocking. the salad and healthy food options in minneapolis are abundant, but i like to pack my own when i have time so that i know what’s going into it and accurately track the macros [i don’t track my macros in a ‘weight loss’ sense — more to stay on top of what i’m actually eating so i know what nutrients the little guy is getting]. i picked up pancheros on my way home for dinner, knowing we had to drop my car off at the dealership. no shame, we also got dairy queen blizzards on our way back from dropping the car off. ha!
wednesday: lunch was a salad from our cafeteria at HQ [our caf is LEGIT here at target corp. and i am eternally thankful for the option to grab a healthy snack any time of day there. dinner was orange chicken, cauli mash, and brussel sprouts. we had all of that in our freezer. i had to stop at the grocery store on my way home and grab milk for logan, so of course i got some ice cream for myself. that is by far and away probably my most consistent craving this pregnancy, although it didn’t really make an appearance until the third trimester. doesn’t look like my newfound ice cream love is going anywhere soon.
thursday: got a doctored up combo of the greek salad/green goddess salad from panera for lunch. again, i would have totally packed my lunch, but we had no greens, and ever since hearing about the sakara life pillar of nutrition on greens, i try and make sure i get some every day. for dinner we had venison brats from the freezer + freezer veggies. ice cream followed. i am literally living out of the freezer at this point.
friday: i’ll be buying lunch downtown again. total this week i’ve spent probably $50 on lunches … something i try REALLY hard to limit as long as i have the energy to pack my own during the week. i also pack my own snacks for work [working on a post of what i snack on during the week!], so that helps cut down on cost too. dinner will be ‘scrounge-y’ again, since i won’t go grocery shopping until sunday.
let me tell you, i love the feeling of having groceries and the ability to pack myself lunches. it makes life significantly easier, and it gives me comfort knowing i have food to feed my family. that being said, what did i learn throughout the week? that i have a ton of freezer food i need to eat, because i literally lived on freezer food all week and it looks like we barely made a dent.
since i’m doing a pretty hefty grocery shop this weekend, i’ll make sure and populate my go-to grocery lists, by store, to share with you soon! [i shop at target, trader joe’s, and whole foods almost every week]. keep an eye out for that post + snacks i frequently have in the coming weeks.
happy friday! have a great – and fun! – st. patty’s day weekend!