Large families eat a lot of food. Our family is by no means as large as say, The Duggers, but we can go through some groceries. While we’ve been at Dad’s house we’ve made several trips to the local Aldi food market. It’s not really big enough to be called a grocery store as it doesn’t sell everything but the kitchen sink. Although some days you can buy quite a few odds and ends (like corner sanders and hiking boots). What you can’t buy at Aldi, you can find at your choice of three other big chain grocery stores like, Dierberg’s, Shop and Save, and Shnucks (which I affectionately like to call Schmucks). There is a Walmart Super Center in Lake St. Louis which is about 15 minutes away, but you can find most everything you need at the other local stores. O’Fallon has a Walmart that is being renovated as we speak into a Super Center, but that won’t be ready until July, but I digress.
Why all this information on our shopping habits? Well…I’ve been trying to keep track of all the boxes and bags of stuff we’ve consumed in the last 21 days. Seems sort of silly but it astounds me how much our family can choke down!
Oh and as a side note-
My Dad told me to use what he had in the pantry and freezer. One problem with that. He cooks for 1 maybe 2 people regularly and so trying to plan meals for 6 people, means having to add to what he already has. It is actually easier to buy what I need and not add to what he already has. Having said that, we still require a lot of stuff to feed our family. I’m sure we could get by with less. Maybe that’s the secret to smaller butts? Oh wait. Jon and I have big butts, but the kids don’t and they are the one who eat most of the food!!!!
Anyway…
Here is a list of stuff that I can remember buying (I may have left some things out because well, I’m starting to get old and my memory isn’t as sharp as it once was)
- 6 gallons of milk
- 5 loaves of bread
- 6 dozen eggs
- 16 hamburger buns
- 16 hot dog buns
- 14 boxes of cereal
- 3 lbs. of assorted lunch meats
- 3 lbs. of assorted sliced cheeses
- 4 bags of peanut M & M’s
- 2 boxes of banana bread mix
- 8 cups of rice
- 10 lbs of sugar
- 10 lbs. of chicken (chicken tenders, chicken breasts)
- 8 lbs. hamburger ( 16 1/4 lb. hamburger patties, 4 one lb. pkgs hamburger)
- 2 lbs. thin spaghetti
- 16 pieces Texas Toast
- 1 huge watermelon
- countless lbs. of fresh vegetables used in various dishes
- 10 pkgs. Mix-aid (Aldi’s brand of Kool-aid)
- 6 cases of water (24 in each case)
- 48 cans of various carbonated beverages (generic Aldi brand)
- 3 lbs. pepper bacon
- 2 boxes of Whale cheddar crackers
- 1 case of Maruchan Top Ramen
- 12 rolls of toilet paper ( we didn’t eat them, but it was only appropriate to add them to the list! LOL )
- 300 napkins (out of a 500 count package of napkins- no I didn’t count, but estimated based on how many are left)
- 12 mini concretes from Fritz’s Frozen Custard
- 22 – 32 oz. frozen slushie drinks from Quick Trip
- 12 twix ice cream bars
- 6 klondike ice cream bars
- 1 pkg. fudge brownies
- 1 pkg. peanut butter cookie dough
- 1 long summer sausage
- 2 nights of Chinese Take out, 2 night of Mexican sit down
- 1 dinner at a buffet
- 5 tanks of gas (can’t eat that, but we bought it!)
- 5 pairs of new shoes/flip flops
- summer clothes for the girls
- 10 homemade lunches for Jon while he was working upstairs
That’s all I can think of for now. It amazes me how much food and “stuff” we needed while we are here. If I sat down and counted all the food we buy at home, the list would be much longer! Now I know why my wallet cries every time drive past Wal-mart!
This is just a small glimpse into our fridge and pantry. What does yours look like??