I had so much, I had to supplement the four reusable bags I’d brought with three 12-cent paper bags sold at checkout - and still ended up under budget.

And that included a brownie mix, a fresh pineapple, English muffins, green chile salsa, a box of (real) Corn Flakes and some chocolate-covered almonds I tossed in the cart on a whim because they were so cheap. To my surprise - and delight - my bill was $198.14. After noting prices for staples, including milk, meat, cheese and produce, I came up with a menu for each day of the week, wrote out the recipes, and then made a detailed ingredient list for each of the 20 dishes (Sunday only had two because it involved brunch.) Then it was back to the store to shop, with me adding up every single item as it went in my cart on my phone’s calculator to make sure everything totaled $215 or less. I started by sleuthing my local Aldi to see what things cost in general and also what was on sale that week. It certainly took time, along with some math skills to break it all down and figure out what ingredients were as affordable as they were easy to prepare for the average cook - and what had to be left off the list. Even with all my experience and excess storage (I have two refrigerators and a huge walk-in pantry), coming up with a grocery list and nutritious recipes to feed a family of four for an entire week wasn’t easy. Perry in an email, “but our customers can count on Aldi savings on their shopping trip in every aisle, every day, no coupons or gimmicks needed.” Still … “Other retailers may lure people with deals on several items each week,” said Aldi Saxonburg division vice president J.R. The German chain, which counts some 2,200 stores across 38 states, including more than 30 in southwestern Pennsylvania, also is dedicated to creating cost savings that it can pass on to its customers, like making shoppers pay to use carts (which incentivizes their return) and provide their own bags. And I’d do so at a discount grocery to assure I was getting the most bang for the buck: Aldi, a deep-discount chain famous for having rock-bottom food prices.Īldi is able to keep prices low in part because it avoids expensive brand names that rely heavily on advertising and marketing. I’d do one marathon shopping session to save on both time and the crazy cost of gas. To accomplish that goal, I set some parameters. I wanted to know what that would buy you in Pittsburgh and whether you could make three squares a day taste good on a budget. Why that number? The USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program currently allots $215.10 a week to a four-person household to cover the cost of groceries necessary to provide a “healthy, budget-conscious diet” under its official Thrifty Food Plan. So I decided to make myself this challenge: Prepare a week’s worth of meals for a family of four, completely from scratch, for around $200. Yet I’m also a problem-solver who has penny-pinched at meal time for decades. I can’t imagine doing it today, especially when the cost of everything else we need on a daily basis is rising, too. Having raised five kids, including three always-hungry sons, I know firsthand how expensive three meals a day can be for a family in good economic times. And while I try (really) hard to choose recipes that are as easy for the average cook as they are inspirational and great tasting, it’s gotten considerably tougher in recent months to also make them 100% affordable. Target!)Īs the PG’s food editor, my job is to cook - a lot. The price of meat, poultry, fish and eggs will also leave a shopper reeling from sticker shock, and don’t even get me started on what a bag of Lay’s potato chips will set you back these days. The price of pantry staples such as bread and cereal has jumped nearly 14%, according to the Consumer Price Index, and dairy products are not far behind, costing an average of 13.5% more than a year ago. Thanks to the skyrocketing cost of inflation - which climbed to a 40-year record high of 9.1% in June compared to last year - food has never been more expensive. There’s no getting around this simple and unpalatable fact: It’s pretty stressful to go grocery shopping these days. With grocery prices at record highs, we’ve put together a guide for a week’s worth of healthy meals

Golden flake dill pickle chips