Good morning!
The sun is shining but it is cold in Charlotte!
The girls love the cold weather. They are voluntarily choosing to stay out in the back yard.
They say the colder, the better!
Thanks for all of your comments, questions and kind words about my Whole30 recap. As I mentioned, the food shopping and budget has been a little cray cray over here since embarking on this Whole30 project so I thought I show you a peek in our fridge and what we bought at Costco last weekend.
This is the fridge packed out after our Costco trip but even after looking at each other and saying, “is all this even going to fit in the fridge!?” we still find a way to pretty much empty it out by end of week.
Here’s a selection of what you see here:
Top left shelf: nut and butters (almond, cashew, tahini), ghee, pomegranate juice (for mixing with seltzer), chicken stock, almond milk (unopened from pre-Whole30).
Top right shelf: berries and a big box of mixed cherry tomatoes
Middle: chicken breasts, two dozen eggs, seltzer water and bottled water
Bottom shelf: baby portobello mushrooms, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, spinach, romaine
Veggie drawer: head of red cabbage, zucchini, asparagus, red kale, tuscan kale, cucumbers, ginger, garlic
Fruit drawer: avocados, apples, pears, lemons, oranges, grapefruits
Cheese drawer: beets, prosciutto, dried figs
Door: where do we even start? Highlights include salsa, mustards, dressings, sauces, maple syrup, kombucha, champagne, hot sauce, butter and more.
Here are some of our Costco purchases (this is a small selection)…all the avocados, chicken stock (no sugar added! hard to find), raisins, almonds, diced tomatoes, dates.
Bananas, sprouted rice and quinoa blend, almond butter, apple pears, peanut butter, sweet potatoes, onions and more.
Side note on the apple pears…they are weird and I’m not sure if I like them. I want them to be crisp like an apple but they are soft like pears and pretty much taste exactly like a pear. Super sweet.
Here are my thoughts on doing our weekly shopping at Costco. I definitely feel like we got a lot but we also spent almost double our normal grocery bill. We also got sidetracked by some special buys and ended up spending $25 for Alaskan king crab legs which I froze for Valentine’s Day but am now wondering why I really got them in the first place? The magical powers of Costco. Haha.
I think I’ll stick to doing our normal shopping at Whole Foods/ALDI/Trader Joe’s and save Costco for a once every month or two restock on bulk items that really make sense for us.
What are your favorite Costco purchases? Do you find that you spend more at warehouse stores like Costco, Sam’s etc.? How often do you go?
You inspired me to pick up the Whole30 book. I’m reading it now, and may try it for the month of March 🙂
Good! It’s so helpful if you decide to do it, and it really gives you the reasoning behind why you do it!
My dad has the Costco membership, so I never get to go myself, but hopefully soon! 😛 If they have big packs of Asian pears…..I NEED to get there! Hahaha!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has an overflowing cart/fridge/pantry after a trip to Costco. There are so many awesome things there! Woah, apple pears?! Is this a new thing? Can’t wait to try them!
I’m not sure if they are new but they certainly are pretty different!
I have such a love-hate relationship with Costco….on one hand, I do find it an affordable way to stock up on some basics (paper products, Vitamins, the 2-pack of natural peanut butter, coffee, organic meat, etc) but I ALWAYS buy things that I don’t intend to buy (like a giant package of sliced Havarti cheese I just came home with, haha) and spend way more than I anticipate! I will say, though – I LOVE their wine and champagne selection (and prices!)
I hear you! It is a love/hate! I agree with you on the wine selection and prices….great!
I always spend more than I am planning to at Costco and rarely go for that reason. I’ve been using Thrive Market (an online store that requires a membership but offers Costco-type discounts) and tend to like that better. You get free shipping when you order over $50. Sometimes I feel bad about the shipping waste, but have a one-bedroom so while I would like to stock up on Costco-sized staples, sometimes buying smaller quantities of items at discounted prices makes more sense!
Thanks for the tip on Thrive. I will check it out!
The oranges have been fantastic! Also, great place to buy frozen fruit for smoothies.
Good to know! Thank you!
Nothing like a full fridge. Costco’s crab legs are great! At least in Chicago they are. We don’t have a membership anymore (just not convenient) but the crabs legs definitely made the membership worthwhile. I prefer V-day dinner at home anyway!
That’s great to hear! I am looking forward to trying them. I also prefer to cook at home for V-Day!
We always spend more at Costco! BUT I feel like it’s an activity on cold weekend day, so part of that money I think of as the entertainment value (totally justifying myself!) It’s supposed to be 17 degrees here in PA this weekend so we have a much needed Costco trip planned!
Side note, what do you use ghee for? Instead of butter? oil?
Haha! I love this and agree! When I was growing up a trip to Sam’s was definitely a source of family entertainment. 🙂
If you find the apple pear to be too sweet, you should use them in Korean recipes! There’s an awesome paleo Korean short ribs recipe by nomnompaleo….you make a marinade in the vitamix with the pear which will give it that nice sweetness and flavor 🙂
Awesome! Thanks for the tip!
With Costco, you really have to break it down cost per item I find that eggs are a better deal there than other places as is lettuces and most veggies. Fruit, no. Most of the time, Aldis or sprouts are WAY less expensive and quality is usually good.
Good to know! For me it’s more that I just need to resist buying stuff I really don’t need, especially in bulk!
I go to costco once every 1-2 weeks. I also go to ALDI, but not as much as I should – I tend to buy milk, eggs, and some vegetables at ALDI, but buy berries at Costco. i also buy prepackaged things at Costco – soup, guacamole, hummus, chicken salad, salsa, etc – and salmon, ground beef and ground turkey.
I don’t have a Costco card and have only been there a handful of times (though not in years). I do love all the samples they give out 😛 But I usually just stick to Safeway, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods.
Haha! Me too! You can pretty much eat lunch there with all the samples.
I also got suckered into the apple pears and couldn’t get into them. We ended up throwing them out. I’ll stick to one or the other : )
Agreed! I do not like!
always gotta have a bottle of veuve in the fridge….never know when a celebration is about to happen 🙂