Today’s post was inspired by a photo essay I saw online last week called “What A Week Of Groceries Looks Like Around The World.” The photo of the groceries in America from the series is below. The photo credit belongs to Peter Menzel, who photographed the series. 
I thought it would be fun to play along this week. My pantry and freezer are pretty well stocked at this time, so this is really just a look at the perishables needed for this week. I also live in America. The photo below is of our groceries for this week.
It is clear that between our two families we have different food priorities. I wonder what their budget is for a week vs what ours is. If I had to guess, theirs is probably a little larger. But so is their family size. They’ve got growing teenage boys. I’ve heard rumors about how much of an appetite they’ve got! I’ve got a preschooler, a baby on the way, and a husband who doesn’t indulge in much beyond almond butter. This isn’t a commentary on their food choices. But it is an example of our week.
Breakfasts in our house are simple. Most mornings I eat a bagel with cream cheese (not pictured, I buy a dozen at a time from Brugers and put them in the freezer), Malone eats homemade pancakes (not pictured, Mike makes them on the weekend and I freeze them in stacks of 3 to pull out during the week) or scrambled eggs (not pictured), and Mike eats either yogurt or a Cliff Bar.
Lunches will be turkey and cheese sandwiches or homemade Greek salad (dressing not pictured because it is already in the fridge) for me and Malone almost always wants a muffin tin lunch- I’ll take little bits of the things pictured to make a meal for him. Mike eats the same lunch 5 days a week- almond butter and jelly (not pictured) sandwich, cheese stick (not pictured), yogurt, and two fruits.
To snack on this week we’ve got guacamole, hummus, a french loaf, pita chips, brie, snap peas, and fresh fruit. In the pantry we’ve also got one package of Cape Cod potato chips, trail mix, or dried fruit (not pictured). In the refrigerator there are cheese sticks and carrots (not pictured).
I typically plan 3 to 4 dinners a week for us. The other nights we eat left overs. This week’s agenda include baked chicken legs, coleslaw, and fruit salad (all pictured); grass fed cheese burgers, snap peas, and roasted broccoli; Trader Joe’s fish sticks (not pictured), corn on the cob, and fruit salad; and chicken stir fry (the mixed vegetables are pictured, but the chicken and rice are already in the freezer). We have no plans to eat out this week.
The bulk of the grocery budget was spent on fresh fruit. We go in spurts of loving fruit salad and getting by with just apples and bananas. It has been a long winter without fresh berries and Malone could hardly contain himself when the raspberries finally looked nice enough to buy.
Our general food philosophy is less is more. We tend to focus on whole foods with ingredients we can pronounce. The less ingredients there are on the label, the more likely I am to purchase it. Happy animals are tastier and produce better dairy products. I buy organic when my budget allows it to and focus on sourcing what I can from local farmers as often as I can. We save food that strays from this for treats and special occasions. I love Doritos. A LOT. But they don’t come home from the grocery store with me every week.
What about you? What does a week of groceries in your house look like? Are you in America or abroad?
This is interesting! I am going to do this after my next grocery run. I have one more kid than you, so I wonder what difference that makes in our food consumption.
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I have 3 boys ages 6, 5 and 4 and our food bill consists mostly of fruit and veggies. I may take a picture next time we shop and see how it compares.
I loved that article – it was so interesting to see what was similar and different about different regions. We tend to be a little bit in between your two families. We buy a 1/8 of a cow from a local, organic, grass fed beef farmer and we have a great food co-op where I source almost all our other meat and dairy. I love seafood and since my husband works for a food distributor I can usually get a reasonable price for sustainably caught. Produce is easily our biggest expense but with one grocery shop a week, I find it gets wasted too often, so I’ve had to move to two a week. We do frozen berries a lot – in the winter it’s the only kind worth eating and in the summer instead of ice cream. My hope is to get a few things out of our garden this year, supplement with the farmers market and do some canning/freezing. I’m getting crunchy in my old age 🙂 Your groceries look great and I’m jealous of your Trader Joes!!
I’m impressed with your meal planning and healthy shopping. I see some of the things we buy and eat in both family pictures. We could definitely use less processed (hard to pronounce) items in our pantry! I just started buying organic ground beef and notice a difference. I am gonna start buying organic meats more often.
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We were totally the family in the first photo about six years ago. We gradually made the shift over time, starting with buying organic meat when we could afford it. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing!
I see things in both pictures that I tend to buy…but over the last few years I’ve been planning meals more often, so we are more the second picture these days!
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I love meal planning! How many meals a week do you typically plan for?
I plan my meals so much more than I used to and I find that it makes eating so so so much more healthy! 🙂
I agree! And it has been better for our wallet, since we’re not likely to eat out if there is a meal planned!