Here I bask, in the glorious righteousness of Green Week #4, like a divine lizard in the sun.

Week 3: Dollars spent - $143.12 ++ Bags filled - Five of five (and they were FULL)

This was the first real "test" of our practice. The cupboards bordered on meager, and the refrig was nearly bare. The menu had been run through, and I fully expected this trip to cost the most to date. I was right, but under $150 is still pretty good for a family of five.

However, by industriously scanning my grocery receipts, I think I will need to make the following changes in my current lifestyle.

a. Invest in a salmon fish hatchery. We love seafood around here, and salmon is good for you. However, Iowa, being a landlocked state, nearly demands the arm and leg of your firstborn for the little omega-3 buggers. I shelled out fourteen dollars for salmon meal products...but it's two meals' worth, and at seven dollars a meal, divided by five Nelsons...that's roughly $1.40 a person. THAT puts a different spin on things. What would $1.40 buy us at Red Lobster? Anyway, my original point is, if I had my own hatchery, I could eat salmon whenever I felt like it, $1.40 be damned.

b. Marinate my own damn chicken breasts. Now, I like the convenient pre-seasoned ones, because I can pop them in the oven and voila! I'm the Rachael Ray of the Hawkeye State. However, at $7.00 dollars a bag (containing four frozen breasts, so I needed two bags), that's another fourteen dollars for ONE meal. Whoa - my per person cost just DOUBLED to two dollars and eighty cents. Those tomato-basil seasoned breasts were good, but they weren't that good. So, yeah, I guess from here on out, I'll go with a package of Tyson and a bottle of Lawry's.

c. Stop buying so many grapes. I've gone off of them a bit now, but there's still some grape-hoarding tendencies lingering. Two bags of red seedless grapes sang me the tune of $6.09. I spent nearly seven dollars on grapes. I should serve them with the seven dollar chicken breasts.

d. Raise my own turkeys. Slaughter my own turkeys. Skin and cook my own turkeys. Smoke my own turkeys. Slice my own turkey deli meat. This, of course, means I'd have to invest in one of those handy-dandy stainless steel mega-slicer things (which I DO NOT have the counter space for). Eight dollars and seventeen cents on a pound and a half of smoked turkey. I sure hope it was an Olympic turkey or something special like that. *Sigh* I'm really not willing to end my relationship with sliced turkey. I s'pose I could just not buy as much.

e. Attempt to nourish my family on the following things: Saltine crackers, celery, alfalfa sprouts, chocolate chip granola bars, various canned vegetables, hummus, prepackaged bags of salad, bananas, tomato sauce, and a box of cornbread stuffing. Oh yeah, and paprika and chili seasoning, too. Because those were the only things under two dollars.

All in all, not bad, really. I contentedly drove my little Kia minivan home with the black cloth bags snug in the trunk space.

Week Four: Dollars spent - $124.10 ++ Bags filled - Five out of five ++ Unbagged items: Four (dog food, ten-pack of paper towels, milk, and a twelve-pack of soda)

Hmmm...mixed review here. First of all, several menu items from the previous week remained on the list. We ate out three times, due to Halloween, a suppertime doctor appointment, and a "I don't feel like eating at home" comment from Brent. Ridiculous, I know, but there it is.

Basically, we spent less than last week. However, we did not purchase nearly as many meat-type items as last week, the only item being a Lloyd's Pork Roast Au Jus thing. Adding this cost ($5.68) to the $3.34 lite hamburger buns, the French Dip sandwich meal averages out to about $1.80 per person. More than the salmon meals but less than the chicken meal. And we're eating the Other White Meat, so that's good.

Other than this purchase, there was also the sort-of-monthly purchases of dog food and paper towels...not regular visitors to the grocery list. Also, I reduced my sliced turkey amount by a half-pound and saved only about 80 cents. Pshaw! I shake my fist at you, sliced turkey! Also, apples must be going out of season, because a paper bag of Jonathans cost $5.03. Maybe that's a normal price...I dunno. If I lived in Washington state, I would know these things.

Nineteen dollars was the difference this week. However, it's still thought-provoking, because while I spent less this time around, I don't feel that I got the complete bang for my buck.