One of my most annoying habits is that I don’t meal plan and tend to end up at the grocery store several times a week. When you shop on-the-go it’s not surprising that you tend to spend more. I need to get better at that! One thing that I excel at, however, is shopping on a budget, keeping an eye out for sales, and getting the best value for my dollar. So, when tasked with a challenge to create a meal for a family of 4 (in my case 5) including dessert by shopping at Walmart I was definitely in for the challenge!
Armed with list – I had already formulated a plan – I headed to Walmart on a Monday afternoon before picking the kids up from school. Shopping by myself is a treat! Now, this particular Walmart does not have a grocery store within, so it presented even more of a challenge. It made me conscious of how many families find themselves – you’re running out to grab a few items for a quick dinner, but without fresh produce can you create something healthy? Of course, it just takes a bit of creativity.
I picked up Kraft Italiano Cheese first ($1.00 less than previously!), in preparation for the delicious pizza I was going to make. My plan had a wrench put it in it right away, when I realized that there were no Kraft Pizza Kits on the shelves! I had to create a plan B on the spot.
After walking up and down the aisles I came up with another – even better – plan! I decided to make a delicious chicken and noodles skillet pasta meal! These Oven Roasted Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Strips were 2/$10!
I grabbed a bag of Great Value Penne Rigate Noodles (you could also use spaghetti, rigatonni, whatever really!)
Then, for the sauce, I wanted to try these Philadelphia Cream Sauces – I picked Herb & Garlic. It’s sounding delicious so far, right?
Keeping in mind I was planning a full meal, I also picked up some Tropicana Orange Juice.
And a side item to scoop up any extra yummy sauce!
I also wanted to ensure we had some veggies in the mix, even though there wasn’t anything fresh that I could purchase. I picked tomatoes and mushrooms (tomatoes later got voted out by my husband, but they would have been good!)
And finally, dessert! Which one do I pick? I stood there awhile contemplating…
In the end I picked French Vanilla and also picked up some sugar cones…no point having ice cream in a bowl when we were having a feast! They were only $2!
On the way to pay I couldn’t help but chuckle at this display by the front doors. It was April 22nd, we still have snow on the gound (and in the forecast!) here in Saskatchewan, but we’re a hopeful bunch!
Back at home, we set to prepare dinner! Noodles boiling, chicken (already fully cooked) tossed in a skillet with the mushrooms. My husband vetoed the tomatoes and instead I found an orange pepper in the fridge and sliced that up instead.
I added in the sauce, topped with Kraft Italiano Shredded Cheese, and served it with the Garlic Bread Fingers. Dinner, is served!
Dessert was delicious! We giggled at my 2 year old trying to navigate an ice cream cone, and my husband showed the kids that these particular cones were perfect for biting the bottom out of and eating it from the bottom up. Thanks, dear.
Want to see my receipt??
This full family dinner for 4 (plus a mini!) was purchased for $37.37 taxes in. I also have noodles, garlic bread fingers, juice, ice cream and cones left over for another meal!
This was a fun challenge and #CBias campaign. You can see even more pictures of my Walmart shopping trip on my Google + album here!
Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias Social Fabric Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions on this blog, as always, are my own.
Is this what average families spend on dinner? With creative shopping, markets and visits to farms I am able to feed a family of 4 for $80/week so I’m not seeing what the challenge is here. When we eat, we’re not eating fatty cheese and nutrient deficient noodles either, we’re eating fresh fruits and vegetables, lean and delicious proteins.
A $40 meal is NOT a challenge. How about a $5 family meal challenge? Now that’s the way you feed your family delicious, healthy food for less!
I live in Saskatchewan, so farmer’s markets with fresh produce (which I love!) happen only in the summer here. Also, not sure when I’ve been to a farm last but I don’t shop there either (they don’t take coupons unfortunately). 😉
The purpose of the post was to look at creating a meal for under $40 – not to debate whether my meal was healthier, better than, or more farm-fresh than yours.
Many families struggle finding ways to feed their families and are looking for ways to save money and be creative. I hope this post achieved that. Cheers!
I’m not trying to debate that my meals are healthier than yours but rather the fact that you CAN make highly nutritious food for FAR LESS than $40. A $40 meal challenge does not seem like a challenge at all… unless you live in NWT or Nunavut.
People that are struggling to feed their families are not going to find this helpful. Again, why not try a $5 (or even $10) meal challenge… if you really want to reach out to people who are trying to make ends meet, that’ll be the post that actually helps them.
Perhaps you should contact the sponsor directly then and present that option.
You are absolutely right in that you can make nutritious food choices for far less than $40. I’m not sure why this post is so offensive to you – hopefully the rest of your day goes well though! Thanks for visiting and commenting from Kitchener! 🙂
Melissa while it is true that a 40 dollar meal is perhaps higher then many of us would choose to pay on a nightly basis, It also must be remembered that this was actually a fairly extensive meal especially given the fact that the store in question did not have access to fresh produce.
However from a different perspective, In the maritimes where I live, there are such things as farmer’s markets and they are held every weekend. That said, the people who choose to shop there are not the poor. It is extremely difficult for anyone in the majority of Canada to find a healthy meal for 80 dollars a week.
I admit my wife is good and she shops extremely well, but fresh fruit and produce as well as meat would without question drive the price deep into 150 or more unless everything is on sale and seriously on sale at that. To step foot into a farmer’s market and try to feed a family for a week, it is far more likely going to run you closer to 200 or even 300 here.
The unfortunate part of life is that if you do not have a fairly decent salary (15/hr plus) it is difficult to feed a family of 4 or 5 healthy food choices as the prices on healthy food simply do not allow that to happen.
I’m going to have to agree with Melissa on this; this does not seem like a very “frugal” meal to me. I am able to feed a family of four (and 8 daycare children!) On under $200 for a whole week. I too live in Saskatchewan but am still able to find plenty of fresh produce and quality meat products if I head to the right places. I would love to see you do a comparison of what you bought for $40 at Walmart Vs. what you could find at say Co-op, Superstore even?
The sunscreen is hilarious.
Wow, If I could get to $80 a week I might be considered to be frugal (;
I have to agree. I can feed a family of four and 8 daycare children on under $200 a week (unless it is a Costco week!)
Good Job. Looks yummy
I often hear people say grocery prices are much higher out west, but those Walmart prices are actually quite similar to their Ontario prices (at least for the meat/cheese/juice you showed prices on)
best dessert ever
Not sure where you are in Saskatchewan but the farmers market IS open in the winter. The schedule is
Saturdays 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Wednesdays – 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Sundays – 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
you may be amazed what you can get here in the winter! 😀
* Saskatoon farmers market that should say 😀
I’m an about 90 minutes away, but thanks for the heads up Lindsay!
Food must cost more where you live. $40 for a meal really does not seem like a challenge. I’m not saying it doesn’t look good, because it does, and the fact that you have things leftover for another meal means you spent less than the $40 for that one meal, but $40 just seems really high.
That is because $40 IS high. If it was less than $40 to eat out at a restaurant that would be another story!
I used to LOVE having the Walmart Super Centre by our house in Kelowna! Prices there were better than the Safeway we had previously shopped at, and their produce was decent quality.
The one thing I have found, here in Saskatchewan, that is WAY cheaper at Walmart than the other grocery stores is dairy! $2/gallon for milk (same brand) and $2-3 for Kraft cheese.
Looks like you covered all the bases with plenty left over for lunches and snacks I bet.
Wow! $40 for one dinner! I feed our family of 4 in Ontario on $150 week and we eat mostly local, mostly paleo. I can see though how if you are shopping for one meal at a time how it can be really expensive. But I bet you had stuff leftover to use in other meals.
well, I liked the article as always Tenille. And as you said, this was your sponsor’s challenge. I’m sure if they gave you a lower amount you also would have been able to meet the challenge. 🙂
Looking at this challenge from the perspective of a busy, working mom, I think a valid point was made. Yes $40.00 is high enough that many would see it as no challenge at all. Often though as I was rushing home from work, my options were delivery, take-out, or a restaurant as I knew I didn’t have time to cook dinner and get us to meetings or practices afterwards. Believe me, that costs more than $40.00 and there are rarely leftovers or dessert included. From this post I saw that I could buy items partially prepared, or quick to prepare that would allow me to serve a complete meal in less time than the pizza delivery takes. As far as health goes, I am sure that the meal made for under $40.00 was a better bet than most fast food and many restaurant meals. Given my schedule and options, I am inspired by this to try more meals at home, and yes I will save money.
Walmart’s Brand (Great Value) is one of my favourite brands. I find that Great Value is comparable to Superstore’s President Choice products. I wish Great Value had more products to choose from, but I am happy with all the products I have bought so far.
What this post did for me was had me looking at my own expenses for my family of 5! Averaging $29 a day for food for 1 week. Not bad not bad at all. 🙂
This sounds like a really yummy meal and you sure did stretch that money far given that your Walmart doesn’t have a grocery store in it!