Trader Joe's

So, I didn't fully finish the post on Delivery Day of my last Peapod order. I'd looked at the invoice online, before my delivery arrived and discovered almost all of the meat and some of the veggies were out of stock. As disappointing as that was, even more disappointing was the fact that they were 2 1/2 hours late without a call to let me know!

So I've taken a little break from Peapod and have enjoyed a few good deals at my local Key Foods and Met Foods and a mega trip (at least fully stocking my teeny tiny freezer and fridge) to Trader Joe's. Maybe I'll venture into the world of Peapod shopping in the near future, but I am guessing they'll be out of stock of a variety of products due to the holidays!

This Weeks Meal Plan

Here's what we have in store for this week's meals!

Dinners:
Chicken Tacos with tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, cheese and plain yogurt
Spaghetti with ground beef
Pizza with basil, mozzarella red pepper
Chicken over salad
Blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs (double and freeze for breakfasts)
Roasted Potatoes, Chicken Sausage and Peppers
Leftovers

Lunches:
Leftovers
Mac and Cheese and peas, fruit cups
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, carrot sticks (x 2)
Tuna Salad over greens
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, green beans and clementines
Snacky lunch-pretzels, hummus, cucumbers, fruit


Breakfasts:
Banana bread and pears
Pancakes with peanut butter and banana (x3)
Eggs and toast, clementines (x2)
Oatmeal with applesauce and cinnamon

Weekly Meal Plan

Ahhh dinner time. I've been finding it hard to get very creative in the kitchen with a toddler underfoot. So, we've been keeping it cheap and simple for dinner these days and repeating a few meals themes on a weekly basis. Themes, because we like to have some variety and lots of predictability!

Pasta Night
Mexican Night: tacos, burritos or fajitas
Breakfast for dinner: Omelets and pancakes
Homemade pizza with whatever sauce and toppings we have on hand
Leftovers
Other x 2:Roasted Chicken and veggies, Soup, Burgers and oven fries, Salads

This keeps planning and shopping pretty easy. Also, these are such quick and easy and healthy dinners (we load every meal with veggies, lean protein and whole grains), I can throw them together quickly, while chasing a toddler around.

What are your solutions to dinners? Do you have themes? What are your favorite easy meals?

Peapod Delivery Day

Enjoying a Homemade Chai Latte while my daughter naps
and I wait for Peapod

Well it's delivery day and we're excited around here!

I've checked my invoice on the Peapod site (viewable around 2 hours before delivery), and it's one of those weeks where the Out of Stock items are somewhat disappointing!

Out of Stock Items:
Fiber One 100% Whole Wheat Bread (neither loaf is coming)
Friendship Cottage Cheese
Nature's Promise Chicken Sausage (both packs out of stock)
Shady Brook Farms Ground Turkey

There were no substitutions made....so I'll have to reevaluate my meal plan for the week. Fortunately, I have some extra meat and chili in the freezer (meal plan will be posted on Monday), so I shouldn't have to go running to the grocery store in the next week (except maybe for bread)!

What's Coming in My Peapod Delivery This Week??

Hi Friends,

We are eagerly awaiting our Peapod Delivery* , coming this afternoon. As we're nearing the end of the month, we're nearing the end of our grocery money! So I'm just stocking up on a few needs and a few deals to get us through until we refill the grocery fund!

I placed my order Wednesday night to take advantage of last week's deals and added to the order Thursday morning to take advantage of this week's deals. Once you've scheduled your delivery and placed your order, Peapod will save the sale prices for 7 days...meaning we can enjoy twice the sales!

My list:

3 Avocados- $1 ea
8 Bananas-.25 ea
1 Cucumbers- .75 ea
3 Tomatoes on the vine- .79 ea
1 Butternut Squash- $1.50
Romaine Lettuce Hearts- $2.50
Grapes-$1.99 lb.
Nature's Promise Naturals Whole Antibiotic-free chicken (3-5 lbs.)-$1.39 lb.
Nature's Promise Naturals Chicken Sausage Italian mild (16 oz.) $3.99
Nature's Promise Naturals Chicken Sausage Spiced apple (16. 0z) $3.99
Shady Brooks Farms Ground Turkey 93% Fat Free (16 oz)- $2.89
Friendship Cottage Cheese 1% (16 oz.)- $2.89
Hood Half and Half-1 quart- $2.49
Kraft Philadelphia Cooking Cream- $2.50
Shop and Stop frozen peas (16 oz)- $1.00
2 Fiber One Bread 100% Whole Wheat- $2.50
Nabisco Snackwell's Brownie Bites- $2.50
Old El Paso Salsa Thick N' Chunky - $3.29
2 Old El Paso Taco Shells 6 hard shells 6 soft- $2.39
3 Francesco Rinaldi Pasta Sauce- $1.00
Mrs. Meyer's Liquid Laundry Lemon Verbena- $5.99

Subtotal:	$63.07
Delivery Fee:	$9.95
Fuel Surcharge:	$0.98
Delivery Discount:	-$1.50
Tax:	$1.32
Peapod FANtastic Deal:	-$5.00
PDC Sign Up Bonus $5:	-$5.00
Peapod Direct Check:	-$1.00
Total:	$62.82
YOU SAVED $38.25

And then I'll hand in my coupons

Philadelphia Cooking Cream -$1.00

3 Old El Paso .50/1 (doubled) -$3.00
Friendship Cottage cheese .55/1 (doubled) -$1.10
Snackwell's .75/1 (doubled) -$1.50
Mrs. Meyers -$1.00
2 Fiber One Bread $1.00/1 -$2.00
-----------------------------------------
Coupon Total -$9.60
Grand Total $53.22 plus tip

Delivery Discount- On the schedule you can pick a "greener time" which also gives you a discount
Peapod Fantastic Deal- entered coupon code PPFAN54 this is for $5 off of $20 select dinner items ( I couldn't find the list of select dinner items, but entered the code on a whim, knowing I had $20 of dinner items and it worked!) I found the code of the Peapod Delivers facebook page.
PDC Sign Up Bonus $5 and Peapod Direct Check- I signed up to pay by direct check to Peapod, which saved me an initial $5 and then $1 on every purchase!

So I'm pleased with the results...the Peapod coupon codes covered the delivery charge and I got some great deals. Now let's hope there aren't too many items out of stock...


If you interested in saving $10 on your first order click here.

*Disclaimer...the links in this post will save you $10 on your first Peapod order and reward me with the same!

Peapod Delivers

For the past few months I have been dabbling in online grocery shopping with Peapod by Shop and Stop*, and I have to say its been beneficial to our budget. Now I haven't been exclusively shopping Peapod, but I have ordered once or twice a month, and been pleased with the results.



Pros

• No commute to the grocery store (I can shop during naptime, so it's not interfering with Mommy/daughter time, also I can stock up on more than will fit in the bottom of my stroller and on my shoulders)
  

• You can add items to your cart until 4 pm the day before your delivery.

• Double coupons up to $0.99 (there are no stores that double coupons in my vicinity, even the Pathmark that's a mile away)

• Excellent prices (competitive, if not far lower than local groceries)

• Search for coupons online while grocery shopping in the comfort of your home! In fact Peapod even has a page of printable coupons, which frequently match their sales.
  

• Excellent and super-responsive Customer Service

• If they don't carry a product that you'd like, you can request it!

• No impulse buys (or fewer- you can monitor your spending because your grocery total is staring at you on the right side of the screen)

Cons

• Out of stock items- Usually each week there are one or two items on my grocery list that are out of stock and you don't find out until the day of the delivery. With some items you can opt to have Peapod substitute a similar item or different brand. The substitutions have been great (sometimes a higher value product for the sale price of your originally ordered item). But it is a little disappointing to not have a key ingredient (like a whole chicken) show up.

• The occasional hiccup in coupon processing (twice my coupons weren't applied to my account, but all it took was a 3 minute phone call to Customer Service to fix the situation)
• You don't get to lay your hands on and pick out produce/meat-this may deter some people, but so far I think Peapod has done a great job of selecting quality produce for us. On only one occasion we received a tomato that was moldy the next morning. I called customer service and they gladly refunded the money.
• Delivery charge, gas fee and driver tip(optional)- These may seem like a deal breaker for some people,but with a little resourcefulness and couponing I've been able to offset these charges in savings (another post in itself).

*Disclaimer--the links in the post are my personal links. You will receive $10 off your first purchase and I will receive the same.