The big grocery trip

I've been to three stores today completing the big monthly shopping trip.  It was big, expensive and depressing.  Usually grocery shopping is my thing.  I often get to go by myself and it's my "me" time, so even though it is grocery shopping, I enjoy it.  Today was not one of those days though.  We spent all weekend at my parents' and while I had a great time with the family, I spent a lot of time thinking about the amount of junk I was consuming.  The ice had a funny taste which made the water gross, so I drank milk instead.  Well, let's just say consuming large quantities of milk is not good for me.

On the way home, we stopped at Sam's Club and I was armed with a list and $175 in gift cards (bought ahead of time through my church).  I spent $169.41 which was within my bugdet, but there were several key items they didn't have or didn't carry an organic alternative.  I'm coming to the conclusion that Sam's organic offerings are really lacking. 

We made it home one hour before Aldi's closed, so I hopped out of one vehicle into another (and let hubby and the kids unload the van) and headed there for the second part of the list.  Again, several items that they usually carry (whole grain pasta for one) were out of stock and the produce selection wasn't that great.  I still managed to spend $61.59 there though.

Last stop was Hy-Vee.  It is a regional chain store and has a great natural foods section.  I hit the bulk bins and picked up more natural sugar (organic was $1.49/pound which I thought was a good price).  I also got unsweeted coconut and flax seed for homemade granola.  I made it about half-way through the store when my husband called and requested lunchmeat and bread for a quick supper (by this time is was 7:30 and the girls head to bed at 8:00).  Could a find a reasonably price nitrite free lunch meat or bread without tons of gunk.  Of course not and I couldn't bring myself to buy the cheap stuff, so I spent $6 on lunchmeat and $2 on bread (picked the best of the worst there).  Organic produce, ugh.  High side was organic romaine hearts were 2/$5 instead of the usual 2/$6, but everything else was really expensive.  And then there was the maple syrup.  Since I learned that most commercial syrup has fermaldahyde in it, I had a hard time bringing myself to buy it and the store didn't carry organic.  I went ahead and bought it vowing to not buy it again.  But, I've looked online and I cannot find an affordable organic at this point.
Anyway, I'm a bit let down because I spent a lot of money, but I still need to get on Amazon and see if I can find decent alternatives for the items I need.  Thanks for letting me vent.  Hubby thanks you to, because I doubt that he wanted to listen to me rant about it! :)

An itemized list can be found in the grocery list tab.