Aldi Trip 2/26

I haven't posted an Aldi trip quite some time, but since it has opened up in my area, I have found it to be a great help in saving my family money.  Since today was our monthly payday, we were running out of quite a few things that we needed around here, and there was some produce on sale that I wanted to stock up on.  By stocking up on coupon deals at the various grocery chains, my list of things that we are in need of each month has continued to shrink.  Also, by shopping in a smaller store it has been much easier to stick to my list and not pick up too many extras.

Here is what I came home with tonight.  Much of this, the more costly items, will last us the entire month so I will only need to fill in with perishable items and sale items that I wish to take advantage of.

All of this cost me $58.19.  It seems like a lot after making purchases with coupons, but then I recall that before I began couponing seriously, I was spending sometimes $200 at Wal-Mart each payday on a list of needed items over 2 pages long.  That almost never included snack items, or extras that we just liked to have around, like the "velveeta" cheese above.

I'm going to be spending a lot of money this week, since I am going to be buying some meat that is on sale.  I have been really slacking on my freezer cooking, and do not have much of a supply left.  I hope to be able to plan some recipes around items that I already have in my stockpile, so I will not have to buy too many extras to complete my meals.

Do you have any favorite go-to meals from your pantry?  I would love some new ideas.