Whole 30: What I Buy at Aldi and Costco / Meal Plan Ideas

My husband and I are doing Whole 30 and are currently on day 12 (we started on January 1st.) That said, I’m sitting down to sketch out our family’s meal plan for the week and wanted to share our weekly hauls at Aldi and Costco over the past couple weeks. 

Each week, I tend to prefer shopping at Aldi both for it’s prices as well as proximity. Additionally, I stop at Costco about every two weeks to stock up on other items we need in bulk.


Above is what I got for a typical week at Aldi! (Keep in mind, we did have some pantry staples, condiments, protein options stocked at home already.) The total, for those who want to know, was $135. This also included milk, snacks and lunch/sandwich items for the boys too.

I also did my first Costco trip while on Whole 30 and stock up on some great stuff in larger quantities that will last us a while. The total on this was $214, and this included some other items for the boys that I didn’t include here (lunch items, snacks, syrup, etc.)


*Note: I realize that not all the items are organic, grass fed, free range, etc. and try to balance that against 1- my time (I don’t have time to source select items and go to multiple stores every week) and 2- minding our grocery budget. We try to stick to the plan as closely as we can, and are doing really well with it!


Our Weekly Meal Plan (for the past two-ish weeks)

DINNERS:

Slow cooker beef roast with veggies
Spaghetti “zoodles” with meatballs
Copycat Chipotle W30 bowls
Fish, green beans (or other veggie) and potato
White chicken chili
Sausage, potato, veggie sheet pan supper
Chicken, lime and avocado soup
Chicken taco salad
Italian wedding soup
Taco turkey stuffed peppers
Steak, potato and broccoli
Ribs and brussel sprouts with bacon
Minestrone soup
Turkey burgers with guacamole and sweet potato fries
Chicken with onions & peppers over cauli rice
Smoky sweet potato chili

*We always make it a point for the boys to eat what we eat since I don’t make them a separate meal when it comes to dinner time (lunches are packed for them and are separate from our W30 meals). I might add in noodles on a dish, deconstruct it, add a smoothie packed with veggies & fruit, etc. But if they tried something and truly don’t like it, we offer them something else like a bowl of cereal.

LUNCHES:

I plan to make enough of dinner the night before so we can have leftovers for dinner the next day. Takes much less time to do it this way and we have no complaints eating these items for leftovers! Occasionally, I’ll make a batch of chili or soup and freeze it in individual containers to have as a “just in case” if we didn’t like a particular dinner recipe or there wasn’t enough for lunch the next day.

BREAKFASTS:

Usually eggs and a protein and/or veggie, along with fruit. On weekends, I’ll make a big batch of veggie egg frittata (SO good), so we can reheat it for breakfasts each morning. The boys love eggs too, but on weekends I’ll make a batch of muffins or waffles for them and freeze leftovers for during the week. 

SNACKS:
Been living lately on a steady rotation of Larabars (love cashew cookie, pecan pie, cherry pie options), my favorite tea (or any type that is fruity), along with mixed nuts and apples with almond butter!

Costco carries mixed nuts cheaper per ounce (.37) than Aldi (.47), but the Aldi ones have a larger variety of nuts and are salted, so we might alternate between the two when I shop each week.


I hope this is helpful as you plan your week and think about your meals, particularly while on Whole 30. I think we can all say that meal planning has a tendency to be a pain point, but with a little planning and effort, it reduces our family’s stress at mealtime tremendously and keeps us on budget, eating well and living healthy!  I can definitely say that this round of W30 has been easier in regards to what we eat, largely in part to good meal planning! It doesn’t take long, and the benefits certainly pay off.

*This is the second time we’ve done Whole 30, read about the first time we did it here in week by week posts!