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Easy Summer Lemonade and My Costco Shopping List

June 13, 2016 by Susan 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links.  See my disclosure for more information.

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I always have these staples on hand from Costco. Bonus! The easiest homemade lemonade recipe ever!

 

Summer is here and that means it’s lemonade time!  During the cooler months, I buy an extra gallon of raw milk and keep homemade chocolate milk in the fridge.  But in the summer, I like to lighten things up.  And so lemonade makes its appearance.

It’s so easy to make from scratch, and it tastes so much better than the powdered mix.  Try it, you won’t go back!

Lemon juice is one of the things I always stock up on when I hit Costco.  I thought I’d share some of the other things that are Costco stock up staples at our house.

Ten Things I Always Get at Costco

This lemon juice from Costco is on my "must buy" list. It makes THE best lemonade!Lemon Juice

I already said that lemon juice is on this list.  These large bottles come in a 2-pack, and they make a lot of homemade lemonade!

COST:  $7.89/2

That breaks down to less than a dollar per pitcher of lemonade.  Not bad!

 

Butter

I will occasionally see butter on sale for around $2.00/pound at other stores.  When I do I stock up, but my regular butter supplier is definitely Costco.  I keep it in my freezer and just transfer a box at a time to the fridge as needed.

COST:  $9.49/4 pounds

COST:  $2.37/pound

 

These parmesan shreds are a great deal from Costco!Parmesan Cheese

I love these big containers of parmesan cheese shreds.  We use it on spaghetti, of course, but so much more! I make homemade alfredo sauce with it, and use it in the bechamel sauce for my Lasagna Bolognese with Bechamel.  It’s perfect to sprinkle over buttered noodles, rice, or a salad.  And it lasts a really long time!

COST:   $9.69/16 oz.

 

 

Meat

We pick up a lot of our meat at Costco and keep it in the chest freezer.  Some of my must-buy items include ground beef, chicken thighs (sometimes organic, sometimes not..depending on the current budget situation), sausages, and various beef items.  In the fall/winter I always have their beef stew meat portioned and Ziploc bagged in the freezer, or maybe some roasts.  When it’s grilling time, I like to pick up their sirloin steaks.  Again, I portion them into meal size bags, throw in a simple marinade and freeze.  Then they are ready to thaw and grill.  If I have to feed a crowd, pork butt/shoulder is in my cart to take home and make the best ever pulled pork.

COST RANGE:  $1.99 – 8.00/lb.

 

Costco has the best price on berries! They are on my list of things I always pick up when I'm there.Berries

In summer months, I find Costco’s prices to be the best on strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  I will sometimes pick up organic.  If not, I’m always sure to wash them well before we eat them.

COST RANGE:  $3.49 – 4.99

 

Paper products are among the the things I always get when I'm at Costco.Paper Products (Toilet paper & Paper towels)

Toilet paper is a staple that everyone needs, and no one wants to run out of.  Prime buy-in-bulk item if there ever was one.  ‘Nuff said.

I’m cheap and don’t buy both napkins and paper towels.  We use paper towels exclusively (unless I happen to have a clean stack on hand from my “let’s try cloth napkins” experiment).  About every other month both toilet paper and paper towels make it into Costco’s coupon book.  It’s wise to wait to stock up till then, you’ll save a several dollars on each item.

COST:  $15.99/30 rolls toilet paper

COST:  $19.99/12 rolls paper towels

 

Costco's real maple syrup is on my must buy list.Syrup (Real Maple and Log Cabin)

Syrup, both Log Cabin and Real Maple, are on my list of things I always get at Costco.I’ve priced real maple syrup at Trader Joes, Aldi, and a variety of other grocery stores and Costco is the best price I’ve found.  While I always keep the real stuff on hand, my husband has a nostalgic attachment to Log Cabin pancake syrup.  I also pick that up at Costco, as it’s priced lower than getting smaller bottles at the regular grocery.

COST $13.99/33.8 oz.  Real Maple Syrup

COST:  $6.99/2 Log Cabin

 

Coconut oil is one of the things I always get at Costco. These huge two packs break down to be the best price I've found.Coconut Oil

I use coconut oil a lot.  I substitute it for butter, or 1/2 of the butter, in a lot of my baking.  I also use it to pop popcorn (THE best is to pop your kernels in 1/2 coconut oil and 1/2 bacon fat…yum!).  It shows up in several of my herbal salves, too.  And I’ve been known to dab a little in my hair to smooth the frizzies.  Costco sells its coconut oil in two packs and it breaks down to the cheapest price by far that I’ve found.  And it lasts SO long!

COST:  $17.99/2

 

Cane sugar is on my list of items I always pick up at Costco.Cane Sugar

I love this stuff!  I keep this bag in my pantry and refill my sugar container as needed.  Aldi has a good price on this as well, albeit much smaller bags.  This is ingredient number two in my homemade lemonade.  (Recipe at the bottom of this post)

COST:  $7.79/10 lbs

 

 

Organic Tortilla Chips are on my list of must buys at Costco.Organic Tortilla Chips

Do you experience the same battle I do of Organic vs Budget?  I want to feed my family the healthiest food I can, but I also want to be a good steward of the finances God has given us.  Where I have landed in this debate is that I focus my organic food buying on items that we consume the most of.  Seeing as pretty much all corn products are GMO, and corn tortilla chips are the main type of chips I keep on hand at all times, I try to buy organic.  Costco’s giant bags of organic corn tortilla chips are delicious, and a great price to boot!

COST:  $4.69

So that’s my list.  10 things from Costco that are pretty much always in my house. Costco has some fantastic deals to be sure.

What are your favorite buys?  What am I missing?

This is the easiest and most delicious recipe for homemade lemonade. I stock my fridge with it all summer long!

Here’s how I make my super simple summer homemade lemonade:

Easy Summer Lemonade

Print this recipe
Susan
June 13, 2016
by Susan
Category Beverages Home & Garden Recipes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 quarts water

Instructions

  1. Mix lemon juice and sugar in bottom of 2 quart pitcher
  2. Fill pitcher with cold water
  3. Stir and serve
  4. Recipe is easily doubled

Tags

beverages,
frugal,
shopping

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Filed Under: Beverages, Home & Garden, Recipes Tagged With: beverages, frugal, shopping

Comments

  1. Amy Blanchard says

    June 30, 2016 at 8:01 am

    I will definitely try the lemonade! I’m a Sam’s Club shopper myself, but same principle. My Sam’s list is very similar.

    Reply
    • Susan says

      June 30, 2016 at 1:04 pm

      Good point – I would imagine that Sam’s would be similar. I hope you enjoy the lemonade, it’s our favorite and it’s SO easy!

      Reply

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