Easter is just around the corner so I’ve done a spot price check on ingredients for an Easter dinner. After asking around to see what people usually make for the holiday, I put together a simple shopping list with the main ingredients.
The example dinner is ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, asparagus and dinner rolls, with strawberry shortcake for dessert.
Many grocery stores have an aisle dedicated to seasonal items, so if you’re crunched for time, you can pick up stuff to color your eggs when you go food shopping. I saw egg-coloring kits for about $2.99 at Fry’s and $1.97 at Walmart. However, a kit the same size can be purchased at the 99 Cents Only Store for a buck. You can also buy packets of Kool-Aid for five for a dollar and mix them with vinegar to dip your eggs into.
Now, back to the food. What a difference a week can make on prices. Two weeks ago I got a one-pound container of strawberries for 87 cents at Fry’s. Now, the average price is more than $2. Bashas’ was the only store where you could get them for under a dollar this past week.
Ham prices varied store by store, ranging from $1.59 to $2.99 per pound. Safeway had the lowest price on ham, at $1.59 with its club card. Interestingly, it also had the highest price without the club card at $2.99 per pound.
On that note, Safeway had the highest overall price for the meal without the club card and the second lowest price, after Walmart, with the club card.
I chose to price an eight-pound ham because I figured it would feed a family of four. The price listed for asparagus is for one pound, since the average bunch weighs about that much.
The Target I went to did not have angel food cake, so its total price is missing that. Albertsons didn’t have angel food cake either, but they had other ring cakes such as pudding cake as a replacement.
I picked the cheapest item at each store, which was most often the store brand.
Most items were the same size, but if not, I adjusted the price to match the standard size. For example, Albertsons sells its store-brand mustard in 16-ounce bottles instead of the standard 14-ounce bottles sold at other stores. So, after figuring out the unit price, I adjusted it so we could see how much a 14- ounce bottle would cost.
Prices were recorded this past Wednesday and listed as club card price, followed by regular price where applicable.
