Showing posts with label The Basics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Basics. Show all posts
Monday, July 11, 2011
Step 10: Start Over
You have now completed one complete cycle. You’ve planned and prepped and cooked and eaten and it’s probably time to start thinking about next week (or at least your next grocery shopping trip). Just start back at Step 1 and repeat! As you practice and gain confidence and discipline with this, you will become more creative and get into your own little grocery groove! Don't stop practicing, and keep learning. There are so many resources on the internet from which to learn in regard to frugal grocery shopping and menu planning. I try to post good links as I come across them, so browse my site and take a peak at the Links Page periodically. Enjoy!
Step 9: Cook, Eat, Revise
As you go about your week, preparing the meals from your menu plan, you might start to accumulate leftovers. This is another aspect of the family-feeding process that takes time to develop. Leftovers are wonderful.
With practice, you will learn to actually PLAN for leftovers for the purpose of turning them into another meal. Or you might plan leftovers in order to save up some extras in your freezer. For example, whenever I cook chili, I make a gigantic batch on purpose. We have found this to be one meal that improves with time! The first day, we eat the chili as is. The next day, we either just have leftover chili, or I add the chili to pasta or use it to top a baked potato. Then, I freeze all the rest in meal-size portions. I cook once, but we eat up to four times!
If you make something and end up with enough leftovers for one meal, you may choose to just eat that the next day, or another day that week. In which case, you will be ignoring one of the meals on your menu plan. When this happens, just move the “ignored” meal to the NEXT WEEK’S menu plan, and you’ve got a head start!
You might also want to keep a running list of meals you are adding to your freezer.
There might be other circumstances that pop up throughout the week that cause you to stray from your menu plan. This is okay. Just revise your plan and keep track of what you still have on hand.
Just a note: I always keep old menu plans. They are useful when I’m lacking inspiration. I look back on old plans for meal ideas when I just can’t seem to think of anything. You might want to set aside a binder or special notebook or box of some sort for keeping all your menu plans.
Also, the same goes for recipes. As you plan your menus, you may start to incorporate some new recipes. Print them off or write them out and keep them. Organize them. Reuse them! Make notes on them – ingredient substitutions you made, revisions you would try next time, notes about how many servings the recipe actually made, etc.
With practice, you will learn to actually PLAN for leftovers for the purpose of turning them into another meal. Or you might plan leftovers in order to save up some extras in your freezer. For example, whenever I cook chili, I make a gigantic batch on purpose. We have found this to be one meal that improves with time! The first day, we eat the chili as is. The next day, we either just have leftover chili, or I add the chili to pasta or use it to top a baked potato. Then, I freeze all the rest in meal-size portions. I cook once, but we eat up to four times!
If you make something and end up with enough leftovers for one meal, you may choose to just eat that the next day, or another day that week. In which case, you will be ignoring one of the meals on your menu plan. When this happens, just move the “ignored” meal to the NEXT WEEK’S menu plan, and you’ve got a head start!
You might also want to keep a running list of meals you are adding to your freezer.
There might be other circumstances that pop up throughout the week that cause you to stray from your menu plan. This is okay. Just revise your plan and keep track of what you still have on hand.
Just a note: I always keep old menu plans. They are useful when I’m lacking inspiration. I look back on old plans for meal ideas when I just can’t seem to think of anything. You might want to set aside a binder or special notebook or box of some sort for keeping all your menu plans.
Also, the same goes for recipes. As you plan your menus, you may start to incorporate some new recipes. Print them off or write them out and keep them. Organize them. Reuse them! Make notes on them – ingredient substitutions you made, revisions you would try next time, notes about how many servings the recipe actually made, etc.
Step 8: Update Your Inventory
At some point shortly after you have gotten your groceries put away, it would be a good idea to update your inventory. This is not necessary. You can always start back at Step 1 next week, and re-evaluate your inventory using your Master Grocery List. However, if you’re a large family, or have a large stock on hand, it’s never a bad thing to keep track of what you have so that you can make use of it in your menu planning.
If you are not the inventory-keeping-type, my next suggestion is to have a piece of paper or a pad of paper specifically for the purpose of your grocery list ON DISPLAY in your kitchen. The MOMENT you realize you’re running low on something, PUT IT ON THE LIST IMMEDIATELY. If you can keep this list on hand, it will make your menu planning/grocery list process easier next week.
If you are not the inventory-keeping-type, my next suggestion is to have a piece of paper or a pad of paper specifically for the purpose of your grocery list ON DISPLAY in your kitchen. The MOMENT you realize you’re running low on something, PUT IT ON THE LIST IMMEDIATELY. If you can keep this list on hand, it will make your menu planning/grocery list process easier next week.
Step 7: Put Your Groceries Away
For now, you can do this however you want. There’s no right or wrong way to do this. I am sharing the tips in this post for those of you who have followed along with the previous steps and are motivated enough to “go the extra mile.”
* Put frozen foods away first.
* If you bought meat/fish/poultry that needs to be put into the freezer, put that away next. If you bought it in bulk and it needs to be repackaged into smaller amounts, I would suggest putting it into the fridge until you have everything else organized.
* Put away the stuff that needs to be refrigerated (dairy, produce, etc.)
* Put away the rest.
THEN, if you’re ambitious and love the idea of saving yourself time and energy throughout the week, try the following:
* Repackage bulk meats, if necessary. If I get a bulk case of chicken breasts, for example, I repackage them in small ziplock bags with two breasts in each bag. If I have a huge case of ground beef, I repackage that in small ziplocks as well. OR…
* Precook ground meats. If you use ground beef or turkey in a lot of your recipes, fry it all up at once with the seasonings you usually use. Let it cool, then repackage it in smaller amounts and put it in the freezer.
* Do the same thing with chicken breasts. Chop it up and fry it so it’s ready for casseroles or other dishes. Package it in smaller amounts and freeze.
* Chop up veggies that you are planning to eat raw during the week. I have found that celery, in particular, lasts a lot longer when we do this. Invest in some good quality storage containers. I store sliced celery in a ziplock and just leave the zipper slightly open at one end. It lasts a good two weeks this way. Carrot sticks are stored in a plastic container with a little bit of water in it.
* Prepare all of your lettuce for the week. I like to make salad a lot. I use a mixture of green leaf, red leaf, iceberg lettuces, and spinach (if it was on sale). When we get home, my daughter washes all the lettuce leaves, spins them in the salad spinner, tears them up into bite-size pieces, and we store them in a good quality bin I bought specifically for this purpose. It has an air vent that allows the perfect amount for lettuce, and this also lasts a good two weeks.
* If there are other snacks or dishes that you want to have on hand for the week, go ahead and make them on grocery day, if you have the time. I have often done this with things like puddings, gelatin salads, marinated salads, homemade cookies or bars, granola, etc. This is not a necessity, by any means, but if your grocery day happens to be a day that works well as a general food prep day, take advantage of it and you’ll reap the rewards for the rest of the week.
* Put frozen foods away first.
* If you bought meat/fish/poultry that needs to be put into the freezer, put that away next. If you bought it in bulk and it needs to be repackaged into smaller amounts, I would suggest putting it into the fridge until you have everything else organized.
* Put away the stuff that needs to be refrigerated (dairy, produce, etc.)
* Put away the rest.
THEN, if you’re ambitious and love the idea of saving yourself time and energy throughout the week, try the following:
* Repackage bulk meats, if necessary. If I get a bulk case of chicken breasts, for example, I repackage them in small ziplock bags with two breasts in each bag. If I have a huge case of ground beef, I repackage that in small ziplocks as well. OR…
* Precook ground meats. If you use ground beef or turkey in a lot of your recipes, fry it all up at once with the seasonings you usually use. Let it cool, then repackage it in smaller amounts and put it in the freezer.
* Do the same thing with chicken breasts. Chop it up and fry it so it’s ready for casseroles or other dishes. Package it in smaller amounts and freeze.
* Chop up veggies that you are planning to eat raw during the week. I have found that celery, in particular, lasts a lot longer when we do this. Invest in some good quality storage containers. I store sliced celery in a ziplock and just leave the zipper slightly open at one end. It lasts a good two weeks this way. Carrot sticks are stored in a plastic container with a little bit of water in it.
* Prepare all of your lettuce for the week. I like to make salad a lot. I use a mixture of green leaf, red leaf, iceberg lettuces, and spinach (if it was on sale). When we get home, my daughter washes all the lettuce leaves, spins them in the salad spinner, tears them up into bite-size pieces, and we store them in a good quality bin I bought specifically for this purpose. It has an air vent that allows the perfect amount for lettuce, and this also lasts a good two weeks.
* If there are other snacks or dishes that you want to have on hand for the week, go ahead and make them on grocery day, if you have the time. I have often done this with things like puddings, gelatin salads, marinated salads, homemade cookies or bars, granola, etc. This is not a necessity, by any means, but if your grocery day happens to be a day that works well as a general food prep day, take advantage of it and you’ll reap the rewards for the rest of the week.
Step 6: Go Shopping!
This is pretty straightforward. You’ve planned your shopping trip, so all you have to do is gather up your grocery bags (if you have reusable ones, which I highly recommend), and go! AND DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR LIST!
Your list is the key. The number one rule during grocery shopping is to STICK TO YOUR LIST! I cannot stress this enough. Don’t buy something extra just because you see it’s on sale and it seems like a good deal. If it’s not on your list, don’t buy it. No exceptions. If you’ve been diligent and careful on Steps 1-5, there will be no need to make exceptions to this rule! (You Faithful Frugal Fanatics are probably thinking, "That's not true! What about building the stockpile? What about the savings of buying at discount prices when you see a great deal?!" That comes later. This is just the BASICS. Let's not confuse the rookies!)
The rest of your shopping trip is simple.
There are the usual pieces of advice, like shopping on a full stomach. There’s the common sense stuff, like saving the frozen foods for the end of your shopping spree.
One thing I like to do, just because I am a little bit compulsive about a few things, is to keep like products as close together in the cart as possible, and then when I’m putting it all on the counter at the till, it gets bagged together. I like to shop in this order: dry and canned goods (so they go on the bottom of the cart and don’t crush anything else), meat and dairy (heavier items, some can be stacked, usually compact or flat packaging), produce, then frozen stuff. Depending on how much I have to get, I sometimes get the frozen stuff right after the meat. It helps to keep the meat cold. Then, at the till, all the produce gets bagged first, then the frozen and meats and dairy, then the dry goods. It helps to keep the food in good shape until we get home. Then, at home, it’s quicker and easier to put things away.
And that’s it for shopping!
P.S. Save your receipts! You’ll eventually be glad!
Your list is the key. The number one rule during grocery shopping is to STICK TO YOUR LIST! I cannot stress this enough. Don’t buy something extra just because you see it’s on sale and it seems like a good deal. If it’s not on your list, don’t buy it. No exceptions. If you’ve been diligent and careful on Steps 1-5, there will be no need to make exceptions to this rule! (You Faithful Frugal Fanatics are probably thinking, "That's not true! What about building the stockpile? What about the savings of buying at discount prices when you see a great deal?!" That comes later. This is just the BASICS. Let's not confuse the rookies!)
The rest of your shopping trip is simple.
There are the usual pieces of advice, like shopping on a full stomach. There’s the common sense stuff, like saving the frozen foods for the end of your shopping spree.
One thing I like to do, just because I am a little bit compulsive about a few things, is to keep like products as close together in the cart as possible, and then when I’m putting it all on the counter at the till, it gets bagged together. I like to shop in this order: dry and canned goods (so they go on the bottom of the cart and don’t crush anything else), meat and dairy (heavier items, some can be stacked, usually compact or flat packaging), produce, then frozen stuff. Depending on how much I have to get, I sometimes get the frozen stuff right after the meat. It helps to keep the meat cold. Then, at the till, all the produce gets bagged first, then the frozen and meats and dairy, then the dry goods. It helps to keep the food in good shape until we get home. Then, at home, it’s quicker and easier to put things away.
And that’s it for shopping!
P.S. Save your receipts! You’ll eventually be glad!
Step 5: Plan Your Grocery Shop
Plan your grocery shop? Does this step sound a little unnecessary? If you’re a total beginner at this, it might be a little meaningless to you right now. But it’s important to develop this step as a habitual part of your weekly grocery plan. As you learn the different techniques and tricks for saving money and spending less on groceries, you may discover that it is worth shopping at more than one store for your groceries. When you begin to do this, you will need to plan for it in order to make it worth your while and to save you time and energy and fuel.
With your grocery list in hand, decide which items you will purchase at each individual store.
I have three main stores.
Costco is a RARE stop for me, and in fact, I probably won’t renew my membership there. While there are several items that are cheaper to buy at Costco, I don’t think it’s worth my while to renew. And besides, my mom goes there REGULARLY, so if there’s something I really want from there, I can get her to pick it up for me. (I know that’s cheating, but it’s the truth!)
Sobey’s is my favorite regular supermarket store. It has better quality meats and produce than the discount stores, and it’s less expensive (in general) than Safeway or Co-op (the other two main supermarkets around here). It's still more expensive than Superstore, but occasionally they have great deals that make it worth the stop. And sometimes Superstore doesn't have what I'm looking for, so Sobey's is my "old faithful" in those instances.
A majority of my grocery shopping is done at Superstore. (Extra Foods and No Frills are basically the same thing, but Superstore is the closest to my home.) This is a discount store, almost like a warehouse store. It’s big, and the store brand (President’s Choice) is excellent quality on most of the products I buy. They also have a lot of no name products, which, naturally, are very inexpensive. If you shop here, remember to bring your own bags because they charge you $0.05 per plastic bag! Also, if you do your banking with President's Choice Financial, or have a President's Choice MasterCard, you can earn points on every item you buy here, as well as for bringing your own bags. The points add up quickly and can be used to buy groceries for free!
So, with my list in hand, I mark my items according to store. If I’m using my Master Grocery List, I will highlight all the Costco stuff in one color, and all the Sobey’s stuff in another. Everything else is assumed to be a Superstore purchase.
Another method is to do this step along with the previous step. Make your grocery list for each store individually.
Just use whichever method works for you. And again, it takes practice to figure out what you like best.
With your grocery list in hand, decide which items you will purchase at each individual store.
I have three main stores.
Costco is a RARE stop for me, and in fact, I probably won’t renew my membership there. While there are several items that are cheaper to buy at Costco, I don’t think it’s worth my while to renew. And besides, my mom goes there REGULARLY, so if there’s something I really want from there, I can get her to pick it up for me. (I know that’s cheating, but it’s the truth!)
Sobey’s is my favorite regular supermarket store. It has better quality meats and produce than the discount stores, and it’s less expensive (in general) than Safeway or Co-op (the other two main supermarkets around here). It's still more expensive than Superstore, but occasionally they have great deals that make it worth the stop. And sometimes Superstore doesn't have what I'm looking for, so Sobey's is my "old faithful" in those instances.
A majority of my grocery shopping is done at Superstore. (Extra Foods and No Frills are basically the same thing, but Superstore is the closest to my home.) This is a discount store, almost like a warehouse store. It’s big, and the store brand (President’s Choice) is excellent quality on most of the products I buy. They also have a lot of no name products, which, naturally, are very inexpensive. If you shop here, remember to bring your own bags because they charge you $0.05 per plastic bag! Also, if you do your banking with President's Choice Financial, or have a President's Choice MasterCard, you can earn points on every item you buy here, as well as for bringing your own bags. The points add up quickly and can be used to buy groceries for free!
So, with my list in hand, I mark my items according to store. If I’m using my Master Grocery List, I will highlight all the Costco stuff in one color, and all the Sobey’s stuff in another. Everything else is assumed to be a Superstore purchase.
Another method is to do this step along with the previous step. Make your grocery list for each store individually.
Just use whichever method works for you. And again, it takes practice to figure out what you like best.
Step 4: Make A Grocery List
You can choose to make your grocery list as you are creating your menu plan, or you might want to focus entirely on the menu plan first, and concentrate on the grocery list after the menu plan is complete. Either way works. Just pick what works best for you.
The trick for this step is to make sure you don’t leave anything out. The point of the grocery list is to insure that your home will have everything you will need for the next week in order to feed your family nutritious meals. If you run out of something, you either have to put your creative juices to work and improvise, or you will have to go to the store, which will cost you more money in gas, and probably add unnecessary expense to your grocery budget.
An easy way to make your grocery list is to print of a copy of my Master Grocery List. Over time, you may wish to create your own Master Grocery List using the ingredients that you buy most often. There are also many other versions of lists like this all over the internet. Using a Master Grocery List is easy and saves time because you don’t have to write anything down. You can use it in one of two ways:
1) Based on your menu plan, CROSS OUT the items on the Master Grocery List that you DON’T need. Everything else that is left is your new grocery list, already written out for you. If you use my list, there are little checkboxes that you can use as you’re at the grocery store to mark when you’ve got the item in your cart.
2) Based on your menu plan, use a highlighter to mark the items on the Master Grocery List that you need to buy. Items not marked are not needed.
If the Master Grocery List idea overwhelms you, feel free to just write out your list on any old scrap of paper. This is the logical choice particularly when your list is very short! However, if your list is longer, I highly recommend sorting your list according to the layout of your grocery store as much as possible. List dairy items together, produce all together, frozen foods together, etc. This will save you time in the store and help you to stay focused and not add any extras to your cart!
As this whole process becomes second nature to you, you will learn to incorporate the weekly grocery flyers into your meal planning and grocery lists as well. You will slowly start to develop a stock while sticking with a very low budget which will enable you to keep your weekly grocery shopping list a lot shorter. Don’t worry about this for now. Just be aware that it’s something to work toward.
With your grocery list in hand, you’re ready to move on to Step 5!
The trick for this step is to make sure you don’t leave anything out. The point of the grocery list is to insure that your home will have everything you will need for the next week in order to feed your family nutritious meals. If you run out of something, you either have to put your creative juices to work and improvise, or you will have to go to the store, which will cost you more money in gas, and probably add unnecessary expense to your grocery budget.
An easy way to make your grocery list is to print of a copy of my Master Grocery List. Over time, you may wish to create your own Master Grocery List using the ingredients that you buy most often. There are also many other versions of lists like this all over the internet. Using a Master Grocery List is easy and saves time because you don’t have to write anything down. You can use it in one of two ways:
1) Based on your menu plan, CROSS OUT the items on the Master Grocery List that you DON’T need. Everything else that is left is your new grocery list, already written out for you. If you use my list, there are little checkboxes that you can use as you’re at the grocery store to mark when you’ve got the item in your cart.
2) Based on your menu plan, use a highlighter to mark the items on the Master Grocery List that you need to buy. Items not marked are not needed.
If the Master Grocery List idea overwhelms you, feel free to just write out your list on any old scrap of paper. This is the logical choice particularly when your list is very short! However, if your list is longer, I highly recommend sorting your list according to the layout of your grocery store as much as possible. List dairy items together, produce all together, frozen foods together, etc. This will save you time in the store and help you to stay focused and not add any extras to your cart!
As this whole process becomes second nature to you, you will learn to incorporate the weekly grocery flyers into your meal planning and grocery lists as well. You will slowly start to develop a stock while sticking with a very low budget which will enable you to keep your weekly grocery shopping list a lot shorter. Don’t worry about this for now. Just be aware that it’s something to work toward.
With your grocery list in hand, you’re ready to move on to Step 5!
Step 3: Plan A Menu
The internet has a plethora of menu-planning resources. There are many, many methods of doing this, and with a little bit of research, you can come up with many options and styles of menu-planning. Some plan a menu for a whole month. Some plan for a week or two. Some plan only suppers. Others plan three meals a day plus snacks. Some plan only main dishes. Others plan EVERYTHING, including condiments! With time and practice, you will eventually fall into your own style and method. Be patient with this process and don’t panic if something doesn’t work for you.
My personal recommendation is to start by planning only one week. HOWEVER, plan all three meals each day of the week, and if you’re ambitious, plan your snacks, too.
There are two ways of doing this:
1) Use this menu planner, or choose one from the Menu Planners list on the Links Page. Plan your meals with the specific days in mind. You will end up with a little weekly “calendar” type menu plan.
or
2) Make a list of 7 breakfasts, a list of 7 lunches, a list of 7 suppers, and a list of however many snacks you think you’ll need.
Usually, I do a combination of these two. I use the calendar-type menu planners, but I list snacks separately instead of “scheduling” them. And I don’t stick to the assigned day for the meals. If I have Minestrone Soup planned for lunch on Monday, but for whatever reason we don’t want it then, I shift it around to another day. I switch it up. I allow my menu plan to be flexible.
Once you have your Menu Planner sheet ready, write down any meals you came up with during Step 2. Then, take a look at how many blanks you have left, and plan accordingly.
I find it helpful to write the dates on my Menu Planner. This reminds me of appointments or plans we might have scheduled on specific days. If we are going to be out all of Friday afternoon, I will try to plan a crock-pot meal or reheat a soup or leftovers for supper that night. If I know that we have to leave the house really early on Tuesday morning, I will be sure to plan a quick and easy breakfast that morning (yogurt and granola, for example). This is most important if you’re using the calendar-style menu planner. But even if you are using the list style, it’s helpful to be aware of the need for three crock pot meals this week, or two on-the-run breakfasts, for example.
For now, plan your meals based on what you’re familiar with, what ingredients you have on hand, foods your family likes and is used to, etc. As we continue on with this process, more recipes and menu plans will be added to this site to inspire you, and you will come up with your own faithful plans and recipes.
Practice makes this step easy. It can even be fun. Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed. This takes time, but it’s well worth it!
My personal recommendation is to start by planning only one week. HOWEVER, plan all three meals each day of the week, and if you’re ambitious, plan your snacks, too.
There are two ways of doing this:
1) Use this menu planner, or choose one from the Menu Planners list on the Links Page. Plan your meals with the specific days in mind. You will end up with a little weekly “calendar” type menu plan.
or
2) Make a list of 7 breakfasts, a list of 7 lunches, a list of 7 suppers, and a list of however many snacks you think you’ll need.
Usually, I do a combination of these two. I use the calendar-type menu planners, but I list snacks separately instead of “scheduling” them. And I don’t stick to the assigned day for the meals. If I have Minestrone Soup planned for lunch on Monday, but for whatever reason we don’t want it then, I shift it around to another day. I switch it up. I allow my menu plan to be flexible.
Once you have your Menu Planner sheet ready, write down any meals you came up with during Step 2. Then, take a look at how many blanks you have left, and plan accordingly.
I find it helpful to write the dates on my Menu Planner. This reminds me of appointments or plans we might have scheduled on specific days. If we are going to be out all of Friday afternoon, I will try to plan a crock-pot meal or reheat a soup or leftovers for supper that night. If I know that we have to leave the house really early on Tuesday morning, I will be sure to plan a quick and easy breakfast that morning (yogurt and granola, for example). This is most important if you’re using the calendar-style menu planner. But even if you are using the list style, it’s helpful to be aware of the need for three crock pot meals this week, or two on-the-run breakfasts, for example.
For now, plan your meals based on what you’re familiar with, what ingredients you have on hand, foods your family likes and is used to, etc. As we continue on with this process, more recipes and menu plans will be added to this site to inspire you, and you will come up with your own faithful plans and recipes.
Practice makes this step easy. It can even be fun. Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed. This takes time, but it’s well worth it!
Step 2: Evaluate Inventory
Once you have taken inventory, you will know exactly what you have on hand. Looking at your list, determine what meals or dishes or snacks you can make without having to buy anything new. For now, just do this from memory, knowing what your family is used to eating. With practice, you will become more creative with this task and come up with whole new dishes on your own, simply by trying to use what you already have on hand.
Depending what your inventory list looks like, you might be surprised to find that you have enough groceries in the house to keep you all fed for the next week. If that’s the case, good for you! That gives you a whole week to plan and prepare for the following week! The more time you have to plan, the better your plan will be!
If your list is a little sparse and you’re having trouble coming up with some meals, my suggestion for you would be to take a look at my Master Grocery List. Print off the Master Grocery List. Cross out anything that you have on your Inventory List. Now, whatever is left would be items that you will want to purchase on your next grocery shopping trip, if at all possible. Depending on your budget, you might need to evaluate what the most essential items are. I cannot do this for you. And don’t worry – with time, you’ll become very good at prioritizing as you learn what ingredients you use the most and as you develop creativity in the kitchen! Also, if you are in the “Sparse Inventory” category, you will want to spend more time on Step 3: Plan A Menu.
Depending what your inventory list looks like, you might be surprised to find that you have enough groceries in the house to keep you all fed for the next week. If that’s the case, good for you! That gives you a whole week to plan and prepare for the following week! The more time you have to plan, the better your plan will be!
If your list is a little sparse and you’re having trouble coming up with some meals, my suggestion for you would be to take a look at my Master Grocery List. Print off the Master Grocery List. Cross out anything that you have on your Inventory List. Now, whatever is left would be items that you will want to purchase on your next grocery shopping trip, if at all possible. Depending on your budget, you might need to evaluate what the most essential items are. I cannot do this for you. And don’t worry – with time, you’ll become very good at prioritizing as you learn what ingredients you use the most and as you develop creativity in the kitchen! Also, if you are in the “Sparse Inventory” category, you will want to spend more time on Step 3: Plan A Menu.
Step 1: Take Inventory
The first step to spending less on healthy groceries is to take inventory. You need to figure out what you already have to work with.
Get a piece of scrap paper or a plain old notebook and a pencil or pen. Go into your kitchen and open your cupboards. List EVERY food product you have in there. If you have half a box of salt, list “Salt – 1/2 box”. Then move to your fridge and do the same thing. Don’t forget to open those drawers and look in the door. If you have storage containers with mystery contents, now is the time to open them up! Be brave! Next, move on to your freezer (don’t forget this door either) and, if you own one, your deep freeze. If you store food anywhere else in the house, be sure to check there, too.
This list is going to be your starting point. It will become a foundation, or a building block upon which you will base all your meal plans and grocery lists for the next few days, weeks or months (depending on what you’ve got in stock).
Below is a copy of my very own personal inventory, as of today. Items marked with ** indicate that I will run out very quickly, so should put that item on my next grocery list, if possible. Items labeled (HM) are things I made from scratch.
GroceryInventory
If this seems like a lot of work to you, be comforted in knowing that I don't do this to such a degree anymore. I have learned to take inventory as I go along over the course of a week and I naturally plan my menus according to what I have on hand. I encourage you to make this list just as you are beginning and learning. It will be a surprising picture to you of what you already have to work with, and how little you actually need to buy at the store in order to come up with a few new meals!
Get a piece of scrap paper or a plain old notebook and a pencil or pen. Go into your kitchen and open your cupboards. List EVERY food product you have in there. If you have half a box of salt, list “Salt – 1/2 box”. Then move to your fridge and do the same thing. Don’t forget to open those drawers and look in the door. If you have storage containers with mystery contents, now is the time to open them up! Be brave! Next, move on to your freezer (don’t forget this door either) and, if you own one, your deep freeze. If you store food anywhere else in the house, be sure to check there, too.
This list is going to be your starting point. It will become a foundation, or a building block upon which you will base all your meal plans and grocery lists for the next few days, weeks or months (depending on what you’ve got in stock).
Below is a copy of my very own personal inventory, as of today. Items marked with ** indicate that I will run out very quickly, so should put that item on my next grocery list, if possible. Items labeled (HM) are things I made from scratch.
GroceryInventory
If this seems like a lot of work to you, be comforted in knowing that I don't do this to such a degree anymore. I have learned to take inventory as I go along over the course of a week and I naturally plan my menus according to what I have on hand. I encourage you to make this list just as you are beginning and learning. It will be a surprising picture to you of what you already have to work with, and how little you actually need to buy at the store in order to come up with a few new meals!
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