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Groceries| Pad Patter 2.3.16

bestcee

bestcee

In love with places I've never been to
Joined
Dec 18, 2013
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19,337
Sigh, it's that time. Time to figure out what I'm going to feed my family.

Now I enjoy grocery shopping, and I enjoy cooking. I just don't enjoy the making a menu and the grocery list part. I get bored by the lack of fresh fruits and veggies in the winter.

How about you? Are you a 'what looks good' at the grocery store? Or a list maker? Or have you pawned that off to someone else?
 
I used to do weekly shopping so a plan was a must. Since we moved, we have a great grocery store at the bottom of the hill that I pass on my way home from work, so I've switched to hitting the store 2-3 times a week and grabbing what sounds good for the next couple of days. I love the new system!
 
I keep certain foods on hand that we can whip out dinner in a hurry, like steamer frozen veggies and meats. They I try to pick a couple of new recipes for the 2 weeks and make sure I have the ingredients for those. I don't plan until morning what we will be having that night. If I am busy and don't plan at all, we always have certain fall-backs, which are almost always a grilled or oven roasted meat and either steamer veggies or oven roasted veggies. I don't cook a lot of things that use recipes. We eat rather simply. If we want complicated food, that is when we find a new recipe to try or we go out to eat.
 
I walk past at least three grocery stores every day. Plan schmlan! I like to hit up the heavily discounted stuff that expires that day or the next day so I can both be cheap and feel like I'm helping stop food waste at the same time. :giggle
 
I keep a little variety of things in the freezer, usually bought on sale, with a couple different meal ideas in the back of my head for each item. I don't "plan" as far as day by day, but I usually know what I'm going to make through-out the week, on the days that I cook at all. I don't shop without a list, but I always allow myself a good bit of flexibility, in case something else looks better when I get to the store, or I find things marked way down because they're close to their expiration date. I love it when they have bunches of bananas real cheap because they're getting really ripe - I smash them up & freeze them in small bags, so I always have them on hand when somebody wants banana bread, or cake, or pancakes...
 
I like grocery shopping. I don't enjoy cooking because I'm not creative. Since my diet has changed, I have to be creative with what I cook. So far, the kids and DH like it so I guess it's ok. I'm no help! lol

I do make sure we have meat in the freezer and frozen or fresh veggies on hand so make something quick.
 
I am kinda half and half; a sorta list maker along with what looks good when I get to the store. I keep really stocked up on meals to make due to winter storms, me living alone and not being able to drive through all that crap! I am a huge BOGO hunter!!!! That's when I really stock up!!!!
 
I use CookSmarts meal plans, thanks to a recommendation by @Peppermint on an episode of The Digi Show. I just use the main dishes off of it, though. We are in a produce co-op and for $20 a week get a big basket of fruits and veggies. I use those to plan my side items.

I've tried meal planners before that had lists of all kinds of ingredients that I never stock in my kitchen. CookSmarts was the first where I already had almost everything already! I used 3 of the four entree recipes last week and only spent $20 at the grocery store, and that included a pack of steaks that I bought that were almost past their date and marked down.
 
I have a meal planning site I love and use. Once I add the recipes in, it will make my organized grocery list for me. I just don't like taking the time to do it, is rather scrap or play.

I'm very jealous of all of you who live near a grocery store! I used to, and loved being able to just pop down the street for whatever and grab all the expiring food.

I've tried just winging it, but I've found I need a list of meals. Even if I look at chicken with mushroom risotto and decide to switch to chicken with mushroom sage sauce, I need the original template to make sure we are having variety. Otherwise, it'd be chicken and a veggie and either potatoes or rice every night. I'm okay with that, but my husband isn't. So a basic plan I need.
 
every two weeks with menu and list for shopping
then every 8 weeks to the big city for bulk shopping
my goal is to go to the store once a week for perishables then the next week is grocery shop on top of it
and I am the lady with 2 heaping carts of stuff!

if we make it thru the 2nd week we EAT out for reward!
 
I have a list and try to make a menu plan on the weekend. I usually order my groceries online Sunday morning and they are delivered Monday morning
 
I make a list of things that I don't buy regularly that I'm likely to forget if I don't write it down. Other than that, I just wing it. The only time that doesn't work for me is if I go to the store after having a big meal. Then nothing looks good and I end up with nothing to cook lol. The grocery store I go to is on my way home, about a mile and a half from my house and I usually go once a week-ish, or just whenever we need something. I usually have some kind of idea in my head what meals we'll have for the week.
 
I do the same as @kirstiegai ... order online on Sunday, have them delivered Monday morning. I try to menu plan ahead of time, but most of the time I wing it. Where I order from saves a master list of past orders, so I mainly shop from that and get meal inspiration there.
 
I am a make a list, forget the list, wing it, forget that one thing and repeat process. The grocery store is literally a street over. I can almost see it from my house so right now it is no biggie. I am sure if I lived farther away I would have to be orgainzed! And right now it is just me and Nikolai so I dont really have to plan.
 
scrappyjedi said:
I use CookSmarts meal plans, thanks to a recommendation by @Peppermint on an episode of The Digi Show. I just use the main dishes off of it, though. We are in a produce co-op and for $20 a week get a big basket of fruits and veggies. I use those to plan my side items.

I've tried meal planners before that had lists of all kinds of ingredients that I never stock in my kitchen. CookSmarts was the first where I already had almost everything already! I used 3 of the four entree recipes last week and only spent $20 at the grocery store, and that included a pack of steaks that I bought that were almost past their date and marked down.
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ZOMG I love CookSmarts!! I'm totally dependent on the sides, so you're winning. Prior to CookSmarts our sides were always "a steamed vegetable" or "a basic side salad". I have zero side dish game. But I'm just about to start my third year (Whaaaa?) with Cook Smarts and I do mix past "favorite" sides into current menus now if the side isn't calling my name. A few weeks ago they had sweet potatoes with maple tarragon butter and I want to eat them EVERY DAY. Not kidding.

ETA: And yes, since joining CookSmarts my weekly grocery bill rarely exceeds $80. Unless I've run out of EVERYTHING. Can't say enough great things about them.
 
lorryfach said:
I walk past at least three grocery stores every day. Plan schmlan! I like to hit up the heavily discounted stuff that expires that day or the next day so I can both be cheap and feel like I'm helping stop food waste at the same time. :giggle
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We do this too! We have a grocery store that I love really close to the house. It's small so I'm in and out, the prices are good, and it's not a high traffic place so I can always find marked down produce, bread, dairy, meat that are good for a few days but prices slashed low. We don't do one big grocery trip per week but rather pop over there about 3x a week and spend $30ish each time...grab stuff for the next two days or so. I like doing it this way because I can eat whatever I'm in the mood for since I don't plan a week at a time. Plus it's fun and spontaneous...bread is 49 cents a loaf? Maybe BLTs or grilled cheese tonight. A pack of 3 green peppers for 99 cents? Homemade stir fry. Ya know. Just for example. :) Of course we buy plenty of full priced groceries too but the savings helps. :)
 
readingfool said:
OMG - moving to the city just started looking brighter if I can have m y groceries delivered!!! :happydance2
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I live outside of the city and my nearest store is 20 minutes drive away. In Australia we have 3 main grocery stores, Woolworths, Coles and Aldi. Aldi doesn't deliver.
 
I'm also cooking for 6 people and work early mornings and one night a week so I really need to be organised
 
I make a list, writing them as if I were going down the aisles of the store... it's usually a quick thing, 15 minutes, 20 minutes max. We have a bunch of standby dinners, and new ones we try when we have a light week with school or sports. DH or I will go, depending on his work schedule. Plus, the boys are old enough and know well enough what items I might need, where they are in the store, so they help with the actual grocery shopping.

We've got the online shopping and delivery, and I think there are 2 different groceries within 5 minutes and another 4 about 10-15 minutes away from my house. It usually is less than an hour to do the actual shopping. We've got the zap/pack as you go system, so that shaves off quite a bit of time! (It's so super awesome to shop this way!) Then the unpacking at home is the chore.... but I've got the boys trained on putting the dry goods away, and I take care of the fridge/freezer items.
 
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