The first thing I do is decide what proteins we are going to have. We do not buy our meat from the store, we go to a butcher and buy our meat wholesale in large quantities and freeze it because it is cheaper. I pull out what we will be using that week and put it in the fridge. This week I decided on chicken, ground beef and Pork ribs. I plan 3 "big meals" and 3 "leftover meals" and then there is take out day so 7 days. 1 week of dinners. I hop on my blog and to the right, I click on what recipes I'm looking for, example: I clicked, beef, chicken and pork and chose my meals. Attached below is a picture of my menu, you will notice that I have, Teriyaki Chicken & Vegetables, that is a "big meal" the next day is, Chicken Tacos, "leftover meal". Then, Hamburgers and honey mustard coleslaw, "big meal", Then I'll use the extra ground beef to make spaghetti and meat sauce, "leftover meal". Same goes for the BBQ Pork Ribs, "big meal", Then use the extra pork ribs to make Queso Pork Enchiladas, "leftover meal". I think you get the picture. This means that very little food goes to waste and we are not throwing money in the trash can.
Once I decide on what I am making, I check out the ingredients list for each recipe and write down what I will need to buy at the store. I use an app called MyShopi and it is wonderful! You can program it to your store, it lists everything by aisle with pictures! Talk about easy! Sometimes, I will load coupons to my store card, clip them, etc. but honestly that doesn't happen all the time, I love saving money but when you have a toddler running around tearing up the house and rubbing syrup in his hair, (true story) You're just happy to have had the time to make a list! My son also has a menu, we use a dry erase board on the fridge and a lot of the time he eats what we eat just in smaller portions. His menu is pictured below:
When going to the grocery store, I like to stick mainly to the outer edges of the store, because that is, Produce, Protein, Dairy. That is the usually the largest chunk of our groceries. My fridge looks empty when you open it until you see that the produce drawers are stuffed and the freezer is full of meat. I try to look and see what is on sale, and grab extra of those items, I like to stock up when certain fruits and veggies are in season and at their cheapest (and most delicious!) and freeze for later use. Once home, I try to make as many "make ahead" meals that I can. I like to make my son's breakfast and lunch the night before because my days are busy and crazy and the easier the better!! Example: I will buy a box of whole wheat pancake mix, I'll make a large batch all at once and freeze them, (they freeze really well!) Then pop a couple in the fridge the night before and in the morning all I have to do is reheat and throw some fruit on top! Like I said I like things easy! If they are difficult, let's be honest, we tend not to do them!
Just for fun I took a picture of my family's personal staples. Things we love to get at the store!
Included in the pic are:
- Skinny Pop Popcorn
- Cheese cubes
- Gerber Graduates Bitty Bites (blueberry)
- Sprout organic food pouches
- Creamy Peanut butter with honey (we also LOVE hazelnut spread!)
- Organic bananas
- tomatoes
- yellow squash
- mini seedless cucumbers
- whipped Philadelphia cream cheese
- trail mix (it's called, Maui Wowi and has all kinds of nuts, golden raisins and pineapple chunks)
- lowfat yogurt tubes (for my son)
- whipped yoplait yogurt (for me)
- apple slices
- cream cheese fruit dip
- baby carrots
- broccoli and cauliflower
- broccoli slaw
- strawberries
- blueberries
- wheat crackers
- squeeze to-go applesauce
- whole wheat pancakes
- low sugar oatmeal
- cinnamon raisin bagels
- Minute Maid Orange juice for kids (it has extra vitamins and calcium)
- Various Juice smoothies in this picture are, Bolthouse Farms Multi-V Goodness This stuff is great it has the juice of 13 3/4 cherries, 43 cranberries, 2 peaches, 20 berries and 35 pomegranate arils, plus a long list of vitamins and minerals
- Naked Smoothie, double berry protein, it has the juice of 6 strawberries, 5 blueberries, 1 banana, 3 apples along with 30 g. whey and soy protein, vitamin C and potassium
I may be forgetting some things, but that's a large majority of it. I hope I helped answer your question in some way :)
Happy Eating!
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