sharing the ins and outs of my grocery shop routine
I’ve gotten a lot of questions lately about how I grocery shop, why I choose what I do, what I keep on hand, etc. so I wanted to do a quick post covering those questions.
How I Plan My Shops:
Usually around Thursday or Friday I come up with a loose meal plan for the week ahead. I’ve tried in the past to create a strict list of things that we’re going to eat but for our household, it just doesn’t quite work. Chad’s work schedule can be a little chaotic and with Owen and Ollie, the amount of time I have to cook/make certain meals can change drastically day to day. For us (right now anyway!), it’s easier if I have a loose plan that can be changed/altered as needed depending on all the day to day variables that come up.
My goal is usually to try out 2 new recipes per week. Sometimes that happens, other times not so much and I find myself just relying on the same staples we always use.
So like I mentioned, on Thursday or Friday I’ll sit down and plan out a general plan of what I want to eat that week. I’ll list out 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches and 5 dinners (assuming we’re not traveling and don’t have plans to eat out. If we do, I go ahead and slot those in where needed).
Here’s an example of what my weekly plan will look like:
BREAKFASTS
- Waffles with fruit/yogurt/nut butter
- Bagel with cream cheese/nut butter & fruit
- Oatmeal with fruit/nut butter
- Yogurt Bowl with fruit/granola/nut butter
- New breakfast recipe (whatever that may be!)
LUNCHES
- Dinner leftovers
- Turkey sandwich with chips & veggies
- Salad with whole grain roll & fruit
- Tuna sandwich with veggies & fruit
- Dinner leftovers / scrounge up meal / soup
SNACKS
- Homemade trail mix
- Yogurt & granola
- Cheese sticks & whole grain crackers
- Fruit & nuts
- Cereal & milk
DINNERS
- Burger or chicken sandwiches with french fries & roasted veggies or side salads
- Pasta with steamed veggie
- New dinner recipe
- Meatballs or sausage with whole wheat pasta and steamed veggie
- Leftovers / pizza night with side salads
While Owen is getting better about eating whatever we eat, there are still a few things that I need to get specifically for him so I’ll also make an “OWEN” list and fill in the different things we might be out of or need to re-stock on (it’s usually things like chicken nuggets, organic whole milk, snacks, etc.).
After My Plan & Before My Shop:
After I’ve come up with a rough plan, I then go through and list out all the ingredients that I’ll need for any dish I’m planning to make. This ensures that I don’t miss anything and makes shopping a whole lot easier!
From there I’ll try to make a whole shopping list referring back to my loose plan and those ingredients that I can take with me to the store (or look at while I online shop).
How I Shop:
I then take that list to the grocery store (or, more recently I’ve been doing online ordering via both Instacart or Harris Teeter pickup) and will narrow down options as I shop based on what happens to be on sale that week. For instance, for the pasta & veggie dish, I’ll go with a whole wheat pasta and pesto or ravioli and marinara based on what happens to be the better deal that week. I do this until I’ve gotten everything on my list and then check out!
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I love your planning approach BUT I much prefer to grab my groceries on my own and checking out the deals in the store. Do you find that you ever skip items that you put on your list? Also, do the kids ever just repeat breakfast items? I am a total creature of habit for breakfast and just tend to eat the same things on repeat … Oatmeal, yogurt, granola, and fruit! Probably switch it up every few weeks but RARELY! HAHA! Might try some of your ideas though!
I totally agree – I much prefer shopping in-store as well it just doesn’t always happen now with Owen! I will sometimes skip items on my list (for example, if I put strawberries on there and they happen to be super expensive that week, I’ll sub in a different berry or fruit). My son will definitely repeat breakfast items, I like to plan out 5 different items to give him a varied nutrient content but I’ll repeat every other day or every 3 days 🙂