how do you meal plan/grocery shop?

[jamesonontherocks]

Since we are on the topic of food (and now ojo is making me crave some damn pickles!) how is meal planning and grocery shopping done in your home?

[ilovelamp]

Go through the fridge and throw out old stuff. Plan about 4 meals out (usually 2 quick meals and 2 actual dinners). Make the list on my phone. I usually go by myself because I like that as my "me" time. In and out of the store in about 30 minutes. DH helps me unload.

[jamesonontherocks]

My system is time consuming and a pain in the ass, but it works for both my organizational nerosis and budget.

First, I have a word chart that I made that breaks up meals. I type in what I am going to eat/make and what K is going to eat (breakfast and lunch are usually different for her since she is at school). Then, I start making my grocery list which is broken into several sections since its how my grocery store is laid out - produce, meat, grocery, stuff for home/baby, frozen foods and dairy. I go through my menu and look at the recipes and list everything on there from milk to seasonings to type of meat. Then I check the fridge/pantry and cross off what I don't need. Finally, I check the running list I keep on the wite-board of the fridge to add stuff. I usually only go to one grocery store (of the 4 by me), so I pick my most expensive category (usually meats) and see where its cheapest and go there. Lastly, I run my coupons that I have against what I need on my list.

It sounds exhausting and can be, but when I didn't do it this way I would leave with outrageous costs and always forgeting something.

As for actual meal planning, I try to plan for 5 home cooked and 1 take out dinner a week (since I'm usually stuck at work for at least one night if not more). Usually 1 fish, 1-2 chicken, 1-2 pork, 1 beef, and 1 pasta of some sort.

[jamesonontherocks]

May 29, 2012 21:25:25 GMT -5 ilovelamp said:

Go through the fridge and throw out old stuff. Plan about 4 meals out (usually 2 quick meals and 2 actual dinners). Make the list on my phone. I usually go by myself because I like that as my "me" time. In and out of the store in about 30 minutes. DH helps me unload.

I usually bring K with me, and she's actually pretty good. We average about 45 minutes to an hour depending on our moods, but she likes to show off her colors and stuff (you buy a lemon mommy? its yellow!). I wish SO with unload my car. Usually the only thing he'll get is a case of water if I buy it. Then again, I've never asked for help.

[prettyinpink]

I plan for 1 crockpot meal ( normally I have one in the freezer from a weekend prep of several) and 2 to 3 dinners. I decide on what I'm making and sides and go through what we have to see what I will need from the store to make those 3 or 4 things. I check our staple things and see if we have what we need if not those go on this list as well. I only go to the store with a list other wise I spend WAY too much. I buy meats that are on sale and package them when I get home to go in the freezer. I don't take E with me if I can help it he adds too much junk to the cart.

[jamesonontherocks]

May 29, 2012 21:32:35 GMT -5 prettyinpink said:

I don't take E with me if I can help it he adds too much junk to the cart.

Must be a man thing. A ran to the store to pick up some "necessities" while I was recovering from a c-section. He came back with milk and like 30$ worth of crap (fruit roll-ups, pretzels and chips, hostess cakes).

Needless to say after that, I ordered our groceries from home and he just had to pick them up until I was cleared to drive again.

[iluvmytxrgr]

I check the sale papers to see what's on sale at the two stores near my house. I shop the produce stand near my house, as well. I coupon a good bit. I also have a small stock pile of things like rice, pasta and such. I figure out what I have + what's on sale and see what I can do with it. I also get requests from the man and the kids to see what they would like. I go from there.

[jamesonontherocks]

Also like once every other month I have a pantry clean out and everything I cook has to use at least two things from my pantry to get rid of all those random things that get accumulated.

[basilosaurus]

I go to farmer's markets when I remember and then plan around the produce I picked up.

Or I plan based on the beautiful fish I found at Costco (dinner tonight!).

Or if all that fails, wandering around Safeway's produce, I pick what looks good, and then meals happen from there.

Yeah, there's not much planning. It's more of a general idea that I always need good produce, and then I can make something from there, maybe supplementing with the shrimp or chicken I usually have in the freezer. My pantry is well stocked with grains and legumes, too.

[Dumbledork]

We do once a month cooking because if we don't have ready made meals that can just be thrown in the oven/crockpot/stovetop, we'll order out. I have a binder of going on 100+ different recipes that I've pulled from various cookbooks, K and I go through and tab any recipes that sound good for the month. I narrow it down, compile the list of ingredients, and shop at the local warehouse for items I need a lot of and then the store for everything else. I try to use coupons if I can. I've also started doing Sneaky Chef and incorporating that into as many recipes as I can.

It usually takes us a full weekend of prep and cooking, but we honestly go from eating out every day to eating out 2 or 3 times a month. I usually do more of the prep and final packaging stuff- chopping, blending, packing, making labels, organizing the freezer, etc. while he does more of the actual cooking.

It works really well for us.

[VillainV]

On Saturday morning H and I sit down and decide what we want for dinner that week. I try to plan one meal for each day, but sometimes I leave a day for leftovers. I write down each meal, and plan sides and accompaniments. Then I write down what food we need to buy for each meal, organized roughly by grocery store layout.

Then I look at what staples we're out of, and what else we need.

Generally, if we buy stuff for, say, stir fry, it will be enough to make the meal at least twice. So we usually will eat the same menu for two weeks (or until the ingredients run out), then change it up. This means that every other week is a "big shop" and the alternate weeks are usually just for staples.

[ilovecandy]

Usually I have a list of what meals i want that week and what I need to get from the store. If I don't it results in me buying junk.

[drunkpeggy]

I usually pin recipes on Pinterest during the week prior to grocery shopping. I then make a meal plan, go through the pantry and fridge to see what I have already, make my list and then hit the market. I usually do shopping for two weeks.

[moviegirl03]

I try to meal plan around the things I already know are in the house. If we have an extra pork loin from a week or two ago, I'll try to include that. I usually plan 3-4 meals/week depending on how much the recipe will make. Usually it is a ground turkey recipe, a chicken recipe or two, some sort of pork, and on rare weeks hamburger/steaks. Lately I've been trying to do vegetarian meals just to keep down ingredient costs. I also look for coupons too, but I haven't quite nailed down a couponing system, so I haven't been successful yet.

DH gets upset if I go to the store by myself. It is something we've done together since we were dating. He isn't bad about junk food...he'll grab maybe one package of oreos every couple of weeks.

[twoslicehilly]

We sit down and talk about what we want for dinner and what plans we have for that week. From there, we write what we need for those meals, cross off what's in the house already, tweak if we could use something we already have instead then hit the commissary together. If I don't take him it's " You never get any food IIII LIIIKE" . The only meal you eat here is dinner, which you helped decide on and the occasional lunch. But we all go together, it's nice.

[basilosaurus]

Pumpkin, how do you have fresh produce if you're only cooking once a month?

I like when H goes to the store with me, but damn if it doesn't take twice as long. He doesn't buy junk, other than ice cream, but it's just a lot slower with him, even though theoretically it could take half the time with 2 people.

[misshark122]

I have some staples I make on a weekly basis - chicken picatta (and I cook broccolini in with the chicken and broth), greek chicken, italian chicken cutlets... and I usually just have couscous with this and a salad, or broccolini and couscous....

then I'll ask DH what else sounds good and he'll tell me and that will be the non-staple dinner(s) we have. I try to make sure we have 5 nights of meals and also leftovers for work or busy nights. This week its meatballs and sauce...

I've also been grilling a lot... I like it because it is quick.... teriyaki chicken using soy vey very very teriyaki which is super delish... we can have it with rice and a veggie, or on salad, or as a sandwich... so good!

I also make my list on my phone.

[Dumbledork]

May 30, 2012 14:46:01 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Pumpkin, how do you have fresh produce if you're only cooking once a month?

We have some potted things and our neighbor brings us extras from their garden, but the bulk of our produce is either done the Sneaky Chef way (buy fresh produce, prep, puree, freeze, mix into other dishes) or we buy frozen. By frozen I don't mean the steam bags of veggies with sauces already mixed in, just the bags of flash frozen blueberries, corn kernels, green beans, okra, etc.

We do a second smaller grocery trip halfway through the month to stock up on milk and we'll stock back up on any produce we eat that we can't get frozen or from the gardens. Things like kiwis, avocados, spinach.

I know fresh is best, but frozen is better than nothing at all. It works for us.

[basilosaurus]

I'm sure nutritionally you're ok, but don't you miss having fresh produce? Frozen spinach pureed into a sauce just isn't the same as a good hearty spinach salad or some garlicky sauteed spinach. (I see now you mentioned fresh spinach, but it was the first veg that came to mind

Maybe it's b/c I eat a mostly veg diet that I really just can't picture it. I wouldn't have anything in which to hide the veg, nor do I entirely get the point of it, but I'm not judging. If it works for you, it works. I'm just curious.

[Dumbledork]

May 30, 2012 16:39:35 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I'm sure nutritionally you're ok, but don't you miss having fresh produce? Frozen spinach pureed into a sauce just isn't the same as a good hearty spinach salad or some garlicky sauteed spinach. (I see now you mentioned fresh spinach, but it was the first veg that came to mind

Maybe it's b/c I eat a mostly veg diet that I really just can't picture it. I wouldn't have anything in which to hide the veg, nor do I entirely get the point of it, but I'm not judging. If it works for you, it works. I'm just curious.

I have a terrible diet. I grew up on the Midwest diet and veggies were canned, potatoes or a salad. And that salad consisted of Iceburg lettuce, two slices of tomatoes, a handful of croutons, and a cup of ranch. I hate canned veggies so I basically just didn't eat vegetables growing up. In fact, until I married K, I'd never even had spinach, kiwi, mango, okra, on and on. I'd only even had broccoli at school or my bf's house.

I stuck my nose up at everything until I had a kid. I didn't want Bean to have my eating habits so I tried to start eating more veggies. I found if I steamed them, I really liked them, but I still felt like I wasn't getting enough and there are certain things that I just can't bring myself to eat. Eggplant for example. If I see a chunk of eggplant in my dish, there's no way I'm eating it. So I started pureeing and hiding.

If we have say lasagna for dinner, we still do a side of steamed veggies, but the lasagna also has sweet potato, carrots, zucchini, and cauliflower blended into it. We try to do a balance of both forms.

I was actually just talking about this to my parents last week. They asked what we were doing for dinner and when I told them they scrunched up their noses all disgusted. If Bean ever stays with them without us she'll starve because they'll have no idea what to feed her.

[basilosaurus]

That makes perfect sense. If you're eating okra now, you're doing well. Even I don't particularly care for it.

Would be willing to try eggplant if I tell you it's delicious in something like pasta alla norma? Basically you get it all fried up and then put it in a tomato sauce, and the eggplant is the best part of the dish. Not healthy, but amazing.

Or eggplant parmesan hides it but doesn't, if that makes sense. I do mine baked style so it's much healthier, but the standard is fried.

Shoot, I was going to make fish for dinner, but now I have a craving for eggplant.

[Dumbledork]

I'm trying to get there. I have a recipe for ratatouille in my binder that I flip to every once in a while and think "This sounds good. I should make that this month." I'll get to the market and stare at the eggplant and think "Yup. Not gonna happen!" Some day I'll find the guts. lol.

[basilosaurus]

Ratatouille is gross even though I like everything that goes into it. Don't start there.

It helps if you can find Japanese eggplant. It's a much milder form.

[Dumbledork]

Ha! Good to know. Maybe I'll replace it with eggplant parm.

[jamesonontherocks]

May 30, 2012 17:31:41 GMT -5 Dumbledork said:

May 30, 2012 16:39:35 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I'm sure nutritionally you're ok, but don't you miss having fresh produce? Frozen spinach pureed into a sauce just isn't the same as a good hearty spinach salad or some garlicky sauteed spinach. (I see now you mentioned fresh spinach, but it was the first veg that came to mind

Maybe it's b/c I eat a mostly veg diet that I really just can't picture it. I wouldn't have anything in which to hide the veg, nor do I entirely get the point of it, but I'm not judging. If it works for you, it works. I'm just curious.

I have a terrible diet. I grew up on the Midwest diet and veggies were canned, potatoes or a salad. And that salad consisted of Iceburg lettuce, two slices of tomatoes, a handful of croutons, and a cup of ranch. I hate canned veggies so I basically just didn't eat vegetables growing up. In fact, until I married K, I'd never even had spinach, kiwi, mango, okra, on and on. I'd only even had broccoli at school or my bf's house.
I stuck my nose up at everything until I had a kid. I didn't want Bean to have my eating habits so I tried to start eating more veggies. I found if I steamed them, I really liked them, but I still felt like I wasn't getting enough and there are certain things that I just can't bring myself to eat. Eggplant for example. If I see a chunk of eggplant in my dish, there's no way I'm eating it. So I started pureeing and hiding.

If we have say lasagna for dinner, we still do a side of steamed veggies, but the lasagna also has sweet potato, carrots, zucchini, and cauliflower blended into it. We try to do a balance of both forms.

I was actually just talking about this to my parents last week. They asked what we were doing for dinner and when I told them they scrunched up their noses all disgusted. If Bean ever stays with them without us she'll starve because they'll have no idea what to feed her.

Sounds like A. He was born and raised in Chicago so I introduced him to all that stuff - asparagus, squash, brussel sprouts, etc. Although his mom was proud when she was here that she cooked cauliflower - sauteed in oil and butter with cheese on top.

[dragonfly08]

I keep a pad with a pencil attached to it on the side of my fridge. Whenever I realize we need something, I can easily write it down. I also go through the fridge and pantry on shopping day just to be sure I haven't missed anything.

I meal plan based on what's in the house at the time (I do it on Sunday afternoon, usually). I have a dry erase board I use to keep track of everything in my freezers and meals are planned based mostly on that. I don't plan side dishes in advance; we always have potatoes, rice, and a variety of fresh/frozen veggies so I usually let the kids pick what they're in the mood for that day.

[jamesonontherocks]

May 30, 2012 20:20:10 GMT -5 @ojo said:

Hey, I'm from Chicago and am very well versed in produce! We had a huge garden in our backyard and most of our produce was either grown at home or purchased at a farmer's market. My husband, on the other hand, had never even SEEN an eggplant, squash, or asparagus until we met. He would pick the onions and tomatoes out of his food. His family considers corn a vegetable. When we lived in CA we joined a CSA and because the food was fresh, it tasted better, and what do ya know, he'll eat pretty much anything that's in season and grown locally. Asparagus is his favorite vegetable!

Ojo you seem to be a rarity out there in Chicago from the diets I've seen!

[amaristella]

May 30, 2012 20:20:10 GMT -5 @ojo said:

Hey, I'm from Chicago and am very well versed in produce! We had a huge garden in our backyard and most of our produce was either grown at home or purchased at a farmer's market. My husband, on the other hand, had never even SEEN an eggplant, squash, or asparagus until we met. He would pick the onions and tomatoes out of his food. His family considers corn a vegetable. When we lived in CA we joined a CSA and because the food was fresh, it tasted better, and what do ya know, he'll eat pretty much anything that's in season and grown locally. Asparagus is his favorite vegetable!

I wonder if that will work for my husband. (BTW he's from northern California, thinks corn is a vegetable, and generally will not go near a tomato) Sometimes I give him one of my cookbooks to pick out a recipe for dinner and he asks why we can't just have chicken fingers or pizza.