I Buy Ingredients
Recently I went grocery shopping with a friend. I found out the difference between her shopping and my shopping was that she typically shops for meals, and I shop for ingredients. What's the difference? Let me explain the differences, as I see them.
When you meal shop, you are going to the grocery store with the specific goal of buying everything you need to make ONE complete meal. If you are making a casserole, you will pick up a box of noodles, a container of meat, a bag of vegetables and a can of soup. You may also want to buy a bag of salad, and because you are unsure if you have dressing, you will pick up a bottle of your favorite dressing.
I do not shop for meals. I rarely know what I will be fixing for dinner during the week, but I know what types of food my family eats. I shop primarily at two stores, Aldis, for canned foods and smaller quantity items, and Sam's Club, for bulk items. Each week we go shopping, and I am looking to replace the ingredients I am short on. Some weeks, I will be significantly short of canned foods, because the previous week might have been heavy on the canned food usage. Other weeks I am short on meats and noodles. I keep a running list in my mind of the ingredients we use, and I "refill" our ingredients list each week. I do make a grocery list before each shopping trip, just to make sure that I don't forget a key ingredient while I am at the store.
If I wanted to make the same casserole as my friend, I would look in my freezer to see what kind of meat I had on hand. This might dictate the types of vegetable or soup I wanted to use, but I would still be able to create a casserole, whether the meat was chicken or beef. Then I would check to see what type of frozen or canned vegetables are available. I almost always have at least one bag of mixed vegetables, peas, and corn in the freezer. Plus I have canned vegetables in the pantry. I would pick a vegetable, then pick a can of creamed soup. I typically have cream of mushroom and cream of chicken on hand. The noodles are in the pantry, because I buy them in bulk. Out of my pantry and freezer, I have everything I need to throw together a casserole. If we wanted to have salad, I always keep lettuce in the fridge and dressing in the pantry.
Ingredient shopping has made a positive impact on my family's dinner time experiences. The difference between my method and my friend's method is that mine didn't require an extra trip to the store. I hate going to the store on week nights! My ingredients were mostly bought in bulk, which leads to considerable savings. Also, I can create a variety of meals with the ingredients I have on hand, feeding my family for the week, and she is going to be scrambling to the store tomorrow to make dinner, just like she was today.
What type of shopper are you? Generally most families have relatively small repertoires of recipes that they cycle through on a monthly basis. If you shop by meal right now, you might find a significant savings by writing down the ingredients you typically use for your recipes. Stock up your pantry with the items you use regularly so that you are ready to make most of the meals in your recipe stack on any given day. When it comes time for dinner, you can shop your pantry, fridge and freezer, rather than having to run to the store, to make dinner.
I have lots of other shopping and cooking tips, which I will share with you, but this one is of significance because shopping your pantry is much cheaper than have to buy meals daily.
Happy weekend,
Sarah
When you meal shop, you are going to the grocery store with the specific goal of buying everything you need to make ONE complete meal. If you are making a casserole, you will pick up a box of noodles, a container of meat, a bag of vegetables and a can of soup. You may also want to buy a bag of salad, and because you are unsure if you have dressing, you will pick up a bottle of your favorite dressing.
I do not shop for meals. I rarely know what I will be fixing for dinner during the week, but I know what types of food my family eats. I shop primarily at two stores, Aldis, for canned foods and smaller quantity items, and Sam's Club, for bulk items. Each week we go shopping, and I am looking to replace the ingredients I am short on. Some weeks, I will be significantly short of canned foods, because the previous week might have been heavy on the canned food usage. Other weeks I am short on meats and noodles. I keep a running list in my mind of the ingredients we use, and I "refill" our ingredients list each week. I do make a grocery list before each shopping trip, just to make sure that I don't forget a key ingredient while I am at the store.
If I wanted to make the same casserole as my friend, I would look in my freezer to see what kind of meat I had on hand. This might dictate the types of vegetable or soup I wanted to use, but I would still be able to create a casserole, whether the meat was chicken or beef. Then I would check to see what type of frozen or canned vegetables are available. I almost always have at least one bag of mixed vegetables, peas, and corn in the freezer. Plus I have canned vegetables in the pantry. I would pick a vegetable, then pick a can of creamed soup. I typically have cream of mushroom and cream of chicken on hand. The noodles are in the pantry, because I buy them in bulk. Out of my pantry and freezer, I have everything I need to throw together a casserole. If we wanted to have salad, I always keep lettuce in the fridge and dressing in the pantry.
Ingredient shopping has made a positive impact on my family's dinner time experiences. The difference between my method and my friend's method is that mine didn't require an extra trip to the store. I hate going to the store on week nights! My ingredients were mostly bought in bulk, which leads to considerable savings. Also, I can create a variety of meals with the ingredients I have on hand, feeding my family for the week, and she is going to be scrambling to the store tomorrow to make dinner, just like she was today.
What type of shopper are you? Generally most families have relatively small repertoires of recipes that they cycle through on a monthly basis. If you shop by meal right now, you might find a significant savings by writing down the ingredients you typically use for your recipes. Stock up your pantry with the items you use regularly so that you are ready to make most of the meals in your recipe stack on any given day. When it comes time for dinner, you can shop your pantry, fridge and freezer, rather than having to run to the store, to make dinner.
I have lots of other shopping and cooking tips, which I will share with you, but this one is of significance because shopping your pantry is much cheaper than have to buy meals daily.
Happy weekend,
Sarah
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