Grocery Week Part I: Preparing for the grocery

Grab your wallet and your re-usable bags (hippies) for Grocery Week here at Defending Veggies. There is so much anxiety when it comes to food shopping, and many people have no idea where to start. Well, this week will hopefully make you feel a little more at ease about the whole process.
Now, contrary to belief, healthy eating does NOT start at the grocery. It starts at home when preparing for the grocery. Today, we are going to talk about what you have to do BEFORE hoping into the car. If you show up to the grocery unprepared, you will end up buying a lot of non-useful items and spending more money than planned.

For a successful grocery trip,check out the following steps to help you prepare:

1. Take inventory: What do you already have? When you do this you are able to see forgotten items that may have been purchased at your last grocery trip. For example, you are taking inventory and you find some frozen shrimp you forgot about - well, great - now you know to put a dish with shrimp in it on the menu this week.
2. Make your menu: Literally. Get out a piece of paper (or for you techy people out there, pull up your spread sheet) and literally write down what you are going to be eating throughout the week. Here is what mine might look like (I usually plan for about 3-4 days in advance)

                          Breakfast                        Lunch                            Dinner                          Snack

Monday               Oatmeal, banana, milk      Tuna Salad               Chicken Quesadillas         String Cheese

Tuesday               Same                                 PB&J, Apple,           Asian Chicken and Rice    Almonds

                                                                        String Cheese

Wednesday         Same                                  Eat Out                      Homemade Chili                String Cheese

Thursday            Same                                  Chili                            Chicken Salad                    Almonds

 
3. Add needed items to the list: Now I can start putting together my grocery list with the ingredients that I will need. I would make sure I had my items for breakfast (Oatmeal, Gallon of Milk, and 4 bananas), lunch (Tuna, Mayo, Relish, Romain lettuce, Onion, Peanut Butter, Jelly, Bread, Apple), dinner (items to make all recipes), and snacks (string cheese and almonds)!

4. Compare to your inventory: If I go back and compare it to my inventory, I might find that I already have peanut butter, oatmeal, and almonds. So, I can mark those things off my list.

Now, you are ready to hit the grocery!!

P.S. Another asset for me has been my recipe binder! I find recipes constantly - in magazines, on the Internet, from friends.....EVERYWHERE!! Its too much, and its not approachable. So, I created my own recipe binder. I used dividers to mark appetizers, vegetables and salads, soups, chicken, beef, seafood, and deserts. When I find a recipe I like, I tear it, write it, or print it, and put it in its respective category. Then, when I'm looking for a dish that has shrimp in it for Tuesday night, I know where to look!!! Saves time, energy, and money!!!!

Remember, PLANNING IS KEY!