I need to learn how to grocery shop...

funsteps

I've had a lot of success with this website in the past when I stick to it, but I always fall off the wagon after a month or two. My biggest issue is that I constantly eat the same things and I get so bored of it! I've never been a "cooking person", I'm not great at grocery shopping, I mostly just go out and buy quick food (which is a big part of why I have weight to lose). Whenever I go to the grocery store I have no idea where to start, and even if I pick out a couple of recipes, I feel like I end up buying food that I can't use for more than one meal.

I'm looking for tips on how to plan meals and shop around those. What are your methods?

Lizzy622

I basically come up with my dinner plan for the week based on what's on sale in the circular. I try to buy and prep a good portion of things on Sunday. It is much easier to cook when your vegetables are cut up and ready to go. I also plan in things like not having time on certain days and picking up a store roasted chicken on those days. I basically shop the outside of the store and only go in the aisles I know I need something from it.
My lunches are usually left over dinner. For breakfast I keep cottage cheese and canned peaches on hand. I also keep flat bread on hand and will make an egg with left over dinner veggies on flat bread when I have time. I also tend to have a few fruits on hand for snacks, usually bananas and whatever is in season.

Fit_Fox88

Have you ever tried any of the recipe websites? Skinnytaste.com is my favorite but I also use cookinglight.com and allrecipes.com. I've learned to substitute some ingredients or just halve the recipe (i think it's allrecipes.com that you can adjust the serving sizes), and that makes it helpful.

Anyway, start there. For convenience, maybe get a bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a pack of frozen individually packed fish fillets, and frozen veggies, instant mashed potatoes (or a bag of potatoes and make your own- very easy) Then you can add in raw fruits and veggies to your list. What I've found is when I buy raw veggies, I have to cut them up the night i go to the store so i have them for snacks/meals later, otherwise it won't get done.

A lot of the recipe sites you can search by ingredients. You could start there. I've had to buy some really out there spices for some recipes (which I don't like to spend the money on) but then I find that I usually use those spices over and over again as I remake the recipe or I find new ones. After you start cooking a little bit you'll find what spices go well with what foods/recipes. It's a learning curve, but it's so much fun to find new recipes and ideas!

Stick to basic stuff in the beginning. If you feel a recipe (for instance casseroles or crockpot meals) are too large for you or your family, you can easily divide the leftovers for most meals and freeze them. OR you can reduce the recipe size to begin with. Feel free to friend me or message me if you have any other questions or want some ideas!

TeaBea

I've had a lot of success with this website in the past when I stick to it, but I always fall off the wagon after a month or two. My biggest issue is that I constantly eat the same things and I get so bored of it! I've never been a "cooking person", I'm not great at grocery shopping, I mostly just go out and buy quick food (which is a big part of why I have weight to lose). Whenever I go to the grocery store I have no idea where to start, and even if I pick out a couple of recipes, I feel like I end up buying food that I can't use for more than one meal.

I'm looking for tips on how to plan meals and shop around those. What are your methods?

Your freezer is your friend. You can use most food for more than one meal......or double the size of the recipe and freeze half.

I buy lots of chicken breasts & grill it up.....then I portion out lunch size salad add-ins. So many ways to do salad.

To change things up, I sometimes marinate the chicken (lemon pepper - teryiaki)....zip lock bags are great. Pour marinade in...... and leave in the fridge for several hours.....ready to throw on the grill (George Foreman this time of year).

Frozen veggies are excellent. I can add a cup here or a cup there....and just store the rest for later.

celinelavigne

Make sure to go grocery shopping on a full stomach.
Plan meals ahead, then make a list and stick to it.
Like others said, stay in the outside walls of the grocery store, it has all the fruits, veggies, meat, dairy. Anything in the inside isles are usually processed.
I also like to prepare batches of soup, chilli etc on Sundays and freeze in portions for easy lunches.
When I cook at night, I cook more so I have leftovers for lunch the next day.
If you get bored, do like bike317 said, check out new recipe, write those ingredients on your list when you plan ahead..

avskk

I broil a bunch of meat on the weekend (usually a pound or two of lean pork chops and a couple pounds of chicken breast), make a big batch of something dinner-ish (bean soup from a bagged mix is easy and delicious), roast or otherwise prep some unusual veggies (meaning not the same ones I eat every day -- this week I roasted fresh beets, last week I did steamed artichokes), and make a batch of egg muffins for breakfasts. From there, shopping and meal prep is easy.

I buy: stuff for the prep I mentioned plus salad vegetables, basic frozen vegetables, a couple easy dinner proteins like frozen fish or turkey burgers, salad dressing, a healthy starch like polenta or quinoa, sandwich fixings, eggs, ham, light English muffins, light cream cheese and/or fruit preserves, fresh fruit, yogurt, and whatever spices or sauces I need.

I eat: egg muffin + fruit, English muffin with cream cheese and a yogurt, or fried egg + fried ham + fruit for breakfast. Salad with the pre-broiled meat and good dressing, sandwich with pre-made veggie side, or sauteed salad greens and pre-broiled meat over polenta (or quinoa, etc.) for lunch. Soup or whatever I prepped on lazy nights or frozen fish or whatever protein I bought with frozen veggies and a side of polenta (or whatever grain I bought) with a good sauce (I usually buy pesto or mushroom Alfredo as my sauce).

Sounds complex but it boils down to prepping some stuff ahead, buying some other stuff pre-prepped, and knowing how to throw it all together. Think of it like a puzzle -- you need protein, veggies, and some good fats at each meal as your frame and then dairy, fruit, and carbs as your filler.

JoRocka

make a plan for what you want to eat
make a list of stuff to make what you want to eat
go to teh store and buy the stuff.

make the food- freeze and or alternate the food so you don't get bored.

I tend to do 2 meals- one crock pot- one oven, one crock pot one stove- or two batches of chicken at a time (one stove top- one in the oven baking) gives me 2 different dishes so I can alternate them and or freeze. Variety and such.

mfoulkebrown

Oh man, there are so many quick, easy, low calorie meals that you should never feel bored!

I use a recipe/meal planning app called Food Planner. You save recipes into it from the web or add your own. Then, you select recipes to plan for meals each day. You can also tag recipes for easier searching.

For example, this is what I have planned for dinner this week:
Monday: Malai Kofta with rice (Indian vegetarian)
Tuesday: Elk burgers with oven baked onion rings (American)
Wednesday: Garlic shrimp in coconut milk with rice (Thai)
Thursday: Spaghetti squash parmesan bake (Italian)
Friday: Turkey enchiladas with cheese (Mexican)

Every one of those meals clocks in at under 500 calories and most are far less. All are easy and quick to prepare, since I'm cooking after working all day. I planned all the meals yesterday (Sunday), then went to the store with a list of things I needed.

Amanda_Gx6

I basically come up with my dinner plan for the week based on what's on sale in the circular.

^^ Planning around your circular will save you some time and money. I try to make my way around the center aisles before I start getting the packaged things. I stop at my produce department get my fruits and veggies, then my protein at the meat and deli, my eggs and dairy then I start through with my packaged products. I usually buy a lot of steamer frozen veggies because its simple to just toss in the microwave and you can pair them with just about anything in a time crunch. There are some items that I buy to keep in my pantry such as peanut butter and rice cakes, fiber protein bars, oats, brown rice. As far as meal planning when I cook on meal I try to make one extra portion to keep handy i.e if I'm grilling chicken I'll grill an extra breast to use on a salad or as chicken salad, make an extra turkey burger whatever. You'll get the hang of it the more you do it so just keep on trying.

bf43005

I have a dry erase board on my freezer door. On there goes a two week meal plan for dinner each night. Those dinners are planned based off what's for sale in flyers and what I already have at the house. I have some pretty easy to follow cookbooks that help out.

Best thing if you are already drawn to "easy to make" go out and buy a slow cooker and a slow cooker cookbook. Throw all that together in the morning, come home to a hot already made dinner. That really saves my house from eating out on busy nights.

As far as breakfast/lunch we struggle to break outside a routine. We have been doing a lot of stirfry veggies and chicken, but we face the board issue with that too.

It's not easy, but every small step you make will help!

deksgrl

I usually buy what is on sale as far as meat goes. One store nearby has a 5 packs of meat for $19.99 special, so it's a really good deal if you can get packs of meat that would be $6 or $7 on it's own. The other day I bought 2 steaks, a pack of hamburger, a pack of boneless chicken and a pack of ground breakfast sausages. I open the breakfast sausage and divide it 4 ways and freeze separately to use in omelets. We had the steaks last night with mashed potatoes and veggies. I put the boneless chicken in the crock pot on Saturday with seasoned rice and carrots and celery and cream of chicken soup, with salad on the side. The hamburger will probably be put in spaghetti sauce, since it is easier to fry it up after it has been frozen than it is to make patties.

So a normal shopping list would be meats, side dishes (like rice or potatoes), and salad fixings/fresh veggies. Canned and frozen veggies you can stock up on because they last. I keep canned diced tomatoes on hand to cook with and canned mushrooms. You can cook just about anything in the diced tomatoes, pork or chicken or fish. Mushrooms, onions and peppers for stir fry. Or mushrooms and onions sauteed to put on steak.

Start trying out simple recipes. The ones you like, keep some of the basic stuff to make it on hand. The ones you don't like, then don't make again.

Crock pot, secret weapon. You throw the stuff in it in the morning and turn it on and forget it, serve a salad on the side. If you have the kind where the stone crock is removable, you can put it together the night before and stick it in the fridge overnight.

mamahannick

Every Wednesday I look at the new sales flyer that comes out for our local grocery store. I get ideas from those sales as far as what to make. Then over the next two days I put together ideas and a meal plan. Saturday mornings I go grocery shopping for the week. I do a lot of meal prepping on the weekends since I work full time during the week and don't want to have to waste time prepping food. I toss a few chicken breasts in the crockpot to be pre-cooked for various things throughout the week, chop veggies, divide and freeze large club packs of meat, etc. This is what works best for me, and it's become my routine.

I don't tend to get tired of eating the same things for a long time though, so I do repeat breakfasts and lunches often. I actually make three sections when planning my grocery list--me, my husband, and my 13 month old daughter. We all eat different things besides dinner. Different snacks and lunches, husband doesn't eat breakfast and daughter is a little picky what she'll eat for breakfast. Anyway...it's a routine for me now. Try out a few methods (you've gotten great advice!) and see what works best for you and your schedule.

chemteacher1987

On Sundays I come up with the menu for the week. I go through my cabinets and see what I need to buy. I try to stick just to my list and not buy anything extra. I also make sure I eat something before going grocery shopping, or I will buy everything that I want instead of what I need.

cwolfman13

meal plan for the week so that the things you're buying can be used for multiple meals. Learn to love cooking. You don't need a bunch of fancy foods to prepare awesome meals. Find you staples and go with it. For me...

- dried beans (I make a big batch every Sunday night in the crock while we're sleeping...lasts the week)

- Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, onions, cabbage are our staple veg...they're generally hardy and holdup well in the fridge for a week or so. We always keep garlic on hand too. We generally do peas and green beans and other less hardy vegetables frozen.

- Chicken, Beef, Salmon, and Mahi Mahi

- Rice

- Potatoes

- Pasta

- oats

- eggs

- cheese

- cans of diced tomatoes, tomatoe puree, whole tomatoes, etc

boombalatty123

I have a regular list of things I know I'll need (potatoes, onions, garlic, milk, cream, etc.) and I'll have a general idea of the types of dishes I'm hoping to cook for the week, but I leave room for improvisation if I see something good on sale, or vegetables or fruits that look especially good (and sometimes something I was hoping to get doesn't look so good). I also take a minute to look through the store's sales flyer and look for things to stock up on (sale on canned tuna or TP, etc.).

I try to buy meat in bulk packs whenever possible, and then split it down into smaller packages and freeze it. I recently started using these Ziploc Perfect Portion bags (http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages/PerfectPortions.aspx?SizeName=150-Count). That way I can use one big freezer bag to store multiple portions, and just pull out as much as I need. And I don't have to touch raw meat quite as much, lol. Not advertising, I swear, I just happened to discover this product was actually useful and I'm not using nearly as many freezer bags, which also saves money.

Wtn_Gurl

If meals get boring it may be you need more spices in the food. You can get oregano and make it Italian flavor, or you can use seasoning that are used in Mexican food, maybe that will help.

Also if you really want to see some great awe-inspiring recipes, just go to Pintrest. They have these huge very colorful recipe pix and I swear they make me want to make them!

or, try some good new recipe books. that might inspire you.

aalbert_82

I like to do "rollover" meals in my crock pot. For example, I'll make pulled pork one night and have sandwiches with potatoes and a veggie. That same week I might also have pulled pork on a salad, or put it in a quesadilla. I'll cook a whole chicken in the crock pot and have chicken dinner with potatoes and veg one night, then use the leftovers for a stirfy or something, then make chicken soup out of the carcass and little bits of meat. If I know I'm basing my dinner around that meat, then all I have to do is come up with some other mains to use leftovers and buy the sides. I find that I don't get bored if I vary the type of cuisine ie. Mexican leftover chicken one night, Thai the next etc.

aalbert_82

www.recipematcher.com

You can search for recipes based on ingredients you have on hand. So if you need to use up surplus ingredients, pop those in and see what else you can make. If you need a few additional ingredients, pick those up during your shopping and you have 2+ meals taken care of.

Bootzey

why don't you take a ethnicity and google it's foods every week. You are bound to come up with something new