HOW TO SHOP

llasto75

OK I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO SHOP WHEN I AM THE STORE. I SEE ALL THESE PEOPLE WITH THE ELABORATE BREAKFASTS LUNCHS AND DINNER AND WONDER "HOW DO THEY KNOW WHAT TO SHOP FOR"? I HAVE A FAM SO WHEN I SHOP I BUY THE SAME THINGS FOR THEM ALL THE TIME. I HAVE A PICKEY FAMILY. I NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO BUY DIFFERENTLY OR GET IDEAS OF GOOD FILLING FOODS THAT I CAN TRY CAUSE LIKE I SAID I BUY THE SAME OL THINGS ALL THE TIME AND I NEED HELP

courtskey83

I have to meal plan and make a list or else I get in the store and buy random stuff that will never actually make a meal. To me, meal planning and lists are essential.

Misiaxcore

WHY ARE YOU YELLING.

jakejacobsen

We do a meal plan prior to shopping so we know what were going to eat so we know what to buy. Basic starting point is
2 meals with chicken 1 with beef 1 ground turkey lately 1 Meatless meal, then we ab-lib from their

ElizabethRoad

They know what to shop for by planning their meals ahead of time. If you know what you're going to eat then you know what you need to buy. Simple.

(Except that I hate meal planning so I end up going to the grocery store every day.)

drsanch68

There is a lot of help on the web. Get ideas for meals and meal plans on line. Remember too, shop the perimeter of the store the most. The layout is such that all of the fresh meats, fruits, veggies, grains, etc., are around the perimeter. All of the packaged, high carb, high sugar, foods are located in the aisles in the center of the store. Notice that.

mleipe

Drop by a bookstore and look through the cookbooks. Pick yourself up one with recipes that look relatively easy and that call for basic, healthy, inexpensive ingredients. Pick a few of the recipes - with your family's help - and buy the ingredients that those recipes call for. If you pick the right recipes you'll find that you can use many of the ingredients you buy in several different recipes.

Cooking for yourself as "from scratch" as possible is a great way to control your food intake, manage your nutrition, and save money.

p.s. Some recipe books will give you a nutritional breakdown of each recipe - you can then enter these into MFP for re-use. One of these is the "Lighthearted Cookbook" - not sure if it's available outside of Canada but you should be able to find something similar in a big chain bookstore or on-line.

ashesoh1234

I have three young kids and I'm a terrible meal planner. I know how much easier it makes things, and I'm working on it. My husband is the cook in our family. I'm good at lots of things, but cooking is not one of them! In the meantime, I tend to buy what works for us at this point - which pretty much means buying the same things over and over. We try to provide some variety, while at the same time buying what we know the kids will eat. So, for example, I went to the grocery store last night. I bought our standard fruits: apples, pears, oranges, bananas, grapes, and berries (frozen berries). Yogurt, almonds, sliced and shredded cheese. I bought a whole chicken along with noodles to make chicken soup, something I know my kids love. I'll add in the carrots and celery and onions I already have at home. Also bought ricotta cheese to make a cheesy pasta bake with mozzerella, sauce, and Morningstar crumbles I have at home. When I roast the chicken for the soup, I'll set aside some meat to use to make enchiladas. We'll have those with brown rice and black beans. I always keep frozen veggies. That way, if we don't have fresh, we can still provide veggies. The kids love green beans, peas, edamame. I bought stuff to have breakfast for dinner. We'll have scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes (my husband makes the best from-scratch pancakes!) and fruit salad or a fruit and yogurt smoothie.

jgic2009

As others have said, planning meals ahead does wonders.

Having a well-stocked pantry will also help.

angief_01

I make a menu each week then make my grocery list off that menu. My family loves that I make the menu and it keeps me from getting a text everyday on my way home from work saying "what are we having for dinner"

llasto75

Thank you so much everyone, well almost everyone:), and I used to make a list of meals for 2 weeks and make those dinners faithfully but think I lost focus.... time to get back