Froogle Food Shopping ideas???

Definitely focus on the fruits & vegetables that are "in season." Also, I would suggest looking to see if there is a a co-op available where you can receive farm fresh fruits & veggies at a fraction of the cost at a store. Farmer's markets or farm stands are also less expensive. Don't underestimate frozen as well...they can often cost less and are great when you are cooking or making smoothies. I generally shop at Kroger or Meijer and their store brand of frozen fruits and veggies are often 10 for $10. Good Luck! Grocery shopping can get a little discouraging!

Ours is always 600 or more for 2 people.
But I save buying bulk things like black beans, rice, grains etc rather than packages, and co-op food baskets.
Re longevity, it's fine as long as you refrigerate them properly in my experience.

While Whole Foods is expensive overall, some things in their bulk section are actually cheaper than the packaged stuff in the "health food" sections of the grocery. I buy oat bran and wheat bran at Whole Foods. You can also buy exactly the quantity you need- not 12 oz. when you really need 2 oz. for a recipe.

We're also careful about using things up and I wanted to mention that if a banana is getting too ripe an no one wants to eat it, peel it, wrap it in plastic and freeze it! Frozen bananas taste like ice cream with none of the guilt. I even threw unused lettuce in the freezer before we left on a trip. It looked awful when thawed but was fine for soup.

I don't know where you are in Florida but check out Annie's Organics. If you become a local distributor for them, you get your weekly share for free.

Try shopping at multiple grocery stores. I do most of my shopping at Publix (I'm also in Florida) but I usually get meat at Winn Dixie since they have much better sales on meat. Both of their ads are online, so I can plan my shopping lists before I head out.

I'm also in FL. I'm not real good at knowing what is in season when except for a few. The citrus comes into season around Novemeber and berries in February. Right now seems to be a good time for watermelon (one of my faves!). If I have an abundance of fresh fruit that I know I won't eat before it goes bad, I cut it up and freeze it for smoothies. I also find Publix the best choice for produce.

Good Luck :flowerforyou:

Then I might be doing something wrong! LOL. I shop for two and a rabbit. I go once a week unless I am cooking sea food. Then I just buy the fish or shrimp that day. Our grocery bill is typically 140-150 the week I am buying meat to stock up. After that it is anywhere from 40-100 bucks depending on the meals I cook. This past month I printed out a calendar and meal planned for the full month. This way, on my first shopping trip of the month, I can get the meats, dry items, things we're out of and items for the first week. The second week I go shopping I get only what we need for the second week's meals and general kitchen staples we are low on. If you try to cook things with similar dry ingredients it helps alot! I was very surprised Monday when I went shopping for week two. The bill was less than 40 bucks and I even bought shrimp which is pretty expensive at times. There is a website called supercook.com. You put everything that you own into a log and it will generate recipes for you using what you have. And if you're missing something, it tells you. Very helpful.

So I guess my tips are planning out your meals a month in advance, if something changes either move a meal around or cross one out. Also, make meals with like ingredients. This way you're not buying a whole new set of ingredients for a single recipe (which I used to do). I think you should buy in larger quantities if its dry foods or canned goods. That is if it is cheaper to do so. Most grocery stores put the price per unit along with item cost on price tags, this is good to look at if you do this. Sometimes more is not always less (like cereal!)

I always use an app on my iphone called fooducate. It "grades" food items based on nutritional value as well as ingredients. It gives warnings and pluses etc. I like to use this when looking at alternatives. Typically a C or below grants me looking for alternatives which it does list alternatives to the product! Very helpful.

Buy in season items. IE, dont buy strawberries in the fall or winter, they are way more expensive off season than in season. If you live in a farming area, 9 times out of 10 you'll see stands along side the road for farmer's produce. Or if you live near a farmers market!

Good luck!

Then I might be doing something wrong! LOL. I shop for two and a rabbit. I go once a week unless I am cooking sea food. Then I just buy the fish or shrimp that day. Our grocery bill is typically 140-150 the week I am buying meat to stock up. After that it is anywhere from 40-100 bucks depending on the meals I cook. This past month I printed out a calendar and meal planned for the full month. This way, on my first shopping trip of the month, I can get the meats, dry items, things we're out of and items for the first week. The second week I go shopping I get only what we need for the second week's meals and general kitchen staples we are low on. If you try to cook things with similar dry ingredients it helps alot! I was very surprised Monday when I went shopping for week two. The bill was less than 40 bucks and I even bought shrimp which is pretty expensive at times. There is a website called supercook.com. You put everything that you own into a log and it will generate recipes for you using what you have. And if you're missing something, it tells you. Very helpful.

So I guess my tips are planning out your meals a month in advance, if something changes either move a meal around or cross one out. Also, make meals with like ingredients. This way you're not buying a whole new set of ingredients for a single recipe (which I used to do). I think you should buy in larger quantities if its dry foods or canned goods. That is if it is cheaper to do so. Most grocery stores put the price per unit along with item cost on price tags, this is good to look at if you do this. Sometimes more is not always less (like cereal!)

I always use an app on my iphone called fooducate. It "grades" food items based on nutritional value as well as ingredients. It gives warnings and pluses etc. I like to use this when looking at alternatives. Typically a C or below grants me looking for alternatives which it does list alternatives to the product! Very helpful.

Buy in season items. IE, dont buy strawberries in the fall or winter, they are way more expensive off season than in season. If you live in a farming area, 9 times out of 10 you'll see stands along side the road for farmer's produce. Or if you live near a farmers market!

Good luck!