Tag Archives: shopping

May 7 2012

Simplified Grocery Shopping

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About a year ago I decided to simplify my life by moving to scratch cooking. Some recipes require a little more time but I think it’s worth it. It’s cheaper and tastes better –like lemonade made from fresh squeezed juice. It’s even better with two little helpers in the kitchen.

One of the great things about scratch cooking is a simplified shopping list. When you make things from scratch you just need the basics: flour, milk, eggs, butter, meats, vegetables, spices etc. I now buy a fewer items but buy them in bulk.

I buy most things at Costco and fill in with smaller items from the regular grocery store. Shopping is easier because there are several things I no longer buy:

  • Baking mixes (cake, brownie, biscuit etc.)
  • Frozen meals (lasagna, Chinese food)
  • Rotisserie chickens
  • Pizza of any kind
  • Rice mixes, pasta mixes (Rice-a-roni)
  • Canned soup
  • Cookies or other desserts
  • Fruit snacks

This is not to say that you won’t find a few packaged items in my pantry right now. I’ve got some macaroni and cheese for the kids and a can of chicken noodle soup for an emergency.  And I do occasionally buy a package of Oreos because they the kids love them and I can’t duplicate them!

My goal is to take it to the next level and eliminate even more processed and packaged items. These are on my next hit list:

  • Soda
  • Jams, jellies & syrups
  • Boxed cereal
  • Granola bars
  • Bread
  • Flavored coffee creamer
  • Jarred pasta sauce
  • Juice

These items will take more effort to banish from our home. Some will be replaced. Soda and juice will be replaced by iced teas. Cereal by oatmeal or farina.

Other items will be made from scratch. I plan to make some jams and syrups for the first time this summer. I am also in search of good recipes for bread, granola and pasta sauce. Lucky for me there is Pinterest so I will have no problem finding recipes to try!

Do you cook from scratch? Do you think my list is too ambitious or just right? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

 

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Jun 4 2011

My Rant on Expiration Dates

I recently ran out to the store because I didn’t have any ham to add to my split pea soup. I opted for the nearest grocery store, which is also the most crowded and most expensive.  I grabbed a package of diced ham, some fresh bread from the bakery and a few other things.

I had both kids in tow and all checkouts were busy, but we managed to get out of there and back home in time to finish dinner.  As I started to open the package I noticed the expiration date: May 12 2011.  Um, what?  That was over two weeks ago.  GRRRR!  I was so irritated that the one item I went to get was expired on the shelf.

Now, I understand that keeping a large inventory up to date is a lot of work for grocery stores.  And from time to time a few items may not get pulled right away.  But, I have to take exception with items in the meat area.  Meat is extremely perishable and stores are constantly marking down meat that is close to the package expiration date.  If it had only been a day or two expired I probably would have used it.  It was ham after all, fully loaded with nitrates and slow to go bad.  But two weeks?  That’s well beyond the my “gray area” for food expiration, especially for meat.

So what to do now?  Well, I saved that package in the fridge and I have considered taking it back to the store.  That’s really what I should do.  However, that is an extra trip to the store with two little kids.  Is it really worth the hassle?  I’ll have to check the receipt and see what I paid for my package of expired ham.

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Apr 29 2011

Frugal Friday: Super Target is Coming to Town

I was so excited to see the stickers on the front doors of my local Target, “Fresh Produce Coming in July”.  This will be great for me because Target is a great discount store that takes coupons.

Right now, I’m driving about 20 minutes to coupon shop at Safeway. It’s been worth it because I’ve been able to get some good deals.  However, Target is only 10 minutes from my house and is so much easier to navigate.  They do great deals with cash-back gift cards, and have tons of clearance items.  *Frugal Tip: check the end-caps in the personal care section for great deals.  Items end up there when they are out of season, overstock or old packaging.  Match them up with coupons and get amazing savings!*

I love our Target already because I can go there early in the morning and it’s practically empty.  Plenty of parking and very few shoppers in the store.  The major downside of shopping there has been the lack of fresh produce.  There is a Wal-Mart Super Center in the same area which has fresh produce, but the checkout there is a disaster.  They have a bunch of little old ladies working the registers and it take FOREVER to check out.  Not what I want to deal with when shopping with kids in tow.

Can you tell I’m just a teeny bit excited?!

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Feb 7 2011

Coupon Savings Results! Part I

I went shopping twice last week – Monday (my regular shopping day) and Friday.  Safeway was having some good sales and I was excited to put my new coupon binder to work!

coupon binderSunday I finished clipping and organizing all of my coupons.  Then I went through the weekly ad and the store’s online specials to find which items were on sale.  I then matched up as many coupons as I could to the sale items.  Safeway is a store with a Club Card that can be “pre-loaded” with the store’s coupons that come in the weekly flier and additional manufacturer’s coupons.  I spent some time Sunday evening getting all of that ready.

Monday I headed into the store with my list, all the coupons I expected to use set aside, and my binder in case I came across something on sale.  I really enjoyed the feeling of being organized and getting a good price when I shopped.  I knew exactly what I was there to get and tryed to keep to my list as much as possible.  My best score: Skippy Natural peanut butter – on sale for $1.49, and I had a coupon for $0.75 off two, so I bought two and paid $1.15 for each!  I felt like I was beating the store at their own game! A woman shopping noticed me and said “Oh, I love your binder!”  She must be couponer because she knew exactly what it was!

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Jan 15 2011

Last Day on Phase 1

It’s been a good two weeks. As of today I have complete Phase 1 on the South Beach Diet.  I am looking forward to some wheat tortillas and fresh fruit.  Whole wheat bread has never sounded like such a treat before!

One of the things I’m most excited about with changing to a South Beach way of eating is that the kids will have a better example.  I found some low-carb wheat tortillas at Costco.  I made bean and cheese  burritos for their lunch yesterday and they ate them without complaint. 

I’ve cleared out a lot of the unhealthy things in the cupboard and as the rest are eaten they will not be replaced.  I know the diet plan says to throw out all the unapproved foods, but that is like throwing away money.  Instead, I will let Paul and the kids finish off any old foods. 

I have not had a problem with wanting to eat any of the “off-limits” foods we have in the house.  We have candy leftover from Christmas, cookies and I even made some fresh blueberry muffins for Sean.  I have not had any of it!

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