What's Cooking?
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Grocery Shopping
Hey everyone!
I've been married for over a month, and my husband and I are still trying to figure out how to grocery shop. We've been stocking up each week with things we know we will eat, and it's been fine; but I feel like we could be doing it differently. We are members at Sam's Club so we buy some things in bulk to save money. However, I feel like I'm stuck making the same kind of stuff each week because we have so much of one kind of food. Does that make sense? I just need some tips on how you grocery shop. We need to be financially smart, and we need to be healthy. Any tips for the newcomer?
God Bless!
Re: Grocery Shopping
Hi!
I grocery shop once per week and we shop at Sam's Club every couple of months, mostly for cleaning supplies, paper products, drinks and frozen foods.
I would recommend you meal plan. I meal plan each week and will use my store's ad as a guide so that I'm buying/using things that are on sale. Planning meals using seasonal ingredients should help you control costs. Stock up on pantry items when they are on sale. Buy larger quantities of meat/protein (they cost less per pound this way), then separate them into smaller portions and freeze.
If cost is a major factor for you, try doing at least one meatless meal per week.
If you don't already, clip coupons.
Also, we use Amazon for some pantry foods as well.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Since you have the membership at Sam's club, I would buy protein in large packages (chicken, fish, ground beef). When you get home, portion out the protein into packages for 1 meal. Freeze each portion separate. That way you don't have to eat chicken all one week because you bought a lot of it.
For freezing the chicken, you can also dump marinade into the freezer bag, so when you take it out the night before, it will marinade as you thaw it, and you don't have to touch it again
As far as pantry items, I stock up during my stores BOGO's and use coupons. At any given day we have 6 tubs of peanut butter and 12 boxes of cereal. That will only last my family 3 months. Do not buy more than you can consume before the expiration date. Buying in bulk when it's on sale means you wont run out and have to purchase peanut butter at full price
As for toiletries and such, you can get so much of that at rock bottom/free prices. Follow some coupon websites. I couponed so much when I was pregnant and I still don't need to buy shampoo/conditioner/soap/toothpaste.
Good luck!
I have never ever thought of doing this but it is GENIUS! I have been wanting to make some lemon chicken but always forget to leave enough time to both defrost and marinate.
As for grocery shopping, I meal plan each week and try to shop seasonally. I coupon a little bit, but not crazily. What helps me is stopping before I get to the register in the store and making sure I didn't pick up anything that I don't really need. Usually there is something I should put back weather it be junk food or something that I thought was a really good sale but is pretty much unnecessary.
my read shelf:
I shop every two weeks. I make a meal plan of what we want to eat for the next 14 days, plus 2 alternate meals (usually a frozen pizza or stir fry). I also buy breakfast items, snacks, and lunch items. I make sure I plan for all of this so I buy enough stuff. I love to cook, so I always put a few new recipes on the list to try out- this is what got us out of a dinner rut. Eventually,you will know what items to always keep at home for your go-to meals. For us, it's green peppers, potatoes, provolone cheese, taco shells, black beans, ground beef, fish sauce, soy sauce, and rice wine (for taco night, Asian inspired dishes, and Philly Cheesesteaks). I digress... Make a list of EVERYTHING you may need to make your recipes.
Do the two of you eat a lot of fruits and veggies? DH and I do- I shop at Costco every other week. I usually only get our fruit and veggies there: apples, oranges, srawberries, cucumbers, bananas, blackberries, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, lettuce, and spinach leaves are what I usually get- and it's never more than $50!! We know which ones will last us the full two weeks (apples, oranges, cucumbers), and which ones we need to eat first (berries, bananas).
What kind of food do you always have on hand? What are you buying frequently? Branching out in your cooking will really get you out of that food/cooking rut. I used to only cook southern food- fried chicken, shepherd's pie, and stuff like that. But once I started making new things and cooking different styles of food, I rarely cook those heavy meals anymore. I would suggest you try branching out to Spanish or Asian cuisines- they are super easy.
Hope this helps- and welcome to TN!
all the pp's have given you great advice!!
Like Banda- i shop every two weeks and meal plan as well. I make a list of meals to choose from and buy what i need for those meals. Plus i always make sure to have a few snacks for our lunches and breakfast foods. I also check my grocery stores ad before making my meal plan and try to plan around what is on sale. I also check for any regular items i might need (peanut butter, laundry detergent, etc) and pick them up only when they are on sale.
You will get the hang of regular items you want in the house as you plan more often.