Effective Grocery Shopping...and why you DON'T need those meal planning kits!

Keeping up with a food blog is definitely a challenge.  Taking pictures, listing out ingredients and steps, and putting it all together is time consuming!  But the process actually starts much earlier--meal planning and heading out to the store.

If there is one thing that i have spent a lot of time trying to master, it is art of grocery shopping.  You know that feeling--that you wandered aimlessly down every. single. aisle. (and possibly twice!) Yet, while loading up the fridge at home, you still managed to forget that key ingredient.  And you spent over an hour at that store, yet you will have to go back for that one little item.  Worse yet, you probably bought things you did not need or will never use and spent more money than you intended in the first place.

Despite my admittedly spoiled taste in food, I have found a balance between making cost effective meals and meals composed of extravagant ingredients.  Since I don't have a lot of free time either, I always look for ways to innovate and make my shopping trips as short as possible.  

I have also managed to get all of my grocery shopping for the week done in one trip at one store.  This can be difficult when having a mix of specialty and no specialty items.  Many mainstream grocery stores don't carry more obscure items or a full selection of fresh herbs and veggies.  Some natural or organic food stores will not carry items that are more generic, or ones it is not worth spending extra money on.  Personally, I do not buy all organic items (I pick and choose depending on the product and its role in the meal), so having a store that has all of these options available allows for a true one-stop shop.  For me, that's Fairway.  They have a pretty good selection of all things 'grocery.'  The fish and meats are consistently good quality as well.  This saves me of having to go to the local fish market (though I still do this sometimes for variety).

It's all about strategy--planning out a list with each of the week's meals broken down to its ingredients.  I make a big master list of everything as i think of it and when I'm done, I organize it by department in the store:

                   PRODUCE

                   PREPARED FOODS

                   FISH AND MEAT

                   REFRIGERATED ITEMS

                   PANTRY ITEMS

                   MISC.

I purposely make the list of departments in the order I would reach them walking through the store.  This has cut down impulse buys dramatically!  It also helps me ensure that I don't forget to buy anything.  More importantly--by organizing my list by department, I am not subject to my stream of consciousness that would direct me back and forth across the store if I went without a list or without one categorized.  

Not so bad, right?  But many people do not want the hassle of picking out all the ingredients on their own (or coming up with the meals!).  Hence, services like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh were born.  The concept is great--they give you the perfect amount you will need of spices and herbs, perfectly portioned cuts of meat and fish, and step by step recipes to follow.  The catch?  Beyond citing any dietary restrictions, you have no control over the selections that will be available for your shipment for the week.  

I don't know about you, but I think I would rather pick out my own meals.  And if you can shop more effectively, why miss out on the fun of creating your own dishes?!