Food Shopping Help

I know, it sounds funny...I need help food shopping.

What are some of the things that you always have in your fridge/freezer or cabinets?

What are the regulars on your shopping list?

Do you keep a certain amount of meats frozen in the freezer?

I feel like there's never anything to eat in our apartment, even after I go food shopping. Sometimes I get cravings to snack on something, and it drives me nuts when I can't find anything!

Re: Food Shopping Help

As you probably see from my posts... I plan out my weekly menus - so dinner is always set.

FREEZER:

We always have frozen meat (we buy in bulk at costco and freeze by 1/2 lbs in ziplock freezer bags). We also always have frozen chicken breast (also costco, comes individually packaged). And we usually have frozen tilapia or salmon (also bought in bulk and packaged into 2 servings). We usually have frozen corn, chopped spinach, and peas on hand. We usually have some frozen turkey meat or chicken meat too (again, bought in bulk and frozen in 1/2 lb or 1 lb packages). We also usually have Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and gelato in the freezer.

FRIDGE:

In the fridge, I'll start with the veggie drawer. We always have lemons, parsley and other fresh herbs (thyme, basil, rosemary), scallions, lettuce, cucumber.

We also usually have fresh fruit - grapes, melon, clementines, apples.

Apple or orange juice, various kinds of shredded/sliced cheese, a big hunk of good aged parmesan, eggs, condiments (ketchup, spicy and dijon mustards, mayo, steak sauce), jar of sundried tomatoes, soy milk, filtered water pitcher, greek yogurt, kosher hot dogs, homemade whipped cream, feta, olives, chicken brother, margarine, unsalted butter, red wine vinegar....

COUNTER STUFF:

We've always got a ton of garlic and onions!

Whole wheat bread, pitas, bananas, olive oil, some type of baked goodies.

CABINETS:

(I'm gonna try to think of each cabinet... we live in an apartment so there's not too much!)

We usually have a whole wheat pancake mix (kodiak cakes is our favorite), real maple syrup, bittersweet chocolate chips, honey, flour, sugar, baking powder, ice cream toppings (magic shell, sprinkles, hot fudge), brown sugar, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, pure vanilla extract, vanilla bean.

Definitely always have a few types of pastas, lipton onion soup mix, canned beans (black, red, cannellini, garbanzo), canned tomato (crushed, whole peeled), cans of tuna, rice, couscous, breadcrumbs, panko.

Snacks - we usually have goldfish, chocolate covered almonds, fiber one bars, maybe some kind of cookie, popcorn, fruit leather, peanut butter.

Then we have all of our spices - garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning, cumin, herbs de provence, coriander, red pepper flakes, paprika, sazon goya, chili powder, etc.

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Our shopping list usually is just whatever we'll need for dinners that week, lunches, and breakfast. Typically that's just a ton of fresh vegetables, eggs, juice, fresh fruit, bread.

Re: Food Shopping Help

Re: Food Shopping Help

I but when things are on sale - chop meat, chicken.

I store chop meat in large freezer bags flattened out like a thin pancake - makes thawing very quick
You can also pound out chicken breasts before you freeze and store one per bag

I try to keep a variety of tomatoes (petite diced, paste, puree), beans (black, kidney, white) sauce, gravy, stuffing, pasta, frozen veges, salsa, taco/mexican, canned fruit

A lot of dishes can be translated from one cuisine to another just by changing a few spices or ingredients - chinese chix and broc can be fetticine alfredo w/ chicken and broc.

Re: Food Shopping Help

Ok let me think...

Cans: when I see tomatoes (crushed, whole peeled, sauce etc) on sale I pick up a bunch bc I make macaroni a lot and I like to have the cans on hand bc if you have canned tomato and macaroni you can always throw something together!

veggies-I stock up when cans are on on sale esp. beans

white clam sauce-on sale I always have bc DH and I love this and it is easy to throw together in a pinch.

soups-always buy on sale and have a few in house

tuna

boxed stuff-

always have a few boxes of macaroni/pasta- ziti, linguni, etc..I buy them on sale and always have a cple different kind (see above lol)

Usually have a cple of pasta side/mac and cheese type boxes

brown rice-DH loves it and it is a perfect healthy side to almost anything

Freezer

meats- I always have chicken, 90% lean chopped meat, and frozen shrimp in the freezer. I buy on sale and with these three staples can make anything.

Other meats/fish I buy also when on sale (flounder, lamb, sausage etc.) but don't always have on hand.

a cple of frozen meals on hand always like lean cusines, lean pockets, veggie burgers etc...I buy them on sale and pop them in when I dont want to cook

always have a cple bags of raviloi

Pantry misc.

I have my spice rack- so I always have a ton of spices to make different kinds of food- have ground beef...make taco seasoning with spices etc.

I try to always have fresh parsley (I freeze it) but I recently found this parsley paste and italian seasoning paste that I added to my clam sauce and was great




I also always have various marinades, dressings,ketchup,mustard,mayp,soy sauce, etc.

I always have a few kinds of shredded cheese (mozz, cheddar etc) I buy them when they are 2 for 5 or whatever and they dont expire for a cple months-really comes in handy.

I always have Sandwich thins or english muffins for bread

taco shells-buy them on sale great to have whether you are making tacos or a dip..good to have in pantry

veggies-
I always have fresh garlic

always have an onion

always have potatoes (red or white)

usually try to have some fresh veggies (mushrooms, peppers and add them into my dishes)

ALWAYS have lemons-DH is a lemon freak lol he usues it in water and I use it in so many dishes!

some type of fruit..I try not to buy too much bc with only 2 of us it goes bad.

also we usually have a bag of salad in the fridge


HTH.

Message edited 11/30/2009 10:32:07 AM.

Re: Food Shopping Help

these lists are great!!!