Food shopping day... Making life easier.

So we all know that feeling of wandering around the supermarket thinking about what to feed the family for the week. You start grabbing random ingredients, usually only half of what is needed for the recipe. You get home after spending a small fortune, put it all away and feel that you are still none the wiser of what your going to make for the week. Then you start making the daily dash. This is when you have to make your way back to the supermarket to buy the other half of the ingredients you need to make dinner that night. I used to do all this but as time has gone on and my love for wrangling two children into a shopping trolley has dwindled, I have started to shop smarter. Shopping smarter has made it easier to prepare dinner... there's no guessing game on what I'm going to make and there is no doubt in the amount of money I have saved!

So here is how I shop smarter. Starting from the beginning on my "shopping day".

Step 1.

I clean out the fridge and pantry. I get rid of the left overs, rotten veggies that are festering in the bottom of the crisper and fridge smarts. Clean my containers and put them all back... Ready for all the fresh stuff when I get home.

Step 2.

I write a list of what I can use when I start my meal plan for the week. So it's really a list of just meat and veggies that you already have.

Step 3.

I get my weekly planner (which lives on my fridge) and my diary out and write down what I have on for the week, so this includes appointments, catch ups, play dates and so on. Then I pick 5 meals, trying to use as many ingredients from the "what I already have" list. I don't plan our weekend meals as we go with the flow. Its then time to match up a meal for each day. I take into consideration what I have on for that day. For example, if I have an afternoon catch up and know that I won't be getting home till quite late... I will pick an easy throw together meal for that day.

Step 4.

The last step. Writing yourself a good list which includes everything!

I am such a list person, I even have lists for my lists so there is no surprise that I have made up a great shopping list to make my life easier.

I have columns for each place that I shop at. I go to Aldi for all my basics, Safeway for the rest, a market place for all my fresh fruit and veg and lastly the butcher for my meat. I listed all the possible things that I buy weekly and put them in rough order of the way the isles go...much easier when shopping from a list and even easier when you send your other half to do the job for you.

So when it's time to "write" your shopping list, all you have to do is highlight what you need! You can keep it somewhere handy so during the week when you run out of something you can simply highlight it!

Then all that's left to do is start shopping :) so many people hate doing the supermarket shopping but I'm one of those sick people who enjoys it ;)

Happy shopping!