The Shopping Lists

After I put together my meal plan, the next step was to break that down into a shopping list. Actually, it was a few shopping lists.

One of the problems that I had before was that I would buy everything at once and about halfway through the month all of my produce had gone bad and my dairy had curdled. So here are my shopping lists.

This is the main shopping list. First I took a trip through the kitchen to see what I had on hand and what I needed. Then I put together this Main List. I'm also prepping ahead on breakfasts and lunches so those are in the shopping list as well. This list is a little longer than most because I needed to restock my spice rack. I also had looked at the circulars to see what meats were on sale and tailored my meal plans around that. Chicken and steaks were on sale at Sprouts and Albertsons. Hooray for lean meats! I'm also easing into this by making a lot of slow cooker meals and meals that know very well. These are things I can make in my sleep.

Each week then gets one of these; a Perishable List. These are the weekly trips I will make to Sprouts and another store for the produce and dairy that is needed just for that week. This is perilous because I am an impulse buyer. I am determined to stick to my lists no matter how much I think I need another bag of Pop Chips. My kids go through about 2 gallons of milk a week. I have seriously looked at the zoning laws and thought about how much a cow costs. Until then, I have to go each week and get their milk along with the rest of the sour cream and whatever produce is on sale. I'm grateful that my kids drink milk and eat fruit rather than ask for soda and candy. It just means I have to practice my resilience when I go through Sprouts and look at all of the wonderful things in the bulk section.

I don't need chocolate covered espresso beans. I don't.

Maybe just a Ritter Sport...