1. Make an excel spreadsheet. In the first tab I put the name of the recipe I want to make and the ingredients needed for that recipe. I go through the ingredients and highlight what I need to buy at certain places. For example: whether I can get it at Costco or Foodland, basically if I can buy it in bulk or if it would be best to get more of the individual size for the item. If I don't highlight it then I probably have it on hand at home.
2. Next, after I list my recipes and highlight the items needed. I move to the 2nd tab and start my grocery list. I make two columns one for Costco and one for Foodland. I copy and past the items in each category. I also add generic items I need to buy that we normally get to my Costco list.
3. Now that I have my list and recipe ingredients I am set! I started this last night and I think I will continue this...I went to Costco with my list printed out, a pen, and a calculator. As I picked up each item, I wrote the price of the item next to it on my list. This way I could compare certain things as I saw them. For example: Zucchini was $4.99 for 4 of them and Cucumbers were $3.99 for 3. Zucchini would have been a better deal but we haven't had cucumbers in awhile so I switched it up! Another example: I wanted to buy Ahi Tuna, the fresh nice steaks were $20.49 and the frozen bag of prepackaged tuna steaks were $15.29, I went with the frozen I think it was more for my buck.
4. Lastly, once I had all of my items I added them up on the calculator to see where I was sitting. If I would need to put things back or change certain items. My total came too $261 and some change, which was perfect! I allotted myself $300 to spend on groceries, this left me with a little extra to spend at Foodland for the other miscellaneous items I need for my recipes. When I went to ring up with the cashier my total came to $262 and some change, so I was very close!
5. Our fridge is stocked now. Just need to make a trip to Foodland on Thursday (my day off) and then I can start making some delicious recipes. The ones I plan on making which I will post more details of as I cook them and their recipe links are: Creamy Chicken Casserole, Paleo Butternut Lasanga, Paleo Pineapple Crockpot ribs, Bratwurst & German Potato (turnips) Salad, and Spicy Pineapple Chili. I am on a pineapple kick because my mom says I need to eat more of it since we live in Hawaii ha, so might as well make some recipes with it in it. Then when she comes to visit, I know exactly what to make!
Hope this helps to all those pinching pennies like me! More to come this week with recipes and some pictures as well. :)
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