How to To Turn Grocery Shopping into a Slam Dunk Quick Success
You’ve found your shopping cart of choice (the deep one, the double layer short basket or the pull behind you with a long handle kind) and boldly step into your local supermarket. You’re pressed for time, your heart is racing, your kids are cranky and your temperament is not much better. Thoughts of fleeing to the Caribbean to sip pina coladas on the beach only serves to induce more mom guilt.
You know the damn groceries still need to be bought, meals planned and everyone must be well nourished and satiated. It’s part of the unwritten mom job description even if it’s not in your DNA. So why is it you find yourself standing paralyzed with a combination of fear and inertia as you gaze out into the well-organized aisles of too many options, most of which you don’t know how to cook?
Simple decisions shouldn’t be this difficult. Armed with a few organization and time saving grocery shopping tips you’ll be swimming guilt free in that deep blue sea, pina colada in hand, in no time at all.
1. Know where you are and where you will be going.
Before you can get a handle on your weekday dinner grocery needs, you need to know what your weekdays (and nights) look like. And by “your weekdays” I mean your family’s needs- for as all moms know, you are never in this alone.
- Do you have late night meetings scheduled or looming deadlines that will necessitate longer work hours?
- Are there after school lessons, playdates, sports or other activities for your kids?
- How about the evening school play, parent teacher conferences, PTO meeting or a book club meeting for the book you haven’t read yet but swear you’ll watch the movie before the next club meeting?
Knowing what’s on everyone’s schedule will give you a heads up on how much time is available to devote to making dinner and still be able to sit down for an enjoyable meal without everyone’s head falling dead exhausted into their bowl of spaghetti.
Don’t plan on elaborate meals or time- consuming recipes if you know no such time exists. Stop the cooking for dinner time crunch stress before it starts to rear its ugly head. Plan smart.
2. Consult your recipe playbook.
I’m all for winging it when the occasion is ripe for improvisation. However, if you are on a get in-get out in a minimum amount of time mission, grocery shopping may not be the best time to let your freak fly. It is a real time saver to figure out, in advance, the recipes you will be cooking for the week before you even step foot in the supermarket.
Now that you know how much time you’ll have, spend a few moments thinking about the meals you can cook in that time frame and how quickly you can cook them. Can you batch cook a grain or your protein and use it differently for meals throughout the week? Think stir fry with rice one day, enchiladas with rice and beans another. Roasted chicken breast one night, chicken tacos another.
3. The warm up stretch: Know what you have and what you need.
Look at the recipes you will be making for the week and see what ingredients they require. Then, surprise, surprise, look to see if you already have that ingredient!
How many times have you stared at that bottle of ketchup on the grocery shelf wondering if you’ve run out? Fear of not having it when your kids are screaming for ketchup to smother their French fries, you throw it in your cart only to find you have 4 other bottles of unopened ketchup sitting in your pantry at home. Don’t do this!
Did you buy the family pack of chicken breasts or pork chops and freeze them for a rainy day? Don’t buy them again before you check what you have and what you need. Just because you may be cooking from scratch doesn’t mean you are stocking your pantry and fridge from scratch every time you head out to the grocery store.
4. Make a list, make a list, make a list.
You’re almost at the finish line. You know what you’ll be cooking for the week. Pat yourself on the back. You actually have a meal plan! You even know what you need to shop for in order to make your meal plan a reality. Now write what you need down. Yes, write it down.
Mental notes have a way of disappearing like your car keys or that sock that inevitably goes missing each time you do the laundry.
Sadly, there are no magic “Tile” or “locate my phone” apps for lost mental notes.
There are some high tech or low tech ways to help you with your grocery list. Evernote is a great app for doing this. You can organize everything in Evernote on your computer and magically, it will be in your Evernote app on your mobile phone. Love it when that happens. Of course there are numerous shopping list templates online and the ever popular scrap of paper or back of an envelope. Whatever method you use, just don’t forget to bring your list with you when you go shopping!
5. Organize your list, divide and conquer.
At one time or another you probably organized your dresser drawers. Undies and bras in one drawer, t-shirts and long sleeves in another. Your grocery list is no different. Group like ingredients together. Fresh herbs, vegetable and fruit are often located on the perimeter of the supermarket. Meat, dairy and fish are often relegated to the opposite side or the rear of the store. Non-perishables are often located in the center aisles. If you organize your list by type of food, with a subtle nod to grocery store logistics, you’ll find yourself breezing down the aisles, checking things off your list in no time flat. No zigzagging and back tracking for you!
Getting in and out of the grocery store, unfazed and feeling victorious is easy once you do a little meal planning, a little organizing and a little happy dance as you treat yourself to one of those sinful impulse buy snacks calling your name at the checkout counter.
Love to hear your secrets for ninja style grocery shopping. Please share your tips in the comments below. Thanks, smiles.
Sign up to receive cooking tips, tricks and drool worthy recipes made with speed and ease.
Serve it up with kickass conversations with your kids. Repeat.
Leave A Comment