My First Grocery Haul! and how I prepare my grocery list

Hello Ladies!

Here is a grocery haul video I decided to record. I'm hoping that this will give you all some healthy meal ideas and that you all can share your tips for grocery shopping and meal planning. I am new to this. I took my first real grocery shopping trip when my husband and I first got married so its been almost 2 years. My family is growing so with that comes more challenges so I really wanted to document this and look back on what I learned. For the most part I find grocery shopping fun! So I'm looking forward to those challenges!

Here is how I come up with what to buy

1. I think of what meals I want to eat. I consider Breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2-3 snacks during the day. I prefer not to cook all day so for breakfast and lunch I choose mostly foods that I do not have to cook.

2. I write down next to each meal all the ingredients it requires. I love meals with overlapping ingredients (an ingredient needed in one meal is also needed in another)

3. I  look in the pantry, freezer and refrigerator to see what I already have and decide what to cross off my list based on how much I need.

4. I write down things I need to restock my pantry based on shelf life and what I use a lot of like beans, veggie broth, salsa and pasta.

5. I write out my list under categories like "fresh produce" or "dairy" and put how much of that item I am going to get based on expiration and how much we eat.

6. I finalize my list by crossing out items I realize I can do w/o.

I give myself atleast a week to do this. My list is pretty organized and I find that by having it this organized I am not wasteful (which means I save money) and I eat healthier. I'm sure with time this will become easier.

Below are some pictures of my scratch work (click on image to enlarge)

pantry items and meals w/ ingredients

Completed Grocery List ( items are crossed off at store once I got what I needed)

I hope you find this helpful and that we can help each other eat healthier while being a good steward of our money.

Big Thanks to my good friend Chels. I picked her brain over and over trying to get better at this! You rock! =)

Veronica Boudreaux <3