Yesterday, I found an online coupon for Sam’s Club. Renewed my membership, was given a $25 gift card so that reduced the cost of membership to $15 for the year. I didn’t see that many bargains but I also didn’t spend a lot of time looking yesterday. I bought bulk yeast, good olive oil, a huge can of crushed tomatoes and some pasta. Gas was also eight cents a gallon cheaper at Sam’s. The Sam’s Club offer expired yesterday however.

If I recruit friends and family to split these jumbo sized products and the cost, it appears the membership will be worth it.

Since I do most of my shopping at stores like Shop n Save and Aldi’s where there is not a lot of price fluctuation from week to week, I decided that if I do a price book, the number of items I track will be minimal. I also rely on online grocery flyers when planning grocery shopping. Saves the clutter, saves the paper version and I get info I need to track grocery prices electronically.

I also believe on keeping a well-stocked pantry. The temptation to eat out is less. I have a couple of easy meals that take about 30 minutes to cook using canned and packaged items and that’s about the same amount of time it takes to get a $22 pizza delivered. I’m also making an effort now that I’m not working to keep the kitchen cleaned up so I’m not discouraged by a sinkful of dirty dishes when meal prep time arrives. I also am making an effort to cook once, eat twice and portion food into one serving containers that thaw faster than bigger containers.

Back to taking my Angel Food Ministry menu that’s coming and doing some meal planning.

I guess it depends how you define “stuff left over.” My family would scream if our fridge was bare. I keep a well-stocked pantry, including some items in the fridge, so we don’t usually find ourselves having to run to the store.

Often, we have many long-term ingredients on hand, because I stock up like crazy when I find a great deal. If we don’t have something, we either don’t make that recipe, or we make do with omissions, substitutions or general creativity. Usually it works fine; sometimes we have to promise never to repeat that experiment.

Here’s what I do and nearly every week my fridge is bare (no exaggeration) when I go to the grocery.

First, if there are any leftover items in the fridge or pantry that will expire soon figure out (which really only happens if I have to buy a bundle of produce or cheese and the size I had to buy exceeding my recipe’s demands) how you can make them a meal and determine what other ingredients you need to complete the meal.

Second, go online and check out the store circulars/ads. Make your meal decisions based on what’s on sale. (or what you have coupons for.)

I plan every single thing that we’ll eat during the week – breakfast, lunch (we both take our lunch), dinner, and snacks and only buy what I need. The exception to this rule is that something is wonderfully on sale and I will include that ingredient into recipes this week and pick up some extras if they can be stored for meals in the upcoming weeks.

Attagirl for the Denver Post article! ~ Daryl