The first step in reducing your grocery spending is to know what you have. A good place to start in stocking up on a budget is to know what you eat.
I know there are some great cooks out there who love to try new recipes, but most of us have a core set of “go-to” recipes, the meals our families like and that we can make in our sleep.
Before heading to the store and going nuts stocking up on honey and beans, take a moment and make a list of the meals you make most often. Make a note of the key ingredients you must have to make these meals. These are the foods you need to stock up on and keep on hand in the pantry!
If you are a super-geek like me you *might* have an Excel spreadsheet of meals sorted by protein type (chicken, beef, pinto beans, etc.) Surely I’m not the only one? 
Here are the meals that we eat often.
1. Marinara/pasta Key ingredients: spaghetti sauce (I buy it in jars, to avoid the canned tomato/BPA problem) and pasta in various shapes. Sometimes we have this with ground beef, sometimes with ground Italian sausage, sometimes with mushrooms or added veggies.
2. Chicken soup or chicken in the pot. We eat it with noodles, barley, rice, dumplings, and there are infinite variations. Key ingredients: chicken, garlic, onions.
3. Fried rice/stir fry. I just made this last night with eggs, bok choy, and green beans. It’s a great way to stretch meat. Again, it’s so versatile you can make it with just about anything. Key ingredients: rice, soy sauce, sesame oil.
4. Blackeyed peas and greens. Usually we add sausage, but not always. We have this at least twice a month, plus there are always leftovers. Key ingredients: blackeyed peas, frozen greens (I like turnip, but it’s good with collards, mustard, kale, or whatever else is available.)
5. Dirty Rice. Sometimes I make this with hamburger, sometimes with leftover pork, sausage, or chicken, sometimes it’s “our” version of red beans and rice. Another versatile recipe with tons of options. Key ingredients: Rice, onions, garlic, celery
6. Tacos. Along with taco salad and taco soup. Usually made with ground meat, we’ve had it with tongue (it’s really really good, I promise!), shredded beef, or just beans. Key ingredients: Pinto beans, salsa, cumin, corn tortillas.
7. Eggs. We eat eggs for breakfast, breakfast tacos as a quick dinner, egg salad, egg fried rice, or deviled eggs for lunch. My family easily eats 5 dozen a week.
8. Macaroni and cheese. We eat it for lunch, or I’ll mix in leftover meat and frozen veggies for stove-top skillet style meal. Another recipe with tons of variations. Key ingredients: Cheese, penne/rotini/elbow noodles.
9. Breakfast. Oatmeal or cereal with milkl Mr P and Miss E like leftovers or protein for breakfast. Key ingredients: oats, milk, eggs.
10. Snacks. Popcorn, fruit, and potatoes (my kids like to “bake” them in the microwave) are our main snacks. So it would be prudent for me to stock up on canned fruit as produce prices increase.
And so, I can see that buying more rice, blackeyed peas, dried pasta, salsa, pintos, onions, and garlic are good bets because we are almost certain to use them. It wouldn’t do me very much good to stock up on quinoa or couscous, for example, because my family doesn’t eat those things. Same with grapefruit, papaya, lima beans, or red kidney beans- we don’t eat those. But we do eat up apples, bananas, red beans, navy beans, and pintos. So for *my* family and *my* pantry, those are good items to lay in a supply.
I can also see that it’s a good idea to keep spices such as cumin and garlic powder on hand. Oregano? No need to buy a giant jar of that.
What are your go-to meals? Share in the comments!
Karen (1)
Raso @ lasagnarec... (1)
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve just been thinking I need to be more organized about my meals! We have lots of pasta and rice dishes. Thanks for the ideas!
Marianne at The New Frugal Mom (http://www.thenewfrugalmom.com/2010/11/meal-plan-monday-look-at-my-melly.html) has a list of meals everyone likes in her family, and I think that’s a great place to start.
Now, would you try to store garlic in the jar or powdered, only? What about growing garlic? Is it easy enough for someone who kills cactus?
What about things that are dirt cheap but go against your food values? Like cans of tomatoes were .02 at Kroger a few weeks ago, far cheaper than spaghetti sauce. I understand that you avoid BPA, but would you stockpile things at that price?
I have garlic in the jar, garlic powder, and garlic cloves! But I’ve never tried growing it. I have a black thumb except I’m good at growing greens. I’m going to try tomatoes again- my last two tries were total fails.
I would stockpile things like that, and I do have some canned food (and -gasp- canned meat!) because in an emergency situation, BPA can liners are LOW on the priority list. Getting food in the tummies is what matters first in an emergency.
The food colors and MSG are a different matter- they immediately have a bad effect on Mr R (a really bad effect). So I don’t even have salad dressings, soups, etc. with MSG or food dyes in them on the shelf even though it’s easy to get those for next to nothing (there are always great sales and great coupons available.) I guess it’s similar to the way someone with a peanut allergy wouldn’t take a jar of peanut butter, even if it was free.
I heard garlic doesn’t grow well here, but I have no idea. I seriously can’t keep ivy alive. I have freeze dried garlic, powdered, and jarred but no fresh.
No, I can definitely see the difference between foods that cause a problem (allergies or intolerance) and foods you’d just prefer to not eat. I just wondered where that line was for y’all, since we’re moving into more desperate(?) times…
We were just talking about this as we try to get our grocery spending down. From a pretty basic staples list, we came up with the following meal options:
Breakfast — (1) Egg, Home Fries, Toast (2) Egg Sandwich (3) Migas (4) Breakfast Tacos (5) Quiche (6) Oatmeal (7) Pancakes / Waffles
Lunch — (1) Tofu Salad Sandwich (2) Cheese Sandwich (3) Nachos (4) Baked Potato (5) Quiche (6) Quesadillas
Dinner — (1) Spaghetti & Marinara (2) Mac n’ Cheese with Veggies (3) Rice & Bean Enchiladas (4) Nachos (5) Baked Potato (6) Veggie Pot Pie (7) Potato Soup (8) Vegetable Soup (9) Pizza or Calzone (10) Spaghetti and Tofu Meatballs
The hardest time I’ve been having so far is trying to work toddler tastes into our menu. Our 18 mo. old daughter is a good eater by most standards (she’ll down a bowl of lentil soup or a whole beet in the blink of an eye), but is also toddler finicky…lately she’s mostly eating purees for some reason and chews/spits out all kinds of great meals. How do you work kid’s personal tastes into realistic menu planning?
Amber, I have the sandwich rule at my house. If you don’t want what’s being served, after trying at least one good sized bite, you may have a plain peanut butter sandwich. And a glass of white milk. On the off chance we don’t have bread, the child is offered a bowl of “grown-up cereal” instead. I am no short order cook, and I refuse to make a special meal. My oldest kids are 14 and 11, and they know the rule well. My youngest is 2, and his options are pretty much the same.
I haven’t figured it out yet with a 18 month old. She doesn’t really eat bread or sandwiches, mostly licks the spreads off, and she definitely won’t drink milk.
@Amber,
18 months is a strange age. They are figuring out that they can control some things, like what they eat, but are still so much babies.
Mine always liked to dip at that age. Would your daughter dip bread sticks or veggies into hummus, whole wheat pitas into refried beans, veggies into sour cream or cheese sauce? Kids that age are funny about textures, too. Mine always went on jags where they couldn’t get enough of one kind of food, only to utterly reject it a few weeks later.
What works for us is to keep presenting the foods as ‘normal’ dinner, and eat it. Don’t start making special meals just for her (unless of course, your doctor advises special foods or something.) Sometimes kids need to be exposed to a food many, many times before they’ll try it or enjoy it. I would also encourage you not to make it a battle of wills. Don’t issue ultimatums. A 1 year old can’t reason the same way a 10 year old can. What I mean is, it never worked for us to say things like “if you don’t eat this lunch, I’m serving it to you for dinner” or “you can’t leave the table until your plate is clean”, because those things are just not practical.
Also, do be aware that children do not necessarily HAVE to drink milk. Calcium can come from other dairy products (yogurt, cheese), calcium fortified juice or rice milk, or even from a vegan diet if you are mindful.
We have started our SNAP challenge at our house *getting a jump on Lent*. I challenged the ladies at church last Sunday to ride along. Passed out a tip sheet and made it interactive with my blog/website. I expect this year most will dip a toe in and be inquisitive but next year, when prices go sky high, they will take more notice. Lisa, you are at the top o’ my list for site to visit. Last year when I googled “food stamp challenge” you came up before the congressional challenge in 2007! Thanks for your input and knowledge on this subject. You turned me around girl!
18 month old kids are just learning to eat, in my experience with my own ten kids is to serve a variety and be uber cheerful about it. Once they are two and half or so, our standard rule applies. “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” I NEVER yell, beg, whine, plead, argue, bargain or offer substitutes. I cheerfully put their plate in the fridge. They’ll get it back every meal until gone. No food, only milk, until it’s eaten. We don’t waste food and NO ONE gets an alternative least we have a total breakdown and risk a half dozen kids eating something else. I DO have the kids take turns as “The Dinner Assistant” and they choose and help prepare the menu. When kids help cook, they got your back when someone balks. Our parish priest recently recommended another mother ask what we do, he thought it would help their meal chaOs. Works for us.
@Melissa- I think it’s almost easier when you have lots of children, because there’s peer pressure (everyone else is doing it!). Plus, at my house if someone won’t eat there’s always someone else willing to eat it for them (and my boys aren’t even teens yet!)
Amen on the “I’m not a short order cook!” This has got to be my biggest pet-peeve. ugh! We have a similar rule at our house…you must try new foods (2 bites), if you don’t like it, fine. The alternative is a bowl of (non-sugary, fake) cereal with milk. End of conversation. Same answer every time. It can take MANY many many times for kids to develop a “taste” for certain foods, so we try it each time. I’ll never forget when “K” decided to make herself puke when trying squash. It was NOT pretty.
I do like the idea of “Sous Chefs” in the kitchen. Not only does this help with eating various foods because they have helped prepare it, but it’s also a GREAT time for bonding!