Today I realized that this means grocery shopping. For what though? Where do I start when completely starting from scratch?
Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Julie, when she planned my bridal shower she had each guest bring a non-perishable pantry item for me - such a blessing! But even with that large portion of the grocery shopping taken care of, I still need to get, you know, everything else!
So I started searching Pinterest and Google for blogs and lists of where I should start. I found one good resource. I'm sure there are others, but the one I found was called "The Scrappy Housewife" and it was full of helpful lists and ideas for meal planning and pantry stocking. Definitely check it out if you are looking for some good tips, tricks, recipes, and lists!
Anyway, after reading through several pages on this blog and skimming some more pages of others, I came up with this list... (just a heads up, it's a little lengthy)
Staple food items
-
·
Bouillon cubes (chicken,
beef, vegetable)
·
Tomato sauce, paste, and
canned diced
·
Bread crumbs or dressing mix
crumbs
·
Rice
·
Pasta (variety) including
egg noodles
·
Cous Cous
·
Evaporated and Condensed
Milk
·
Condensed cream soups
(mushroom, chicken, celery)
·
Jarred spaghetti sauce
·
Mustard
·
Ketchup
·
BBQ Sauce
·
Hot sauce
·
Oil – Canola, Olive, and
Crisco
·
Vinegar – Distilled white
and Apple Cider (Oil and vinegar are perfect for making homemade salad dressing
·
Bisquick
·
Syrup
·
Peanut Butter
·
Popcorn (not the
microwaveable kind)
·
Sauces/seasonings – Taco and
spaghetti
·
Oatmeal
Baking Staples
-
·
Flour
·
Sugar – brown, light brown,
confectioners/powdered, regular granulated,
·
Baking powder
·
Baking soda
·
Yeast
·
Chocolate chips
·
Vanilla and peppermint
extract
·
Honey
·
Molasses
· Baking mixes – cookie, brownie, cake (plus frosting)
Weekly (bi-weekly) buys to
use or freeze -
· Chicken breast
· Milk
· Eggs
· Sour Cream
· Butter
· Ground beef
· Cheese
· Fruit
· Veggies (unless frozen)
· Deli meat
· Bread
· Cereal
· Chips/pretzels
· Yogurt (tubs)
Meal Planning -
· Chicken Casserole
· Frito Pie
· Breakfast for Dinner (baked oatmeal, pancakes, French toast,
etc…)
· Tacos
· Chicken (honey mustard or ranch) with sides
· Soup (Cream of Broccoli, Chicken Tortilla, Spicy Potato, Sausage,
chili)
· Pizza
· Leftovers/YOYO (you’re on your own)
· Something new (Pinterest, new cookbook, etc…)
· Burgers or sloppy joes
· Pasta (chicken/ranch, spaghetti, parmesan, alfredo, mac &
cheese)
· Crockpot – (orange chicken, soup, roast/potatoes/carrots, etc…)
· Quinoa
· Big Salad
· Baked Potato Bar
Other -
·
Coffee
·
Creamer
This is obviously still a work in progress, but I'm feeling pretty good about it as a place to start!
I am getting very excited to put this meal planning and such into action after over two months of living with my parents and not really having to do much to any cooking myself.
Let the house-wifery commence!
