getting to know us 2/5/09

[party of 3]

anyone want to play today????

i got this one from PN's list. so thanks for the idea Nancy.

how often to you do your grocery shopping.
weekly, every other week, monthly.........

and do you do a menu before hand????

and do you stick to the menu once you've made it???

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

Menu planning.
Nope, no planning going on here.
I'm lucky I make list of what we are out of before heading to the store.
I go weekly or bi-weekly. More often bi-weekly and have DH bring home extra milk after work.
I am an impulse shopper when I go. Sometimes I think I'm gonna be doing the chicken and the fish will call to me *blub* *blub*. I'm not a very good shopper, but we all seem to be thriving so I'm doing something right.

 

[jennyL]

I go weekly. We try to have a list but its normally just the staple stuff that we are running out of. DH and I go straight to the meats and see what looks good to us then we plan our meals from there and get the rest of the stuff. I don't keep tons of stuff in stock so I know pretty much what we have and what we'll need to get for a particular dish.

 

[rlovew]

I go every other week. I plan out a menu for the weeks and then make a list of what we need for the menu. Unless DH is with me I shop from the list. DH always wants all this other stuff. Now that we live 20 minutes from a grocery store and niether of us work out towards one we really need to know what we are getting because everything costs an arm and a leg at the gas station if we forget it at the store. We can get fresh eggs, soom milk, vegtables, fruit, jellies/jams and honey from the farms around us.

Rebecca

 

[ddavis860]

As of right now, I go every 2 weeks, and milk egg runs as needed. Since they opened the Super Walmart, I've been able to get most everything there at the best price, and haven't had to go to a big box store for a long time.

I shop from a list too, and if DH goes with it's a disaster! He is always sneaking stuff in the cart, or picking up the wrong thing...

Anyway, when I start the new shift, I'm sure I'll be using more menus, and my crock pot a lot more. There is a Costco close to work too, so I'll probably be going in there for shopping, since it's on the way home...

 

[DisneyIsTerrific]

I try to do a menu and list, but it rarely happens. I try to do my grocery shopping once a week, but sometimes I will shop for 2 or 3 days of meals and then go again for 2 or 3 more days. I live a mile from the grocery store so it's easy since I drive by it almost every day.

Most times I decide what to cook for dinners as I'm entering the store and then make a mental list of what we need. I know I should make a list and I'll do good doing it for a week or so and then go back to my comfortable way!

 

[PrincessNancy96]

I do a menu list every 2 weeks.... I do stick to my menu 95% of the time... keep in mind.. I'm dealing w/ ball schedules so some nights we aren't home til 8-9pm to eat dinner...so sticking to the menu is a must around here...

I shop for the big stuff every 2 weeks..but I do have to run out for essentials so I'm at the store at least once a week extra!!!

 

[aroyer]

The idea is to go every 2 weeks... but... it's usually less than that. The problem being that we have a Randalls right around the corner to pick up essentials and last minute dinner ideas. We don't like to do our main shopping there because they are soooo expensive. But when we do our big grocery shopping, we have planned our menus and there is a list. I need to go do our big shopping today, but with DS under the weather, it isn't going to happen.

 

[JandJ]

We are on a strict budget, so I do plan dinner menus. We go to Costco to stock up on meat, bulk foods (eggs, cans of tomatoes, rice), cleaning products, health & beauty items, etc. and that usually lasts a couple months or more. I go to the grocery store once a week for items I need to make dinners and things like fresh fruits and veggies, milk, beer for DH I love being able to think about dinners for the week and realize I have everything in the house except maybe a head of lettuce or something small like that. We also stock up when there's a good deal like BOGO on snack chips or bread.

 

[hopemax]

We go every Sunday. I do make a menu in advance, and we stick to it. Except when we don't, which means we get pizza or takeout. Occasionally, we have to go back for fresh bread or milk, but I can have DH pick it up on his walk home from the bus.

 

[New England Eeyore]

Since I work in a grocery store, technically I shop almost daily. I can always pick up whatever we need on a particular day. So I probably only go for the big shop about every 2-3 weeks, depending. I don't really cook, and we hardly ever eat together, so there is no menu planning - just making sure we have the staples always stocked - cereal, soups, veggies for salad, frozen stuff, etc. We also buy the majority of non-perishables at the warehouse club and probably go there every 2 months or so.

 

[123SA]

Oh I am terrible. I guess I go every 9 days or so? I make a menu, which I loathe to do. Then I don't stick to the menu and I often end up throwing stuff away because I didn't use it. I have to stop that. I would do much better shoping for 2 -3 days at a time, but who wants to do that? When DH does the shopping, there are a few extra things. If I do the shopping, there is a ton of extra stuff.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

We go once a week, plus usually there's one extra stop for milk or something small during the week. DH does the shopping--he goes on Friday afternoons after work, before he comes home. He loves it! I make a menu out, and he buys exactly what's on the list. Most of the time, we stick to it. Occasionally, I'm bad to think, "Wait! I want Chick-Fil-A for dinner" and he'll bring it home, but then we eat whatever for the next week's meal. I wish I could do better at coupons--it seems like I clip them and then I don't ever have ones for the items I need!

 

[Arizona Rita]

DH is in charge of all of that. He's the chef, I can barely boil water!
Since we can walk to the store we usually pop in a couple of times a week.
No menu planning altho I think it would help if we did.

 

[aprilvaca04]

We go once a week, plus usually there's one extra stop for milk or something small during the week. DH does the shopping--he goes on Friday afternoons after work, before he comes home. He loves it! I make a menu out, and he buys exactly what's on the list. Most of the time, we stick to it. Occasionally, I'm bad to think, "Wait! I want Chick-Fil-A for dinner" and he'll bring it home, but then we eat whatever for the next week's meal. I wish I could do better at coupons--it seems like I clip them and then I don't ever have ones for the items I need!

Oh I love Chick-Fil-A but we don't have them up here people think we are crazy when we talk about a trip to Florida and going there is one of the highlights. Simple pleasure I guess

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

They are building a Chic-Fil-A on the same road as DH's work. So he has to drive past it to get home. And it's on the right side of the street to pull off and get back on.

I love Chic-Fil-A.

 

[TinkerBean]

No menu planning here BUT ---

Wednesday nights are pancakes for dinner

Tuesday are pasta night

Friday is Pizza night we order out (and movie night)

Saturday is usually free for all night

and another night is homemade pizza night

We have a 4 pizza places, 3 delis, the Danish Pastry House, a Mexican and chinese take out all within a block of us so take out at least once a week

With DS having *major* food issues (doesn't eat meat {except for bacon},no eggs, no vegetables) having meals that we all eat is a challenge.

Grocery shopping happens everyweek and pinballfamily and I usually hit BJ and Costco and Target every together every two weeks or so

Rhonda

 

[party of 3]

i started this ? and then never got back to it.

i do a big shop every 3 or 4 weeks. then do bj's in between. i have a freezer downstairs so i will fill it up when we go. if i buy a roast i will cut it in 1/2 before freezing so it's really 2 meals. i had been doing a menu and it works out great when i do, but i've so been slacking on that. i need to get back to it. i hate the "whats for supper" question. i like to know when i start the day so i know what i need to do when i get home.
i do all the paper stuff and cleaning stuff at bj's but recently found that target was cheaper. so i might start doing it there instead.

 

[Lisa]

We do our major shopping at BJ's. DH works right down the road from one so if we run out of things, he can quickly stop on the way home. For our vegetables, we go to a local farm that has a fruit and vegetable store. It's on the way home for both of us so we can easily pick up our fruits and veggies.

As for menu planning.