Elsewhere I've called this Mindless Menu Planning but it could also be called Pantry Principles for Petrified People Perpetually Puzzled by Prices. :fyi:

Here is how I do my 2 week shopping trip

essentially I start with a guideline menu that goes like this:

Sun: roast beef, chicken, ham or turkey (something that yeilds inexpensive sandwich meat for the week)

Mon:Chicken

Tue: Ground beef

Wed:Pork (beans or tofu, before the allergy hit)

Thur:Leftovers (clean out the fridge night, fill in with soup)

Fri:Fish

Sat: Dairy which means Pizza or Quiche, or Mac and cheese or a new recipe

So for a two week shop list this translates:
(first check freezer to see what is on hand, and sale flyers to see if anything needs restocking in my usual freezer/pantry on hand stuff)

2 roasts of some sort

2 chicken meals (if all quarters, then a big bag of cheap quarters)

2 ground beef (check if it's time to get more cheap gr. beef and make crumbles or is it time to do up more meatloaf/balls/burgers mixture)

2 pork meals (chops or casserole but when I could do beans that was nicer, I usually did a baked beans, and a chili for the 2 bean meals) which often means a big thing of boneless loin chops. Do up the best chops as chops, cut up the other stuff for stir fry or casserole.

Leftovers are in the system, but I usually plan a homemade soup towards the end of a menu cycle (2 week shopping/payday cycle for me) to use up fridge stuff and a soup and sandwich night is a great way to use stuff up.

2 fish meals one is usually a fried fish fillets, the other baked or tuna cass.

2 dairy mealls, Pizza, Quiche or mac and cheese are the all time favourites.

ANY OF THE MEALS can be SOUP. If I'm doing a dairy night, I can make a cream soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for example.

I do this kind of planning because of food allergies. Giving my body 3 or 4 days in between protein types prevents me from reacting to mild food allergies or making new severe ones (how I ended up with a bean allergy-- I attempted to go vegetarian, with disastrous results, forgot I pop new allergies if I eat something too often)

Back to Planning:

I figure out what I need to restock whether it's regular ground beef for crumbles, or chicken quarters and breasts or more pork. I look for sales.

My menu plan may rely on cooked meals or frozen meat already in my freezer or I may need to make up a new batch of meatloaf mix because I'm low and I want some meatloaf for a ground meat night.

I should also point out, I don't use these things on the "correct" nights, the Mon, Tue , wed thing is just a guide to plan so I get a good variety. If you are catholic and observe Fish on Friday like my sister, then use it on Friday, but if it suits your plan better on a Wed night, then go for it then.

I cross off stuff once I've served it, and choose by 9 am in the morning or the night before, what we are having from what is already on the list.

Produce is a challenge when you shop every 2 weeks. I still top stuff off, but I'm getting better as time goes by.

I have a "basic veggie" list. Whatever I don't use can go into soup at the end of the payday cycle.

Kind of get a feel for what your "tried and true" recipes call for all the time.

Mine ask for onions, garlic, red or green peppers and celery and sometimes mushrooms.

SO I routinely buy a head of celery, restock my onion supply, ditto garlic, and stock up on peppers and mushrooms when I catch them on sales.

ALL of these FREEZE WELL! So in order to have them on hand, I will freeze extra celery, peppers or sale priced mushrooms. The onions and garlic keep well but I will freeze extra chopped onion if I chop too much on a cooking day for example. I don't often freeze red peppers, or onions but it can be done to take advantage of good sales or use something up before the next 2 week shop.

I especially like to chop up any celery hanging around at the end of a payday cycle and stick it in my fridge freezer. That way I make room for fresh, and I will use that prechopped conveniance celery in my cooking or for soups.

We normally use up any red peppers I buy within a week of the big shopping day. Whatever doesn't go into my OAMC cooking becomes part of the raw veggie side dishes or part of a green salad.

I like to stock up on some frozen veggies:
corn
spinach
if I wasnt' allergic, I'd stock up on green peas and beans too.

I dislike the quality of frozen carrots and broccoli so I don't buy them, but they are conveniant if your stores don't carry good broccoli for example or carrots are a bit of a pain for you to peel and chop (arthritis for example).

Canned veggies we like are just the tomato group:
tomato paste
Diced tomatoes in juice
tomatoe sauce

Notice that the canned veggies and the frozen ones are great to have on hand at all times, they don't go bad. They are part of my "pantry plan"

NOW WE GET TO THE TOUGHER STUFF that keeps well for the full 2 weeks and longer:
Carrots
Rutabagas (swedish turnips or swedes as they are sometimes called)
Cabbage
Beets
Potatoes
Parsnips
Hard squash like Butternut or acorn or hubbard
Onions and
Garlic

and all of these ones will last up to 2 months if you take reasonable care. So you can stock up on good sales.

Delicate veggies that I routinely buy:
Broccoli
Leaf lettuce like Romaine (tougher than green leaf lettuce so it lasts better!)
green onions
radishes
Red Peppers (listed above too)
celery (listed above)
Mushrooms (only when on sale, and THEN I FREEZE THEM!)
Cauliflower
Zucchini
Sweet potatoes, the red fleshed "yam" kind.

These I try to serve in the first week although some of them will last a bit longer.

FRUITS:
Frozen Juices are a great way to have a serving of fruit on hand in the freezer --Orange juice is often a loss leader sale item.

and

so are frozen berries like cranberries, strawberries, and blueberries all of which I like to have on hand. ditto home grown frozen rhubarb. I buy berries on sales in season and freeze in huge quantities.

Apples and oranges are tougher than
bananas and Kiwi fruits
so we use up the softer fruits first, and then rely on the hardier fruit that lasts longer.

Home canned fruit is a great way to stock up at summer prices and eat well all year round. The only commercially canned fruit I stock is pineapple which goes into several desserts, and meatball and chicken sauces.

This is easier for me to have this running list of produce items than over planning my side dishes and either getting too much or too little.

It also means that I know what will last for a month or two, and what I need to use up right away.

No matter what I am serving in the way of a "meat" on my first few days of a payday cycle after shopping day it will include a fresh green salad because that veggie needs using up FIRST!

Pantry and Freezer stuff:

I top up my pantry items like rice, or pasta or toilet paper on super sales so I check my pantry as I plan a shopping trip, look at what is getting low.

This occurs every other week just before dh's payday.

I also check things like canned tomato paste or canned soups that I use in particular recipes. Basic paper products, toiletries, personal care and cleaners too.

Once I check my pantry levels, I check for super sales on the pantry items and add them to the list. If it's a super once a year deal, I try to buy as much as I can afford out of that paycheck.

Sometimes all I do is list something that is getting low for up to 6--8 weeks or even longer on my white board in my kitchen while I wait for it to go on a low low sale.

I put it on the side corner of my grocery list as stuff to look for on specials, that way if I see an unadvertised super deal I know I'm looking for one or two cases of toilet paper or canned soup. But I don't blow all my grocery money buying it, if it isn't that good a deal, I let my money ride a bit further, and wait for another payday cycle.

This way I "shop" my pantry all the time at super low prices.

PLANNING THE PANTRY:

Keep it simple.

Look at your basic tried and true recipes and see what they call for.

LOOK AT SUBSTITUTES YOU CAN USE AND LEARN TO "STANDARDIZE" YOUR RECIPES TO USE BASIC INGREDIENTS, rather than fancier, more expensive stuff.

For example cream of celery and cream of chicken are WAY more expensive than the cream of mushroom soups which are always on good case lot prices. So learn to substitute.

It's really not all that complicated. Here is what it looks like on a normal sheet of paper that I take to the store, and afterwards tack up on the front of my fridge for the 2 week menu/shopping cycle.

I put a little pencilled in menu on the upper left side of a sheet of paper and draw a little box around that to keep it tidy.

then the stuff I need to make that menu plan with down the side. the no matter if it's on special or not, I gotta buy this stuff things. This includes anything I need to do an OAMC batch plan for whatever meat is on special and I want to restock.

On the bottom half I have several columns under each store for their specials and what I need to top off the pantry and freezer from the good deals. Stuff like chops where I don't pre cook anything.

And on the very bottom in a pencilled in box I put the stuff I am running low on, look for a good deal, but don't get yet if it's not a good deal items.
Toilet paper, canned pineapple, whatever my pantry is low on.

So now I need to know what, OAMC stands for??????????
I figure,it has to do with planning ahead...
lacyj

So now I need to know what, OAMC stands for??????????
I figure,it has to do with planning ahead...
lacyj

OAMC = Once A Month Cooking :)

Thanks,
lacyj

Bravo - again CG!!

Thanks for the great advice!! I'm taking notes as I go!

Thanks Canadian Gardener for all the information you've given us today. It is deeply appreciated.

You are sure welcome! I love to share something that helped me thru a rough patch when my energy and health were bad, and we didn't have much money either.

Once a month cooking or batch cooking and component cooking like I do it, rack up impressive savings particularly when you can shop to refill pantry basics, and you can cook the batches out of the pantry and freezer on days when you have energy.

I would be absolutely unable, even now to do a big cooking session right after a grocery shop. I need to break things down and my method evolved out of that need. I had to do it, when I got the energy. So batch cooking and components sort of happened.

Side effect was that I was finally able to standardize a lot of my pantry and freezer because 80 to 90% of the time, I"m cooking recipes I know well. There are a lot of them, so there is constant variety, but because I know them, I am able to run a fairly tight pantry system.

Along with a pantry system, goes an easier price book. You simply track the top 30 or 40 items that you buy all the time for 80 to 95% of the possible savings. You don't need to track everything or beat yourself up for not hitting a marvellous sale on everything.

Just the top 20% which for me means about 30 to 40 items. (and none of them is fresh produce, that is seasonal pricing and not worth tracking, only price book pantry and freezer staples)

Perfection is a destructive goal. Aim to track just the top 20% of the stuff you buy, and I think you'll see 80% of the possible savings. Why go to more work than that?

KEEP IT SIMPLE and you keep it working.

oh and for beginners at a price book, I recommend you only track the top 20 of things you normally buy every payday.

That nets you a huge savings over the year, rather than worrying about saving even as much as a dollar or two on something you might only buy one of a year.


Keep it simple so you keep at it, and it will keep your financial boat afloat and sailing towards savings.:boat:

Thanks Canadian Gardener! :) That is very precious information you gave us there!

You are indeed, most welcome. Glad to help. :cutie:

Something you WON'T find in most OAMC books, is the use of the pantry for meals you put together in a hurry, from dry and canned goods or storage veggies.

It belongs in my philosophy of component cooking though because it's all about being prepared, having stuff set aside, storing for a rainy day financially.

I will be adding more of that type of recipe in the OAMC tutorial thread, but it's worth thinking a minute aobut why you do OAMC or component cooking.

I do this cooking to save time, money and energy

but also

to be prepared for grocery days, when I don't have much money at all, not my usual grocery money.

My pantry, freezer and system insulate me from the ups and downs.

And I can't think of a better reason to be prepared, to be able to feed my family healthy meals when the money supply goes up and down like a yoyo.

Margery, I appreciate this information very much!! Thank you!

Thank you Margery for taking the time to post this info.

you are welcome. A little more on planning the pantry and keeping it simple.

Here is one way:
It is something my mil taught me, and I've not bothered with since fine tuning my system

That is to notice what gets used and what sits a long time in the pantry. She did it with a black felt tip marker. She dated the cans/bags when she got them.

It's a help to rotate. AND It will help you spot the losers in the pile.

A pantry is a tool to help you store stuff that you use LOTS of AND get the biggest sales on so the stuff you use lots, is netting you big savings.

You don't need to store losers for years on end because you no longer like the recipe that can of pickled shrimp went into. It isn't a money making use of shelf space

Shelf space earns money when it stores stuff that
1--YOU USE LOTS OF, and

2--YOU BOUGHT WAY CHEAPER THAN NORMAL.

When you waste precious space on losers, or stuff that you only use once in a blue moon, it isn't earning for you.

IT IS ACTUALLY CROWDING OUT THE MONEY MAKERS!

When you say Oh I don't have room for more than 6 cases of toilet paper at 5 cents a roll then your pickled shrimp (saved 5 cents a can! whooopee!) is COSTING YOU.

So keeping it simple SAVES TIME AND MONEY! :hurray:

when I say I don't bother with it, I don't date my cans and bags anymore. I eyeball my pantry items and dejunk my kitchen, including pantry space regularly.

If we are no longer in the market for "pickled shrimp" out it goes to the charity box along with the other dejunked stuff.

I keep my space as current and useful as possible because I really do need to keep it clear for stuff we use lots of and that I got a real deal on.

This also means that I'm not in there all the time with inventory lists. When I open a case of soup tins for example, or pop open the last jar of mayo, then it's time to look for a deal.

Inventory lists are useful when you are starting out, but once you have a good tough time tested simple system running, it isn't worth it in my opinion.

Let me temper that statement, I say that because I can see my stuff at a glance, and I know where I keep it all.

I did run out of sugar in recent living memory. I'd opened the last bag and SOMEHOW forgot to get it onto the grocery list. OOOOOPS

but I've saved a lot of time churning thru inventory lists of pantry supplies. :hurray:

Margery, it sounds like our pantries are a lot a like! I don't do the case lot system quite like you do, but I have nice long shallow shelves that let me pretty know how much I have. I do inventory my chest freezer from time to time, but that's really no biggie. An upright freezer is easier to organize, but it costs much more to run (cold air stays in a chest freezer better when the door is open). I inventory it when I defrost it which is once every winter. But as far as inventorying my dry/canned goods ... I have better things to do with my time! When the great sales come up I just glance at what I have and guess how much I'll need. If something we use a lot of (which is what goes in the pantry) I buy a lot and figure it won't go bad as I know we'll use it! And you're right, it's a system that just gets easier over time.
Something I'm overstocked on this year is home canned applesauce. We made more that in years past, but used a different variety of apples. Turns out the kids don't like it as much and it's taking longer for us to go through. It will keep for a few years, though, so next year we just won't can as much applesauce in '04.

LOL you and me both with the applesauce!

I've got apples from sil's tree in my garage, that aren't great eating anymore but still good for applesauce so when I get back from fil's place next week I'm canning up more applesauce, but we are backed up from 2 year ago in our supply!

Applesauce is easy to make (I have a Foley Food Mill which is a little hand cranked metal seive thingy) and it sure uses up apples that are getting a little long in storage.

but it's good stuff. I'm opening another quart of it to go with the pork roast tonight.

One thing I need to do is start canning stuff in PINTS, not quarts. Yeesh, I've been so used to a quart of this or that being just right, but now with ds gone (and dd won't eat applesauce) it's a bit much to be opening quarts of anything.

where did the time go?

adding another little tip to save on the groceries that I"ve used over the years and that is to BUY SPICES AND HERBS at the bulk bin of your discount supermarket or health food store if you don't have a supermarket that does that.

Freshest and best due to high turnover.

Why the turnover?

Because to fill the average spice jar to running over, it costs between 13 to 15 cents even in my high price Canadian supermarkets. American shoppers should realize even lower prices. :icon_wink

It's even more important to do a list. Plan a loose menu (you don't have to serve it on Tuesday if the chicken would work better on Friday or if the chicken casserole isn't appealing, turn it into oven fried, whatever works on the day)

By using a list, you don't have to head back to the store. After surgery dh and I went shopping together on Saturday in teh early morning with him pushing the carts. I find morning is best, and before the crowds.

Get help if you are feeling lousy. Direct the family in the putting away at the end. Get a kid or dh to push the cart.

By planning once, you save several trips extra, and you have what you need when you need.

By planning a menu, you can still pick and choose, but you have everything there to make the meals. Such an energy saver.

speaking of which, if your energy is in the basement and you want a good shopping list complete with recipes and a menu plan here are a couple of places:

First is the 2 sample weeks of menu mailer, one is low carb, the other regular food. http://www.savingdinner.com/menumailer.html

Leanne the menu mailer lady also wrote a book Saving Dinner which has 32 weeks worth of menus and shopping lists with the recipes for the regular style meals. She is coming out shortly with the vegetarian, and the Low Carb book versions.

Her reg menu mailer has vegetarian variations for almost every recipe. Low carb is exactly that, low carb, and doesn't have a vegetarian option.

Right now I am subscribed to the low carb version and finding it a welcome break.

Now onto super frugality: 5 weeks of frugal menus, recipes and shopping lists:
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn529w.htm
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn530w.htm
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn531w.htm
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn532w.htm
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn533w.htm

Wasting stuff is good to do sometimes.

Oh I know, you are scandalized to your frugal toes! BUT sometimes knowing when to be a little wasteful keeps you moving along, instead of getting stuck.

I was shopping with George last payday, he figured that it wasn't THAT much more expensive to buy the smaller bag of organic salad mix at Overwaitea, AND we would only get what we could use. (actually we needed it all but he didn't know that)

Fine, except it was an incredible amount cheaper to buy the BIGGER box (4 or 5 times the weight of salad) at Costco, and so what if we waste some. It's organic, goes back into the soil.

I'm not advocating waste on grand scales, but at times we major on the minors, and lose sight of the goal.

When I explained it to George he understood, but first he had to get over the mental block against waste.

The GOAL in this case is to eat good food at low prices. Waste occaisionally happens, and if we bought a little too much, better that than having to WASTE GASOLINE on another trip to the store.

OK next little example is spices.

So you go to the store, needing thyme, and the BEST CHEAPEST way to buy is the bulk bin in the grocery store. But you can't take your little jar with you, it looks odd and doesn't weigh right.

So you put a scoop into the baggie, hoping you got the right amount.

And some is WASTED when you get home and put it in the jar.

Well, maybe not because if you are me you use a lot of thyme anyway, and keep the remainder on hand for a month or two.

BUT lets say it's cloves (ick, rarely use that!)

I TOSS THE REST OUT!!!! At 13 cents a little baggie, we aren't wasting more than a cent.

Meanwhile our cupboard isn't clogged with little baggies of goodness knows what.

AND I didn't have to bother going back for a few more months.

SAVING GASOLINE AND BOTHER!

sometimes a little waste is a good thing.

3rd and final example.

That food in the fridge is getting old. Payday approaches, we need to clean out the fridge. PLEASE TOSS IT! If it hasn't been eaten by now, it probably won't be.

If it's dinner leftovers, once it's reheated ONCE, toss it for food safety. If its raw carrots, they will last a month in the fridge. If it's celery toss it, if it's past it. I freeze nice food, celery with crunch and flavour and vitamins, not some half rotted specimen. NOR DO I MAKE SOUP out of this compost material. Toss it and be done. It doesn't have too much in the way of vitamins left in it by now.

A little bit of waste can save you from food poisoning (and that goes double for bulging, dented, rusty cans or iffy home canned foods).

Be careful, practice a little waste once in a while.

bump :carrot:

Thank you very much. I bet I can arrange a 2-week schedule. Especially when I know that every-Thursday-is-kids-activities, so I need simple meals for those days.

It is TIME for me to re-read this and incorporate a part of it into my life: my pantry is overwhelmed; my freezers are full-to-bursting; and I've got a bunch of produce to process.

Oh my, I've not been over in here in a while. Welcome Slughorn, and glad you are enjoying this thread/tutorial on my methods.

ah, I've got a really nice link to a wonderful printable menu planner sheet/grocery list

blank but all nicely set up so you put YOUR stuff in.

http://cookingfortherushed.com/custom_grocery_list.htm

Thank you, Canadian gardner. I just joined here and wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the great food savings ideas. I like the idea of bi-weekly shopping, I know the less I go to the stores the less I spend!

Just wanted to let you know something I learned when cooking for my family. I placed a plastic gallon jug with lid in the freezer. At the end of every meal, when dealing with any leftovers that was not enough to save for another meal, if it would work in soup (beans and peas, tomatoes, rice, pasta, onions, celery, bell peppers, etc.) I would put it in my plastic jug. I would even add left over meats, like beef roast, or meatloaf. When the jug filled, I would take it out, thaw it, and make soup enough to can some. (some in quart jars and some in pints) This way, I would have canned soup for individual servings or for family size servings. Worked great.