Friday 20 April 2012

Inspired by you guys... Shop your pantry

Generally I'm in charge of the food shopping in our house as I tend to do most of the cooking. Steve is a great cook but I take take pleasure in cooking so generally I cook and Steve (bless his heart) washes up afterwards (and I really mean he needs blessing as I'm the type of person who uses loads of pans when cooking).

Anyway, a few weeks ago I was totally inspired by Ashley's great idea to shop your pantry which you can find here- link!This gives a far more comprehensive guide then mine (which is more a test drive of her idea). She also does a second update here- link! It's an organised and cost effective way to plan your meals based on what you already have at home.


The basic premise is that you list everything you have in your home and base meals around them, using up what you have and planning meals so there is as little wastage as possible. I love this concept as it's cost effective and saves time in the long run plus (excuse the pun) food wastage leaves a sour taste in my mouth!


This is how I did it:
1. List the items you already have in. I must admit I didn't list every last thing (e.g. mayo, different types of cheese etc) but instead will just add these to the chalk board when I run out and add them to the shopping list.


2. Create a grid for the days of the week. Plan meals to cover each day of the week, as I went I did a small tick next to each item I already had (on the original food stock list) so I knew it was being used, then added any ingredients I didn't have for that particular meal to the shopping list. There were some scribbles as I reconsidered the order depending on which fresh foods would go off first.


3.As Steve eats toast for breakfast every morning each week day, I have cereal at work and Ben has it at the childminders, I left gaps in weekday breakfast/ lunches and just added what I would need straight to the shopping list e.g. sandwich meats, fruit etc.
4. I picked three new recipes to try this week but I'll try them on Sunday and Friday so I'm not stressed about cooking them after a long day at work. I also planned to keep one freezer pizza (for those emergency nights when you're shattered).
5.I then went back to the shopping list and added other things such as cleaning products, bird seed, light bulbs etc.


There were a few bits and pieces left (such as 50 party size sausage rolls that were never used at a party) but I guess they'll have to wait for another day! Also, I didn't put it into sections in the supermarket (if I'm honest it's just because I forgot) but I'll just take a pen this week and cross them off.


The verdict so far:
I was quite surprised how short the shopping list was as I felt I had nothing in at home but when I reevaluated, it just wasn't things that went together. I'm hoping I should be able to buy the food for between £50-£60 but I'm not really sure. I didn't plan a strict budget this time and only planned for one week: it's my first week trying this and I'm a bit clueless about how much we normally spend and also I'm aware we run out of fresh food such as milk and fruit on a weekly basis so would need to restock. I'll report back on how I found this in a month or so when I have a chance to really get to grips with it.


Thanks Ashley from The Vanilla Tulip for such a great idea and happy Friday everybody!xxx

20 comments:

  1. I do this too. I am amazed at the money saved and the healthier meals we eat

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    1. We tend to eat pretty healthy but when we've had a long day and you come home to loads of random food items that don't make a proper meal it's tempting to order takeaway, hopefully this will eliminate this and save as money too!x

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  2. What a great concept...looking forward to hearing how it turns out...food waste unfortunately runs rampant at our house.

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    1. It's awful isn't it? I think salad and yogurts are the worst here, I find myself chucking them every couple of weeks.x

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  3. I've tried this several times... it does save money, but somehow I always get off track and go back to my old ways! Thanks for comeing by my blog and saying hello! I'm your newest follower here today!
    Have a wonderful weekend! Oh, and join us " simple living loving farmgirls anytime" all are welcome!

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  4. I'm excited I can comment on your blog now, I was not seeing a comment box before! I guess my browser was out of date because I updated and now I see the box.

    Good luck with your menu planning! I go in spurts with meal planning and then get off track and just stop by the store on the way home from work and "wing it". Winging it does get expensive!

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    1. Really? I've had problems like that before too, one where the word verification would never work and the other where I woud comment but it would never show on the site, modern technology is great but sometimes... GRRRRRR!

      We often stop at a local garage for milk/ bread etc to top up during the week but the worst is when we get home and realise we have nothing in then have to trail back out for something. x

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  5. My roommate used to had a food planner too, but she wrote it in an Excel file:)Have a nice day:)

    http://whoateallthestrawberries.blogspot.com/

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    1. That's a great idea. Once upon a time I would find that incredibly anal but now as life is a lot busier it makes total sense. I'll have a go at that next time as it will be easier to share with you guys if I can link it to a file perhaps? Thanks for the tip.x

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  6. Excellent idea. I should probably do the same thing!

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  7. fantastic idea, i need to get into it! and thanks for visiting <3

    natalie
    http://lucyandtherunaways.blogspot.com

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  8. This is such a cool idea, I'm definitely going to give it a go, the amount of food we have in our pantry is insane!

    Lucy Loves To Blog

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    1. We just had a load of random bits that were months old but they should be all gone by the end of this week!x

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  9. Sounds like a very useful experiment. We are forever wasting food, especially veggies! Joann

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  10. I need to be more intentional about this - you've inspired me! Great blog!

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    1. Why thank you, athough really the credit should go to Ashley from The Vanilla Tulip for the fab idea.x

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  11. Thanks for your comment on my blog Rachael! I love your idea with planning meals like that. I just started following you, hope you do the same thing back :)

    http://bronsonbloopers.blogspot.com

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  12. This is such a great tip! I do something a little similar, every month I go through the pantry and make meals out of whatever we have but your plan is much better :)

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  13. This sounds like a really great idea! So fun of you to share it!

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