Food shopping for one

suki1964 · 8 October 2019 at 6:32PM

When we lived in London with no car, the shopping was got and taken home on the bus, and up two flights of stairs

Meal planning is the only way you are going to ensure you have in stock the ingredients you need. Deciding on the day what to cook usually means EXPENSIVE, something you buy that's quick and easy

Meal planning and batch cooking making use of your freezer really is the way forward. This has been suggested to you many many times over the years. It works just as well for one person as it does a family. JackieO has been doing it for years , hardly spends a penny ( so it seems ) and yet eats a very varied diet

If you are really struggling to carry shopping, what I would do is after Ive worked out a meal plan and written a list of what I need for the week/2 week/month, sort it into perishables and non perishables and order the non perishables ( usually the heavy stuff ) to be delivered and then, using your meal plan and list, pick up a bit of the perishables on the way home every couple of days

If you have a freezer and use it wisely, you will really not be needing to shop yourself very often. Milk freezes, butter freezes, cheese, bread, a whole host of things freeze exceptionally well.

PipneyJane · 10 October 2019 at 2:02PM

As well as meal planning, my suggestion would be to attempt to only do one shop a month and then get a taxi home. that's what I did, back in the days when I didn't have a car. I had a fridge, a larder cupboard and a freezer, so I used to buy the more perishable veg frozen (mushrooms, peas, sweetcorn, spinach, broccoli). Onions, garlic and potatoes were bought in big bags and stored loose in baskets (the onions and garlic on the counter, the potatoes in the larder).

In order to avoid top up shops, you need to keep a list and note on it a) when things have nearly run out (tomato puree, dried pasta, rice, toiletries, flour, sugar, breakfast cereal) and b) what you need to buy for a month's worth of meals.

My meal planning is pretty vague. I know I can make meals out of mince, chicken, bacon, white fish, cubed beef, chicken livers, bacon, etc, so I shop to restock the freezer and then plan my meal around whatever fresh items need using up combined with what I take out to defrost the night before.

To avoid popping out for fresh milk, buy long life SKIMMED milk (it doesn't have the aftertaste the other types do).

HTH

Pip

PS: Remember, you can still take advantage of BOGOF's. You'll just use them up more slowly than a family. If a bottle of shampoo lasts you 2 months, then the BOGOF means you won't have to buy shampoo again for 4 months, freeing up your shampoo money to be spent on other things.

halogen · 10 October 2019 at 2:19PM

I don't 'get' meal planning. I don't understand what it is i'm supposed to do to make to make it work.:-)

Working_Mum · 10 October 2019 at 2:43PM

Have you thought about getting a nice size rucksack which you can use for shopping? You're not then lugging it up stairs but balancing the load in your rucky.
This combined with meal planning and using your freezer will have you bouncing into shape in no time!

DigForVictory · 10 October 2019 at 2:46PM

You decide a time period - usually a week, and draw up what you are going to eat for every meal (breakfast, lunch, evening meal & 'tea'). You then compare what you plan to eat with what you already have & lo - shopping list with relative amounts.

It can feel restrictive but in fact it means you can have your Thursday evening meal on Tuesday - as you have all the ingredients in. If you can shop, seize upon yellow stickered things & adjust the plan, wonderful.

If not, your freezer becomes a new best friend as any changes of mind, any sudden surges of energy or unexpected gifts of fresh fruit or veg and you can enjoy when it suits.

Especially if you are used to cooking for more than 1, the freezer can mop up the surplus & help you gradually wean down to smaller shops.

Debran · 10 October 2019 at 3:29PM

Lots of people on here who can plan meals ahead. Wish I was as organised. I suppose I'm just too lazy but it's fascinating to read how everyone deals with shopping for one.

Like caronc, I do all my grocery shopping on line but don't use annual pass/voucher as I'm rather fickle and like to play the field. Where I shop depends on the items I need at the time.

Someone suggested freezing milk. A word of warning here. If we are talking the run of the mill plastic bottles of fresh milk which most of us buy, then freeze these at your own risk. Some years ago I regularly froze them but for the last few years manufacturers have perfected thinner and thinner bottles. I found when thawing bottles out that they had split with the resultant pools of milk. I did this on at least three occasions before it dawned on me that it was because of the thinness of the bottles.

Pour the milk into other containers to freeze. You could try pouring a little milk out of each bottle then freezing them so that the ice does not burst the bottle as it expands, though I've not tried this.

suki1964 · 10 October 2019 at 6:34PM

halogen wrote: »

I don't 'get' meal planning. I don't understand what it is i'm supposed to do to make to make it work.:-)

Meal planning is whatever works for you. This is how it works for me

I do a quick inventory of the fridge and freezer before I go shopping, My store cupboard - tins, pasta, herbs, ketchup etc etc I know what I have because as soon as Im down to the last but one of anything there, it goes on the list. That list isn't immediate, its a work in progress. I have a ketchup open and no spare, I don't need to rush to the shops to buy ketchup, so it goes on the list for when I get to see it at a good price or Im in the supermarket that sells my preferred brand

But the fresh stuff is what I shop for weekly, meat veg, bread, dairy etc, that what I check on, and what bits I have in the freezer, some odds and sods. At the moment in mine is 4 portions of lasagne, 4 of bolognese , 6 different stew portions and quite a bit of fish

Then I go shopping knowing I have spuds, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese - whatever

So I go shopping and I head straight for the meat. Whats on offer? Whats good value? Whats good?

So I may pick up a chicken, some pork chops a pack of mince. Then I decide on how Im going to use this during the week

So for me, Id be thinking roast chicken dinner for Sunday, Chops for Tuesday, left over chicken Wednesday, Mince for Thursday, meat free Friday

So how am I going to use up the chicken, what am I going to do with the chops and mince?

Lets say chicken stir-fry and rice, so I need to buy veg that works for that. Lets say a lasagne or bolognese for the mince and lets say chops with pepper sauce , I need veg that works for that as well

Now I know already I have pasta, rice, tinned toms - everything like that because Ive none of those things on my list to buy

So I head to the veg. Ive spuds enough for two dinners at home. So I think cauliflower cheese will go well for roast and chops - find the biggest. Carrots will work for both dishes, and the stir-fry. I pick up two peppers, mushrooms, leeks, a cabbage - you get the idea? Just enough fresh veg that you are going to use it up that week and not throw it away. Then I think of what salad bits are needed, yoghurts etc etc

Friday is usually egg and chips or omelette or quiche. And I have to admit I get my chips free of charge so I never have to buy those

Saturdays I don't cook as such. We might get a take out or have something on toast or a pasta dish using up bits

So that my meal planning for the week. I don't always follow it to a tee, I might not do the roast till Tuesday, I might decide not to use the mince and use the sausages or stew thats lurking in the freezer.

It works for me. I rarely spend more then I need, indeed sometimes I think how is this little amount of food going to do 3 of us a week, but it does

With the batch cooking, no it doesn't mean eating the same thing for a few days, it means portioning up and popping in the freezer. So make a big lasagne , eat once, freeze the rest in portions and when you have a gap in your meal planning , get the lasagne out. Same with the stews etc. I also freeze those single sausages left from a pack ( pack of 6 and only 5 needed in this house, 1 wrapped and frozen) before you know it you have enough sausages to feed 3 people

Primrose · 11 October 2019 at 5:21PM

halogen wrote: »

I don't 'get' meal planning. I don't understand what it is i'm supposed to do to make to make it work.:-)

Well, for example you could make up a double batch of spaghetti bolognese sauce. Day 1 eat half of it with pasta. Day 2 add some red kidney beans & chilli to turn It into chilli con carne, or cover with mashed potatoes and reheat in oven to turn into cottage pie.

Or when you know you can get cheap vegetables, make a big pan of vegetable soup to fill you up first then buy items which will,provide light savoury items for a second course.

It's a case of looking in your cupboard, fridge or freezer and picking items you can perhaps use for a couple of days on the run, but in different ways so that leftovers arnt wasted or left to linger beyond their shelf life.

A big pan of stewed apple for example can be used to make some kind of dessert one day and any left overs used with breakfast porridge with possibly a few sultanas added the next day. A dual aim of meal planning should not only be to use up your food supplies sensibly but also reduce the amount of cooking you have to do.

maman · 11 October 2019 at 7:30PM

halogen wrote: »

I don't 'get' meal planning. I don't understand what it is i'm supposed to do to make to make it work.:-)

I use a similar method to suki.

I keep an ongoing list of anything I run out of in the kitchen but I check first that I don't have it in my store cupboard. The store cupboard has multiple long life items that I've bought on offer or on my occasional trips to places like Poundstretcher or Home Bargains. When shopping day comes I check what's left that's fresh and needs using up and what's in the freezer (I have a list that I keep up to date). Then I write down 7 dinners using what I have in and only adding to the list ingredients that are essential to make the 7 meals. I'm happy to change my plan if I find YS items or good offers. For breakfasts I make sure I've got eggs, beans, bread, cereal and porage oats and decide day to day what I fancy. I'm generally at home at lunchtime and I either have left overs from dinner or a jacket potato or soup as the winter's coming.

My 'meal plan' is written on the corner of my list and I cut it off when I get back from the shops. It's no bigger than a large postage stamp so nothing fancy

I batch cook for the freezer so I always put at least one HM ready meal on the plan for busy days or it can stay in the freezer if I eat out unexpectedly. HTH.

Fusspot · 11 October 2019 at 11:25PM

Thanks all, this is very helpful. I sometimes get a bit confused with eating what I batch cook and other foods such as chicken breasts, fish etc. Or I will batch cook a dish and then go off the idea and it stays in the freezer until it gets chucked out because I don't fancy eating it after a few months or however long its been there.

I've just done a online shop for things like cat food, cleaning products, tinned food. I've left the bread out this time as reading reviews online some people are saying they are not delivering the freshest bread so I might get that from the shops.

The main shops I use are in the city centre as its convenient for me with working there and I can call in on my way home from work before I get the bus home. However, these shops can be more expensive but I don't have the time to shop around so to speak as I am at work full time.

I know I need to start making lists and keep it up. I start doing it and then it goes out of the window. A list is usually a post it note stuck to the front of my diary. I've tried keeping a food inventory on my laptop and that doesn't work, I need to have something that's staring me in the face when I go in the kitchen or get my diary out of my bag.

When I first moved to my new flat in May and got a full size cooker I was starting to get organised and now I feel I am letting it slide and I really don't want that to happen.

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Food shopping for one

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