Grocery Shopping

I love grocery shopping almost as much as I love cooking - and my love is not even dampened by the fact that I always take my three little loves along! My ideal experience hinges on a few things, not the least of which is making sure that Little One's naptime is not hindered by the trip. My preference is to start on Thursday with cleaning out old food from the fridge and assessing what staples we're running low on from the fridge and pantry. I keep a notepad on the fridge to jot down items throughout the week, too, so I double-check that. If it's a staple I don't use often or definitely won't use in the upcoming week I consider it a "maybe" until I hear from Handsome what my budget is. I also spend time on Thursday going through my coupons and recipe and making my list. Also, I've posted before about what my fridge looks like by a typical Thursday, so I don't usually have much to work with. Once Friday comes and the shopping is done, the little people bring in the groceries while I put them all away.

When time permits (we're talking ideal here, remember?) I like to go ahead and put everything away, including pouring flour, sugar, etc. into their bulk containers. If I'm home early enough and my schedule is clear, I'll even get chicken started in the slow cooker and prepare items like grapes and celery sticks for easy snacking.