How to Go Grocery Shopping

If you want to make meals at home, you need to know how to go grocery shopping. There is an actual way to shop for food. It takes some deliberate thought if you want to prepare healthly meals consistently. Browsing the aisles and buying new and different products is fun but it doesn't provide you with the food you really need to eat well.

Here are my suggestions for preparing a list to take with you to the store so you will be prepared to feed your family for an entire week.

• Choose a regular time of the week to go. Sunday afternoon or after work on Friday, for example, and plan to buy enough for the week. That means food enough for breakfast at home, lunch at work, and complete, filling dinners. And you won't be running off to the store before dinner.
• Think about what meals you will be eating out during the week. Do you have provided lunches at work several times in the coming week or maybe on a regular basis? Do you have dinner plans over the weekend? Do your children have provided lunches at school? You obviously won't need to have food on hand for these meals if so.
• Buy food based on the mealtime. For example, what do you generally eat for breakfast? Oatmeal or cereal or fried eggs and toast? Lunch? Sliced meats or canned soup or dinner leftovers? Dinner? Roast chicken or sauteed fish or a big salad? Dessert? Do you have a dessert at home?
• Think about each element of the meal. The starch - couscous, potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, etc., the vegetable - blanched asparagus, glazed carrots, sliced tomatoes, etc., the meat - chicken breast, pork tenderloin, lamp shoulder chops, boneless pork chops, etc. Buy foods that fulfill these categories so that putting together a quick dinner is possible.
• Think about the season. What does the weather make you hungry for? Hot soup or cooling salads. What foods are in season? What is particularly delicious right now? Are tomatoes great or tasteless? Is your favorite fruit perfect right now?
• What do you have time to prepare? Are you and your family always pressed for time in the morning? If so, maybe instant oatmeal or quick-cooking hot cereal is the best option. Are certain evenings busier than others? Would a frozen meal work better each Tuesday night when you have a late meeting at work, as opposed to Fridays evenings when you and your family are home earlier and in the mood to cook?
• What events are happening in your family? Any family birthdays or big tests at school or work? What special foods do you eat to reward yourselves? What special foods do you eat when you aren't feeling well?
  

All these different factors will help when preparing your list. Eventually you will be buying some regular foods, staples as it were. That definitely makes things easier. Less guess work is a good thing. But don't get stuck in a rut. It is worth rethinking what you buy and from where.

Going to a local farmer's market can rejuvenate your appetite. You get to see what is in season and fresh, not to mention, of course, the support you provide to local farmers and your community. Farmers markets are also wonderful places to introduce children to the human reality of their food. The local supermarket is impersonal - you don't meet the person who grew your lettuce or apples, etc. And you don't get to show your appreciation.

Susan