, Ok, so I know a lot of yall out there are fresh to adulting, and actually going to the grocery store is like….a lot. I remember just kinda….wandering around grabing random stuff and ending up with a lot of junk at the end and no real meals.
So here’s a basic guide of how to do it.
1. Start your list with stuff that doesn’t need recipes.
These will be your fast breakfast/pre-made meal stuff.
I divide my shopping lists into: Produce, Meats, Fridge/Frozen, Spices and Shelved. So this might look like:
2. Pick out some easy recipes.
We’ll do 3, just to see how this looks. Depending on how many dinners youre making at home/storage space/etc, you may have more or less. There’s tons of recipe websites out there. They are free.
Once you’ve been cooking a while, you’ll find that you have lots of recipes you want to repeat. I recommend printing these out.
3. Ok, so now, double check the serving sizes on your recipes and add the ingredients to your shopping list, one recipe at a time.
4. The next step is to take this list into your kitchen. Is there anything you already have and don’t need?
So I already have salsa, soy sauce, canola oil, and cheddar cheese. Don’t need to rebuy those!
5. Now you can print this out and go shopping.
Because we’ve arranged the list this way, you should encounter the items you need roughly in order. Just check them off when you find them.
Just to add to this a little.
Stuff to always have in your kitchen:
– Salt
-Pepper
-Red pepper flakes
– Rice. Dry rice is magical. Easy, cheap, and calorie dense.
– Canned chicken/veggie stock (use it to make your rice. I’m not kidding)
– Boxed stuffing, mashed potatoes, canned green beans. These are easy sides that take 0 time and effort and can really fill out a meal.
-I honestly really recommend Slim Fast shakes or similar meal replacement shakes. They often last forever, are really easy on your stomach if you are sick, and have enough calories to make up a meal if you just don’t have the time/energy to make something bigger. The vanilla ones are the best if you ask me.
Some additional pantry stables
-vegetable oil (very useful if you are cooking things in a skillet or don’t have nonstick baking pans)
-beans (last for a long time, very cheap, and you can easily make rice and beans)
Good additions!
Also Meals you can generally make with stuff you have laying around:
Stir Fry: Any veggies you have (Fresh is best. frozen is fine. Canned generally works if you drain and rinse them first.) oil + soy sauce over rice.
Quesadilla: Tortillas + Cheese of some kind + any filling that might be good? (salsa, bell peppers, beans)
Ramen+: Ramen noodles + an egg (I like it fried) + a slice of lunch meat ham or turkey + red peper flakes or hot sauce
Pasta time: whatever pasta you have + butter or olive oil + red ppeper flakes + salt. Add sausage or veggies if you have them.
Honestly fried egg + anything is pretty good. Fried egg + avacado? Perfect. Dash some hot sauce on and you’re perfect-er. Fried egg + rice: excellent. Add soy sauce. Fried egg + toast is great. Fried egg and cheese? Lazy omlet. I’d add salsa. Fried egg and refried beans? Throw that on a tortilla. Fried eggs level up anything.
Planning out your meals like above is generally cheaper than having lots of just generally usable stuff on hand (especially fresh veggies. If I don’t have a plan for them, they tend to go bad.) But it doesn’t hurt to have some “oh crap I don’t have time to go shopping, what is in my pantry” fallbacks. Don’t starve. Please don’t starve.
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