It’s been something I’ve been meaning to share for a while and thanks to some emails and requests I’ve been promptly reminded to get to it!
I share a whole host of recipes throughout the week, breakfasts and main meals and baking experiments which have usually taken place over the weekend, so you can imagine my shopping list varies quite a bit from week to week!
I have a store of staples (basically a shelving unit over laden with every type of grain, spelt pasta, bean, dried fruit, nut, seed and nut butter I can get my hands on). Once you are well stocked up with your favourites, be it quinoa, millet, brown rice, wholegrain spelt pasta, porridge oats…all of which are I most definitely consider staples you can buy different beans, nuts, seeds and dried fruit and of course nut butters depending on how low your stock is getting and what you might fancy over any given week.
I tend to always run low on my favourites…chickpeas (more often than not organic canned these days) dried mango, dried chewy banana, pistachios, flaked almonds, desiccated coconut and almond butter.
My shopping routine will most likely change now that I won’t be working full time… at the moment my mum does the large weekly shop for which I give her my own fresh food list and then I tend to frequent The Happy Pearto stock up later in the week and also just to pick up some interesting goodies for the weekend…fresh berries, flat bottomed peaches and pumpkins – only place I can get them outside of Halloween season!
I have about 10 copy books full to the brim of lists, ideas, recipes and meal plans just like this one!
On a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, evening or sometimes at the crack of dawn if the mood takes me I will decide what recipes I’m going to test out over the week. Scrawled down in one of my notebooks, based on what I fancy, recipes I’ve pinned, ingredients on special or in season and any ideas I’ve randomly come up with over the course of the week.
No fancy tables, no calculating calories or making sure the days are balanced. I’ve gotten to the stage where I trust my instincts, and know that I’ll get adequate balanced nutrients each day. It took a while to get here but I’m finally at peace with food!
The meal planning is key in terms of making sure I have the fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs at hand, and then there are staples I know I’ll go through every week.
Fresh Fruit & Veg. Staples (subject to change if there is something new in season!)
- A tray of 6 Apples
- A melon
- Bunch of Bananas
- Punnet of plums
- Punnet of kiwis
- Punnet of peaches/nectarines
- Bag of pears
- Bag of oranges
- Spinach
- Kale
- Butternut Squash
- Sweet Potatoes
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Blueberries (fresh and frozen)
- Mixed Peppers
- Bag of onions (white or red)
- Spring Onions
- Cherry Tomatoes
- An Avocado
- Garlic
- Pack of 2 or 3 Zucchini
- 2 or 3 tubs plain Alpro Soya Plain Yoghurt
- 2 cartons Alpro Soya Almond Milk
- Bar of Lindt 85% Dark Chocolate
- Block of Tofu
- Tin of Chickpeas
Items I tend to run out of quite frequently…
- Nutritional Yeast
- Dates
- Prunes
- Dried Apricots
- Wholegrain spelt pasta
- Jumbo organic porridge oats
- Wholegrain spelt flour
- Lemon juice
- Cinnamon!
- Rice wine vinegar
- Coconut Mil
- Fruit and Veg.! No matter how much I plan ahead I inevitably end up buying a least another big bag full at the weekend!
At the moment I have the luxury of not really having to budget, I have no loans, I live at home and handover money for groceries and the only other fixed outgoings aside from food of course, are petrol, tax and insurance for my car and my monthly gym membership…things will be changing around here!
My plan is just to try an really focus on using ingredients that are in season and hopefully cut the cost of my shopping bill as a result. I spend an absolute fortune on fresh berries…at 5 euro’s for a small punnet (easily and more often than not consumed in one sitting) it quickly adds up when you’re buying 4 or 5 a week (and even that’s probably me being modest!).
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I rarely buy berries since moving to Ireland, they are too expensive. Such a shame as they are so good, but the price is just ridiculous. I just did a big fruit and veg shop today, and I know it’ll all be nearly gone by the weekend ha! Dried beans and grains are definitely my staples, I go through so many bags of dried chickpeas, lentils and quinoa! Cinnamon is another thing I go through at an alarming rate, and forgot to buy today oops!
I love cinnamon!