The Transition from Winter to Spring

Today, I'm putting together a new grocery list.

My Feb 28th post offered several tips on writing a weekly grocery list. You might want to check it out again.

I also added a couple of links (see sidebar) to sites that will help the grocery shopper in your household become more skilled with writing grocery lists.

As I write my list, I'm taking into account that it's getting warmer and that spring officially starts next week. Because of the change in the weather, my preference recently has been for lighter meals with an emphasis on more vegetables, particularly green veggies.

Green foods are a great way to make the transition from winter to spring because their phytonutrients help the liver detox after a winter of heavier, richer food.

I'm also taking into consideration that this week, I'm having a group of friends over for brunch.

I'm going to prepare butter apples and top them with vanilla yogurt drizzled with honey and toasted almonds, accompanied by Tulsi rose tea!

I perused WFs Good Stuff For Less flier online and saw that bags of mixed apples are on sale this week, as are baguettes, which will a great for my brunch and last week I picked up the Tulsi tea when I noticed that it was on sale.

So here's my list: (Remember, my budget is around $60 a week and I manage to stick to it by sticking to my shopping list.)

1. Red Chard (2 for $3)
   
2. Asparagus ($1 off)
   
3. Organic grape tomatoes
   
4. frozen peas & sliced okra
5. cilantro
6. egg plant
7. bag of apples ($1 off)
   
8. bananas
9. buffalo ($2 off)
   
10. flounder (frozen vacuum pack)
    
11. Whole Catch frozen shrimp
12. 365-brand coconut milk
13. eggs (365-brand large white)
    
14. 1/2 & 1/2
15. 365-brand yogurt
16. almonds (from bulk section)
    
17. chick peas (from bulk section)
    
18. polenta (from bulk section)
    
19. Wfs bakery baguette ($1 off)
    
20. Tortilla Chips (2 for $4)
    
21. 365-brand salsa
22. Cheese from olive bar
    

This week, I'll share as many different and interesting simple gourmet meals as I can prepare from my grocery list above -- including the brunch I make reference to.

As always, I want readers to see that it is easy to shop on a budget at WFs and then once home, just as easy to prepare at least 6 main meals, plus some yummy lunches with leftovers.