A Sample Grocery Shopping List

So far this month I've posted only one grocery list. However, using the items from that list, I suggested five main meals, two soups, and three lunches (made with leftovers).

Following are some basic steps I adhere to as I prepare to write a grocery list, you might like to keep these in mind as you consider writing your own list:

• I look through the cupboards and fridge to see what I have and don't have on hand
• I take into consideration the number of people eating at home that week
• I think about what I'd like to have on hand to eat for the week, writing down a basic menu plan (perhaps using a couple cook books to help inspire me)
• I go online looking for coupons, for instance ...
• I'll check out What's on Sale at Whole Foods
• I'll also peruse WFs The Whole Deal for coupons
• And all the while, I'll keep in mind my budget for the week, which for me is around $6o.

Here's my list:

1. Asparagus (lately it's been on sale for $2.99 lb & you don't need to buy organic)
2. red bell pepper, onions, potatoes
3. baby peeled carrots (on sale this week)
4. broccoli, zucchini, celery
5. 365 bag frozen spinach, corn
6. 2 frozen, ready-made organic meals
7. apples, blackberries (2 cartons for $5 this week)
8. 365 generic-brand vanilla yogurt
9. 1/2 loaf of crusty spelt bread (from bakery)
10. pasta
11. turkey breast (on sale this week for $4.99 lb)
12. frozen salmon, tin of sardines
13. olive / caper tapenade, feta cheese
14. maple granola, nuts
    

Even though nutritionists say eating frozen budget meals is not the healthiest habit, I sometimes supplement my groceries with some good quality, organic frozen meals. In the next post I'll show you how I use frozen meals as starters to create several, delicious and nutritious meals.

Using groceries from the list above, I'll post five or more main meals, some lunch suggestions with leftovers, a couple nutritious dishes made from the frozen meals and a simple-gourmet dinner worth sharing with a friend or two.

Stone Soup Story

Toward the end of the week, when I'm running low on groceries, I often wonder whether I'll be able to successfully create a delicious and satisfying meal from next-to-nothing.

Usually I can, it just takes a little creativity and confidence to combine leftovers with whatever you have in your crisper, cupboard and or freezer. I'll cover creative ways to make use of leftovers in upcoming posts.

Meanwhile, I want to share the "Stone Soup" story.

For those of you not familiar with the story, Stone Soup is about three, tired and hungry soldiers who on their way home from war wander into a town looking for something to eat.

The townspeople, afraid they won’t have enough for themselves, lie to the soldiers saying they have to no food to share.

In response, the soldiers make stone soup: They put a water-filled kettle on a fire in the town square, and put stones in the kettle to cook.

Soon enough, the soldiers are talking about how the soup would be better with seasoning, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and with each “if only we had…” the townspeople, now fully engaged by the magic, start contributing all the necessary ingredients to make a perfect soup.

Et voilà – a feast is created and all the scared townspeople realize that once you know how to make soup from stones, you never need worry about being hungry.

Even though we are not in the midst of the economically dire, war-time circumstances alluded to above, nonetheless we are all trying to make less go further.

Organic and Conventional Produce

Last year I read an article in Vegetarian Times that listed produce consumers are best advised to purchase organic.

It also listed conventional produce safe to consume.

I made a note of the list and I thought I'd share it with you today. It's a great reference sheet as you consider your weekly grocery purchases.

I also keep it in mind when I'm at the grocery store since the bulk of my purchases are fresh produce, beans, pulses and nuts.

Once I became familiar with the safe-to-consume conventional produce, purchasing it over the higher-priced organics, I was delighted by the reduction in my grocery bill.

Feel free to print this list out.

Buy organic:

Beets (thin-skinned veggies that grow underground absorb pesticides and heavy metals)

Bell peppers (all colors – conventionally grown are likely to contain multiple pesticide residues)

Carrots (are good at absorbing heavy metals from the soil)

Celery (most likely to contain pesticide residues)

Leafy greens i.e. lettuces, chard, collard greens, spinach (are grown low to the ground and are thus likely to have high pesticide residue levels)

Cucumbers (highly toxic pesticides are used on conventionally grown cucumbers)

Green beans (conventionally grown are sprayed multiply times with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides)

Potatoes (especially russets are highly likely to contain pesticide residues)

Winter squash (mild pesticides used, conventionally grown are acceptable if you don’t eat the skin)

Almonds (toxic pesticides and herbicides used on almond trees)

Peanuts (peanuts grow underground and are known to absorb toxins from the soil)

Pecans (pecan trees tend to be sprayed frequently with pesticides, herbicides and miticides)

Okay to buy Conventional:

Asparagus (does not appeal to many pests and so rarely treated with pesticides)

Avocados (low pesticide residues and a thick skin make the conventionally grown okay)

Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage (pesticides don’t work well on these veggies thus few are used on them)

Sweet Corn (though it may be sprayed with herbicides and some pesticides, it almost never contains pesticide residue, but buy local)

Eggplant (selectively sprayed with minimally toxic pesticides thus it rarely contains pesticides residue)

Garlic (has natural pest control and is rarely sprayed)

Onions all varieties (like garlic has natural pest control and thus minimally sprayed)

Rhubarb (rarely sprayed)

Sweet potatoes (pesticides are used sparingly on these)

Tomatoes (buy local)

Zucchini (doesn’t tolerate pesticides/herbicides)

Dried Beans (beans are sprayed with insecticides but are then soaked and washed and boiled so residues are likely removed – buy local)

Cashews (are grown in tropical locales where pesticides are rarely used)

Macadamia nuts (few pesticides are used on macs)

Sesame seeds (organic is better but pesticide residues are minor in non-organic sesame products)

In addition to the above, you might want to check out Food News for an even longer list.

Easy Beef Bourguignon

You've probably noticed that I tend not to post detailed recipes but rather, method notes for preparing main meals. That's because I prefer not to use recipes and I want to encourage you to avoid becoming recipe-dependent.

When dependent on recipes, there is a proclivity to make extravagant purchases at the grocery store in the effort to ensure that we have all ingredients on hand for a particular dish. If you're trying to stay on-budget, then cooking directly from recipes is a recipe for going off budget!

That said, I did mention in a prior post that when I write up my grocery list for the week, I sometimes peruse my favorite recipe books for ideas on what to cook. But I tend to modify recipes to suit my budget.

For instance, Beef Bourguignon is a classic French beef dish (featured in the movie "Julie and Julia"). It calls for lots of ingredients including:

• a pound of good quality beef
• top-quality bacon
• a red wine, like Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir
• Cognac (though it's not listed in the link above)
  
• mushrooms, onions, garlic, carrots, thyme, and tomato paste.

Because of my French culinary training, it's easy for me to manipulate recipes and I want to encourage you to do the same by trusting your instincts, your palate and your creativity -- you can't go too wrong when you trust your inner-chef in the kitchen.

With that in mind, instead of buying all the ingredients listed in the classic version of the recipe, I'll make a modified version of Beef Bourguignon to suit my budget, and the ingredient list might look like this:

• cubed stewing beef
• leftover red wine -- I'll use that rather than dashing out and buying a bottle
• I'll probably leave out the Cognac because it's not something I have on hand
• Bacon-- I might use turkey or I've also taken to using prosciutto chunks that Whole Foods sells in small containers for $3-$4. It's delicious in soups, casseroles and for jazzing up bean and lentil dishes and for sauteing with veggies.
• Mushrooms, onions, garlic and carrots are veggies I often include in my weekly grocery list so I'll probably have those on hand. If I don't, I'll leave them out and maybe just add extra onion, and fresh tomatoes or good quality spaghetti sauce if I don't have tomato paste in the cupboard.

My method for preparing the ingredients might involve the following:

• Brown the beef cubes in a hot, deep-sided skillet lined with a little oil. Remove browned beef to a plate. (Classic recipes call for tossing the beef cubes in flour before sauteing, but I tend to bypass that step for the sake of time and convenience.)
  
• Turn hot plate to med, add bacon or prosciutto chunks and saute gently, allowing the fat from the pork to release.
• Add chopped garlic and your choice of veggies. Saute gently in fat.
• Add browned beef, stir, and now add red wine or red wine mixed with stock or water.
  
• If you have some tomato paste on hand, add a blob of that or a slurp of some good quality bottled, plain-tomato spaghetti sauce.
• If you have bay leafs pop in a couple or some dried or fresh thyme or a mix of both.
  
• Allow the contents of the skillet to simmer before putting the lid on and placing it in a 350-degree oven for about 2 or so hours or until the beef is tender. Check periodically to make sure there is still liquid in the skillet, if not, add more stock, wine or even water.
• If you prefer that that your mushrooms and onion not turn to mush in the cooking process, saute them in some additional bacon or even a bit of butter, and add them just before serving. And if you do have cognac in the cupboard, once you've sauteed the mushies, slurp a bit into the pan, allowing the alcohol to evaporate, and then pour contents of pan into the skillet with the cooked beef.
  

So as you can probably tell, my Beef Bourguignon might morph into succulent Beef in Red Wine casserole, which is perfectly acceptable if you're open to improvising and being creative, and I hope you are.