Creating a Shopping List Part 2: Logistics of Organizing the List

After you have maximized ingredients, storage tools, and money, you need to actually make the list and go shopping.  In this post, I will talk about how I make the shopping list.

Step 1: List Recipes, Scaling, and Servings
The first thing to do is to put the name of the recipe, how much you want to scale it, and the number of servings.  I try to scale recipes to hit 8-16 servings, depending on freezer space.  Determining the number of servings up front also helps me figure out how many dishes I might need.  For example, in the list below, I am making 16 servings of lasagna (8 dishes for the 2 of us) and tamale pie (I am doubling it, and the recipe doesn't state servings but I know I have at least 16 dishes, so I am good there.) Also, notice the spicy tuna salad wrap ( x 12!!!!).  The recipe was for a single portion, and I want several.

The list with recipes, scaling, and expected number of servings

Step 2:  Paste in recipes and scale appropriately.  Paste in the recipe and double or triple as you determined.

Step 3:  Combine the elements while rearranging for how you shop at the grocery.

So once you have pasted your 12-15 recipes and their ingredients, you'll have a lot of duplication.  For example, you'll have 2 cups of chicken broth in 6 different places in 6 different recipes.  While condensing, I also organize the list by categories based on how I shop at the grocery.  The categories are:  1) produce, 2) pantry, 3) meat, 4) cheese and dairy, 5) frozen, and 6) spices.  I usually shop in this order upon entering the grocery.  Here is the sample meat list from a recent list:

You'll notice I refer to "bags" of chicken thighs.  These are huge bags from Costco.

When you combine, you may end up with odd quantities.  For example, when combining multiple recipes, you may end up with "32 tablespoons" of something.  I find this chart useful for scaling:

Step 4:  Check your list with your pantry items.

This is the fun part.  Take your computer to your spice rack/drawer, pantry, and freezer, and eliminate items.  Note that you can only do this once you know how much of an ingredient you need. 

Step 5:  Highlight ingredients you might be able to find at specialty stores.

Highlight any ingredients that you think you can purchase at places other than the grocery, either to save money or because they are specialty items (e.g., at Asian markets, Costco, Cash n Carry).

Below is a part of my list (the pantry portion) with the item highlighted that I would expect to get at Costco.

Pantry portion of list with items highlighted that could be purchased at specialty markets.

Step 6: Shop!  I usually shop in this order:  Produce at the Asian market, Costco, Cash n Carry, and then home to drop off.  I do the grocery last because then I know what I was able to get and not get.  Invariably, there is some item that eludes shopping (e.g., pomegranate seeds, kaffir lime leaves, harissa etc.).  At least you can get cooking while you hunt down the item or order it off of Amazon prime.

Remember, when shopping, it is OK to go over on ingredients, because these can either:  be frozen or go into a stone soup at the end.  For example, if you have 1/2 lb. too much meat, and 1/2 can too much tomato paste, that is a happy accident.

Happy list-making and shopping!

Creating a Shopping List Part 1: How to be Efficient and Economical

Creating a shopping list for freezer cooking seems daunting, and there are many things to consider. Some of the things I try to balance when making a shopping list are:



Creating a variety of food that you can actually store:
1) Find about 12 recipes (your mileage will vary depending on your family and freezer size, but leave room to add 2 recipes at the end to use up your extra ingredients).  So for us, we select 12 recipes that we plan to double, and plan to have at least 2 more we make at the end.
2) Select recipes with a variety of meats.  I'll usually select more chicken recipes than anything else, in order to use up a bag of thighs and a bag of breasts from Costco.  However, I try to have a few beef recipes, a few pork, a couple of seafood, and a few vegetarian recipes.  If you're not a vegetarian, I still recommend a few vegetarian recipes.  That way, you can add in extra meat in those if you end up with some at the end.
3) Select a variety of final products.  I want a few soups, a few curries, a few "slabs o' meat" (i.e. whole chicken breasts with a marinade), a few burgers, a few wraps for lunch, and maybe a few casseroles or lasagnas.
4) Consider what you have containers for.  Some recipes go easily into Ziploc or freezer bags, but some require a container, such as lasagna, stuffed shells, layered casseroles.  Those are your limiting recipes.


Being Economical
In terms of being economical, there are sort of two approaches:  making smart purchasing decisions, and wasting less food.

Saving Money at the Purchasing Stage:
1)  At the list stage, if you notice an unusual ingredient in a small amount in some recipe, see if you can find another recipe that uses that same ingredient.  We did this with sun-dried tomatoes once.  While this may classify as wasting less food, it is a decision to make up front.
2)  Select recipes with ingredients that are on sale or seasonal.
3) Explore different groceries in your area, including "ethnic" markets.  We have an Asian market near us with incredible deals on produce (e.g., instead of paying $3 for a bit of mint, you pay $1 for a huge handful of mint).  Consider it an adventure for a day, and check out some places in your area that you might not have!
4) Buy in bulk.  Not only are foods often cheaper in bulk, but you can buy EXACTLY how much you need.

Wasting Less Food:
1)  Make a big stone soup at the end.  Throw everything in.  Be creative.  All you really need is a grain/bean, a meat, some veggies, broth, and tomato something (sauce, paste, diced).  You always have some spices around, so add those in, too.
2) Along the same lines, use up leftover ingredients in wraps, calzones, pitas, etc.  Another interesting solution is to use http://www.supercook.com/ to use up your ingredients.  You select a few ingredients, and Supercook will pull up recipes you can make.  It will make some assumptions about staples you might have in your kitchen.  Alternatively, be prepared to go back to the store at the end to buy one or two more ingredients to make a final recipe with your leftovers.
3) Learn how to store leftover ingredients. The most brilliant example of this is something I saw on Pinterest.  You know how recipes always call for ONE chipotle pepper?  Well, the rest of the can always goes bad.  However, you can puree the can of peppers in a blender, portion it into ice cube trays, and VOILA, you now have individual chipotle pepper servings for the next recipe.  No waste!
(http://ourbestbites.com/2011/04/how-to-work-with-canned-chipotle-peppers-in-adobo-sauce/)  Here is another tip for tomato paste: http://www.marthastewart.com/273278/tomato-paste-saver