Save Money on Groceries by Shopping in Your Kitchen

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So I swear, if I don’t set the food out on the table, the kids will never eat certain foods. Going into the freezer to search for leftovers or one or twosie items is like telling them to go save the planet all on their own!

A few weeks ago, I really wanted to grab some items from the store. However, I clean stopped myself once I noticed that if I did get them, there would be absolutely no place to put them! The downs of living in an apartment – I’ll tell you! Otherwise, I’d have things stocked in a deep freezer. So, what I decided to do was pull EVERYTHING out of the freezer and put on the kitchen table.

What I Discovered

I had so many dinner ideas sitting in there from leftover dinners I froze to just half bags of other items. So, I wrote them all on a regular sheet of paper: all the meats together, veggies, potatoes, etc. Then, I made a list of dinner ideas. I had 7 ideas in there and a few others, but they’d require me to go to the store to grab a few other ingredients.

So seven dinners would normally cost you what? Go clean out your fridge and freezer and see if you can stay out of the grocery store for a week or two! If you do go, just grab a basket rather than a shopping cart!

For instance:

Meal 1:

• Ground Turkey (make it loose)
• Frozen Green Beans
• Rice

Meal 2:

• Swai Fillets
• Smothered Squash (yes this was frozen)
• Cornbread (cornmeal is a staple in my house)

Meal 3:

• Italian Sausage
• Bowl of Sweet Potatoes

My Advice to You

Keep a few staple items in your home so you can mix and match as well. For instance, I always keep:

• A can of diced tomatoes – great for soups or mix with other veggies
• Rice – Either add some butter, salt, and pepper, or a few of your favorite seasonings, onion, or garlic
• Instant mashed potatoes – Can be made with water, but I prefer milk and sour cream. Throw in ranch dressing for an extra zesty kick
• Onions (fresh or frozen) – Onions can go in just about anything
• Taco seasoning (heck, if you have any type of meat, stop at the store when the tortillas are on sale)