Grocery Shopping...The List

I told you all about my menu planning strategies the other day. It is pretty straight forward. There are a few things that I make without even thinking about it, things like spaghetti sauce, grilled or baked chicken, lasagna, shepherd's pie, beef stroganoff, pot roast, vegetable soup, hamburgers... but I am always looking for new recipes to add some variety to our weekly (or bi-weekly) menus. I try different casseroles, some are good, some I will eat but never make again, some...well, let's just say the leftovers don't make it to the fridge. 

I have two shelves worth of cookbooks, several of them are "church" type cookbooks that are filled with tried and true family recipes. Among others, I have The Joy of Cooking, The Better Homes & Gardens, Betty Crocker, Fanny Farmer, and several Southern Living books that are my "go-to" books. Like I said earlier, I will often pull one cookbook and find a couple recipes to try for the next couple of weeks. This next two weeks is no exception. This next two weeks I am going to use my new favorite... The Southern Plate Cookbook. I have been following Christy's blog for a little while and bought the book when she released it this summer and then met her at the Southern Festival of Books. She is real and her food is real... real good!! If you want an honest-to-goodness southern cookbook chock full of southern recipes, this is the one to get! I have made several things in it and these next two weeks I have put the following onto my menu planner: chicken stew, corn chowder, slow cooked pork roast and squash casserole. When I do this, I put the page number in parentheses so I can find it when I make my shopping list and when I go to actually fix the meal. I also limit myself to using no more than two cookbooks and try to stick with one so I don't get confused!

So my list has been adjusted from last time to accommodate these recipes (I changed 1/24 to chicken stew, 1/30 to the pork roast, 1/31 to corn chowder and altered 2/3 to remove the potatoes and green beans and added the squash casserole)

So now it is time to make my list. I go day by day and put the ingredients necessary to complete my menu, keeping in mind what I have in my pantry. I also add in items for breakfast and lunch meals as well as snacks and check my stock of baking supplies as well... this is where I will remember to put down Confectioner's Sugar since I keep forgetting!! I star things that I need a lot of (like carrots and potatoes in the winter). Check it out - give me some feedback. What do you do?

SHOPPING LIST FORM

DAIRY	MEAT	FROZEN	PRODUCE
Milk	Beef roast	Corn (x2)	Green pepper
Eggs	Italian sausage		Red potatoes
Butter	Ground beef (2)		Potatoes **
Colby/Jack	Pork roast		Onions *
Cream cheese	4# chicken (2)		Garlic
Sour cream	Lunch meat		Carrots **
			Yellow squash
			Jalapeno
			Green onions
			Romaine
			Tomatoes
BREAD	CANNED	MISC. GROCERY	Cucumbers
Lunch bread	Chicken broth	Mayo	Apples
Flour tortillas	Beef broth	Dijon	Bananas
Pita bread	Crushed tomatoes 3	Taco shells
bagels	Fire-roasted tom.	Salsa
	12 oz. Paste	Yellow rice	MISC. NON-GROC
	Capers	Chips	Dish soap
	Roasted peppers	Ritz crackers	Laundry Det.
	Refried beans	Nutella	Toilet paper
BAKING	Cr. Mush soup	Pretzels	Paper towels
Confec. Sugar	28 oz whole tom 2	Popcorn
Flour	tuna	Honey
Baking soda		Maple syrup
Bread flour		Juice
Choc. chips
Brown sugar

That's it for today :) Once again, stay warm and loved, my friends!!