Cooking is something that I love to do and I’ve always felt like cooking is a way that I can care for my family.  One of my favorite decorations in my kitchen is a little sign that says, “Cooking is love made visible.”  That’s exactly how I feel about cooking, but it can be difficult to learn how to stick to a grocery budget and still have fun experimenting in the kitchen!

When we made the decision for me to stay home, creating and sticking to a grocery budget became something that I’ve really focused on.  I’ll admit that it does take some time, but the payoff is well worth it.  We used to easily spend $150 or more weekly on groceries.  With these tips I’ve been able to cut our average weekly grocery bill down to $50-$75!

1. Check the weekly store ads.  I have 4 different stores that I check for ads each week.  I then choose which store to go to based on the number of sales they have that match the items I would typically buy.  The one pitfall to avoid with this is making sure that you don’t buy things you don’t need or typically eat just because they are on a great sale!  As you’ll see in tip #5, stick to your list!
2. Start tracking the lowest price you’ve paid (or seen) for an item.  For example, I made a list of the basic types of meat that I typically buy (chicken breast, chicken thighs, ground turkey, ground beef, pork loin, pork chops, etc) and each time I went to the store, I wrote down what I paid that week.  I also checked ads for the stores that I wasn’t going to.  Over the course of a few weeks, I started seeing the lowest price I had paid or seen in an ad.  That tells me what my target price is each time I buy that item.  If that type of meat is above my target price, I don’t buy it again until it’s back at the target price.  When it reaches the price I’m willing to pay, I stock up and freeze it.  I then chose which store I would shop at that weekend based on the most number of sales for things I was needing to buy.  Once in a while if there was a great deal at another store, I would make a special stop at that store.
3. Shop farmer’s markets.  I absolutely love going to the farmer’s market in the summer!  It’s a fun family outing, gets us outside, and I like buying local.  Just be sure you know the average price of an item at the grocery store before you go, as farmer’s markets aren’t always cheaper.  One of my favorite recipes to make with my finds at the farmer’s market is this wonderful BLT Panzanella Salad from Cooking Light.  I also love to stock up when prices are good at the farmer’s market and spend a day in the summer canning/freezing.  Here are a few of my favorite recipes:
   • My Grandma Ruth’s Freezer Sweet Corn
   • Pioneer Woman’s strawberry jam
   • Plum sauce
   • Peach BBQ sauce
4. Grow your own!  I know this takes a bit more work, but you really can save a ton of money just buy growing your own herbs.  I love cooking with fresh herbs, but they are really pricey at the store and don’t last long in the fridge.  Grow your tomatoes with your basil for better tasting tomatoes.  Here’s what I grow every summer:
   • Basil (I love to buy the gallon pots of basil in May when they come in at Whole Foods – they take off quickly and grow into big, beautiful bunches of basil!).
   • Tomatoes (like I said, I always plant my tomatoes and basil together).
   • Chives
   • Thyme
   • Sage
   • Rosemary (I plant my rosemary in a separate pot as it’s not the friendliest herb from what I’ve read)
   • Mint (I also plant my mint in a separate pot so that it doesn’t take over my entire garden)
5. Organize your shopping list by area of the store and don’t stray from the list.  This helps me get in and out of the store quickly with no distractions.  I organize my list into the following sections:
   • Canned goods (anything non-refrigerated)
   • Produce
   • Meat
   • Dairy/Refrigerated
   • Frozen

I spend far more time looking for new recipes than I really care to admit.  My husband usually finds me early on weekend mornings sitting in our sunroom, cup of coffee in hand, flipping through food magazines and Pinterest looking for new recipe ideas.  I have such a huge collection of recipes that I probably really couldn’t cook them all if I wanted to.  But hey, a girl’s gotta have options.  The thing I have struggled with the most is how to organize recipes!

My favorite tool for organizing my recipe collection is called Pepperplate.  If you haven’t ever checked it out, you really should!  I’ve been using Pepperplate for about three years now and it’s really simplified my cooking life.  Here are some of my favorite features:

I can access it from anywhere.  So when I do the last minute stop by the store to pick up food on the way home from work, I can pull my recipe up on my phone and get exactly what I need!  No more forgetting what to buy because I can’t fully remember all of the ingredients in a recipe!  Or, better yet, if I talk my hubby into stopping by the store on his way home, I can simply add the recipes into the shopping list and he can log in from his phone to see what’s on the list.  Easy peasy.

 

I can import recipes directly from my favorite websites.  The best part is, the pretty pictures import too!  Seeing an image of the food usually helps make my menu planning easier.  I think it’s because it reminds me of what the dish actually is, beyond just boring old chicken.

 

 

I can use the Scale Recipe feature to automatically halve or quarter recipes.  Or, I can double recipes if I have a crowd coming over.  I love this feature because my new-mommy-brain is just too tired to do the math.

I can create my own categories for filtering my recipes.  My best use of categories comes in with my “Healthy” category.  I use this category so that I can easily filter my view to see only my healthy recipes.  This really does help me avoid the temptation to make fried chicken.  Man do I love fried chicken.

I can easily add recipes to the Planner.  Then, when the week comes and I’m ready to shop, I can throw those recipes onto the shopping list and I’m good to go.  You know what that means?  I can do my menu planning for several weeks at a time!  Here’s what my menu plan looks like for this week.

Perhaps my most favorite thing about Pepperplate though is that I can use it on my iPad while I’m cooking.  It’s got a great “Cook Now” feature so that my screen doesn’t fall asleep.

What’s your favorite way to keep your recipes organized?