When compiling your list, condense similar ingredients to prevent overbuying. If one recipe calls for two eggs and another for one, why buy a dozen? Opt for the six-pack instead. Since food is packaged in all shapes and sizes, there are times you’ll be forced to buy more than what’s required, but this needn’t mean mold. Once you’ve compiled a basic shopping list, you can deliberately fill in staples and snacks, based on the items already being purchased. Perhaps a recipe calls for ½ cup yogurt; you might choose to get the 32-ounce container and a bag of granola for breakfasts. Or, you see that only three stalks of celery are used in Wednesday night’s chowder; sounds like ants on a log and a batch of tuna salad are in your culinary future.
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And remember to shop your pantry. Before heading out to the store, cross check your shopping list with what you have on hand to avoid doubling up or buying a new box of brown sugar, when the half cup you need is already sitting on the shelf.
Technology that does the work for you
Online shopping sites such as Fresh Direct allow you to shop by recipe, automatically placing the necessary ingredients in your cart. Let them do the planning and the shopping!
KeyIngredient.com is a free online recipe site that allows you to create a personal recipe collection, which you can then share with other members. An “add to grocery list” application makes it easy to compile a shopping list from thousands of member recipes.
MasterCook is a $20 computer program that allows you to create a database of recipes from any source. Pick the week’s recipes from your database and let the master condense common ingredients and create a shopping list grouped by supermarket sections. Just hit print.
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