In the last 3 months, our grocery buying and meal prep has undergone a drastic change. We needed a reset of our food buying habits and a new plan for getting meals on the table! I never thought that how I’ve always bought groceries and planned our meals would need an remodel but it did and I’m excited to tell you about it.
Having a weekly routine when I had 4 kids at home was a sanity saver! We homeschooled for YEARS and it took my ninja organizational skills to get it all done. I’m kidding most days we were lucky to get school done and meals on the table in a timely manner. But we did have weekly routines that worked and everyone knew what days we did what.
A year ago when we stopped homeschooling our youngest the routine changed. Then my daughter moved out to an apartment in January and the routine changed again. I was struggling with an old system for a new situation so I need a new routine and plan.
No more 3 meals a day 7 days a week
With only one child at home and a mostly empty house during the day I found that I didn’t need to fix lunches as I had in the past. Leftovers, salads or sandwiches worked for me while I work at home. Many evenings my husband or son have meetings or activities so if I planned for evening meals 7 days a week then I had too much food that no one was eating.
New plan to fit our life
Staples for meals with 2-3 bigger meals with left overs
FRESH ingredients for salads and vegetable sides
Healthy snacks (working on this one)
New grocery store routine
I despise going to the store when it’s busy. So for years I went around 2:30 pm on Tuesdays and that was a great time to get in and get out. I was close to the store anyway so that was perfect!
Now my biggest problem with shopping is that I’ve lost my helpers to carry in the groceries from the car. I know #emptynestproblems but hey that’s where I’m at! Also now that my son has his license I don’t go near the grocery store often.
Online grocery orders are my new best friend!
Did you know that you can do online ordering for MANY grocery stores, including Aldi? Well they do and that’s my new routine! I make a list, order it and have it delivered to my husband’s work. We live too far away from Aldi to have a delivery made to our home so this is the next best thing! He brings it home and we all pitch in to put it all away.
It saves me time each week (about 2 hours!) and it means I can shop from home! It seems like a simple thing to change your habits and reset the way a routine is done but for me it was a HUGE light bulb that went off.
This is my honest review of Instacart and everything I LOVE about grocery shopping on line!
I’d love to know if you shop for groceries online! What do you love/hate about the meal planning and grocery buying routine?? Comment below or shoot me an email at kim_brush @ daytodayadventures.com (take out the spaces to get the right email!)
