I found this article interesting- how small changes in your shopping or even how your store your food in the cupboard or refrigerator can help your health and food choices.
A problem we have at our house is my husband buys (limited) fruit for himself - mostly grapes - and at least half of them end up getting tossed. I like to put fruit in the fruit drawer which = he does not see it when he opens the refrig and he is a grab and go guy - if he chops an apple to eat that is the most time he is willing to put into preparation. (He is willing to slice so he can dip in caramel )
I will test having his fruit in a grab and go spot. Lunch meat too - he buys and a good % gets tossed cause he doesn’t see it immediately.
If you read the article what resonates with you? What tips can you offer for someone else to “reset” their shopping or kitchen??
Link worked for me! Good reminders in this article!
We always do the shop the perimeter unless I’m going into an aisle for something specifically on the list. I also ways have grab and go snacks - cherry tomatoes and baby carrots are my favorite but I also have shelled nuts in the pantry if I feel like I need some protein (I measure those out so I don’t overeat).
That said, H is terrible about not eating the fruit he buys for himself. Drives me crazy. We’ve tried the fruit bowl on the counter, we tried a neon green fruit container in the fridge. So annoying! What seems to have finally worked a bit (it’s still not perfect), is he gets his own shelf in the fridge and his own bin. All the stuff that he buys for himself are there so he’s more likely to see it/eat it.
He also has two pantry shelves just for him. One of the shelves is the very bottom of our pull out cabinet where he keeps/hides his junk food. Because it’s at the bottom I don’t see it and am not tempted. If there is some crazy tempting food for me, I have him put it in a secret location in his office that I don’t know about, or he takes it to his work office ; )
TLDR: I do better when I have a healthier foods and less temptations in my kitchen.
We have a dreaded side by side refrig/freezer and I already feel like I don’t have much room for our stuff. Maybe I could manage a moderate sized plastic bin for him to put his fruit, lunch meat. H also has a wire bin in our pantry where he puts his snacks. I try to about how much or the non-nutritious value of it!
I also can be bad at forgetting about vegetables and using it timely. I try not to overbuy and I often choose 2-3 veggies to have at a time and don’t buy more variety until that is gone. In the summer I keep a wooden bowl of our garden vegetables on the counter so I am reminded to incorporate them more in a dish or salad or whatever.
We did grab and go with the kids especially my son. It worked great. We could also put “anything “in a bowl and plop it down next to him and he would eat it. Lol. So it was always fruits /vegetables.
I like fruit. I tend to eat it when I buy it. When my wife buys it I don’t always know. Those veggie /fruit drawers are sorta mysterious…. Lol.
Worst is buying at Aldis and it goes bad quickly. When I am in protein shake mood is when I buy there since I will buy it the same day and use it.
So when my wife goes out of town like she is this Saturday for three weeks, I tend to o go shopping and buy what I need for the next day or two but not for the week per se. Sure there are always staples like milk, which I drink a lot of, but if I am making lunch /dinners I buy what I want for that day or two. This way things don’t go bad and my mood might change of what I want. I am going out for something like running errands usually anyway so a quick stop at the store work’s for me.
I know lots of you plan meals for the week and my wife sorta does that a bit but… it’s not my thing. But also…nothing goes bad either, including fruit
I just replaced my side by side with a French door fridge over freezer unit. It takes the same space in the kitchen and it has made such a difference. When i unloaded my very full old fridge and freezer into it, it was only about 1/3 full for the fridge and about 2/3 full for the freezer.
Everything I want to eat is now at eye level and so much easier to see and not forget. There is space to spread things out so items don’t get hidden. There is a short drawer that takes the entire width and we use that for the pre-made meal salads we like that used to get lost.
I am honestly astounded what a difference this makes and wish I had made the change years ago. Got it at a bargain at Best Buy and wasn’t very pricey at all. Plus they had rebates etc.
I sent this article yesterday to my DIL and her mom. We’d been talking about lentils and how my son doesn’t like them. And neither do I. We are alike in that regard!
I’ve been following this guy’s journey. Really interesting.
What I TRIED to institute is a use-first stuff is higher in the fridge system. So, when you buy fresh fruits or veggies, you put them in the bottom drawer after you moved the older stuff to the drawer above. And stuff in the drawer that most people use for lunch meat and cheese means use ASAP. I did this because dh complained about food waste. Ugh, guess who was buying food and then never cooking it? He only half-asses this system, but it’s helped me know which peppers, etc, to use first.
I have two types of shopping lists - A pantry stock up list and then a “regular” shopping list. The pantry stock up we usually do once/month and I just take inventory of what I’m missing or running low on. The regular list I make up based on my meal plan for the week. I’m pretty boring for breakfast and lunch and just rotate a few things so it’s really on dinner foods that change. I check first on how many nights will my H be home, and then we talk together about what we will want for dinner. I’m flexible if there are some things that are on sale or if something we were planning on doesn’t look great. We also have the “usual” things we buy every week.
It’s easier for me to walk past a basket of free kittens…
I am unable to do this.
However, shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, never shopping when hungry, sticking strictly to our list, and never buying prepared or ultra-processed foods has been our MO for years. Also, because we split our year between two places and have to leave each place with an empty fridge and pantry, we don’t stockpile food. Instead, we market frequently for each week’s pre-planned meals. There is little to no waste. I used to keep our juicer on the counter to process any wilting produce or overripening fruits into smoothies or soup/stew add-ins, but we don’t seem to have a need for that anymore.
We run our kitchen like a private restaurant—lots of planning, lots of ingredients, lots of cooking by both of us equally, lots of meal entertainment. Little waste. I agree with the article that what you eat is a reflection of what you buy at the grocery store to stock in your house. Whatever is in the fridge/pantry is what you eat. I remember our son standing in our pantry once when he was little complaining, “We don’t have any food, just ingredients.” That’s right kiddo—if you want to eat something, you have to make it. I think that’s partly why he’s such a good cook today, but I’ve seen his fridge and pantry. He has a long way to go there.
My main vice is chocolate. But I think we do pretty good on produce and fruit. H shops the farmer’s market every weekend. I haven’t cooked millet much, but I have cooked everything else in the article.
I’ve posted these in another thread. I purchased two and they fit in the bottom drawer of my French drawer fridge with plenty of space for anything else that is open and needs to be used up. My family won’t eat anything if it s not cut up, but if I keep these stocked they eat fresh veggies and salad like crazy. It also makes meal prep a breeze. I no longer throw away half the produce I buy.
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ing!!
about how much or the non-nutritious value of it!
And I keep many on this chart in the refrig that apparently don’t require it.
