Becoming self-sufficient in grocery shopping
There are a million things that go on in life that you need to do for yourself but are normally done by others. The most common being grocery shopping. It's actually hard for people who don't know their way around the grocery store and have never had the chance to shop alone before. There is no shame in learning how to do it though! After all, self-sufficiency is becoming increasingly more valuable for us these days, and the internet offers all kinds of tips and tricks on how to make your own meals from scratch or even learn how much money you might save not having a bread delivery service.
The first thing you need to know about grocery shopping is that you are not going to learn how in a day. It's a skill that needs developing, and it's different for everyone. Everyone has their own way of grocery shopping. The internet offers a lot of tips on how to become efficient at it, but again, every individual has their own way of doing things! Don't feel pressured into doing things "the right way." Do what works best for you! That being said, here is how I personally do it.
Another thing that really helps is making sure you have all your recipes written down so you know exactly what ingredients to buy for the meals you want to make after. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but trust me, it's worth it! You'll have so much less wasted food when you know exactly what you're making rather than hoping for the best or improvising along the way.
Create a list of the meals you'll be making and write down all their ingredients. Once you're done, go through that list and highlight anything on it that you already have at home. At this point you should only have recipes that don't require anything extra from the grocery store besides fresh produce and meat/fish if need be.
I shop at a local chain grocery store- Giant Eagle Grocery Store . They offer a great selection and their prices are pretty good. You can always ask the manager if you have any questions as to what's available and his recommendations. I've been buying the same items over and over again (bread, cheese, milk, eggs etc.) for years because they are all cheap in bulk so I'd certainly recommend that.
After you've grabbed everything on your list, go to the store and take a look around. Don't panic! You're not trying to find out what they have or how much something costs because you already know. This is a chance to familiarize yourself with the store and make sure you can get what you need without having to go anywhere else. Just pick up whatever items/products you might need for your meals and walk out the door knowing exactly what you'll buy next time for groceries if needed.
If at any point in time during this process, I feel like I'm missing something that I think would be really useful, I'll check my online grocery store list and add it there. I also keep track of my recipes and frequently bought items in a notebook so if I suddenly realize that I don't have something on my list, all I have to do is check it. Remember, don't overwhelm yourself. Once you're comfortable at this point, you can start making sure you can live a food self-sufficient life! For more information about the grocery shopping process check out these sites:
Your groceries should always be in date:
You will see the date of use on most products, but if it's not obvious or fails to mark the product correctly, look for an expiration date that is a few weeks after the date of purchase. This will ensure you are getting fresh food.
Your goal is to reduce waste:
It's important to know what items show signs of impending expiration and do your best to use these before they go bad. We hope this article helped you become more self-sufficient in the grocery store and we wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!
Help support us by liking our page on Facebook (click "Like"): http://www.facebook.com/dumblittleman or following us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dumblittleman or subscribing to our channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDumbLittleMan . Thank you all!
An article by Noah Forrest
Becoming self-sufficient is a difficult task that the majority of us don't have time for. I'm not talking about growing our own food, or how to keep chickens and produce eggs. I mean simply buying what we need and using it all without waste - no food going to waste. For example, a lot of people buy more than they need at the grocery store, and then it goes bad before they can finish it all. Even worse than that are the leftovers we make from what we bought - yet never finish! We're wasting so much food in this day in age I think it's insane.
Why is it such a big deal? Well, the first reason I want you to think about is because of how long it takes to produce food. Many might say that's not our concern, yet here we are wasting everything! It takes a lot of effort and energy to make food - from growing it in the first place to making sure we have enough people working in the building and marketing department for our favorite brands. Not only that, but there's also a lot of money involved with production costs. So much so that many products aren't even made in this country (due to higher production costs).
The second reason being how much is wasted while we're enjoying ourselves - usually at the grocery store. How many times have you walked up to the checkout and noticed something that you've never seen before?
Or have you ever thought about all the packaging we throw away in a week? We need so much stuff in a week, it's crazy! There has to be some smart way we can reuse these things, or even use them for other things. Considering how much food we waste in this country, I imagine there's a lot of intelligent people out there trying their best to reduce waste by reusing undelivered groceries. Let's take an example of this:
Noah Forrest's Homemade Bread Recipe...
Conclusion
I'm sure you've noticed by now that I've specifically mentioned "bread" - the fabric of our lives. I mean, what else can be said about bread that you can't? The only thing more essential than bread in our world is its lack of recycling. I live in a metropolitan area, and there's always a loaf of bread on the sidewalk waiting for me to grab it.