New Leaves at the Green Grocers

It's time to go shopping again and the budget is low as always.  Determined to stretch my money while still catering to my sale-based chaotic shopping style, I've been doing some research to create a general list of basics that I can (hopefully) create many cheap but excellent meals from.

I have been searching for many years on the internet to find that one catch-all list of pantry basics from which you can make any basic food on the cheap.  Every list I've come across, whether it is based on  modern urban notions of frugality, backcountry living, or depression-era wisdom (though these, still are some of the best), I've found to contain many suggestions I disagree with.  For instance, many of the lists  suggest buying broths but I say nay! Make your own stock and, when you have the money, buy a box of cheap bouillon cubes to supplement your supply for busy weeks.  Another common suggestion is to buy nuts .  Health wise, this is an excellent choice because nuts are incredible sources of vitamins, minerals, and good fats… Economy wise, though, nuts are a terrible choice as they are one of the most expensive snacks (per serving) you can buy at the grocery store nowadays.  Unfortunately, I do love nuts, so if we must have them, I will buy the cheaper sunflower seeds or peanuts instead.

Ultimately unsatisfied with what I was learning online, I ended up finding a treasure-trove of information in my grandmother-in-law's 1944 American Woman's Cookbook!  In this book, it is suggested that you look at your grocery budget in terms of fifths: Lets say that your budget was $5 (an impossibility nowadays, but it provides for a simple explanation).  One dollar or more should be spent on milk, cream, and cheese (mostly milk).  One dollar should be spent on vegetables and fruit, with a focus on green and yellow veggies.  One dollar or less should be spent on meats and eggs.  And finally, one dollar should be spent on sugars, fats, and other groceries.

The cookbook actually details how much of certain basics each member of the household needs! Most of it is still nutritionally sound, though not all:

Milk - Each child should have 3/4 qt - 1 qt of milk per day.  Each adult should have from 1/3 to 1/2 qt of milk per day. So, for a three-person family like mine, its suggests about a gallon of milk every two days. Eeek! That's a lot of milk! I think this particular wisdom may have been proven invalid via our modern understanding of nutrition… thank goodness. 

Fruits & Veggies - Fruit should be eaten twice/day (but don't forget that tomatoes are fruits!).  Children will typically eat about two potatoes and 1/4 lb veggies per day.  Hard-working adults often can consume two or three times this much!  From my experience with a 6'4" husband, this rings true with the additional factoring in of sheer height. ;)

Meats - Here the book makes a suggestion that my previous vegetarian self loves but my current carnivorous incarnation rails against.  Meats should not be served more than once per day and only about 1/4 lb of meat should be in that serving.  Well, it does make sense both nutritionally and economically, so I'll try to slowly transition this advice into my lifestyle…

Having done my research and searched my brain for bits of advice given to me over the years and my own gathered wisdom, I have now created my own list of kitchen basics to always try to have on hand:

Veggies/Fruits

Tomatoes, Celery, Potatoes (buy in bulk), Onions (buy in bulk), Garlic (buy in bulk), Bag of whatever fruit looks best (oranges, apples, or the mix bags)

Baking Goods 

Bisquick, Cornmeal, Flour, Yeast, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Brown Sugar, White Sugar, Salt, Vanilla extract, Powdered milk - can be reconstituted for cooking, will last on the shelf, and is far cheaper than fresh milk per oz, Shortening - while we often rail against shortening because of its trans-fats, it has many advantages in the sustainable survivor's kitchen because it is shelf-stable, will increase the shelf life of baked goods, and is far cheaper than butter

Canned Goods

Condensed cream-of soups (these add an excellent cheesy texture to dishes for far less money than real cheese, which should be used as sparingly as possible), Tomatoes, Beans, Veggies, Fruits, Tuna, One other cheap canned meat (for variety) Note that canned chicken, while convenient due to its shelf stability, is more expensive, at over $2 a can, than buying some cheap cuts of chicken (or even a whole chicken) that can be used in multiple meals.

Dry Goods

Oatmeal, Rice, Pasta (keep around a variety if possible), Mac & Cheese, Peanut Butter, Honey, Jello, Jelly (You can get these cheap now but always make sure to take some extras on the sly whenever you splurge on restaurants that have the little jam packets), Condiments (mayo, mustard, ketchup), Oil & Vinega, Syrup

Fresh Foods

Eggs, Cheeses, Milk, Cream, Butter/Margarine, Sandwich bread (you can buy a loaf for close to $1 most of the time, which is cheaper than baking your own. Plan to only use this for sandwiches, though, and supplement with home-made bread products)

Once you have these basics, shop the sales to round out your potential meals. Most of your meat and vegetables should be bought based on seasonal availability and sales.  After this, if you are still under your budget, you can splurge on a few extras such as your favorite spices, cold cereal, coconut milk (great for cooking up beans and rice), cocoa powder, or any other extra ingredients you like to use to make meals special.

When you get home, make sure that you place your garlic, onions, and potatoes in a dark, cool area where air can flow around them.  Your best bests for this are baskets or paper grocery bags.  The plastic bags they come in will encourage sprouting, so throw those babies in the recycle bin!

Final note: You'll almost never have to buy everything on this list, so I keep my list in an Excel file that can be printed out to keep track of items we need as we run out of them.

Now off to the grocery store I go!