One of the many one liner advice given to me was, ‘buy what the kids eat’. Great advice, and I put a twist on it. Buy and cook what they eat, make it easy and as healthy as possible.

Now, one of the top three questions I get is, ‘how do you plan and prep for a week for dinner?’

Before I continue, this method can be applied to any lifestyle and not to just dinner, I used to prep for breakfast too, but now that my kids are older, they like the grab and go stuff (cereal, breskfast bars, etc).

Ok, ya ready? Here we go!

The first step is you have to plan your trip. In other words, you go to the store once a month. That’s it. Its cost effective, and teaches your kids not to waste stuff. If they know you’ll go back tomorrow, they will go through the food quicker than Metamucil through a senior citizen.

Really, watch your kids now, compared to if you make that change. General thumb of rule is I only go back if milk or bread is gone, without kids in tow. If you have a deep freezer, even better! Bulk stores like Sams club should be your bff.

Do not shop at the same store for everything! I can’t stress that enough. Split your list up like so:

Things you use a lot of, buy in bulk. Saves trips back and forth.

Find a farmers market or international store for fruits and veggies. They are cheaper this way, and you may find tons of hidden gems, especially if you like experimental cooking like myself!

Try dollar stores or even pharmacies for can goods. These cans are there because of dents. Nothing is wrong with the food, but grocery stores don’t sell cans that don’t look ‘pretty’. So they get severely maked down and sold. Of course check dates. I’ve had that problem at grocery stores too.

Never be afraid of the off brand. Now, with that said, you can’t do it with everything, but it depends on the taste. Anyhow, sometimes store brand sometimes is better than name brand.

Did you get all that? If not, check back. This series is going nowhere. Your thinking that’s it? Oh no, we just getting started…….

Pt. 2: Storage and prep

~CSM~