Made it so far 7-8 days w/o grocery shopping at ALL

[Frugal]

I am going this whole week without grocery shopping, trying to subsist (and successfully, so far) on only the food I have on hand, without going to the grocery. I had spent a little extra last week, so I committed to no grocery shopping this week. I made it to day seven (today, Weds., 8/31/11), and will make it to Friday or Saturday, so 8-9 days total without grocery shopping. I would have made it longer, two weeks, but I had to buy some fish on sale in bulk last week.

I have actually lost about two pounds since I started this challenge middle of last week, because I have been forced to cook from scratch instead of turning to boxed, more expensive convenience foods like ready-to-make rice mixes, etc. I didn't use a lot of processed food to begin with, but I had to cut it out once I ran out, and rely instead on vegetables from my garden and my family's garden, and meat I stocked up on last month, as well as last week's stock-up on salmon at just over $3.00/pound.

How many of you out there try to do this, see how long you can go without going to the grocery (while not starving yourselves, and still eating reasonably balanced, healthy meals!) to save money? Would like to hear your stories.

[disneysteve]

Not us. But we also enjoy our veggies. Fresh veggies just don't last 7-9 days. I generally shop on Thursday afternoon and get stuff that lasts through the weekend most weeks. Then one of us may stop at the store on Sunday or my wife will on Monday to get stuff for the beginning of the week.

[jpg7n16]

That's actually an interesting challenge. I may have to try it. I'm notorious for eating out! Mainly since I'm terrible at cooking.

Maybe I'll go load up on fresh fruits and veggies on Sunday and try this next week.

... maybe

[Redraidernurse]

I have to have fresh fruit in the house which we consume daily, so I probably go 1-2 times a week. Plus having a toddler we have to keep milk readily available. We very rarely eat out, maybe once a month?

[kork13]

It's a rarity for me to go grocery shopping more than once a week. Normally, I go shopping every 8-9 days, though I can/do go up to 14+ days on occasion. My biggest limiting factors for going longer than that are the basic staples that can only last for so long... Bread, milk, yogurt, fruits/veggies, and stuff like that.

I'm able to go longer, though, because I keep a decent stock on-hand, and my diet is really pretty simple. I love to cook, and do so somewhat regularly (in large batches that last 4-5 days), but it's just alot of variations on much of the same stuff. So it's easier to stockpile.

[Gary Barzel]

It's a great way to use up all the food stocked in your pantry that can sometimes sit there for months and then go bad. I try to do my shopping once a week, and if possible not buy anything until shopping day.

[photo]

That's great! As long as you don't count the farmer's market, I try to general do the same as you, wait a good week to go to a regular grocery store. The problem comes towards the end of that week. You look in the fridge and cabinets and think there nothing to eat. There is, but there's nothing that's really easy to fix, and you have to be a bit more creative. I've found that I actually prefer goat cheese rather than parmesan cheese on spaghetti. So now, I buy a double pack of goat cheese at Costco, which for us, is a lot more useful than parmesan cheese.

[snafu]

jpg: can we help you to enjoy cooking? What are your favorite foods? The thing is that a lot of restaurant food is Costco type prepared, frozen foods with tons of unpronounceable chemicals, sugar and sodium which is downright unhealthy. Fast food is full of fat + chemicals, sugar & salt.

Salad in s bag + your fav protein and 1/c cup frozen veggie of choice, maybe a baked potato is fast, delicious, w-aaay cheaper and likely healthier.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by snafu

jpg: can we help you to enjoy cooking? What are your favorite foods? The thing is that a lot of restaurant food is Costco type prepared, frozen foods with tons of unpronounceable chemicals, sugar and sodium which is downright unhealthy. Fast food is full of fat + chemicals, sugar & salt.

Salad in s bag + your fav protein and 1/c cup frozen veggie of choice, maybe a baked potato is fast, delicious, w-aaay cheaper and likely healthier.

This may be an excuse, but it is what it is: I'm color-blind. And I have a really hard time telling when my food is done. I usually tend to overcook (since I don't want to eat food that has been undercooked and get sick) - but that leads to me burning a lot of stuff. Chicken, fish, beef - oh beef is terrible! I don't know when the meat is red, browned, or black. Then I eat it and know that it cooked too long. It tastes awful and I end up throwing it out and going to buy food so I have something to eat. Waste of time, $$$ and effort.

So then I don't want to cook as much and I find myself saying far too often - "well... maybe I should just go grab something. It's too much of a hassle"

I buy the salads in a bag, and usually microwave dinners (since they have a time on the package, I usually don't screw it up). But then I get sick of microwave dinners after a few days.

What do I like? Tacos, grilled chicken, fried chicken, salmon, burgers, steak, spaghetti

And I like those steam in the bag vegetable things (again with the time on the package) - but if there's nothing to eat it with... well I'm not vegetarian enough to just eat green beans and rice.

What have I tried to cook and failed? Beef, bacon, pasta, rice, chicken, fish (like 3-4 kinds), garlic bread (in the oven), steak, frozen pizza

Yeah. I'm that bad

Oh and I have a meat thermometer, and I still manage to burn stuff.

[snafu]

jpg: The Finger Test to Check the Doneness of Meat | Simply Recipes
Nearly every food can be cook through with a timer. Salmon cooks to 'flake' wonderfully in micro dependent on thickness. Pasta is timer dependent. A small crockpot aka slo cooker, costs about $9. Drop whatever combo of veg, spice combo & meat you like or have at hand + 1 cup of liquid and leave to cook while you go to work or whatever....
When you return your home smells great! Create a slurry with a spoonful of flour & butter + 1 cup of crockpot's liquid. Enjoy with the best quality bread or rolls + salad.

At end, how do you wish to use your money and protect your health. For example, for years, my friend, a SAHM made a couple of extra servings of her family's dinner, packaged for take away for the single guy at the end of that street. He paid around $ 50. a week for 3 part meal with sufficient quantity for left-over lunch - a win-win for all. If she was making something on his list of dislikes - she sent a casserole.

Avoid overcooking foods by using a timer. I don't know why you think you're most likely to get sick from undercooked. You can't fix overcooked stuff, undercooked nuke to done in a couple of seconds. Authentic Fried Chicken for one is too much hassle. Try Shake & Bake by dipping in Italian Dressing and bake to a timer. Pre cook chicken in micro and finish on the grill, 'painting' with sauce the last four minutes per side.

[Frugal]

I am making it my official goal to go two weeks. I did this about a month ago, but it's hard when you have a hungry spouse to feed who is much taller than you, and eats more! We will see how long I can stretch our groceries.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by snafu

jpg: The Finger Test to Check the Doneness of Meat | Simply Recipes

Although cool, it's not very useful for ground beef (for use in tacos, spaghetti, etc.) and I didn't see if it would work on burgers - though I did see the footnote about chicken, so I can start practicing there.

Does this work for burgers? If so, I can start trying to make burgers at home

Nearly every food can be cook through with a timer. Salmon cooks to 'flake' wonderfully in micro dependent on thickness. Pasta is timer dependent. A small crockpot aka slo cooker, costs about $9. Drop whatever combo of veg, spice combo & meat you like or have at hand + 1 cup of liquid and leave to cook while you go to work or whatever....
When you return your home smells great! Create a slurry with a spoonful of flour & butter + 1 cup of crockpot's liquid. Enjoy with the best quality bread or rolls + salad.

I've tried pasta with a timer, pizza with a timer, rice with a timer, bread pieces with a timer, bacon, steaks, fish - all with timers - and somehow managed to burn them all. Serious lack of practice on my part. I've never tried the slowcooker idea. May have to look into that

Avoid overcooking foods by using a timer. I don't know why you think you're most likely to get sick from undercooked. You can't fix overcooked stuff, undercooked nuke to done in a couple of seconds. Authentic Fried Chicken for one is too much hassle. Try Shake & Bake by dipping in Italian Dressing and bake to a timer. Pre cook chicken in micro and finish on the grill, 'painting' with sauce the last four minutes per side.

Disease Listing, Foodborne Illness, General Information | CDC Bacterial, Mycotic Diseases

DEC Alaska: Food myths

The problem is that I don't know just how undercooked it is, so how would I know how long to microwave for?



Good luck Frugal! Hope you make your 2 week goal