Refilling your entire fridge
Last time I posted about road trip snacks and the stress of traveling. Now imagine your home, you came back to a nice clean living space. You walk up to the fridge…..empty.
This is just the worst. On any occasion really. Don’t you wish there were magical little elves that just restocked your fridge and cabinet? It’s a great job opportunity for Santa’s elves in the off season! I mean if that was real I would pay those cheery little elves to sing songs and fill my shelves. Too bad it’s not real. Though…it is fun to picture.
Since that’s not a reality we got to get to restocking ourselves. If, like me, you clean your fridge before you go you don’t have to work with. I chose to eat out and have my groceries delivered on the day after I got back.
The best piece of advice I have: on your way home, while at the airport or right from your phone in the passenger seat……order your groceries. Thanks to the crap show that was 2020, we at least got mobile ordering/grocery delivery. You don’t have to do a whole trip either, you don’t have to have a meal plan at this moment. Just get enough for the next few days while you get back on schedule. Eggs, spinach, milk, some sort of veggies, pasta and protein.
Bam.
Restocking your fridge can be pricey and overwhelming, so this step can get you through a few days to think about what else you need while making sure you have some of your dietary essentials.
While you can always pre-plan your meals and order all that in the moment….you are a new you. How do you know you are even going to want to eat what you planned? Same goes with shopping you can select a pick up/delivery day after you get back. But again, who knows if that’s what you still want.
Since I drove home, I spent the time thinking of meals I wanted. I had about 5-6 ideas in my head, and then grouped them by what I would need. Now, I can use 4 tomatoes for 2 different recipes, and so on. The next morning I built my shopping list, added in what I needed for my recipes. Less overwhelming, got my essentials and will be able to recipe test with similar ingredients.
This week, I originally selected pick up but before my order was started I cancelled it to pick up- saved me 15$ right there. Got my essentials of:
Eggs, dairy free cheese, dairy free creamer, dairy free sour cream, rice, breakfast sausage, various juices, stock, lettuce, spinach, coconut water lemons and limes. Plus some extras for my recipes: avocado, tomato, cabbage, cilantro, beans, tortillas and pork shoulder.
Plus some household items and other extras I know I can use in other recipes+ the meat in my freezer. All total- this trip was $110. Which, sounds like a lot but most of this will last me well over a week. I also live with someone who can EAT so our grocery bill is usually in the $90 range. Another important thing is almost everything in my list will have multiple uses in different recipes! This can also save money and food from being wasted.
Now there is always making sure you buy on sale. If you have NO IDEA what you even want, check out their sales first. See if that can give you inspiration. I try to buy meat on sale, then vacuum seal and put in the future for when I am ready for it. If you are a couponer- do you boo. I’ll use them if I have them and are applicable but that’s about as far as I will go.
So….if you hate reading and ignored my post but want the advice- here are my tips to prevent spending an arm and a leg restocking your fridge:
- Essentials first. Eggs, milk, veggies etc. Anything you eat all the time. Prioritize these items so they won’t get forgotten.
- Plan multiple uses for the same item so you don’t have to buy small amounts of a lot of things.
- For example if you like eggs and bacon for breakfast? Pasta is really cheap- get that and parm and you can make carbonara. You can use parm in salads, sandwhiches or other dinners. Just be intentional.
- This is not the trip for “Oh ill get this to try” and not have a plan. Do you normally buy a rutabaga? If the answer is no- you don’t need it this week. (unless you have a plan to use and reuse it in something else).
- Make sure you are not hungry or fatigued. It’s so easy to just add to cart…if you are not paying attention or being intentional, it’ll add up.
- Get something pre cooked like a rotisserie chicken or those precooked chicken strips in the freezer section. If you are just coming back from traveling and exhausted, adding this to your cart is much cheaper than eating out for another night.