Wednesday, February 3, 2010

I'm loving my shorter grocery list!

Over the past year I've made it a goal to live more simply and basically, especially getting away from processed foods when possible.

I knew it would save money and be a healthier option for my family, but some benefits I didn't anticipate are shorter grocery lists and easier shopping trips. When I'm just buying basics like flour, eggs, and milk there are several aisles I can skip all together! Also, I love that my pantry is less cluttered without all the mixes and prepackaged stuff!

13 things I no longer buy:
  1. Paper napkins - switched to cloth, I do laundry nearly every day anyway, so it's no trouble to throw them in with a load. I'm using white ones we already had and bleach them every now and the then.
  2. Sandwich bread - making my own bread now, like this recipe and this one
  3. Pop tarts - the kids always asked for them at breakfast but ate less than half most days, I just quit buying them and after a couple days nobody even missed them! I usually have homemade muffins, hard-boiled eggs, bagels etc. if they want something to go with their cereal.
  4. Hamburger buns - if you try this recipe you'll never be able to go back to the store bought!
  5. Hot chocolate - so easy to make your own mix
  6. Cake mix, brownie mix, muffin mix - cheaper and not much harder to make from scratch
  7. Icing/frosting in a tub - so easy and yummy to make your own!
  8. Microwave popcorn - Did you know it takes the same amount of time to make it from the kernels on the stove?
  9. Pre-sweetened adult yogurt (I haven't yet weaned the kids off their squeeze yogurt) - I buy the large tub of plain organic yogurt and sweeten it at home with this recipe.
  10. Pre-made pizza crust - Love this recipe to make it from scratch, but substitute wheat flour for half the white flour.
  11. Hummus - it is so expensive to buy this pre-made; use this recipe
  12. Wheat crackers - gotta love a 5 ingredient recipe (and 1 of those ingredients is water!)
  13. Shredded cheddar cheese - it tastes much better and is usually cheaper to buy the block and shred it yourself!

Find more Thankful Thursday & Thursday Thirteen & Works for Me Wednesday.

18 comments:

  1. I always intended to switch to cloth napkins, but frankly we don't use any napkins at all most of the time.

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  2. i had napkins made for my wedding and now we have tons of cloth napkins so we now we can skip on buying paper towels. we reuse the napkins for a few times before we throw them in the laundry basket. i really like using cloth over paper. :)

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  3. wow that's a lot of making... must be fun to see how your creations turn out.

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  4. It would be interesting to list all the additives and preservatives you purged with just this list of grocery changes.

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  5. I admire your determination. I used to make our bread and suck, but it's just so fattening. I had to stop. Love it way too much, warm and out slathered in butter lol
    Happy T13!

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  6. I used to do this too when my family was young and all lived here. I remember once when a couple of my oldest son's friend's were over "hanging out" and Joe got them some home made bread and jam. The boys were about 14. They about cleaned me out, haha. And I overheard one of them say to my son, "Wow, your soo lucky your mom makes this stuff. It is soo much better than store bought." No question that it is. Problem for me? I STILL can't keep my head out of it. haha Don't do it much anymore. I think this is great that you do all this. Not only economically smart, and much healthier, but you will find it makes memories too. Have a wonderful day.

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  7. Great tips! Thanks

    Have a great Thursday!
    http://iamharriet.blogspot.com/2010/02/they-said-were-not-laughing-at-you-were.html

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  8. Gosh, it sounds like you have some time on your hands! Or you're just more productive than I am. I couldn't imagine doing laundry every day, although it would probably make Saturdays more fun for me ...

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  9. thats great
    I have actually been thinking of shredding my own cheese do you think it makes a great difference

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  10. Moving to Canada made me re-think my grocery list and eliminate everything you did and maybe a few other ones. I was stunned by the price of cheese up here and there was noway I was paying $8 for 2 cups of shredded cheese!

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  11. Home made stuff beats store bought every time.

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  12. I haven't looked into cloth napkins - what do you use? Did you make your own? I sometimes make my own bread, but it goes so much faster, that I just stopped making it. Plus, I have to find a less fattening recipe than what I had if I'm going to make it all the time. I'll look at yours in just a bit! And the buns! I want to do those too. And I'm also going to try to make my own pasta here in a few days. I borrowed a kitchen aid attachment...wish me luck! :)

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  13. Allison-
    I agree whole-heartedly! I can't wait to try the hamburger bun recipe. Does it freeze well?

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  14. I like you you have intentionally chosen to live simply. We're right with you on most of these (and have been for around 20 years.) We did go back to cloth napkins, and got too busy (uh-oh time to simplify again!) and quit making bread. Still grind our own wheat and make home-made mostly everything else.

    Blessings on living simply!

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  15. Great list! Sounds like 13 successful changes that were not that difficult to do but in the long run really have big payoffs.

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  16. We've cut out many of the same things, but I'm going to try your burger bun, hummus and wheat cracker recipes!

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  17. Thanks for those tips. You can make your own yogurt in a crock pot. It's so yummy!

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  18. eh cloth nappies are good if you have your own washing machine (which i dont) so I think I'll stick with the paper ones :D Must be nice to be able to save somehow ;)

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I'd love to hear what you think!