Shopping List June 11 to 15

Produce:
lemon (2)
garlic
lettuce greens
cucumber
avacado (2)
carrotts
beet (1)
sugar snap peas
onion
oranges (2)
ginger

Pizza toppings as you like

Bakery:
kid's favorite bread
crusty bread
Naan Bread (to use as pizza crust)

Dairy:
parmesan cheese
15% Cream (optional)
unsalted butter

Pantry:
slivered almonds
cider vinegar
sugar
sea salt
pepper
tamoric
mustard powder
sunflower oil
sunflower seeds
mayo
whole wheat spagetti
olive oil
canola oil
chicken broth (large carton)
Pam cooking spray
100% maple syrup
President's Choice Memories of Thailand Chili Sauce
rice

Meat:
salmon fillets (2-4)

Frozen:
shrimp (cooked and peeled)
green beans

Shopping List May 28 - June 1

Produce
Fresh dill
crepes (prepared - in produce aisle)
shallot
asparagus
lemon (2) broccoli
carrot
sugar snap peas
onion
garlic
ginger
butternut squash
pears (2)
avocados (2)
fruit for salad

Bakery
Tortilla

Meat
Rotisserie Chicken
6 boneless skinless salmon fillets
Breakfast sausage

Dairy
unsalted butter
ricotta cheese
Parmesan
cheddar
milk
sour cream (large tub)

Pantry
kosher salt
fresh pepper
low-sodium chicken broth (3 containers)
100% pure maple syrup
Dijon mustard
rice
olive oil
curry powder
cumin
1 can black beans
1 bottle salsa
whole spelt flour
sugar
baking powder
vanilla

Frozen
Corn

Shopping List May 14-18

Produce:
4 plum tomatoes
2 red onions
4 red peppers
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
fresh basil
garlic
1 zucchini
1 bunch asparagus
2 large avocados
cilantro (coriander)
2 limes
1 bunch parsley
1 Small red cabbage
6 green onion

Bakery:
Crusty Bread
Large hamburger buns

Meat:
8 chicken thighs
1 package scallops (optional)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 lb ground chicken

Dairy:
Parmesan cheese
Sharp Cheddar cheese
Sour cream

Pantry:
Wholegrain mustard
Clear honey
Salt
Pepper
2 14oz cans Lima beans
herb-infused olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil
Angel hair pasta (capelli d'angelo)
Sundried tomato and oregano dressing
rice
Chicken stock (4 cups)
Mayonnaise
Hot sauce (like Tabasco)
BBQ sauce

Frozen:
Fries

May 7 Shopping list

Please be sure to read through the recipes first. There are some ideas for additions and substitutions that are not on this list. Also - you might want to double check the ingredients. I had a long day and not sure I can see straight :)

Shopping list:

Pantry items
olive oil
cumin
flour
tomato paste
vegetable broth
Coarse salt and ground pepper
vegetable oil
turmeric
soy sauce
cider vinegar
sugar
sea salt
pepper
mustard powder
garlic
sunflower oil
Tamari sauce (soy sauce section or sushi section)



Dairy / Deli
3 cups grated pepper Jack cheese (12 ounces)
Tofu (firm)
Sour cream or greek yogurt
eggs


Produce Fresh and Frozen
1 box (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 box (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels, thawed
6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
onions
Avocado (4)
1 pound medium zucchini
potato (1 baking potato)
ginger
basil leaves
garlic
jalapeno (optional)
shitake mushrooms (if you can't find them use regular or portobello)
Broccoli
Bok Choy
Swiss Chard
parsley
Mixed Lettuce Greens
English Cucumber
beet
Kale
1 bunch whole carrots (for ease you can also buy a bag of precut matchstick carrots)
lime
lemons or lemon juice

Cans/bottles
1 bottle Tahini
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can plum tomatoes
2 cans unsweetened coconut milk
sesame oil


Dry Goods
16 corn tortillas (6-inch) ( i don't love corn tortillas so I am going to sub flour)
1/2 cup matzo meal (soda cracker crumbs can substitute
Nori (dry seaweed from sushi counter)
Sunflower seeds



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Shopping List April 30 to May 4

Produce
Fruit for salad
Chives
Garlic
Ginger
Green Onion
Sweet Potatoes (3 large)
Lime (1)
Sun-dried tomatoes
Broccoli (1 head)
Onion (1)
Red Chili (1, optional)
red pepper
green pepper
fresh pineapple
avocado

Bakery
Baguette (1)
Hamburger Buns

Dairy
Unsalted Butter
Eggs
Milk
Provolone or Cheddar
Non-fat sour cream
Herb and garlic cream cheese spread
Tex Mex cheese shreds

Meat
Deli-sliced ham
2 pork tenderloins (usually there is 2 in one package)
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (4)
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs (8)
Lean ground beef

Frozen
Fries

Pantry
Hot sauce
Salt (regular and kosher)
Pepper
Soy sauce
Honey
Brown sugar
Red wine
Cinnamon
Fine Chopped walnuts
Cashews
Olive oil
Dijon mustard
Balsamic vinegar
Whole grain bow tie pasta
Coconut (unsweetened)
Oyster sauce
Sugar
Rice
Taco seasoning (34g)
Salsa (I like fresh from fancy cheese and dips section).

Shopping list April 23

Groceries

This week's list will require some input from you -

1. Add your pizza topping choices, sauce choice and pizza dough choice (frozen, naan, or homemade)
2. Add stir fry ingredients if you decide to do an alternate version of the recipe otherwise use the list below.
3. Add chili ingredients and toppings if you decide to change from the original recipe otherwise use the list below, add toppings or rice on the side if you wish
4. Add a hamburger option for your kid if you don't think they will try a veggie burger - don't forget toppings for them and buns too!

Pantry items you probably already have:
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
red-wine vinegar
chili powder
cumin
dried oregano and basil
cayenne
red-pepper flakes
soy sauce
cornstarch

List as per the recipes:

1 Loaf Country bread
4 hamburger rolls
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 large onion
fresh ginger
Boston lettuce (about 2 heads)
4 large beefsteak tomatoes or Plum tomatoes (4 cups worth)
1 ripe avocado
1 cucumber (I prefer English - about 2 cups)
2 packs fresh basil
1 red pepper
1 green peppers
celery
1 bunch carrots
garlic
1 1/2 cup mushrooms
1 cup zucchini
1(28oz) can tomatoes, undrained and cut
1(19oz) can black beans,drained and rinsed
1(19oz) can chickpeas,drained and rinsed
1(19oz) can kernel corn, undrained
4 large portobello mushrooms (or more 1 per burger)
spicy brown mustard
horseradish
rice vinegar
fresh lime juice
1 jalapeno chile (optional)

Additional options for my versions:
Bacon (for avocado burgers)
Greek style yogurt and cheddar cheese for chili topping
Bocconcini cheese, basil, balsamic glaze, and tomatoes for my pizza
pepperoni and mozza and canned pizza sauce for my kid-friendly pizza

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Shopping List April 2 -6

Produce

10 ounces baby spinach

2 medium zucchini

1 onion

 2 heads of garlic

1 small bay leaf

1 small eggplant

1 red bell pepper,

4 plum tomatoes

1 large shallot,

2 large heads Bibb, Boston, or iceberg lettuce,

Napa or Savoy cabbage

fresh ginger

scallions (green onion)

1 small jalapeno or serrano chile (optional)

2-3 packs of  fresh basil leaves

Dairy, Deli and Meat

anchovy paste (optional) Find in dairy case in a box with a tube inside – it kinda looks like toothpaste.

1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausages (or a combination of both), casings removed

Mortadella – from my research this is like a fancy smoked bologna and has no appeal to me, so I will be substituting salami or prosciutto  

1 pound ground turkey (93 percent lean)

6 ounces ground pork, not all lean

provolone cheese

swiss or gruyere cheese (6 ounces) 

string cheese (4 ounces)

sun-dried-tomato pesto

Sauces and oils

extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

vegetable oil

toasted sesame oil

soy sauce

fish sauce

rice vinegar

Dry Goods

ciabatta rolls or hamburger buns

flour

sugar

pizza dough

Misc

green or black olives

tomato sauce

24 rectangular (3 1/2-by-3-inch) or square wonton wrappers

29 oz reduced-sodium chicken broth

Frozen Edamame in the pods (sometimes it’s in the health food frozen section)

Shopping list for March 19 Menu

Groceries


Spices, oils, dry goods, condiments
salt
pepper
dijon mustard
worcestershire sauce
red wine vinegar
olive oil
reduced-sodium taco seasoning (not sure this is available In St. John's so I may just get the usual)
2 cups medium salsa
8 ounces dried wide, flat rice noodles
soy sauce or fish sauce
chili sauce, such as Sriracha
dark-brown sugar
vegetable oil
2 tablespoons roasted salted peanuts, chopped

Canned Goods
1 can (19 oz/540 mL) no-salt-added white kidney beans,
1 can (4.5 oz/127 mL) diced green chiles

Produce
lemon
4 limes
garlic
romaine lettuce
fresh spinach leaves 
2 red bell pepper
frozen green sweet peas, thawed
3 large avocados
red onion
cilantro
fresh ginger   (2 cups worth when sliced)
small mint leaves   
summer fruit (such as mixed berries, melons, peaches, and/or nectarines)
iceberg lettuce
2 bunches green onions
black olives (optional)
cilantro
1 package (14 ounces) firm tofu
2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded

Dairy Case
anchovy paste (usually in a refrigerated tube in a box in the same area as butter)
1 cup old (sharp) cheddar cheese (4 oz/120 g)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
Dozen Eggs
crumbled feta cheese  1/3 cup   
heavy cream or milk   
large eggs     
unsalted butter
2 cups light (5%) sour cream (I might sub Greek style yogurt)
1 pkg (8 oz/250 g) light garden vegetable cream cheese (such as Philadelphia brand)

Meat
Rotisserie Chicken cut into pieces or Shrimp (cooked or cook yourself)
Bacon/ Ham/ Sausage (your choice)

Bread
Loaf crusty bread for croutons
bread or English muffins for toast to accompany eggs and bacon

Shopping list for March 5-9

Misc:

½ cup dry white wine  (optional)

Bottle to get you through week (not optional)  ;)

Produce:

2 1/2 pounds small zucchini

Fresh herbs including basil, cilantro, mint, parsley, plus add your choice based on which variation you want to try for the chicken recipe: basil, chervil, thyme, tarragon, dill

baby spinach leaves

ice berg lettuce or romaine

2 each of green, yellow, and red peppers

tomatoes

new ruby potatoes

carrots (small with green tops preferably)

1 onion

1 mango, peeled, pitted, sliced (frozen, bottled, or canned mango will do fine here too) 

fresh ginger (freeze the leftovers for easy storing and grating later)

Dairy

fresh Parmesan cheese

cheddar or mozzarella for grating (for use on tacos)

Cheese for pizza? (mozzarella, goat cheese, camembert, feta – your choice!)  

butter

Greek style yogurt or sour cream

Spices and sauces:

extra-virgin olive oil

bottled Asian-style dressing (your choice!)

salsa

fleur de sel or coarse kosher salt

2 heads garlic

anchovy fillets or substitute anchovy paste

dried crushed red pepper

cumin

garlic powder

chili powder

Dry Goods

1 pound fettuccine

walnuts (whole or chopped)

flour tortillas and/or taco shells

honey-roasted peanuts (1/2 cup)

Packaged Naan bread

Meat

ground beef (1 pkg or 2 if you are serving more than 4 people)

rotisserie chicken, meat torn into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups)

1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds (Free range and local are available at Belbin's but are not cheap)

Meat for pizza?

Pizza Toppings:

Add the items you want for your Thursday Naan bread pizza here:

Shopping List Feb. 26 to March 2

Produce:
Green Onions (6)
Coriander
1 Bag Sugar Snap Peas
1 Head of Garlic
Lemon (1)
Ginger (1 piece)
Sweet Potato (4 large)
Onion (2)
Carrots (6)
Oranges (2)
Green Pepper (1)

Bakery:
Large Hot Dog Buns

Meat:
6 boneless skinless chicken breast, or 12 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Frozen, cooked shrimp
2 Pork Tenderloins
2 Striploin Steaks

Dairy:
Parmesan Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Non-fat sour cream
Butter
Coffee Cream
Margarine

Pantry:
Montreal Steak Spice
Garlic Powder
rice
vegetable Oil
olive oil
1 Can Coconut milk (not light)
Chunky Peanut Butter
Hot Garlic-Chili Sauce
Whole Wheat Spaghetti
soy sauce
honey
brown sugar
cinnamon
red wine
kosher salt
walnuts
chicken broth (1 tetra pack)
Worcestershire Sauce

Frozen:
Fries

Shopping List Feb. 13-17

Meat
Ground Beef (at least a pound)
Chicken Tenders
Pizza Delight Pepperoni Bacon ( 1 package)
Pork Chops (at least 1 per family member)
Fish (Cod) Fillets (1 per child, 2 per adult)

Produce
Potato (1 bag)
Turnip (2 medium)
Green Beans (1 package)
Red/Green/Yellow Pepper (1 of each)

Bakery
Loaf of fresh bread
Naan Bread (1 per family member)

Dairy Section
Milk (1 carton)
Orange Juice (1 carton)
Eggs (1 dozen)
1 large bag of Kraft Shredded Tex Mex Cheese
Butter or Margarine

Pantry
Flour
Ketchup
Bay Leaves (1 package)
Salt and Pepper
Jacob's Cream Crackers
1 large tin of Diced Tomatos
1 large can of tomato paste
1 bottle of Bull’s-Eye Barbecue Sauce Guinness Flavour
Brown Sugar
Vinegar
Worcestershire Sauce
Mustard
Basmati Rice
Chicken Broth (1 tetra pack)
Ms Vickie's Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar Chips (1 Bag)

Deli
Fresh Pasta (enough for your size family)
Casa Grande Salsa Roja (1 tub)

Shopping List Feb 6-10

Meat
Salmon Fillets (2 to 4 depending on family size)
Chicken Breast (2)
Ground Beef (3 lbs)

Produce
avocado (1)
Ginger (1 small piece)
Carrot (1)
Green Pepper (2)
Tomato (2)
Cucumber (1)
Onion (2)
Fresh Mushrooms (1 small package)

Bakery
Flour Tortillas (small)
Sourdough Bread (1 loaf)

Dairy
Sour Cream (1 container)
Cheddar Cheese (medium size block)

Freezer
Corn (1 bag)
French cut green beans (1 bag)
Sweet Potato Fries (1 bag)

Pantry
Ketchup (or tomato sauce)
Black Beans (1 can)
Salsa (1 bottle)
Sliced Almonds (1 package
100 % Maple Syrup (1 bottle)
President's Choice memories of Thailand Fiery Chili Sauce (1 Bottle)
Campbell's Basil and Oregano Soup (1 can)
Spaghetti
Macaroni
Rice

Menu plan (Jan 30 - Feb 3rd)

Erika here ~
This is my first solo meal plan and I have a hard act to follow with Sara's great menu last week!
Monday: Chili Con Carne and Cheddar Biscuits
Tuesday: Lime Soup with Tortilla Strips and Chicken
Wednesday: Chicken with Cashews and Pineapple (see recipe below)
Thursday: Easy Pad Thai
Friday: Kitchen Sink Day - (see below)
Here is a link to the Shopping List.
Please read these important tips BEFORE you shop to help make the week go smoothly. I have included some suggestions and substitution ideas, don't worry the shopping list incorporates these too to make it easier:

Weekend/ Monday: Chili Con Carne
Consider making Monday's chili recipe on Sunday. You can either have it for Sunday dinner and eat the leftovers on Monday or just make it for Monday. The biscuits are best if made on the day you intend to eat them, they are easy to make and your kids can help. This is like a fancy version of a Sloppy Joe, you serve the chili over the biscuit. Oh and just a heads-up, my husband always asks me to double the biscuit recipe. If you have little kids, my advice is leave the jalapeños out of the biscuits or do half in and half out. I buy a good quality roast or steaks for this to ensure the meat is nice and tender, but if you have a slow cooker you can probably adapt for that and make any cut of meat tender enough or even use stew meat. For those of you watching your weight, you can sub plain yogurt for the sour cream.
Tuesday - Lime and Chicken Soup
After a big meal of chili and cheddar yesterday, this is a nice light soup. The chicken and tortilla strips make it hearty enough for a meal, but you could throw a few nachos and shredded cheese under the broiler and serve with it if you want. You can use flour tortilla's instead of corn if you find those easier to get at the grocery store.
Wednesday - An Asian taste to shake things up.
This is easy and delicious. Feel free to sub chicken breast for the thighs (but thighs are much more flavourful) and peanuts for the cashews. If you get peanuts you can use them for tomorrow's recipe too.
 

Recipe

2 tbs shredded coconut

1/2 cup cashews (peanuts will work too)

1 onion cut in chunks

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 tsps chopped red chili (optional if you think your kids won't like it, but overall this is a sweet dish)

350 g chicken thighs, chopped (boneless / skinless)

1/2 red pepper chopped

1/2 green pepper chopped

2 tblsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 cups fresh pineapple chopped

2 green onions chopped.

1 cup Basmati or other rice

Preheat the oven to 300F and toast the coconut on an oven tray for 10 min til golden.

Remove coconut from tray immediately to prevent burning. Increase heat to 350 and roast cashews for 15 min - remove from tray and set aside to cool.

Heat oil in deep frying pan or wok. add onion, garlic, chili and stir fry for 2 min on medium heat. Remove from pan. Add chicken and red and green pepper in two batches stir fry until chicken is light brown. Return onion mixture to wok. add oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and pineapple toss for 2 min. Toss cashews through. arrange on a platter and garnish with coconut and green onion. Serve with rice.

Thursday - Easy Pad Thai
 I have raves about this before. We ate it twice in one week because my husband liked it so much and it is the only time I have ever used tofu and actually enjoyed it. Make sure you start with hot oil to give the tofu a golden and slightly crispy texture. You can sub chicken or shrimp if you have Anti- Tofu Protestors in your house... or you can just lie.... Mwahhh ha ha!!!
Friday - Kitchen Sink Day
I have found that at the end of each week I have a lot of leftover produce and other things from the week's menu. So I decided to call Friday "Kitchen Sink Day" and give you an opportunity to use up whatever is left in your fridge and cupboards. You can make a quiche, omelette, pasta, pizza or stirfry. Just be sure to add the ingredients you need for whatever you choose to the shopping list. If you need to find a basic recipe for any of these things I suggest using Epicurious , but here is a simple quiche recipe you can add anything too and here are some flexible pasta recipes.

Grocery List - January 23-27


PRODUCE
o Lemon (1)
o Small piece of ginger (1)
o Medium potatoes (4)
o Broccoli (1 bunch)
o Red and Yellow Bell Peppers (1 of each)
o Butternut Squash (1)
o Onion (1)
o Apple (1)
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________

Bakery
o Sourdough or Crusty Italian Bread (1 loaf)
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________

Meat
o Boneless, skinless chicken breast (4)
o Ground Chicken (1 package)
o Pizza Toppings (as you like)
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________

Dairy
o Eggs
o Mozzarella Cheese
o Sour Cream (1 medium tub)
o Milk
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________

Freezer
o Prepared Pizza Dough (if not available get pre-made crust)
o Frozen Sweet Potato Fries (1 Bag)
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________
o _____________________________

Staples
o Pizza Sauce
o Hoisin Sauce
o BBQ Sauce
o Cooking Spray
o Low Sodium Chicken Broth (2 - 900 ml boxes)
o Stove-Top Stuffing for Chicken (1 box)
o Chili Powder
o Curry Powder
o Foil Wrap
o Plastic Wrap
o _____________________________

Menu for week of January 16th to 20th

We both found the Martha Stewart menu and shopping list to be easy and quick. In fact, it was quite nice to go home every evening with a plan, and all the things we needed to execute that plan in our cupboards and fridge. Because of this, we have decided to use Martha again this week.

This is a buffer, by the way, as our plan is to create our own menus and shopping lists from recipes we love, but we are not quite confident to do this yet. Martha, God love her, is helping us out by letting us begin this experiment with a tried and true menu, while we wrap our heads around how to put all this together ourselves. We are almost there. Then we will start incorporating some new recipes with some of our own best-loved stuff, ensuring that they contain ingredients that are easy to come by, and are generally kid-friendly.

However, for this week we are back to the Queen of all domestic goddesses - Martha. You can find the menu and shopping list on the side tabs.

After scanning the grocery store flyers, seems like Sobey's has the most deals for this week's list. Whole chickens are on sale (in case you want to cook two on Sunday, one for supper, one for next day), as are lemons, tomatos, fresh pasta, solid white tuna and cracker barrel cheese. Here's to saving money!

Join us for dinner!

We have a New Year’s Resolution and it is simple: to make meal times easier, healthier and cheaper too. We decided to start a blog so that we can share our New Year’s Resolution with other working moms.

We are Erika and Sara. We are working Moms. We are busy people. We both love to cook and we both believe that dinner time is an important part of family life. We also want our children to be adventurous (as we are) with food, but we are realistic and know that sometimes you have to ‘short-order cook’ for your picky eaters.

Sara: I have three boys, aged 7, 4 and 2. Most days my house feels like a zoo with the animals on speed. My oldest child loves food and has a wide array of foods he enjoys. My middles lives on yogurt and cereal and will touch nothing else. My youngest is trying to decide which brother he will model.

Erika: I have one boy, 3. He alternates between being willing to try anything to only wanting Goldfish for supper. My husband works long and unpredictable hours so I am on pick-up duty and solo for supper making every day. Fast and easy meals are a necessity as the time between getting home and bed time is short.

We are going to try various meal planning methods, try to adapt the plans and recipes to suit our families varying needs, and create a blog about it to record what works, what doesn’t, and lessons learned. We are also open to your ideas and advice too.

We hope that because our families are different and our kids have different likes and dislikes that between the two of us, something will be useful for your own families too. And of course we expect you will be creative and adapt things to suit your own family.

The Plan:

Check our blog on Fridays for the menu and shopping list. Each week we will provide a menu and a shopping list.  If you like what you see, follow along – make sure you tell us about your experience!

We would also like you to tell us about any time or money saving tips you have in your meal prep routine. And we too will look at flyers and try to alert you to deals to take advantage of for weeks ahead.

And of course, we are not striving to be super, we just wanna make life easier, so take out meals and restaurant meals will also happen from time to time. We will offer advice on the best kid-friendly joints in town, and we would love to hear your thoughts on that too.

Week One:

So here it goes. Week one. The menu comes from one of Erika’s favourite meal planning resources, Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine. Each issue has a section called ‘Grocery Bag.’ It includes five days of meals and a tear out shopping list. The recipes are easy and fast and I like how if you stick to the five recipes given, you end up trying something new and possibly challenging your taste buds and that of your kids.

This week’s menu can be found here.

The grocery list can be found here.

Follow us on our Facebook page next week to see how we make out and share your thoughts and ideas with us.