Keep Grocery Costs Down

We don’t have an estimate of how much your groceries will cost on a weekly basis because the cost of groceries can vary greatly depending on the types of recipes you choose, how many recipes you add to your Menu, how easy or complicated each recipe is, and how many people you're cooking for.

Sticking to a budget when grocery shopping can be tricky, but you don’t have to break the bank to eat like those in the Blue Zones! Here are a few tips for keeping costs low when preparing great meals.

• Use your Allergies & Dislikes section to exclude expensive ingredients from your personalized recipes. Then you won’t be recommended any recipes with ingredients that don’t fit your budget!
  • If the ingredients in the dishes on your Discover page are too expensive or the collection of recipes use too many different ingredients, don’t feel obligated to follow the recipes in the order they’ve been presented. We strive to offer balanced dishes that don’t have to be eaten in a particular sequence. Feel free to mix and match based on your budget!

• Use Search to find recipes with overlapping ingredients so that you can revolve your recipes for the week around a few key ingredients. If you organize your week’s worth of meals around two or three main ingredients, it will keep you from buying (and wasting) lots of groceries.
  
  • For example, if you search "sweet potatoes garbanzos" you'll see lots of few recipes that call for sweet potatoes and chickpeas. Then, simply build your menus from those meal options! Using this tip, you will not have to buy so many different ingredients to use over the course of the week.
  • You can also build your Menu as you normally would and then halfway through, go and have a look at your Grocery List to see if there are any fractions of ingredients (ex: ½ head of cabbage). Head on over to the Search engine to find some more recipes with those ingredients to use up the rest!
• Another great option is to choose recipes based on ingredients that are on sale that week at your local supermarket.
• Rice, quinoa, beans, spices, and select canned or frozen vegetables show up in many of our dishes. Instead of buying them piecemeal, consider purchasing them in bulk. You’ll save lots of money over time, and since the items aren’t perishable, you won’t run the risk of them going bad before they can be prepared. (Don't forget to bring your reusable containers!)
• Lastly, be sure to use the grocery list feature to help you stick to your list. It’s easy to get distracted during a visit to the grocery store and buy things you don’t really need. If you stick to your list and only buy what’s on it, you’ll cut out on the excess food shopping.
• Finally, we absolutely suggest cooking for leftovers! To do so, open up a recipe that’s in a Menu or Grocery List, then click ‘Change’ under the Serving Size section. When you click on the ‘Leftovers’ button your recipe will automatically double (and update the quantities in the grocery list)!
  • This means you'll likely be buying fewer total ingredients and might have the opportunity to buy some ingredients in bulk. This tip also helps cut down on the amount of cooking you will be doing each week - cook once, eat twice. Bonus!

With the proper planning and a little research, you can save lots of money by using the meal planner. Feel free to reach out to one of our coaches for more information!