Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center 2nd P of Meal Prep: Grocery Shopping (Purchasing) and Learning How To Pivot Along the Way Summer Meal Planning Series Part 3

By Bailey Carr, Culinary RDN

Happy July and welcome back to our Summertime Meal Planning Series!

We are at the halfway point where you have met your inner meal prepper and you have your meals planned. For this month, the focus is grocery shopping (aka purchasing if we are sticking to the 4 P’s). If you feel like facing the grocery store is your meal planning hurdle, this one’s for you! 

Going to the grocery store is the pivotal point of the meal prepping process. It is the culmination of the planning stages, where you are turning your ideas of what to eat into the tangible ingredients to bring into your kitchen. This is also what makes it the limiting step of the meal prepping process: if the shopping trip doesn’t go to plan, the meal plan will inevitably have to be altered. 

As a general overview, these are the steps of grocery shopping: Make list. Remember list. Find aisle. Locate food. Put in cart. Go to checkout. Pay. Leave. Appears simple, right? Sure it does, especially when looked at from a bird’s eye view. But when we zoom in, the process gets a lot more complicated. Let’s discuss some of the common challenges of grocery shopping and how to adapt so you can be a confident, skilled shopper. 

 Yield: What does it mean, and how does understanding it help?

Yield means “how much”. If you have ever stared at a package of chicken or a bin of bell peppers and had no idea how much to buy for the week, you have likely experienced a yield barrier. This type of barrier can cause having too much or too little food for the week.  

The counter to the barrier of not knowing how much of an ingredient to buy is having a reference for portion sizes. Screenshot this or take a picture of the guide below to have this on hand at the store! Keep in mind these are general suggestions – you may need more or less depending upon your unique nutrition needs.  

• Animal and Vegetarian Proteins: 4-6 ounces per person, per serving. Purchase on the higher end if you want to plan for leftovers, and/or if you are purchasing meat that may need to be trimmed before cooking (such as removing bone, skins, etc.)  

• Fruit: If you notice fruit going bad before eating, consider scaling back to one piece/serving of fruit per person per day before ramping up. Also, consider purchasing frozen fruit or fruit cups packed in their own juice as a portable and shelf stable option!  

• • Side note: just because fruit is browning/softening does not mean it needs thrown out. See our guide for repurposing these foods here! 

• Vegetables: Similar to fruits, if veggies seem to quickly go bad before using, consider using frozen or canned options that you can keep on hand. When getting used to increasing fresh vegetable intake, as a general rule start with ½ vegetable per serving, per person and increase slowly over time 

Personal barriers 

Personal barriers arise from our own interaction with grocery shopping. The well-known one is going to the store hungry and walking away with impulse buys instead of sticking to the list. These barriers can also arise if the grocery store feels overwhelming and stressful. Here are a few common personal barriers:  

• Not making a list, forgetting the list, or forgetting to put items on the list (this is also where an understanding of yield is very important!)  

• Grocery store overwhelm and anxiety  

• Child grocery store meltdown   

• Impulse purchases (sometimes made even more quickly and efficiently thanks to a grocery store coffee shop latte)  

Personal Pivots

These barriers can be challenging as they can feel like internal hurdles more than external complications. This category of grocery shopping barriers could probably be an entire blog in and of itself. Run through the following questions to begin to consider your own challenges and potential solutions:  

• How to make and remember a helpful list:  

• • Consider writing a master list of all ingredients and amounts you need for your recipes. Next, cross off all items you have, and have enough of, in your pantry. Make a new list of all ingredients you need to purchase. 

• • Try organizing your list based on sections in the grocery store such as produce, dairy, butcher/deli section, canned and dry goods, breads, etc. You could even take this the next step and make your grocery list align with your flow through your go-to store

• • Use technology! You can do so by using a grocery list app, the notes section on your phone, or using grocery store websites to generate a virtual list for you!  

• Questions to ask yourself to understand and make a plan for grocery store overwhelm:  

• • What serves you best: in person shopping or virtual shopping (delivery or pick-up)?  

• • What day and time is least stressful for you to go to the grocery store? When is most stressful? Is it possible for you to avoid stressful times?  

• • Does the grocery store have an app you can download with an aisle map?  

• • Would wearing headphones help with any overwhelm or anxiety you have? What about taking a friend or family member with you? 

• • Is it possible to choose a shopping time when you have care arranged for your kid(s)?  

• • What could make the grocery store a positive experience for you and/or your kid(s)? 

• • How can you delegate responsibility to help with grocery shopping?  

• • How hungry are you when you arrive at the grocery store?  

• • Do you find the grocery store makes you want to rebel against your list? Are you happy with the items you have on your list?  

• • Can you identify what desired feeling you are seeking that impulse purchases fulfill?  

• • Do you find allotting a budget for 1-2 spontaneous “fun” items enhances your enjoyment and quality of life? If so, would you consider adding this wiggle room to your list instead of working against it? 

• • How many times per week works best for you to go to the store? Does one big haul work best, or would smaller, more frequent trips be better (especially if biking or using public transit)?  

• • Do I need to run other errands first or pack a cooler to help transport groceries safely home if out for an extended time? 

Grocery Store Barriers

These barriers include both in person and virtual factors that affect choice, access and availability of ingredients. These factors may be negative when they take away the option of an ingredient. They may be positive when they make an ingredient more accessible through a sale, though this may or may not align with your menu plan. Here are common grocery store barriers: 

• Out of stock ingredients  

• Poor quality of ingredients available 

• Ingredient planned for is pricier than expected/out of budget 

• Surprise sales/ coupons  

Grocery Store Pivots

Making grocery stores pivots comes down to having a back-up plan rooted in flexibility, creativity, and a little food science. Here are a few tips and resources to consider:  

• Ingredient properties. When making an ingredient swap, first think of the properties of the ingredient you are substituting for. Is it sweet? Salty? Crunchy? Spicy? Think of the flavor and texture of the ingredient, and then consider how other ingredients may mirror these qualities.  

• • Example 1: there is no curry powder left on the shelves-everyone is making curry at home! One option is to search the International/ Global aisle of the grocery store and look for a curry paste to use. Or, if you are open to building out your spice cabinet or already have lots of spice odds and ends at home, combine 1 tablespoon each cumin, turmeric and coriander + 1 teaspoon each ginger and cinnamon + a pinch each of black pepper and chili flakes or cayenne. Adjust as needed to suit your taste!  

• • Example 2: Surprise! You got to the store and there is a major sale on avocados too good to pass up. However, your meal plan consists of yogurt parfaits, smoothies, and Italian style dinners. What to do? Buy them! Add them to your smoothie as a source of nourishing fat. Make a savory yogurt and avocado dip seasoned with a ranch dressing packet that you can use as a dip with some extra tomatoes you were planning to buy for a Caprese salad. Or, whip up a dessert by making our chocolate avocado mousse 

• • Check out this resource from CSU Extension to help navigate ingredient swaps! 

• Ingredient Forms. If a grocery store is out of a fresh ingredient, can you find it available in a canned, packaged, dried, or frozen form? A great example of this is using frozen pre-chopped fruits and vegetables, or herb/ garlic pastes if the store is out of fresh herbs.  

• • Note: there is a circulating myth that “pre-packaged produce is not healthy”. However, this is not true, as frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are a great source of nutrients. A helpful tip is to look for options packaged without added salt and sugar.  

• Ingredient Source. Is your local grocery store repeatedly out of choices for a certain ingredient? If so, are there different sources you can use to obtain these ingredients? A few ideas include: 

• • Sign up for a local CSA (community supported agriculture) produce box! Or source select ingredients from a local farmers market  

• • Use online grocery stores that deliver “ugly” but tasty produce at a discounted rate! 

We hope this guide maps out a few ideas for overcoming common shopping hurdles such as grocery store overwhelm and anxiety, needing to make ingredient swaps, and feeling unsure of amounts to buy. Use this blog as a format for completing your own troubleshooting for the grocery as well.  Now, are you ready to grab your reusable bags or fire up your online order with a renewed sense of confidence?  

For anyone keeping track, we have covered the first 2 P’s of meal planning! Our final 2 P’s will be discussed in next month’s blog where we pull it all together to complete our Summertime Meal Planning Series. See you in August!  

About the Author

Bailey has been with the KRNC since July of 2023, and works primarily at the CSU Spur campus in Denver, CO. Learn more about Bailey’s culinary dietitian background and training in her KRNC Bio.

More Information

For additional resources for healthy eating, check out these programs from our registered dietitian nutritionists. Find delicious and healthy recipes on our Recipes page! More health tips are also available at the College of Health and Human Sciences Pinterest board. Lastly, don’t forget to sign up for the KRNC monthly newsletter!