January 30, 2019

Foods & Ingredients Inventory and Shopping List

On January 27th I was again a guest on Diabetes What to Know’s Facebook Live Diabetes Primetime with host Ansley Dalbo. On this episode we focused on what we called #ResolutionRealism – how to make and follow through with those annual New Year’s resolutions realistically. 

On the show I detailed why I promote preplanning as a critical part of healthy food choices and eating habits (in addition to portion control). I shared the action steps I take week after week to make this happen for myself and my family. I use a simple Word document to keep myself organized with some simple steps. I promised I would share it with you so here it is. Feel free to download it and make it your own. Let me know how this works for you and what tweaks you made in the comments. Or tweet these to me at @hopewarshaw. Here’s how I use this resource:

Meal Pre-planning

Step one is to put a plan together for the meals and snacks (if you eat them) you plan to prepare, assemble and eat. Get your calendars out. Think through your week (or preferred timetable) with all family members involved. Think about the number of meals you’ll need to prepare or at least assemble. Think through the foods and ingredients you need to have on hand to prepare and eat these meals and snacks. Here’s a sample of a chart that I complete for me and my family prior to putting together my shopping list:

Food Inventory 1

Go-to-Quick-to-Fix Meals

One more step to help you and your loved ones eat healthfully is to always keep the ingredients for three to five go-to-quick-to-fix meals on hand. Take a few moments to create your list. Use this list to plan meals and  take stock of foods and ingredients you may need to prepare these. Make sure you have the ingredients for these dishes on hand. Overtime add new ideas to this list and delete those you’re tired of or no longer fit your eating preferences. 

Foods & Ingredients Inventory and Shopping List

Last but not least create your shopping list. As a sample I’m sharing this list I continue to tweak as my family’s needs and desires evolve (download this list from the above link, this is just a picture). Once you know what meals your family will prepare and serve, just circle or write in the ingrediants you need and it's off to the supermarket you go.  My husband and I sometimes make a copy of this (or take a picture on a phone) so we can "divide and conquer" to speed up our shopping.

Food Inventory 2

Click here to watch the entire video with Ansley.