Today’s Grocery Shopping Challenge is to buy in bulk and avoid those “single serving” convenience packages. The grocery stores are tempting everyone with foods packaged up in those 100 calorie packages, but you are paying a premium when you could just be doing it yourself. And let’s face it, buying a 100 calorie pack of chocolate cookies really isn’t doing anyone any favors, especially your waistline, even though the marketing companies want you to think those packages are “healthy” with “only” 100 calories… not to mention many people end up eating more that one pack at a time!!!
So the challenge this week is to buy anything that you might buy in those handy single-serving packs, whether it is baby carrots, cookies or single-serving soup packages, and buy them in the larger size. Then, when you are at home, go and divide them into single serving sizes into plastic containers or ziplocs.
Don’t forget to check out the prices… that package of six single-serving packages will cost just about as much as the large package that you can usually make two or three times the number of packages when you do it yourself.
Don’t fall into the trap of just thinking it is “easier” to buy them packaged in the single-serving sizes. It is easier, but you are probably paying someone the equivalent of about $100 per hour to package them when you do buy them that way when you can take 5-10 minutes and do it yourself – and it is also a great chore to have your kids do for their allowance too!
My daughter loves baby carrots and dip so I buy the large bags of baby carrots and snack size zip lock bags I have small containers that she uses for ranch and blue cheese dressing.