Ever wonder how people function when they live thirty minutes or more from the grocery store and can only shop two or three times per month? I’ll share how I manage this challenge and what tricks I have found to make life easier.
Country living far from the grocery store
When my friends first came to visit my new country home, the question about how far I had to drive to the grocery store always came up.
When I lived in the suburbs I shopped every Tuesday and Friday. I would meal plan for the next three or four days and pick up what we needed. I liked the routine; it worked well for our family.
And then we bought a house in the country with a grocery store 28 minutes away.
Meal Planning while Living Far from the Grocery Store
This is now a necessity. I make a rotating menu of about forty different meals using many of the same basic ingredients like chicken, beef, cheese, milk, eggs, flour, bone broth, onions, potatoes and the like. These are my staples which I always keep stocked. The meal planning comes in when I must add ingredients that only a few recipes call for and these naturally rotate with the seasons.
Recipe organization
The meal planning process is made easier because a few years ago, I typed up all my recipes and placed them in a recipe book that features splatter-proof page protectors, which I love. I can easily see what ingredients are needed and add the ones I don’t have to the list I keep on my phone. I use my recipe book so much that all my recipe posts feature 4×6 printable recipe cards so you can build your own if you would like. (Afflink)
Keeping my Shopping list on my phone
My phone is the easiest place to keep my grocery list to ensure I won’t forget it at home. One big change I had to make was to develop the discipline to stop whatever I was doing in order to type what I needed on my list right then before I forgot. This self-discipline is critical to ensure I don’t later waste time and gas or have to do without.
Cooler Bags stay in my car
The back of my car always has two insulated bags to keep my refrigerated and frozen items cool on the long drive home. This is a trick I learned from my mother-in-law, who is forty five minutes from her nearest grocery store. When I unload everything at home, the empty cooler bags go directly back in my car so that they can never be forgotten. This is the only way to transport ice cream all the way home without it becoming soup during the blazing hot days of August.
Grocery shopping is a planned outing
Curbside pickup is a great thing but it still takes time to drive there and back. Planning an errand day that includes the grocery store as my last stop is often the most efficient. Because I am buying more over less trips, unloading and putting things away takes a bit longer, too. I usually set aside three hours to complete this task.
The Farmer’s Market is a Great Option!
Our Saturday morning Farmer’s Market is not far from the grocery store and is well worth the trip! You-Pick farms are also much closer than they were when we lived in the suburbs. Shopping for locally grown food and produce has become easier.
You will adjust faster than you think
Living far away from the grocery store was something that concerned me when we first bought our farmhouse. After settling in we seemed to adjust to the new normal. Now the family is good about ensuring the items they want make it on the list and forgotten things are few. I promise that country living far from the grocery store is not hard!
Leave a Reply