Streamline Your Supermarket Shopping

Grocery shopping in 2020 has become an ordeal.  New opening and closing hours; keeping two meters away from other shoppers; following the new one-way directions in the aisles - it's become a real pain in the ass. Now more than ever, we need to get in and out of the supermarket as efficiently as possible, with enough items bought to make it worth our while. Stocking your pantry with basic supplies makes it possible to have enough food for some decent meals while limiting your future runs to the store to buying perishable items and restocking. By purchasing the items below, you will help cut down on the number of times you have to endure waiting in line to get in and out of your favourite big box, warehouse, or grocery store - I can't think of a better way to flatten the curve.

Necessities

• apples
• baking soda (buy two boxes, one for baking, one for cleaning)
• baking powder
• bread
• butter/margarine
• carrots
• canned beans
• canned tomatoes (whole and crushed)
• canned tuna (chunk packed in water is good for sandwiches; white albacore is best for salads)
• chicken breasts
• coffee/tea
• canola oil
• cereal
• cheese 
• cornstarch
• cucumber
• dried herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme)
• eggs
• extra virgin olive oil
• flour (if you see some, grab it, it's been flying off the shelves like toilet paper recently)
• frozen vegetables (corn, peas, spinach)
• garlic
• ground beef
• jam/jelly
• ketchup
• lettuce
• mayonnaise
• mustard (yellow and Dijon)
• onions
• oranges
• pasta
• pork chops/steak (the same number of pieces of meat as household members per pack) 
• peanut butter
• potatoes
• rice
• salt
• spices (cinnamon, chili powder cumin, curry powder, nutmeg)
• sugar
• soy sauce
• stock cubes (beef, chicken, vegetable)
• vinegar

Extras (always good to have on hand)

• canned broth
• canned soups (a can of cream of mushroom and/or cream of celery, you got a key ingredient in a bunch of casseroles)
• canned vegetables
• celery
• chicken broth
• chocolate chips
• cocoa
• cottage or ricotta cheese
• cornmeal
• dried herbs (sage, tarragon, marjoram)
• evaporated milk
• frozen shrimp
• honey
• lemons
• nuts (chopped or whole)
• orange (or some other fruit) juice
• peppers (red, green, something spicier)
• plain yogurt
• popcorn
• raisins
• salsa
• seasonal fruit
• sour cream
• spices (allspice, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, cloves, coriander, star anise)
• Tabasco sauce (or another type of hot sauce)
• tortillas (corn and flour)
• tomato paste
• Worcestershire sauce

Splurges (you got to treat yo' self every now and then)

• Arborio rice 
• Basmati rice
• Ben and Jerry's ice cream (I'm loving the new Netflix & Chilll'd flavour)
• brownie mix
• coconut milk
• dried mushrooms (shiitake or porcini)
• fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, sage)
• fresh pasta (specifically fresh ravioli or tortellini)
• marshmallows
• miso paste
• olives (not the ones in jars on the shelf, the ones from the deli or gourmet shop)
• pesto
• pine nuts
• sesame oil (remember, a little dab will do ya when using it on food)
• seasonal berries
• spices (Chinese 5-spice powder, garam masala, saffron)

Note: You know your food likes and dislikes better than I do, use some common sense when buying any of the above items. If you're allergic to something or have certain dietary restrictions, don't buy it.

Note: Information used on this blog came from "Cook Your Meals: The Easy Way", by Sharon Bowers, Macmillian Publishing