The reality often leads to waste precious hours queuing at the supermarket, and waste equally precious food because it was bought without a real need.
Today’s life mantra is the never-ending lack of time. Working, managing the house, taking children to school (for who has them), a constant fight with the clock… Among all the duties, you also have to find the moment to buy food. Which doesn’t mean just thinking what to eat, it is thinking about what to prepare, when to go out to the grocery store, and then cook. It would be nice to have the time to go out every morning, wandering around markets and shops in the neighbourhood and be inspired by the fresh and colourful products you find every day.
But the reality is very different and it often leads to waste precious hours queuing at the supermarket, and waste equally precious food because it was bought without a real need. The solution? Plan your weekly meal in advance, and shop online. First of all you need to make a list of what you want to eat. A sort of weekly menu planning: two evenings of meat, two evenings of fish, one evening a first course, one evening a soup, during the weekend let’s not miss a pizza. At midday, if you eat at home, you could choose between salads, sandwiches, quick pasta or other light meal prepared the night before. A scheme that can be repeated every week, just changing the recipes. Organize your purchases, starting from the pantry: oil, rice, pasta, tinned food, vinegar must always be present. Then, make sure they are in their place on the shelves. Frozen and fresh products are included.
Also in this case, having a basic list to update from time to time can help to avoid wasting time and the risk of buying useless things. The websites of many supermarkets allow you to save your personal shopping list and access it each time.
For the fresh food, in addition to the classic supermarket, you can also find websites that allow you to order fruit and vegetable boxes directly from the farmer, or the websites of many direct producers. Cured meats are of course not to be missed, especially those already sliced and ready in trays, which help to solve many situations: Campagnolo salami to accompany a focaccia at lunch or to make an aperitif at the end of the day, bresaola for a light and tasty carpaccio, raw ham for a thousand creative recipes. Because even when organizing recipes, there’s always room for improvisation: for an unexpected visit, for a setback or simply to let yourself go with a last-minute idea.
In these cases the products you need are available in one click, and arrive comfortably at home without even the effort of going out.
You just need your pen and paper (or a digital note, of course!) and start your planning for the coming week!
