Week 2: The first part of the list is just like the first week’s shopping: bread, peanut butter, cereal, milk.  and so on.  Also, your fruit is the same: bananas, pears, apples, etc.  Changes on this list are for the recipes in week 2. The cost will remain about $160 for 4 people for 1 week.

DON’T PRINT THIS PAGE: This blog page is too long to print in its entirety, so copy the shopping list to Word, Excel or some other print-friendly application if you need a hard-copy list.

• 1 loaf bread (white or wheat)
• 1 jar peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
• 1 jar jam or preserves (grape, strawberry, or apricot)
• 1 jar Nutella
• 1 box Ritz crackers
• 1 box microwave popcorn (6-10 bags)
• 2 boxes different kinds of cereal (Frosted Mini Wheats, Pops, Apple Jacks, or granola)
• 1 gallon milk (whole, 2%, 1%, skim, or soy)
• 6-12 eggs
• 2 boxes Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mix with Hershey’s syrup
• 1 12-16 oz. package dry pasta (spaghetti, rotini, bow-tie, etc.)
• 1 24 oz.  jar Classico sweet basil marinara sauce
• 8 apples
• 8 oranges
• 8 bananas (buy slightly green)

• 2 medium yellow onions
• 1 bunch celery
• 1-2 green bell peppers
• 1 cellophane package spinach
• 1 bag Fresh Express Asian Supreme complete salad mix (or other flavor like Caesar, Mediterranean, etc.)
• 1 bag Fresh Express hearts of romaine or other salad blend
• 1 bunch green onions (also known as scallions)
• 1 bunch cilantro (flat green leaves, nutty flavor and scent, used in TexMex and Asian recipes)
• 1 bag lettuce shreds
• 4 Roma tomatoes
• 1 package cooked/baked crispy 6″ round corn tortillas (about 12)
• 1 family size box Minute rice (4-6 bags, each bag makes 2 cups cooked rice)
• 1 box Zatarain’s Dirty Rice mix (find with rice, beans, and pasta)
• 2 boxes Taste of Thai Peanut Sauce mix (find in Asian section of store)
• 1 can coconut milk (find in Asian section of store)
• 1 pound bag dried pinto beans
• 1 bag cut okra (in freezer section) – optional, goes in gumbo if you like the taste of it
• 1 small container sour cream
• 12-16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 jar salsa (for chalupas)
• snack-size and sandwich-size Zip-loc bags
• 2 8×8 or 1 9×13 foil cake pans (for brownies)

Meat?  Check with your roommates to find out if you can buy chicken, ground beef (at least 95% lean), or sausage.  If you add meat to the first week’s cooking, buy the following:

• 1 pound chicken tenders (use 1/2 lb. for Peanut Chicken and 1/2 lb. for Gumbo)
• 1 pound extra lean ground beef (add to Dirty Rice)
• 12 oz to 1 pound low fat or light beef kielbasa or other link sausage (add to Gumbo)
• 1 package Kroger Tempura-style chicken pieces with Mandarin Orange sauce (look in freezer section)

Vegetarians: buy additional quantities of celery, onion, and bell pepper and saute 2 cups of mixed, chopped vegetables to replace 1 lb. of meat in each Week Two recipe.  Exception: chalupas are  made with vegetarian pinto beans.

• 2 bunches celery
• 4 onions
• 4 bell peppers
• 2 Russet potatoes, baked before cooking Thai Peanut Chicken (substitute potato chunks for chicken)

Necessities that don’t go in the pantry

• toilet paper (buy a minimum of 1 roll per person per week)
• 1 roll paper towels (if using as napkins with meals, buy two rolls)
• recycle your plastic grocery bags as trash can liners or buy can liners