Rethink Meal Planning. Shopping for 3 months.

(Killing 2 birds with one stone on this post... 
updating the blog and working on the big shopping list!)

I am 36 weeks along with our 3rd little one. I go into town in just a few days to wait for our little girl to come. Going to get our  groceries to get us through summer while we are there. 

Port Alsworth does not have a grocery store (or a road to get to a grocery store) We fly to Anchorage, buy our food and supplies and have them flown back to us. This is the case for most villages in Alaska. That means we do HUGE shopping trips when we are on the road. It has worked out well for us to shop for 3ish months at a time. In the summer "3 months" of groceries easily last us 5+ months since we eat a lot of our meals at camp. I am hoping this trip will get us from April - September. 

This is what it looks like to shop for that much food/supplies.
It usually takes large trips to 3 stores to get everything we need.

Before we moved here (ALMOST A YEAR AGO!!...  wow) I tried to use the same method for a 3 month shopping trip as I had for a 3 week trip .... that simply didn't work. 

I used to plan each meal for the number of days I needed, and then I would buy the groceries for those specific meals. 
Doing it like that was WAY to specific for such a large list. I'm certain I would have ended up forgetting something, or accidentily useing an ingredient that should have been saved for another meal.....

By necessity, I had to rethink "Meal Planning". My hope in sharing this with you is to give a little light into what our new normal is - and maybe help others who are in the same boat as us or want to rethink grocery shopping. 

HERE WE GO - I'll try to make this as easy to follow as possible!
(PS. there are more pictures at the bottom of the post if you make it that far)

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Each of our meals can be broken down into some combo of:
Meats - chicken, pork, beef/game, fish 
Veggies
Fruits
"Filler"- Potatoes, Rice/Grains, Pasta, Bread
Dairy/Eggs
Spices/Condiments
Drinks

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DINNER

FOR DINNER I typically use around:
1-2 lb of meat per day  
1 lb of peas/corn/broccoli/or green beans
Sometimes fruit in a dessert or in a salad... but not every night
2 cups of rice (dry) OR 1 loaf of bread 
OR 1 lb pasta OR 3(ish) lbs potatoes


3 months = 90 days

90 days / 4 types of meats = 23 days of each
(plus extra for hosting) 
(we eat seafood less than the others) so we'll do:
Chicken      25 days
Pork            25 days
Beef/Game  25 days
Seafood       15 days

90 days x 1 lb of veggies = 90 lbs of veggies 


90 days / 4 different "Fillers" = 23 days of each
Bread                         23 days
(tortillas/dumplings/pot pie/pizza etc)
Rice/Grains                23 days
Potatoes                     23 days
Pasta                          23 days

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After I figured out how many days of each meat/filler/veggies we needed I broke each category into different options. 
Example: We need about 25 days worth of chicken. The kinds of chicken we eat are - whole fryers, bone in pieces, boneless skinless breasts, and wings. I put down how many days "x" amount of any variety would last us to get to the total days needed... it sounds complicated but just keep looking, it'll make sense. 

I under judge how many days each item will last because we LOVE having people over and I want to make sure we plan for that. (like a whole chicken could really last us 3 days but I put 2 days each)


" x" means I don't really consider it for a "meal". It may be in meals, for quick lunches, or for special occasions (like wings for a football game).

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CHICKEN (need 25 days):

20 lbs  B/S Chicken breasts             13 days

5  Whole Chickens                           10 days

5 lbs   - Wings                                      x
10 lbs   - Pieces                             .    4 days    .
                                                                                    27 days


2 small deli turkeys                        for lunches
1 raw/frozen turkey breast          if it's in season at Costco


                                                     

                                                                                                                                                        
PORK (need 25 days)
3 Roasts (around 15 lbs)                  6 days   
5 lbs chops                                       3 days
8 packs bacon                                      x
1 whole ham                                     4 days  *at least
10 lbs ground sausage                      5 days  *plus breakfasts 
3 packs Smoked sausage                  3 days
3 packs brats/Italian Sausage           2 days
12 packs pepperoni                               x
1 small deli ham                                   x     *for lunches
 6 packs hot dogs                              .   x   .
                                                                                   23 days


BEEF/GAME (need 25 days)
? Game  *not this year                                             x 
20 lbs Ground beef                          16 days
3 beef roasts (15 lbs)                          6 days 
2 lbs steak                                     .      2 days   .
                                                                                24 days


SEAFOOD (need 15 days)
2 lbs Shrimp                                      2 days
12 cans tuna                                           x
5 lbs Fish Filets                                 5 days
* Salmon                                                  .     *      .
                                                       many days :)
(* we were blessed with a ton of salmon last year. we have enough for salmon once or twice a week for the rest of the year!) 

Blessed with 40 quarts of salmon filets last year! One quart is enough for 2 meals for us.
(or one HUGE bowl of salmon spread!)

VEGGIES/BEANS   + = fresh   * = frozen   ** = canned   
Potatoes +                       50 lbs
Sweet Potatoes+         big Costco bag
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Black Beans (dry)               3 lbs 
Black eyed Peas (*)             2 lb
Navy beans (dry)                         1 lb
Lentils (dry)                                     1 lb
Split peas (dry)                              1 lb
Kidney Beans (dry)                    1 lb

Onions+                         20 lbs
Carrots+                         20 lbs 
Peppers*or**                   1 lb
Celery/onion/peppers*    2 lbs
Cream Corn**                  6 cans (for Michele's amazing corn bread ... yum) 
Tomato Paste**              36 little cans
Stewed Tomatoes**       24 big cans
(above veggies are what I season/snack with)

(below veggies are the main ones I make with dinner) 
Peas*                          20 lbs
Broccoli*                   20 lbs
Corn*                         20 lbs
Green Beans**          20 lbs 

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I thought this would be a good time for a
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: 

If you cook food from scratch, if you have children, if you like beans, if you like tender crockpot meat - but forget to take the meat out of the freezer so you can thaw it and get it in the crock in time for dinner ---------> YOU NEED AN ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER. 

soaked beans done in 20 minutes.  
not soaked beans in 30 minutes
frozen chicken breasts in 15 minutes. (so juicy)
tender roast in less than an hour!!!!!! 
perfect rice in 7 minutes. 
It's a rice cooker.
It's a crock pot.
It's a pressure cooker.
You can brown the meat in it before you start it. 


Its like a crockpot had a baby with a microwave. 
It saves on propane. Sets to warm when finished. 
This is NOT a useless gadget that will collect dust. 
(sometimes I use it 2 or 3 times in a day!) 
I don't know how I ever cooked without this thing. 
Thank you mom for the best appliance in my kitchen. 
(get one with the browning feature :) its great. 

Husbands, buy this for your wife!! (even if she has a stove top one)
ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
............................................

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Bread                         (23 days)

4 (20 ct) packs tortillas       

60 lbs FLOUR ? ( This guess is 5 lbs a week)

10 lbs Corn Meal

Rice/grains                      (23 days)

5 lbs Basmati Rice             

5 lbs Jasmine  
5 lbs yellow  (mahatma)                

5 lbs Brown   

5 lbs Grits  
                  

Potatoes

50 lbs          
Big box dehydrated hash browns 
Big Box of individual instant mashed potatoes

Pasta  (23 days for dinner + extra for lunches/pot lucks)

15 lbs Angel Hair            15 days

15 lbs macaroni               15 days

2   lasagna                     .   2 days  .

                                        32 days

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BREAKFAST

(I want breakfast items to last more than 3 months) 

On the menu:
-Oatmeal

-Box Cereal/ Powdered Milk

-Morning Glory/or/blueberry Muffins

-Granola/ Powdered Milk

-Pancakes/Fry Bread/French toast

-Eggs & Bacon or Ham or sausage & Toast
-Yogurt/fruit/Granola
-Biscuits and sausage gravy 

20 lbs Rolled Oats

2 Canisters Raisins

3 bags Shredded Coconut

2 lbs Slivered Almonds

lots of Honey

1 lb Flax

1 lb pumpkin seeds
24 lbs powdered milk
16 small boxes Cereal

2 lb dates

2 Syrup or 1 big one

(eggs and meat are already accounted for in the other lists)

Drinks

12 frozen Orange Juice 

6  frozen Apple Juice

6  frozen Grape Juice

6 lbs whole bean Coffee 

1 Jar Instant Coffee

300 pack Lipton Black Tea bags
1 case evaporated milk (for creamer)
Ovaltine
Swiss miss hot coco
Powdered Gatorade
Assorted hot teas
Oregon chai

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 LUNCH/ SNACKS

I try to make dinner big enough to eat leftovers the next day for lunch. That doesn't always happen, so I like to keep quick things on hand for lunch. We also eat all day long it seems like... Breakfast around 7. Snack at 9. Lunch at 12. Nap at 1. Snack at 2. Dinner around 5.

Leftovers

Tuna or salmon something

PB&J

Hot Dogs

Anything rolled in a tortilla :)

Carrots & Ranch

Noodles of some kind

Fruit & Cheese
Gold Fish
Ritz Crackers
Mixed nuts
Fruit Snacks

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FRUIT

8 Jars Apple sauce

2  cases Mandarin Oranges

1 case canned Pineapple slices

3 lbs Frozen Blueberries

1 case canned peaches
1 case canned pear halves

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SPICES/CONDIMENTS

You can make anything with the right spices :) These are the staples I use to make pretty much everything. I don't have to buy these every 3 months because I get such big ones from Costco and Sams.
Altho, this time to town I want to add a few staple Asian food spices/oils.

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder
Dried onions 

Curry Powder

Chili Powder

Cumin

Cayanne Pepper

Red pepper Flakes

Old Bay
Tony's creole seasoning

Cinnamon 

Apple Pie Spice

Fennel

Sage

Basil

Oregeno

Parsley

Chives (fresh from the homestead in summer)

Cilantro (fresh from the homestead in summer)

Soy Sauce

Worcestershire Sauce

Lemon Juice

2 cases Black Olives

3 Sm Jars Green Olives

6 Sm Jars of Pickles

2 Sm Dill Relish

3 Sm Jars Peperoncini  

3 Sm Jars Kalamata olives

Mustard 

Mayo

Ketchup 

horseradish 

Ranch dressing 
Italian dressing

Salsa
BBQ sauce 
Sriracha 

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?DAIRY,  EGGS,  FRESH ANYTHING?

Cost of food can be broken down like this:

    Price of food at store

+  expediter (20% of total grocery bill) 

+  freight (from .45 to .90 cents/ lb)      .

    total cost for groceries

We try really hard to plan ahead and buy all of our non perishables/freezer food/and household supplies when we are in town so we don't have to pay an extra 20% for someone else to get them for us. So far we have done a great job! :) 

We use powdered milk but occasionally send for real milk for a special treat :)  

3 - 8lb bags of powdered milk for 3 months

We buy shredded cheese in huge bags and divide them into quart bags to freeze until we need them. I also pick up a big block of cheddar and some feta when we are in town and keep it in the fridge.

10 lbs shredded Cheddar
10 lbs shredded Moz
5 lbs Grated Parmesean

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

BUT AN EXPEDITER IS MORE THAN WORTH IT FOR THINGS THAT GO BAD.

We set aside a portion of our grocery budget for one expedite per month. This is usually what we get: 

Big bag of String cheese
Big cottage cheese
Case of Chobani yogurt (my absolute favorite!)
5 doz eggs
1/2 gal half n half
2 loaves of white bread 
romain lettuce 
tomatoes
cucumbers
mushrooms
bananas
apples


This is also the time to order stuff that we may have run out of, or to get something for a fun treat. Last time I ordered a big box of rice crispies and a couple bags of marshmallows for rice crispy treats :) But when we are in town we get all of these things ourselves and wait till the next month to re-order. Getting our expedite order each month is a real treat :) we always look forward to it. 

  

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BAKING SUPPLIES

(a lot of this last longer than 3 months)

2 boxes Baking Soda

2 boxes Baking Powder

1 Big Bag Yeast

1 Lg  Vanilla Extract
3 Sm  Maple Extracts

1 Lg  Jar Molasses 

1 Jug Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Jug White Vinegar 

15 lbs Sugar
3 Sm bags powdered sugar

12 lbs Butter

1 Big  Olive Oil

1 Lg Tub Coconut Oil

4 regular bags chocolate chips (or one big one) 

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So! There you have it :) 

(and that was just the grocery list!)

I just take this list (minus the explanations and plus a lot of notes)  and walk up and down EVERY isle to get what we need. Things that aren't on the list end up in the cart too... (like the time French Fried Onions were on sale for $1/pack! - got 4, or was it 6?). In the end we basically have everything we need in our house to make whatever food we would have eaten in the lower 48. 

Hope this made sense and can be of use to you.

Since you made it this far CONGRATULATIONS 

here are more pictures :P

Organizing the food into - refrigerate, freeze, and non perishable boxes to be taken to the Air Taxi.  

Getting all the food/supplies weighed at the Air Taxi. They store the food, and it gets flown out to us as there is space available on the flights. It usually makes it within a day or 2.

This is what our house looks like if all of the freight gets there at the same time!

After a lot of organizing, this is partly what it looks like all put away.
... then I breathe a sigh of relief,
 do a little happy dance,
kiss the floor thankful to NOT be in Anchorage,
and probably eat a chobani on the couch :)