Do you follow the 5-4-3-2-1 grocery rule?

[Anonymous]

I guess it’s a useful thought experiment but doesn’t seem like a way to shop. Especially because I get different things from different places. Like I buy large amounts of beans from Costco. I buy fish from the fish truck. I get diary from the farm. I get frozen veg and fruit at Trader Joe’s. I basically go to 1-2 types of store per week and buy lots of stuff for freezer or pantry at each. This kind of shopping would only make sense if you are the kind of person that buys just for a flume off days, not if you are stocking up on certain items.

[Anonymous]

Never heard of this rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess it’s a useful thought experiment but doesn’t seem like a way to shop. Especially because I get different things from different places. Like I buy large amounts of beans from Costco. I buy fish from the fish truck. I get diary from the farm. I get frozen veg and fruit at Trader Joe’s. I basically go to 1-2 types of store per week and buy lots of stuff for freezer or pantry at each. This kind of shopping would only make sense if you are the kind of person that buys just for a flume off days, not if you are stocking up on certain items.

Are you only talking about stocking up for your pantry and freezer? Or are you also using the items you bought to use for home meals throughout that week? Can you use the Costco beans (protein) 3 times that week or are you stocking up on beans for a rainy day? Same with the frozen veg and fruits from TJ. (Can you purchase veg and fruit at Costco instead of at TJ to minimize # of stores?)

[Anonymous]

Here was someone else's sample list:
Vegetables
Carrots
Sweet potatoes
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Spaghetti squash

Fruits
Apples
Avocados
Strawberries
Frozen mango

Proteins
Ground turkey
Chicken sausage
Eggs

Sauces or Spreads
Pasta sauce
Hummus

Grain
Quinoa

Special Treat
Oreos

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I e never even heard of this rule. Did you just make it up?

content creator and chef W Coleman, who shared it on social media

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow this really helps me op I appreciate it! How do you scale it though, is that per person per week? How does it split into meals ie two veggie meals per week ? I’ve got three growing boys and a carnivore husband so I struggle with meal planning. We do eat a lot of beans does that fall into starches?

This is op posting lol

[Anonymous]

Did anyone thank 20:51 for telling is what an animal protein is? I've been wondering my whole life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I'm just happy if I don't forget a crucial ingredient for one of the meals I've planned. I'm not going to make it more complicated than it already is.

Seriously. I just pick a recipe and add a veggie or protein if I think it needs it. Or not- maybe today will be carb heavy and tomorrow will be protein heavy. I’m not going to drive myself crazy with more rules that aren’t really based on anything.

+1, I do menu plan and we usually have vegetables and fruit daily. But I do not have time to make sure every one has had 4 of this and 2 of this.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not. I buy what we need. Sometimes it’s all fruits/vegetables. Other times mainly protein. But I live in reality. Not TikTok

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here was someone else's sample list:
Vegetables
Carrots
Sweet potatoes
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Spaghetti squash

Fruits
Apples
Avocados
Strawberries
Frozen mango

Proteins
Ground turkey
Chicken sausage
Eggs

Sauces or Spreads
Pasta sauce
Hummus

Grain
Quinoa

Special Treat
Oreos

Tomatoes are a fruit. And it was supposed to be 2 starches, not sauces. And there was no category for grain, my assumption is that would fall under starches. And quinoa is a seed, not a grain.

[Anonymous]

^ and what in the world is that person cooking with that list? Ground turkey in pasta sauce served over quinoa? Egg/mango/cucumber salad with hummus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This seems very gimmicky. I don’t want to have to tailor my meal planning to an arbitrary grocery list. I plan meals and then buy the necessary ingredients. Once in a while, if there’s a really good sale that I stumble onto in the grocery store, I may make a spur of the moment change to my menu plan.

+1. This seems like something that you would use if you don’t know how to cook a meal or shop for ingredients. Sometimes you just need to buy milk and eggs. Sometimes you just need cucumbers and tomatoes. I can’t imagine anyone shopping with this restrictive rubric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here was someone else's sample list:
Vegetables
Carrots
Sweet potatoes
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Spaghetti squash

Fruits
Apples
Avocados
Strawberries
Frozen mango

Proteins
Ground turkey
Chicken sausage
Eggs

Sauces or Spreads
Pasta sauce
Hummus

Grain
Quinoa

Special Treat
Oreos

Tomatoes are a fruit. And it was supposed to be 2 starches, not sauces. And there was no category for grain, my assumption is that would fall under starches. And quinoa is a seed, not a grain.

Maybe that person has gluten dietary modifications. As OP said, modify as needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This seems very gimmicky. I don’t want to have to tailor my meal planning to an arbitrary grocery list. I plan meals and then buy the necessary ingredients. Once in a while, if there’s a really good sale that I stumble onto in the grocery store, I may make a spur of the moment change to my menu plan.

+1. This seems like something that you would use if you don’t know how to cook a meal or shop for ingredients. Sometimes you just need to buy milk and eggs. Sometimes you just need cucumbers and tomatoes. I can’t imagine anyone shopping with this restrictive rubric.

Try it once. Just try buying the items you need for a week based on these numbers/person in your home who eats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This seems very gimmicky. I don’t want to have to tailor my meal planning to an arbitrary grocery list. I plan meals and then buy the necessary ingredients. Once in a while, if there’s a really good sale that I stumble onto in the grocery store, I may make a spur of the moment change to my menu plan.

+1. This seems like something that you would use if you don’t know how to cook a meal or shop for ingredients. Sometimes you just need to buy milk and eggs. Sometimes you just need cucumbers and tomatoes. I can’t imagine anyone shopping with this restrictive rubric.

Try it once. Just try buying the items you need for a week based on these numbers/person in your home who eats.

I'm not sure why the number varies with the number of people in the home. Maybe a little bit, but if I'm making chicken thighs with quinotto, roasted carrots and broccoli, and peaches and blueberries for dessert (a meal that might be in line with the 5, 4, 3, 2 thing, assuming I ate the other food for breakfast and lunch), and I have 3 other people coming, then I need 4 times as much of each ingredient, but I don't suddenly need 8 veggies, because everyone will still be eating the same menu.