Please welcome to the blog E.F. Cussins who describes himself as "son of a factory worker who loves technology and saving money." His guest post is about a well crafted grocery list and I have to admit I didn't expect it. But I'm intrigued. Go on read it you know you want to.

Have you everexperienced looking in the refrigerator, in the cupboard, and in the pantry,then say to yourself "There is nothing in the house to eat"? Has thevery same thing ever happen the day after doing the weekly grocery shopping? Ifis has then you are not alone. Finishingthe weekly grocery shopping, then not find anything in the kitchen thatwas appetizing is a sign of bad shopping. 
The refrigeratoris full. The kitchen pantry is full. Still the mind and taste buds go blank asto what to fix for dinner. At this point so families jump into the family carand heads to the local McDonald's. So instead of spending $1 or $2 per personon that dinner, now it costs $5 or more per person.I understand everyone likes to go out to dinner. There are timeswhere I even get a craving for a big greasy hamburger that is made from thelocal hamburger joint down the street. What I am writing about is puttingtogether a menu plan and grocery list makes the family want to eat at home.[image error]
Putting together a well crafted grocery list does take time andthought.
Do we starting by doing an inventory of the refrigerator? 
No! 
Do westart by surveying what is in the cupboards and then writing the list?  
No! 

Thenwhere we start?
Quiz the Family Members - We start by asking the familymembers as to what they would like to eat in the coming weeks. There is nothingworse than having a kitchen full of food that no body wants to eat. The reasonfor this is not adjusting the meal planning and shopping to the family's likesand dislikes. 
I like liver and onions. The rest of the family hates the idea.Our daughter does not like fish, but she loves chicken. My wife does not carefor pancakes, but she loves pork steaks. After putting all our likes anddislikes together, it becomes a little bit of a challenge to come up with mealseveryone will eat.Seasonal Eating Habits - Winter time is great for soupsand sandwiches. As the weather gets warmer salads and BBQ become the familyfavorites. This also holds true for certain time of the week. We like to eatpancakes on Saturday morning. Sunday morning is reserved for eggs andGerman sausage. 
FixingTime -A hundred years ago it was nothing for the average house wife spend all daycooking for dinner. Today, if it takes more than 45 minutes to fix a meal, itis to long. This is where going to places like the Food Network and AllRecipes.com for ideas becomes important. The pressure ofkeeping the cooking time short is just as important as making themeals desirable. 

Survey the Kitchen - Here is where a good imagination comes into play. Look atall the items that don't get eaten. Look for ways you can fix them differently.Put on the shopping list what is needed to make those uneaten items moredesirable.
Take just plain macaroni sitting on the shelf in a glasscontainer. One thing I like to do is make hamburger goulash. All it takes issome noodles (of any kind) add hamburger and a can of stewed tomatoes,then add a few selected spices to the mix. The end result is a quick easy meal.
Plan Meals - Now comes the step of planning out an exciting group ofmeals for the next week or two. Make sure you take into consideration familyactivities. It does no good to plan a nice sit down meal when everyone will behome briefly and off to a basketball game.
Here is where using Google Calendar would be great. Get everyonein the family using Google Calendar. Have them keep it updated with theiractivities. Have the whole family shared their calendar's with each other.  Now you know when everyone will be homeand at what time.
Write Out the Grocery List - Now you do have enoughinformation to create a well crafted shopping list. Once the meals have beenplanned, now an ingredient list can be built. From that ingredient list what iscurrently in the kitchen can be subtracted. What remains is the basic wellcrafted shopping list. 
Ohyes, there are two things that needs to be added. One, get something that is quickand easy to fix like pizza. Nobody wants to spend a lot of time cooking afterthey are worn out from shopping and putting everything away. Two, add sale itemson thing you use on a regular basis. It never hurts for stock up, especially ifyou find an on sale. 
I amalways interested in hearing from you about your shopping experiences. You canemail me a [email protected].

I'm so very impressed. That was a fabulous post full of informative and completely useful ideas. Thank you so much for coming and sharing.