Grocery shopping can be quick and easy if we could follow certain rules and plan our meals for the week ahead.There is an actual way to shop for food. To make healthy meals at home consistently we need to know how to go grocery shopping.Browsing the aisles and buying new and different products is fun but it doesn't provide with the food we really need to eat well.

• Choose a regular time of the week to go. Sunday afternoon or after work on Friday, for example, and plan to buy enough for the week. That means food enough for breakfast at home, lunch at work, and complete, filling dinners. And you won't be running off to the store before dinner.

• Think about what meals you will be eating out during the week. Do you have provided lunches at work several times in the coming week or maybe on a regular basis? Do you have dinner plans over the weekend? Do your children have provided lunches at school? You obviously won't need to have food on hand for these meals if so.

• Buy food based on the mealtime. For example, what do you generally eat for breakfast? Oatmeal or cereal or fried eggs and toast? Lunch? Sliced meats or canned soup or dinner leftovers? Dinner? Roast chicken or sauteed fish or a big salad? Dessert? Do you have a dessert at home?

• Think about each element of the meal.  The starch - couscous, potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, etc., the
  vegetable - blanched asparagus, glazed carrots, sliced tomatoes, etc.,  the meat - chicken breast, pork tenderloin, lamp shoulder chops, boneless pork chops, etc. Buy foods that fulfill these categories so
  that putting together a quick dinner is possible.

• Think about the season.  What does the weather make you hungry for? Hot soup or cooling salads.
  What foods are in season? What is particularly delicious right now? Are tomatoes great or tasteless? Is your favorite fruit perfect right now?

• What do you have time to prepare?
  Are you and your family always pressed for time in the morning? If so, maybe instant oatmeal or quick-cooking hot cereal is the best option. Are certain evenings busier than others? Would a frozen meal work better each Tuesday night when you have a late meeting at work, as opposed to Fridays evenings when you and your family are home earlier and in the mood to cook?

• What events are happening in your family?
  Any family birthdays or big tests at school or work? What special foods do you eat to reward yourselves? What special foods do you eat when you aren't feeling well?

All these different factors will help when preparing your list. Eventually you will be buying some regular foods, staples as it were.  That definitely makes things easier. Less guess work is a good thing. But don't get stuck in a rut. It is worth rethinking what you buy and from where.

How do you go grocery shopping? Please share your views.