Why and How - use recipes wise to save money and time

I love cooking, and I believe the recipe is the most magical form of literature.

It used to be written down on a piece of paper, or given down through word of mouth. Nowadays, We get recipes from all kinds of sources: family, friends, magazines, websites, and even from a box of cereals. Some of them are lifetime treasures, and some of them are simply great. However, Some of them come with beautiful staged photos, and some of them come with the ingredients long enough to make a necktie.

As you already know, free recipe usually comes with a price unless it is from your own circle of trust! I ended up with a pantry full of ingredients that are rarely used and too painful to throw away. Time for a change, isn't it?

First of all, based on how much time I have, I get new recipe only once or twice a month from the Internet. To get the most use of the recipes, I use the "ingredient search" to narrow down the recipes that use the basic pantry items in my kitchen. If the recipe comes with one or two ingredients that are not the "regular" in my pantry, I either substitute or skip it - for example, instead of the Italian arborio rice, I use the jasmine rice from the nearby grocery store. And of course sometimes I have to add one or two new items into my shopping list in order to get it right.

After awhile, I have a handful of recipes that are "tested" in my kitchen and "reviewed" by my family. I, then, make a very general meal plan that uses this set of recipes as a combination; for example, the grilled chicken breast tied with French baguette, the bacon and egg breakfast come with the English muffin. I follow my flying mood everyday to cook whatever I want.

It should work as I wanted. But it didn't.

I would get the pork rib for grill but forgot about the marinate sauce. I would pick the beef chuck on sale but forgot to get the celery root to cook with. And writing down the ingredients again and again for every shopping trip is getting me crazy. The method needs to be refined.


The recipe input is a key solution for this. It basically uses the recipes in the account and makes the household grocery shopping list combined with all the ingredients from recipes of my choice. I could add the ingredients from the recipe directly to my weekly shopping list. And the items are organized by aisles and stores all together in one list.

Sounds good? Not good enough. How about the surprising sale item found in the grocery shopping trip? How can I make sure that I get everything needed to cook with? Well~ we added the recipe search in the mobile phone. When I see the sale in the grocery store, I search recipe box to add items into current shopping list.

Thinking of the fuel saving and the nice meal on the table, it is the best reward for being a Grocery Surfer!

Grocerysurf 101 - Make shopping list

This is part of the series "Grocerysurf 101."
Let's start making grocery shopping list, the Grocery Surfer way.

1. Multi-store shopping list
Grocery chains often offer better price on general items, but they may not come with the quality you expect. If that is the case, check local farmers market for better vegetable and fruit selection, and local deli for better quality meat. Most people shop at 2 to 3 different grocery stores. GrocerySurf shopping list program allows you to make multiple lists for stores as many as you need. Take advantage of that, Surfers!

2. Smart input, input smart
Smart input, a set of common items, shows up as you type in the shopping list. You can click on the item name to input. If it is the first item on the smart input list, just click Enter to input. The smart input list actually grows as you use the GrocerySurf program. It remembers all the personal input from your list and minimize the repeated typing process. To avoid the bad input or so-called “spam”, we do not share each user’s smart input list.

3. Why choose aisle?
The list that is organized by aisle can keep shopping trip more efficient. It is especially helpful if the store is as big as supercenter. You can name your own aisle or even use aisle numbers. The program can sort the list by number as well. However, since grocery stores tend to move aisles around, we don't recommend using number system. If you choose NOT to use aisle, the items on the list will be listed under "not specified" in the pantry room, and everything else in the program still works such as auto-reminders and smart input.

Spread the word

We can’t thank enough for all grocery surfers who had been spreading the words for us through numerous ways. If you like GrocerySurf program, you can do the same. Here is how –

1. Word of mouth - Talk to your friends or email them about our website.
   
2. Blog - Make a link to GrocerySurf, post your grocery shopping photo or talk about being a grocery surfer.
3. Bookmark - Use online social bookmark (check the bookmark button on the right)
   
4. YouTube - Yes! You can actually show off your mobile list and share the whole shopping surfing trip on the web. And don’t forget to give us a link so that we can show it on our website and blog, too!

from grocerysurf team @ Eksendia

Grocery Surfers Go Mobile

Have you tried the GrocerySurf mobile list yet? There are many reasons why we think you should go mobile with your grocery shopping.

1. We used to make our list on paper and post it on the fridge. And guess what? It either stayed on the fridge or got lost somewhere on the way to the store. If you were ever in my shoes, you know what I mean.
2. The grocerysurf pantry is updated at the time you shop. It then generates the auto-reminder for your next shopping.
   
3. Simple pleasure of trying something new.
   
   

   

What you need:

• Any cell phone or mobile device with Internet access
• GrocerySurf account
• Internet browser for mobile (ex. Opera mini)
  

Here is how:

• Go to address: www.grocerysurf.com(* tip – bookmark this address in your phone for faster access)
• Login with non-secure or secure connection (recommended)
  
• Provide login information (account name and password)
• After login, click on the store name to open the list for that store
• Scroll down to see entire list organized by aisles
  
• Check the box for each item as you surf through the store
• Click Update button to transfer the data back to your GrocerySurf account
• If you have recipes saved in the account, you can search the ingredients and add more items to current list.
• Important! When you finish shopping, please click logout to end the session.

GrocerySurf 101 - Being a Grocery Surfer

GrocerySurf (what is it?) comes with three main parts: shopping list, reminder, and recipe box. Here is a simple guide to all grocerysurf users. To become a grocery surfer, you need to sign up an account. It takes less than a minute to complete, and it is free.

Basic

1. choose store name(s)
2. make shopping list by clicking the link “edit shopping list”
3. when finished, save the list
4. go shopping with your printable list or use your cell phone
5. go to unload zone and update the pantry (Mobile list user can skip this part! The pantry is updated when you use the mobile list.)

Advanced

1. keep recipes that are used regularly in GrocerySurf recipe box and make shopping list from recipes
2. search through recipes on your cell phone in the store (find great savings in store? Don’t forget to get all the other ingredients you need to cook with it.)
3. manually configure the reminder
4. transfer grocery items from store to store
5. print the pantry list and keep it on the refrigerator as a quick reference

Wanna more adventures? try these -

1. use the recipe box as an event box (ex. name: birthday party, ingredients: balloons, cake mix, candies, invitation cards, etc…)
2. share the account among family members, and edit the same shopping list together.
   
3. become our panelists and help us improve the grocerysurf program. If you have more creative ideas to use grocerysurf program, share with all grocery surfers. Chances are, you will have fun!

Grocerysurf program learns from your shopping pattern and adjusts itself to fit your need. In other words, the more you use, the more accuracy and convenience you will have.

What is GrocerySurf?

GrocerySurf is a free web-based program developed by Eksendia LLC to simplify the grocery shopping experience. It provides multi-store shopping list organized by aisle, automatic grocery reminder. It also keeps unlimited favorite recipes of your choice that can be transferred into list by clicking. The basic idea is to give you an easy-to-use but powerful tool that actually works for you.

The unique features include:

• both printable and mobile shopping list (access through cell phone)
  
• automatic reminder that notifies you two weeks ahead before the item runs out
• easy to use and convenient

Do you...
enjoy cooking with lots of recipes in mind
but
tired of writing down same ingredients
over and over again for every grocery shopping?


Would you...
like to grab the food on sale today
but
not sure about other ingredients needed to cook with?


Have you...
minimized the trips to the store
yet kept everything on hand
for the household needs without
photographic memory?

Try GrocerySurf today. It is easy to use, and free to sign up.