Everything we eat is fresh. Nothing packaged. I went to the Culinary Institute not because I wanted to be a professional chef (I’m not), but because I wanted to understand how to make my own dishes.
We grow our own herbs, shop at produce stands if possible, make our own sourdough, and make larger dishes if possible to have a single preparation last more than one meal.
Our trips to the grocery store generally only require purchasing a few items, as I like uncomplicated dishes. It doesn’t take a ton of ingredients to make a nice plate.
Our eating is far healthier and far cheaper than processed food choices. Stay out of the middle on the grocery store. Stick to the perimeter. Most importantly — if you don’t know how — learn to cook well. There’s many online resources. Rouxbe is one. America’s Test Kitchen is another.
You’d be amazed at how cheap — and how deliciously — you can cook once you really know what you’re doing.
I do that one too. Keeps food costs down and saves a lot of cooking time.