Food & shopping
What to buy for a family of four for one week
Plan a week of food for two adults and two school-age children. Check cupboards, set aside ingredients for each meal and organise storage.
The checklist
- Carrots · 2 kg + 1 carrot
- Baking potatoes · 4
- Ready-cooked plain potatoes · 1800 g
+ 47 more explained items
Start with the calendar, then open the cupboards. This starter week covers seven family dinners, four cereal breakfasts and three toast breakfasts, ten adult weekday lunches and eight family weekend lunches. School lunches for the children come separately. Drinks are water plus a small milk allowance; tea, coffee, special dietary products and extra snacks must be added for your household. Portions are planning assumptions, not a guarantee of a complete diet.
The dinners are Monday tomato pasta, Tuesday scrambled eggs with potatoes and peas, Wednesday carrot and lentil soup with bread, Thursday tomato pasta, Friday fish with potatoes and peas, Saturday jacket potatoes with home-baked beans, and Sunday the frozen second soup portion. Published recipes provide the sauce, eggs, soup and jacket-potato mixture. For other sides, purchased products and their labels provide the preparation instructions. This keeps the menu reproducible while allowing the family to choose suitable products.
The list combines compatible ingredients across meals. Bread covers toast, sandwiches and soup; cheese covers sandwiches and pasta. Milk and butter retain separate metric and US recipe measures rather than inventing conversions. Compare the cereal’s labelled milk allowance with the quantity already at home before choosing cartons. Buy packs that cover the required use and carry surplus forward. Keep the meal allocations beside the list, so lunch preparation leaves the evening ingredients available.
Who this list is for
Two adults and two school-age children with a hob, oven, fridge and freezer. The children eat school lunches on weekdays; adults take sandwiches. Everyone eats breakfast and dinner at home, plus weekend lunches.
Tips
Count meals before counting people
A family of four does not necessarily need four packed lunches every day. Here, eighteen sandwiches cover the stated lunches: ten cheese sandwiches and eight egg sandwiches. Add school lunchbox food if that assumption changes. Before buying, mark sports evenings, visitors and meals away; remove the corresponding meal ingredients rather than vaguely reducing the whole list.
Choose the soup for this shopping pattern
The carrot soup uses ingredients that also appear elsewhere in the week's meals. Reserve its carrots and milk before cooking another dish. Check the full recipe and equipment before shopping, then label the portions planned for later meals so they remain available when needed.
Subtract a real pantry inventory
Before shopping, check the full recipe supplies: 8 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp sunflower oil, 4 tsp cumin seeds, 2 pinches chilli flakes, 4 tsp sugar, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp chopped chives and basil leaves for four sauce batches. Stock must cover 2 l prepared soup stock plus 4 tsp vegetable stock powder for sauce. Salt and pepper cover soup seasoning and 2 pinches each for eggs. Subtract usable supplies already at home.
Match quantities to jobs
Reserve sixteen labelled cereal servings for four breakfasts, 24 bread slices for toast, 36 for sandwiches and 16 alongside soup. Cheese splits into 300 g for lunches and 160 g for pasta. Milk needs 250 ml for soup, 0.5 US cup for eggs, 500 ml for drinks and the cereal label allowance for sixteen servings. These are menu allocations; do not convert the US cup to an ordinary drinking glass.
Keep the second dinners safe
Freeze Thursday’s sauce after Monday’s cooking and Sunday’s soup after Wednesday’s cooking. Divide into shallow containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours; freeze the designated portions as soon as cooled. Use refrigerated leftovers within 48 hours. Reheat only the quantity needed, once, until hot throughout; stir to check the centre as well as the edges.
Shop with storage space in mind
Keep the fridge between 0 and 5°C and the freezer around -18°C. Follow package storage and use-by instructions. Keep fish frozen until its preparation day, following its defrosting instructions, and thaw homemade portions in the fridge. Use fully defrosted food within 24 hours. Freeze bread in useful bundles rather than waiting for it to become stale.
Assign the next action
One adult owns the inventory and main shop; the other cooks or portions the batches and prepares lunches. Children can choose fruit, count bread slices and help set the table with supervision. Name who moves the frozen sauce or soup to the fridge. Before the next shop, note shortages, uneaten food and changed plans, then repeat this routine.
Keep recipes and serving allocations distinct
The soup recipe serves 4 and is doubled; the sauce makes 350 ml and is multiplied by 4 for a stated 1400 ml yield. Divide each batch across two family dinners. Scrambled eggs serve 2 and are doubled for 4; the jacket-potato recipe already serves 4. Pasta, peas, purchased cooked potato sides, bread and ready-to-eat sandwich fillings are household serving allocations, prepared or served according to their labels. The recipes determine cooked mixtures, while the calendar determines when the family eats them.
The checklist
50 items, grouped like in the Cartdock app.
Print this page to tick items off on paper: the printout keeps only the checklist, with a box before every item.
Buy
Combined grocery purchases
- Carrots · 2 kg + 1 carrot — 1200 g soup + 800 g raw lunch sides and snacks + 1 carrot for beans.
- Baking potatoes · 4 — For the published jacket-potato dinner; no invented mass conversion.
- Ready-cooked plain potatoes · 1800 g — 800 g with eggs + 1000 g with fish; reheat according to the product label.
- Garlic · 4 cloves — For four sauce batches.
- Cucumbers · 2 — Raw sandwich sides; keep uncut until needed.
- Fresh tomatoes · 600 g + 2 tomatoes — 600 g raw lunch sides + 2 tomatoes for the bean recipe.
- Celery · 1 stalk — Dice for the jacket-potato bean topping.
- Bananas · 12 — Use according to ripeness.
- Apples · 16 — With bananas, 28 fruit pieces for the week.
- Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal · 16 label servings — Four breakfasts for four people; select a cereal served without cooking.
- Sliced bread · 76 slices — 24 toast + 36 sandwiches + 16 soup sides.
- Dry pasta · 800 g — 400 g fresh for each pasta dinner, cooked according to packet.
- Split red lentils · 280 g — For the doubled soup.
- Canned chopped tomatoes · 1600 g — Four sauce batches; whole can contents.
- Canned haricot beans · 400 g can — One can before draining for the jacket-potato recipe.
- Vegetable stock powder · 2 l stock + 4 tsp powder — Label quantity making 2 l soup stock, plus 4 tsp dry powder for sauce.
- Large raw eggs · 8 — For the doubled scrambled-egg dinner.
- Ready-to-eat hard-boiled eggs · 8 — One purchased cooked egg for each egg sandwich; follow storage label.
- Frozen fish fillets · 600 g — Four portions; prepare according to the packet and check for bones.
- Milk · 750 ml + 0.5 US cup + cereal allowance — 250 ml soup + 500 ml drinks + 0.5 US cup eggs + label allowance for 16 cereal servings.
- Plain yogurt · 1400 g — 1200 g for twelve snacks + 200 g soup garnish.
- Cheddar or similar cheese · 460 g — 300 g for ten sandwiches + 160 g for pasta.
- Butter · 200 g + 4 tsp — 200 g spread allowance for toast and sandwiches + 4 tsp for eggs.
- Frozen peas · 1600 g — 800 g pasta + 400 g eggs + 400 g fish; cook as labelled.
- Olive oil · 8 tbsp — 4 tbsp soup + 4 tbsp sauce.
- Sunflower oil · 1 tbsp — For the bean topping, not the potato skins.
- Cumin seeds · 4 tsp — Toast for the soup; reserve half for serving.
- Chilli flakes · 2 pinches — Part of the soup recipe, not an optional omission.
- Tomato purée · 4 tbsp — For the fourfold sauce.
- Sugar · 4 tsp — Required in the sauce method although absent from its ingredient card.
- Basil leaves — Four times the source’s few leaves; tear into the sauce.
- Paprika · 1 tsp — For the beans; choose sweet or hot as the recipe allows.
- Worcestershire sauce · 1 tsp — For the beans.
- Chopped chives · 2 tbsp — Finish the jacket potatoes.
- Salt and pepper — 2 pinches each for eggs, plus soup seasoning to taste.
Take along
For the shopping trip
- Reusable shopping bags — Keep heavy cans separate from fruit and bread.
- Insulated bag and cold packs — Use for chilled and frozen food on the journey home.
- Current list and meal calendar — Show the other adult which quantities already include repeated meals.
- Inventory notes — Record remaining amounts before leaving to avoid buying duplicates.
To do
Cook, store and repeat
- Confirm meals and pantry — Check school lunches, absences, allergies and all quantities above; assign shopping, cooking and freezer transfers.
- Check kitchen equipment — Use pots, a large nonstick frying pan, spatula, oven shelf, fish tray, colander, grater, knife, board, US cup measure, measuring spoons and shallow containers; a blender is optional.
- Prepare breakfasts and lunches — Serve 16 cereal portions over four breakfasts, with milk measured by its label. Use 8 bread slices per toast breakfast. Make ten cheese sandwiches with 300 g cheese and eight egg sandwiches with 8 purchased hard-boiled eggs: 36 bread slices overall. Serve raw vegetables separately; keep 200 g butter for spreads.
- Cook Monday and Thursday sauce — The source makes 350 ml; multiply all ingredients by 4: 4 tbsp olive oil, 4 crushed garlic cloves, 1600 g canned tomatoes, 4 tsp vegetable stock powder, 4 tbsp tomato purée, 4 tsp sugar and four times a few basil leaves. Fry garlic gently in oil for 1 minute; add tomatoes, stock powder, purée and sugar, bring to boil and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Finish with torn basil. Split equally; freeze Thursday’s half after cooling.
- Finish each pasta dinner — For each four-person dinner, cook 400 g pasta and 400 g peas according to packets; serve with half the sauce and 80 g cheese. Thaw Thursday’s sauce in the fridge and reheat thoroughly once. These side quantities are household allocations, not the sauce publisher’s serving claim.
- Cook Tuesday’s scrambled eggs — The source serves 2; double for 4: beat 8 large eggs, 0.5 US cup milk, 2 pinches salt and 2 pinches pepper. Heat 4 tsp butter in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add eggs; pull, lift and fold the curds until no liquid egg remains, then serve immediately. Reheat 800 g purchased cooked potatoes and cook 400 g peas according to labels.
- Measure Wednesday and Sunday soup — Source serves 4; double for 8: 1200 g grated carrots, 280 g split red lentils, 2 l hot vegetable stock, 250 ml milk, 4 tsp cumin seeds, 4 tbsp olive oil and 2 pinches chilli flakes. Our sides are 200 g yogurt and 16 bread slices overall; bread replaces the separately served naan.
- Cook and divide soup — Dry-toast cumin and chilli for 1 minute; reserve half. Add oil, carrots, lentils, stock and milk; bring to boil and simmer 15 minutes until lentils soften. Blend or leave chunky; season to taste. Divide into two dinners with equal yogurt, bread and reserved spices; cool and freeze Sunday’s portion. Thaw in the fridge and reheat thoroughly once.
- Prepare Friday’s fish dinner — Cook 600 g fish according to its packet; check opaque flesh that separates easily and remove bones. Reheat 1000 g purchased cooked potatoes and cook 400 g peas by their labels. Divide between four plates.
- Cook Saturday’s jacket potatoes and beans — Published recipe serves 4 unchanged: scrub, dry and pierce 4 baking potatoes; bake directly on the shelf at 200°C/180°C fan for 1–1.5 hours until soft. After 30 minutes, soften 1 diced carrot and 1 diced celery stalk in 1 tbsp sunflower oil for 10 minutes. Add drained beans from a 400 g can, 2 chopped tomatoes and 1 tsp paprika; cook 5 minutes. Add 100 ml water and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce; cook 5 minutes. Split potatoes, add beans and 2 tbsp chopped chives.
- Review the next week together — Count remaining ingredients and safe frozen portions; adjust this example using appetites, waste and schedule.
Questions and answers
Does this list cover every meal and dietary need?
It covers the stated household schedule, including one fruit piece per person each day and twelve yogurt snacks. Children’s weekday school lunches come from elsewhere. Individual appetites, allergies, cultural preferences and dietary requirements can change the list substantially. Add what your household needs and review the plan together; the example does not establish nutritional adequacy.
What if the children need packed school lunches?
Add ten child lunches to the existing eighteen lunches, choosing fillings and portions that suit them and school policies. Count the bread, filling, fruit and vegetables for those lunches separately, then consolidate matching ingredients into the existing purchase lines. Do not assume the adult sandwich allowance will stretch without changing quantities.
Can all cooking happen on Sunday?
Only if you can cool, portion and freeze the later meals properly. This plan spreads cooking across Monday and Wednesday so it fits smaller kitchens. Do not keep a whole week of cooked meals refrigerated. Follow the storage and reheating advice, and leave the yogurt garnish separate from soup until serving.
How should we repeat the plan next week?
First count what remains: frozen portions, dry pasta, cereal and unopened cans. Record what ran out early and what nobody wanted. Carry usable food into the new menu before copying purchases. Keep successful repeat dinners, replace one meal if desired, and ask each adult to confirm responsibilities and each child to choose a familiar option.
Make your own list in Cartdock
Save your own copy with the exact items, measures and instructions. Changes stay in your copy.
Open this guide in CartdockInstall Cartdock, then return to this page and tap Open. The store does not automatically restore this guide.
Say or type one phrase, and Rinka suggests items by section. Rinka is an AI, not a person: a language model writes the answers. Rinka needs a connection and your consent to AI processing. Without an account you get fewer questions; the number of questions depends on your plan. You can also add and edit items yourself.
Share your list with a link and tick items off together. People without the app can open the list in a browser.