I Tried The Viral 6-To-1 Grocery Method — Here’s How It Went

Before we get into all the juicy stuff, allow me to start by offering some key details about my own cooking situation, in case it helps to give some more color to my decisions:

• Most of the time, I’m only cooking for two adults — In my house, it’s just my husband and me. I guess our dog technically gets bites of People Food every now and then, but as a non-rent-paying member of the household, he doesn’t get a say on the grocery list. (Sorry, Homer.)

• We don’t tend to eat “planned” breakfasts — If I’m hungry in the morning, I’ll have some yogurt and granola with my coffee or an egg and toast, but making a full-out “recipe” for breakfast is pretty uncommon for us.

• Leftovers basically make our world go round — Since most recipes out there are portioned for four people, we tend to cook dinner recipes as-is and eat the remaining two portions the next day for lunch. Even though I primarily work from home these days, the thought of making lunch every day makes my head spin, so I try to rely on leftover-friendly dinners as much as possible.

• I often order groceries online to save money and time — The grocery store two blocks from our NYC apartment is criminally expensive, so we usually reserve it for one-off odds and ends. For cheaper groceries, we’re left with online shopping or a 30-minute subway journey to Trader Joe’s. With round-trip subway fare at nearly $6 these days, paying a small delivery charge and tip almost always feels worth it; I end up saving hours of time, avoid lugging groceries onto the train, and even find that I make cheaper grocery purchases since I can edit my cart in real-time.