What's the best way to grocery shop to save time & money?

Q: What foods can you buy at the normal grocery stores (stop & shop) and which ones should you travel for (Trader Joe’s / Whole Foods)? Keep in mind the organic section at Stop & Shop is limited. Please include meat STAY AWAY FROMS and LOOK FORS. My closest TJ’s is 45 min away and my WF has an hour line just to get in these days so a complete turnoff at this point yet the food at S&S doesn’t taste the same as in Europe and I’m having a hard time finding food if that makes sense.
 
A: The short eAZy answer:
Shop for fresh produce at your local stores (and farmers markets if you have time) then stock your pantry and freezer with items from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, so you can stock up and do only 1-2 trips a month. If you have a big family, I do suggest buying a separate garage freezer (even if a previously owned one) to save yourself time in grocery store runs and to save money, since you can get more on-sale stuff.

The long, but still eAZY answer on what to buy:
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TRADER JOE'S
- Any and all organic frozen fruit, berries and veggies that you love. Don't buy any

that are good for you but you can't stand. They will get freezer burn and end up in trash (speaking from personal experience here, haha!). I always stock up on TJ mushroom medley, spinach, root veggie "fries", frozen mango, acai packs and wild blueberries. 
- Frozen cauliflower gnocchi are my favorite entree and I always have them in my freezer. (Kale gnocchi are not the best, imo)
- Frozen organic brown rice (It comes in 3 baggies that you can warm up in a pan in 2 minutes and it's ready to eat)
- Frozen appetizers and snacks. Their crabless crabcakes are pretty good and the kale bites, but they do have non-organic wheat, so have to be careful...
- Organic tomato basil marinara (I always have a few jars as it goes great with the cauliflower gnocchi)
- Lentil and rice pasta
- Muscat champagne vinaigrette
- Hummus
- Organic sprouted savory tofu
- Roasted beets and cooked lentils in their fresh produce department (they keep for a few weeks and are awesome to add to meals)
- If you eat meat, look for their organic/no hormones frozen chicken breasts and wild fish. You can easily defrost overnight.
- Organic blue corn chips
- If you eat cheese, look for their imported European goat and sheep cheeses, they are better for humans than cheese from cow's milk.
- Fresh roses for yourself - nothing says "I am a grocery shopping rockstar" like 12 beautiful roses for $6.99 that usually stay fresh for 2 weeks!

WHOLE FOODS MARKET
- Also any and all organic frozen fruits, berries and veggies. Look for what's on sale and stock up. You can save extra money if you have an Amazon Prime account. (Use the same approach as what I mentioned for Trader Joe's)
- Gluten-free, dairy-free frozen pizzas (especially when they are on sale! Yum!)
- Organic frozen bread
- Imported Italian sparkling water in glass bottles. Raspberry Lemon is my favorite!
- Beyond meat meatballs, ground beef and bratwurst. I keep mine in the freezer and always have eAZy dinner proteins on hand when I need them. 
- If you eat animal protein, check their fresh meat, poultry and seafood section to see what's organic that's on sale. Then stock up and freeze so you don't have to stop often.
- Dairy free ice cream
- Boxed organic beans
- 365 brand organic salsa
- Beanfield bean-based chips
- Dry organic lentils, mung beans, etc
- Organic pasta, especially ones made with mung beans (by 365 brand) and the lentils and rice from Italian brand BioNaturae. When you get bean-based pasta, you get lots of protein, so all you have to do is add some veggies and cheese to make an awesome comfort food.
- Speaking of cheese - My two favorite dairy-free cheese brands are Violife and Daiya. I stock up on the bagged ones and freeze it so I don't have to stop for it often. Violife has a great parmesan block that you can shave with a peeler (I put mine on top of cauliflower gnocchi with kale and TJ marinara)
- Boxed 365 Brand organic coconut water - so you can stay hydrated with all this shopping and cooking!

YOUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE
- Fresh organic produce, whatever is available that looks good to you. Check the DirtyDozen/Clean Fifteen to make sure you know what to buy organic and what is ok conventional. 
- Whatever organic items that are on sale that look good to you. Since you are at the store, you might as well!

WHAT TO AVOID
- All non-organic meat, fish, dairy, poultry and eggs sine they have hormones, antibiotics and steroids that can wreck your hormones.
- All non-organic wheat - the use of pesticides and herbicides such as glyphosate  can create chaos in the your body, creating indigestion and affecting your hormones.
 
 Let me know your feedback and if you have any additional questions!

Love,
Alina