Tuesday, July 12, 2005

U R What U Eat

Grocery shopping. I’ve become obsessed with grocery shopping. Not just with the actual purchasing of food – but with list making and meal planning. I have long considered trying to put together a spread sheet of most oft purchased items so that I could use the computer to generate my grocery lists – listing items in the order in which they appear in the aisles. I know – CRAZY. And the weird thing is that I am not a natural list maker. Once upon a time I went to the store and shopped willy nilly. And then Mark and I moved in together and every time I said “We have to go grocery shopping” he would respond “Do you have a list?” And that is how he turned me into a planning, list-making maniac. I also think a lot about how other people grocery shop. How often do they go? What do they buy? How do they shop? What do they eat every day? So – it is because of my odd obsession with not only the very personal details of others grocery purchasing habits, but also interest in what people eat that has me proposing the following. If you are reading this and have a blog, I want to see your grocery list. I want to know when you go shopping, where you go shopping and how you go shopping. Just the food stuffs are important. So Patrice, Jen, Theresa, Missuz J, Katy, Amanda, Mary, Kellie – if you would humor me by blogging your inner most grocery and meal planning secrets I would ever be indebted to you. Consider it a meme.

And here is my part:
I shop every other week at Super Fresh. It isn’t the closest store to me, but I find the produce and meat there to be more fresh (hence the name) there than at other local stores. We RARELY ever eat out anymore so what I buy at the store is for the most part what we eat for two weeks. I try to keep a running list of necessary occasional purchases on the wipe board in the kitchen. When I make my list I look at both old grocery lists and old register tapes to put together a list of the things I ALWAYS buy – and then add the things on the wipe board. I use coupons – but I try to only clip coupons for things I already purchase. I don’t look at my list while shopping, not until the end when I just run through it to make sure I have everything. I don’t do as much menu planning and recipe using as I think I should. I have in the past done more – but since Noah was born I’ve made boring meals of meat, starch and veggie – with the occasional pasta night.

So here is a combination of this weeks grocery list as well as a few things I added because I normally buy them but we still had them this week:

Produce
Limes
Bananas
Fresh Green beans
Cucumbers
Garlic
Grapes
Romaine Hearts
Baby Carrots
Onion
Potatoes

Meat
Salmon Fillets
Boneless Pork Chops
Frozen Hamburgers
Chicken Breasts
Dietz & Watson Black Peppered Turkey Lunchmeat

Condiments
Bleu Cheese Dressing
Vinegarette Dressing
Dijon Mustard
Jif Reduced Fat Peanut Butter
Lawrys Marinade
Newmans Marinara

Snacks
Chips Ahoy 100 Calorie Pack
Whole Almonds
Nature Valley Granola Bars – Salty/Sweet Peanut
Wheat Thins
Nutrigrain Breakfast Bars – Apple
Snyders Pretzels
Fig Newtons
Peanut Butter Cracker Lunch Packs

Side Dishes
Yellow Saffron Rice Mix
Couscous
Zatarains Rice Mix
Wheat Pasta
Egg Noodles

Canned
Green Beans
White Shoepeg Corn
Chick Peas
Progresso Soup

Frozen
Bacardi Mixers Margarita Mix
Morning Star Parmasean Ranch Chix Patties
Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches
Frozen Personal Pizzas
Edys Whole Fruit Popsicles

Drinks
Tropicana OJ with Calcium, No Pulp
Gallon 2% Milk
Tonic Water
Bottled Water
Whole Bean Coffee
Cranberry Ginger Ale

Breads
Arnold Health Nut Bread
Arnold Multigrain Kaiser Rolls
English Muffins

Dairy
String Cheese
American Cheese sliced
Eggs
Yogurt

Now see if you can make your list just as thrilling.

8 comments:

hazel said...

I will totally do this.

btw, I know acme has this - you might want to check it out. online grocery shopping with delivery. if you schedule your groceries for delivery on tuesdays, you get 10% off your purchase, which usually covers the $10 delivery fee.

though I think we talked about this and you do not have an acme nearby, and I don't think superfresh does this. so. nevermind.

I will blog this as soon as I can.

hazel said...

oh, the reason I mention acme is because you can save your grocery list and just buy the same things every time.

Missuz J said...

Planning meals? Eating at home? These things are kind of foreign at my house lately. Here, however, is a quick list of the oft purchased things at my local Albertsons.

Deli:
Smoked turkey (to be stored in the refrigerator while we go to Subway for sandwiches, and then thrown out every two weeks)
Muenster cheese
Rotissery chicken (I buy about 1 per week and do salad, chicken casadillas, etc.)

Produce:
Bananas
Pears
Bag of Salad
Avocado
Tomatoes

Bread/Cereal/Pasta:
Grandma Sycamores Whole Wheat
Instant Oatmeal (Sophie likes the blueberry fruit and cream)
Fruit Loops
Easy Mac

Dairyish:
Milk (Always out of milk!)
String cheese
Vanilla Yogurt (Big carton)
Eggs
Tillamok sharp cheddar

Frozen
Cheese tortelinni (Soph's favorite)
Kid Cuisine (glorified TV dinners for kids.)
Popsicles (whatever is on sale)

Canned:
Spagettio's
Campbles curly noodle soup
Green beans (whole--not french cut, not regular cut)

Drinks
Apple Juice boxes
24 pack diet Pepsi
12 pack Fresca
Giant fridge thing of spring water


No chickpeas for me I'm afraid. I've loved reading your recent posts. You're such a great mom!

Marksthespot said...

If peanut butter is a condiment, does that mean I can dip French fries in it?

NME said...

Patrice - the Acme grocery list is a good idea, even if I can't use it at the Acme.

J -
People swear by that rotisserie chicken thing and I have never tried it. I'll have to get over my fear of bones first.
I put the chick peas in with the saffron rice with some curry powder. More exciting side dish with some extra protein. I LOVE Avocados. Do you just eat them in your salads?

Thanks for the mom comment. It's a big compliment from you. I'm just winging and trying to enjoy it too - like we all do.

Kathryn said...

Wow, that really is interesting. I never would have thought the food someone else buys could fascinate me. And your list is so well rounded! Ours is more like
Frozen Pizza
Ice Cream
Turkey
Soup
Dog Food
Cat Food
Frozen Pizza
Frozen Pizza
Frozen Pizza

Yeah, we eat Subway a lot.

NME said...

When I go grocery shopping I totally oggle the carts of other customers. If you don't do this you MUST start.

dasereht said...

I just finished my "list." Turns out I don't make lists.

Anyone know where I can get a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grocery Shopping?