Do you shop with a list?The financial experts say you must, and you must not deviate from it.
Phooey! Deviating from it is half the fun. I would not have truffle oil, sea salt with seaweed for fish or citrus-infused vinegar in my larder if I followed that advice.
I do have a mental food shopping list for Paris, however. Rice from the Camargue tops the list. This is the best rice I have ever tasted, bar none. I may have given up most carbs, but for this I will make an exception.
Grainy mustard, creamy yogurt, and those olive-flavored potato chips also top the list. Of course, I'll have to eat the yogurt while I am there. But I will eat a lot of it, I can promise you that.
Back home, the most frequent items on my shopping list are tomatoes, red peppers, onions, garlic, lemons and salad greens. Not a week goes by that I don't make three to four trips to the store for those items. Lately, asparagus and Brussels sprouts have been on the list, too.
What's on your list?
25 comments:
Mimi, you ask the best questions. I was just talking to my husband about my weird grocery list obsession. I have a word file that I update every week with a (tentative) menu and a grocery list. I print it out and cut the piece of paper in half. One half is the menu, it goes on the fridge, the other half is the list, I cut it into a smaller piece. I'm flexible, though, and buy things not on the list when I come across them at the grocery store, but a list helps me not forget things. Have you seen the www.grocerylists.org site? It's run by a guy who collects grocery lists that he finds discarded at the grocery store. It always has me in stitches.
Mary
www.ceresandbacchus.com
Oh, thanks for the tip — I will check that one out! What a great idea - garbology for foodies.
I can never remember what I am supposed to be buying if it's more than five things. I did OK, this afternoon: lemons, limes, tin foil, cheese, red peppers and artichokes. All things I forgot in the a.m. because I went without a list.
You are so organized, Mary. I wish I could do that. Most of my meals are cobbled together things. But, the semester ends soon, and I will only have one job to worry about and a farm market to go to so maybe. . .
On the other hand, not knowing what the farm market will sell is part of the fun...
The serendipity of the market is one of the joys of life. My organizing is a survival skill, Mimi. I really can't imagine muddling through without at least a semblance of a plan for the week. Well, I can imagine it, but we'd be eating crappy food and spending too much money on restaurants. I'm not rigid, though, I always leave the plan open to changes - flip one day for another, make sure I use up things before they go bad, otherwise we accept all dinner invitations and have the occasional "I can't take it any more" excursion out to eat.
LOL.
I really must get organized!
Mary, you do inspire me. I am going to try. Try. Really. I must.
Funny you should ask that question today Mimi. I just got back with $100 worth of groceries,gasp, and that's just for one for one week. But, I did buy all organic fruits, vegetables and nuts and that tends to be expensive. It's all for a 21 Day Detox diet that starts tomorrow, so if you have any tasty vegan dishes up your sleeve I would love to see you post one.
BTW I am getting almost excited as you, over your Paris trip. Wish I were going too!
Abby, it would be a blast to be in Paris with you!
I want to do a detox thing, too, when we get back, and I want to try the 100-mile diet (as much as I can) this summer. It is time consuming.
Vegan dishes? Hmm. Anybody with suggestions?
Financial experts, very funny! How did I spend less than 80$/month on food back in $$ Canada without using lists?
This kind of advice was one of the reasons I started Frugal Cuisine - inexpensive food does not have to be boring, or lack spontaneity or creativity. Same for advice like 'buy in bulk' or 'make things ahead and freeze'. I hardly ever do that....what works to keep the budget down for one family or situation may not work for another. And is it worth it to keep your budget but eat in a soul-suckingly predictable way all the time? No.
I'm one of those with a menu and a list - been doing it for yonks (as the Brit's say).
But I have never lived anywhere even remotely near shops so it started as necessity. If I ran out of something it was do without - not good if one gets snowed in for 4 days. And I hate doing the shopping so I only do it once a week.
Now, holiday shopping, that's entirely different and all ...or mostly, impulse....
I always make a list, now do I have it on me in the store is maybe stretching it. Even just writing things on the list helps me remember what I intend to get. With a list I have at least a better than 50/50 chance of getting an item home, without a list - all bets are off.
I can't disagree, Pepper. My feeling is that when you get to the market or grocery store, you've got to be pretty loose with your choices so you can take advantage of sales and specials. I often plan meals as I traipse around the store.
Katie, shopping once a week works for me, with my schedule, but I like doing it daily, too, mainly because my chances of getting something fresh are better but also because it makes me feel - I don't know - more French?
Tanna, I'm the same way. Although, I can have something on my list and still forget it...
Fleur de sel,
Chocolate (a wide gamut here from eating to baking to cocoa),
candied violets,
mayonnaise,
mustard,
a curry spice blend from a store near Gare du Nord that we prefer to the ones we find here,
French children's books & toys,
Bordier butter (I'll have to eat it there, but I've been hearing so much about it),
a new stock of herbes de provence,
a French card game called Mille Bornes,
a French game called Let Petits Chevaux,
presents for friends & family,
rose-themed prizes for my next book
But I've barely started my list yet, really! I'm not as organized as you, I think. But now that school is out, I can get focused.
guess what, I just found a grocery list I made. It was for a dinner party - lots of dishes, a couple new recipes, requiring trips to multiple stores. So yes, they are invaluable at times.
Mimi. a list......I do it now because I can never remember what I am shopping for! I will go for one thing and leave the store with everything but "what" I went for in the first place! I think it's an age thing with me.....I was better with lists when cooking for the family,not so much now.One thing for sure, my refridge is just about bare-I shop for fresh fish several times a week and veggies. That helps keeping things to a minimum.My list changes to whatever is in season,also.......I try to keep it simple!Happy shopping!
Lucky you, Laura. I had two more weeks PLUS I have to give my final exam. Candied violets - there's an idea. I am going to look for spices, too.
Last time I bought aoili, mustard, jam, rice and olives but this time we are taking an extra suitcase...
Pepper, what a fascinating life you lead. The notion of running here and there for just the right ingredients is oddly glamorous - maybe not so odd, but glamorous.
Jann, my list changes, too, with the seasons. Today is was strawberries and asparagus. I,\'ve had those trips where I come home with everything but - LOL.
I always make a list and then forget to put something on it..Old age you know!! But then I pick up whatever looks good too, so the list is just for basics and things I really need. I plan on having certain meals during the week, but then usually change my mind and make something else. Fickle female that I am.
Sounds like your list is just about the same as my list! Greens always are at the top of my list, veggies of all sorts,some kind of seafood,(most often the "fish of the week") and most definitely a bottle or two of wine. I get wine ideas from all over...the grocery ad, friends, and often times, it's folks at the wine shop, who give the best advice ever!
I actually enjoy the ritual of making a list, Judy. I guess it's a vain attempt at order in my life.
But what good does it do me to make a list and then leave it on the kitch counter or dining room table?
Cyn, a trip to the grocery store is always a prolonged experience for me, because I, too, get involved in talking food. I can see we will never be able to shop together - LOL.
If I didn't make a list before going shopping I'd be doomed. Where I live, it's almost impossible to get everything at one store, so I'm in and out of anywhere from 3-5 stores. Because of this, I try to keep my shopping to one day a week, spend a good portion of the day doing it and be done with it until the next time.
I used to love shopping. I'd go way out of my way to pick up just the right item at a specialty store. Not any more. Aside from the farmers market, I hate shopping. My list helps to keep me on task and my checkbook under control.
Am I rigid about it? Only until I come across something I simply MUST have. :))
I am the queen of shopping lists. I always have one (or more) going. When I shop, though, I think of the list as a starting point. Always on my list: lettuce, garlic, cheese.
I find that when I write a list I end up buying more than I would normally, probably because when I don't write a list I forget the vital things that I need !
Lydia, I am not surprised that you are a list womam and not surprised that your Must-Haves are like mine, even though you are a far more accomplished cook (I can tell).
Fiona, that is exactly why the experts tell you to shop with a list and stick to it. But I am very bad...
Like Christine I have to make a shopping list otherwise I would forget nearly everything. Every other week I have two lists one for my mother. Abroad I have a little notebook which is very dog eared but makes quite interesting reading looking back.
Anne
I make a shopping list half the time and half the time I don't. It depends on where I am shopping at. I do have to agree with the financial experts. My shopping bill is always much higher when I don't stick to the list...but it is always more fun too :)
Keeping a notebook is a great idea, Anne. I relay on my memory way too often.
They say that's the way to save money, Kristen, but I do agree that it's more fun to be spontaneous.
Oh, my goodness! Your Paris shopping list sounds wonderful.
And even when armed with a list (which isn't always) I've never been one to let a list get in the way of an interesting impulse purchase when shopping for food.
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