Grocery shopping

Thursday after work I went grocery shopping. While I was sitting at my desk at work, I wrote out a perfunctory list. I realized at the end of my struggle in the frozen food aisle that I had pretty much stuck to my list. I did buy a few extra items, but I also didn't get two things. I NEVER stick to my list. This is a milestone!

Here's what I bought:

*items that were on my list

*Yogurt
*Cheese sticks
*Dubliner cheese
*Cottage cheese
*Cheese (yes, after all that, I needed to write down just "cheese" because I didn't have enough. Yes, I bought 4 distinct kinds of cheese. No, I was not having a wine and cheese party. Shush)
*Zucchini
*Spinach
*Broccoli
*Tomato sauce
Mushrooms
Frozen smoothie stuff
*Grapes
*Melon
*Triscuits
*Beans
Bananas
Sweet Potato
Bagged lettuce (I've been craving salad and figured, why not?)
Carrots
Croutons
Skinny Cow single serve Cookies and Cream ice cream
Thin Crust Margherita Pizza (It was on sale!)
Still, my purchases came to more than I thought they would. I even bought lot of things on sale or in their natural state, and tried to stick to my list.
Total spent - $64.95
11 out of 23 items on sale
Total saved - $9.26
Most expensive item - 24 pack of low fat string cheese
Least expensive item - bananas, $.69/lb., got 2 for $.50
 
I'm just so irked at the cost of decent food. Ugh. Sure, I could have only bought sale items and store brand, and trekked around the city from store to store cashing in on the bargains. I don't have a car. The grocery store I go to is in the city and has a high mark up. I am however able to walk home from the store and eliminate the need for a taxi or long bus ride and total exhaustion, thought I do tend to collapse once I get home from the sheer irritation factor of having to go to the store at all.

I'm also kind of shocked at how healthy this list is and the fact that there's no chocolate (unless you count the tiny single serving of Skinny Cow and let's face it, it's probably not 'real' anything. My eating has really changed for the better!

Eating Fresh

The farmers market in my neighborhood started at the beginning of June, and my goal is to buy some or all of my produce each week at the farmers market instead of buying it at the grocery store. I know selection will depend on what is ripe that week, but that's how everyone used to do it, certainly I can try it out.

June 10 - 4 kale plants, 6 basil plants, 1 head of bibb lettuce

June 17 - Garlic and Basil goat cheese from Crystal Brook Farm, 'Flute' bread from Hi-Rise Bakey, and kale from the first stand on the corner (I have their name somewhere). The bread is long like French bread, but holier and sort of like sourdough.


June 24 - kale, zucchini, carrots, and corn bread. No, not like regular corn bread, but yes, corn bread.


My new issue of the Cross Stitcher came today, and for once I thought I would stitch the kit that came with the magazine. It's vry cute and I think I could use it for a welcome baby card, if I actually stitch the thing. It says the the magazine that it takes 10 hours. Here is my progress after 1 hour. Can you tell what it is yet?

New grocery baskets

Kristin, I thought you would get a kick out of this-

I went grocery shopping for the first time in a month(!) and discovered that there are new hand baskets. These have two kinds of handles, the standard middle basket handle, but they have this new long handle, and wheels at one end of the basket, so you can drag the basket behind you at the store. Too cute! I think kids would have fun with these, and I'm sure it helps the elderly while they are shopping.

My friend Andrea (featured in the horrible photo above taken wtih my cell phone) commented that these new baskets are double the size of the old, so her old gauge of when to stop buying won't work anymore.