I did my last grocery haul September 18th, so nearly a month ago. Since then I haven’t shopped at all. David picked up a loaf of bread and some chips at one point but otherwise – nothing. I’m not planning to do my usual monthly shopping trip with Lisa this month because we will be in New Orleans for 11 days. We’ll do a big pre-holiday shopping trip in November but in the meantime I’m making do with what I have on hand (which is still a lot) and filling in a bit locally.
After church and lunch out with friends yesterday, we stopped by the local grocery store. David stayed in the truck (which we took instead of my car because we had a LOT of recycling to drop off) playing games on his phone while I ran in and picked up enough to see us through until we go to New Orleans.
Organic items are pretty few and far between at this little store but I figure since the vast majority of what I buy is organic, a few exceptions now and then won’t kill us. I also indulged in a couple of things, such as Halloween candy for the candy dish I keep on our entry table.
Apple Market-
- organic milk
- lettuce
- organic spinach
- tomato
- celery (this is something I hate not to buy organic but I really needed it for a couple of dishes)
- bell pepper (same as celery)
- green onions
- pineapple
- bananas
- bbq chips
- English muffins
- blue cheese salad dressing
- sour cream
- potato bread (no trans fats or HFCS)
- flour tortillas
- sliced cheddar cheese
- Earl Grey tea (my usual subscription for organic Earl Grey is out of stock at Amazon)
- crunchy Chinese noodles (made Chinese chicken salad last night)
- jar of jalapeño slices
- croutons
- Halloween candy (1 bag Hershey Kisses in fall colors)
- conditioner for David
Like you, I/we try to eat healthy for the most part and buy organic where and when we can. So I was surprised to see that you bought commercial salad dressing. Do you normally make your own? NOT pointing fingers, just wondering! 🙂
Melanie: Good question. Yes, I do often make homemade salad dressings. David's favorite is Thousand Island and I always make that one. I also have a jar of seasoning mix from Azure Standard for making ranch so I never buy commercial ranch. My favorite dressing is bleu cheese and I do have an absolutely delicious recipe for it – so much better than commercial. However, it makes a lot and I'm currently the only one around here who likes blue cheese. Chris' girlfriend does but she got a job in the city so she's not here to help me eat it. The next time I'm able to get some good cheese (November shopping trip) I do plan to make my own dressing again. I may divide it with my dad who also loves blue cheese. I just hate to take a chance on wasting it and homemade doesn't last as long as store-bought. So, there's a very long answer for you. Ha!
Deanna, I wish I could figure out how to shop less often for groceries! I don't mind popping in every few days for fresh vegetables, but I get annoyed with myself when I don't have shelf-stable staples on hand when I need them.
Jean: I live about 20 minutes from even a local grocery store so the incentive to keep well-stocked is high for me. I think it's something you have to approach gradually and take into account how much storage space you have. I'm fortunate to have a large kitchen with a big pantry, as well as a separate freezer in our laundry room. I've been working on a post about menu planning for my other blog, Dee's Kitchen, and I'll be sure to include some information about how I go about keeping my kitchen stocked. When it's done, I'll share the link on Tea With Dee.