Groceries at Last!

I think Johnnycakes and I have set a new personal record for the longest we have ever gone without grocery shopping. It's been three whole weeks since the last time we have gone to the grocery store. Let me tell you, I would not recommend it. We spent twice as much money on food eating outside the house and our diet has been pretty unhealthily. This is not a good example to set as a food blogger who tries to promote the benefits of home cooking!

I would blame our hectic work schedules but I would also blame our full social schedule for our inability to get to the grocery store. We have been very busy with work but we've also been having a lot of fun hanging out with friends and family. The other truth is that I just plain dislike going to the grocery store. In fact, I don't like to shop much, period. I tend to prefer visiting local markets and shopping on a daily basis but you can't really buy soda or bulky items that way.

I have been contemplating starting to use a grocery delivery service more regularly, such as Safeway or Giant's Peapod. The Food Maven blog addressed this topic http://foodmaven.blogspot.com/ today. Maybe I should take that as a sign that I am just not cut out for these arduous grocery excursions. My problem in the past has been the scheduling but I'm sure I can manage if I really want to.

For now, Johnnycakes and I are excited that we can enjoy our favorites, such as Silk Chocolate Soy Milk, Kashi Go Lean Blueberry Waffles, yogurt, seltzer water... The list goes on. How much did we spend? I spent around $157 and some change and that included plenty of meats to prepare healthy dinners, fruits, veggies and some frozen meals for when we are in a pinch!

Now we just have to get back on our weekly Sunday evening visits to the grocery store or committ to online shopping so we don't end up in this situation again.

Pantry Pride

Today's meals weren't noteworthy. Mainly leftovers from the beach (Grottos is still good the second day) and whatever else we could scrounge up. Johnnycakes and I did have an interesting food shopping experience, however.

You may find this hard to believe, but I generally hate to go food shopping. I don't know why that is. I think because I am always pressed for time and I hate loading the groceries into the car and then dragging them all the way back to the kitchen. We live in a 130+ year old, 100 foot long rowhome and the kitchen is all the way in the back of the house. Depending on what time I shop, I usually have to double park to be near the house and then go move the car to a legal spot after bringing in the groceries since parking is at a premium in our neck of the woods. This is why my grocery shopping tends to be a mix of shopping at the mini Superfresh near my work and hitting the Cross Street Market on my way home, both of which are walkable. I have invested in two sturdy reusable grocery bags so I can have one at home and one at the office. I supplement these trips with a big grocery store mission to the Shoppers Food Warehouse (the only game in town) every two weeks or so and weekly stops at the City Farmers Market in season. I have experimented with online shopping using Giant Peapod and Safeway but I find that you have to be pretty organized to utilize this option because you have to know exactly when you'll be home to receive the groceries, etc. I do find them convenient during busy times such as the Holidays when you just don't feel like making one more trip.

Tonight we were running errands and needed to stop by Wal-Mart to pick up a few items for our backyard. We had planned to hit one of the more "exotic" grocery stores while we were out in the 'burbs but ran out of time as usual. Since we were in dire need for a few grocery staples after our mini out-of-town excursion, we decided to just grab what we needed for the next day or so. I realized that this is the second time in two weeks that I have purchased grocery items at Wal-Mart. Of course you can't get fresh produce at the run-of-the mill Wal-Mart but I think we did pretty good and ended up getting a bunch of things we will use and saved a few bucks in the process!

I realize there are folks out there that are anti-Wal-Mart for a variety of reasons and I can concur with many of these valid arguments, but sometimes time and convenience just win-out. As a city-dweller, I do most of my shopping on foot and love to frequent my local shops. In fact, Johnnycakes loves to tease me how I'll find any excuse I can to visit the little neighborhood shops. It's funny but sometimes you have to leave the City to get your supplies. Wow, you would think we lived in some remote village!

Here are some of the highlights of our trip:

ACT Popcorn - 100 calorie mini bags - 12 for $2.50! That's around $.21 each.

Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal - Maple Brown Sugar - My grocery store hasn't carried this flavor in months. Plus, I saved almost a dollar.

24 pack Diet Pepsi - $5.00

Planters Mixed Nuts - $3.57 - These are over a $4.00 at my grocery store.

Barilla Plus Multigrain Pasta - I usually don't buy this brand because it is more expensive than the San Georgio whole wheat pasta but it was comparable at Wal-Mart . $1.36 each for the Angel Hair and Penne.

What do you think of these prices? I got all of the items in the photo above for $44.59. Do you think we got a good deal? Do others use Wal-Mart to grocery shop for convenience or because of the prices?