Groceries: Ain't Worth Cooking

Jul 13, 2008 at 12:11 AM
18 comments

I'm a bachelor. Have been for many years. I don't have room mates, and I don't have kids to buy for. So I rarely do any cooking. I do cook because I like to, but its just so much easier to stop someplace on the way home from work and pick something up. Well, I ran out of sugar today and it being Saturday, I thought I'd run by the grocery store and put together a pile of groceries for this week. I didn't sit down with my Rachael Ray cookbook and plan out the week's meals, I just decided to wander through the store for ideas.

So I drive over to Albertson's and grab a cart and wheel it into the store. Just to prove I don't do this very often I started in the fresh veggies and wove my way through the aisles in the wrong direction. What's the right direction? Start with dry goods and cleaning supplies and end up at the frozen goods. That way your frozen goods are still frozen when you get home. Nothing appealed to me in the fresh veggies but I did pick up a cantaloupe and moved on to the meat department. I love specialty fish, so opted for a thresher shark filet. I know its expensive, but it really is a good bit of fish. Next came canned goods and chips and spices and then I'm back in the back of the store near the pre-packaged meats. Mix and match 10 frozen items for 10 bucks. They have scallops, ground turkey, meatballs, battered fish fillets, etc., and right behind that is pre-cooked hamburger patties. Hey, heat and eat. Down and back two more ailes and there's a tub of Lloyd's barbecue chicken. I have trouble going by the specialty cheese display. A great glass of light red wine and slab of Jarlsberg, doesn't get any better than that. This time I picked a Fontina and debated whether to go with the two tone English or the Winey Goat. Next time I'll do the two tone. As I passed the wine section I remembered I needed a new cork screw. Since my step dad has a small vineyard, I have an ample supply of wine and its pretty good stuff too. Cabernet Franc and Petite Syrah Bronze winner and silver winners in their local wine tasting annually.

I came across a strainer that rests on the sides of the sink and thought, I've been wanting one of these. $18 is a bit steep but.... I need to replace my palm scrubber, the old one has something in it from the bachelor's sink we don't want to describe in polite company. I made my way over to the soap aisle and picked up a large container of Liquid Plumber to replace the one I used last month and that brought me to the dairy cooler. I like flavored creamers for my coffee. Thai tea flavored, mmm. OK, that should be good. Wait, nearly forgot the sugar.

Time to hit the check out stand. This is one of those modern stores where you can check yourself out. I thought, "Nah, I'll let them do it." I would have done the self check thing if I had just a few items but this was a pretty good cart load, besides I like shooting the breeze with the clerks. When she told me the total, I stared at her in disbelief. Are you sure? $251.34 for 51 items. Are you sure? She was feeling for me, I could see it in her face, but there hadn't been a mistake. That's an average of $5 per item folks. They ran a preferred card for me and that dropped the price $21.12 to a total of $230.22 Driving home I felt as though I were shirtless. Some of the stuff was for the freezer but it wasn't that much was it? How much did I spend on hardware? Did I go in there hungry and come out with a huge load of junk food? I've done this before but its never been a bigger bill than the truck payment or all the utilities combined including two mobile phone bills.

Here is my purchased list.
Grocery
.42 lb. @ 6.99/lb Sunrise bulk foods (Cashews) 2.94
Heinz Steak Sauce                                          4.99
C&H sugar                                                      6.99
Lay's Stax                                                      1.89
Lay's Stax                                                      1.89
Chips 3.79
Lipton Tea Bags    3.69
Bread 3.29
Liquid Drain Cleaner 9.99
LP Steak Sauce    4.29
Ground Cinnamon    4.29
Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk 1.99
Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk                                1.99
Ashoka ?                                                        5.29
Ashoka                                                           5.29
Pringles Guacamole                                         1.00
CoffeeMate Creamer                                         3.99
CoffeeMate Creamer                                        3.99
ALB Pickles                                                    2.50
Berio Olive Oil                                                  5.99
Dr. Pepper                                                       1.50
          CRV (California Redemption Value)           .10

General Mdse
Dish Brush w/holder                                         4.99
Trudeau Strainer                                            1 7.29
STR Spout Pail                                            4.49
Corkscrew 5.99                          53.73
General Mdse?    7.99
Hat w/light in the bill                                         14.99

Meat
Lloyd's Shredded Chicken                                  6.99
Moran Beef Patties 8 in a box                        9.99
Chicken breaded filet                                         7.99
Zacky Ground Turkey                                        1.00
               x 4                                                    4.00
Papa Luigi Meatballs                                         1.00
Sea Fresh breaded fish filets x 2                         2.00

Butcher Block
Shark Steak                                                     5.33
Cooked Salad Shrimp                                       1.00
AQ Star Scallops                                             1.00

Meat Deli
Bar S Sausage                                                2.39
Velveeta Cheese                                              7.49
Parmesan                                                       5.29
Jimmy Dean Sausage                                      4.49
Santa Barbara Salsa                                        3.19
Yucatan Dip                                                    3.99

Produce
Canteloupe 3.99

Service Deli
Winey Goat Cheese 10.97
Fontina Cheese 5.49

Subtotal                                                       225.00
Tax                                                           5.22
Total                                                           230.22

Thank you Mr. Bob, you saved $21.12

Pardon me, but I'm not feeling the savings. I can't even imagine what it must be like to keep teenagers' bellies filled at these prices. My poor sister has four of them and two little girls, one large dog and two suv's to feed. I can literally eat better and spend less by eating out every meal. When I'm done with this load of groceries, I'm retiring my kitchen.

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You should buy less meat and cheese and tasty salty snacks and more vegetables and grains. I save a ton of money that way and with daily exercise I feel great too. The therapeutic value of cooking is too much to give up, I think. Farmer's markets are good too, with fresh produce and low prices, and their meats and cheeses are higher quality and less sodium-packed. Plus you feed the local economy!

My usual diet is broccoli, kale and beef, chicken or fish. I substitute apples or melons at lunch for the green veggies. Breakfast is usually eggs or cottage cheese with fruit. Very simple, less expensive and fuss. Low in glucose stimulation because I'm on the Zone diet. How much do you spend eating out?

We eat a lot of beans and rice! I have two teen boys plus another one. There is no amount of money that could give me enough to feed them. I just cut back on the junk, and snacks and focus on the substance.

We are poor right now, it is the way our life is. If only we could drill here it would be a different story!

JudgeBob replied to Zak Klemmer’s comment:
Jul 13, 2008
Reply

I typically have a cup of Chai tea in the morning and my tastes run toward Asian food, so either an Indian curry or a two item combo from a Cantonese or Thai place. Spring rolls are like salad burritos. Believe it or not, I spend between $4.00 and $8.00 per meal and usually get enough to stretch to a second meal. Occasionally I'll go Mexican and that runs about $7.00 for a decent sized bowl of rice beans and chicken with Guacamole topping. If I go for pizza, I'll watch the specials. Dominoes is doing one right now to get 3 mediums for $5.00 each. I eat the most well done one and put the other two back for later meals. A medium is more than enough for me, so I give the dog a few slices.

Shopping at a grocer's for a single is rediculous. Either the containers are too big so you lose half the product to spoil or its prepared and individually packaged which makes the cost higher than buying it fresh prepared.

JudgeBob replied to kathy@brazoscowgirl’s comment:
Jul 13, 2008
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My Granny used to tell me stories about making it through the depression. When they were married, they had 1 skillet and two plates. That was it. They lived in a work shack which belonged to my Pa's employer. (Yes they actually went by the titles Granny and Pa to their 16 grandkids.) But she would tell me about raising her four kids with water biscuits during the hardest part of the depression because they couldn't get any milk.

One of my favorite dishes was born out of necessity from these years. Something they called chocolate gravy which wasn't gravy at all. It was a syrup. They'd pour this hot syrup over buttered biscuits. They learned not to waste anything. When they had a milk cow, they'd get more than two gallons of milk per day. They'd skim the cream off and make butter, they'd take unused milk and make desserts. If they still couldn't use it all, it fed the dogs.

My Dad and his brother became the chief bread winners of the family for a number of years by hiring out to train horses to ride and using them in their training to chase down stray cattle. This was when they were between the ages of 10 and 15. When I was a kid my Dad considered this sport. He'd buy very young cattle and turn them into the field. When he needed spare cash, he'd saddle up old Buck and ride out and chase them down so he could drag them off to the sale barn. They ran wild until then. When I say wild, I mean wild. He had an old steer in the stock trailer once that he had to cross tie in so it would jump out. Seven foot high stock racks and this thing would jump out!! Once cross tied, Dad was so gleeful with the job the steer had made of it, that he was demonstrating how mad the steer was by showing me that he was trying to bite his hand!! For those of you who don't know cattle, they aren't known for biting people. Charging, butting, and trampling yes, not biting.

Wow, I've wondered way off topic. Got to reminiscing. Reckon I'm going to have to write an article on 'The Good Ol' Days.'

Potatoes, beans and rice makes me fat. Juice has no fiber so it's like drinking sugar water. I'm not diabetic but insulin spikes cause me to gain fat so I manage what I eat.

JudgeBob replied to Zak Klemmer’s comment:
Jul 13, 2008
Reply

I'm heavy, but I think its more because of my inactivity than my diet and all my family are skinny as rails until we hit our 30's so a lot of it is inherited traits. I actually eat very little compared to when I weighed 165lbs. I was trying to put on bulk back then.

Zak Klemmer replied to JudgeBob’s comment:
Jul 13, 2008
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Due to my lower back problems I went to a Physical Therapist who advised me to start weight training. This has not only releived most of my symptoms but I have put on muscle and I feel great besides being able to climb stairs with ease and run again. Try this with the zone diet it really helped me.

I understand your pain. I have a teenage girl (does not eat to much cant get fat) and an 8 year old girl. They are not the problem. My 10 year old son has hollow legs. It scares me how he is going to eat over the next 6 years. The boy eats 2 bowls of cereal in the morning, 2-4 hot dogs for lunch, and and 2-3 plates of what ever we eat at dinner. This is not counting his snacks. Hes only 10..lol He is not over weight, hes skin and bones.

JudgeBob replied to Zak Klemmer’s comment:
Jul 13, 2008
Reply

I did have back problems. When I was 18 I slipped a disc and for the next 18 years had regular intervals where I would be incapacitated. Not good for a warehouseman which is what I did in the USAF and many years following. My back hasn't bothered me since I found a Chiropractor that doesn't pop your joints everytime you show up. I still have problems if I go back to heavy lifting or stand too long or lay too long but my current work has not been a problem at all.

I bought a bike to ride for exercise, it hangs out in the garage waiting for me to start. I'm thinking of getting some inline skates to use with the dog (she needs the exercise too) but they'll probably reside next to the bike in the garage. lol just have no interest in it. Probably should take weekends and head up to the parks to hike. That's interesting but its a long drive to get to the nearest nature preserve from OC in the Los Angeles basin.

That's what I was talking about. Good grief. Growing is expensive.

Zak Klemmer replied to JudgeBob’s comment:
Jul 13, 2008
Reply

I lived in LA twice so far in my life and I think that I will always consider it my "home town" regardless where I reside. The last time was from 2000- 2005 when I was a project manager for a steel contractor, I would ride my mountain bike to work. This exercise really helped in my recovery of sciaticia.

This is my second time living here. My first time was when my Mom grabbed up the kids and left my Dad for good. 1973 in Anaheim was not a pretty place to live. Especially as an Okie just hitting his growth spurt and having no money to replace the high water pants and that Okie twang really stood out here.

This experience has been much better, but I still prefer the backwoods of Oklahoma.

Your were shopping like a batchelor. When married with kids one shops more in line with a budget rather than for what you know will appreciate.

Usually, when I get a hankering to cook, I sit down with Rachael Ray and we go over the menu together. Ok, so Rachael isn't on the couch with me but her books are just as good as. I choose Rachael's books because they promise to be relatively quick and easy. Her 30 minute meals only takes me an hour to prepare. Point being, her recipes aren't cheap either. Calamata Olives, specialty this, and specialty that. Have you priced a jar of pickles lately? A bottle of steak sauce for my burgers ran $4.29.

Like I said you are a true blue batchlor. There is nothing wrong that.

:-)

Theway2k is right, you shop like a bachelor. Nothing wrong with that. But I'm a stay at home mom with a husband, two boys (all three of whom can eat me under the table) and a budget. I shop the specials, buy generic and we eat a lot of fruits and veggies. My weekly bill is usually less than $150, and that's including the 2 gallons of milk we go through each week! (Around my house milk is worse than gas these days!)

I used to go through a gallon of milk in a week all on my own. My stomach can't handle it anymore. I put a little creamer in my coffee and have ice cream once in a blue moon, but that's about it anymore. As I commented earlier, I eat very little compared to when I was skinny. Standing well above 6 feet and weighing less than 165 lbs if I turned sideways, you could miss me except for my nose.

Groceries: Ain't Worth Cooking

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