What's on your grocery list???

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DaisyJane

I probably should be working.
Today I did my regular Costco run. Six people live in our home - all are adults. I have three boys between the ages of 18 and 22 at home, and while one doesn't eat (feeding tube), the other two can consume food at an alarming rate. Shopping at places other than Costco simply doesn't make sense at this stage of life.

As I was unpacking the groceries I was marvelling at the amounts of food I need to buy to get through a week (and yes, I acknowledge that I am privileged, that we eat well, and don't experience food insecurity of any kind).

I was also reflecting on the "staples" I need to purchase now and how they have shifted as the kids have grown older. Both my kids are really into healthy eating and both actively avoid sugar and many processed foods (they do eat bread, yogurt, pasta, and other examples). So while they ate granola bars when they were younger, these days they won't touch them, and I don't buy them. I am also a vegetarian so we consume lots of veggies.

What I do buy in huge quantities EACH WEEK, though, includes the following:

3-4 large bunches of bananas
2 large bags of frozen fruit (for smoothies)
pounds and pounds of apples
pounds of grapefruit
steel cut oats - LOTS
3-4 dozen eggs
2 dozen bagels
10-12 litres of almond milk
2 dozen containers of yougurt/or 3-4 large tubs

And those are just the basics we need to get through breakfast in our home!!!

Each week we get a delivered organic box of local veggies (these days mostly root veggies) and (not local) fruit. This is in ADDITION to the purchased Costco fruit above!!!

To get through other meals I usually purchase quantities of other foods. Today's grocery list included: chicken, legumes, greens, broccoli, cheese, brussel sprouts, berries, pasta, nuts, and so on.

What are the staples of your pantry? What is on your grocery list these days? Have things changed over the years?
 
Today I did my regular Costco run. Six people live in our home - all are adults. I have three boys between the ages of 18 and 22 at home, and while one doesn't eat (feeding tube), the other two can consume food at an alarming rate. Shopping at places other than Costco simply doesn't make sense at this stage of life.

As I was unpacking the groceries I was marvelling at the amounts of food I need to buy to get through a week (and yes, I acknowledge that I am privileged, that we eat well, and don't experience food insecurity of any kind).

I was also reflecting on the "staples" I need to purchase now and how they have shifted as the kids have grown older. Both my kids are really into healthy eating and both actively avoid sugar and many processed foods (they do eat bread, yogurt, pasta, and other examples). So while they ate granola bars when they were younger, these days they won't touch them, and I don't buy them. I am also a vegetarian so we consume lots of veggies.

What I do buy in huge quantities EACH WEEK, though, includes the following:

3-4 large bunches of bananas
2 large bags of frozen fruit (for smoothies)
pounds and pounds of apples
pounds of grapefruit
steel cut oats - LOTS
3-4 dozen eggs
2 dozen bagels
10-12 litres of almond milk
2 dozen containers of yougurt/or 3-4 large tubs

And those are just the basics we need to get through breakfast in our home!!!

Each week we get a delivered organic box of local veggies (these days mostly root veggies) and (not local) fruit. This is in ADDITION to the purchased Costco fruit above!!!

To get through other meals I usually purchase quantities of other foods. Today's grocery list included: chicken, legumes, greens, broccoli, cheese, brussel sprouts, berries, pasta, nuts, and so on.

What are the staples of your pantry? What is on your grocery list these days? Have things changed over the years?

On weekdays, I live alone in Seosan. I go to the local market just about each night after work and pick up whatever I want to cook for dinner. I do keep a few things on hand for breakfast and lunch - coffee, milk, cereal, various soups.

Most weekends, I go to Suwon where Yobo has done the shopping.
 
Wow. That is a lot of food

I remember whekids lived with us, I felt like I could never keep up

My son would get up in the night, finish the milk eat a couple of bananas.......

Now that it is just hubby and I unless the kids are visiting, I buy lots of fruit, yogurt, eggs, salad makings and then whatever dinner I am planning. Likely go to the store every other day for fresh meat or chicken.....
 
Our groceries have changed a lot now that I am at home most of the time, and am the primary cook.

I use the application: "flipp" and put common items on it, so i can see who has a sale, and then do price match.
I use our freezer and pantry heavily.
I am learning prices.
I don't always buy cheapest, but, I take it into account.

So, what do we always buy:
Milk 2%
Apples
Salad fixings: various greens
Red or green pepper
broccolli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts
Staple replacements: onions, carrots, garlic, etc
yogurt

What do i frequently buy
Oranges

What do I buy in good quantities when it is on sale (also ensure that I don't run out of)
Dempster's bagels
Butter
Eggs
Meat -- buy & eat or freeze. Regulalry buy 50% off meat by shopping on Monday morning. Buy 30% off meat if see it. It's usually nearing their posted "best before date"

Witteveen (local butcher) bacon - buy in 10 pounds - expensive, but, no store backed bacon is as good.

**** from your list what I rarely buy any more
frozen fruit --we just aren't going through it. I do remember having smoothies, but, just not going through them now
Bananas -- my spouse has a major ethical concern re bananas
 
Yes, it changes a lot. For quite a few years, I was single parent to two hungry kids and caregiver to my Mom. Kids were prone to bringing guests home to eat. I had menu plans posted for the week on the fridge, and shopped with menu plans in hand. This was a little early for smoothies and we are all largely omnivores (I have flirted with vegetarianism over the years, but it never sticks), so it was a LOT of casseroles, because they could be stretched with a bit more salad and a couple more potatoes in the pot. And this is a family (my kids, not me, lol) who trend to very thin, so there was always a lot of full fat milk and yogurt and sour cream and butter in the cart...

Now, it's me and a dog and a cat. I tend to shop most days, as my grandma shopped at her little market in Liverpool - whatever you want for dinner and whatever staple you've run out of. And my food choices go in cycles. I'll go through a period where I cook and eat mainly Indian; at the moment, I'm in sort of a Mediterranean mood. Lots of white beans, greens, rapini, braised fish and seafood, sourdough breads.
 
Yogurt (plain Saugeen dairy)
Almonds
Chicken
Tuna
Salad greens
Cherry tomatoes
Broccoli
Protein bars
Clementines
Blueberries
I'm on a diet.

I'm currently staying with someone really wonderful who is worried about the kitchen getting dirty (it's immaculate...all white.), so neither of us cooks. I miss cooking a lot but it's not worth the accompanying anxiety. I like a "messy" kitchen (comparatively) with stained wooden spoons & frying pans that get used....sputtering fat and the fragrance of garlic...where you can really cook.
 
Ok, that is interesting @ninjafaery .

I am curious, do cherry tomatoes taste good yet? I find winter ones tend to get thick and not taste good, and for the price, haven't been buying them. How do you use them?
Protein bars -- which ones do you like? I quit buyng them due to the calorie count; and the price, but, my husband does like certain brands.
 
Ours gets interesting, needless to say. Fresh fish and meats from Chinese stores' seafood and butcher counters. Lots of exotic vegetables, not all of which I even know an English name for. Various Chinese snacks and frozen goodies (for Mrs. M's breakfast). Rice, of course, and we buy large (10 kg) bags given how much we eat.

Interestingly, a lot of what North Americans consider "staple" we don't buy much of. Milk, we just buy enough for Mrs. M's tea and the odd dish that needs it. Bread, we don't buy though I keep a stock of bread flour and yeast for running the bread machine. No butter beyond what we need for some cooking (e.g. our chowder recipe uses some). Mrs. M hates it and has largely weaned me off it. We do buy eggs, though less than when Little M was at home. He likes fried eggs and omelets and makes his own for lunch and breakfast a lot so burns through them pretty quickly. Mrs. M likes them, too, but doesn't use as many as he does. Potatoes only as needed since rice is our staple starch.

Footnote on eggs: I am generally not fond of them, though I do like omelets and some Chinese egg dishes. However, I like the fancy omelets with lots of stuff in them so don't make them much myself. To me, they are a breakfast food and I really only have time to do it properly on weekends.
 
Ok, that is interesting @ninjafaery .

I am curious, do cherry tomatoes taste good yet? I find winter ones tend to get thick and not taste good, and for the price, haven't been buying them. How do you use them?
Protein bars -- which ones do you like? I quit buyng them due to the calorie count; and the price, but, my husband does like certain brands.
Organic Cherry tomatoes from Farm Boy are ok, but everything is so expensive now. I like them just to snack on, but sautéed with some garlic, olive oil & basil, they're great with pasta...Parmesan on top.
I halved them & threw them on tortilla chips and cheese...all in the oven and voila, nachos.

My housemate gets my protein bars at Costco. My doctor gave me one of hers to try. They're called Pure Protein. They are smaller & less sweet than most bars but have around 200 cals and 20g protein. About $1 each (sold in boxes of 18.) They are like mars bars in texture. Come in lots of phoney flavours. They aren't fancy, but I don't mind them.

Costco Wholesale
 
We shop together usually once a week and usually on Tuesday mornings, almost exclusively at the co-op. With the two of us and now we don't need a lot. When the children were at home and I had to fill up the grocery cart.
Staples would include:
whole wheat bread -one or two loaves
skim milk – 2 L carton for me
loctose free milk – for Seelerman
eggs – 1 doz.
bananas – 4 or 5 on the green side (they ripen fast) and/or other fruit
meat – for about three days – last week it was beef stewing meat
Fish – one or two days, either fresh (cod, haddock, sole) or frozen (Highliner)
chicken
vegetables – onions, carrots, turnips, potatoes (for the stew), asparagus, red pepper

once or twice a month we will need:
peanut butter – Seelerman couldn't have breakfast without it
yogurt or cottage cheese for me
jam
butter
salad dressing
frozen French fries
pickles
cookie
canned goods – soups, peas or green beans, corn
spaghetti sauce
canned beans
canned tomatoes
pasta
cheese

Occasionally:
herbs and spices
Sugar
flour
salt
and whatever else the occasion requires.
 
There were foods that I frequently used to buy at home in Toronto that I haven't been able to buy here in Korea. I miss them.

- Canned soups
- Boxes of ice cream
- Frozen dinners
- Frozen vegetables
- Mexican foods (chiefly taco kits)
 
I forgot to mention tea and coffee, cereal (cherrios, bran flakes, special K),
potatoes (a 5 pound bag every second week)
yams every now and then
I also should confess
I forgot to mention tea and coffee, cereal (cherrios, bran flakes, special K),
potatoes (a 5 pound bag every second week)
yams every now and then
celery
lettuce or bagged greens every second week
tomatoes (except when the price is rideculous)

I also should confess to restocking my freezer and pantry occasionally with pre-prepared foods:
barbequed chicken (will do us for three meals, plus make broth for chicken veggie soup
pre-cooked roast beef - 3 meals
ribs - 2 meals
pizza - 2 meals
tuna helper or other stove top meals that require little prep.
 
We tend to do a major shop on the day each month that has 10% off.

Mainly we buy 'real' food rather than cans and packets, quantities of the various items vary from month to month. During the month we just have to pick up a little extra milk , fruit, fresh veg as needed. A fair bit of our meat we buy in bulk (co-operative farm product effort with our kids).

We are finding that our meals are slowly changing - never had noodle bowl type things twenty years ago, now we have them frequently. Used to have roasts and all the trimmings regularly, now we rarely do. We seem to get fish at least once a week now and more main meals based on legumes.
 
Oh yes, coffee. We go through a LOT of that stuff now that my boys have discovered caffeine.

As my seventeen year old recently said, "I am not a morning person, but then I discovered there's a thing for that!".

On friday I purchased three large bunches of bananas. My husband wondered if I would be making a quantity of banana bread. I told him that not only would there be no bananas for baked goods, but I would need to buy more by Tuesday. Sure enough, as of last night they were all gone.
 
Actually, no. My kids don't enjoy soda pop, and my youngest in particular does not like chocolate. I was also one of those parents who actively limited their opportunities to have sugar-laden foods.
 
Actually, no. My kids don't enjoy soda pop, and my youngest in particular does not like chocolate. I was also one of those parents who actively limited their opportunities to have sugar-laden foods.

That they dislike it suggests that they tried it.
 
Actually, no. My kids don't enjoy soda pop, and my youngest in particular does not like chocolate. I was also one of those parents who actively limited their opportunities to have sugar-laden foods.

In our case it was mostly natural, ie. he didn't get a lot of sweet stuff but not because we actively tried to limit it. We just don't keep a lot of sweet stuff in the house. Our snacks tend to be of the savoury variety and Mrs. M, unlike my mother, doesn't have baking as one of her hobbies. My being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was in grade 6 or so helped, too, since that killed my sweet tooth. However, I suspect genetics may be a factor as well. He takes after his mother a lot and Mrs. M constantly complains that things are too sweet here in the West.

As for caffeine started drinking coffee when he was in high school but drinks it black, no sugar or milk/cream. He does drink colas, too, but actually prefers diet or Zero (whereas I drink sugar-free out of necessity and would sooner have sugar).
 
As for caffeine started drinking coffee when he was in high school but drinks it black, no sugar or milk/cream. He does drink colas, too, but actually prefers diet or Zero (whereas I drink sugar-free out of necessity and would sooner have sugar).

My eldest drinks his black. My youngest still likes some sugar in his coffee. As he has said, he is still a "coffee baby". No one else has sugar in their coffee in our home.

We have no real pop drinkers in the house at all. We do buy some when we're entertaining, but otherwise there is almost never pop in the house.
 
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