Friday, August 22, 2008

Making a Change . . . The Grocery Store

I have said many times before on this blog that I am trying to make a change in the way my family eats. My goals seem pretty simple. While I am for organic food, I don’t feel pressured to have to buy everything organic. I do usually buy organic produce, but since this is kind of harvesting season, I am buying from the farmer’s market almost every week (and sometimes twice a week). Really, I think all that I am doing is what people used to do. I am trying to buy staples such as flour, sugar, oils, dairy products. Then I am making things from scratch. I analyze my kitchen items to see what things we use and how I could make them from scratch.

Anyway, I have a weird, intense desire to do this. I cannot explain it. So I wanted to put my grocery list down here for you. It included:

Potatoes
Lard or shortening
Milk
Aluminum foil
Lunch meat
Bread
Olive oil
Canned salmon (We are going to try to venture out into eating more fish)
Salt
Yogurt (I need a starter yogurt to make my own with)
Heavy Cream (for the cheeses and I may make some more butter)

I didn’t look for sales. I didn’t pour over the sale flyers from the grocery store. I didn’t look up every sale online or clip a lot of coupons. I simply made my list and I went to get it. Do you know where I went?

Aldi – I don’t mind getting my staples at Aldi. There are several things I like about this store. The cashiers are quick. You must put a quarter in the slot to get your cart. There are no sales or coupons. It is not a mega store where you have to walk to one side of the store to get your pharmacy items and then walk back to the grocery side of the store past the toy aisle with two screaming, hungry children.

I am hoping to soon join a buying club to get my staples. I have not done this before so I will see how it goes.

So, this is a process. After Aldi, I did go to Walgreens. I did have a $5 off of $20 coupon and my husband insists that my cloth diaper training pants that we use on my son at night, aren’t working. I had to get pull ups. And then when I got there, they had price slashed a package of Huggies diapers (it was the mega pack). And then they had also marked the huge box of wipes down 50% so I felt compelled to get those – you see my problem! Also, they had one of those things where you can grab a coupon right there for the Huggies diapers so I did that too.

Obviously, there is nothing wrong with sales and coupons. It is excellent for a lot of people. I would never say that people who coupon or watch sales are unhealthy especially since I still do it myself. I just like being able to whip something up when I run out rather then have to go to the grocery to get it. It is a personal preference.

On a completely different note, I am now nervous because my Aunt Jody told me she reads my blog every night. I feel like I really need to watch what I say. Aunt Jody – don’t think I am crazy.

6 comments:

  1. Oh, tell me about it! There are so many things going on in my life right now that I would LOVE to get some input on from my readers, but can I briefly explain things and ask for input? NO WAY! So many of my friends and family read this blog, so I can't do that.

    On an entirely separate note (and I only say this because I like to pick on you), It's Aldi - not Aldi's. Just like Walmart is Walmart - not Walmarts. Same applies to Marsh, Kroger, and yes, even Meijer.

    My rant is over. Have a nice weekend! :)

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  2. Sorry, not THIS blog. MY blog.

    I'm sure you understood. :)

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  3. I LOVE IT! Ever since we have started using a CSA, we eat a lot more vegetables, less meat, and most everything is made from scratch! I LOVE IT!

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  4. I love Aldi. I've shopped there for a while now. And since I no longer shop at Walmart (long story - I'll have to do a post about that soon), I usually go to Kroger to get the rest because it's so close to Aldi here. I buy generic for almost everything, so I don't have to pay that much more than what I was paying at Walmart and it's worth it to me to be in a store that isn't wall to wall people. I am making all of my own cleaning supplies now and laundry detergent (thanks to you) so I'm not missing Walmart at all. The few toiletries that I do need, I usually get at the Dollar Store that is just up the road from me. I have so much more peace in my life now since saying goodbye to Walmart and all of it's craziness! :-)

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  5. If you dont mind me asking what is CSA?

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  6. CSA= Community Supported Agriculture Local farmers sell you their goods-- you make an upfront investment, which means you assume some of the risk and the farmer gets the up front funds needed to plant, etc. Then you get a share of the produce. I actually participate in one that does it by funds, but most have a "basket" each week of produce from the week. There is a handy tool at Local Harvest that helps you to find one nearby.
    http://www.localharvest.org/
    :)
    Hope that helps.

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