Professor Sharon

Yesterday I went grocery shopping – no great news to anyone! But, this trip is having a very fascinating effect on our daily lives.

For most of my adult life, and most importantly when raising two children, grocery shopping is usually done every two weeks. I’m systematic about it: thinking about what’s in fridge and freezer already, the season, sales in the stores, and what the family is interested in eating at the moment. I make a menu for those two weeks, leaving days for catching up with leftovers, planning meals that will leave leftovers for lunch, and being flexible with the menu knowing that certain ingredients may need to change at the store. I go to the store, buy exactly what is on the list (unless a family member comes along, and then I end up with a few interesting additions!).

In the last month, we have been focusing our eating on what is in our large basement and kitchen freezers. We actually knew last fall that this trip was likely so I had to choose not to buy in quanity from the farmers’ markets and make tomato sauce, apple sauce, freeze vegies, etc. But we still had lots of stuff put up – stews, soups, lasagna and such.

And, to complicate it more, I almost always make half more than I need for dinner and freeze part of the leftovers for lunches.

Well, that was a longwinded way of saying how challenging grocery shopping really was yesterday. Buying only a few fresh things was doable; but not buying bargains was really frustrating! And, I spent more money than I would usually spend as well. I know my prices enough to look for larger containers of cereal and crackers for example. Well, I don’t really want that food to sit for 4 months, so I had to buy the lesser size at the greater price.

I think besides the fresh stuff such as lettuce and apples, I’ve done my last large shopping until June. I think for a few days before we leave, meals will be the dream of every four year old: half a bag of chips (and who cares if they are stale), leftover pizza from the freezer, and no vegies!