Talk to me about grocery shopping

Wal-Mart Supercenter has a decent selection of food items and one can conceivably get almost everything one wants there, but part of my attraction to that chain is that their canned vegetables are simply the best canned vegetables around. I am *so* spoiled by the store brand canned corn and green beans, that I can't have anything else. Their canned corn tastes remarkably like the corn kernels that come off a lightly grilled and crunchy ear of corn, and if one just adds a dash of salt and a little freshly cracked black pepper to the green beans, they are the next best thing to fresh.

I love that I can get "exotic" things at Super Target. Like, I've spotted Edamame in the produce section and, in the refrigerated section, pesto sauce and grated parmesan cheese. Aside from that... well, one could find pretty much the same things at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at lower prices. (And I've also found Edamame, pesto sauce, and grated parmesan at H-E-B, so....)

Sam's Club is great for when I want to get meat. Lots and lots and lots of meat. Tons of ground beef for about $11, lots of pork chops, tons of poultry, etc. Although one could conceivably go mad when it comes to the regular groceries -- one time, we picked up a container of mayonnaise and it lasted us about five months. Never again. We still have six cans of chili we got about a month ago, too. But -- oh! They do have really neat things in the frozen foods aisles, and the avocados they sell are delicious. And their baked goods are always tempting, and I've never gone wrong with one of their bundt cakes, and it's actually the place where I got my computer (for a steal!), so it's good.

We always go to the groceries about once a week, making sure never to run out of anything. Okay, so we'll run out of sodas, sometimes run out of bread and eggs, sometimes be down to the last box of rice, and sometimes have an inexplicable need for ice cream or a certain type of cereal, but pretty much everything else will be available to us at any time.

I like going to Farm Boy and Trader Joe's because I get to drive over a bridge and pass a marina to do so, and drive along Ocean Ave on the way home--it is rather scenic.

I really do split up my shopping like this, because quality of ingredients is important to me. Like Dee, when much meat is needed, I go to CostCo, (Sam's competition) and love their giant salmons that make me think of sexy Canadian citizenship.

The Safeway here does home delivery. As a person with no car, I am in love! I can drink all the fucking milk I want now.

Veggies/fruits/nuts = farmer's market
Proteins = i piggyback on to my bro's restaurant orders every 2-3 weeks (salmon, fluke, ribeye, pork shoulder or loin, veal sausages, whole chickens, usually)
Spices, seasonings, grains, starches, bulk = local co-op

I hit Costco for flats of Nutella 2x a year

I miss Costco -- Sam's is a poor substitute.

People who can get groceries delivered: what's the delivery surcharge, if any? What do you tip?

The delivery was $13 if I wanted to request a two-hour window for delivery, or $7 for a four-hour window. The email announced that "our friendly drivers accept no tips!"

In Boise, it was $5 for delivery from Albertson's, but that was in 2005 & the price may have risen since then.

having your groceries delivered sounds glamorous!

there is a "super fresh" store near me that underwent a makeover a year ago i suspect in part to compete with the nearby whole foods. anyhow, the place is awesome, pleasant low-key lighting, great deals, nice employees, attractive shoppers, etc

i usually buy all my vegetables, tofu in chinatown or at vietnamese market

once in a while i will visit trader joe's and pick up tempeh, olive oil...

occasional forays to indian grocer for spices or frozen treats

going grocery shopping is one of the greatest pleasures in my life. not exactly sure why

I think grocery shopping is very exciting, but also soothing! I love it too. I just hate carrying home milk, cans, dog food, other heavy stuff, with my bare arms. I think this delivery guy might have my dream job, actually, just grocery shopping & driving all day.

People who can get groceries delivered: what's the delivery surcharge, if any? What do you tip?

i don't get groceries delivered very often, but vons will deliver within a 4-hour window for about $10 (i think for a minimum purchase of $50).

i just got back from a trip to the supermarket actually... tonight i'm making breaded eggplant with mushroom sauce and ricotta.

I think this delivery guy might have my dream job, actually, just grocery shopping & driving all day.

i used to think that being the staffer who holds the queue starts here sign/s at trader joes would be a dream job: in a grocery store; pointing people in the right direction; insulated from a lot of other supermarket hassle; customer smalltalk. then i realised that you'd be stuck perpetually experiencing the feeling of being at the end of a queue, without even that pleasing queuer's schadenfraude of having a bunch of people behind you who'd wait longer.

grocery shopping is a pleasure though. i get option paralysis but like being in such a high-density environment.

A Sprouts Farmers Market is opening in town and their flyer promises "Better produce than Trader Joe's, better prices than Whole Foods." I see they're Arizona based and spread over the Southwest. Anyone have any experience with their quality?

weren't they wild oats?

*googles*

ok maybe not

there's a Sprouts a couple blocks from my house. i would agree about the prices, but not about the produce

I think this delivery guy might have my dream job, actually, just grocery shopping & driving all day.

ha, yeah, you might be onto something there!

going grocery shopping is one of the greatest pleasures in my life. not exactly sure why

― dell (del), Wednesday, July 28, 2010 8:05 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

OTM, grocery shopping is my favorite thing in the world

grocery shopping is a pleasure though. i get option paralysis but like being in such a high-density environment.

yeah, maybe you've put your finger there on what i find so pleasurable about it.

but i get o.p. in a terrible way, too. i am the most boring shopper ever. rice, pasta, beans. maybe cheese? the occasions on which i buy something "fun" or unexpected like snack foods or ice cream or some processed junk seem far and few between. i appreciated shopping w/my exgf b/c she was the complete opposite and would parade through the aisles like a drunken sailor in a brothel or a sugared-up 10-year old. in that sense we were a good pairing

OTM, grocery shopping is my favorite thing in the world

dude, i go shopping like almost every night. it's not even funny.

haha I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up like one of those old people who spend all day clipping coupons and has an encyclopedia of grocery store prices in their heads

yeah, i have memorized prices to a degree that i never would have imagined, and sometimes i quote deals to ppl and begin to feel like i'm their grandma or something

Haha, yes! All the best conversations I have with my mom are about grocery prices, either bitching how the price of an item has increased, or sharing sweet deals. "Mom, I just got three pomegranates for $1!" "I raised you right, honey." It's nice to have someone to share this with because I do think about it an awful lot, too. Like, I get excited when the circulars come in the mail.

we are waking early tomorrow to go buy lobster tails from pathmark because they're on sale (eithe 399 or 499 per lb, or per tail - I forget!)

I was angry earlier today because aldi raised the prices on their bag of avocados from 2.29 to 2.99!!

thursday is always in my mind b/c it is the last day to take advantage of the week's sales! oh and friday is when the new sales start!

kinda wish i lived closer to an aldi

I have discovered Grocery Outlet and it's kinda cool

A few months back I got a box of 6 luna bars for $4 ... Mr Veg eats canned soup and I can get those for $1.50 compared to $3+ at the supermarket...and Kashi frozen entrees for like $2

the wines are apparently p good too, though we have like 4 unopened bottles rn so it'll be a while before I investigate those

also I kind of love grocery shopping in general -- but only if it's a once weekly expedition with a list. I hate having to go multiple times during the week

i love it in general, but in the i-try-to-go-everyday way. i probably don't have my shit together enough to work things out with a list & move crazy quantities of things back to my place anyway, but it being a fifteen minute window in my day is nice. calculating routes home in conjunction with your mental map of where sells what.

ha ha i was just thinking yesterday of starting a grocery routine thread but then was like "nah too boring"

also I kind of love grocery shopping in general -- but only if it's a once weekly expedition with a list. I hate having to go multiple times during the week

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, October 8, 2012 5:02 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is like exactly how i feel.

my favorite thing to do in any new place I visit, or maybe just anywhere I am, is to go to a supermarket and wander the aisles

ugh, get in, get the stuff on yr list, get out

markets are a different deal tho

and cheese shops and bakeries, etc, you know

I still do the thing my Mum used to do, which is write yr list based on where everything is in the store.

And new grocery stores are my favorite thing.

The only thing I hate is that I have 2 main stores I do most of my groceries at - a Safewy, and a co-op for bulk grains etc...but if I want somethingk like coconut milk then only Savemart on the other side of town has the brand I like! jerks

My family used to do the main shopping every other week, and my dad coming home with the groceries was a big event (cookie supply replenished, yeah! sweet cereals, yeah!) I recently remembered that we bought 12 half-gallon cartons of milk on the trips (they came in 6-pack cardboard boxes), and it was the top shelf of the fridge was almost all milk. Mind boggling compared to the amount I buy now (that was 5 kids, though).

I'm a Trader Joe's 2-3 times a week guy now, and there's one on the way home so it's very convenient.

does anyone else get a weird sense of comfort when walking in a grocery store that if some kind of catastrophic/apocalyptic event happens you're in about the best place to be, maybe even better than some bunker underneath the whitehouse?

I live in a suburb with many middle class and professional residents, so naturally the grocery stores around here have good fresh produce and frequent price-cutting inducements to lure these well-off shoppers in the door. Poor people should be so lucky. Which is kind of crazy, but that is how it works irl.

I do my damnedest to make rational use of these resources, by making a menu once a week that takes note of what is cheap and on sale, by shopping from a list, and by stocking up our pantry when prices are especially good. I have a vehicle, so I can travel a circuit of three different stores in about 5.5 miles, targeting each one for the best deals and best food.

We eat very well for about $500/mo. A lot of fresh organic produce. Whole grains, legumes. Bakery bread. Usually not factory-farmed meat, although we do eat some. Wine, though it is extremely ordinary stuff, most nights. I could bring that bill down much closer to $400/mo, if my wife didn't have some strong food preferences that increase our total costs.

I am kind of proud of my above-average prowess. (preens self)

that all sounds preenable. i am very "strong food preferences" about a lot of stuff, but for the most part it's things i feel totally okay about not economising on; like if you buy tea or bread or basically anything that comes in multiple-units, you're spending money on stuff that you're going to appreciate or resent the quality of on like ten or fifty different occasions, so it's worth springin for. a bunch of stuff i eat - beans, say, or grains - is so cheap when you add up how much it costs per serving that it's okay to get the nice option.

my favorite thing to do in any new place I visit, or maybe just anywhere I am, is to go to a supermarket and wander the aisles

― barthes simpson, Monday, 8 October 2012 18:23 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

for real. it's the area with the highest-intensity of small differences.

i have the luxury of having no kids to feed and no major monthly expenses (except rent and health insurance; i don't own a house and don't have a car), so i like being a little spendy with grocery shopping. i'm a food person; i believe you can/should eat like a mensch even if you don't have a lot of money.

yeah mr veg got into into organic (aside from his weird obsession with canned soup for lunch) ...so now the routine is - farmers market in the morning, then to safeway for basics like kleenex and meat, then to the co-op for bulk grains and hippy shit and other organic whatever.

I'm trying to cut back our grocery bill, and the farmer's market has saved us about 50% compared to what the co-op was charging for most of their produce. no matter how much I would *like* to buy organic meat, meat's expensive enough as it is, so we only do organic for special occasions.

but we're spending $100-$150 a week. we don't eat out at all, we make our own lunches, make our own coffee, the whole nine. So I feel okay spending a little more here and there. I would like to spend less but I'm not stressing about that right now..and I know in the back of my mind that if I had to really slash at the bill, I could. But I still get kind of a buzz from bargains so that's where my Grocery Outlet adventures come in

my favorite thing to do in any new place I visit, or maybe just anywhere I am, is to go to a supermarket and wander the aisles
for real. it's the area with the highest-intensity of small differences.

my people

I can't believe someone app-economied No Frills

https://brandless.com/

ha! that's ridiculous.

so generic

I love grocery shopping, hate pretty much every other type of shopping

i live a block away from a 24hr supermarket and sometimes just go there at odd hours to browse for interesting stuff if I'm bored