WTF am I?

Hmm, if one were to be really ‘real’ about it, isn’t grocery shopping more akin to scavenging than hunting or foraging? I mean, none of what’s to be had at the grocery store is ‘fresh’ in the true sense of the word, and most of it’s been dead for days, if not weeks… I’m not only referring to meat here either - anything that comes in a box or some sort of packaging is more likely to be dead than living. Just sayin’.

new diet, new life - day fifty-one (31-Aug-2010)

breakfast (~10:30am)

• bowl of quaker oatmeal w/ raisins + almonds (me ‘n steph) 
• half of a taste of nature brazillian nut fiesta organic food bar (me ‘n steph)
• breast milk (stephen)

we skipped lunch b/c we were grocery shopping (click ‘see more’ below)

dinner (~9pm)

my folks watched stephen for us for a few hours (steph pumped some breast milk beforehand), so we had some takeout (except we made rice) from Taj again and spent some quality time afterward :)

• short grain brown rice (homemade) w/ malai kofta (veggie dumplings made from Indian style cheese + almonds in a flavourful butter sauce), fish masala (boneless marinated cod fillet w/ tomatoes, onions + bell peppers) + allu nan (stuffed w/ spicy potatoes) w/ two small glasses of white wine (me ‘n steph)
• breast milk (stephen)

snacks + beverages

• water (me ‘n steph)
• small coffee w/ 1/4 packet white sugar (me) 
• glass of apple juice (me)
• glass of orange juice (me)
• piece of cake (me ‘n steph) it was my mom’s friend barb’s birthday and we stopped by just in time for cake and to sing happy birthday  

today’s grocery shopping trip

we visited three stores today for groceries: nutter’s bulk + natural foods, save-on-foods, and real canadian superstore (spent about $200, but $75-100 of that was for cleaning supplies, a hanging plant, plant + garden supplies, clips w/ fridge magnet, corkscrew, cloth gloves, string, cling wrap, a pair of baby/ toddler aviators, and a ky variety pack)

meal planning

So up until now we’ve chosen our meals on a meal-by-meal basis. Unfortunately this hasn’t worked out to well for a couple reasons: 1 - more than a few recipes require more than an hour or preparation and/or cooking time (like the red kidney beans we had yesterday (July 22nd) for instance (they required 8 hours or so of soaking and 1.5 - 2 hours of cooking); and 2 - due to poor planning, and partially due to our vegas trip, we’ve thrown out way too many fruits and veggies.

The solution?  We put together a meal plan for the next week and then went grocery shopping to get what we’d need for it (and then some). Before the week is out, we’ll take a look at what perishables we’ll have left and determine the meals for the few days following the week we’ve already determined to reduce waste.

In order to get everything our meal plan requires we had to hit up more than one grocery store (of course).  First we stopped at our local natural food store, “Nutter’s,” then we hit up the local Save-On-Foods as is virtually next door. Then I dropped Steph and Stephen off at my folks’ so that they could go take care of some wedding stuff (bridesmaids’ gifts or something or other), and I continued on. I drove by the local Asian Supermarket and saw that it was still open, so I popped in to try and find more items on the list (the lady there started asking me if I needed help, and that’s when I noticed they were closing, so I paid for what I had and got out of there). My last two stops were Superstore and Safeway - all in all the trip took about 4 hours minus the time to drop off Steph and Stephen. I’ve listed what was acquired at each store and the costs below (I thought it might be good to see whether eating this way is costing us less or more than how we ate before).

first stop: Nutter’s Bulk & Natural Foods

• 80% wheat gluten $4.29
• red lentils (335g) $2.65 
• ground coriander (40g) $0.60 
• ground cumin (20g) $0.58
• ground white pepper (45g) $1.98
• organic buckwheat flour $5.99
• sunny hemp granola bars $4.49 (not in meal plan)
• pumpkin ‘n spice granola bars $4.49 (not in meal plan)
• asian family coconut milk $2.19
• thai organic coconut milk $3.99 (for comparison, only need one can for meal plan)
• marukan organic rice vinegar $5.79
• brown rice syrup $6.99
• TOTAL = $44.03 + 0.22 GST = $44.25 ($31.28 meal plan cost so far)

second stop: Save On Foods

• acorn squash (2) $2.36
• butternut squash $1.96
• blueberries (3lbs, not pictured) $5.99
• cantaloupe $1.85
• carrots (7) $1.26
• cauliflower (2 heads) $2.50
• celery stalks (7) $1.07
• corn on the cob (4) $3.16
• thai green curry paste $4.49
• ginger root $0.54
• golden delicious apples (6) $3.15
• green onions (2 bunches) $0.98
• honeydew melon $2.33
• korma sauce $5.69
• kale $1.49
• lychee beverage (2 cans) $2.30 (not in meal plan)
• sugar peas $7.99
• medium onions $4.69
• organic corn flakes cereal $8.99
• hemp plus granola cereal $3.99
• parsley $0.69
• radishes (1 bunch) $0.79
• red pepper (1) $0.99
• rutabaga (1) $0.90
• organic apple juice $11.33
• savoy cabbage (1) $2.04
• coconut ice cream $6.99 (not in meal plan)
• almond milk $3.99
• orange drink w/ pulp (2 cans) $1.96 (not in meal plan)
• watercress $1.79
• watermelon (1) $5.99
• sliced beets $1.69
• cucumbers (2) $1.98
• TOTAL = $107.81 + 0.20 GST = $108.01 ($96.76 in meal plan, $128.04 meal plan cost so far)

third stop: Asian Supermarket

• wheat gluten $3.39 (to compare w/ wheat gluten from nutter’s, only need one or other for meal plan)
• preserved plum $5.98
• dried seaweed $3.99 (not required for meal plan)
• TOTAL = $13.36 + 0 GST = $13.36 ($5.98 in meal plan, $134.02 meal plan cost so far)

fourth stop: Superstore

• reusable bag (forgot to bring ours, figured we could use another) $1.49 (not in meal plan)
• snap peas $6.99 (forgot we already got these, so not adding to meal plan cost)
• corn on the cob (4) $1.96
• mesa sunrise flakes (corn, flax, and amaranth) $7.86
• cherries $5.59
• strawberries $2.86
• tofu (soft) $1.00
• tofu (traditional) $1.79
• tofu (firm) $1.99
• tofu (extra firm) $1.99
• tofu (deep fried, 2 pkgs) $1.88
• daikon $0.65
• vanilla soy yogurt $3.99 (not in meal plan)
• blueberry soy yogurt $1.52 (not in meal plan)
• strawberry soy yogurt $1.52 (not in meal plan)
• coconut milk $1.18 (for comparison - cheapest one yet)
• organic raisins $2.42
• TOTAL = $48.56 + 0.07 GST = $48.63 ($31.94 in meal plan, $165.96 meal plan cost so far)

fifth and final stop: Safeway

I only stopped here because everyplace else was out of shiitake mushrooms, and only Save On had basil leaves, but they were already going bad - luckily Safeway had both, and I had almost forgot soap refills and Steph’s been having some headaches since we got back from Vegas (maybe due to drinking? it was her first time drinking more than a glass of wine since getting pregnant with Stephen).

• ibuprofen $5.22 (not in meal plan)
• gel soap refill $6.99 (not in meal plan)
• foam soap refill $6.99 (not in meal plan)
• fresh basil $2.00
• shiitake mushrooms $4.99
• TOTAL = $26.19 + 0.96 GST = $27.15 ($6.99 in meal plan cost, $172.95 meal plan cost total)

$172.95 for a week’s worth of food? Well not quite. The sauces, pastes, and cereals will last longer than a week (some quite a bit longer), and more than a few of the fruits and vegetables that come in packages will be more than we need. I’ll have to tally our grocery bills so far and keep track going forward so that we can come up with a more accurate weekly cost. For now I’d estimate it to be closer to the $120 mark. Next weekend I think we’ll try to hit up the farmer’s market before my bachelor party.