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The Woes of Grocery Shopping

Stocking a pantry, filling a freezer or refrigerator...it sounds like such a simple, neat little job, doesn't it? I remember when we were first married, it really was! $40 a week would feed us like royalty. I don't remember preparing menus. The FisherMan and I would go to the local grocery store (no Walmart then) and hit the meat counter first. After deciding on meats we would decide what side items we might like for the week. It was a happy little trip resulting in a full kitchen.

But the years go by and bring bills, children, and inflation. The grocery bill climbs like all the other bills. Now when I buy groceries I also have a lot more to take into account. Keeping the total money spent is a constant challenge. It can take $40 just to buy household and personal products! Different tastes must be respected. Our household has those that dislike meat all the way to those that would love it at every meal. I have pasta lovers and pasta haters. This one must have salad that one doesn't care for it. One loves chicken noodle another tomato soup. One likes sweet another salty. And while I can see where people are coming from when they say, "They can eat whatever I cook!" still....

....well I remember a time when I was in preschool. Breakfast was served and I wound up with oatmeal. Plain oatmeal. I think I may have even asked for it. That is when I discovered that plain oatmeal gags me. But rather than allowing me to eat within the allotted time and then taking away the unfinished portion, the teacher decided to force me to eat it. Maybe because I did ask for it? I still remember sitting there resolutely while the other children played. Anyone that knows me, knows I have a quietly, determined, stubborn streak. I never did finish the oatmeal. But I was left with the memory and now I can't see forcing my children to eat something that they just really don't like. There is a difference between not particularly loving peas but can tolerate them OR grimacing your way through a casserole that grosses you out. So I try to discern the difference and encourage my children to try new things and every so often try things they think they don't like, in case their tastes have changed. The GuitarMan has never cared for pasta of any kind. So we have it when he isn't home. However he has finally come around to macaroni and cheese, so I suppose that is a victory. While I don't fix separate meals for everyone I'm not above keeping some chicken on hand to substitute or allowing a PB&J.

So when I hit the grocery store it can really be a balancing act. How to feed this large family healthy, frugal meals?? How to include the fruits and vegetables they need without breaking the bank?? I mean, have you noticed that anytime something is deemed "healthy" the price automatically shoots up? What about snacks?? How to please everyone?? (ha, ha!)

I read these blogs and they say they feed their family of 8 or 10 people off of $60 a week. But it's usually items like soaked oatmeal (um, already covered THAT!), lentil soup, or some such. Does no one eat things like meat loaf or mashed potatoes anymore? BBQ chicken and baked beans?

Well, this post won't tell you how to shop or plan a menu. It's more for venting about a normal household. So if you have been looking at some of the perfect homemaker blogs out there lately and wondering what you are doing wrong at the grocery store...well, probably nothing. Your household is YOURS. Don't try to force your husband to eat soaked this or that if he is of the meat and potatoes variety. Make gradual little changes to improve his habits. If your children are picky they are just children. Keep trying.

Just don't try to be someone else. :)

Try to make a plan when you shop. And when you pass other moms in the grocery store with little frowns, furiously figuring on their grocery list, smile and realize it's all worth it for those you love.

Comments

  1. Yes, it does get difficult when you have a housefull, doesn't it? I never forced my children to eat something they don't like, but I insisted that they try it. I didn't want them to say they didn't like something if they never even tried it. However, I created a monster with that. Now, they will eat ANYTHING and order gross things in restaurants when they are out with their friends (this is at their own expense, of course, as they are now grown) by ordering octopus and stuff like that and eating it right in front of their friends. It makes the girls scream and they feel macho! They have fun grossing out other guys, too.

    And, yes, you have to figure out what works for you. Some people get paid weekly, some don't, so you have to taylor it for you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Civilla,
    LOL it does seem that guys enjoy doing that. My husband likes a mexican soup and he used to love the fact that it grossed everyone out. But one day he managed to gross himself out when one of the little octopus legs complete with suction cups stuck to his tongue as he ate. He started just ordering the one with shrimp only, ha!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ewwww! Ewwww! Ewwww! Ewwww! (!!!!!) Gross.

    When my husband was a teen, he bought some chocolate covered insects: caterpillars, ants, bees and something else. His mother wouldn't let him in the house with them. (He gave one to a guy who was constantly bumming candy off of him.)

    My father once ate a can of baby bumble bees, packed in their own juice, no less.

    Guess it is a guy thing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Civilla,
    lololol guys can be so crazy sometimes! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's so funny you bring this up..the b ook I just wrote is about a picky eater. My kids are VERY picky. My little boy's only eat chicken fingers or nuggets..but any other chicken, No way! Even if I fry chicken and try to make it like a tender, nope. We have been trying very hard to make them eat a few peices of corn or what not because I am striving to have them make healthy choices. It seems like my littlest, eats nothing but pb&j!

    The cost is ridiculous!! I spend around 120 at Super Walmart an d 100-500 at costco! PER WEEK!!!!!!! That's everything though, clothing, cleaninf products, food , detergen, etc. This week though, we spent 30 at Costco and 33 at Walmart. I couldn't believe it myself. Though, I really didn't need much though, seeing as how we tend to stock up on meats and freeze them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My little guy just started eating on New Year's Day. He literally went from eating little to nothing to plate fulls most of the time. I am so glad!
    While my younger kids aren't too crazy about grilled meats they love smoked chicken or turkey. We just use one of those little $30 outdoor smokers...it is so old and beatup but it still works!
    Oh the cost is just outrageous....painful actually! Even Walmart's prices are climbing sometimes by as much as 30 cents an item! That adds up quickly.
    I suppose we can dream of the day we can just shop and not have to go by a budget or even a list lol ;)

    ReplyDelete

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