Grocery Shopping Tips & Tricks
I love shopping in grocery stores (insert sarcasm). Actually, its one of my least favorite things to do but has the biggest impact on my life. Think about it. Everything you put in your cart will affect every single day of your life. Whether or not it’s the sugar-free bacon that only goes on sale once in a blue moon or that special organic coffee that is responsibly farmed, it all impacts all the days of your life. So why do we dread it so much? Why is it that we only want to visit farmers markets on sunny days and with our friends? Why do we leave such important choices in the hands of others when we order our groceries online?
The answer is simple. It’s just a task. We enter into the fruits and veggies section of most markets and then make our way hopefully around the outer edge of the grocery store (this is where all the good, fresh, healthy, perishable items live). Occasionally we have to venture down the aisle for that jar of almond butter, ghee, or coconut oil. While we are making our up and down and around in hopes of avoiding a head-on cart crash, we are also subconsciously thinking about how much are we going to spend on food we may not even eat. It becomes daunting.
What I found to overcome this is a few things:
1) Still stick to the outer edge of the grocery. Nothing you really want to digest lives on a shelf for very long.
2) Find a fun recipe to make at least 2 per month. This gives you something to look forward to when venturing into that local Whole Foods.
3) Try a recipe using an ingredient you never heard of. It becomes exciting to look for something unique like “jackfruit” to add flavor to the menu.
4) Talk to your local produce, deli, and seafood personnel. They are there to help and often can give you some fun ways to cook that dover sole that you bought last week.
5) Which should probably be #1 - Have a list. This keeps your cost down, your new fresh ingredients in perspective, and allows you to make appropriate substitutes on the fly. No potatoes? what about a Japanese sweet potato instead?
Grocery shopping still isn’t on the top of my list (no pun intended), but when we change our perspective and processes then it can possibly become a joyous, results-producing, fun experience.
