Diet Staple ? Habit, finances, health?

[Deleted]

Or is it all?

As you know I run a grocery store. I understood that some stuff we sold alot of but it never dawned on me how much untill I had to step into the department and actually help out.

- Two weeks ago I had to help my dairy manager since someone called out, I was filling up the milk every hour or so. We go thru pallets of that stuff in a day.

- Last Thursday I was helping out in produce and every hour or so I had to fill up the bananas.

- Meat it is ground beef since I always have to remind them to put more out or they are running low.

- Grocery is water, bread and with the summer ice/gatorade etc.

So I have to ask those items that seems staples of american diet, that we sell alot of... is it because of the price? the health contributions or it is just a habit : I used to drink lots of milk growing up so now I feed my kid lots of milk.

I know for ground beef a customer told me: it's cheap and easy to prepare.

[Deleted]

And what are your diet staples? Something you seems to always be buying when you go to the grocery store?

[MarleyKeezy78]

Bread, eggs, milk, bananas, what ever veggies we feel like, refried and black beans, tortillas, flour, sugar, cheese. We buy a lot of other stuff too but those always seem to be on the list.

ETA: it also depends on time of year, our farmers market is open now and during the summer we buy a lotof stuff from there.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2012 8:43:37 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

Bread, eggs, milk, bananas, what ever veggies we feel like, refried and black beans, tortillas, flour, sugar, cheese. We buy a lot of other stuff too but those always seem to be on the list.

Yeah I forgot eggs for the dairy department. Eggs and butter, those things just fly when they are on sell.

[MarleyKeezy78]

That happens to me all the time Lone.

[MarleyKeezy78]

I love eggs! We eat a ton as well, made a pretty kick butt quiche for the first time about two weeks ago ;D

[Deleted]

Yogurt - buckets of it!
Fruit - Bananas, because they are cheap but consistent quality (I hate getting mealy apples or soft strawberries); berries; I try to buy in season fruit so it is best quality and flavor
Morningstar non meat sausage patties.
Meat - mostly chicken, sometimes hamburger, pre-made frozen burger patties (quick and can cook on grill from frozen)

[MarleyKeezy78]

May 26, 2012 8:58:04 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

May 26, 2012 8:55:37 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

I love eggs! We eat a ton as well, made a pretty kick butt quiche for the first time about two weeks ago ;D

I've never once had quiche. We eat a lot of poached and scrambled eggs with veggies. Problem is that eggs are so expensive here. Sometimes $4 a dozen.
Maybe Carl can get us a deal?

Oh Carl

[Deleted]

May 26, 2012 9:02:10 GMT -5 @rockit said:

Yogurt - buckets of it!

Chobani Greek yogurt? Seems to be the new "it" thing for the past two years.
You can never have too much on hand, some folks by them by the case lol!

The company got so big so far that they always run into production issues, hopefully with the new plant they just opened in the area that will take care of it.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2012 9:03:26 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

May 26, 2012 8:58:04 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

I've never once had quiche. We eat a lot of poached and scrambled eggs with veggies. Problem is that eggs are so expensive here. Sometimes $4 a dozen.
Maybe Carl can get us a deal?

Oh Carl

I knew I would be useful one day

[MarleyKeezy78]

Oh I forgot about yogurt, our three year old loves it!

[chiver78]

May 26, 2012 9:14:15 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

May 26, 2012 9:02:10 GMT -5 @rockit said:

Yogurt - buckets of it!

Chobani Greek yogurt? Seems to be the new "it" thing for the past two years.
You can never have too much on hand, some folks by them by the case lol!

The company got so big so far that they always run into production issues, hopefully with the new plant they just opened in the area that will take care of it.

I really wish I liked yogurt. good thing Hood has a 2-serving container for cottage cheese. I buy those when they are on sale, to bring to work for breakfast with fresh fruit.

As far as staples, it varies from summer to winter. In winter, I go through a ton of arborio rice for risottos. In summer, there is always cilantro in my fridge. I just mixed up a big batch of pico de gallo yesterday, should last me the week.

sent from my electronic distraction

[MarleyKeezy78]

May 26, 2012 9:30:37 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

I wish more stores would stock Keifer. We recently bought into a company that sells things like this and the stock price has almost doubled within a year.
People are catching on.

Costco carries this and DS will pick it sometimes, it's pretty tasty!

[quince]

Bananas- we do a lot of smoothies
Kale- it makes smoothies healthier. Also tastes good wilted in olive oil.
Milk- SO drinks a lot of milk, and eats cereal for breakfast.
Apples- my breakfast and snack at work
Bread

We buy those on just about every shopping trip. We do keep eggs and cheese in the house, potatoes and onions, and we tend to buy whatever meat is on sale, although we keep an eye out for ground beef and boneless skinless chicken breasts. We do buy a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables- sometimes it looks like we just raided the produce aisles and nothing else.

We're lazy cooks, so we like easy, we're working on eating more healthy foods, and we're pretty damned cheap.

[Deleted]

Chobani only sometimes if I can't get to my regular store (Chobani is hyped up expensive). I usually buy a cream based yogurt that comes from a local dairy. You have guessed correctly that it is Greek style!

I also buy about a gross of Go-Gurts for the grandkids. We freeze them so it's like a freezypop. It is slightly healthier than straight sugar syrup, so I don't feel too guilty.

[findingdeadbeats]

We nearly always buy:

Bottled water - due to well contamination.
Bananas, berries, squash, asparagus, avocado, salad, onions, potatoes, etc...
Milk
Eggs
Bread (I like sourdough so I typically buy some of that and a loaf of wheat)
Lunchmeat for DS
Cheese
Meat
Ice Cream
Cereal for the kids
Granola bars

For meat, I try to buy whatever is on sale or marked down that looks good. Last week I happened upon the fish just as the butcher was marking it down. He assured me that it is 100% safe to eat the marked down meat, as long as they sell it within the next 24 hours and it is either cooked or frozen.

I scored 4 packages of snapper/sole for $0.99 a pound! Best fish deal I have seen yet. Had one already and it was great, the other three are in the freezer.

Decent hamburger here has started to hit over $4 a pound, so I try to stock-up on that when it goes on sale.

I try to only grocery shop twice a month. But, DS now works at our grocery store, so I have him bring things home from time to time. The less I shop, the less I will spend. So, I try to go stock up, we try to stick to eating fresh things until they run out, then we move on to the more stable things, clean out the fridge/freezer, and then I shop again. And, with two teenage males in the house- grocery shopping seems to be a constant and expensive adventure in our lives...

[findingdeadbeats]

We have the fresh veggie problem as well. What I try very hard to do, to reduce waste, is eat those things that are the least shelf/fridge stable first.

Near the next grocery shopping day, we are typically eating the frozen corn and potatoes rather than strawberries and fresh asparagus.

The key to me has been to start looking at the fresh stuff from day 1 and kinda make a loose plan on when/how to eat it. Once it all runs out, then I know I have to shop in the next few days or so, and we switch to eating the frozen and other stuff around the pantry and freezer.

I have found that living 30+ miles from a store requires a good freezer and the ability to use fully shelf stable foods for part of the month. We used to shop once a month up in Oregon, where groceries are much cheaper, but found that we just didn't have enough fresh food through the month, and the price of gas now kinda defeats the 85 mile (one way) trip up into Oregon.

[reader79]

The potato fairy visits our house frequently. She also brings red onions, peppers, couscous and mushrooms. We go through a lot of tofu, as we use it in pretty much everything. Breakfast smoothies, tomato sauce, sauteed with vegetables, baked, crumbled in salads, and so on. We get a good deal on fresh tofu from a Korean grocer nearby, pretty much everything else comes from Stop & Shop, Costco or BJ's.

I buy thin spaghetti in the 8-pk box, and trays of beans - red kidney, chick peas, and also cut green beans. And those large bags of pre-cut collard greens to cook in the pressure cooker.

ETA: I grew up vegan, and still follow the diet...except for cake, that doesn't count.

[busymom]

We definitely go thru a lot of bread at our house. The school lunches aren't always very healthy, so my kids bring sandwiches from home most of the time...

Milk and yogurt, eggs, etc.

Hint for C: if you want to sell a lot of groceries, keep having sales on the staples! That'll keep people coming in, and then they'll look around to see what else you have reasonable prices on.

[Deleted]

Mushrooms. I pick those up every time I am in the grocery store. Bananas are a staple too.

Meat is all over the place, usually based on what we will eat (not much ground beef), that is also on sale.

[973beachbum]

Our usuals are Milk, bread, eggs, yogurt, apples, bananas, juice boxes, juice, applesauce, pasta, lunch meat and meat and seafood as we need it and/or what is on sale.

We also usually have PB and Jelly and assorted veg on hand but don't buy each or all every week. Lettuce and such might be every other week.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Do you examine the other sale circulars from other stores? Do you go to other stores and look at the prices of staples?

This will cue you as to what your store sells cheaper than your competitors. For instance, the local Costco sells 2 gallons of milk for $5. Milk at the grocery store sells for ~$3/gallon. Costco goes through a tremendous amount of milk because of the price. They've pretty much stopped refrigerating it, they just put the pallet of milk in front of the dairy case and it is attacked like a herd of locusts going after new shoots of wheat. I've seen people with 32 gallons of milk in a single cart (I think that's the current record).

I will say that when there is a sale on butter (for some reason, it is always butter), I ALWAYS have to find someone to put more out.

[weltschmerz]

May 26, 2012 8:37:44 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

And what are your diet staples? Something you seems to always be buying when you go to the grocery store?

We don't drink milk or eat yogurt, but go through tons of cheese, cream and butter. Living here, I cook in the French style....very rich, but small portions, supplemented with a great deal of fresh fruits and vegetables. My son adores salads, with lots of feta cheese; he could eat them at every meal, or instead of a meal.
I don't eat red meat, but buy a LOT of fish, and sometimes free-range chicken for curries or the BBQ.
Lots of fresh crusty bread, eggs, stawberries. We don't buy a lot of processed, ready-to-eat stuff. I shop often, but I'm lucky. I'm within walking distance of three large supermarkets and a multitude of small bakeries, produce stalls and fishmongers.

[midjd]

I try to stock up on nonperishables when there's a good sale, but our most frequent weekly purchase are: soy milk, apples, bread, Diet Dr Pepper (I'm an addict), deli ham, salsa, potatoes, avocadoes, carrots, and yogurt.

[NancysSummerSip]

Good thread, since it makes me think about what I buy:

Milk, eggs (I try to get them on sale, and get 2 or 3 dozen when they are, since I like them and I bake a lot), fresh produce (during the summer, since our farmers markets are open October-May), chicken, cottage cheese, peanut butter, Gatorade and Powerade (I run and bike, and DH works on his cars and the yard).

[Deleted]

Milk, bread, eggs, cereal, lunchmeat (ham usually), peanut butter, butter. bottled water, potato chips, and Pepsi!

[Jaguar]

I'm walking distance [10 minutes] to two grocery stores. I buy bananas, fruits, tomatoes, onions, mixed salads, spinach, cheeses. eggs and lean grain fed chicken all the time. These are my staples.

I forgot the greek yogurt as well.

[Jaguar]

Growing up my mom had a lot of really good bakery style crusty french bread. I can't seem to find a good bread like I had as a kid.

[chiver78]

May 26, 2012 20:02:24 GMT -5 Jaguar said:

Growing up my mom had a lot of really good bakery style crusty french bread. I can't seem to find a good bread like I had as a kid.

Sugi, I don't know if you have a Hannaford near you at all. it's not exactly what you're looking for (and I do know exactly what you're talking about from my time working in France) but their bakery has a "Parisien baguette" that is the closest I've found outside a true boulangerie. if I have any leftovers when it gets a little stale, it makes excellent croutons too.

[Jaguar]

Chive I was spoiled as a kid cause we had all these old style Polish bakeries all over my neighborhood. NADA now, they are all gone and in this neighborhood I have to walk a fare bit just to even get half decent bread. Believe it or not good bread is hard to find where I now live, SUCKS.