Diet Staple ? Habit, finances, health?

[weltschmerz]

Chive I was spoiled as a kid cause we had all these old style Polish bakeries all over my neighborhood.
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OMG, those ponchiki are to die for, filled with plum or apricot jam!

[marvholly]

Interesting. As it happened I tracked my purchases in various categories in April. I spent nearly equal amounts on produce, meat (inc eggs) and dairy (cheese, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese). I mostly buy whatever produce, meat and dairy is on sale/in season.

I KNOW this month the meat category is MUCH higher than usual because of all the GREAT sales on meat. I have stocked up on ground chuck (1.87/lb), turkey burgers $3/3 lb), hot dogs (0.60/pkg) and ground turkey ($5 for 40 oz).

Since I have 2 natl chain grocers, 2 independent grocers, 4 fruit/veg stores Target and Walmart on my regular travel pattern I have a LOT of choices and ONLY buy what is on sale at each. If they only have 1 item that I am interested I may skip a particular store unless it is a real NEED.

As for bread, that I generally buy at an outlet store as needed. I pay $1.19 or less/pkg. I have 2 nearby.

I am NOT a fan of the MUCH more expensive greek yogurt. If I want thicker yogurt I just drain my regular stuff in a filter lined strainer in the fridge.

Re: issues w/board spell check
That is why I generally keep a word doc open, do my spell check and then copy-paste to post.

[alabamagal]

At my house, shopping normally included:
- milk 1 gallon per week, will definitely drop to 1/2 gallon when DS goes off to school
- chicken breasts - buy large pack on sale and freeze in individual bags - chicken our biggest meat
- ground beef - buy large pack on sale and freeze in 1lb bags
- shrimp - 3lb bag goes on sale every 3 weeks at local store, almost always get a bag
- pasta - get different shapes for variety
- cheese - usually shredded bags, cheddar monterrey jack

I have to adjust my shopping based on how many kids (adult size kids!) are at home. Last school year, just had youngest at home. The last two weeks I had 4 kids at home (3 mine and one girlfried). Girlfriend left and now DD leaving today, so will be two for most of the summer. In Aug two go to school and DD will probably come home. So constantly having to adjust to how much food we get.

[Jaguar]

May 27, 2012 1:01:34 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Chive I was spoiled as a kid cause we had all these old style Polish bakeries all over my neighborhood.
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OMG, those ponchiki are to die for, filled with plum or apricot jam!

You know they are Weltz. Geez does that bring back childhood memories.

[Jaguar]

Message deleted by SUGILITE.

Double Post POOP

[weltschmerz]

You know they are Weltz. Geez does that bring back childhood memories.
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There's a place that sells them fresh and hot every morning about 6 blocks from here. They're all sold out by 08h00. People grab boxes of them on their way to work. There's never any left for me.


I suppose it's for the best.

[Jaguar]

May 27, 2012 18:42:37 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

You know they are Weltz. Geez does that bring back childhood memories.
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There's a place that sells them fresh and hot every morning about 6 blocks from here. They're all sold out by 08h00. People grab boxes of them on their way to work. There's never any left for me.


I suppose it's for the best.

Weltz there used to be about a half dozen of these bakeries where I grew up, and every morning there would be line ups outside each and every one of them. Then there was all these fresh fruit and vegetable markets on every single corner . This was all along a 7 block stretch in my old neighborhood. The smell and sights was freaking incredible.

[quotequeen]

Hot dogs, hamburgers, buns, cheese, frozen pizza, chicken strips, tea, soda, hummus... that's about all we eat. Used to buy tortellini but DH won't eat it anymore.

[muttleynfelix]

Weekly list (in order of how we go through the store):
chips
cookies
mt.dew
eggs
1 gallon of milk for DS
nursery water for DS
cheese
bread
fruit (bananas typically, but I prefer grapes, they are just so expensive)

monthly:
frozen chicken breasts
frozen pizza
a couple frozen meals
lunch meat (not quite monthly but close)
Ice cream (use to be weekly, but I stopped eating so much when I started working out last august)
Oatmeal

every other month:
ground beef (buy large rolls and divide into one pound packages, about half of which I brown before using)
frozen veggies
Pancake mix
Cereal

We try to keep stocked up on stuff except on our weekly list. Things like chips and cookies we found if they are in the house, we'll just eat them. So we don't stock up on them. While we do buy a bag every week, it isn't quite as bad as it looks. We aren't as super unhealthy as our diet looks. I promise.

[Deleted]

Our most purchased staples are:
cottage cheese
eggs
milk
strawberries
oranges
apples
bell peppers
spinach or salad mix
tomatoes
greek yogurt for DH

We purchase our pork and beef direct from the farmer so we get our years worth at once and keep it in the freezer. We cut back on wheat products so if we want any I bake it from scratch. We purchase cheese, chicken, potatoes, canned goods about once a month as needed.

I occasionally buy bananas but it's hit or miss. Sometimes we eat them right up and other times I end up making banana bread just to use up the over ripe ones.

[amishgal]

May 26, 2012 12:12:43 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

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.

I'm so jealous!

Wine is one of my staples, but it's never on sale.

We probably look like vegetarians at the supermarket because we rarely buy meat there. We get a quarter beef once a year and a bunch of chicken a few times a year from a local farmer. We do buy seafood at the store though. I don't have a weekly staple list as I tend to stock up on non-perishables when they're on sale, and try to buy the fresh produce that's on sale as well. Right now we're eating tons of berries and melon because they're cheap. If nothing's in season, it's bananas.

[Deleted]

My staples:

tomatoes
boneless skinless chicken breasts
berries
bananas
apples
grapes
romaine lettuce
almond milk
asparagus/broccoli/zuchinni
bread
peanut butter
yogurt
cheese
tortillas

[Angel!]

May 26, 2012 11:53:54 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

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).

For $2.50/gallon people act like that? Here you can almost always get it for $1.97 at one of the local stores & walmart will always price match, so I don't bother to shop somewhere just based on milk price.

[8 Bit WWBG]

What are my staples?

At costco, we buy the mix of lettuce heads that is still on the root. It stays much fresher for far longer than the picked stuff. Also, goats cheese to mix into those salads. We buy a good amount of chicken breasts, canned chick peas, frozen peas, and then a mix of vegetables from the farmers market. We always have eggs on hand, usually 3 dozen. I buy a lot of smoked salmon that I have with breakfast. I'll also get steel cut oats.

I'm surprised that milk, eggs, and butter EVER go on sale unless they are trying to move old inventory (which there really never should be).

[wvugurl26]

May 30, 2012 12:59:50 GMT -5 Angel! said:

May 26, 2012 11:53:54 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

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).

For $2.50/gallon people act like that? Here you can almost always get it for $1.97 at one of the local stores & walmart will always price match, so I don't bother to shop somewhere just based on milk price.

The lowest I have ever seen is $3ish/gal here at Wegmans or Sams Club. $4/gal seems to be the norm at other grocery stores.

[sheilaincali]

Staples-
Sams Club :
Weekly we buy 3 gallons of milk and one gallon of orange juice.
Monthly we get- rice, Ritz crackers, butter and gum

Regular Grocery:
yogurt
cottage cheese
sweet potatoes
asparagus
lunch meat and cheese for DH
meat (if its on sale)
cereal
bagels
bananas
apples

From my farmer-
3 dozen eggs every two weeks
Several whole chickens 3 times a year
half a pig annually
half of a half cow annually

[muttleynfelix]

For $2.50/gallon people act like that? Here you can almost always get it for $1.97 at one of the local stores & walmart will always price match, so I don't bother to shop somewhere just based on milk price.

Wow $2.5 a gallon. Whole milk for my DS at Walmart in the town closest to us is over $4 a gallon. Whole milk in the City I work in is about $3.5 a gallon. I'm too lazy though to make an extra stop. It just sucks that it is anywhere from a fifty cents to a dollar more to shop in R and the CIty I work in is only 5 miles away from R. Everything else is comparbly priced. So, I don't know why the difference in milk. At the end of the day, it only means an increase of $52 over the course of the year, but it still drives me nuts.

[sheilaincali]

Milk at Sam's Club is $2.65 a gallon for the skim milk. At the regular grocery store it's right around $4 a gallon.

[Angel!]

May 30, 2012 13:16:25 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

May 30, 2012 12:59:50 GMT -5 Angel! said:

For $2.50/gallon people act like that? Here you can almost always get it for $1.97 at one of the local stores & walmart will always price match, so I don't bother to shop somewhere just based on milk price.

The lowest I have ever seen is $3ish/gal here at Wegmans or Sams Club. $4/gal seems to be the norm at other grocery stores.

$4/gal I must live in the land of cheap milk.

Walmart is usually just under $3. Sam's is usually maybe $0.10-0.20 less than walmart. The 3 other local stores all just rotate the $1.97 sale price, which walmart will match - often the cashiers will just give you the $1.97 price before you even ask.

[wvugurl26]

Groceries are expensive here. Now and then at home I see Kroger running milk for $1.97. Not sure what the regular price is anymore. Sams online tells me $3.48 which seems odd. Morgantown's at $2.99 at Sams. I did start buying milk at Sams when I was still in Morgantown.

I guess your milk is just cheap.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Costco also has a lot of vendors or restauranteurs buying supplies. I doubt even the Duggars would buy 32 2gal containers of milk!

[wvugurl26]

May 30, 2012 16:42:29 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

Costco also has a lot of vendors or restauranteurs buying supplies. I doubt even the Duggars would buy 32 2gal containers of milk!

Could be that or someone running a daycare or buying for a group doing a breakfast fundraiser or something like that.

[Deleted]

May 30, 2012 14:29:46 GMT -5 Angel! said:

May 30, 2012 13:16:25 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

The lowest I have ever seen is $3ish/gal here at Wegmans or Sams Club. $4/gal seems to be the norm at other grocery stores.

$4/gal I must live in the land of cheap milk.

Walmart is usually just under $3. Sam's is usually maybe $0.10-0.20 less than walmart. The 3 other local stores all just rotate the $1.97 sale price, which walmart will match - often the cashiers will just give you the $1.97 price before you even ask.

you must. I think Trader Joe's has milk for $2.99 a gallon but it's been a while so it might have gone up. Target and Weis are never under $3 a gallon. And if I buy organic, that's $5.99 a gallon.

[skubikky]

May 30, 2012 13:16:25 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

May 30, 2012 12:59:50 GMT -5 Angel! said:

For $2.50/gallon people act like that? Here you can almost always get it for $1.97 at one of the local stores & walmart will always price match, so I don't bother to shop somewhere just based on milk price.

The lowest I have ever seen is $3ish/gal here at Wegmans or Sams Club. $4/gal seems to be the norm at other grocery stores.

And a gallon of milk at Wegmans here in upstate NY is $1.99?

[swamp]

May 31, 2012 13:55:48 GMT -5 skubikky said:

May 30, 2012 13:16:25 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

The lowest I have ever seen is $3ish/gal here at Wegmans or Sams Club. $4/gal seems to be the norm at other grocery stores.

And a gallon of milk at Wegmans here in upstate NY is $1.99?

I pay about $3.50 a gallon in my area of upstate NY. It kills me, I'm surrounded by dairy farms, but milk is expensive.

[teen persuasion]

I wish Wegmans was closer to us - Aldi just raised milk to $2.25.

My staples: Milk (4 - 8 gal depending on season/ # at home), butter, eggs 2-3 doz, bread 3-5 loaves, cereal 3-6 boxes, oatmeal, cheese, flour, sugar, walnuts, choc. chips, veggies for salads, bananas 4 hands, whatever other fruit is in season/on sale, frozen oj, frozen ground turkey, other meat on sale - chicken/pork, pasta, rice...

[Apple]

I think my staples are...

milk
boneless skinless chicken breast
frozen fish fillets and shrimp (for DS, I hate seafood)
cheese
eggs
potatoes
butter
cream of crap soups (I can use a can in several different meals)
steaks and ground beef
Fruit/veggies: whatever fruit is on sale, eggplant, zucchini (different varieties--I like English the best so far), corn (either frozen or corn on the cob), a bag of asian blend veggies.
oil--grapeseed, walnut, olive, and vegetable or canola

[midjd]

I must live in the land of cheap milk, too! Regular price for a gallon is $2.50, sometimes a half-gallon will go on sale for $1.

DH drinks the lactose-free stuff now, which is more expensive, around $3/gal. I like it better than regular milk because it keeps longer.