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So, adventures in grocery shopping continue to go apace. I'm...really bad at it, but I enjoy immensely the sense of wandering around and comparing prices and looking at things and figuring out what sacrifices to make and the like.
Today I went about two bucks over my weekly budget (Officially, 20.00, with the understanding that I owe Nurit/Genni money for other food staples since they cook a lot more than I do) which is acceptable, as I was being very impulse-savvy.
The text under the cut is not especially interesting. It's at least partly a post for my own future reference --if I'm really good, I'll start making these every time I go shopping, but I don't think I'm that organized.
My list, before I got there:
Sour cream (for Nurit)
A certain type of cereal (for Genni)
Yogurt
Chips
Cereal
Ramens
Oatmeal Cream Pies
Oatmeal
Kibble? (which means granola bars, or other things I can eat when I can't think well enough to make food)
What I actually bought:
*Sour cream (for Nurit)
*Yogurt, which always means "32 oz tub" --both my roommates buy the individual flavoured stuff, but I've found it easier and no less delicious to just scoop some of the raw stuff into a bowl and add jam and maybe granola for flavour. Raspberry jam is recommended. Oh that's right, I need to buy mint jelly when I have the budget for it.)
*Chips, as part of an affectation picked up from jere7my --my traditional lunch meal has become sammich, chips, and something else --yogurt or carrots or whatever --he does dried fruit, but I don't usually buy that)
*Oatmeal, in a can, which is a new and exciting experience --I grew up on individual packets, but man, they're like twice as expensive. We have sugar and stuff here, I can learn how this works.)
*Oatmeal Cream Pies, because they're worth the two bucks
*A bag of peanut butter and chocolate flavoured Bugles. Nurit brought these back from Wisconsin when she visited and we descended like a pack of jackals. Knowing that we can get them just down the street is...dangerous.
It's worth noting that this was a *completely* eye-level impulse buy. I was walking to the checkout when I saw them on an endcap. "Fuck" goes I, because I must then buy them for the house. Not every time, but at least THIS time.
*A box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, and a can of no-name creamed corn. This is an experiment I've been meaning to run for more than a year now --apparently the combination is *delicious*. Need to talk to Sparr to talk to his friend to get the recipe --am I still supposed to throw an egg in there, for instance.
Eye-level impulse while staring at the canned veggies, which are conveniently directly across the aisle from the cake and muffin mixes. That's very evil of you, Foodmaster.
*Two cans of tuna. I already have ranch dressing, and pickles, so that's totally makeable. And it keeps pretty well, and I will totally put it in my moufs.
*Instant hot cocoa mix. I actually went with the packets over the tub, which might have been the wrong answer, but it will help me to be a little more controlled at this. This was a semi-impulse buy, in that I hadn't written it on the list beforehand, but I have been thinking about hot chocolate a lot lately. I'm probably not going to drink it for three months, but when it happens, I will be so happy to already have it.
*Baby Carrots, one pound. It was about seventy cents more to buy a pound of baby carrots than a pound of not. I decided it was worth the seventy cents to have someone else do all the peeling and chopping necessary to make carrots look cute and adorable and delicious. This was guilt over the fact that I'm not buying any other fruit or vegetables. I am not very good at healthy. :(
*Can of orange-pineapple juice blend. I have been craving orange juice fiercely, and this was the cheaper than orange juice by itself, which is okay, because it also tastes better. This was technically not an impulse, I had just forgotten to put orange juice on the list.
This is apparently cheaper than "juice" (I buy juice for 2$/half-gal or less. It's a rule and means I don't get as many interesting flavours. And if I want real juice, I'm pretty much stuck with apple, which is okay, as I like apple juice a lot.) which is a useful thing to know. I will have to price out at a bigger store and see if this is true of straight orange juice.
*Egg nog. Pumpkin flavoured egg nog. I saw this when I was going back for carrots and said aloud "I'm just going to pretend I never saw that". It didn't stick. I put my cereal back so I could get this instead --I can survive on just oatmeal for a week or two. And it's _really_ good.
My brain sorta wants to register a complaint about having egg nog as early as October, but I think the best response is to slap it and point out that that's like complaining about finding Cadbury Cream Eggs in June. Who CARES if they're not in season just then?!
*Bagels. We've got about 4/3 loafs of bread at home, so I wasn't planning to pick any up, but these were sitting all alone and abandoned on the halfprice shelf. I had to tear myself away from getting a half-price lemon crumble pie. If it wasn't so messy, I would totally go back and bring that to dance tonight or something.
At any rate, I'm a pretty huge fan of the half-price shelf, because, well, I like cheap food more than I like delicious food (and the difference isn't usually THAT much). And I like egg bagels, and for a quarter each, I will happily buy five of them.
Things I didn't buy:
*Cereal for Genni --they didn't have the kind she wanted
*Cereal for me. Guys. Guys, I think I have terminal adulthood. I didn't buy sugary cereal, not just because it's expensive (Seriously, a box of Lucky Charms would cost more than any two other things I bought) but because it's not filling enough to really be worth a meal some days.
I feel really bad about this. Like I have burned a part of who I am, on a fundamental level. Hangon, I think I have to go eat like three oatmeal cream pies just to make up for this.
*Peanut butter, jam, bread --because I had them all already. Same ranch dressing and pickles, which are usual suspects.
*Juice --I forgot to put it on the list, and figure the orangepineapple will serve.
*Kibble. I feel guilty about getting this in general --I *shouldn't* be so useless I can't make food. Especially not when some of my food options are _oatmeal_, which takes virtually no prep time at all. Also, I currently have two or three packets of pop-tarts, which remain my emergency noms.
*Ramen. I already have two packets, so this was always a maybe. Did you know that the convinience store up in Teele sells ramen for _69 cents a packet?!_ I find this utterly astounding. Ramen should never be that expensive.
Altogether, it feels like a reasonable amount of food for twenty bucks. The eggnog might not last the day though. I am torn between being a good roommate and offering it to Genni, and telling her in no uncertain terms that I will set her hair on fire if she touches it. This is because I am a terrible person and I really like pumpkin flavoured things, especially creamy drinky pumpkin flavoured things.
At some point soon, I need to go shopping and get the materials for at least one of the recipes hosted over at Cooking Comically. Because they all look _motherfuckin' delicious_.
Anyone want to come cook with me sometime? I dislike cooking, but I like being in kitchens with people. It's complicated.
(Other things I should do: Talk to Mr. Belm about Iron Chef: Belmhaus and find the ingredients to make properly delicious pasta and cheese, since it's like the only even remotely fancy thing I can cook. Also, I should bake many many things with pumpkins in them.)
~Sor
MOOP!
Today I went about two bucks over my weekly budget (Officially, 20.00, with the understanding that I owe Nurit/Genni money for other food staples since they cook a lot more than I do) which is acceptable, as I was being very impulse-savvy.
The text under the cut is not especially interesting. It's at least partly a post for my own future reference --if I'm really good, I'll start making these every time I go shopping, but I don't think I'm that organized.
My list, before I got there:
Sour cream (for Nurit)
A certain type of cereal (for Genni)
Yogurt
Chips
Cereal
Ramens
Oatmeal Cream Pies
Oatmeal
Kibble? (which means granola bars, or other things I can eat when I can't think well enough to make food)
What I actually bought:
*Sour cream (for Nurit)
*Yogurt, which always means "32 oz tub" --both my roommates buy the individual flavoured stuff, but I've found it easier and no less delicious to just scoop some of the raw stuff into a bowl and add jam and maybe granola for flavour. Raspberry jam is recommended. Oh that's right, I need to buy mint jelly when I have the budget for it.)
*Chips, as part of an affectation picked up from jere7my --my traditional lunch meal has become sammich, chips, and something else --yogurt or carrots or whatever --he does dried fruit, but I don't usually buy that)
*Oatmeal, in a can, which is a new and exciting experience --I grew up on individual packets, but man, they're like twice as expensive. We have sugar and stuff here, I can learn how this works.)
*Oatmeal Cream Pies, because they're worth the two bucks
*A bag of peanut butter and chocolate flavoured Bugles. Nurit brought these back from Wisconsin when she visited and we descended like a pack of jackals. Knowing that we can get them just down the street is...dangerous.
It's worth noting that this was a *completely* eye-level impulse buy. I was walking to the checkout when I saw them on an endcap. "Fuck" goes I, because I must then buy them for the house. Not every time, but at least THIS time.
*A box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, and a can of no-name creamed corn. This is an experiment I've been meaning to run for more than a year now --apparently the combination is *delicious*. Need to talk to Sparr to talk to his friend to get the recipe --am I still supposed to throw an egg in there, for instance.
Eye-level impulse while staring at the canned veggies, which are conveniently directly across the aisle from the cake and muffin mixes. That's very evil of you, Foodmaster.
*Two cans of tuna. I already have ranch dressing, and pickles, so that's totally makeable. And it keeps pretty well, and I will totally put it in my moufs.
*Instant hot cocoa mix. I actually went with the packets over the tub, which might have been the wrong answer, but it will help me to be a little more controlled at this. This was a semi-impulse buy, in that I hadn't written it on the list beforehand, but I have been thinking about hot chocolate a lot lately. I'm probably not going to drink it for three months, but when it happens, I will be so happy to already have it.
*Baby Carrots, one pound. It was about seventy cents more to buy a pound of baby carrots than a pound of not. I decided it was worth the seventy cents to have someone else do all the peeling and chopping necessary to make carrots look cute and adorable and delicious. This was guilt over the fact that I'm not buying any other fruit or vegetables. I am not very good at healthy. :(
*Can of orange-pineapple juice blend. I have been craving orange juice fiercely, and this was the cheaper than orange juice by itself, which is okay, because it also tastes better. This was technically not an impulse, I had just forgotten to put orange juice on the list.
This is apparently cheaper than "juice" (I buy juice for 2$/half-gal or less. It's a rule and means I don't get as many interesting flavours. And if I want real juice, I'm pretty much stuck with apple, which is okay, as I like apple juice a lot.) which is a useful thing to know. I will have to price out at a bigger store and see if this is true of straight orange juice.
*Egg nog. Pumpkin flavoured egg nog. I saw this when I was going back for carrots and said aloud "I'm just going to pretend I never saw that". It didn't stick. I put my cereal back so I could get this instead --I can survive on just oatmeal for a week or two. And it's _really_ good.
My brain sorta wants to register a complaint about having egg nog as early as October, but I think the best response is to slap it and point out that that's like complaining about finding Cadbury Cream Eggs in June. Who CARES if they're not in season just then?!
*Bagels. We've got about 4/3 loafs of bread at home, so I wasn't planning to pick any up, but these were sitting all alone and abandoned on the halfprice shelf. I had to tear myself away from getting a half-price lemon crumble pie. If it wasn't so messy, I would totally go back and bring that to dance tonight or something.
At any rate, I'm a pretty huge fan of the half-price shelf, because, well, I like cheap food more than I like delicious food (and the difference isn't usually THAT much). And I like egg bagels, and for a quarter each, I will happily buy five of them.
Things I didn't buy:
*Cereal for Genni --they didn't have the kind she wanted
*Cereal for me. Guys. Guys, I think I have terminal adulthood. I didn't buy sugary cereal, not just because it's expensive (Seriously, a box of Lucky Charms would cost more than any two other things I bought) but because it's not filling enough to really be worth a meal some days.
I feel really bad about this. Like I have burned a part of who I am, on a fundamental level. Hangon, I think I have to go eat like three oatmeal cream pies just to make up for this.
*Peanut butter, jam, bread --because I had them all already. Same ranch dressing and pickles, which are usual suspects.
*Juice --I forgot to put it on the list, and figure the orangepineapple will serve.
*Kibble. I feel guilty about getting this in general --I *shouldn't* be so useless I can't make food. Especially not when some of my food options are _oatmeal_, which takes virtually no prep time at all. Also, I currently have two or three packets of pop-tarts, which remain my emergency noms.
*Ramen. I already have two packets, so this was always a maybe. Did you know that the convinience store up in Teele sells ramen for _69 cents a packet?!_ I find this utterly astounding. Ramen should never be that expensive.
Altogether, it feels like a reasonable amount of food for twenty bucks. The eggnog might not last the day though. I am torn between being a good roommate and offering it to Genni, and telling her in no uncertain terms that I will set her hair on fire if she touches it. This is because I am a terrible person and I really like pumpkin flavoured things, especially creamy drinky pumpkin flavoured things.
At some point soon, I need to go shopping and get the materials for at least one of the recipes hosted over at Cooking Comically. Because they all look _motherfuckin' delicious_.
Anyone want to come cook with me sometime? I dislike cooking, but I like being in kitchens with people. It's complicated.
(Other things I should do: Talk to Mr. Belm about Iron Chef: Belmhaus and find the ingredients to make properly delicious pasta and cheese, since it's like the only even remotely fancy thing I can cook. Also, I should bake many many things with pumpkins in them.)
~Sor
MOOP!
no subject
I used to do 1/4 c of oatmeal + teaspoon full of jam, enough water to make it barely wet (I like my oatmeal really thick), microwave for about a minute, snuggle up to the warm mug, eat eventually. It was a way for me to have easy warm food for breakfast because the lab was always cold.
no subject
Yeah, ramen should be more like 25ยข a packet, or less. Unfortunately, most of the supermarkets seem to only carry Maruchan, which makes exactly zero vegetarian flavors (their oriental flavor contains beef). So if I want ramen, I'm stuck getting Nissin from the convenience store. I ought to hit up the Japanese grocery on Mass Ave at some point though and see how their prices are.
I have been eating far too much kibble lately.
And I'd love to come cook with you sometime. Part of the reason I've been eating poorly lately is that I have a hard time coming up with the effort to cook real food when I'm the only one it's going to feed.
Food Ideas
For the oatmeal, my Mom says that she makes a big pot once a week then scoops some out and nukes it for her breakfast. She also puts frozen berries and sometimes honey in her yogurt. it is possible that some of your oatmeal flakes will be interesting in the yogurt but I don't know. I know that most granola has rolled oats and some oatmeal does but some has steel cut (and no I do NOT know the difference).
Another simple (and cheap) meal that we had growing up was 1box pasta (small shells, wagon wheels, etc.), 1 can tuna (in water), 1 can cream of chicken soup (condensed), cook the pasta, mix in the rest, serve. Some poeple added the crunchy onions to it but I don't like that flavor. Fresh tomato is interesting on it.
Also, hard boiled eggs can be dipped in salad dressing and be pretty tasty (1000 island is very similar to what some people put in deviled eggs).
Re: Food Ideas
Re: Food Ideas
I normally eat mine with cinnamon and salt, but it's also good with miso soup (frequently instant, because I'm lazy like that and like the bits of tofu...), and dangerously delicious woth hot buttered rum apples. Seriously ridiculous.
Re: Food Ideas
or else stir in an egg while it cooks
also, cheese?
Re: Food Ideas
Rolled outs are actually oats that have been unrolled - they're originally (I think) in little spirals. Steel cut oats are oats that are still rolled up, but chopped into smaller cylindrical pieces. They're substanially denser (twice as dense, volume to calorie), and take substantially longer to cook. They have a different, and finer, texture and don't really become mushy, and take longer to turn gummy.
Quick cooking steel cut oats exist. My guess is that they've been parboiled, but I don't know.
Personally I will frequently cook half (quick cooking) steelcut, half rolled, because I'm weird like that.
no subject
Canadians, maybe?
Jack in the Box has pumpkin flavoured milkshakes again. They are delicious.
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So did i! Wild.
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Frozen juice concentrate is cheaper then premixed juice. Juicy Juice is relatively inexpensive and 100% juice. The name and packaging makes it look like crap.
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Sadly, no one makes gluten free pumpkin beer, as far as I can tell.
Also, I just had the idea to combine sweet, spiced pumpkin puree with greek yoghurt, and maybe some pecans.
I like this time of year.
I should stop commenting, but I really like talking about food it seems.
Also, I find that I always need an easy snack when I get home - I generally like an hour or so to unwind before I start cooking, but I'm usually hungry from the time I walk in.
I spend too much on food. It's my hobby, I have special dietay requirements, I prefer local and organic, and I really like cheese. Also, given my love of hosting, I'm essentially am feeding a family of four who drinks. I need to get better about it.
Re: I should stop commenting, but I really like talking about food it seems.
I am totally stealing the idea for pumpkin eggnog oatmeal. I will let you know how it turned out.
I like your thoughts on kibble. Yogurt with jam kinda falls into that category, as does cheese and crackers (which I need to slice more of). Perfect kibble is easy on the go food though, and I don't currently have any of that but the poptarts.
Speaking of hosting, I would love to spend some time with you in general, and I am always happy to do dishes. Can I bring you money or ingredients or booze to make it easier on you? I do feel guilty eating all your food, especially when it is excellent food.
~Sor
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freezer is your best friend.
no subject
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hot-cocoa-recipe/index.html
Accept no substitutes.
The offer of cooking lessons still stands, it just requires a bit of scheduling.
Why you should eat my kid cereal
cereal ADDcereal lack-of-attention span. I want a bowl of Lucky Charms, once a month maybe. But I have to buy a whole box. Then it goes stale and I am sad.So if you help me eat the boxes of cereal, there are fewer boxes ontop of the fridge which give me an excuse to buy more cereal (Hmm, Reese's peanut butter puffs look good tonight..)
There are still Lucky Charms left. I stole them to take to work. I can bring them back, as I haven't eaten them yet.
There are some grapes in the fridge in the right drawer. If they are still good, you should eat them.
I think you could probably justify spending $25 or even $30 a week for food for yourself, as you are mostly eating at home.
My grocery budget is about $150 a month, mostly because I buy a lot of convenience foods so that I can be lazy and not spend time in the evening or morning cooking lunches/breakfasts for work.
Re: Why you should eat my kid cereal