Do you ever go to the grocery store one day and a day later can’t find a good snack anywhere in the house? That’s what happens when I try to be a smart shopper and buy only things that have to be cooked. Nothing ready made. Nothing processed. Only nutritious things that take half a day to prepare. Sue and I don’t have a rigid grocery shopping schedule. Sometimes Sue goes. Sometimes I go. Sometimes we go together.
At the store Sue and I go to, the first thing you see when you walk in is a table full of cakes and cookies. This is not a problem for Sue because she doesn’t like cake and she seems indifferent to cookies. I like cake. And I like cookies. Sill, I manage to get past this first temptation.
The produce section is the first area you come to if you go to your right. And don’t most people circle the grocery store in more or less a counter clockwise direction? Why are the peaches so hard at the grocery store? They look beautiful, but who eats them? They’re hard as bocci balls. What I really like are the red, orange, yellow and green bell peppers…not to eat, just to look at. We have eaten a lot of fruit this summer. The grapes are still fabulous, but I’ve almost had my fill of them. They were huge this year. There’s something suspicious about that. Grapes aren’t supposed to be the size of plums. Near this area are the plants and flowers. There is an aloe vera plant I’ve had my eye on. I’d like to try to make it grow. I haven’t had any luck with them in the past. They require some special care in this altitude and climate. So I have passed it by so far.
If I’m shopping by myself, I usually skip the meat section altogether. I just don’t know how to cook meat unless it’s chicken or a roast I can put in the crock pot. Sue likes a good steak and she knows how to cook it, but I can never cook steak at home that tastes as good as a restaurant steak. Even on the grill, I just can’t get it right. My favorite thing on the grill are hot dogs or chicken kabobs that I make with chicken, pineapple, and peppers.
I easily pass by the candy and chips isle. I only occasionally buy something there. I was on a popcorn kick for awhile, but I’m off that now. Today though, I did buy some corn chips and cheese dip. But that’s unusual. Usually Sue buys that. Also on my list today that I don’t often buy was frozen burritos. I like to heat them in the oven and put sour cream on them. I used to buy them all the time, but lately not so much.
I always stop and look in the office supply section. For my journal, I fill up a notebook about every three months, so I always have a new one standing by. I look at the pens and mechanical pencils, but I rarely need new ones. I will use a mechanical pencil for a year or more. I like to have a couple standing by, but I tend to use only one. I really splurged at Sam’s Club awhile back though and bought a pack of nine mechanical pencils. I also got a giant set of Sharpie pens in every color and a big set of colored gel pens. And that will keep me in pens and pencils for a long time.
I like picking up things that I think Sue will especially like. Today I got her some parmesan chicken with pasta to take to work for dinner tonight. The store was crowded today. I was behind a guy in a black beanie and a t-shirt with a goth design. But all in all, it was a fairly pleasant trip to the store.
