I went to the grocery store, aka My Second Home, on Thursday and stumbled on a couple great in-store sale buys. I always buy what’s on sale with my store club card. Just one of the things I do to save money on my grocery budget.
Some weeks Fuji apples are on sale, some weeks it’s Jazz apples. Some weeks it’s mangoes, other weeks it’s oranges. I usually don’t care what exact types of fruits and vegetables I buy, just that I buy them. And plenty of them. And in an assorted variety.
I was really excited to see that avocados were on sale for 67 cents each.
I am going to make some Cheater’s Guacamole with the avos.
Mrs. Dash helps me cheat. That way I don’t have to dice onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, etc.
Shake-mash-ready
And Strawberries were 99 cents per 1 pound tub. $1.98 for 2 pounds of berries. We’ve eaten most of them already. We may turn into berries.
Some of these berries are huge! Palm-sized. And I am tall and have large hands and they are still palm-sized.
Two berries take up my entire palm. I think these berries are on ‘roids.
While I was putting away the groceries, Skylar was examining the crown she made.
As part of my daily green salad quotient, these were some of the chosen plants.
Dressed with homemade Cheezy Hemp Oil Dressing
And paired the green salad with Spicy Vegetable, Corn & Bean Soup
And for a snack, Skylar and I split a Biggie Microwave Banana Oat Cake
From my last post about The Best Things in Life are Free, it was wonderful reading what you feel are the best free things in your life. Reflecting on the good + the free things in your life = a recipe for keeping life in perspective.
Questions:
1. Have you noticed that fruit and produce keeps getting bigger and bigger?
I have and I am not really that into it. It just means that food is being genetically modified and engineered. Sigh.
Ignorance is bliss though, right? We can just pretend that the crops are growing that big on their own, right?
This article points out some of the pros, and cons, of GMO’ed foods.
In the past 10 years, I have noticed that vine-ripened tomatoes used to be golf ball sized or just slightly bigger, now they are baseball sized or bigger.
Apples used to be palm sized, and now they are like a big softball in the palm of your hand.
Bigger is better when it comes to many things, but not necessarily in the produce department.
2. What do you “have to have” at the store and what are you flexible with?
I have to have greens/lettuces. I don’t care if it’s butter lettuce, radiccio, romaine, kale, spring mix, just give me green plants for salads.
Apples, must have them and they cannot be green apples (too sour) or red delicious (skin is too thick, apple itself is too mushy) but any other apples are fine. I buy whatever is cheapest.
I have to have tomatoes, too. I eat one per day and love my lycopene.
Other fruit and veggies, I am not that picky about what I buy. Cucumbers, green beans, broccoli, zucchini, potatoes, carrots, oranges, bananas, grapes, mangoes, etc. they all make a rotation into the house, but not necessarily every single shopping trip. Just depends on what’s on sale, and what isn’t, and I guide my purchases according to what looks the best in the store that day and what’s the best value.
3. Weekend plans?
I covered that already. See item 3.
Have a great day and weekend!
the bigger the better… I know I shouldn’t like produce that is beefed up, but I do. I don’t like wimpy home-grown cucumbers; I like the ones from the store!
I try and buy local organic produce just because the frankenfood scares me. Strawberries just shouldn’t be that big! Although sometimes my fresh food looks sad in comparison. lol
I really wish I was the type of person who could be less picky about their produce. I am so particular in the type of greens I like and the particular veggies. I have to buy broccoli, frozen and fresh and I eat it daily because it’s my favorite! I try and experiment with other veggies and I just find myself coming back to the handful I know and love.
I would have stocked up on those avocados, yum! And Skylar is so cute with her crown!
1. Yes, especially the non-organic stuff at regular grocery stores. I’m not a fan either and try to grow my own and buy organic when possible. I think this year I’ll be dedicating an entire garden bed to nothing but organic kale since the stuff I planted last year has produced so much through summer and winter.
2. I have to have carrots, avocados, cabbage, broccoli … well just about everything because I like a variety. But this year I’ll be focusing on growing as much as possible … if our weather ever improves for a little gardening!
3. Not much since the weather is a big question mark, helping hubby look at cars, maybe seeing a movie – that’s about it.
That produce looks mouth watering! As for fruit that is unnaturally “big”, I just refuse to buy it. Mother Nature did not make an apple the size of my head nor a strawberry the size of my fist. Produce that big can not be very good for you long term IMO. I always show my kids fruit like that in the store and ask if they think Mother Nautre made it or not. Hopefully they’ll remember this when they’re buying for themselves!!
We’ve had so much rain the past few months that the local produce is sky-high; wish I could find a 67-cent avocado or 99-cent strawberries.
I’ve also had some ridiculously huge strawberries. They taste great; I just try to focus really hard on not mutating after I eat them.
Off to play basketball in a couple of hours. I hope people show up. It’s been pouring buckets all night; we’ll all have to swim to the Y.
your short-cut for guac is genius!!!