Thursday, January 10, 2013

" Grocery Shopping "

Grocery shopping. This is not a task that I generally give a great deal of thought to nor do I enjoy it in any way.

For instance, I can never remember a time when I've had enough money to get all of the things I'd like let alone need. Never. We've always paid the bills first and whatever was left over, well, that would have to make due.

When my children were all at home, grocery shopping proved to be quite a challenge. Buying enough food to keep everyone fed and for the most part happy, wasn't always easy.

I do believe this is one of the reasons that I've never liked cooking. That's not to say that I am not a good cook. I am, tooting my own horn here, a good cook. My specialties being soups, a talent that I picked up from my grandmother Laverne and my ex in-laws. I also have a great talent, or so I've been told, for making something out of nothing. This I think came from my father who was a cook in the Sea Bee's. We didn't have much money in those days either. What extra we did have, my father drank so he was good at making something out of nothing.

Back to grocery shopping. I had to do a bit of it yesterday and it was an eye opening experience for me. You see this was the first time that I can remember, being able to shop for myself. I found this to be quite confusing as I quickly realized that I didn't know what to buy for myself. Oh there were those items, staples, we used to call them that we needed, but I truly didn't have a clue what I wanted to eat for the next few days!

I've always shopped for food with my children and husband in mind and I actually did buy a couple of things I could cook that my husband would like. Even though I rarely cook anymore much to my husbands dismay. I've put my own tastes on the back burner for so long trying to satisfy everyone else that I really didn't know what I liked or wanted anymore.

I love vegetables, all of them except for Eggplant which I'm allergic to. I always try to keep a big container of salad in the fridge for lunch and or dinner. Unfortunately finding good fresh vegetables right know is costly so I resorted to a lot of frozen ones. I only eat red meat a couple of times a month. Chicken and fish is my norm.

I like to eat healthy. Something the rest of my family could care less about. And now I can. My biggest problem now is cooking. I still hate it and I certainly don't like doing it for myself. I consider it a huge waste of time. I don't like food THAT much !!

So after my little adventure in the grocery store yesterday I came to the conclusion that I need to take some time to find some fast, easy and healthy recipes. It's much easier to buy the frozen lean meals but they really aren't that healthy for you. The sodium content is usually pretty high and I don't find them very satisfying.

So I will be giving this some more thought in the coming weeks. I will gladly accept any QUICK, EASY, HEALTHY recipes you may send my way!!

18 comments:

Sabi Sunshine said...

I like to eat healthy too and i make so many stuff for myself becasue noone else would like to eat any healthy food at my house :)I do go to gym too:) You might want to do some exercise with healthy food choice

I would love to share with you .... I might put some in my blog ..

Also, i made another blog Hope is a waking dream.. sabisunshine.blogspot.com

I would love to hear your comment on that one.






Love
Sabi Sunshine

Anvilcloud said...

Good luck with this. You shouldn't have to cook often for yourself as long as you make enough for leftovers.

momto8 said...

I learned how to cook out of necessity of feeding so many and ended up happily enjoying cooking...grocery shopping is my true vice....I don't care a bit about jewelry, cloths or cars...but I could spend hours in a produce dept...i know, I know...healthy inexpensive and easy recipes are just a click a way on the internet...good luck!!!

Gail said...

HI DI - great post - certainly reflects the adjustments you are making. I remember after Dolan went off to college - and I shopped for the first time, I had no idea what to put in the cart. I must tell you though, over time, and rather quickly we shopped easily for ourselves - with specialty items we liked, salmon, brie, fruit spreads and various types of cheese and fancy crackers - scallops and crab cakes and so forth. ALl part of the transition. I so understand.
Love to you my friend
Gail
peace.....

Wanda..... said...

Wonderful post, Di. I love soups and only cook for 2 now also. You can visit me on Pinterest, where I have a variety of healthy recipes, along with some that aren't.☺ My lunch today was vegetarian Italian sausage with onions & peppers, braised parsnips and kale-couscous salad. Lunch is our main meal of the day here. Dessert is at 3:00...wish you could come over!

Barb said...

Gosh - I wish I could go over to Wanda's, too! I don't like to cook either, Di. I would be happy to eat tuna fish every day of the week (although that's not really the healthiest fish choice.) We always eat a light breakfast and sometimes just have a small snack like half a scone or a pretzel and piece of cheese around mid-day. Neither of us has a huge appetite anymore. For dinner, it's fish or chicken and a salad. Tonight I made tuna melts with tomato on a spelt english muffin - Bob liked it. Nothing fancy or gourmet for us! When my kids come, I sometimes take the time to make them some old family recipes that they love. You'll find what satisfies you, Di - it will just take time to rediscover yourself.

Shelley said...

Such a great post. Again, understand and can appreciate it fully. Can you say Slow Cooker? LOVE LOVE LOVE mine.

Dee said...

It is very hard to cook for two...one would be really hard. My Frank does most of the cooking and he still cooks like there are more than the two of us. Which means lots of left overs. This will be a year of change for you...time to find You. You may be very surprised that it isn't so bad. :) But it is never easy to let go of to the baby of the family.:(

About Last Weekend said...

This is a wonderful post Diana, taking us through all the years of grocery shopping which is the bain of my life, though actually if I had a better attitude and was more organised I could make it into something good. Easy recipe: Cut up root veges - parsnips, butternut squash, sweet potato, yams, carrots and onions with loads of pears, glog some oil and loads of lemon juice over them and roast them slowly until browned. Can't fail.

Rebecca said...

I don't think I'm a great cook either....don't really enjoy it that much - just do what needs to be done. But I've kind of decided it's time to do more cooking and home and less eating out. So today, I boiled some pasta, dumped the chili from 2 days ago over it, added some shredded cheese and served it with a tossed salad. I felt good 'cause it tasted fine and used up some leftovers....

I DO use the crock pot a LOT.

And I went to the grocery store looking for a few things but came back with little. The prices seemed to have gone up (again) over night. And the produce section had been spread out and had less produce than available before...BIG, WIDE aisles. It seemed to me that others were walking around in a daze - shell-shocked as I was by the prices.

Even at 20% off a few packages of meat they were trying to get rid of, I passed them up. Hamburger (the high fat kind) $3.29/lb????? I don't THINK so!

Rebecca said...

P.S. Heck! Let's ALL go to Wanda's!

Diana said...

Yes Rebecca, I've invited myself to Wanda's several times over the years! Even suggested she start a business sending her healthy delicious looking meals to the world!!
I do like using my crock pot too but it just makes so much and I have a small freezer.
Love Di ♥

Ginnie said...

Cooking for just one is an art ... and I've never been good at it. Now I find that I have a condition called SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overflow) and am on a very restricted (and expensive) diet...almost no sugar, only wheat breads, no milk products, etc.
I just found this out this past week, Di, so I'm on the search too. I hope you get lots of good recipes.

Maria said...

Hi Diana!
I've really missed blogging and visiting all of you ... I stopped by your blog a few times over the weekend, but it was sooo busy here helping my father get packed up to go home for a little while...I couldnt comment.
He has been here for three months.
He went out for a hair cut on Oct, 10, got into a car accident and hasn't been home since. Chris and I have been taking care of him all this time ... He will be home for a while with a very nice lady from church to help him a few times a week.

I guess our house is an empty nester house ... But this comes and goes, Diana. Kids come and go and my dad comes and goes!
We are back to "cooking for two" again for a little while, but really we keep it so very simple. Soups, spaghetti dinner... Sometimes we pick up a roaster and add a salad or a warm vegetable. When Chris is away for any reason, I just eat a bowl of cereal with fruit and nuts. Super simple!

I wish Kate all the best as she ventures out on her own. There's always no place like home, though. God bless you and all your family, Diana. Hoping for the best for all!
~ Maria

Anonymous said...

Hi Diana,
There are a couple of soups on my site you might like. One with spinach in it is really good.
Pat

Annette said...

Hi Diana,
I enjoy cooking, but it is my husband who does most of the cooking and the baking. I'm always at work, and he usually gets home earlier than I do. His cooking has improved over the years and he does a great job, but my Mom (Wanda) is the best! I wish she could make every meal for me --- even dessert! If she did, I would be healthier! And thinner!!! :D

Sabi Sunshine said...

Waiting for the exciting post :)

Tranquility Speaks said...

I'd love to introduce you to Indian cooking, but I've no idea if it'd appeal to you or not. But one thing that I know is, if you cook it with love, it will be good and tasty. You have to be healthy and strong for your husband and children. Happy Cooking!