Grocery Shopping
On the request of a friend… here’s what our shopping list looks like these days.
It came from the question… what do you do about Bulk Barn? Things are more expensive. Yes… they are. I find I’m willing to pay about 10% more for less packaging (counter intuitive I know, but you work with what you’ve got). I will try things out at Bulk Barn.. some things are crazy way more expensive (like the time I paid $25 for 20 cookies), lots of things are OK. The kids know that we try things out and if they are super expensive they better enjoy them ’cause we won’t be getting them again.
Anyway, that’s the short answer. Here’s the long one if you’re still interested.
| Where? | Packaging | |
| Local Grocery.. we love Quatrochis. He’ll reuse any bags, boxes or baskets we take back. About one trip a week. | ||
| Fruits and VegBuy “naked” as much as possible. | Lots of times they just go in the cart loose. | I have sewn some veggie bags from curtain fabric. |
| Frozen Fruits and Veg (smoothies) | This year I was able to “pick your own” strawberries that I have frozen. I bought a bunch of local blueberries in season and the same. I keep my eyes out for “naked” fruit on sale, chop and freeze. | Recycled plastic bags. I have a few great big ziploc bags from old purchases of frozen fruit. Recycled milk bags work great here too. |
| Milk | We buy Reids Dairy locally. | We’re left with 3 small bags and one big one each week. The small ones I use as freezer bags and the big one is our once a week garbage bag. |
| Yogurt | Definitely switched to make my own. Kids aren’t loving the new stuff yet, that’s OK, more for me. | I reuse mason jars. Twice a year or so when we’ve been away on vacation and I need a new “starter” I have to buy a plastic container. |
| Soft Cheeses | Making them myself (for lasagna etc). Super easy… heat, add vinegar, strain | None except the plastic bag the milk comes in. I’ve bought cheese cloth. |
| Flour, Oats, Rice | Quatrochis will order me 20 lb bags. One lasts for 4-5 months. I keep them in a big Rubbermaid bin in a storage closet (could also go under a bed) . | Bags are usually paper or cloth. The plastic ones get reused as garbage bags. I have big dollar store jars in the kitchen that I refill for everyday access. |
| Warehouse Store – We use Cash and Carry (if you are in Kington)… we call it Costo Pobre. 😊 About one trip a month. | ||
| Cheese | I get a giant block and cut it up each week. | Comes in one large plastic wrapping. Keeps good in the fridge for over a month wrapped up in itself with an elastic band to keep it close. I leave it at the back of the fridge. |
| Sausage Hotdogs | Just too easy and quick | Plastic wrapping. |
| Frozen Juice | Aluminum tops and bottoms, cardboard sides. We separate and soak to get the plastic off the cardboard sides. Aluminum and cardboard goes into recycling. | |
| Nuts | Buy the biggest jar I can. | These are sooo expensive at bulk barn, so I buy in plastic jars. I get the biggest one I can, they get washed and reused to store beans and chips/snacks from Bulk Barn. |
| No Frills. I find I’m only going once a month or so.. try to stock up on the few things I still get there. | ||
| Cereal | No Frills… | One of the things still coming in throw away packaging. I’m off cereal.. hooked on the smoothies and have a great recipe for homemade granola, the kids aren’t convinced. Decided not to fight this one. |
| Pasta | No frills | We like the gluten free stuff here. |
| Pasta Sauce | No frills | In cans. I did make my own in glass jars but the stove was on most of the day to make 6 jars of pasta sauce. Not convinced it’s a better environmental option. Cans are very recyclable. |
| Local Farm | ||
| Eggs | Local – I get six dozen at a time, they last fine a month or so in the fridge. | Reuse the boxes till they fall apart |
| Meat | Local – I order a couple of months worth at a time and freeze. | Comes wrapped in plastic.. I’m working on them to change their packaging practices. I do think there is a place for this sometimes though… food safety is a thing. |
| Bulk Bar will let you bring your own containers now as long as they are clean. You stop off and have them weighted. I have started writing the weights on them with paint markers so I don’t have to do it every time. Technically they’re supposed to weigh them every time but if you’re honest looking they don’t seem to mind.. and it saves everyone time.Here’s a list of things I’ve found reasonably priced that we keep stocked…. and all packaging free. |
| Snacks, chips, etc (some of the cookies are really expensive but the chips seem to be OK and we’ve found some choc covered pretzels that are reasonable) |
| Dried fruit: raisins, apricots, etc. |
| Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin and sesame) , great for making seed butter for no peanut schools (vitamix!!) and I put it in homemade granola crunch for lunches. |
| Baking powder, baking soda (for cleaning too!), salt, sugar, etc. |
| Beans |
| Drink Mix (the bigger stores have iced tea mix… great in a pinch.. and some koolaidy stuff as well |
| Honey |
| Peanuts (these seem exempt from the exorbitant prices on other nuts. I get the most expensive ones and it’s still reasonable. These mostly get made into peanut butter (vitamix!!) |
| Soap -they carry naked soap. I get naked soap for showers and laundry soap for making detergent (see below) |
| Canadian Tire Washing Soda and Borax… both come in cardboard boxes and mixed with shredded coconut soap make a great laundry detergent. |
| Lush Best we’ve found for naked bar shampoo. We’ve all switched and liked it. |
Long story short again (yaa! you’re still with me :)… shopping is a bit more complicated and takes a bit more time. I also find I buy way fewer “just because it is on sale” or “hey that looks good” which is good for everyone. I stock up so most places I only have to go to once a month. Some weeks I just drop by the local grocer.. spend $30 on fresh fruit and milk and we’re good to go. Other weeks I’ve got a bill for $100 in flour and $300 in meat. So, things are more unpredictable as well. I haven’t done the math to see if I am spending more or saving. I suspect it is about the same. However, we are all eating better. Along with the plastic we also got rid of most of the preservatives, sugar and salt as well.
Hope that gives you some ideas! It’s our new normal and it’s not really more work anymore now that we are in a routine.
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