The reason that grocery stores terrify me isn't because I am culinarily inept, it is because there is so much damn stuff in there. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling, end caps, freezers, refrigerators, produce carts, random cardboard displays...so much stuff. I am a good cook. I'm so good I make up my own recipes, but grocery stores just...overwhelm me. Sans list I'm the girl that goes in and buys 3 lbs of lemons and a box of off brand cereal. In short, I need a plan or, to make me sound less (or more?) lame, a weapon. Enter sublimation of chronic list mania. Here is a real live example of one of my grocery lists:
Meat/Protein
Pork tenderloin
Ham deli meat
Steak
Vegetable/Fruit
Lettuce
Cucumber
Mushrooms
Carrots
Dried apricots
Tomato
Navel oranges
Apples- McIntosh
Bananas
Green beans
Staples
Staples
Whole wheat flour
Barley
Olive oil
Balsamic
Peanut butter
Ingredients
Asiago cheese
Ricotta cheese
Whole wheat wraps
Blue cheese
Whole milk yogurt
That's right, nerds, it's broken down into categories. Try it sometime, and you may just think I'm a genius. Because with this little baby all my cares disappear; because I have focus I can wander, not aimlessly, but at my leisure. Free at last to casually browse the foreign products aisle and gourmet jellies. True I still over buy citrus and forget household items like soap and toilet paper, but that is because items on this list correspond to a preformed dinner menu and who ever heard of soap soufflé? I can't be trifled with things like bread. "So what if I forget something?" I cackle, clutching my list to my breast, "I once abandoned a cart full of goods down one of these very aisles to run home to use the bathroom; and it was still here upon my return! MUHAHAHAHA!" OK, so I've never openly cackled in the grocery store but the bathroom story is true...I mean, THAT'S how close the grocery store is to my apartment. So, really it isn't a tragedy if I forget something - just a failure. In short, much like wars and French dance clubs, grocery shopping is not to be entered into under the age of 18 or without a plan.
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3 comments:
I made a list similar to yours when I first started eating healthy. Tim loved it! my lists are usually not organized, but I think the categories made all the difference.
THIS IS AWESOME! I like to go to the store's website, check out the sales and electronically create my list...laziness at it's finest. HAHA, "that's right, nerds!"
My husband and I usually do one HUGE food shop a month, and then maybe 2 or 3 small shops for produce, we are so lazy about it. He insists we don't need a list, but likes to go up and down every single aisle! Last time we almost needed a 2nd cart!
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