What's the purest form of shopping, you ask? 5:45 AM, alone, with coffee. And a list that is very short, but that will combine with the maximum number of things I already have at home to fill up an entire week of menus.
The perfect grocery storm happened this Saturday, since Mr's parents are up from Pennsylvania, and I had the perfect excuse to head out before anyone else was up and get it done. I'll even duplicate my list for you:
| Sobey's | YIG | Shopper's | |
| Blueberries | 3% Milk | asparagus | eggs |
| Bananas | Oranges | cheese | butter |
| Cauliflower | Carrots | ribs | miracle whiip |
| Sweet Potatoes | Grapes | ||
| Chicken Breast | Pasta Deal | ||
I came home with the list, and nothing but the list (except for the stuff at YIG and Shopper's, since they aren't open that early). I even made some cuts, and only spent $86.73. See:
I felt like I was on top of the world: by 6:30 on Saturday morning, I had the grocery shopping done (barring six items), had got my hands on a case of pasta, a case of canned tomatoes and a case of olive oil for forty dollars, and was still going to be on budget.
And we were going to have a party for Jr's first birthday, at which we would consume the enormous hunk of meat I bought in April.
Sweet.
This, then, is the story of how things went off the rails.
So, the extra trips. Ten of them. In two days. One to pick up whipped cream. Another for honey. The pre-planned ones to YIG and Shopper's, with extra stuff thrown in. A mustard and ketchup run, for the Root Beer Pulled Pork (yes. I mentioned it again. It's that good, and I'm that obsessed). A final, pre-party run for horseradish, juice and gingerale.
$120.90 worth of extra trips.
And, while I didn't go on a single one of them, I can't blame Mr for them either. He had company on most of them, and I was usually the one sending him out for stuff I'd forgotten.
I'd forgotten things like cream cheese for the cupcake icing:
And like extra eggs for the meringue:
So here - in management-speak - are my takeaways from this week's project grocery:
1. I made a crappy list.
2. Jr's birthday party was awesome. And I'm glad we had the food we had.
3. I sense another pantry challenge coming on.
Better enjoy these while we can, then.
(You can follow along with the entire sad story of Project Grocery starting from the beginning. Lucky you.)
