Shopping tips

[Franci]

Do you have a strategic way of shopping for food, appliances or other kitchen supplies?

Do you prefer on line shopping or you prefer to walk into a store? Do you have an effective way to compare prices, like using apps for this?

I guess the major expense in our house has always been food. I'd like to keep the quality high but being a little smarter shopper. I've always liked farmer markets, nice butchers and the freshest fish and I've always shopped very very frequently, wasting a lot of time doing it. Now I feel I should get more efficient in my shopping, so I'm very grateful if you can share your tactics.

Edited August 21, 2013 by Franci (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

About every two months or so I get things delivered from a supermarket; heavy non-perishable stuff like cans and bottles. The website saves my shopping list so I can easily just tick the things that I need to reorder. I don't have a car so it's a lot easier for me not to have to carry these things frequently. I have the storage space to do that at the moment but of course you can reduce the intervals between ordering if not. I don't have particular recipes in mind for these items, they're just useful to have around.

Then every week I go to the main market in our city. There are some things that I buy every week and I just pick them up on autopilot; salad, apples, bananas, etc. I get them from the same stalls and it's nice to know the traders. I also have a look to see if there's anything particularly appealing.

Based on what I find at the market I decide the recipes I want to do. Then I shop for the rest of the ingredients as I go. I don't really make special trips for that but just pick things up on my way home from work for example.

That's what I do day-to-day. Then I also order some things from Amazon particularly and a few other online sources; mainly alcohol That's because my city has no decent sources for the things I want to buy. It's quite expensive but I would have to go to London otherwise so I suck it up.

The other category is bulk dry goods which I get through a fairtrade distributor (also delivered). I only do this a few times a year as I don't go through things like 2kg lentils that fast. This is not necessary at all as I could get them from the supermarket but I like to support the company and its mission.

It's not the most efficient way because I end up shopping several times per week and from quite a few merchants, but this way I can save a lot of time by having the staples brought to my house, and still have fresh (and cheap) goods from the market. I would probably shop differently (more often) if I were buying meat or fish, but as it is most of my food will last a good few days no problem.

I will be moving house next month and I'll have a lot less space; then I won't have things delivered and I'll probably shop every couple of days.

Edited August 21, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[rotuts]

food shopping in Europe is probably very different then in the USA.

Ive learned I save a lot of time and energy by trying to do several things at once in each direction I choose to travel. I do my best to not go and get one or two things, but let accumulate if I can directionally.

[Plantes Vertes]

You're right Rotuts. Everything I need is within walking distance. My relatives in the States have an entire room in their house dedicated to storing food because it's a long trip out for shopping, plus a fridge as big as my bedroom.

[Franci]

About every two months or so I get things delivered from a supermarket; heavy non-perishable stuff like cans and bottles. The website saves my shopping list so I can easily just tick the things that I need to reorder.

I used to do that when living in the UK! Loved the feature of being able with one click to put in the cart what I already bought in the past or being reminded of stuff I could have forgotten.

Shopping in France is so different. But by the end of the month we are moving back to the US, in Brooklyn, so I need to readjust my shopping habits.

So, what do you do there. Cotsco shopping for detergents and bulk stuff. Anybody shops at Asian markets and for what. IN the past I've done no no for salmon and fish but yes on crabs, live shrimps or on stuff that I know Chinese are very particular for.

Do you use Amazon a lot or sign up for newsletters?

Edited August 21, 2013 by Franci (log)

[rotuts]

Once you get to NYC, Id re-ask this same question.

they do seem to have transport. there are a lot of NYC people here to help you.

best of Good Eating.

sad to see your Fantastic Seafood Platters will suffer!

just my take

Bon Appetite!

[Franci]

.

sad to see your Fantastic Seafood Platters will suffer!

just my take

Bon Appetite!

Thanks Rotuts, I'll try to keep up!

Meanwhile, I think I will have foie gras for dinner and crevette grises, bulots and oysters for lunch every day next week and a lot of Comte. I'll miss my fruits de mer platters.

[rotuts]

fruits de mer platters

eat Large while you Can!

not available in USofA

fine fine someone in NYC will find you one.

but, I gotta tell you .... be careful !

[liuzhou]

I go to one or another of the local markets here in China most mornings for veg, fruit and protein. I'll buy for lunch and dinner. About once a week some eggs. Most of my neighbours will go twice a day or more. In the morning for lunch then later for dinner.

Basics like rice, soy sauce, salt etc, I buy as I need them. Which reminds me I'm low on light soy sauce.

I only tend to price check on more expensive imported items like olive oil. I already know the local market is not only cheaper than the supermarkets, but much fresher.

Edited August 22, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[judiu]

fruits de mer platters

eat Large while you Can!

not available in USofA

fine fine someone in NYC will find you one.

but, I gotta tell you .... be careful !

Grand Central Oyster Bar. YUM!

[cookingdiva]

I never go shopping when I'm hungry. Going to a supermarket while you're hungry will just make you buy more food.

I don't use specific apps and sometimes I just use pen and paper. However, I make sure that I always have a list of things to buy. I also plan my meals for the whole week so that I can prepare my budget.

[rotuts]

never go shopping when ... hungry

excellent advice!

[Porthos]

Shop to a list. Don't be absolutely slavish to it but make sure anything you pick up that is not on the list is not just an impulse but is something truly of value for how you eat.

We start our shopping at Costco, then go to WinCo, and then on to other supermarkets if they have items WE USE on a good sale. We have the benefit of living in Southern California which means there are lots of stores to choose from.

Again I say: Shop to a list.

[patrickamory]

Shop to a list. It's key. I waste so much less.

(Which doesn't mean you shouldn't succumb to the impulse when you come across something unexpectedly fresh or rare.)

Also:

DON'T SHOP WHEN HUNGRY!

[huiray]

So, what do you do there. Cotsco shopping for detergents and bulk stuff. Anybody shops at Asian markets and for what. IN the past I've done no no for salmon and fish but yes on crabs, live shrimps or on stuff that I know Chinese are very particular for.

Do you use Amazon a lot or sign up for newsletters?

Of course I shop at "Asian" markets (uh, what do you really mean by "Asian"? Just asking), typically my usual Chinese/SE Asian grocery. See here for an example of what I got on one occasion. (Salmon is not a "common" Chinese-type fish, BTW)

[huiray]

I usually have no problem shopping when I am hungry. I don't go crazy picking up stuff just because I'm hungry, even if I might choose a few things that look attractive "just because" (if I do) over the times when I shop when I am already full.

Do what seems acceptable to you.

[liuzhou]

Salmon is not a "common" Chinese-type fish, BTW

While it's not traditionally part of Chinese cuisine (mainly because the critters don't tend to swim in this direction), salmon has become hugely popular in China in the last few years. I live in a fairly small city by Chinese standards but at least two of the most popular supermarkets have fresh salmon every day. So do most above average restaurants. In the huge metropolises it is everywhere.

It is expensive but that only adds to its appeal for some people.

Most of it was imported from Finland until they gave a Nobel prize to a dissident and got banned. Now it tends to come from Scotland.

I have also read reports of Chinese salmon farm start-ups, although I don't thing their produce has reached the market yet.

To get back on topic, I think making a list would be the last thing I would do. I go to the market, see what's available and what looks good then decide what to cook.

Doing it the other way round makes no sense to me, other than for basics like I must remember to buy salt and soap powder.

Agree 100% with the hungry issue though.

Edited August 29, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[huiray]

How interesting. Thanks for the update on salmon in China in recent years. Is there no (or little?) salmon from North America?

[liuzhou]

I've never come across North American salmon here. I wouldn't swear it doesn't exist, though. But I guess that would be through the back door.

The Chinese government heavily promoted their links to Scotland when they dumped Finland.

Edited August 29, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[Katie Meadow]

I always shop to a list or lists, depending on ingredients and where to get them. It isn't really budget conscious, but it does seriously cut back on waste; my impulses often result in "what was I thinking?" territory. Usually this involves a vegetable that requires a lot of shelling or peeling and which forces me to confronted my own laziness. Fresh beans in the pod, how lovely! When faced with a large bag of fresh black-eyed peas at 7pm I might just cave and have a G & T and some popcorn for dinner.

I start by coming up with approx a 5 or 6 day menu, requirements for which are typically available at one of the three or four places I usually shop. I make some impulse purchases and sometimes change a dish or two midstream, depending on availability and what looks appealing. There is a sometimes an imbalance in protein, since I like to use whatever fish or meat I buy as quickly as possible. Usually the last few days of a shopping week are vegetarian meals or kitchen sink meals, which is fine with me, unless I plan on securing fish or something midweek. Toward the end of a shopping week we are more likely to go out to eat if supplies are thin. My latest trick is making corn tortillas; with a bit of cheese and a few misc veggies or leftovers a reasonably good taco can be had.

I'm the kind of person that has an anxiety attack if someone invites me over for dinner and I have just come back from buying fish or have 2 day old chicken in the fridge. Without a plan and a list I would be shopping every day. I'd way rather cook than shop.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

What does Finnish salmon have to do with Chinese dissidents?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'll add another thumbs-up for "shop to a list." But don't get OCD about it - if one ingredient, like passionfruit, isn't on the list but it's beautiful when you get to the market, buy it anyway. You'll end up using it.

This said, I shop primarily on Sundays, which is market day in my city, and I shop at about 5-8 different places on that day (we call it "Economic Stimulation Sunday") for the various and assorted things we eat in a given week. It's a good idea to figure out when the farmer's markets and other freshmarkets are in your area, and when your favourite grocery stores/fishmongers/whoever get in their fresh produce, then shape your shopping around this (not sure how well it will work in the US - in Ecuador the days tend to synch up with the main farmer's market day). It guarantees you the freshest possible everything.

I don't plan the week's meals so much as buy staples that are flexible in terms of how they're prepared - there's a grocery thread around here somewhere, I think, where I posted a typical week's haul. It allows for reasonable variety of dishes while removing the stress of preplanning all of the meals in a given week. I am not the kind of person who has a panic attack when I've got 2-day old chicken in the fridge and friends invite me out - I'm the kind of person who tosses that chicken into the freezer and goes out. Flexibility of ingredients is key.

[liuzhou]

What does Finnish salmon have to do with Chinese dissidents?

I linked to the explanation.

[Anna N]

What does Finnish salmon have to do with Chinese dissidents?

I linked to the explanation.

I think there is confusion between salmon from Finland (a slip of the typing fingers?) and salmon from Norway. I think liuzhou meant to type Norway.

[liuzhou]

I think there is confusion between salmon from Finland (a slip of the typing fingers?) and salmon from Norway. I think liuzhou meant to type Norway.

Indeed. Oooops!

(It was the fin in Finland which distracted me.)

Edited August 30, 2013 by liuzhou (log)