1.23.2006

Yes, to me Sainsbury's grocery store is better than the mall. So?

WR and I did some grocery shopping on Saturday. Because I forgot my purse, he bought all the stuff and then gave me the receipt. When I started looking it over, I got a kick out of the differences in what we bought. See if you can decide which list is which.

List #1

£0.87 Cottage cheese

£0.64 Skim milk

£0.44 Canned soup

£1.39 Jar of pesto

£0.97 Green & orange bell peppers

£0.47 Bananas

£0.54 Granny Smith apples

£0.95 Cereal

£1.43 Mature cheddar cheese

£1.99 Strawberries on sale

£1.48 Cadbury chocolate trifle 3-pack

£2.69 Sainsbury's "Taste the Difference" pizza with mushrooms and mascarpone cheese on a focaccia crust

List #2:

£1.68 Two packages Butcher’s Choice sausages

£1.05 Sausage rolls

£0.87 Tuna Pasta Bake frozen meal

£0.87 Pasta & Meatballs frozen meal

£0.87 Tomato & Bacon Pasta frozen meal

£1.15 Cereal

£1.16 Skim milk

£0.34 Two cans sweetcorn

£0.28 Two cans carrot slices

£0.98 Two cans apple & pear cubes

£0.35 Ketchup

£6.99 Frozen chicken fillets

£0.69 Frozen Mixed Vegetables, which would make his mum so proud

So list #1 was mine--could it be more girly? I guess I could have added sanitary products or Midol for good measure, but really. Also I need to explain a few items because I sort of let myself go this time. The pesto was an indulgence because I was feeling Jamie Oliverish and had visions of fusilli pasta with creamy pesto sauce like they make at the Noodle Factory in Orem. I topped mine with fresh mushrooms, green & orange peppers, and grated white cheddar. Friends, it was good. The Cadbury trifles were for the kids (the kids being me, Landlady J, and me—WR didn’t want his once he saw me eyeing it like a slavering wolf).

I think that WR's list is so completely the list of a bachelor. All the sausage rolls were gone in 2 days, by the way. While in the grocery store, WR is a Man with a Mission. There is no browsing or staring at eclairs, although he will push the cart a bit slower while I stop and stare at eclairs. His system involves going up and down every single aisle, including the liquor aisle and the baby goods aisle. It's not that he needs Absolut Vodka or diapers, because I'm pretty sure he doesn't, but that's The System, by gum.

I become somewhat Attention Deficit in the grocery store. (The only clear focus I have is the need to not spend money, which is problematic in a place that sells fuel which is needed by the body to sustain life.) I skip the aisles I don’t need (like the cookie aisle) so that I can save time and avoid temptation, but then I always forget things like bread or eggs and have to go back to find them. Plus I tend to browse around because there's just so much to look at--visit the cheese section and you will understand. I like to stand in front of the nice posh things and imagine what my life would be like if I actually bought said things—like mortars & pestles and sea salt and profiteroles and all that Jamie Oliver stuff they have in stock.

And in the interest of cultural understanding and growth, there are issues that need pondering, like the following:

(1) Half an aisle is devoted to canned baked beans, which people will be eating on toast, or possibly with sausage on toast.
(2) All the cream cheeses (called “soft cheese” over here) are either flavored or low-fat. Blech blech blech.
(3) There is no such thing as alfredo sauce. There is only carbonara sauce, which is totally different, or this white cheese sauce that people pour on top of lasagna.
(4) You can buy about 8 million different kind of potatoes here.
(5) My strawberries come from Israel. How cool is that?


16 comments:

John said... [reply]

mmmmmmm.... by proxy holy strawberries.... yum!

I have the same system as WR by the way- and it is definitely the best.

AmyJane said... [reply]

Hee....the days of shopping with Nem. "Sooooo, there's a new Martha Stewart Weddings. One of us will probably have to buy it. But not today. I will save money by making another trip here for it later!" You know I love your cute frugal self!

stupidramblings said... [reply]

Do your potatoes' skins peel off by themselves? Because we used to call those leper potatoes. They totally are not from Idaho...

chosha said... [reply]

No Alfredo? Travesty.

The half an aisle of baked beans is a tribute to the falling standard of living in Britain. Lots more people forgetting the steak & eggs and sticking with eggs & chips in the last decade or so. Baked beans at least have some protein/fibre.

Anonymous said... [reply]

The Cadbury trifles gave your list away (and the cheese).

No alfredo sauce? Shameful!!

I too shop more like WR: Get in, get out. If I spend too much time in the grocery store I start to break out in hives. Screaming children, old ladies with motorized shopping carts, retards who graze in the middle of the aisles (thus blocking and causing traffic jams)--it can all be a bit too much. Now the mall on the other hand, that's where I show ADD.

daltongirl said... [reply]

1. I totally could not tell which list was which. So glad you clarified.

2. For future reference, when you have to explain WR's drunken routs, Absolut has no "e." When it refers to vodka.

3. You can make a yummy pesto without spending a lot of money. It involves spinach, and I'll give you the recipe if you want it.

4. I bought chevre yesterday, in keeping with our tradition of sampling a new cheese every two weeks. I'm sort of scared. Sakhmet says it's the best, but one time this woman gave me this brown stuff she claimed originated with a goat, and I almost puked.

5. I used to shop like WR, but now that I allow no unclean thing to enter my body (in the form of MSG) except for Coney's burgers and custard, I only have to shop the perimeter of the store. It's very nice. Except when I have to go down the baking aisle and my kids start begging for brownie mix.

daltongirl said... [reply]

Oh! I saw that MS Weddings and thought of you. I actually came close to purchasing it--for you. I hope that counts for something.

FoxyJ said... [reply]

Spain has the preserved meats section with nasty sausages and pig legs, the entire aisle of olive oils, and the aisle of canned seafood. Blech. I do miss the fabulous cheese section, though...

Nemesis said... [reply]

Hee hee. Yeah John, they ARE holy strawberries, and I think I'm going to go eat some more of them right now. 5-a-Day and all that . . .

Groan, I just knew you were going to bring that up!

Okay, that leper joke was funny, SR. Way to be.

True point, Chosha. And people can buy cans of baked beans for 15p!

Ooooh . . . you're good, Kristen!

Daltongirl, you will love the chevre, I hope. I like it.

Foxyj, aren't European cheeses so great?

Savvymom, it's actually Noodles & Co, now that I remember it correctly. I miss their bread. Also, I love MS Weddings too. (Don't judge me, people! I don't look at it for the articles--I just like the pictures!) And no, I forgot all about the Seinfeld book, but so funny!

April said... [reply]

No alfredo sauce? I'm so sad for you...and suddenly hungry.
Those truffles sound pretty good, too.

Snow Whiteley said... [reply]

So many thoughts, so little time.
1. Yes, I could totally tell which list was yours!
2. I think that my system is much more like yours than WR's. I mean really, the cookie aisle is should be avoided by me like the plague.
3. Israeli strawberries. Cooler than cool!
4. Martha Stewart Weddings: Sigh.
5. Mmmmmm. Eclairs.

chosha said... [reply]

daltongirl: okay that Absolut comment was rendered very cute by you leaving the 'e' out of routes. :)

Cicada said... [reply]

Nem,

Alfredo was never really Italian anyway. Move past it and I guarantee you'll be happier. If not, I know in Italy, beschamel comes in boxes. What about in England?

Carbonara: It's a Roman dish, so let me give you the proper way to do it . . . on my blog (I realized that this is worth a post, and everyone loves recipe posts anyway).

Nemesis said... [reply]

April, those trifle things are really good, and Landlady J hasn't eaten hers yet so every time I open the fridge I can just SEE it there, calling to me in all its chocolate pudding goodness . . .

You're my girl, Divine Miss!

Chosha--hee hee hee! See! I'm not the only one who forgets to spell when I blog, okay?

Cicada, I am so very excited to start making carbonara the right (ie. YOUR) way!

E--Word.

Anonymous said... [reply]

I remember when my host family in Plymouth took me to Sainsbury's. Definitely better than a mall. I had only been to Europa in London before that. I could have spent more than an hour at Sainsbury's, wandering around.

The funniest thing to me was that in England Twix is in the biscuit aisle next to Oreo's and all that. I love that the British market a candy bar as a cookie. It makes it sound slightly better for you.

daltongirl said... [reply]

For your edification: a "drunken rout" is actually one of those things you go on where you're all wild and loud and stuff. And drunk. So, no "e." Although, as you say Chosha, that would have been cute. Too bad I'm not clever like Cicada, who does stuff like that on purpose. Absolutly.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...