Grocery Store...My Love!

I used to look SO forward to Wednesdays because that's the day my new Hy Vee (that's my local grocery store) ad came out. And god bless those people over at the Hy Vee, they put the thing online so I can peruse it at my leisure when I'm supposed to be doing boring things like filing bankruptcy cases and poring over tax returns. I would get all giddy with my lined legal pad and my pen and make a whole long list of all the yummy things I was going to buy on sale at the Hy Vee that week. Seriously, yes, I was a dork (well I still am, but just not in this fashion anymore).

So now that I have started this new "eating plan" (it's not a diet it's a lifestyle change dammit!), I don't so much look forward to the Hy Vee ad anymore. One, because most of the stuff I can and do buy for my house now isn't listed in there, and two because everything I WANT to buy for my house but can't is in there! Cake mixes, ice cream, butter, steak, bakery fresh bread, cupcakes, cookies, pizza, WINE, juice, anything Pillsbury that comes in a tube, and on and on and on. So, now on Wednesday I sheepishly log onto the Hy Vee's website and browse the health mart ad, and that's it. It's sad, I know. BUT IT'S WORTH IT! (I think)

So last night we ventured over to Sam's Club (blech, ew, evil Wal Mart!) because I found out at work last week that apparently I am entitled to a card there through my company. Some perk right? Screw life insurance or dental insurance, you can march your happy ass over to the Sam's Club. The hubs and I are loyal loyal loyal Costco peeps. We love that place. We plan our Sunday around going there. However, the closest one to us is about 30 minutes away in midtown. And the closest Sam's Club is like 3 minutes down the street. So while we will remain very loyal Costcoers, we will probably take advantage of the free Sam's Club card once in awhile. Oh, and they have a fantabulous booze department there. Yep. Mmmmmm. Booze............................. Sorry, got sidetracked.

Anyway, so at the Sam's Club last night I was very impressed to find boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.97 per pound. That's really cheap! The lowest Hy Vee ever goes is like $1.99, and Costco is always close to $3.00 per pound. So I scooped up a package. Of course, you can't just buy a pound or two you have to buy like 317 pounds or something. Actually, I think the package I got was about 6 lbs. So off home I go with my chicken boobs and my pears and my V's Spaghetti Sauce (yes I checked the label first, no high fructose shit). Oh, and then we stopped by the Hy Vee also b/c we did need some stuff there.

And I must say, grocery shopping now is MUCH easier. I get to avoid almost all of the "inner aisles". I go mostly for produce, meat, dairy, some frozen stuff and just a few things on the inner aisles, last night it was spices, rice and water chestnuts. I also find myself going grocery shopping around once a week instead of the 2 week huge load up trips I used to do. I am going once per week now because I am using a lot more fresh produce and fish that doesn't stay good forever or freeze well. We do buy a lot of produce at Costco, but things that we need small amounts of we get at the grocery store. I also buy some meat at Costco, but the majority at the grocery store. We don't yet have a deep freeze, so finding space for all that meat you get at Costco is kind of difficult. And while I may be spending more money now than I was when I was buying a lot of processed stuff that I thought was healthy, I feel SO much better, and am so much happier knowing I am truly cooking a healthy yummy dinner for my family.