’m not much on chores like dusting lamp shades, cleaning under the bathroom sinks, and closet purging all of the last season’s clothes that have shrunk while hanging in the closet, but I do love grocery shopping. To me, it’s more of an experience rather than another chore. I enjoy meal planning, list making, and sometimes even coupon clipping, Most of all, though, I love going to the store and walking the aisles looking for the ingredients I need for the week’s menus. The colors and textures of the produce section make me happy. The smell of the bakery makes me want to go home and break out the flour and bread pans. Even perusing the meat and cheese counters makes me think of new recipes that I’d like to try. On the flip side, I don’t like the fish section and I loathe all of the prepared food aisles. Does that make me a purist? Or a food snob?

It makes me sad that so few people regularly cook meals at home these days. Don’t get me wrong; we eat out more than I’d like to admit, but it is for the social connections rather than because no one at our house can cook. A “tradition” that seems to be disappearing with today’s lifestyle is inviting people to our homes to share a meal “just because.” Having no specific reason to celebrate, but gathering simply to share a homemade meal and enjoy the company of friends at home instead of going out to a restaurant. In my case, it is not the preparing of the meal that keeps me from this, but the fact that I don’t like those other chores – the vacuuming, dusting and clearing the newspapers off of the dining room table in between recycle days. Maybe I need to remedy this situation as one of my goals for 2018. *Note to self.

Back to the grocery store…

I am lucky that I have two grocery stores within walking distance of home. One is a little more convenient in that I pass it on my walk home from school. Lately, however, this one has become a disappointment. They seem to no longer carry a lot of the basic ingredients that I use all the time – King Arthur all-purpose flour, Red Mill rolled oats, smoked Gouda, which is my all-time favorite cheese, and often times they have no tahini. How can I make hummus without tahini? None of these is a “specialty” ingredient. And, they have carried them all in the past. Something has changed.

Over the last several months, we have been doing our regular grocery shopping at “the other” store. It is almost as close to home, but not on the way home from school. This store regularly stocks all of the ingredients that I use most. They carry bigger bags of dried beans and rice, the full line of King Arthur flours, and their meat and dairy cases are always full of fresh things. Weber made the observation that it seems like the first grocery store is catering to people who just want to eat and the second one to people who want to cook and eat. Yes. I think his observation is correct. The first store has a whole section of heat and serve foods and they are all right inside the doors.. The second one does not. The fresh produce is the first thing that you see. Marketing is a fascinating thing. 🙂

I’ve always heard that if you are buying healthy and wholesome foods that you only need to shop the outer perimeter of the grocery store. At the second store, this is true except for rice, beans, baking items, and oatmeal. I find that I only walk down one or two aisles during each shopping trip. Maybe this is why I enjoy grocery shopping. This particular chore really doesn’t take very long, especially if I go with a list written out in the order that I encounter things in the store. I come home with bags of ingredients ready to become something delicious and nutritious.

It’s simple. If I don’t buy junk food, I don’t eat junk food. If I want cookies then I have to make them. If I have to make them, sometimes I decide that I really don’t want them bad enough to stop what I’m doing at that moment and make them; or, I get up and make them and have hot delicious cookies rather than store-bought. It’s a win-win for me no matter how I look at it.

Do you like grocery shopping? Have you ever thought about it as an experience rather than just a chore?

If you are looking for ways to rethink your grocery shopping experience, perhaps some of these ideas from the Zen Habits blog may help.