The Friday Five on a Tuesday

[nanila]

As I was away all weekend, I didn’t get a chance to post this on Friday, or indeed, Sunday, as I normally do. It is in fact closer to next week’s FF than it was to last week’s. Taking lateness to new and dizzying heights, wahey!

1. Do you make up a dinner plan for the coming week?
   Sometimes. It depends on how busy we are. We usually do a shop at the weekend to prep for the week but more often than we’d like, it involves at least one pizza night, one “yes, you can eat PB&Js in front of the television” night and one “cannot be arsed to cook, TO THE CHIPPY!” night.
   
   
2. Do you make up a shopping list and stick to it when shopping?
   Yes. I have problems concentrating in supermarkets. I’m not sure why. I’ve tried to do the “once up and down every aisle” technique that works for the bloke, but it does not work for me, and I end up getting distracted trying to work out whether a “deal” is actually a savings on a per-unit basis or not, or deciding if I would like to try a new flavour of herb tea, or mourning the out-of-stock status of the kriek lambic, or just pondering my shoes because it is all too much. Lists help me to focus.
   
   
3. What is one thing that you always buy, but never put down on a list?
   If it’s not on the list, it does not get bought. Even if it’s milk or bread or something I literally buy every week.
   
   
4. Is there anything that you always think you are out of and come home with it to discover you already have a year’s supply on hand?
   The 17 tins of tomatoes in our pantry speak for themselves.
   
   
5. Do you get your groceries delivered?
   The occasions on which I have groceries delivered are (1) When the bloke is going to be away for at least five days and (2) Special occasions, like the bloke’s birthday last weekend when I ordered a vast quantity of cheese and wine for our trip to Wales. Otherwise, not on a regular basis, no.

Comments

[corvidology]

The 17 tins of tomatoes in our pantry speak for themselves

And then there's always the moment where you dig around in the back of the pantry and come up three cans of water chestnuts and have no memory at all of having bought them.

[nanila]

I did that with tins of pineapple chunks recently. Fortunately they were still in date so I has a pineapple feast.

[marymac]

My house that's the ten or so packs of Maggi roast in the bag mixes, none of them flavours anyone in the house likes, and none of which anyone can remember buying. They are not moving house with us again, I refuse.

[corvidology]

We make stir fry occasionally but we have never used canned water chestnuts in them.

[ayebydan]

Assorted surprise tomato products seems to be the theme of question 4 from all the answers I have seen.

[nanila]

I think they secretly replicate on the shelves at night.

[wohali]

> I have problems concentrating in supermarkets.

YES. ME TOO. Or as the kids put it these days, "big mood." When the grocery store does a reorganisation, or I have to go to a different one, it can take me hours to get everything I need.

> 17 tins of tomatoes

SISTER! :D

[nanila]

I loathe supermarket reorganisations. Apparently it is a marketing ploy, as it throws off regular customers for a time and gets them to make more impulse buys.

[fred_mouse]

They might like to think it throws off regular customers and cause them to buy more, but this little black duck just changes supermarkets until I hate the next-to-nearest one more than I hate trying to find where they have moved the cheese this time.

[st_aurafina]

For me, it really has to be on the list, even if it's an every week thing.

Why is this shopping-as-an-adult thing so hard?

[nanila]

I don't knooooow. I've never really gotten over having to expend so much mental and physical energy on keeping myself (and now my family) fed.

[shirou]

I can't just make dinner plans for the week. I have to actually make dinner. I cook a week's worth of food on the weekend so, during the week, I can just heat up dinner in the oven. Otherwise it would be pizza or takeout every night. I wish we had a "chippy!"

[nanila]

This is a good tactic. The slow cooker is very helpful in that regard. But we get thrown off now and again by weekends away or an absurd number of children's activities and then have to remind ourselves that pre-cooked meals are an option.

Chippies are great. Friday fish and chips especially. :)

[mummimamma]

17 tins of tomatoes! I wish it were me. I've forgotten to buy tinned tomatoes for two weeks now. On the other hand, I have 6 tubes of toothpaste, if you want to do a switch.

[nanila]

I would love to swap, as it feels like we are always running out of toothpaste!