Clean, sparkly kitchens are only part of the equation. The other half is to have food in that kitchen to prepare. And for this, an expedition to a grocery store/local market is necessary. I can speak in great depth about where to shop and where to look (which I'm sure I will later,) but for now, let's discuss getting in the proper grocery shopping mentality.
Many of the avid cooks I know swear that wandering around their local market in search of foodstuffs is every bit as enjoyable as shopping for clothes, gadgets, or anything else that's exciting. And frankly, that's just how it should be. If we can't enjoy the process of buying tasty food, how are we ever going to enjoy the process of cooking it?
The problem is that most trips to the market have become a major pain. Huge lines of people, all tired and grumpy, clogging up the aisles, stripping the shelves of every decent looking thing that's on sale. And despite your best intentions of getting in and out quickly, you end up spending an hour in the store, most of which was spent just waiting in line. And by the time you do get out, you're frustrated, irritable, and would rather go grab a hot burger somewhere then ever endure that evil place again.
We've all been there, and can all agree this is an unpleasant situation that happens more than it should. So, we're gonna need a few tricks in our arsenal to keep the experience of food shopping enjoyable.
STEP 1: SHOP AFTER DINNER
That's right, eat your meal, clean up a little bit, then head for the store. By simply adjusting the time you shop for groceries, you have a number of things working in your favor:
- There are no lines. Oh sure, the store won't be completely abandoned, but it won't be anything near the chaos of the 5:00 post-work rush when everyone and their pets are hungry. This allows us to take our sweet time picking whatever we want, and lets us get out of the store when we would like to.
- We're not hungry. This means we're in a far better mood than the aforementioned 5:00 post-work crowd. We're not in a hurry to get home and stuff ourselves before our stomach starts to eat at it's own lining, and thus we can simply enjoy the experience by picking our ingredients in a relaxed fashion. The other advantage of not being hungry is that we're less likely to make that impromptu snack purchase. A person who's full isn't nearly as interested in potato chips and candy bars as a hungry person might be
- It gets us moving. Our natural temptation after stuffing ourselves to the gills with quality eats is to flop on the couch and lapse into unconsciousness. As you can imagine, this does not sit well with our bodies, who would like you nice and energetic to help break down all those nutrients. Hitting the couch post-dinner affects our metabolism, fat processing, and how we digest food. The healthy thing to do is take a little stroll after your meal. By doing your shopping, you are in fact killing two birds with one stone.
- The staff is in a better mood. If you frequent the deli, or need help trying to locate certain items, your friendly local grocery store employee is probably going to be a lot nicer after dinner. When 5:00 hits, these poor souls are running around like mad trying to get the huge amounts of people out the door. And your grocery store employee is used to sweating, getting yelled at, and treated like garbage at these times, which means he/she isn't going to be in the most pleasant of states. Once the panic has died down, these dedicated employees tend to be more helpful, more pleasant, and generally make the experience that much better.
- It gives you a few more culinary options. Even if you don't do anything but throw your meat in a pan with potatoes and cook until brown, it's nice to at least have the option to do more isn't it? If you're wanting to play with marinades, then it's advantageous to be able to do it the night before. And perhaps you can spend the night making sauces or chopping vegetables or other assorted mish-mash. Either way, it means less work for you tomorrow. And speaking of tomorrow....
- You can go straight home. Since you purchased everything last night, you don't have to fight with the crowds. You can just head home, prepare your meal, and enjoy a bit more of your evening.
STEP 2: KEEP THE SHOPPING LIST MELLOW
Obviously there are things that are must have on your shopping list. Cereals, basic vegetables, and breads are things that pretty much everyone buys, so you definitely want the essentials on your list. But, leave yourself a little room for exploration.
Take meat for example. Making the decision to buy pork chops before you walk into the store doesn't serve us well, because there are a number of factors to consider, like freshness, price, and good old fashioned craving. If you go to the store and find your pork chops looking a little sad and off color, priced 20 cents a pound above the norm, perhaps its time to rethink tomorrow's dinner. And besides, what about making a decision on what looks good? If we're buying stuff that looks really good and sounds like it would make a nice dinner, well then we're going to be that much more excited to cook it. Make tomorrow evening's meal an adventure. Browse through the meat department and let your creativity wander. Consider the following:
- What looks fresh today?
- Is there anything on sale?
- What sounds like it would be really good?
STEP 3: AVOID THE MAGAZINE AISLE
I see it all the time, a crowd of very well-meaning people crowding the magazine section, flipping through food magazines in search of ideas. Yes I know that the food looks good, and is causing a little inspiration to happen, but they usually tend to cause more stress in the end.
Here's how it plays out: The well-meaning person flips through the magazine, sees a pretty picture that looks tasty, and then they look at the huge list of ingredients that routinely averages the size of a VCR technical manual, and proceed to wander around the store in search of every single ingredient on that list. By the time they are finished, they are worn out, tired, and have a huge pile of spices and ingredients that they may never ever use again.
This is self defeating, and doesn't make for happy cooks. And this one of the reasons we here at CSD don't follow the recipe books. We are going to experiment at our own pace, regardless of what the fluffy TV chef's on Food Network say. So, avoid the temptation to browse through magazines to select tomorrow night's dinner. If the pull is just too great, then you may look at the pictures......but avoid the ingredient list and recipe like the plague.
Try these three simple steps to improve your grocery shopping experience
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