Cooking Confidential

By now, the skyrocketing price of food is old news. I must say that I tend to be so out of the loop, that I pretty much missed the brou-haha until disaster had already struck. Something about a rice shortage in California, I think it was, and then David mentioned reading that we should be stocking up on certain commodities (hoarding?). Well, we like rice, and I’ve always appreciated its utility for filling up hungry male boarders, especially those from rice based cuisines, but where would I store multiple large bags of that, or other staples like the flours that have almost doubled in price? Space and single minded flour moths, for whom no sort of packaging I can supply seems to present much of an impediment, even factoring in those great Bio____?moth traps I always rave about definitely reduce the utility of that option.

So, for the present, I’ve cut out some of the little felicities on our dinner table: wine, sparkling water, and the occassional splurge on a tempting roast something in the meat case, etc. I’ve also cut out shopping at my regular grocery stores, though, for the most part, still picking up my usual bargains in staples at Trader Joes. But Aldi, the German discount grocery, has become my market headquarters. I’ve shopped there on and off since they appeared in our neighborhood– who could beat their price on evaporated milk, for example, but have been lazy about shopping at a place that only takes cash or debit and where you have to supply or buy your own packing materials. To be fair, they’re cheap, and you are free to take as many of the product cartons as you need. I hadn’t shopped there a lot, partly because, although the prices are rock bottom, I did like certain “mainstream” products better. Well, now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country, or something like that, but anyway, I needed an Aldi in my life now more than ever, so I was willing to reevaluate some of the staple products that I’d turned up my nose at a few years ago. And this time, I’d take them up on their assurance of “satisfaction guarateed”!

So, what does my shopping list look like these days? As I’ve already pointed out, certain items have been jettisoned from my sinking larder expenditure. Here’s what I’m buying that’s significantly cheaper than anywhere else:

Sugar(white and brown), flour (I do use bleached for cakes, pie crust, some cookies, corn or canola oil,

Some cold cereals: rice crispies are 1/3 the grocery cost

Pastas, rice (the regular white not quite up to my personal standard, but for $.99 for 3 pounds, I’m not complaining!

Fruit preserves (55% fruit from Germany, and they are terrific)

Eggs, large– not my usual extra-large– but they are remarkably fresh, and have decently dark, for standard grocery store issue, yolks.

Sour cream, cream cheese, butter, cheddar cheese

Milk (2%), “premium” orange juice

Premium bacon

Frozen: chubs of lean ground beef and ground turkey, whole chickens and chicken thighs, fish (the types that can be “suitably disguised” as David always says

Dish detergent (of the varieties, the “citrus” works best for me), their “premium” laundry detergent, ditto bleach, and the oxy booster (about 1/3 the grocery store price)

Plastic wrap, foil, garbage, freezer bags, “disposable” storage containers

Yes, I suppose that I could wait around for sales, too, but I’m tired of shopping that way… it’s nice to have products that are basicly continuously on sale!

And yes, I have looked at B.J.’s (and it’s cousins): There are a few good deals to be had– we were given a gift membership about 3 years ago, and I really did “hoard” enough boxes of “deli” dry waxed paper to see me through to the present, ditto my beloved, but expensive Release non-stick foil, but my shopping habits are so rock bottom basic, that I found more temptations than true bargains to make it worth belonging…