Grocery stores are either a wonderland of amazing ingredients and products, or they are an aggravating maze of carts and people, and far too many choices.
I could spend hours in a grocery store, browsing up and down the isles. However, I know that grocery stores are not everyone’s favorite places to be on a Saturday or Sunday, not just because they are crowded and hard to navigate at that time, but also because you shouldn’t have to spend your precious weekend cooped up in a store. You need to enjoy your life.
Here are some different ways to make your shopping experience a little more pleasant and better on your budget.
Research recipes ahead of time, and go with a list
Going with a list means going with a plan and an end goal in mind, which keeps you from wandering around the isles of a store aimlessly and getting frustrated. When you get to know your preferred market, organize your list by the area of the store in which the food is situated in order to save even more time, and aimless wandering.
Shop in the middle of the week
We tend to have more time on the weekends, but stores tend to be less busy on weekdays, AND many stores have more items on sale during the middle of the week (Wednesdays in particular), as sometimes weekly specials overlap.
Don’t go shopping hungry
Going shopping hungry is a surefire way to leave with more groceries than you know what to do with (leading to food waste), to spend longer in the store, and to overspend your grocery budget.
Use a grocery delivery service
Yes, services like Instacart can be more expensive; however, if you have the ability, it can actually be a way to stay within your grocery budget. If you are shopping from a list, and can’t peruse the isles, you are less likely to overspend and order extra food that might go to waste.
Having a budget and sticking with it are worthy habits to cultivate. A more pleasant and efficient grocery store experience? A bonus for everyone. And, while this is by no means an exhaustive list, hopefully at least it will give you a place to start.
Now that we’re relatively comfortable walking down the isles of a supermarket without violence or aggravation, let’s focus on the next step – choosing the freshest fruits and/or vegetables. Just how do we dig through a mountain of produce and pick out the best ones?
For the most part, choosing the best produce of the pile is a matter for your senses. Feel, smell, and sight will all be your friends at the grocery store (as will taste, if it is allowed – some stores). Here’s a handy guide to help figure out which senses to use when:
FRUITS:
Apples: deeply colored, firm, shiny, heavy for size
Bananas: bright yellow, no bruises or splits
Blueberries: firm, dry, blue – white sheen is natural
Cantaloupes: fragrant, not green, no soft spots
Cherries: plump, shiny, darker in color. Stems elongate shelf life
Grapefruits: smooth, thin skins, heavy for size
Grapes: plump, heavy for size, no wrinkles or brown spots
Lemons/Limes: fragrant, heaviest for size
Peaches: fragrant, firm but slightly soft to touch
Pears: free of bruises, firm
Pineapples: sweet smell at stem end, heavy for size
Strawberries: fragrant, uniformly red
Watermelons: Firm, heavy, sound hollow when tapped
VEGETABLES:
Asparagus: firm, smooth, brightly colored
Avocados: slightly soft to touch
Beets: fresh stems, crisp leaves, small taproot
Broccoli: firm stalks, tight florets, crisp leaves
Brussels Sprouts: firm, compact, bright green heads – tight, not wilted leaves
Cabbage: compact heads, heavy for size
Carrots: firm, smooth, no rootlets
Cauliflower: tightly packed florets, no spots or yellowing
Cucumbers: no yellow
Kale and Lettuce: crisp, dry leaves with no slime
Onions/Shallots: dry, firm, heavy for size
Peppers: firm, naturally shiny, heavy for size
Potatoes: firm, smooth, no bruises, green spots, or sprouts
Summer Squash: shiny, tight, unblemished skin with no soft spots
Tomatoes: fragrant, heavy for size with firm skin
Winter Squash: stems intact, heavy for size
There are a lot of old wives’ tips to find the “perfect” fruit/vegetable, but, for the most part, you want to look for produce that is firm, with taught skin, vibrant in color, and pleasantly fragrant (or not fragrant at all).
Now you have a whole arsenal of tips and tricks to help you in your grocery shopping experience!
