Feeding The Cheungs: The Prelude

I would just like to say, first and foremost, that I think shopping for and feeding your family is a HARD JOB and those of you who said, "I'd like to read your tips on grocery shopping!" are going to be disappointed. I HAVE NO TIPS. Sorry! But I am going to tell you what we do, what works for us and what isn't working, and then spend a nice long time venting about Random Shopping- And Food-Related Quandaries. Ready?

First, some Background Info!

I grew up in a family that planned weekly menus and made enormous weekly shopping trips. We were two working parents and five kids, so it may be that this was the only way to ensure there was food in the house, but my siblings and I have had a grand time making fun of my dad and his lists. Everything from his handwriting to his menus, because isn't that such an OLD person thing to do? Plan MENUS? WHATEVER.

Then I became a Fledgling Adult and bought my own food, but I don't really remember cooking it. Oh, I would make little calzones when my sister came to visit my 10 square foot studio. And I would make this truly pathetic pasta and chicken dish for Phillip and his roommate. Phillip lived in a much nicer apartment directly across the street from a QFC (Kroger for the rest of you). I would park in the QFC parking lot, buy that evening's dinner and watch nineteen episodes of Friends with Phillip and Phillip's Roommate while we ate our pasta and chicken. Good times. Seriously! 

This continued when we got married (and with the roommate! Well, he ceased to be the roommate, but we still ate pasta and chicken in front of Friends every night.)  We didn't have a method for grocery shopping or making dinner, and in fact, grocery shopping turned out to be a fricking huge deal. People say the first year of marriage is really hard. For us, it was only the first month that was really hard, and that was probably because of grocery shopping. We shopped so differently that eventually we decided, for the sake of the marriage, that this was something we should not do together. EVER. You'd think we'd have figured this out while dating (it's not like GROCERY SHOPPING is one of those things you "save for marriage"!) so I don't know what our problem was. BUT IT WAS A PROBLEM. 

After a while we got into the swing of things and we took turns buying and cooking. Phillip makes a million different kinds of stirfry (all of them delicious) and he would do all the stirfry shopping and cooking. I made sure we had things like flour and butter and bread and eggs, and I made everything that was not stirfry, although not very often because (and this will be important later) I am a rotten cook. We bought these things as we needed them - never on any schedule or system - usually on our way home from work, with no thought for what we might do the following night. 

But now - NOW we are a one working parent, one stay-at-home parent and two very small children family and we cannot just dash across the street to the QFC, load a bunch of items we'll use only that night in the cart - without looking at the prices - and make dinner at eight. I WISH, right? I totally miss my child-less evenings of yore! But that kind of shopping and cooking is NOT happening. Not for a VERY LONG TIME. 

Tomorrow: Menus! Not just for my dad!

Comments

[Ashley]

Yes, yes, yes to everything you just said. My husband and I don't shop together, either. We used to buy all of our groceries on the day we needed them. And almost three years into this stay-at-home mom thing, I'm still not very good at the whole menu planning thing. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

[Sarah]

Well, my husband doesn't grocery shop because he seems to think that gummy fruits are an actual fruit, but that's okay because I do like grocery shopping. We were exactly the same pre-kids though. I remember stopping by an older friends house and mentioning we were on our way to dinner, and she sort of sighed and said something like "Dinner at 9. You can tell you don't have kids," and she was right.

[Dr. Maureen]

I like to do the shopping because if Andrew does it, even if he uses a list I wrote, I have no idea what is in the house.

And! Meal planning! The weeks I plan things out are so infinitely easier than the weeks I don't, I often wonder why I let there be weeks I don't. And I am constantly feeling guilty for all the times I said, "Mom! How am I supposed to know what I want for dinner? It's only 9:30 in the morning!" Because apparently I thought dinner just magically APPEARED when I was hungry.

[HereWeGoAJen]

Matt and I can't go grocery shopping together either. I have to go slow and look at things that we are buying and he has to HURRY UP since he is bored.

[Jess]

This was us too. We hardly cooked. When we did we just stopped at the grocery store next to our Metro stop and grabbed what we needed for the night. We wasted tons of food and money and had no idea what we were doing. And now it is a VERY DIFFERENT STORY. Luckily it turns out that both of us are pretty good cooks. THANK GOD.

[Ashley]

Yay! This grocery shopping series of yours has me giddy beyond all reason. Thanks.

[Elsha]

I had to convert Brian to my way of shopping. Meal planning and once a week trips. I don't like to go by myself though.

[Christiana]

And I thought we were the only ones! But you didn't mention eating out a gazillion times a week instead of cooking, so maybe that was just us...

[Christina]

My step-mom used to do menus, two weeks at a time. I thought she was anal and crazy. Now I'm thinking maybe that's what 'real' cooks do. Dinner is the bane of my existance - I'm not a good cook and I don't like to cook. But I'm trying to get better. I'm even thinking about trying this website, Relish! that gives you weekly menus and grocery lists... I'm a little afraid I'll fail at the dinners, but it's worth a try right?

[lindsay]

We have a blast shopping together. I will be sad when we have kids and it becomes senseless do do so together. As far as cooking, some people got it and some people...need to work for it a lot harder I think. Today my husband had chicken marsala and pasta and wine waiting when I got home and I loved it, but not before thinking: I could never pull this off. Can't wait to hear more Maggie!

[Acai Optimum]

I enjoyed reading this post. Thanks for a wonderful job!