Sunday Cooking: Daddy's Girl

(My Thanksgiving haul 2011.)

I love grocery shopping.

I always have; I take after my father that way. He always has a running list of what is needed, written on these small white pads we call "Dad pads". He has one next to his spot on the kitchen table, in his car, in his office by his computer, etc. My whole life, I have rarely seen my Dad without his Dad pad nearby. He keeps track of errands, groceries, anything he is working on; when it is time for groceries he reads through the circulars and jots down what is for sale, then goes through his coupons and tucks the ones he will use under a couple of sheets of the pad. By the time he gets to the store, he doesn't need to consult his pad much, and he knows the layout of the store so he can make quick work of gathering his items in the cart.

Maybe I don't love grocery shopping as much as I love my Dad's efficiency at it. Or I maybe I just love them both. :)



 I don't clip coupons or read the circulars before I shop, but I do make my list on my own Dad pad (available at Staples, he tells me), dividing out which store carries what so I can get the better quality or the brand we like. Jewel has my Dannon yogurt and Hubby's granola, Tony's has great inexpensive vegetables and fruits, Whole Foods is the only grocery where I buy our meats, Harrison's for chicken if I can get there, and so forth.

When I have a long list, I try to hit the grocery circuit on Saturday mornings before it gets busy, as one of the benefits of being an early riser. Lately, my list has been relatively short, and it occurred to me this weekend that that is a function of being as efficient as my Dad. Every week before I start Sunday Cooking, I freeze up any leftovers from the previous week, and when I shop, I often stock up on an item we don't use right away but that can last in my cupboard or freezer until I am ready to use it. So all I am buying these days are the fresh items to supplement what I already have waiting to go.




For example, this week's groceries included:

Fresh produce: grapes, lettuce, butternut squash, bananas
Canned produce: black beans, diced tomatoes, corn
Dairy: yogurt, organic skim milk, string cheese
Bread: whole wheat English muffins, Natural Ovens whole wheat bread (I am on the hunt for a new chewy whole wheat bread, this one might be the keeper)
Groceries: granola bars, WW ice cream bars, coffee, fatfree evaporated milk, cornstarch, center cut bacon

On Sunday, that turned into food for the week:
-Spicy Black Bean Vegetable Soup (with tomatoes and corn)
-roasted spaghetti squash with homemade sauce (turkey meatballs to be purchased at Trader Joe's because I ran out of my supply; after many taste tests, I have concluded TJ's has the best turkey meatballs)
-Bacon Pumpkin Pasta (made with whole wheat pasta and canned pumpkin)
-sauteed chicken thighs for salads
-roasted carrots and butternut squash for a soup I am making on Tuesday or Wednesday



I had the spaghetti squash, carrots, frozen chicken thighs, pumpkin, pasta and sauce all at home, and it was time to use them up.

This was Monday's lunch:



I love the black bean soup, but it doesn't keep me full all day, so I added some string cheese and a granola bar to tide me over. It worked!

My remaining challenge with Sunday Cooking has been making it last all week; we start off so well, bee-lining straight into the kitchen when we get home late on Monday and Tuesday, happily reheating what is there. But by Thursday, we're bored and stressed and in no mood to cook anything, and out comes the frozen pizza (dangerous, but I am afraid of the alternative if we don't have it available) or we order one (the more dangerous alternative). Then Friday is usually a wash, and Saturday is junk food while we are out and about, and in the end we have only eaten healthy food four days out of seven.

I need to break that cycle, but I am not sure how. Maybe I will put off the spaghetti squash/sauce meal until Thursday so I can have the flavors of pizza without the calories...

Any other thoughts?

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P.S. Happy Belated Birthday, Dad! And thanks for teaching me to love grocery shopping. :)


(Last year, Dad opening his (mostly a joke) birthday gift of bologna and Whoppers. He was pretty delighted about it; I am not kidding about him being a grocery nerd!)