- No matter where you shop, there will be at least one item you'd like to buy that the store doesn't carry. There will be another that's out of stock. Plan to visit a back-up store once a month to load up on those items.
- If you go to the store hungry you'll come out with all kinds of things you want to try. You won't try them. For me, it was once a Yorkshire pudding mix; yummy-sounding, but insanely complicated to make. It held a place of honor in our pantry for a full year after it expired.
- If you go to the store after a big meal you'll come out with nothing but toothpicks, breath mints, and after-dinner liqueur. Good luck assembling next week's meals. Perhaps there's a recipe for Yorkshire pudding mix and breath mints on the Internet (it wouldn't surprise me) but it's probably complicated.
- Buy something table-ready. We've all been there. You shop for all the groceries, load them into the car, go home, unload the car, and put everything away. The trip took time, so you're behind on your daily routine. You're tired. It's time to eat. Can you really prep, assemble, and cook after all that? (I didn't think so.)
- Observe expiration dates. Manufacturers name the earliest possible expiration. You'll feel obliged to throw stuff away and buy more. The dates are also prophetic. If your chicken soup and NyQuil expire in October of 2014, you'll enjoy perfect health until approximately December of 2014. Then you'll get the flu or a nasty cold.
- Don't forget your reading glasses. It's not just expiration dates, it's ingredients. As you age, you learn what your system can and can't tolerate. It's amazing what 'extras' they sneak into a simple item.Without those readers, how will you know?
The best advice of all can't be followed in a grocery shopping trip. It's when you go to a restaurant. Order the complicated, hard-to-cook stuff. If you crave something simple, order it, then order the complicated stuff 'to go.' (I'll have the Yorkshire pudding served in a freezer bag, please...")
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