What Do Your Groceries Say About You?
Did you know that the groceries you buy are a window into your soul? (They are a window into your soul.) Here’s what today’s haul says about me. What do your groceries say about you?
1. That I am not fooled or swayed by name brands, especially when it comes to toasted oat cereals, pancake mix, and chocolate chips.
2.That the bananas were a token purchase to assure myself that I’m healthy, but I’m not. They’re too green to eat today, and by tomorrow I’ll deem them too brown, and they will end up in the trash.
3. That I want my pasta to add a little fun to my life. Zany!
4. That I cannot be bothered to cut up a tomato and cook it with olive oil for five minutes.
5. That I’m carb loading (I’m not carb loading).
6. That the only pancake mix that will do is the one that only requires water.
7. That pancakes are bullshit without chocolate chips.
8. That going to the grocery store without a list is a terrible idea.
9. That I’m going to eat exclusively boring things for the next few days.
10. That I am in dire need of something green and leafy.
11. That what I really want are some french fries.
You can use those bananas with those chocolate chips to make some killer pancakes and thus saving the bananas from their trash can fate!
@becktar Or freeze them and then puree them for healthy ice cream type goodness!
but pancakes are soooooo easy to make from scratch. fifteen minutes, tops! the longest part is when they’re in the pan.
@cliuless I tend to agree, but:
Eggs (dozen)$3.00
Flour: $5-11
Baking powder – um $6 I think, last I checked
Sugar: um, let’s say $4
Salt: hopefully you have some
Milk $4.40/4 litre, $2.10/L I think
Oil $8
Vanilla (optional, but makes these the best): A LOT depending on whether you think you’re worth actual vanilla or synthetic.
Box of pancake mix: $3
Baking from scratch: unfortunately a luxury these days. Especially if you do not have a large pantry/fridge or limited carrying capacity.
@Fig. 1 whoa, those are some expensive groceries you’re buying there. i can get most of those things for about half the prices you’ve listed. plus, these are things that should be around anyway, no? and using a box of mix, you would need to buy the milk and eggs separately too.
baking from scratch might be arduous sometimes, but pancakes from scratch is definitely not. you could easily buy all those ingredients and mix it up ahead of time yourself. plus, all those ingredients have multiple uses around the kitchen, rather than the singular application that pancake mix has.
(this is my standby recipe for pancakes, no vanilla necessary. i might throw in an extra tablespoon of sugar, though: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/blueberry-pancakes-pancake-101/)
@Fig. 1 where are you shopping? you could easily pick up most of those commodities for half of what you listed in any bravo/key foods/c-town in NYC. and they keep forever, and you can use the same ingredients for basically any other kind of baked good. boom, you have bread/biscuits/waffles/cookies/pancakes for a week, instead of buying boxed mix, which usually has all kinds of weird emulsifiers/dough stabilizers/preservatives, etc.
That’s, um, ridiculous. Really. Everything but the eggs (which can be bought by the half-dozen, or even singly) and milk (available in half-pints) are fine in really long-term storage. Every single item is a staple, useful for all kinds of other cooking. If people don’t want to bake (or make pancakes) from scratch than that’s fine, go with god. But the idea that the cost of entry is too high requires that you only do it like maybe every ten years. Or maybe if you’re a refugee in actual flight. Or living out of a suitcase. Not enough pantry space for a bag of flour and a box of baking powder? Can’t invest in cooking oil? Bake or don’t, but it’s not a luxury, it’s just a choice.
@sally Yeah, the flour and everything like that will probably last you a year (and I eat pancakes like every weekend!), so you kind of have to think of it as a cost per use type deal. Also you should be able to buy that cheaper.
@everyone: Canada, if the litres didn’t tip you off. Minimum wage is about $10 here, if that helps for comparison. And I do make my pancakes from scratch, always have.
I just wanted to point out that without a pantry, cooking from scratch is expensive, so I understand why those of limited means resort to prefab or fast food, even when scratch cooking saves more money in the long run. I’m not sure what Logan has allotted for a food budget, but scratch cooking, like many money-saving techniques, requires a steep initial buy-in. Anyways, I hang out with a lot of people who work at shelters/food banks, so I’m particularly sensitized to the cooking from scratch privilege.
@Fig. 1 Anyways, carry on, everyone. Also, I find that adding a bit of ground flax to pancakes adds a bit more depth to the flavour and a slight health bonus.
@cliuless Some people are make-from-scratchers, some ain’t. If he wants the mix that requires only water, probably not a scratcher.
I enjoy Batter Blasters personally because the name sounds filthy and the pancakes are totally pretty fine! I can’t make them anymore because my husband is gluten intolerant (not full on celiac) so I’m curious about the gluten-free pancake question too!
my groceries say i am Trying to Eat More Fish.
Those bananas are at the ideal stage of greenness. They are Platonic Bananas.
@melis Seriously, Logan can’t do anything right. Can’t even identify a ripe banana.
@melis ditto. eat those bananas, RIGHT NOW.
Jesus Fucking Christ, Logan!!! What is wrong with you? Your fruit assessment is TERRIBLE!!! It’s shit like this that makes want to threaten to never read this site again, thus ruining your life forever!
Once the bananas are too brown to eat, they are perfect for banana bread or muffins or probably pancakes, too.
@phlox mmm chocolate chip banana bread
@phlox and you can throw them into the freezer, and defrost them when you are ready to bake (not for pancakes, in my opinion, but who knows how you like your pancakes). You need never feel guilty about letting bananas get too brown again!
(Or, alternatively, you can give your super-brown bananas to ME, and I will eat the hell out of them. Yum.)
@mishaps Or smoothies! Girl, save yourself that $8!
And in some defense of Pancake Mix to those upthread, it can be used for all kinds of baking needs well beyond pancakes. That said, I’m totally a local / organic food SNOB who is also POOR and I only buy pancake mix instead of making from scratch when I have my gluten-free friends over for brunch.
@sox (I’ll just show myself out…)
@sox Oh, I was just diagnosed with celiac on Monday, and I’m still reeling. It’s so expensive!! And I love to bake; it’s so soothing, but $8 for a 1 lb bag of rice flour?!?! I just can’t afford that.
So, um, which pancake mix do you use for you gf friends?
I’ve had people look into my cart and tell me ” you eat very healthy”. I think it’s such a rude thing to do, look into someone’s shoping cart and pass judgement.
Even what you eat is a status show now.
I buy jarred pasta sauce too beccause I find chopping tomatos to be totally disgusting…raw tomatos in general gross me out. All blended up in a sauce or soup, I’m good to go, but don’t ask me to do the blendin’!