Your food shopping

Until the pandemic I used to vary my shopping and would go to certain supermarkets for different reasons – convenience in terms of how much time I had or for certain products I knew I couldn't get at one or another. The lockdown put paid to that routine and, like all of us, whether shopping once a week or on-line you were still at the mercy of whatever was available.

With the recent easing I have resumed my old routine, albeit very carefully and always at 8am when the “traffic” in both senses is quieter - on the road and in the supermarket too.

Have you caught the supermarket ads on the tv – the ones saying they have price checked and/or matched products with the cheaper supermarkets?

I thought you might be interested in my results. I'm not going to drone on and on, simply take three random items and their comparative costs. I have to confess I was gob-smacked at the results.

Here goes :

I suggested to my friend that we go to Aldi – like me she's an early riser so we could shop before anyone else had got out of bed!

Here's my random sample :

500g box of seedless green grapes – described

as “wonky” which means not all the same size - £1

with a use-by date four days hence

1.75L carton of pure orange juice - £1.55

480g British pork loin steaks - £1.89

My comparison is with Waitrose simply because it happened to be my next port of call.

500g box of seedless green grapes - £2

in the interest of fairness they were all the same size

with a use-by date two days hence

1.75L carton of pure orange juice - £3

which was an offer - normally £4

480g British pork loin steaks - £4.50

I think my maths is accurate – by my reckoning I saved £5.06 - £1 on grapes, £1.45 on the orange juice (based on the offer price of £3) and a staggering £2.61 on the pork loin steaks – just three items - I dread to think what the saving would be on a full shop. It's true to say that I can't get everything I want at Aldi but it does show that if you become a savvy shopper with selected items you'll save a lot of dosh!

Two other random points to raise for those who may not shop at Aldi or Lidl – they've never made a secret that their fruit and veg needs to be used straight away – I found their use-by dates were as good as, in this case, Waitrose.

My original reason for shopping at Aldi was the excellent quality and cost of their cod loin. I should say that it's still £3.79 for 280g (£13.54 per kg). During the lockdown the only “supermarket” I could get cod loin was Marks and Spencer, sold in different weights, but typically £6.56 for 285g (£23 per kg).

Food for thought – you bet!

It's time to take stock, literally, and look at how you plan, shop, cook and eat.

Making your shopping list!

Not the most exciting of tasks I grant you but you won't be sorry and lets face it you have the time.

I confess that since the original lockdown and the infamous “loo roll gate” I've created what I call a war chest – not a huge one and to clarify I mean that if I've emptied a jar or finished any staple from my pantry, fridge, or freezer for that matter, I've added that item or ingredient to my next shopping list – instead of flying by the seat of my pants and too late was the cry - assuming that you are sticking to the rules! I don't mean that I've swept up every loo roll or tin of beans and taken more than I needed, quite the reverse.

I know that you'll think I'm bonkers but as I replaced said item I logged it in a journal along with the use by or BBE date and kept the journal, to hand, in the kitchen – it's quick and easy to refer to and I don't lose track of the contents of my store cupboard. If you decide to try this idea it's smart to keep your “stand-by stash” separate from your normal store cupboard, jars and tins have a habit of getting buried and you can never find what you'd swear was there!

Using this method all I need to do is check my log to make sure I've a back up. As with the previous lockdown we're going to find that random ingredients will vanish from the shelves without rhyme or reason.

It may well be outside your comfort zone but, particularly in light of the above, if you want to save what sanity you have left spend a little while planning your weekly meals. You can include a “takeaway” and treat yourselves to a supper at the weekend that doesn't require any cooking, just the oven and your timer!

You might also want to get into the habit of cooking, as an example, more potatoes than you need, deliberately creating leftovers, to include in another meal. You save time, money and achieve little or no waste – it's a win win!

Don't forget to check out bargains and deals that are out there – resist the urge to get carried away, a bargain or a good deal is only so if you'll use what's on offer – if you have the space to freeze so much the better. It might also be a good idea if you add your freezer purchases, as you shop, to the journal mentioned. It'll save you time and frozen fingers too.

Coming up – a little light relief and then some menu ideas.