Saturday, August 18, 2012

Pantry Raid: Week 1 Grocery Shopping

Any wife and/or mom can attest grocery shopping is one of those necessary evils you just can't escape. Unless somehow you can convince your family to fast in support of starving people in third world countries at some point you will have to grocery shop. No matter how much time you don't have, or how much money you don't have, your family has to eat.

This fact leads me to the inevitable **** WARNING. RANT AHEAD****

... F**K YOU Martha Stewart, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Better Homes and Gardens, (and I hate to add this one) and Rachel Ray! You post/publish/pin/show us all what you claim are "cheap" and "easy" recipes for our oh so busy weeknight dinners... but guess what THEY'RE NOT! They are NOT CHEAP, they are NOT EASY, and sorry Rache they are NOT done in 30 MINUTES!

Here's a thought Martha... instead of titling your steak and shrimp dinner segment "Dinner on the Cheap" how bout calling it what it really is.... "Dinner I can afford and you can't, but I think it's cheap cause I live in a delusional fairy land"

And this wouldn't be a proper grocery/budget related rant with out a special shout out to that B***H Melissa D"Arabian. $10 Dinners????... Come on Melissa! Let me shed a little light on your $10 Dinners for you...

#1. They cost more than $10, even when shopping at Wal-Mart
#2. They only feed 4 people.... 4 people for $10!!! Yeah that's a deal if you're eating out and someone else is preparing your meal and cleaning it up but...
#3. Do the math, $10 per dinner for 30 days (1month) = $300!! Just for dinners. That does not include any other grocery items needed for breakfasts, lunches and snacks.

According to www.census.org in 2010  the median income (by state average) in America was $50,102 annually. Now lets also consider that in a document published by the Department of Commerce Middle Class Task Force in 2010 they defined the median "middle class" income as $80K+. And no I didn't make that up, apparently there is a group of people going around calling themselves the "Middle Class Task Force". I can just see it now, a group of  men and women in their late 30's early 40's living in the burbs, driving SUV's, shopping at Target and doing it all in full tactical gear. But I digress... the point of the statistics lesson is that according to this information 50% of Americans make less than the middle of the middle class. Which would place them in the lower middle to lower class.

If we assume that Mrs. d'Arabian's $300/month dinner budget is roughly 1/2 of the families grocery (food only) budget, then we get a monthly food budget of $600, or %15 of the median annual income. Based on recommended percentages %15 is the maximum recommended amount for groceries. Well isn't that just a slap in the face... so what these people are calling "CHEAP" is the maximum that us "average" people should be spending.

You want "Dinner on the Cheap".. give me some good ideas for 80/20 ground beef. How bout "Beans and Rice 50 ways", or some new ideas on making canned veggies not taste canned. And how about considering the undeveloped taste buds kids who think bubble gum flavored tooth paste tastes good. These aren't folks that are going to jump at the chance to try herb crusted tilapia with mango chimichurri, cucumber gazpacho, or kale.

GET REAL PEOPLE!

                                   ***** Rant concluded *****

Below is Week 1's Shopping list complete with actual prices and total.

Week1 
Meal Plan ItemsItemAmountPrice
 Shredded Cheese1 pkg1.79
 Celery1 bunch0.88
 Green Onion1 bunch0.5
 Red Bell Pepper2 each0.66
 Pepperoni1 pkg2.28
 Zucchini1 each0.5
 Red Beans1 lb1.08
 Green Bell Pepper1 each0.68
 Head of Lettuce1 each1.12
Staple Items   
 Milk1 gallon2.58
 Total Week 1 12.07
 Grand Total 12.07

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