So Many Dishes

There are any number of ways to interpret this prompt. At first, I thought it would be really simple to answer. Then, as I started to think about how Ken and I shop, I realized that I could go in several different directions.

These days, we split our weekly shopping between two markets, Publix and Walmart Neighborhood Market. Publix lives up to their motto, where shopping is a pleasure, until you check out and have heart palpitations when you see the total cost. So, even though our kids refer to Walmart as the evil empire, we shop at Neighborhood Market for staples. Plus, the quality of their fresh produce has improved dramatically in the past couple of years, so we buy a lot of vegetables there, plus some fruit. If we’re buying value-added produce, specifically cut fruit, that comes from Publix, where I know it’s cut fresh daily. Most of our meat is from Publix, as well. There are also certain things we buy at BJ’s, where I go approximately once a month. I was going to exclude those items, since most are what we refer to as non-food products: paper goods, things that fall in the health and beauty category, etc. I realized, however, that there are certain food items that belong in our top five that we buy there, too. So, here’s the list.

1-canned tomatoes. These are a staple of my cooking, and I buy diced tomatoes by the case at BJs. I make so many recipes that include them. Depending on the dish, I may buy San Marzano tomatoes, and sometimes I’ll get crushed tomatoes for sauces, but diced fire-roasted tomatoes are my go-to.

2-fruit. There’s fruit in our cart pretty much every trip to the store. I can’t pin down one particular type, because we like variety. We always have fruit with breakfast, and usually with lunch, too. Right now, there are blueberries, blackberries, grapes, mandarins, cut cantaloupe, and a strawberry-pineapple cut fruit mix in our fridge. Yes, we buy a lot of fruit.

3-eggs. Eggs seem to be in our cart every week. In addition to using them in recipes, we generally eat eggs for breakfast a couple times a week. Thursday morning has become poached egg morning, and Sunday breakfast is usually an omelet or scrambled eggs to get us through rehearsal and church service. If we have extras, I love to put a couple of hard boiled eggs into a jar of pickled beets to make one of my childhood favorites, pickled eggs.

4-milk. Ken’s a milk drinker. Not a week goes by without buying milk.

5-English muffins. Our preference for toast in the morning. I often buy these at BJs, where they have larger packages, but they only carry the regular and the light, whole-grain varieties. However, Publix offers BOGO deals on them at least once a month. Right now, they have the seasonal cranberry muffins, and we put a couple packages in the freezer.

There’s my list. There are other things I consider staples, and it’s hard to name just five items. Maybe I need to do a “what’s always in my fridge” post.