Week One of the Eat From the Pantry Challenge

I took my first trip to the grocery store late last night. I bought onions (red and yellow), lemons, lettuce, carrots, lunch meat (turkey and cheese) and milk, which were all in the list of items I planned to buy when I started this challenge. I also purchased juice and bread, which were not in the original list, but were needed in our house and on sale.

Although I went into the store with a list and a strict set of rules I still found myself looking over sales tags. Truth be told I found myself wandering in and out of the first two isles before realizing that I had no intention of buying anything I found in there. I woke up from my grocery store stupor in the pasta isle where I remembered that I had at least six boxes of pasta sitting on the shelf at home.

I pushed the cart quickly out of the isle and down to the dairy section at the end of the store. I passed by the meat and poultry department and made a quick comparison of organic prices before reaching the milk fridge.

I passed by the eggs, the shredded cheese and yogurt displays, because I already have all of these products at home. I picked up a loaf of bread and headed for the checkout. In total I had only twelve items in my cart. I would’ve left with eight, but I bought a couple of onions and a couple of lemons.

I was completely surprised by my tendency to wander the isles in search of deals. Next time around I plan to shop the perimeter of the store only and to get out of the store in half the time.