The New Hip Mommy's Way to Shop

 DD#1 called yesterday morning needing help reorganizing her pantry. She had purchased some containers to help keep things they use on a regular basis stored to avoid the dreaded little bits of pasta and stuff left in box's only to be forgotten. Pantry before photo. The toddlers were of course getting into anything and everything down low! Ha

 And afterwards. Once we got started we didn't stop at the pantry but went on to the baking cabinets, spices, and fridge. What the heck we did every cabinet in her LARGE kitchen. DD hasn't been grocery shopping for the past 3 weeks due to vacationing. Needless to say the cupboards were just about bare. The fridge...lots and lots of food waste :( We kept a running list of sizes of additional containers she needs to finish the job. DD is a teacher by profession so of course she has to label anything that doesn't move. She went last night to pick up the cute chalk board labels that are finally in stores, can't wait to see how it all looks when she is finished. I read on another blog a few years ago how much ladies like looking at others pantries. She called this pantry porn, sorta cute! Ha

 How would you like to play in a kitchen this size? Pretty cool don't you think? The doorway in the back is her in home office with floor to ceiling cabinets and drawers. The office will be next on her list for a big time clean out. What is it about teachers that they think they need to hang onto so much stuff? Makes me NUTS!! When we work on big projects like this I am brutal, the s...needs to go. DD likes to look at every single thing and think back on memories. Together we make a good team, she stays out of my way and is always very appreciative! Ha

 After a full day of hard work with DD I took some time to work on my Boo Boo quilt today. I played around for hours last night trying to get the hang of hand quilting. What the heck, I stink at hand quilting. I am going to have another go at it tonight after watching lots of U Tube video's this morning. For now I am just straight line quilting the nine patch's

Whipped up a batch of meatballs for the freezer today as we were totally out. Supper tonight was spaghetti and meatballs with homemade crusty bread. Those meatball were the nastiest things I can remember making in years and years. The whole kit and caboodle went in the trash :(

For some reason seems like everything I touch has turned into a mess the last 24 hours. As I was setting the table tonight when I shook up the Parmesan cheese the lid flew off...yep cheese went everywhere. Hubby was so sweet about the meatballs, he wanted to know if I had tried a new recipe? Ya, as a matter of fact I did, do you like them? "Well I like your old ones better but this is fine". Once I took a bite of mine I knew I had the best hubby in the world not to have spit the thing across the room or maybe he was just really hungry.

OK, on to the new hip Mommy way of shopping. Have you heard of ordering your groceries on line, paying with your debit/credit card then just pulling up to the convenient "Express" lane where the attendant loads everything in and off you go? Seems it is the latest and greatest for busy Mommy's who hate to grocery shop. The cost of the service isn't really all that bad $4.99 each time you shop but you can't use coupons other than e-coupons, don't get in on the unadvertised specials and such. DD #1 uses this service, she swears it has saved them not only time but lots of money since she no longer makes impulse buys, so she sticks to her list. She is now spending a little extra time making a good grocery list so she only has to shop/drive up once a week. Hummm.... She might be onto something for busy ladies. Not for me as I like playing the coupon game and wondering around looking for deals but of course I am not pushing 3 little kiddo's around.

DD#1 had so darn many duplicates of different spices it was crazy. We combined as many containers as we could then stored the rest so she can shop at home before buying any new spices. She pointed out to me one of the reasons she ended up with extras in many things was after work she was always in a rush trying to meet me to pick up the kiddo's, get home to make dinner, playtime, bath's and of course teachers always have homework for hours in the evening, she never had time to make a good grocery list. Not knowing what as really at home and always running from here to there she would just throw what she thought she needed in the buggy and off she went. Once home she never had time to hunt around for an ingredient or see if she had any on hand. They have drastically cut down on food waste since she took off this past school year saving them money. Eating out is also a thing of the past (almost), taking 3 little ones to a restaurant isn't really a "Night Out" if you gt my drift

I find all of this new way of shopping pretty interesting. The only thing we use to get in a convenient way back when our girls were little was milk, cheese, and eggs delivered once or twice a week. Back then we were in states that had lots of local dairy farms, one of the MANY perks of living in a rural area!! Who knows if this type of service still around.

Here is how DD#1 Friday mornings are now spent.
Place her grocery order Thursday night after the kiddo's are in bed.
Hit the gym Friday morning
Swing by the grocery store express lane (they even put the fridge/freezer items separate
Unload the kiddo's and perishables.
Late morning snack for kiddo's
Down for naps
Mommy brings in the rest of the groceries then puts her feet up

Do you have this sort of service in your area? What do you think? For DD#1 it seems to be well worth the extra $4.99 a week.