Hi all, deagle here again. My new job has kept me busy but not being in a social setting has definitely impaired my ability to grocery shop. I used to work at Walmart so I was pretty good at grocery shopping, but now I’m definitely out of practice.
When I go to Walmart I’m always worried people are looking at me. I can feel my whole body jiggle as I walk and I become very self conscious and hyper aware. I end up getting close to having a panic attack every time and I forget now what I’m even supposed to buy there. So for the past months I’ve had my gma pick up the groceries but she’s getting too old to do that now and she wants me to get back into doing it.
What do I buy at the grocery store? How do I get over this? I feel like a monster
2 comments
I shop for groceries all the time. People only want to get their stuff and get out. The only time I notice another person is when they slip on a banana peel and flip headfirst into a mop bucket.
Otherwise I don’t notice them. So you’re worrying about people for nothing. Even the cashier is mostly concerned with your food items, not you.
(1) Plan out 2-9 recipes for the week, depending on how much variety you like. I try to choose ones that have potential variations (I can use chili ingredients & pantry staples to make pasta sauce or curry, for example). Keep some shelf-stable staples like pasta, corn tortillas, or beans in stock so that you can make things on a whim.
(2) Buy what you need for those recipes. At Walmart or Target, you can look up what aisles things are in on the website & note that next to the item on your list. So you can beeline straight for what you need.
What do you usually eat? Where in the US are you, what cuisine do you like?
An average American might buy bread, milk, & bananas every week for example, plus peanut butter if they’re low.
I don’t eat a lot of sandwiches/toast, so my list is usually milk, bananas, a few veggies, a few cans of beans (for tacos, chili, etc), a snack like frozen fruit or ice cream, and whatever else I’m running low on.
A full serving of meat is about 4 oz for the average person, so 1 lb (16 oz) is four servings. Vegetables are about the same. You may need to make these portion sizes larger if you’re a larger person, but theoretically 1 lb of chicken, two potatoes, an onion, and 1 lb of carrots should give you two dinners for you & your grandmother, and if you’re shopping at Walmart that’ll be around $2-$3/serving. I’d roast the veggies in the oven and serve the meal with some kind of sauce–gravy, balsamic glaze, etc. But you could use those same ingredients to make soup. You’ll want at least two recipes like this, but probably more like two per meal.