Online Grocery Shopping: Saving a Packet, or A Total Racket?
This week I decided to try online shopping. For groceries rather than the kind of items that one would usually shop for online, i.e. dvd’s cd’s etc.
With both kids home during the school holidays, the idea of loading up the car with all assorted paraphernalia simply to pop to the shops for groceries, having to wrangle them both into a trolley and then having no space left to actually put stuff, *really* didn’t appeal to me.
You know what I mean right?
So I thought I would give one of our local stores the benefit of trying out their online shopping facility.
The website in question was easy to use, and fast to figure out the navigation, and I was able to get my shopping fairly quickly.
The whole process really opened my eyes to the possibilities and pitfalls of the concept and I thought that sharing my experience might help others avoid the potholes on the virtual super highway.
Whether or not you choose to shop for groceries and basic necessities online, boils down to what you find more valuable to you.
Time vs Money
This is the question you should ask yourself:
If you are able to save an hour by shopping online, is that one hour more valuable to you, in terms of using the time to earn money by working on a project (if you’re a WAHM), than if you were to down tools, and go directly to the store to save money by finding bargains and specials that are not online. Consider everything right down to the gas/petrol required to get to the store, the distance travelled, the energy expended etc.
Here are some other pointers that can help you to improve your time management and cost saving ratio as well as some other interesting facts about doing grocery shopping online.
- Make a Menu Plan: Do not deviate from that plan. Download our handy meal planner to help you plan out a weeks meals in advance. It can be used in both Excel or Open Office, and is fully customizable and free.
- Shops with a List: From now on that is your Indian name. Make a list for groceries, based solely on your meal planner (did you download it yet?) and on any additional cleaning materials, other household items you may need. Ladies, chocolate is not a necessary household item, nor can it be categorized under ‘cleaning materials’, no matter how much you’d like it to.
- Do not browse: Browsing unnecessarily leads to spending unnecessarily. Yes the boxes are pretty. Yes the pictures are colourful, but IGNORE them. You have a list. You are “Shops with a List” remember?
- Environmentally Friendly: Consider that if 20 people shop online, that would otherwise have driven cars to the store, you are actually saving some bad emissions from being released into the air. Yes, the delivery guy still has to drive to your house, but take one car versus twenty? Basic math says you’re helping the environment.
- Temptation Not: You won’t be tempted by the freshly baked cinnamon rolls and coffee if you can’t smell them right?
The Down Side: There is also a down side of course, and by shopping online, you will not be able to see any specials that are only available in store. Items that might have been marked down are not listed on online grocery store sites, so where you could save quite a bit by buying bananas that are ripe right now, and needing to be sold immediately at rock bottom prices.
- Premium Only: Sometimes when you shop online at a big online retailer for groceries, all orders are received at a centralized depot, and very often they will only carry the premium brand version of the product that you are looking for. So where at your local store you may have as many as three to four different brands of nappies available to choose from, they may only carry the most expensive premium brand. Ditto Olive Oil. Ditto Chocolate. But chocolate wasn’t on your list though right?
- Expiry Dates: My online retailer has a feature which allows me to send a note to the ‘personal shopper’ who will be picking out the products for me. I use this to instruct them to please select the item that has the expiry date as far in the future as possible i.e. milk/bread/meat. Failure to do that, results in the products I’m ordering to be expiring within a day or two of them being delivered. Fact.
- Package Sizes: This again, is probably not the same at each retailer, but watch the package sizes carefully. You may be buzzing to discover this amazing bargan! Then when you receive it, you realise that it’s because you ordered the 100g bag instead of the 250g bag. If you aren’t there in person, at least read the fine print.
- Bulk Bargains: Be aware of the bulk bargain trap. Buying the larger item in order to save money, isn’t always cheaper! Make sure you work out the difference in price per pound/kilo/gram before selecting the bulk option. Fact.
- Local Products: This is a thorny issue as we all have it drummed into us that we should buy local products. I understand why. But I do not endorse this when the premium foreign brand is double the quality of the local one, and half the price. Fact. Yes, I’m talking about Tate & Lyle Demerara Sugar Cubes (ZAR 17.99) vs Hulettes Brown Sugar Cubes (R34.99). There is JUST no excuse for this sort of pricing, carbon foot print or not. If local brands want to compete, they’d better do so on equal footing. Charging double the price and hoping to guilt us into buying it will NOT fly with me or any of the other consumers I know.
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Sesame Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables
Prep those chopsticks folks because this one is super yummy!
Firstly, you’ll need to go and get this recipe, from ThePioneerWoman.com because the woman is a genius. Her cooking has changed my life. I’m not exaggerating here, just make sure you come right back and try out this extension to her recipe that I’ve painstakingly put together for you.
What you will need for my portion of the recipe is:
1 pack of chicken fillets (approx 400-500g will do fine)
3-4 Big carrots, peeled and sliced length ways
Half a cucumber sliced into strips
1 cabbage (sliced in strips)
A Wok (preferably, but a regular non-stick frying pan will suffice)
Noodles (this is where it’s easier than you think – the ones from Asian supermarkets are best, but if you’re not able to find any, then any regular thin-ish spaghetti will work just fine – even two minute noodles would work if you’re REALLY pressed, but don’t tell any real chefs I told you that because a) I will deny it and b) other internet foodies will laugh at me
3 Spring Onions (chopped)
Other ingredients you will require for cooking the chicken are:
- 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil (your choice whether you use olive, canola, vegetable or sunflower)
- 2 Tablespoons of Soy sauce (I use low sodium but any kind works great!)
Step 1: Cook noodles as per cooking instructions – in a pot on the stove top - this usually involves boiling them in water for the required number of minutes. It’s not brain surgery, read the instructions and you can’t go wrong. If you think I’m going to use words like ‘al dente’ here, then please proceed to the next website, do not pass go, do not take $200. Set them aside once cooked (still in the water – do not strain them yet)
Step 2: Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in your wok and saute (fancy word for flash/stir fry) adding the soy sauce, and cooking until done. Please don’t go giving yourselves salmonella poisoning or anything, make sure that chicken is cooked!
Step 3: Stir-fry your carrots/cucumber/cabbage for a few minutes using the juices left over from having cooked the chicken. Do not over-season your dish, remember that all the big flavours are still going to be added!
Step 4: Now it’s time to prepare that sesame noodle sauce as per the Pioneer Woman’s recipe. You will need the following ingredients on hand – I’m posting them here in case you want to prep your shopping list, but please visit her site for instructions on making the sauce (it’s super easy, and delicious, and no cooking required!). Make sure you have – on hand:
- Soy Sauce
- Crushed Garlic
- White Sugar
- Rice Vinegar
- Sesame Oil
- Chili Oil
- Canola Oil
- Hot Water
Step 5: Combine your chicken, noodles and veg in your wok (off the heat) and pour the sauce that you’ve just made over and stir to combine.
Step 6: Dish up and enjoy! Feel free to go back for seconds, if your family don’t beat you to it!
I’ll be making this dish for lunch today, which makes it the second time this week. It’s been a big hit with the family!
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Food: Quick and Easy 2-Potato Bake
Disclaimer:
Not Recommended for:
Lactose Intolerant People, Celebrities Who Shun Carbs, Models etc.
Highly Recommended for:
People who like to eat their body weight in carbohydrates, with added grilled cheese toppings
Easy 2 Potato Bake
(Caters for Family of 4 – Adjust as necessary for larger gatherings…bake the carbs, and they will come)
You will need:
- 4-5 Medium/Large Potatoes
- 1-2 White Sweet Potatoes
- 1 Small Onion diced
- 1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 Cups of Grated cheddar
- Parmesan (to sprinkle – optional)
Pre-Heat your oven to 180deg centigrade
Peel potatoes and sweet potatoes and allow to stand in a bowl of water (so they don’t discolour) while you ready your oven dish.
Slice potatoes and sweet potatoes and layer them in any fashion in a shallow oven proof dish, whilst pausing to sprinkle diced onion in between.
Add your tsp of crushed garlic to your 1/2 cup of chicken stock, and pour over the assembled potatoes.
Season with salt and pepper as per your desired tastes.
Use your two cups of grated cheddar to sprinkle over the top, and add parmesan cheese if you’ve remembered to buy it, and could find some under a gazillion dollars in the shops.
Bake in your (did you remember to pre-heat the oven?) oven at 180 deg centrigrade for 40 mins until golden brown.
Hmmm, smell your yummy kitchen? Have the family gathered in anticipation yet?
Take a closer look, the onions should just be crispy, the potatoes will be soft, and you will have quickly and easily created the perfect accompaniment to any barbeque, braai or dinner.
If you have a house full of boys (as do I) then feel free to serve them this by itself. It has protein (the cheese and chicken stock), and 2 different kinds of vegetables (well potatoes and sweet potatoes are vegetables right?) and starch. I’d never claim that this dish is actually well balanced, or even healthy, but it’s definitely tasty enough to be requested more than once by hungry males.
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