Easier Grocery Shopping With Children

Before you get too excited; no I don’t have any ideas.  I am asking, no BEGGING you for yours. 

A.P., Maybelle and I decided to check out the new Cascade Meijer.  We were on this side of town because I had a Weight Watchers meeting near there.  We lasted about 5 minutes in the meeting. This is the second time Maybelle has gotten me thrown out. It is the only thing that keeps me from sticking my head in a bag of chips at times… the sooner I lose the weight, the sooner I can stop trying to make my children shush!! while others are celebrating their losses.  Ironically, my bribe offer of cookies for good behavior during a Weight Watchers meeting was ineffective. 

Off to Meijer we went.  The bribe reward for making good choices in the store was taking them to see “Shrek The Third” at the Dove Family Film Festival.  As you can see, I am blogging rather than Shrek-ing, so that didn’t go too well either.

So about the new Cascade Meijer.  It is beautiful.  Shiny and new.  If it is possible for a store to emit an air of confidence; this store does.  I was a little confused by the back corner of the grocery section.  The shelves all of a sudden change direction (if you attempted to shop during construction – it’s kind of the same; only clean) and it’s difficult to figure out what is the best way to get through there without doubling back.

The rest of the store looks great though. The most exciting part is the deli.  Ohhhh the cheese.

There is cheese from all around town, the state, the country, the world.  I am still under some budgetary restrictions so I had to look at the fancy cheese and not buy, but the next extra dollar (or $20) I have, I am headed to the cheese counter.

One really nice thing was the healthy snack stand.  I think they ripped this off from Publix (oh Publix… how I miss thee) but it’s a good idea.  There are fresh apples, bananas, and other fruits in cute little baskets.  You (or more likely your child) put a quarter in a little box, and you can choose a piece of fruit to snack on while shopping.

I was armed with a fistful of coupons. Actually, I accidentally brought the clip with me, but it was a good accident.  You know those things that are like huge clips, but have a magnet on the back, so you can hang it on the refrigerator? I have about 6. I love them.  One had my coupons in it, and when I took it out of my coat pocket and set it in the cart – duh – it stuck! So my coupons were all clipped together, and easy to keep handy with the magnetized clip.

I recently signed up for “The Grocery Game”.  You pay a set price per month, and get a listing of advertised and un-advertised specials. It generates a report and tells you when to ‘stockpile’; as well as matches the sales up with coupons and lists the dates the coupons were published.

This isn’t working out me, but it seems to for everyone else.  I most likely won’t go beyond the trial period but if you want to read more about it, check out The Diaper Diaries post on it. 

I did try the video carts. Once. 

Right in front of the meat counter, the cart lurched forward; then stopped.  It wouldn’t re-start.  I had to get the hamburger grinder guy to stop his business and run to get a service counter person for me. 

As it turns out; those carts stop after an hour. An HOUR?? By the time you get two kids into the cart, seat assignments negotiated,  buckles fastened, and doors locked you’ve wasted 15 minutes right there.  There is no timer on it, so even though you are done shopping and on your way to the checkout line, if the cart stops; the ride is over.

My kids get only two hours of TV a day and I hate to waste it at the grocery store.  Besides; when they are not being naughty, they are pretty fun so I like talking to them. 

So now I turn to you.  What are your best tips for easier grocery shopping?  Leave the kids at home? Unfortunately; my husband can’t distinguish between me ‘going to get a coffee’ and ‘going grocery shopping’. If he has to watch the kids – it’s all the same regardless of where I have gone.  I don’t like to cash in my chips for shopping so I need to make this go better. 

Any other ideas? Please leave a comment below. Thank you!

Tasty Tuesday Tactics

In our house, we use a “Choo Choo Board” to reward positive behavior.    Each train has a velcro circle on the back; and the board has 10 velcro circles on the track.  A.P. has the opportunity to earn a Choo Choo for various good deeds. It hangs on our dining room wall.

When he gets to 10 – a full board – we have a rotating incentive.  It goes from Chuck E Cheese, to a small toy (think Dollar Store dinosaur), to Craig’s Cruisers, to another small toy. The bar is set pretty high, but still, we have gone to both places enough times to learn a thing or two about how to survive.  Make sure you bring hand sanitizer. 

Here are my Chuck E. Cheese tips: 

First; make sure you use a coupon for tokens.  Just go to the website, and sign up. You will receive coupons via e-mail.  You can also find them frequently in the Sunday paper, as well as on different products. I think I found some on a macaroni and cheese box. There are also free token rewards, such as good grades, or other things Chuck deems worthy.

Second, don’t worry about geting your kids to eat there.  Think if you plunked yourself down in the middle of the most interesting place you could imagine, and your mom kept insisting you eat some OK but not amazing pizza before you start exploring.  Just get an endless salad bar and drink for yourself, a little casino-style bucket of tokens for the kids, and have a seat.  They know what to do. 

Today we found ourselves at Craig’s Cruisers. I actually do like the food here. No, it isn’t going to win any awards, but the pizzas come in interesting combinations, and for $6.99 it’s all you can eat. Just make sure you go hungry.  It’s easier to get the kids to eat here, because they aren’t right in the middle of the games.

This is more difficult for me than Chuck’s place.  First, it’s bigger. Second, it’s dark. And third, much of it is ‘too old’ for my kids. Fortunatley, our kids are too young to know that they aren’t actually playing the games; they are on the ‘start’ screen; so those are free.

Another fun, free thing to do at Craig’s Cruisers is watch the chubby middle aged guy with a receeding hairline (the one who is not your husband – that would be horrifying and not funny at all) do “Dance Dance Revolution”.  I have not had to work so hard to stifle a laugh in a long, long time.

The Kiddie Coaster is always a hit.  It simulates a ride on the Blue Streak at Cedar Point.  I think. I get the Blue Streak mixed up with that rickety old thing at Boblo Island, if anyone is old enough to be able to say they remember that.

My favorite thing to do is a family activity.  We play a game called “18 Wheeler”. 

There is a huge seat, so all four of us sit together.  I shift, Mr. Binder works the gas and brake pedals, Maybelle is on the horn, and A.P. is at the wheel.  I ask you – where can a whole family have more fun for $0.25??

Maybelle and I blew a bunch of tokens playing those games where you put a coin it, and you think “This is the one.  It’s going to push all those coins over the edge and they will all be MINE!” Alas, it never does.

One guy actually won 200 tokens playing the “Deal Or No Deal” game while we were there.  It looked like the game was broken; the tickets just kept coming. To put that in perspective; a “Care Bears” wall clock costs 500 tokens.  A Detroit Tigers batting helmet is 1500. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to amass that many tokens.  I don’t want to know.

A few bucks for the games, a few laps around the go-kart track, and we were done.  We did get the best little parting gift ever.  We were deciding between another crappy rubber ball and some kind of multi-colored octopus thing when I spotted some binoculars. Yes, they are cheap and plastic and will be broken by Thursday. But we were able to get two pair, and the kids were remarkably quiet on the way home.  We even had enough left over for miniature pterodactyl, which is inexplicably bright pink.

Both are so fun for your kids; and they don’t have to break the bank!

Menu Plan Monday

I am happy to report that last week’s, um, creative menu was a big hit. I am not as happy to report that my husband was even more delighted with our $0.00 grocery bill for the week, and asked if I could do it again.

Probably not without a few purchases… we are entirely out of fresh produce, as I used up the last of the apples up tonight in a little number I will call “Apple Crisp-obbler“.  I peeled and cut up about 5 apples, then put them in a bowl with two handfulls of sugar (less than a cup. It’s hard to hold sugar) and a few good shakes of cinnamon, and then a little bit of nutmeg and a pinch of ground cloves. I set it off to the side while I mixed up about a cup (whatever was left in the box) of Jiffy Mix, with two pouches of some oatmeal with almonds no one liked. It’s the instant kind. I threw that in with about 1/4 stick (3 tbsp?) of melted Crisco. I greased a pie dish and put the apples in there, then the oatmeal/Jiffy Mix on next.  I baked it at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.  It was good!

I will dive in again and use what is hanging out in the freezer and on the shelf already. Fortunately two dinners will be away from home, so it will be pretty easy!

Here goes:

MONDAY

Crock Pork Roast with Sherry Plum Sauce

• 4 lb. pork boneless loin roast (I only have pork chops but will give it a go anyway)
• 2 T. vegetable oil
• 1 C. dry sherry
• 1 T. ground mustard (dry)
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 t. dried thyme leaves
• 1 1/4 t. ground ginger
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 C. plum jam (OK another substitution.  I have duck plum sauce in my ‘fridge.  I have no idea what I was going to make with it but it’s goin’ in the crock pot now.)

Trim excess fat from pork. Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Cook pork in oil, about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides. Place pork in crockpot.

Mix remaining ingredients except jam; pour over pork.

Cook on low 7 to 9 hours or until pork is tender. Remove pork from crockpot. Cover and keep warm.

Skim fat from juices in crockpot. Stir jam into juices. Cover and cook on high about 15 minutes or until jam is melted. Stir. Serve sauce with pork.

This recipe is adapted from one one That’s My Home.

Served with asparagus, frozen this summer.

TUESDAY

My Spooky Meal.

WEDNESDAY:

Sloppy joes that I do not have to make.  Grandma likes to see the kids in their costumes, so she serves it up on Halloween.

THURSDAY:

Chicken and Rice With Veggies

Cut two boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite sized pieces.  Sautee in olive oil until browned.  Add a bag of frozen vegetables, thawed and mix until heated through.  Add two cups of cooked rice and stir to mix.  Add 1 can of fat free cream of chicken soup and 1/2 can of water.  Turn heat to low and simmer until incorporated.

FRIDAY:

Dinner at my sister’s church. I am going to make an appetizer.

 Huevos Endiablados

• 6 hardboiled eggs, peeled
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons capers, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• chili powder, to taste
• Cilantro sprigs

Cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and put them in a bowl. Mash well and mix in the mayonnaise, lime juice, cumin, capers and salt. Fill the egg-white halves equally with the yolk mixture. Sprinkle lightly with chili powder.

Arrange on a serving plate. Garnish with cilantro. Serve cold.

This recipe is from Recipe Goldmine.

For more Menu Plan Monday, check out I’m an Organizing Junkie!

Lansing – A Nice Place To Visit

But I didn’t wanna live there. I grew up near Lansing, then moved back for a brief time as an adult. It is not my cup of tea.

So what on earth would bring me to Lansing two weeks in a row? We are going today, as well as next week.  My sister, primarily.  She still lives in the area (and is very happy; thank you very much). 

Today we are going to see a Lansing Library literacy program. I know; a library event. What a surprise.  Among the activites is an opportunity to meet someone my children absolutely love:

“Super Why!”.  It’s a PBS show (about reading – hence the library promoting TV) created by the same person who did Blues Clues.  I have mentioned before, and will undoubtedly mention again, that I love Blues Clues. Some day, I will devote an entire post to why Steve is SO much better than Joe; but for now I will restrain myself.

Our second trip will be to celebrate Día de los Muertos at my sister’s church. It’s a Mexican tradition and it means Day Of The Dead.  People who have died are remembered by their friends and family.  Her church will have an altar (part of the custom) set up to leave food and treats, or little things the dead people enjoyed while they were alive.  It is a nice way to remember and honor someone who has died in a fun, and not sad way.  It’s a big party.

For the kids, we are going to make a “Paper Bag Monster Piñata”.  The supplies are things we already have on hand (always a plus). There are very good, detailed instructions here. 

The end result looks like this:

The only things you need to make it are:

• A large paper bag
• String
• Tissue paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Crepe paper streamers
• Optional: Googly eyes, paint

Now I like a good papier-mâché project as much as the next mom. What’s not to love about kids with paste in their hair and strips of newspaper stuck to their shirt asking when you are going to put the candy in in – 14 days in a row? But this quick, easy version will just have to do.  Enjoy!