Grocery shopping, again

My meal co-op group is meeting in the morning and I needed to get the foods I was scheduled to prepare. I had said before that the only thing we do altogether is go to the grocery store, and it's true. Before we dropped the car usage we would go to the store as a family. I genuinely thought this would change when didn't have a large vehicle to strap everyone into and load our provisions into the rear of. It hasn't. I managed to stroll off to the store last Tuesday by my lonesome but we barely had enough to get through till today. I have seen barer cabinets and far more empty shelves on my refrigerator, but there was no fruit or milk. Between school and work and the meal exchange, we decided not to wait.

Our neighbor's were hosting Elliot and Avery for some playtime and kept them till we returned from Kroger. Brent hauled the empty trailer, I had Oliver on the iBert and London rode alongside. We took our usual route along the PATH then up 1st Street. Uneventful if not a bit whimsy with the wind and crunchy leaves that are starting to drop.


View Larger Map

We got just what we needed, very few general wants, no ice cream and the minimal milk to get us through half the week (three gallons). Without listing it all out this time (as I did the first, second and third large trips) we totaled near 105lbs of food today. It exceeds the trailer weight limit marginally. If we had just tossed in any old thing we felt like eating we may have broken the axle. Thankfully we stuck to the list and only nudged some chocolate chips into the cart.

Loaded and ready to go. There were two other bikes in the back near the entrance. This is a very convenient Kroger to bike to.

If Avery had been with us in the trailer we may have had to reduce our purchases. We should get those panniers for Brent's rack, which could have taken two bags of weight from the trailer, and Avery would have fit, but might have still tipped the scale. That Yuba Mundo is looking very appealing right now. We could have hauled three children, four pannier bags and a trailer behind, if we were strong enough. Sounds like a fun challenge to me. Wonder if I could pull off something like that?

In the mean time, we will work with what we have and shop more frequently with a few extra stops at Julian's market as needed. I don't think we will give up on family grocery shopping just yet. It's still fun and it's good for us all. Although I do find myself reminiscing about the milk-man I had in Denver. At 8lbs a gallon, having fresh milk delivered is something worth daydreaming about.