I was thwarted by my tactic to go early for a pleasant shopping experience. In NYC, I can’t seem to get a break, and enjoy strolling down aisles, picking things up, reading labels - not going to happen. I was at TJ’s by 9:15 am. You would think people would be at work on a Monday morning - of course not! The familiar line around the store, blocking the dairy and vitamin aisle was in full force. I lose this one. But, I got a lot of great food, and I managed to keep my spending to a minimum, even picking up some extras like cereal, milk, and fun colored beans from the farmer’s market. All in all, not a bad shopping day, and I didn’t even go to Whole Foods! That’s truly the prize this week. I did go on Sunday night to pick up a few things for a party my friends’ having, and picked up asparagus that was on sale ($2.72) and organic onions ($2.99). That was it! Next step, buy everything from the farmer’s market…. that’s the next level right there… I also managed to buy fish from the farmer’s market, turkey for a meatloaf, and bacon for the week. I bought more herbs this week but here’s a note: right when you get home, wet paper towels, wrap your herb stems with the wet towel, then store in a large ziploc in the fridge. My parsley from LAST week still looks new - now I have way too much. All my other herbs lasted well after the week was over, so it’s a great way to stretch your money, but still having fresh fresh flavors for your dishes. I also stocked up on the last of the tomatoes, so there will be a couple extra special dishes this week. Note, I break up the farmer’s market totals by the stalls I buy at, so each dollar amount is from a different farm. OK, here are the totals for this week

Whole Foods:

Asparagus - $2.72

Onions, 5lb bag, organic - $2.99

Farmer’s Market

2 white fish fillets - $7.20

Organic potatoes, garlic, sage - $5

2lb butternut squash, Rosemary, Chives, Parsley, pint cherry tomatoes, 2 beefsteak tomatoes - $12

Multicolored beans (new for fall)  - $2

Basil - $2

Grand Total: $77.53/10 meals/2ppl = $3.88/person/meal!!!

Tags: fall, Farmer's Market, Trader Joe's