I am quite shocked at how I managed to buy $100+ worth of groceries this week. This post was going to be a contender for the dullest journal of 2009 but I thought about it and really, getting groceries are never a dull experience for me. Its only fair that a post about them is just as graphic and colourful! :)

Super Bazaar

- Red Onions - 4lb - $3.98

Really, there is no onion like the red onion. Yellow cooking onions bite the dust when you try and make them rise above the oniocasion.

- Cilantro 2 HUGE eye-poppingly fresh bunches - $1.00

This is the best and the cheapest cilantro (coriander) in Buffalo.

- Tomatoes ~3lbs - $0.99/pound - $2.96

Life in winter is depressing without Tomatoes. Its also rather harsh and uncreative if you don't have the reds from this beautiful fruit to balance out the foods representing other areas of the colour wheel.

- Fresh Ginger - Quite a lot - $1.35

Ginger is always best at Super Bazaar. Sometimes, its also the cheapest. Like today.

- Fresh Karuvepalai ("Curry Leaves") 1 measly but oh-so-satisfying-till-it-lasts bunch - $0.99


- Thai Green Chillies - 0.99 (around 30)


- Indian Super Hot Green Chillies - 0.99 (around 10)


- Green Bottle Gourd (aka Ghiya) - $2.88


- Moong Dal (A "core" lentil in South Indian cooking) - 6lb - $7.98


- Tata Tetley Elaichi Tea (Cardamom tea) - $4.99 (72 Tea bags)


- Tata Tetley Variety Taster Teas - $2.45 (Cardamom, Masala and Ginger)


- Maggie "Healthy" Veggie Atta Noodles - 1 single-serve bag - $0.79

(The "vegetables" in the whole pack of noodles were 10 dried green peas, 10 dried 2mm flakes of carrots and 2-3 dried flakes of tomatoes and a huge fist of Monosodium Glutamate. Healthy indeed. Good to know that these "newer" "healthier" noodles taste just as uninspired as the originals. Yeah. Somethings in life never need change. )

- Gujarati Bikaneri Bhujia - $1.99


- Gujarati Jamnagri Ghathiya - $1.99


- 1 Kg Haldiram Bhujiya - $7.99


- 1 pack frozen Pillsbury Aloo Parantha - $2.99

I see some eyebrows go up and you know who you are. YOU are driving me homesick writing about paranthas every weekend!

- South Indian Lime Pickle - Mother's - $1.99


- 1 pack Asafoetida - $1.99

(I can't believe I finally ran out! Unbelievable!) The author of a really famous south Indian recipe book suggests that families get 2Kg (~4.5lb) of this crazy spice every month! I am not quite sure why she recommended such insane amounts. It's not as if you use a fistful in each dish! Just a dusting is so powerful! She must have been totally high when she wrote her book! And man, I am scared to even think about how her home must have smelled like...

- 1 pack Tamarind concentrate paste - $1.99


- 1 Fresh Samosa with two chutneys - $1.00


Subtotal: $53.28

Guercios:

- 8 Granny Smith Apples - $5.50 @1.29/lb


- Extra Virgin Olive Oil 250ml - $2.49


- BIG (3lb?) bag of spinach - $3.99


- Kalamata dried figs - $3.99


- Carrots 2lb - $1.00


- Roasted Red Pepper Hummus 396g - $3.59


- Zucchini 2 medium sized - $1.35


- Small white potatoes (3)


- Canary Beans 1lb - $0.79

(I don't know what these taste like, yet! Here's hoping they don't flunk my lentil test!)

- Fresh Basil 1 teeny bunch - $1.25


- Some other produce that I can't remember - $1.15

(I hate it that they don't put put names on the receipts! I have no idea what this is! Damn.)

Subtotal: $25.49

Wegmans
- Wegmans Fat Free Milk 2 Gallons - $4.78


- Wegmans Low Fat Vanilla Yoghurt - $1.99


- Wegmans tomato-basil sauce - $1.98

This is a standby for tomato deficient days - of which I have had my miserably nasty share these past few days.

- Wegmans Peanut Oil 32oz - $4.99

AHH! FINALLY.

- Macintosh Apples 3lb - $2.97

(I don't have hopes of these outshining Granny Smiths - but trying them out just in case...)

- Broccoli Crowns - 3.26lb @ $1.29/lb - $4.21


- Bananas 3.55lb @ 0.49/lb - $1.74


- Green Cabbage 2.89lb @ 0.69/lb - $1.99


- Savoy Cabbage 1.37 @ 0.69/lb - $0.95
(These are awesome for stir-frying with other veggies)


Subtotal: $25.60

Tops
Mustard Greens $1.72lb @ 0.99/lb: $1.70

(These are my MOST favourite cooking greens!)

Subtotal: $1.70

Grand Total: $106.07
(Whoosh. That's quite a lot. I need to tone down this crazy homesickness tackling grocery spending next time!)

PS: (e:pmrk), what did you get? :)

---

Everyone needs a reality check sometimes. But only Stephan Pastis delivers this check with porcine astuteness.

To answer's (e:zzzzzzzoooooob)bbbbbbaarrrr's unasked question:

Current scientific thought points to the following processes:

a)


+

b)


+

c)


But we all know why they *REALLY* die!

PROOF!

a) Sitcoms
+
b) Arguments with kids
+
c) Beauty Magazines
+
d) Treadmills!

I did some serious - no make that dead serious grocery shopping today and started posting my grocery list in keeping with the recently established (e:strip) grocery costs and lists tradition. I even ran into my grocery-inspiration (e:pmrk) at Wegmans and my grocery trip was (e:topped) with the perfect (e:inspiration)! :)

BUT while typing up my grocery list - one of my very old favourites somehow sneaked into my playlist and WOW. I am blown away for the millionth time.



Grave Digger have always been heads and shoulders, my hands down run away favourites, but I forgot just how much this particular self-titled album rocks even after 8 full years!



Every song has so many catchy, detailed and rich layered riffs by the incredibly talented Manni Schmidt, it's impossible not to be sucked right in.



I can't comprehend that 8 whole years have gone by so swiftly! I was just as wildly excited hearing it in 2001, completely out of breath and dizzy from too much wild headbanging as I am right now (I do miss that out-of-control-amazon-forest hair that I don't have anymore!). Some bands just have it in them to magically transport me to happier times in a time machine. :)

I know all that dead serious grocery shopping does need some loving grave digging, but it won't be tonight. I am too stoked headbanging to nostalgia to concentrate. :)

Special greets go out to (e:pmrk)! Loved running into you! :^D

Ranked in descending order from toughest to easiest:

3. Logon and check (e:strip) only once a day!


4. Complete one page of academic writing every day.


5. Draft tasklists and try and complete 75% -> 100% of the list every day.


6. Finish writing and propose before this month is out.


7. Take notes on worthwhile articles and keep up the running notes diary.


8. Will finally gather my wits together and start discussion sessions with future collaborators and draft grant ideas @rate of 1/month.


9. Cut down on non-productive interaction. Reply to relevant emails promptly.


10. Erase hate-like emotions and cultivate indifference instead because really, sometimes I couldn't care less.


Here's to a more streamlined 2009!!
TP