Favorite Grocery Item
 

Well, as previously mentioned, I am going to go grocery shopping. I searched the threads around here, and while I did find stuff on snacks, or good dishes and easy recipes, that is not the spirit I am going for.

The question I have is this: When at the grocery store, is there and item that you love to put in your cart? Is there something that you buy 'just for you'? Is it a snack, or a cake mix, or a sauce, or something else?

If I get a good set of responses, I will probably buy them (or at least look for them) and then post my own feelings about your favorites...

To start things off:
There are Klassen Kosher Dill pickle halves in the deli cooler. When you put one of those babies next to a sandwich, it is killer. So garlic-y and salty and dill-y. Awesome.

And dry roasted peanuts, of course.

And I make spagetti sauce with "Hot Italian" fresh sausage meat. I cut the casing off the sausage and use it just like ground beef. Only it is waaaaay better, pre-seasoned and just yummy.

And BC cherries, when in season, I purchase by the case. It is sick how many cherries I can eat. Not jam, not pie, not tarts or any of that. Just fresh BC cherries. *drool*

cantelope... fresh cantelope... yummy l ovely fresh cantelope... just a spritz of fresh lime juice and i'm a happy camper

mmmm garlic deli dill pickles...

any kind of cheese that's not the prepackaged kraft kind...

Wasabi and soy almonds... good god are they good - salty and spicey - mmmmm mmmm good...

Red peppers, roasted over the gas burner and tossed in a brown paper bag for a few minutes, when they emerge, the skin falls off and you have the best freshest roasted red peppers ever - most excellent on thier own, or tossed with some olive oil basil and garlic with some fresh mozarella

ooooh marshmallows - toasted over the gas burner.. on graham crackers...

Chef Boyardee's Cheese Ravioli.. I don't know what it is, but I love the stuff. It's expensive and bad for me, so I usually only get a can or 2, but it's delicious.

Hansen's soda.. low in sugar, no caffiene, sweet and refreshing.

1 gal jug of organic apple juice. I think 'organic' is mostly a scam, but god-damned if it's not the best apple juice I've ever had.

Strawberry apple sauce cups.. I forget who makes them.. good and filling for their small size..

Bright green granny smith apples..

Bag of bright orange baby carrots..

That's all I can think of at the moment.. hungry now, though..

http://www.foodroutes.org/images/pag...rasberries.jpg

Organic rasberries are like my ambrosia. I could live off rasberries for the rest of my life. I love organic fruits, veggies, meat, dairy, starches, and nuts....but rasberries are in a class of their own in my book. They compliment almost any dessert, and can bring out the flavor of any savory meat. I put them in my oatmeal, my smoothies, with pork and lamb, or just raw.

Jinn...The trick to organic foods is research. Find out where the 'organic' food comes from. Not all organic labels are scams.

Raspberries grow wild in the back alleys near my dad's house. I go over there with a pail and pick raspberries and take the dog for a walk at the same time. I usually get about 4 litres at a time. I think of it as god's way of telling me he exists... :lol:

And I make homemade raspberry liquor (why does everything have to be about booze??!!) by mashing raspberries together with an equal amount of vodka and sugar. Let sit 3 weeks in a pail, strain. Awesome.

I hear you about the raspberries, Will. Definitely.

Well, last night I splurged on an artichoke, which I've never done before. I hadn't had one since I was a kid, so it seemed like a "luxury item" to me (at $2.50 each, yeah!).

I also picked up a cantaloupe for the same price... one of my favorite combos is fresh cantaloupe with prosciutto (now that's really splurging; I don't do it often, though).

Last week at Trader Joe's I gave in and bought a strawberry-rhubarb pie, which is probably my favorite kind of pie... I had held off on buying it for so long (it's expensive), but I just did it and got vanilla ice cream to go with it. Mmmm, god it was so good.

What else: Ben and Jerry's (also spendy), Liberte yogurt (spendy, but I've started getting it every trip, because it's just so damn good), bruschetta, strawberries, very nice and fresh bread (from the bakery, not packaged), and CHEEEEEEEEESE, Gromit! :D I love cheese, any and all kinds, but I get gourmet when I can. My new favorite is Mahon chese from Majorca (or was it Minorca?)... wow. Incredible.

Hmmm, I would say fresh herbs, (my herb garden did not make the move with me) Cilantro for mexican food, Basil for Caprese Salad (or other Italian foods) I always know the falvor will be so fresh.
Other than that Fresh Veggies Asparagus, Artichoke, White Corn are favorites when in season (man can not live on Salad and frozen veggies alone)
Fresh Pastas (I do not have the patience to try to make my own)
Olives from the Olive bar
Rotiserie Chicken from Costco (I do not think I can make my own that is that good for the price)
A nice Artisan bread (my bread maker does not make them that good)

Since I moved to hell, that is one thing that I sooo miss - the selection of olives at any of of the italian delis that were in my neighborhood... In hell, olives are those things sold in glass jars that have a pimento stuffed inside... :) I misss good olives... and antipasto...

Nutella. Every time I go down the aisle and see the jars sitting proudly on the shelves, I struggle to justify buying one, but can never do it. I must have some sort of guilt complex regarding luxurious pleasure. In Europ they have these gallon size jars that make me weak in the knees.

Chicken ramen and Kraft dinner...gotta always have those on hand as backup. Plus, chicken ramen is exactly what I want when I'm hung over.

Hummus. I love it with tortilla chips.

Juanitas Tortilla Chips. I'll eat other kinds, but Juanitas are my favorite, because they're made in Oregon and so they taste fresh.

Jonagold apples. From Washington. I don't buy apples from NZ. Washington only. I'm also REALLY picky about the quality of my apples.

Walla Walla sweets when they're in season. This year, after watching Alton Brown's onion episode, I will have the means to store these onions far after their season is up. This is very exciting to me. I love Walla Walla sweets beyond reason. Vidalias are all right, but they don't compare to the giants from Washington State.

Rainier cherries. I like them ever so much more than the Bings when they're in season. Like Ben, I can eat a whole half-flat in a single sitting. Mmm.

And Mal, I too love those soy-wasabi almonds. I bought a big thing at Costco of them. Mmm.

Really good cheese. Brie, parmigiano reggiano, Tillamook Special Reserve, camembert, and fresh Alsea Acres goat cheese with herbs. Mm. Most of these things I can get at Costco for cheap. Yay, Costco.

Mochi ice cream is one of my Trader Joe favorites. That and their variety of chocolate. I always buy too many bars of Scharffen-Berger when I'm there, and Droste pastilles for cooking. Oh, and the ever-present Two Buck Chuck. I cannot leave TJs without a couple bottles of it.

I'll stop now...

Cashew butter is my guilty pleasure, but far too expensive to replace peanut butter.

Tiger Sauce

I've heard of Rooster Sauce, but never Tiger Sauce.

Can you pull and post a pic, Tec?

http://www.luzianne.com/images/produ...iger_sauce.gifDelicous, spicy, cajun.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet.

I am definitely going to look for that...

Noooo - not sweeet - spicey - not quite habenero pepper spicey but spicey nonetheless... you best take care young man - you've got a post somewhere that chronicles you and hot peppers :) (entertaining, sure... ... but i fear for you... :)

Tiger Sauce is definitely VERY VERY yummy ...


Mine would have to be Nutella.

I used to be a Tiger Sauce junkie, but I went back to McIlhenny's tabasco when they introduced a couple more product lines.

My favorite treat is canned pitted black olives. I just love 'em. If there is a relish tray with black olives on them, expect them to get hoovered.

I try to moderate myself, but I just don't understand if the tray is out, and it's been five minutes, why aren't they gone?

I like them cold. Any size, small, medium, large, jumbo.

I may be the only person who has ever said, "you don't want me to stray, keep me in olives."

Worcestershire sauce. Mix this into beef when you make hamburgers. Another idea is to put it into stew. Orgasmic. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie dough ice cream!! Nothing beats it. Next would be colby/jack cheese, I love this, but my wife loves it more.

I love all that stuff... fresh fruits, spices, herbs, yeah. But you want me to get truly excited?

Fluff. The large plastic tub. I eat it with a spoon. Yes, really.

Aw, sick. :P

You've clearly been deprived of the goodness that is a fluffernutter sammich.. fluff is awesome... especially better as a fluffernutter brulee sammich... that kitchen blow torch is great for toasting up the fluff.

Stoned Wheat Thins (crackers)
+ sharp cheddar cheese
+ raspberry preserves
__________________________
Scrumptious


Yes... eat them together. It's amazing. But also, you can eat all three ingredients with other things.

it's also really good with brie cheese too :)

To truly guild the lily here, wrap a wedge of brie in Pillsbury dough and throw it in the oven until puffy and golden brown. Serve with your favourite wheat crackers (Breton) and some raspberry preserve.

:drool:

mmmm mmmm good... it's also amazingly good in puff pastry or even filo dough... and you can use a little bit of honey instead of the preserves.. the honey gives it a bit of sweetness... :) I'm really hungry now..

Green onions. Go figure, but I love to eat green onions with practically anything that isn't sweet. My parents used to put a glass tumbler full of them in the middle of the table for most dinners.

Hey, my mom did the same thing. Glass tumbler full of green onions on the middle of the table. We would get a little salt pile on the plate, bite the onion, dip the end in salt, bite the onion, dip the end in salt...

I haven't done that in ages!

Every day I fight the urge to eat all the olives out of the veggie tray they put out at lunchtime.

Add me also to the group that had a water glass with green onions at the dinner table growing up. The fact that I still sneak green onions from the crisper drawer really pisses off my wife.

Nothing like waking up the next morning with a mouth that feels like you've cleaned every bathroom floor at Union Station with your tongue.

scallions or green onions used to be really common items on the crudite tray served at restaurants when i was a kid... this tray was usually presented with the bread and butter-- usually with radishes... all they ever needed was salt... they were colorful and very tasty

sorry to come across as ignorant(i am aussie) but what is fluff? :crazy: I have never heard of it and now i want some! :D

strawberries, i just luv em....cant resist them when i see them
and sour grapes geezzzzzzz they driive me crazy

Blue Diamond smoked almonds. Try to eat a handfull every day.

Dry roasted peanuts. For some reason I prefer the cheaper no-name brand.

Thanks Tecoyah and Willravel. Love cajun food and have eyed the Tiger sauce but have never tried it.

Key Lime lowfat yogurt.

Black olives.

Fluff is marshmallow creme... totally sweet, totally tasty and awesome with peanut butter
http://www.hometownfavorites.com/ima...ge/hfde154.jpg
(You can make your own:)
Marshmallow Creme
6 tablespoons water
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
4 large egg whites
Pinch salt
Pinch cream of tartar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, fitted with a candy thermometer, bring the water, corn syrup and 3/4 cup sugar to the firm ball state (246 degrees F).

Meanwhile, in the completely clean and dry bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until creamy and foamy. Still whisking, sprinkle in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to whisk until the whites hold very soft peaks. With the mixer on slow, carefully drizzle in the hot syrup. Turn the mixer to high and whisk until thick, fluffy and just warm, about 7 minutes.

Turn the mixer to high and whisk until thick, fluffy and just warm, about 7 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and whisk in the vanilla extract. Store refrigerated in a clean, dry jar.

Makes 5 cups.

Clementines, red grapes and pistachios. Fresh mint if I can find it but that's normally at a farmer's market.

It's ok :) I'm American and I've never heard of fluff until today. They don't sell it at either grocery store I've worked at.

My favorite treat is red grapes...but I have to squeeze one first to make sure it's not soggy...they have to be firm and plump. I don't get them often because they are so expensive....at $2 a lb, they usually average about ten dollars unless they are on sale!

The longer variety of green grapes... wash and stick some in the freezer. My favorite frozen treat! Fresh strawberries and raspberries layered in fat-free vanilla yogurt with almond slices.

Spinach leaves with organic bleu cheese dressing.

Sabra's roasted garlic hummus with pita chips (slice a pita into wedges, pull apart the layers, brush lightly with margarine, garlic salt, a little pepper and broil until edge are slightly brown. I like them a little chewy, if you don't, let them sit about 5 minutes and they'll crisp up.)

Publix chicken salad with herbal dressing with stoned wheat crackers. Publix Mojo rotisserie chicken. The macaroni and cheese from the deli is my secret snack.

Craisins trail mix.

Gosh, I miss Whole Foods Market... Pirate's Booty, Veggie Chips, bulk nuts, grains, and dried fruit. And the ultimate juice: Organic Cranberry Peach. Nothing like it.

Okay, thanks a lot, now I'm going to HAVE to go grocery shopping.

If you like really good cheese you have to try some of the Rogue Gold Creamery cheese. I'm not much for cheese, but this stuff is incredible!