International Groceries
I live in a wonderful culturally diverse area and am blessed with several International grocery stores/Farmers Markets. (if you're in the North Atlanta area, the Gwinnett International Farmers Market is my favorite. The West Side Market in Cleveland is also good as is Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati) If you can find one of these in your area... try it out! I genenerally do two grocery trips a week. The International market for vegetables, meat/seafood & spices/condiments and then my normal grocery for dairy products, cleaning supplies, etc.
With the International Market, I have the luxury of more types of vegetables than I've ever heard of, usually fresher than the grocery and 9 times out of 10, significantly cheaper. (My partner consistantly marvels that the prices are so cheap they're practically giving them away)
The International Market also has a good selection of meat, cheaper than the chain groceries. (We can get boneless chicken breasts for $1.79 a pound and boneless pork loin chops for $3.99 a pound) I tend not to buy beef at mine (I'm picky about quality of beef and unimpressed by the Gwinnett market's quality) but you may have better luck at an market in your area. (the West Side Market in Cleveland had wonderful beef)
The seafood selection is truly mind-boggling. I'm a bit conservative when it comes to seafood; shrimp, scallops, tuna steaks and mild white fish are about the extent of my cooking with seafood, but the prices are so astounding that we can have seafood at least one meal a week.
Spices are also plentiful and inexpensive. The market I shop at is a mix of Asian/Hispanic and Carribean cultures and the Hispanic section has a large selection of spices in cellophane packets for around $.99 each. I bought empty spice jars at a craft store to hold them in. (Although ziploc bags work just as well) If you're shopping at a chain grocery, basic spices are also cheaper in the hispanic foods aisle than in the baking isle.
There's also an endless variety of sauces, pastes etc to play with. I just needed to train myself to read ingredient labels & watch for which things have sugar/carbs in them. The down side is that Asian cooking tends to be high in sodium; something I try to watch, but may not bother you.
I also just recently discovered the pleasures of the Indian grocery on a chase for tahini. Spices galore, including some like asfoedia, I'd always thought were medicinal/magickal rather than culinary, Raita spices & a variety of curry blends that have given me plenty to experiment with and spicy diced chick peas that make a tasty substitute for croutons on a salad or roasted whole chick peas that make a nice snack for a crunchy craving.
Sadly, though, they also had frozen Roti bread and after seeing the 33 grams of carbs per pancake, dispelled my fantasy that something so un breadlike couldn't possibly be high carb. Which is a pity because one of the Indian restaurants we often socialize at had really amazing Roti Canai.
With the International Market, I have the luxury of more types of vegetables than I've ever heard of, usually fresher than the grocery and 9 times out of 10, significantly cheaper. (My partner consistantly marvels that the prices are so cheap they're practically giving them away)
The International Market also has a good selection of meat, cheaper than the chain groceries. (We can get boneless chicken breasts for $1.79 a pound and boneless pork loin chops for $3.99 a pound) I tend not to buy beef at mine (I'm picky about quality of beef and unimpressed by the Gwinnett market's quality) but you may have better luck at an market in your area. (the West Side Market in Cleveland had wonderful beef)
The seafood selection is truly mind-boggling. I'm a bit conservative when it comes to seafood; shrimp, scallops, tuna steaks and mild white fish are about the extent of my cooking with seafood, but the prices are so astounding that we can have seafood at least one meal a week.
Spices are also plentiful and inexpensive. The market I shop at is a mix of Asian/Hispanic and Carribean cultures and the Hispanic section has a large selection of spices in cellophane packets for around $.99 each. I bought empty spice jars at a craft store to hold them in. (Although ziploc bags work just as well) If you're shopping at a chain grocery, basic spices are also cheaper in the hispanic foods aisle than in the baking isle.
There's also an endless variety of sauces, pastes etc to play with. I just needed to train myself to read ingredient labels & watch for which things have sugar/carbs in them. The down side is that Asian cooking tends to be high in sodium; something I try to watch, but may not bother you.
I also just recently discovered the pleasures of the Indian grocery on a chase for tahini. Spices galore, including some like asfoedia, I'd always thought were medicinal/magickal rather than culinary, Raita spices & a variety of curry blends that have given me plenty to experiment with and spicy diced chick peas that make a tasty substitute for croutons on a salad or roasted whole chick peas that make a nice snack for a crunchy craving.
Sadly, though, they also had frozen Roti bread and after seeing the 33 grams of carbs per pancake, dispelled my fantasy that something so un breadlike couldn't possibly be high carb. Which is a pity because one of the Indian restaurants we often socialize at had really amazing Roti Canai.
posted by Alisandre de la Chapelle at 2:35 AM
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